*Chapter 189: Finding Paradise Island*

America’s system is full of traps.

All emergency services are commercialized, and in New York, the fire department is connected with ambulances. Their bonuses depend on emergency services, so of course, it's expensive!

Calling an ambulance typically costs no less than $10,000.

That’s why many injured people would rather have friends drive them to the ER or even drag themselves there, enduring fractures or internal bleeding, than call 911.

Because the price is outrageously high!

Even once you’re in the ER, every doctor and nurse’s fee is calculated separately. Each emergency doctor charges differently based on their specialty, and every piece of medical equipment used during treatment is charged separately.

If the patient hasn’t purchased expensive commercial insurance, it’s no exaggeration to say that the emergency fees alone could bankrupt a middle-class family.

If they can’t cover the cost, the on-duty doctor will have to foot the bill.

So before treating a patient, they typically check who the patient is, confirm their identity, and figure out what commercial insurance they have. Only then do they provide care based on what the patient can afford.

Doctor Strange had to swallow his pride to ask his ex-girlfriend and former colleague to treat the patient first and worry about the bill later.

Ancient One, who had been stabbed and fallen from a great height, wasn’t going to be treated by some low-level doctor, right?

After all, before this, Doctor Strange had already been injured once in the battle at the New York Sanctum, and Christine had secretly treated him.

Now, he was in debt for two emergency bills.

If he couldn’t pay, it would mean he was taking advantage of his ex-girlfriend again.

That’s how cruel America can be.

He used to be one of the top neurosurgeons, driving luxury cars, living in a mansion, and owning a collection of luxury watches. But in order to heal his hands after his car accident and regain his ability to practice, he had spent all his savings.

If it weren’t for some secret support from Atreus a while back, he wouldn’t have been able to perform his last few surgeries.

Unfortunately, before he went to Nepal, he had already used up Atreus assistance (which was deliberate on the part of a certain time traveler).

The now-famous Doctor Strange was, at this moment, a broke man.

Atreus knew about his predicament. With a snap of his fingers, Black Canary beside him pulled out a box of cash that had been prepared in advance.

“Is $100,000 enough?”

Once a man of great status, now a fallen Stephen Strange, his eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. At this moment, he thought of many things, but given circumstances, he didn’t want to hurt his ex-girlfriend anymore.

Even though they had broken up, whenever he was in trouble, Christine had always done her best to help him.

Money is a real stumbling block, and Stephen’s face was filled with embarrassment. “It’s enough. I... I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“No worries. Consider it a favor you owe me, as long as it doesn’t violate Kamar-Taj’s principles.”

“Alright! If you ever need anything, just send someone to the New York Sanctum, and you’ll be able to reach me.”

“OK!”

Getting a favor from most powerful sorcerer on the planet for just $100,000? That’s a huge bargain!

This money really saved the day.

With the Ancient One gone, the hospital would definitely keep the “family members.” When Stephen rushed over, Mordo was caught by the ER security.

No hospital would refuse American dollars.

Whether you’re involved in shady business or not, as long as you have money, it’s no big deal.

Atreus watched Doctor Strange disappear into the ER and sighed, “Let’s go!”

“Are we really not going to deal with Dormammu?” Diana suddenly asked.

“Dealing with the Dark Lord is the responsibility of Sorcerer Supreme,” Atreus said righteously.

But the truth was... if Dormammu really came, fighting him wouldn’t be a joke.

If Doctor Strange hadn’t tricked Dormammu, there’d be no one on Earth capable of stopping this terrifying Dark Lord.

Atreus knew all too well what a “plot kill” was.

After his team left, they returned to the villa on the island and intensified their search for *Paradise Island* in another dimension.

During this time, Atreus received a secret communication from Tony.

“Hey! How’s it going?”

“A bit busy. I might leave Gotham for a while.”

“Damn.”

“Nick’s got some small problems.”

“Huh?”

“There are more and more extraordinary superhumans popping up. S.H.I.E.L.D. has received orders hoping that the Avengers will step in to help if necessary. I’m still okay, but Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow have been run ragged.”

“You know my stance.”

“I know. It’s just in case.”

Atreus instantly understood: Tony knew the current limitations of Iron Man. Although Iron Man was strong, his firepower was ultimately limited. When faced with overwhelmingly powerful enemies like *Doomsday*, he would be at a disadvantage. Tony was hoping Atreus could be his backup.

Atreus could only promise, “If I’m around, I’ll help you. But I need to take a trip to another world first.”

Tony was silent for a moment. “Come back as soon as possible.”

“Got it.”

After the call, Tony lingered for a while, and Pepper Potts came over and hugged him, asking, “Tony, is Kratos really that important?”

Tony smiled bitterly. “I’ve always believed that the fate of humanity could indeed rest on a single extraordinary individual. He would break through all barriers and become everyone’s eyes, showing humanity unimaginable horizons. I used to believe that person was me. But now I’m starting to think differently.”

“Because of *Doomsday*?”

“Yes.”

Pepper understood. In that battle, Iron Man had barely had a chance to shine—the gap in strength was just too vast. “Don’t get discouraged, dear. I’ll always believe that you’re most special one.”

Tony smiled wryly. “At the very least, I need to know who Earth’s greatest enemy is. These powerful, unknown foes keep catching me off guard. Otherwise, even with Iron Man’s tech, it’s hard to land a critical hit on them.”

Pepper kissed him. “Don’t worry, dear. Your efforts won’t be wasted. Even if you can’t be the strongest, you can still play a crucial role, right? Just think, when everyone needed help the most, was Thor always there? Who’s always by everyone’s side, guarding New York? That’s you!”

It had to be said, Pepper was definitely Tony’s wise partner.

Tony was deeply moved.

On the other side, thanks to Kaecilius and the Ancient One’s wandering soul gifted by nature, Atreus finally found *Paradise Island*.

The process had been incredibly difficult.

If his teleportation spell could scan the coordinates of a city, then searching for Wonder Woman’s Paradise Island was like searching the entire Earth for a palm-sized object.

After all, Paradise Island was in a different spatial dimension and timeline from the main world Atreus was in, making the search that much harder.

Even with a system searching at a frequency of a million times per second in the void, it still took a full week to barely succeed.

(End of chapter)