CH 143

Chapter 143 Doc Ock’s Return From Nepal

TL: Kyous

It was two in the afternoon when the group finished eating their steaks.

Leo’s heart missed his unfinished Arc Reactor. Without returning home, he beelined to the laboratory. In the laboratory, he was constantly burning the midnight oil and was yawning day after day, yet he had no intention of returning to his house for a rest.

Regardless, he rarely returned home for a sleep and with the addition of a kid and Natasha, Leo was certain returning home was a drag. Thus, he decided to just live in the lab. After a brief two-hour of rest, Leo was reenergized and continued working on the Arc Reactor.

Arc Reactor was a huge project and took several months to build. He remained patient and wholeheartedly laid bricks and tiles to the Arc Reactor bit by bit. In an instant, he had worked for several dozens of hours and the time came to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“Buzz! Master, Steam has to remind you that you have to attend Mr. Peter Parker and Miss Mary Jane’s engagement party today at 5:30 p.m., please take note of the time.”

Stopping the swarming Mechanical Tentacles, Leo roughly calculated the time it would take to drive from El Building to Roman Rose Hotel, Queens.

‘Approximately 30 minutes.’

“Steam, remind me again after twenty minutes.”

……

5:28 p.m., Leo walked into Peter and Mary Jane’s engagement party at the exact right time.

The moment Leo entered, he saw Peter and Mary Jane. Mary Jane was affectionately holding Peter’s arm as they wandered around, greeting the guests. Seeing Leo entering, Peter hurriedly pulled Mary Jane over to give him a toast.

Leo reached out and picked up a glass of wine from the waiter’s tray. He took a small sip before letting Peter rush off to his business.

After Peter left, Leo surveyed the party and noticed that the party was moderately sized. Around 100 people were around, who probably were Peter and Mary Jane’s families and friends. Besides, he also noticed several familiar faces from the office. Virtually every executive of the company had arrived and gathered next to the bar, drinking and chatting. Even Erik tagged along with Bucky and Natasha to have some fun.

Taking another sip, Leo moved to another end of the bar with the wine glass in his hand. On this occasion, he preferred to quietly sit alone. But just as he reached the other end of the bar, he saw an unexpected figure.

“Dr. Octavius, when did you return?” Leo sat next to Otto and greeted him. Otto had traveled to Nepal for several months, yet now had returned without saying a word. Curiosity rose within Leo as he immediately asked.

Seeing that it was Leo, Otto smiled at Leo and answered, “Just last night. When I came back, I called Peter. Who knew his joyful event was just around the corner, so I came today.”

Leo sized up Otto and found out Otto was looking good, thus asking, “How was the trip to Nepal? Have you found any way to heal your body?”

“I’m not sure if I found a way or not.” Otto’s brows furrowed slightly with uncertainties in his eyes. “Mr. Erwin, I believed I found your so-called mystical people at Kamar-Taj. However, they didn’t provide me with any medical treatment. Instead, they gave me Sanskrit scripture and told me to study it wholeheartedly.”

Otto chuckled bitterly, “Frankly, I don’t know anything about Sanskrit at all. These few months, I’ve been staying at Kamar-Taj learning this obscure language.”

“Did they teach you anything else?” Leo questioned further.

“Oh, meditation too. They said that when reciting scripture while meditating, you can receive twice the result with half the effort. After I learned meditation and understood the scripture, they let me return.”

Otto shrugged, “But can this really heal my body? No, I doubt it. This is unscientific. If the locals didn’t worship them, they were not asking for money, or the government is secretly supporting them, I absolutely will think of them as a group of con artists.”

Gulping down another mouthful of alcohol, Otto shook his head as he never had much hope of recovering from traveling abroad.

Hearing this, Leo’s heart shook lightly. This meant Otto probably had no potential of being a sorcerer, otherwise, Otto wouldn’t be coming back for at least another two or three years. Nonetheless, those groups of sorcerers were still kindhearted. A book of scripture and a method of meditation could be considered as pointing to a pathway of rehabilitation. Although this pathway wasn’t scientific, it’s mystical!

Leo still wished for Otto’s recovery and thus persuaded, “Since they can exist in Nepal and even receive support and admiration, maybe they do have something. Dr. Octavius, as a friend, I suggest you should stick to meditation and recitation. It may work wonders. After all, it doesn’t cost anything, have some faith.”

“Perhaps. Meditating doesn’t take too much time anyway. I’ll just stick with it and see.” Otto was clutching at the last straw.

Remaining silent for a bit, Leo suddenly probed, “Doc, can you share the method of meditation and recitation you’ve learned?”

“They didn’t say I can’t teach others,” Otto recalled some precautions he was told during the period of learning and there didn’t seem to have any rules against teaching others. “But why are you asking this?”

“I want to learn.” Leo smiled.

“You want to learn?! Why? There’s nothing wrong with your body. Besides, this could just be an elaborate scam.” Odin was perplexed.

“It’s free anyway, has some faith.” Leo casually explained, “There’s nothing to do anyway, why don’t we discuss meditation?”

Speechless, Otto replied, “Fine, I’ll give you a brief rundown…”

The duo began their discussion. One was focused on explaining while the other one was focused on listening. After a while, Leo managed to learn the meditation techniques of those groups of sorcerers. At the same time, he also learned a few words of the scripture from Otto.

Just as they were conversing, a voice suddenly called out to Leo from behind, “Uncle Erwin, why didn’t you come to find Uncle Bucky and me when you arrived?” It was Erik coming over and Bucky was by his side too.

“This kid saw you just now and dragged me over here. I can’t even stop him.” Bucky explained to Leo before turning to Otto, “Dr. Octavius, long time no see. We didn’t interrupt you and Leo, right?”

Otto swiftly replied, “No, no. We were just casually chatting. There’s nothing to be interrupted.”

Leo glanced at Erik and Erik also knew interrupting others’ conversation was impolite. So, he lowered his head in shame. Leo didn’t blame him, it was he who willingly came to look for Leo. This proved that some reliance on Leo had formed within him. It was good news for Leo.

However, Leo thought both he and Bucky, even Natasha, had their own businesses to deal with. They couldn’t always keep an eye on Erik.

Therefore, it was better to search for a school for Erik to attend. Erik’s age was the age of learning knowledge and molding his outlook on life and values. It is also more conducive to Erik’s growth to be educated by professionals like teachers. But Leo wasn’t willing to let Erik attend subpar schools, after all, Erik was likely to be the king of people in the future. How would a subpar education be acceptable?

As for a better school…

Frankly speaking, Leo had no channel to contact better schools. With this thought, a lightbulb lit in his mind, and he felt it was possible to request Otto’s help.

“Dr. Octavius, let me introduce you. This kid is Erik Stevens, a distant relative of mine. Now he’s under my care. I’ve been looking for a school for him to attend recently, but you know those involved in education tend to look down on capitalists like me… So, is it possible to request your help?”

Otto glanced at Erik before pondering, “Sure, I have many students who stayed as an educator. They should be able to help you. What grade is Erik right now?”

Leo was also unaware of what grade Erik was in right now, so he cast a questioning gaze at Erik.

“I still have half a year before finishing elementary school, but I want to start from middle school.” Erik clenched his fists.

“Then middle school it is.” Leo didn’t dwell on it too much. Regardless, it didn’t matter whether or not Erik’s grade was good or bad.

“Dr. Octavius?”

“No problem. I’ll contact my students later, I believe they’re willing to give me some face.”

Leo pulled Erik over to thank Otto before sending Erik and Bucky away, preparing to continue talking about meditation with Otto.