Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

As for the others, they didn't say much. Apart from Anna and Mindy needing to go back to school, Zhao Weike and the captain didn't refuse to help Tony.

The only problem was that it was a bit of a headache that we couldn't approach Peggy Gardner in an 'unconventional' capacity.

But Sherlock didn't care about all that. He cheerfully took out his phone and called Winston, telling him that he would be taking some 'friends' to the Continental Hotel to choose some equipment later.

Sherlock made no attempt to hide anything from anyone, so after Sherlock made the call to Winston, everyone knew exactly what Sherlock meant by his so-called 'abnormal identity'.

However, strictly speaking, Sherlock's characterization is not wrong.

After all, regardless of whether Peggy Gardner is an ordinary person or the leader of an underground intelligence organization, it is normal for him to seek revenge as an assassin.

It was nothing more than the captain and Black Widow feeling a bit unaccustomed to picking up guns and fighting again after so long.

Of course, Tony's shooting skills are also a big problem.

After all, Sister Hua only trained Tony in close combat skills, not in shooting skills.

Seeing Sherlock's confidence, the group didn't say anything more and simply boarded Sherlock's giant raptor and drove towards the Continental Hotel.

Winston was unaware that Sherlock had gone on a trip to space, but he still roughly guessed who Sherlock's so-called 'friends' were, and thus opened the back door of the Continental Hotel to Sherlock after a long time.

When Sherlock stepped out of the car with Captain America, Tony Stark, and Black Widow—three famous Avengers—Winston's eyes lit up.

"Winston, it's been a long time! I need some weapons and clothes!"

"Of course, I believe you will be satisfied with the service provided by the mainland hotels."

After saying that, Winston chuckled and personally led Sherlock and his group into the Continental Hotel. However, to Winston's complete surprise, Sherlock threw a hood at them before leading them into the Continental Hotel.

Tony, Captain America, and Black Widow all quickly put on the hoods Sherlock gave them, leaving only their eyes exposed. Only Sherlock and Zhao Weike did not wear those damn hoods.

This situation stunned Winston, who looked at the three people wearing hoods with disbelief.

Sherlock ignored Winston's reaction and led the three of them into the Continental Hotel.

It wasn't until Zhao Weike passed by Winston at the very end that he patted the stunned Winston on the shoulder and said something to him.

“Winston, as a friend, I’m giving you this warning: don’t have any personal relationships with the other Avengers unless you’re willing to give up your hotel!”

After saying that, he passed Winston and caught up with Sherlock.

After hearing Zhao Weike's words, Winston stood there stunned for a long time before he seemed to realize something, pursed his lips, and cursed.

"These damned and greedy maggots!"

After finishing his tirade, Winston put on his standard smile and caught up with Sherlock's group.

Chapter 434 On the Eve of the Operation

Sherlock was unaware of the conversation between Zhao Weike and Winston that followed, but even if he had, he probably wouldn't have cared. With the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., the entire underworld underwent a major reshuffle, akin to the fall of a whale and the birth of many new things.

If Winston really wants to have some kind of relationship with the Avengers, he will likely face attacks from both the government and the underworld. Given Winston's abilities, while he may not die, he is almost certain to suffer a severe blow.

Sherlock led the group into the Continental Hotel, where, under Winston and Charon's arrangement, they were quickly equipped with weapons.

Needless to say, the captain, Black Widow, and Zhao Weike were all equipped with HK rifles from Taran Tactics, a partner of the mainland hotel, along with a pistol and a variety of tactical gear, which completed their firepower configuration.

The challenge lies with Tony and Sherlock. Sherlock picked and chose but ultimately opted for two submachine guns, while Tony was forced to use a shotgun.

As for combat uniforms, Sherlock did not choose traditional suits for the group, but instead opted for more convenient tactical clothing, along with chest armor that could hold inserts, which completed the basic setup.

Sherlock led everyone back to his home almost without stopping, as he needed to modify the group's weapons and equipment.

As for Zhao Weike and Black Widow, things were relatively easy. Sherlock assigned Zhao Weike to the role of a gunner, so he simply attached a grenade launcher to Zhao Weike's gun and that was it.

The real trump card for Zhao Weike was actually two high-frequency vibrating daggers. After all, Zhao Weike had trained in close combat under Sister Hua for so long, it would be a waste not to make use of them.

As for Black Widow, Sherlock simply installed a zoomable scope on her gun to make it easier for her to shoot accurately.

Black Widow's trump card is a variety of miscellaneous tactical equipment, all kinds of bombs, and she is even equipped with a small EMP bomb that can disable all electronic devices within a one-kilometer radius.

As for the captain, Sherlock had attached a bulletproof shield to his gun.

While it's not as useful as the Captain's own vibranium shield, it's sufficient for the front line. Moreover, given the Captain's superhuman physical abilities, wielding this incredibly bizarre and even completely ergonomically defying device isn't particularly difficult.

If there's anything bad about this thing, it's that it's incredibly ugly, terribly ugly!

It's like a rifle being forcibly shoved into the middle of a transparent bulletproof shield.

What really piqued Sherlock's interest was Tony and his own firearms. Sherlock himself used a spray-and-pray tactic, so the barrel and magazine needed to be reinforced. Meanwhile, to prevent Tony from accidentally injuring his teammates with bullets, Sherlock devised a gun-knife.

Using the shotgun's barrel as a framework, a high-frequency vibrating blade was installed below, and the stock was replaced with a knife handle, which enhanced Tony's close-combat ability as much as possible while ensuring long-range attacks.

The only problem is the way this oddly shaped gun-knife is loaded.

After thinking for a long time, Sherlock finally decided to use a folk method to load the bullets: a shotgun's quick-loading device, which is a strip about the length of five bullets, that you just need to push directly into the magazine.

To further enhance Tony's melee capabilities, Sherlock also reinforced Tony's suit by embedding vibranium wire inside the already bulletproof suit for added protection.

The result was that when Sherlock, Zhao Weike, Captain America, and Black Widow stood together, they looked like a tactical squad from a video game, somewhat artistically embellished.

But when Tony appeared, the style of the scene started to go strange.

Although he was wearing a combat suit similar to Sherlock's, Tony didn't have any bulletproof vest on; he just wore a combat suit without any protection.

If we're talking about defense, Tony has three shotgun reloaders hanging on each side of his waist, which should be able to stop some bullets.

Although anyone with even a basic understanding of firearms knows that this thing offers absolutely no defense, when combined with the bizarre combination of gun and sword in Tony's hand, it somehow gives off a cyberpunk vibe.

Even when Sherlock was making the helmet, in order to match the style of Tony's equipment, he actually made a cyberpunk-style tactical full-body helmet for Tony.

The five of them standing together looked like a super team of superheroes and a super assassin teaming up in a game.

Although Sherlock and his group appear to be heavily armed, in reality, Tony is the one with the most exaggerated defensive capabilities among the five.

After getting the equipment sorted out, Sherlock used the Space Stone that afternoon to bring everyone to the target town.

This is a small town called Opheim, located near the US-Canada border in Montana, only 16 kilometers from the University of California, Macdonald.

Montana is known for its vast rural areas and challenging communications infrastructure, making it a truly sparsely populated state.

In addition, the strong community culture in the United States makes towns like Opheim extremely sensitive to outsiders. However, the good news is that this sensitivity can become less sensitive under certain circumstances.

As is well known, the laws in Canada and the United States are different. Therefore, due to the differences in the laws of the two countries, there will always be some things that are illegal here but legal there.

This leads to a sense of unease in Opheim, which is located near the border, towards people carrying weapons. Although almost everyone in the town knows when a stranger arrives after sunset, no one pursues the matter.

In such places, the police-gangster relationship from the Western era is still maintained. As long as you don't cause trouble, the local sheriff won't provoke these seemingly unapproachable guys.

When Sherlock stepped out of the portal, he had to admit that the scenery was indeed quite beautiful, and he could almost see their target house at a glance.

The house of the woman named Peggy Gardner was located halfway up the mountain next to the town, and it was arguably the largest building in the entire town.

After exiting the portal, Sherlock thought for a moment and then drove the group directly to the forest outside the town to build an underground camp using alchemy. This was partly to make it easier to observe Peggy Gardner's house, and partly to learn more about the other side.

After putting on makeup, Black Widow and Tony drove Sherlock's Raptor into the town to inquire about Peggy Gardner.

However, just as Sherlock had set up all the equipment at the base, Tony and Black Widow returned with strange expressions. After everyone heard the information the two had gathered, their expressions became even stranger.

Chapter 435 Unexpected Changes

You might not believe it, but the entire town had a remarkably consistent opinion about this woman who went by the pseudonym Peggy Gardner. Regardless of gender or age, from the elderly to children, no matter how they described her, the conclusion was always the same:

slut!

Peggy Gardner's life is so regular it's almost unbelievable. She usually comes to town in the morning for breakfast, then buys some daily necessities. She has been repeating this routine day after day for decades.

He would then return to his mansion halfway up the mountain and would not appear in the town again for the rest of the afternoon or even into the evening, and the people in the town would not visit Peggy Gardner's house.

The reason is simple: the hill below the mansion is actually Peggy Gardner's private property, and no one can set foot on her private territory without her invitation.

Keep in mind that this is just a remote border town, where murder is practically an ironclad rule under the absurdly nonsensical law of "private property is inviolable".

Aside from the sheriff, no one would go out of their way to make things difficult for themselves, and even the sheriff had never set foot in Peggy Gardner's mansion.

After all, Peggy Gardner's donations to the police department were a given, and given that this woman, whose behavior was so predictable it was outrageous, rarely engaged in any extreme actions, the sheriff naturally wouldn't want to cause trouble for himself.

The reason why this woman, whose lifestyle was so outrageously regular, was described as a slut by the townspeople was quite simple: every afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles would drive into Peggy Gardner's private property and leave before dawn.

The vehicles included supercars, limited-edition luxury cars, ordinary family sedans, and even pickup trucks specifically designed for farm work.

It's no exaggeration to say that the cars entering Peggy Gardner's mansion are almost never the same every day. Some just look expensive, while others are so bad that you might suspect they would fall apart if you kicked them.

However, this is not the main reason why Peggy Gardner's reputation has been affected.

What truly earned Peggy Gardner the reputation of a slut was something the townspeople accidentally discovered.

No two people entered Peggy Gardner's mansion the same person every day! And most of them were young and strong men!

Some people even observed this for a full seven days. During those seven days, no two vehicles entered the mansion the same, and the license plates were all kinds of different places, including one from the neighboring Canada.

Most importantly, the people who entered the mansion were not the same people!

For seven whole days, there were men and women, the elderly and even children, but no two were the same!

Once word of this spread throughout the town, some young people were bound to be eager to challenge Peggy Gardner, the town's richest man, and see if they could succeed without even putting in any effort.

However, every time he tried to get close to Peggy Gardner, he was met with Peggy Gardner's disdainful look. In the worst cases, Peggy Gardner even got into a fight with the town's thugs.

As for the ending?

Although Peggy Gardner was not young, she managed to beat up two or three thugs. After beating up those thugs who used to be arrogant and domineering in the town, no one dared to mess with this woman.

It was at this time that the name "harlot" spread.

No one knows what Peggy Gardner does, nor does anyone know who those people who entered her mansion in the afternoon and left before dawn were.

After listening to the two men's accounts, Sherlock and his companions wore the same bewildered expressions as Tony.

Based on the information we have so far, we can't figure out what this so-called Peggy Gardner does at all, or even what's useful about him. All we know is his daily routine.

However, just as the group was still discussing what was hidden in Peggy Gardner's mansion, Black Widow, who had returned with Tony, suddenly seemed to remember something. Her face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and she looked at the group who were eager to guess Peggy Gardner's profession.

"Boys, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Upon hearing Black Widow's words, almost everyone's attention was drawn to her. Seeing the puzzled expressions on everyone's faces, Black Widow shrugged and continued.

"The good news is that I am fairly certain that my guess about Ms. Peggy Gardner's career was absolutely correct."

"And the bad news?"

Hearing what Black Widow said, Sherlock asked her curiously.

"The bad news is that our investigation into Peggy Gardner will be exposed tomorrow morning, with no room for maneuver!"