Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 744 Product Marketing Strategy (Second Update! Last day, please vote!)

Despite Salomon's demands, Frank Castle remained defiant, nearly causing the fully armed Sofia to punch him. However, what surprised Salomon even more was that Frank Castle didn't recognize him, even though they had met once a few years prior.

"Do you think I'm some trendy young person looking for some urban legend?" Facing this retired soldier, the sorcerer had to change his tone, his language becoming so rude it could make a etiquette teacher faint; F-words were practically everywhere. He wouldn't adopt the attitude of "there are only two kinds of English in the world, English and error"; overly refined idioms were completely incomprehensible to Frank Castle—too much of a stretch for an American soldier who'd only attended public school.

"I'm here to offer you a suggestion, a mutually beneficial one. I know you hate being investigated, but—don't rush to pull the knife, you can't beat me—I've already found out everything you want. I don't care if you want to rot in alcohol or live an anonymous life, I'm offering you a job. If you can still remember things from a few years ago, you'll know my offer hasn't changed, it's all written on this piece of paper."

Frank Castle took a sip of his drink, seemingly oblivious to the contract Sophia had placed on the bar. His attention was completely absorbed by the glass of Kimberley whiskey, as if every word Salomon uttered during the video call was drowned out by the bar's cacophony. After a while, appearing somewhat impatient with Sophia standing beside him, he glanced at his phone out of the corner of his eye. "You haven't fucking shown up in front of me at all."

"Really?"

Frank Castle frowned. He noticed the loud music in the bar was gradually lengthening, and the lights were casting long, trailing shadows. He instinctively thought he'd been poisoned, but just as he was about to take Sophia hostage and pull a weapon from the holster on her leg, he found the notes in the air being stretched into low, painful cries. The dim light, like fresh paint on an old canvas, blurred into halos as his fingers traced it. A hand wearing three rings emerged from his glass and landed steadily on the bar. Then came an arm, a head, and finally, the upper body of a man crawled out of the small glass, like a genie from a fairy tale.

"What the F*ck!" Frank Castle forced himself to remain calm. His brain wasn't recognizing what he was seeing as reality, but rather as some kind of hallucination caused by poisoning. He stood up from his chair, feeling around with his fingers to assess reality, trying to find a way out.

"I'm right here in front of you, Frank Castle?" The hand placed a roll of parchment on the bar.

"F*ck!" Frank Castle pushed through the motionless crowd and took a few steps back. His eyes widened, and his heart raced. He clenched his fists, his adrenaline surging, ready to react to any sudden situation. He was convinced he was hallucinating, hence his extreme aggression.

"Hey! Listen to me, I know I'm in a terrible state right now. But please don't hurt my girl. I owe Sophia's father a huge favor," the sorcerer said. "I don't have time to travel halfway around the world to see you. My alchemical golem can only maintain one at a time, so this is the only way. Do you think I'd be happy to taste the awful flavor of Kimberley whiskey? Time is moving very slowly right now, and only the two of us and Sophia are able to move normally, so listen to my advice and let's help each other."

What if I say no?

"Then you'll never find a target for revenge," Salomon said quite frankly. "It's not that I did anything wrong, it's just that you can't find one. You need my help. I inherited most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s overt power, and I can provide you with anything you want. Don't do that—"

“Recruitment?” Victoria Hand flipped through the file. “What’s the big deal about an ordinary Afghan veteran, or even a soldier registered as dead? I know the regular army and special operations teams operate completely differently, not to mention there’s a lot of advanced weaponry to learn how to operate. But if you need to, you can always draw manpower from a special operations team to complete the mission. Also, when did you start drinking Kimberley whiskey? I don’t remember liking that cheap stuff.”

"Ever since my water elemental construct was shot, I've been planning to punish myself with this liquor," Salomon said irritably. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough to trigger the magical tattoo on Sophia's back that teleported her back, Frank Caster might have even killed her in close combat. As a girl who had grown up in Siberia, Sophia didn't take it to heart, but Salomon felt a pang of guilt. He had promised Jacob to protect Sophia, even though she was older than him. "Frank Caster, the fact that he could kill my water elemental construct proves he's very capable," the arcane mage said, somewhat frustrated. "I don't even understand how he fired so many shots! The information from the water elemental construct was simply insufficient."

“Perhaps you could have someone from the special forces talk to him, instead of using magic.” Victoria Hand slammed the file onto the ornate desk in the Internal Affairs Office, as if the Renaissance furniture were the same alloy tabletop she used at S.H.I.E.L.D. “He’s a retired soldier; he needs people with whom he can connect. You don’t have that kind of experience, so you can’t possibly understand the psychology of someone like that. From now on, please delegate this kind of work to the intelligence department.”

"I just... I know you're busy, Hand, I think I can handle this little thing."

"As long as you insist on meeting others in this way, it's impossible."

"I'm using a technology projector now!"

Victoria Hand pointed a finger impatiently, and Salomon, sitting behind the desk, was suddenly partially obscured by shadow. Only after Salomon's holographic projection started whirring did the intelligence chief return to his seat. "There's no difference, my lord. Frank Castle values ​​sincerity; his thinking remains rooted in military principles. If he can't understand you, he won't cooperate. Are you willing to let him understand you?"

"Frank Castle has a simple sense of justice; he's the kind of person who would stand up for the innocent. I'm sure it's written in the case files. He represents the most intense and basic goodness in humanity—that is, that evil will be punished. I need someone like that." Salomon sighed. "And look at me, V. I went to a public school in England, attended Oxford, was on the rowing and fencing teams, and am skilled in painting and sculpture. What aspect of my outward identity would appeal to a veteran like him? And if we're talking about the other side, it's even worse: a butcher of extradimensional beings and aliens, who doesn't care about casualties during missions, and possesses unimaginable magic… That's even less appealing, Hand, at least not to ordinary people. I think there's something wrong with my product marketing strategy."

"Do you need other people to like you?"

"No need." The sorcerer shrugged, then pinched his nose and drank the Kimberley whiskey, looking extremely pained.

"Leave this to me. Luckily, the person monitoring Wilson Fisk hasn't left New York yet. Don't worry, the agent is a veteran; he and Frank Castle have plenty to talk about." She pushed up her glasses and said dryly, "But how can I? I hope you can explain this to Frank Castle properly."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)