Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

It wasn't until a day later, when Zhao Weike's friend was brought to the basement and appeared before Sherlock, that Sherlock finally understood the meaning behind Zhao Weike's enigmatic smile.

He even instantly understood the meaning behind Zhao Weike's strange look when he dressed up in this way.

The reason was simple: the person who followed Zhao Weike in was wearing a skull mask and orange sunglasses, completely covering himself up.

Most importantly, behind this tall man were three men who were very familiar to Sherlock.

"Simon Riley, codename Ghost, is a current member of the military's Task Force 141. He's a friend I met when I was on a mission in England."

Zhao Weike, barely suppressing a laugh, introduced the tall man in front of him to Sherlock. Although he didn't mention how he knew the ghost, Sherlock was quite familiar with the ghost's experiences.

Looking at the 'old version of the ghost' in front of him, Sherlock, dressed in a new version of the ghost outfit, always had a slightly awkward feeling, like a cosplayer seeing the real deal.

Fortunately, the ghost didn't care about that. Instead, after seeing Sherlock's attire, he smiled and extended his hand to Sherlock.

"Nice outfit!"

Hearing the ghost's praise, Sherlock could only glare at Zhao Weike, that scoundrel, while awkwardly shaking hands with the ghost.

The strange and awkward atmosphere between the two successfully amused the three big men following behind the ghost.

"Hahahaha, what did I just see? Ghosts met! Seriously, Simon, you should consider changing your outfit. This little guy's outfit is obviously way cooler than yours."

The mohawk-haired man following behind the ghost laughed heartily as he patted the ghost's shoulder, who was shaking hands with Sherlock, while mercilessly criticizing the ghost in front of him.

The mohawk-haired man's sarcastic remarks successfully made the already cheerful atmosphere even more joyful. Not only did Zhao Weike finally break down in laughter, but even the bearded man with the cigar in his mouth, whose face had been extremely serious throughout, subconsciously chuckled.

After a while, Zhao Weike finally managed to control himself and pointed at the man with the mohawk he had just complained about.

"John McTavish, codename Soap, is also a member of the military's Task Force 141, and a teammate of Ghost."

Compared to the real ghost named Simon, the man in front of him, codenamed Soap, was obviously more lively. After Zhao Weike introduced himself, he rushed up to Sherlock, grabbed Sherlock's hand, and said to Sherlock.

"Just call me Soap. We heard from Ghost that there was a side job, so we just followed him. Don't mind that we came uninvited. Also, don't laugh at my weird code name!"

Well, looking at the rather lively soap in front of him, Sherlock no longer had any thoughts of mocking it. This was Task Force 141!

A living, breathing Task Force 141!

God knows how much the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy before his time travel shocked Sherlock, who was just a young man at the time. In particular, the tragic endings of the characters in front of him made Sherlock, who was crying and cursing Sheffield and Makarov, frantically charge into battle while controlling his character.

Sherlock now felt like he was seeing his idol, and all his dissatisfaction vanished. He even began to feel grateful to the god of time travel.

If there's any problem, it might be the somewhat conflicted feeling about Task Force 141 appearing in the Marvel universe.

Clearly, Soap was oblivious to Sherlock's inner turmoil, and instead took over Zhao Weike's task, introducing his teammates to Sherlock.

"The one with the cigar is John Price, our commander, codename Colonel. You can call him Caterpillar if you like, since that mustache under his nose really does look like a caterpillar."

Let me tell you a secret, we're all secretly betting on whether any new recruit can secretly shave off Colonel Price's caterpillar hair; it's become one of the necessary experiences for new recruits.

As for the somewhat introverted guy named Gary Sanderson, codenamed "Little Strong," he's a newcomer to our team. We brought him along to broaden his horizons, and of course, his combat prowess is definitely not lacking.

Alright, 'Ghost,' now it's your turn!

Listening to Soap's seemingly chattering introduction, and Price's helpless eye-rolling expression as Soap spoke, Xiao Qiang shyly raised his hand to greet him. Sherlock excitedly removed the skull mask from his head, revealing his face, and gave the group of 141 a big smile.

"Sherlock Flamel, an ordinary alchemist!"

Chapter 285 Price: You be my cover!

Clearly, although Sherlock's self-introduction was completely different from the others, the members of 141 did not show any surprise or astonishment. Instead, they seemed unusually calm, or perhaps just a little curious.

Sherlock assumed that Zhao Weike had given Ghost and the others prior notice, but the actual reason was not so.

Although it is also Task Force 141, the actual opponents of Task Force 141 after its establishment are not terrorists like Makarov, or rather, they are even more terrifying than terrorists like Makarov.

Their opponents are all sorts of extraordinary events and extraordinary individuals!

To put it bluntly, Task Force 141 is the military's own 'S.H.I.E.L.D.', and in essence, it has a lot of overlapping business with the real S.H.I.E.L.D. The two should actually be considered genuine 'competitors'.

One is an organization nominally under the 'World Security Council', responsible for handling 'supernatural events' globally, while the other is a small team under the military, responsible only for matters within the military's sphere of influence.

Even so, they frequently encountered S.H.I.E.L.D., and their grudges ran deep. Otherwise, Ghost and the others wouldn't have responded so quickly to Zhao Weike's 'side job'.

It just goes to show that the world is sometimes too small, to the point that some things seem rather bizarre.

Of course, Sherlock was unaware of these things at the moment. After introducing himself and demonstrating his alchemy to satisfy Soap's noisy curiosity, the team quickly got back on track.

It must be said that compared to the assassin Zhao Weike, 141's style of doing things is completely different, and even their planning is completely different.

After reviewing the information provided by Winston and understanding the objectives of Sherlock and Zhao Weike, Price quickly devised the goals for this operation: to seize the data within the base and rob the warehouse containing anomalous items.

They gave their team a copy of the base's internal documents as payment for this side job.

After identifying his target, Price leveraged his connections and managed to obtain an accurate map of the entire New York subway system. He then combined this map with Winston's intelligence to begin analysis.

In Price's own words, the more solid a fortress appears, the more likely it is to have significant flaws, and the fact that Winston was able to obtain this intelligence proves that this seemingly impregnable fortress was already riddled with holes.

As for Sherlock, he was utterly astonished to see the complete set of New York subway maps that Price had brought him.

It can only be said that the Cold War era has indeed left an insurmountable legacy for future generations. Just look at the New York subway, which can be described as an 'underground kingdom', and it's enough to make Sherlock feel astonished.

Less than 10% of the subway lines are actually in operation in the entire 'underground kingdom'!

That alone made Sherlock's teeth ache!

And just as Price said, he quickly found a completely illogical place on the map: a passage connecting to the interior of the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch base!

A tiny, seemingly unnoticed passageway connects to an abandoned subway tunnel, creating a remarkably natural 'refuge'-like structure.

According to Price's estimate, this should have been an emergency evacuation exit reserved in the initial design of the base, but it was later abandoned for unknown reasons. Now it is very likely a "slacking-off spot" for employees of the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch base.

To be honest, Sherlock was still a little skeptical after listening to Price's analysis. After all, the people who could enter S.H.I.E.L.D., apart from Hydra, were at least trained. The idea that they could keep a secret base for themselves behind the backs of the base's higher-ups seemed particularly absurd to Sherlock.

However, Sherlock's doubts were quickly dispelled by Soap's words.

"Huh? Impossible? Sherlock, you're overthinking it! You know, even during wartime, there are people who fish in the midst of gunfire, let alone those who are still 'working'."

During the Gulf War, soldiers would often use patrol missions as an excuse to sneak off to a Chinese construction site to freeload. It's even rumored that they reported a lot of Chinese condiments in their military supplies in order to get free food and drinks.

Later on, it wasn't just ground troops who would slack off; even airmen transporting supplies would use the guise of "resupply" to freeload meals.

???

Hearing Soap's words, three huge question marks slowly appeared on Sherlock's head. He was completely baffled as to why such a thing could happen. In the end, he could only sigh that this world was indeed a collection of amateurs.

Price, however, paid no attention to Sherlock's doubts. After briefly discussing the feasibility of the plan with Zhao Weike, the two finalized the entire operation process.

Infiltrate the base from that slacking-off spot, obtain what you want, and incidentally sabotage the base's surveillance and storage systems before retreating by water.

Only in this way can the identities of everyone be concealed to the greatest extent possible, including Sherlock's unusual nature.

Of course, before that, they need to undergo some simple training to familiarize themselves with each other's cooperation and prepare all sorts of necessary items, such as protective gear, weapons and ammunition, diving equipment for retreat, and so on.

Sherlock readily agreed, saying he could create all of these on his own without any extra preparation; just give him the list.

Sherlock then received a list of required items, roughly one meter long, from Price.

Looking at the list of items in his hand, Sherlock's lips twitched non-stop. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything useless in it. He could only curse himself for taking on so much responsibility while silently embarking on his "overtime" journey.

Price and the others also dragged Zhao Weike to the shooting range for some simple training. After all, Zhao Weike's assassin fighting style was completely different from that of their combat squad, and they needed to get to know each other so that they could achieve the best coordination on the battlefield.

What? You mean Sherlock?

Well, putting aside the fact that Sherlock was working overtime in Zhao Weike's basement until his hands were practically sparking from rubbing them together, it wouldn't matter whether Sherlock participated in training or not, given his skill level.

After all, when Sherlock performed in front of the 141 members, taking a 9mm bullet to his face with his skull mask and remaining unharmed, Price's role for Sherlock became logistics and cover.

Sherlock exclaimed that this was completely different from what he had imagined special operations to be! Why the hell did he become a cover? Could someone tell him why there was a "cover" specialty within a special forces team?

Chapter 286 Operation Begins

Although Sherlock was extremely dissatisfied with his role as 'cover', he honestly didn't have much of a way to argue with it. Even though he was interested in firearms before he transmigrated, he was still trained by Zhao Wei after the transmigration.

However, she couldn't resist the influence of her rabbit soul from her past life, and Sherlock's marksmanship always easily turned from 'precision shooting' to 'firepower coverage' as she fired. To put it bluntly, she got carried away and started indiscriminately firing like a bandit.

It can only be said that the rabbit's fear of insufficient firepower is completely incurable.

Sherlock worked in the basement for a full day and night to prepare everything Price needed.

The next morning, while Sherlock was still catching up on sleep, the group went into the basement to try on the equipment Sherlock had prepared.

In addition to basic equipment such as bulletproof vests and chest harnesses, Sherlock made a black skull bulletproof mask for everyone. Together with a helmet, it could not only cover them up completely, but also greatly increase the level of protection.

The entire combat suit is predominantly black, accented with dark red patterns and Hydra armbands, along with the menacing skull bulletproof mask, giving it a distinctly Hydra-like appearance.

Of course, besides these, the most important things are guns and ammunition.

To be honest, Sherlock is really ruthless. All the bullets he uses are high-powered steel-core armor-piercing rounds, and neither the bullets, firearms, nor even tactical items have any serial numbers, making them completely untraceable.

After all, if all the armed guards in S.H.I.E.L.D. were killed, some would be innocent. But if every other one was killed, many Hydra agents would likely be missed. Therefore, Sherlock felt no remorse for the power of the weapons and ammunition he created.

Unlike the assassin missions Zhao Weike led Sherlock to participate in before, all the guns and ammunition in this assassin mission are custom-made versions thanks to the support of the Continental Hotel.

However, in this mission, Price's requirement for all weapons can be summed up in just two words: stability.

Whether it's the accessories on the gun, the ammunition, or the gun itself, the most important attribute is stability, so Sherlock has put a lot of effort into it.

Sherlock created an original version of almost all firearms, along with numerous modification parts, to allow people to customize them according to their own habits. After all, not everyone can get used to the top-notch customization offered by Continental Hotels.

The 141 members expressed their approval.

They all customized their weapons and then took them to the firing range to familiarize themselves with their performance.

After a morning of getting acquainted, the group of 141 had only one opinion about Sherlock's creation.

"That damned Ministry of National Defense's Procurement Department!"

When Sherlock woke up, everyone had already returned, and even their weapons had been adjusted to their optimal condition, leaving only Sherlock's.

Sherlock, however, remained completely unfazed. He leisurely created a 191 rifle right in front of everyone. Looking at the rifle in Sherlock's hand, which featured the modular design of the AR series and the simple and reliable attributes of the AK series, the 141s, after handling it, all agreed that it was a good gun.

Sherlock certainly agreed with this, after all, for Sherlock, the servo lever was the ultimate weapon! Simple and straightforward, even if it malfunctioned, all you had to do was kick it.

Anyone who has ever troubleshooted an AR-series rifle would probably curse, even though Sherlock is confident that the weapons he forges will never have any structural faults.

The group rested and played around until night fell again. After experiencing Helen's cooking at Zhao Weike's house, the members of Squad 141, along with Sherlock and Zhao Weike, drove away from the community.

As planned, after the group had dressed up inside the car, they found the subway station closest to the AT&T Longline building and waited quietly inside.

It wasn't until late at night, when the last subway train carried the crowd through, and the subway staff lazily emerged from the underpass and locked the doors to the subway station, that the group finally perked up.

At Price's signal, everyone quickly got off the bus and lined up to head into the subway.