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Bruce looked in astonishment at the sharp scalpel inserted into his chest. The protective suit on his body was like paper in front of the sharp scalpel and did not provide any protection at all.
Intense pain, like a landslide or tsunami, instantly erupted within his spiritual world. His already unstable spiritual world, under this blow, felt like a sign of impending collapse and destruction.
Bruce felt as if his soul were being sliced apart by Stephen's scalpel like butter. The tearing pain was so intense that even though he was used to enduring pain, he couldn't help but groan. In this world, all his attempts to hide were meaningless.
Along with Bruce, young Wayne screamed in agony. He cried out "No" in a rage and despair, then stumbled to his knees. While Stephen's scalpel had cut into Bruce's body, it had also cut into the body that was part of him, and in turn, affected the stability of his spiritual world.
"You lunatic! You will kill us!" Young Wayne raised his head, his young face distorted as he looked at Stephen who was concentrating on waving the scalpel and performing the operation.
The Red Death, the Merciless Iron Fist, the Dawnbreaker, and all the materialized members of the Dark Knights also felt the crisis at this moment, abandoned their opponents, and rushed towards Stephen.
The blood-spattered scalpel swung left and right in Bruce's body deftly, and several cracks instantly appeared around him and Bruce. These seemingly transparent and fragile cracks, at this moment, were like natural chasms, blocking the way in front of the Red Death and the others.
Young Wayne's body suddenly hunched over, and he coughed up large mouthfuls of black blood onto the ground. The filthy power of the abyss in the blood began to rapidly expand to the surroundings, and even the young Wayne himself was covered with a layer of black.
Young Wayne felt that his connection with the world was becoming increasingly distant, which meant that he was forcibly separated from Bruce as a subject by some force.
It's hard to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for him. But what is certain is that his idea and plan of taking over Bruce's personality has been greatly reduced due to Stephen's destruction.
Before, success was clearly within reach. He had already gained the power of this spiritual world to fight Bruce, even to suppress him. As long as this continued, Bruce's main personality would be like his previous dark side, firmly suppressed in the deepest part of his mind. All he could do was remain the same as before, a bystander.
Now everything is ruined!
Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it also seemed like only a moment had passed. The pain that tore the soul apart suddenly disappeared, and Bruce even felt as if he had thrown away all the burdens on his body and felt extremely relaxed.
All the pressure and burden he had been carrying in his heart was finally cleared away, and he even felt a sense of carefree relaxation. He hadn't felt this way for a long, long time.
Stephen pulled out the scalpel in his hand, spun it in his palm, and it disappeared in an instant.
"Fortunately, it's still in time." Stephen's face showed a rare look of fatigue, but his tone was also much more relaxed and gentle.
"What happened?" Bruce, feeling reborn, looked at his hands, then at the part of his mind that had regained its stability, and finally his gaze fell on Stephen standing right in front of him. He was sure that Stephen had just done something to his mind.
"A personality stripping operation. It can also be considered a simple soul surgery. You may not know that before I became a mage, I was an authority in the field of surgery. Countless dignitaries offered money just so I could save their lives.
"It's a shame I was doing well as a doctor, but Luke tricked me into going to Kamar-Taj and becoming a mage. But my skills haven't declined." Stephen said, tired but with a bright look in his eyes.
Although he is not as powerful as his teacher, Ancient One, he has his own unique path and talents in psychic power. After combining the characteristics of psychic power with his teacher's path, he picked up his old profession again.
It's just that his surgical techniques in the past were aimed at the physical human body, but now his techniques are more focused on the human spirit and soul!
There was no way around it. While psychic energy was a good thing, like any other energy, it also had its side effects. As someone who had collaborated with Heberon on psychic energy research, only he and Wang were among the few who could keep up with Heberon's fellow researchers.
Under Luke's guidance, Hebron was able to create a variety of items and medicines to control, guide, soothe, and resolve the side effects of psychic powers. Stephen Strange, on the other hand, had returned to his former profession, performing surgery. The colorful scalpel in his hand was forged specifically for him by Luke according to his requirements.
Almost all of the mages who practiced psychic powers at Kamar-Taj had been Stephen's patients. Any hidden dangers, loss of control, or contamination caused by psychic powers could generally be safely resolved under Stephen's scalpel. Combined with the medicines and equipment provided by Haibolun, the mages at Kamar-Taj were surprisingly healthy.
It was precisely because of this soul surgery technique that Kamar-Taj, which had seemed to be splitting apart by the psychic energy, was strangely glued together again. Although it still had various factions, it no longer had the shaky momentum of the past, with the threat of separation and disintegration at any moment. Even his ambitious senior brother Mordo had become much quieter.
It can be said that Stephen alone destroyed the jobs of many psychologists and gave their profession a dazzling halo.
"You performed soul surgery on me?" Bruce suddenly felt uneasy and began to doubt. After all, any changes to the mind and soul are worthy of vigilance and suspicion.
"Don't worry, I'm not a heartless doctor. I haven't done anything to your soul or spiritual personality. I've simply removed some hidden dangers. You're still you. As long as your personality remains unchanged, people who undergo this type of surgery will generally recover as normal after a certain period of time. But you might be a little special, so I had to take some permanent measures." Stephen pointed at the dark young Wayne, his body tainted by the power of the abyss. "I've permanently stripped away your dark side. Even if I develop a rehabilitation plan for you, it will take a long time to adjust and recover. Actually, I think it's okay if you don't recover, but your perspective on some things might change."
"Like what?" Bruce asked silently.
"For example? Do you have a stronger sense of morality and justice? Do you have complete and unfettered dominance? I don't agree with a way of doing things where one emotion permanently prevails. It's too vulnerable for you. It's like pain; it can certainly bring you a bad experience, but in a critical moment, it can save your life. The same is true of the dark side." Stephen thought for a moment and replied. This answer and metaphor were certainly not accurate, but they were enough for Bruce to grasp the meaning and draw inferences and understanding.
"I mostly use it to remove psychic growths, making people less extreme."
"So, it is separated from me now?" Bruce looked at the young Wayne who was hunched on the ground, suffering from great pain, with a distorted face. He felt relieved, but at the same time, he felt a sense of inexplicable confusion in his heart.
"He was infected by the abyss, and he actively provoked the abyss. If you still want to live and live healthily, then you have to do this. Cut it off before it infects you in turn." Stephen explained to Bruce as he looked at the spiritual world that was gradually split apart along the cracks.
With a loud bang, a crack appeared in the ground between Bruce and young Wayne. It was just a fine crack at first, and then it quickly expanded to both sides. The crack, which was just a crack at first, expanded to both sides like a mountain splitting the sea, forming a bottomless abyss.
The manor, carrying so many memories and emotions of Bruce's youth, gradually receded with the crack in the ground, along with young Wayne. Young Wayne seemed to realize his impending demise, and streams of black liquid spurted out from behind him like fountains, transforming into black spider-like lines in mid-air, shooting towards Bruce like a torrential downpour.
Stephen and Bruce watched this scene in silence. The crack in the ground was expanding so rapidly that even with the long, swift black silk of young Wayne, it felt like a chasm, unable to connect to the ground on Bruce's side. Finally, amidst a frantic, beast-like roar, it was gradually swallowed by the thick fog.
With the disappearance of young Wayne, Bruce felt as if the danger that had been making his scalp tingle was lifted.
The spiritual world regained its stability. As young Wayne was swallowed by the abyss, the members of the Dark Knights he had manifested also collapsed like weathered statues.
Just when Bruce thought everything was over, another vibration erupted, and he felt something within him being torn apart again. A powerful optical disc light dispersed a portion of the dense fog, revealing a figure radiating gold, their face so blazing it was impossible to discern. A fleeting moment, they appeared in the dispersing fog, then quickly vanished into the mist, along with the light and the ground, which had once again split apart.
"What is that?" Bruce vaguely felt that he had lost something very important this time. He took a deep breath and looked at Stephen who was smiling awkwardly.
"You know, sometimes I have to consider the patient's recovery. Since your dark side has been cut off, the opposite, your bright side, naturally needs to be cut off as well. Otherwise, it's just a transition from one extreme to another. The balance during this period is difficult to grasp." Stephen spread his hands helplessly and said.
"Are you sure you really think so?" Bruce felt that he was now exceptionally calm, so calm that he seemed like a cold, emotionless robot. But strangely, he could clearly feel that he still had the power of emotion, that he was still a human being with joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. It was just that those emotions were much weaker in his heart now.
For example, he still feels anger and rage, but it doesn't rise to the point where he loses control. The same goes for other emotions. He can feel them, but he can't be deeply affected by them.
"You have to trust the professionals!" Stephen said firmly.
"I hope so. Now, is everything settled? I mean, my current state." Bruce had no intention of arguing with Stephen on this issue. After all, Stephen had indeed helped him a lot this time. Without Stephen, it's hard to say whether he would have been overtaken by his dark side, becoming the Abyss Knight who combined the power of the Abyss and destroyed the universe.
Of course, it is also possible that before he could completely destroy the world, he was discovered by Luke and his companions, and then controlled and sealed away. This is also possible.
"What's your current condition?" Stephen looked at Bruce's calm face. "What do you mean?"
"My emotions seem to have become much more indifferent. Many of the people and relationships I cherish, including those I hold dear, now feel a sense of indifference and emptiness in my heart. Is this feeling right? Will I always remain in this state of emotional indifference?" Bruce asked. He had to ask this question clearly. He could see that something was wrong now because the separation was still short, and he could still feel the sense of disconnection. If his condition didn't recover over time, it would be very bad.
It was hard for Bruce to predict what kind of person he would become if he became emotionally indifferent and indifferent to everything else! And the results of his speculation based on this situation were mostly not what Bruce was willing to accept. After all, those speculations about the future were nothing more than postponing the current trouble into the future.
"Are you asking if this state is normal? Will it last forever, or is it time-limited?" Stephen immediately understood Bruce's inner concerns and comforted him, "Don't worry, I haven't completely cut off your emotions. Your condition hasn't deteriorated to that point yet. Although the Abyss has infected your dark side, we handled it promptly. It's like an incurable cancer in the past: once it occurs, we can't completely eradicate it. But as long as it hasn't reached the late stage, there are ways to cure it and even control it. You're far from the middle or late stage."
Over time, as you spend more time with familiar people, your emotional system will slowly recover. Of course, you'll still be different from your former self. There's no way around it! But you can think of this process as a reshaping of your character and a rebirth of your emotions.
Bruce nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Well, we should leave here. There are still some final procedures to go through." Stephen also breathed a sigh of relief. Although there were many unexpected things this time, the result is always good.