Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 220 New Tickets (Second Update)

Nick Fury entrusted the Tahiti project to Salomon entirely because of Natasha Romanoff's recommendation. As an agent who had experienced a near-death experience, Romanoff did not hide this fact from Nick Fury, and Salomon Damonette, who had brought her back to life, became the most valuable advisor to the Tahiti project.

Agent Romanoff, though sharp-tongued, didn't stop working. She handed a thick folder to Salomon as she spoke. The arcane mage, completely oblivious to secrecy, casually sat on a park bench and flipped through the files—Project Tahiti was originally intended to rescue severely wounded Avengers. This project, initiated before the current Avengers were formed, was part of Nick Fury's Avengers plan and had already saved the lives of many agents—that was a euphemism. To be precise, those severely wounded agents had all undergone illegal human experimentation, and after the experiments, they all developed extremely serious mental illnesses: delusions, mania, and paranoia.

"I don't have these symptoms because of you." Natasha blinked, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. She had only learned about the Tahiti Plan yesterday, but she was certain that the sorcerer before her knew something beforehand. "Now that no one is eavesdropping, can you tell me why you insisted on leaving the Helicarrier? Did you already know that Agent Coulson had been killed? Or did you already know the details of the Tahiti Plan?"

“I can predict, madam, and with extremely high accuracy.” Salomon flipped through the photographs in the file. All agents who underwent the Tahiti Project experiments went into a state of madness, drawing certain regular patterns everywhere, and never stopping. Comparisons showed that the patterns drawn by all the experimental agents were remarkably similar, but no pattern could be found, and the researchers of the project hadn't focused their efforts on this. “Prophecy, glimpsing a corner of fate—I don't see the future through tea leaves or flames, but directly through the roots of this world,” the sorcerer said. “It's perfectly normal for me to know some things in the future, so I prepare before certain things happen. Are you sure no one's eavesdropping?”

“I’m quite certain,” Agent Romanov said. But Salomon wasn’t going to take her word for it. The sorcerer extended a finger and chanted a spell, a beam of shimmering blue light sweeping across Agent Romanov’s body—this was a first-circle prophecy spell called “Detect Technology,” similar in effect to detection magic, able to detect technological objects rather than magical auras. Salomon used this spell to detect eavesdropping devices.

"What is this?"

"Alright, there are no listening devices. Now, I have a suggestion for you, Natasha."

"This is the first time you've called me by my name so intimately, Magician." Agent Romanov tossed his red hair. "You've always called me 'Agent Romanov' or 'Madam.' I think your suggestion might be terrible, just like your inappropriate politeness."

"This is a good thing for you." The sorcerer ignored Natasha's sarcasm. "I've made this suggestion to Agent Victoria Hand before, and I'm making it to you now. I foresaw the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. After that, agents like you will need a place to stay, an organization to protect you. Coincidentally, I plan to establish an organization targeting secular dark magic creatures to compensate for Kamar-Taj's weakness in secular power. This is something I can't do alone. Although I will provide magical technical assistance, I still need an executive officer, an agent with strong organizational skills—I've chosen Agent Victoria Hand for the latter, and you are the only one for the former. This is a true savior organization. In my eyes, humanity is one, without any political bias. Riots in any region are irrelevant to this organization. The only enemies of this organization are dark magic creatures and aliens."

"When did you start having this idea?" Natasha wasn't swayed by Salomon's words. Although they were somewhat intimidating, they were, after all, just a prophecy. Agent Romanov would carefully consider even the simplest of statements, so she couldn't possibly accept Salomon's prophecy outright. However, the current situation had already demonstrated the accuracy of Salomon's prophecy, so she would take it seriously while remaining skeptical.

"A long time ago. To be honest, I had this thought the first time I sat on a long-distance bus during my first mission. Long bus rides make your butt hurt, and I thought the Quinjet might be better," the arcane mage said with a smile. "So I've already started recruiting—you should know how bad your situation would be if S.H.I.E.L.D. fell."

"How did the Han German agents respond?"

“Oh, she told Nick Fury about it,” Salomon said nonchalantly. “And Nick Fury thinks I’m just trying to scare him. He thinks management and coordination are things that need to be learned, things I’ve never learned—I haven’t, but I can find people who have. I don’t mind Agent Hand’s betrayal; it’s her responsibility, and I foresaw her fate. She’ll naturally accept my offer then. But you’re different, Agent Romanoff…”

"Say my name."

"Okay, Heisenberg (a reference to Breaking Bad)," the sorcerer said. "I don't want you to tell Nick Fury about this, and I don't want him to take it seriously. It's good enough that he stays dismissive. You're currently on a leaky ship, and I've given you the opportunity to jump ship—you can choose to throw away your new ticket and sink with the old one, or you can choose to become the first mate of another ship. It might be smaller, but it's incredibly safe. I'm not asking for an answer right now; I want you to think carefully and then give me your answer."

"So your way of getting revenge on Nick Fury is to cultivate a whole bunch of Van Helsings within S.H.I.E.L.D.? You're going to give them crossbows?" Agent Romanoff tilted his head. "I promise you, but I need to know how long this ticket is valid for."

"It has always worked for you."

"Oh, you have such a sweet tongue. That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard. You know what you just said sounded just like a nerdy high school student in love."

"F*uck off. Now you can tell Nick Fury that I accepted the Tahiti plan."

"Tell me, why did you take over the Tahiti project? Don't look at me like that, Director Fury will definitely think so. You have to give me a good reason."

“Because of the prophecy,” Salomon said. “Because in the prophecy, the Colcentr's Guild will save humanity, so I will save it. I think that reason should be enough to fool Nick Fury. Remember my offer, this job also comes with the benefit of avoiding hell.”

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"So that little bastard accepted the Tahiti plan because the Colcentr's Guild saves the world? What kind of reason is that!" Nick Fury suddenly realized. "Did he treat me like that because I can't save the world? You snob brat!"

"Sir, I think he makes a good point." Agent Romanoff sat in a chair nearby, a thick layer of concrete above her head. This was one of Nick Fury's secret bases. Two days had passed since the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. disappeared, and Nick Fury had been working tirelessly here, making phone calls and contacting investigators. When Agent Romanoff returned, she saw Nick Fury with bloodshot eyes, and Salomon's reasons only added fuel to the fire.

"You little bastard, you little bastard..." Nick Fury muttered, continuing to peruse the paper documents. Seeing this, Agent Romanoff realized Salomon was right; there really were problems within S.H.I.E.L.D. She began to seriously consider the sorcerer's suggestion.

"I have to be there tomorrow," the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. sighed. "That little bastard completely ruined my plans! Damn it! I could have conducted a much longer investigation!"

"So what problem did you discover? You should know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is my sanctuary, and I have the right to know." Agent Romanoff withheld some information; she was seriously considering Salomon's proposal.

"You're starting to act like a soldier, not a spy, Agent Romanoff." Nick Fury picked up the file and waved it around. "I've found a lot of clues, but none of them point to the same person—there's a disloyal faction within SHIELD, and I have to dig them out and deal with them without disrupting SHIELD's normal operations. The best-case scenario is that it's just a small faction; the worst-case scenario is that it's an infiltration by the CIA, FIB, or some other intelligence agency. And why the US? Because the US provides the most funding, of course."

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(End of this chapter)