Although Wanda could use Chaos Magic, before learning the Darkhold, she was merely a vessel for it.
As large amounts of Chaos Magic were drawn from her body, Zombie Wanda’s form visibly withered and desiccated.
Witnessing the massive quantities of Chaos Magic being siphoned from her, Zombie Wanda panicked. Her instincts screamed that if Bai Qi continued, she would surely die.
But it was too late. Even if Zombie Wanda poured all her efforts into preserving the dwindling Chaos Magic within her, it was futile.
With the last vestige of Chaos Magic extracted, Zombie Wanda's body had become as desiccated as a mummy preserved for millennia. At the slightest touch, her withered form crumbled into dust, scattering to the wind.
Sensing the stolen Chaos Magic within him, Bai Qi raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers. A blood-red flame ignited on his thumb, which he then flung as a fireball, its surface also cloaked in the same crimson hue.
This crimson shroud was the Chaos Magic Bai Qi had plundered from Wanda. To his surprise, this limited amount of chaotic energy had boosted the power of his techniques by ten percent.
One should not underestimate ten percent. Bai Qi's current strength was already terrifying, and further improvement required vast and rare resources. A ten percent increase was a significant achievement.
Furthermore, the Chaos Magic within Bai Qi was not a finite resource. It wasn't something that depleted and vanished; it could regenerate automatically. However, because the absorption target was an unthinking zombie, and a considerable amount of Chaos Magic had been wasted during the battle, Bai Qi's internal capacity for Chaos Magic was severely limited.
Of course, increasing this capacity was simple: he just needed to draw from more individuals possessing Chaos Magic. If a target's Chaos Magic reserve was ten, and Bai Qi fully extracted it, his capacity would increase by five, despite a fifty percent loss. As long as he absorbed enough, his potential upper limit would be substantial.
However, currently, besides knowing Wanda possessed a significant reserve of Chaos Magic, Bai Qi had no idea who else harbored it. Thus, a new entry was added to his list of plunder targets for invading other Marvel worlds: the Scarlet Witch, Wanda.
Vision was unaware that his actions today would lead to the demise of countless alternate-reality Wandas at Bai Qi’s hands in the future.
Speaking of Vision.
Bai Qi suddenly remembered the individual he had buried in the ground. That fellow wore the Mind Stone of this world, which would be invaluable for his search for other Infinity Stones. He couldn't let him escape.
With that thought, Bai Qi hurried to where he had buried Vision.
Fortunately, after the severe beating, Vision had lost two arms, significantly weakening him. Coupled with the enchantments Bai Qi had placed before leaving, even with all his might, Vision had only managed to extricate half his body from the earth.
Seeing Bai Qi striding towards him, Vision knew his opportunity was gone. With a sigh of resignation, he asked, "How is she?"
Bai Qi frowned at the "devoted" robot. "A hunk of metal playing at sentimentality? If you loved her so much, why did you let her fight for you? You should know, if you hadn't called her out, she wouldn't have died."
"I... forget it."
Bai Qi's words left Vision speechless. A look of weary acceptance washed over his face. He closed his eyes, saying no more.
Bai Qi stepped forward and slowly knelt. With three fingers, he gripped the Mind Stone on Vision's forehead. With a slight exertion of force, the surrounding vibranium skin fractured, and the gem was pried from its place.
Gazing at the lifeless Vision and then at the Mind Stone in his hand, Bai Qi said nothing more and turned to leave.
Without the distraction of Vision's released Mind Stone, the zombies outside began to advance on the military base, and many reckless zombies lunged towards Bai Qi.
As soon as these zombies entered a twenty-meter radius, their bodies seemed to suffer a powerful blow, instantly crushing them into a pulp on the ground.
Bai Qi, displeased with the chaotic surroundings, vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was on the summit of a mountain, somewhere unknown.
Breathing the fresh mountain air, enjoying the quiet environment punctuated by occasional birdsong, Bai Qi felt completely at ease. He decided this would be the place to absorb the Mind Stone's energy.
Having learned from his previous experience, and already possessing some Mind Stone energy within him, Bai Qi's affinity with the Mind Stone in his hand had reached an unprecedented level.
Yet, even so, Bai Qi was apprehensive about safety, fearing any mishaps during the energy absorption. After all, this time, he didn't have many people to set up defenses.
To that end, Bai Qi expended great effort in establishing massive magical barriers and formations around himself, effectively turning a half-kilometer radius into a forbidden zone.
To put it simply, from this moment on, even a single ill-intentioned fly venturing within half a kilometer of Bai Qi would be torn to shreds by the overwhelming defenses.
Having accomplished this, Bai Qi sat cross-legged and, following the previous procedure, began absorbing the Mind Stone's energy methodically.
Even though Bai Qi was meticulously controlling the energy to prevent leakage this time, and his affinity with the Mind Stone was high, as time passed, a considerable amount of energy still began to dissipate.
The last time Bai Qi absorbed gem energy, it was in the Shadow Realm, a kingdom entirely under his dominion. Naturally, no one would dare covet the gem's energy. But this time was different; Bai Qi was absorbing it in broad daylight.
The first to be drawn by the gem's energy were the zombies.
This was energy emanating from the Mind Stone, which offered significant benefits to psychic power. For these mindless zombies, a single whiff could greatly accelerate their awakening of intelligence.
Driven by their primal instincts for their own future, these zombies charged towards Bai Qi’s direction with utter disregard for their own lives, pushing forward relentlessly and at any cost. Many slower zombies were even pushed down and trampled into a bloody mess by those behind them.