Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 700 Peaceful Coexistence (Second Update)

Perhaps because no paranormal enthusiasts had visited in a long time, many of the souvenirs in the church remained unsold. After listening to the local priest's ramblings, Wanda and Pietro reluctantly bought two crucifixes and a few books about the haunted house of Poliledori before finally saying goodbye to the overly enthusiastic clergyman. Wanda had initially assumed the books were written by a famous paranormal expert, but before throwing them in the trash, she glanced at them and discovered that the author was actually the priest.

Without hesitation, she threw the book into the trash can and planned to tell Salomon the story as a joke.

Wanda planned to walk along the banks of the Staull River, performing some spiritual rituals along the way—according to the files she had read about missions carried out at Kamar-Taj, doing so at paranormal sites wouldn't attract unwanted attention and could even serve to conceal one's identity at times. Seeing her sister's insistence, Pietro could only follow closely behind Wanda, holding an umbrella and trying his best to keep the lit black incense candle in her hand from going out.

The scent emanating from the lit black candles was extremely pungent, but Wanda seemed oblivious to it, as if her sense of smell had been deafened, forcing Pietro to stretch his arms as far as possible. Besides, Wanda's slow, deliberate gait was torture for Pietro.

Compared to his sister, who received ample training while still in the castle, Pietro only began to properly utilize his abilities after leaving. After extensive training with the Avengers, he had become accustomed to his superhuman speed; normal human movements appeared to him as slow motion. His voice was drawn out, his movements slowed, as if everyone else lived in frozen air, while he alone was free. This feeling frequently surfaced, to the point that Pietro would periodically fall into a trance-like state. This was torture for him, and sometimes, when he entered this state, he would become completely disoriented.

Fortunately, he didn't have an attack while performing the task, otherwise he would have looked like a restless idiot.

Wanda carefully shielded the candle with her palm, muttering in a language no one could understand. She walked back and forth along a stretch of riverbank several times before finally pointing to a section of the riverbed. "That's it!" she said. "I don't think there's anything worse for this, or rather, for ordinary people, vengeful spirits are bad enough, enough for them to write books and make movies."

"There's no need to be so harsh. We used to enjoy watching horror movies too."

"What are you still doing standing here?" Wanda asked, tilting her head. "I've already done my job representing the Immortal City. Shouldn't it be your turn to take over now?"

"The Avengers don't have a base in London." Pietro pulled out his issued phone, glanced at the map and intelligence displayed on it, and said, "Besides, your plane is flying too fast; the Quinjet can't keep up. I'm sure the special forces are still over the Atlantic, complaining and demanding the pilot fly at full speed."

"I thought you came alone!" Wanda looked genuinely surprised, even spilling some candle wax in her hand. "Do those idiots in the Avengers think they can solve magic problems with bullets?" Wanda felt a stinging pain on the back of her hand from the burn. She frowned, clearly annoyed. "Agent Hill, right? What is she trying to do? Does she want the Immortal City to kill off some more agents who saw things they shouldn't have?"

Maybe that's what Agent Hill was thinking! Wanda thought of a possibility.

"We can make an assumption that Wanda Maximoff doesn't understand Salomon's true nature. Because in the last East Coast earthquake, it was the Kamar-Taj sorcerers who executed the agents. So we can infer that Wanda Maximoff didn't know this, and she never truly understood the core of the organization Salomon created," Agent Hill stated confidently. Her audience wasn't members of the Avengers, but rather Nick Fury, whom they had been searching for for so long and who had now disappeared.

"That's a possibility, but it's not 100% certain, is it?"

"I don't think this attempt will result in any losses, sir." Agent Hill shook her head. "The Avengers' base is crammed with agents from various intelligence organizations. I don't think they can use the base's communication systems to transmit intelligence under Vision's surveillance. It turns out that the agents that have been identified are all independent, and to ensure the safety of other agents, they don't know who else comes from the same organization. Since we can't openly eliminate these spies, we can incorporate them into this mission. Even if Wanda Maximoff really does the same thing as Salomon, the Avengers' strength won't suffer too much loss."

"Does Rogers or Stark know about this?"

"Are you sure you want them to know this, sir?" Agent Hill shook his head. "They have absolutely no idea how badly they're in this situation, or that they're being monitored. Every time I go to Washington for a hearing, I hear a lot of proposals to limit the Avengers. The only reason these proposals haven't passed yet is because they haven't caused any major trouble, or because some people need the Avengers to fight political or business enemies. But I think if they continue to cross borders recklessly to hunt down Hydra, then those proposals won't be far off. They think everyone in the world likes them. Especially General Ross, who's entered politics; he doesn't give Dr. Banner a friendly look."

"There's no need to tell me this, Hill. The Avengers are just an emergency team, used for things ordinary people can't handle. If you want, you can use them as special agents. This team was supposed to be disbanded after the Battle of New York, but that's not my decision now." Nick Fury's holographic projection face was relaxed, as if he didn't care about the Avengers at all. "Let Stark pay the price for his dreams; he can afford it."

"Sir, this is a very serious matter! I hope you can resolve this; the world still needs the Avengers."

"Don't call me 'sir,' Hill. I'm retired now. Look around me. Homeless people, addicts, the unemployed, black drug dealers—I'm no different from them except for sharing a single needle. I'm a wanted man, a dead man in name only. Nobody can control me, and I'm not accountable to anyone! This is my own junkyard; I can generate electricity with hamsters and spend all day browsing the 4Chan forum on my phone!"

"Stop joking around, sir!" Agent Hill slammed her hand on the table, making the tablet jump. She didn't know Nick Fury's exact location, but she was certain he wasn't hanging out with homeless people; that was just a made-up excuse to get rid of this trouble. "Salomon's organization is a threat to the world! I've seen through his true nature; he's brutal and cold-blooded..."

"We've always been like this, Hill. Try to make peace with Salomon. I know you're upset that Salomon watched S.H.I.E.L.D. crumble, but if you get along with him, you'll find he's a good guy. He keeps his promises and is very principled. As long as you don't break the rules of his organization, which are thousands of years behind the times, he'll even make you breakfast."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)