Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

At the same time as Sherlock's gunshot, Black Widow's gunshot rang out.

Although Black Widow's gun caliber was indeed not as large as the automatic heavy machine gun on the gate, it would not be difficult for her to damage the various motors and targeting devices on the heavy machine gun with a single bullet.

The instant Black Widow fired her gun, Captain America, along with Zhao Weike and Tony, began their advance towards the mansion located halfway up the mountain.

Inside the base inside the mountain, the armed personnel inside were stunned for a moment before quickly reacting the instant Sherlock activated his alchemy.

After investigating the matter separately, they began to gather in the direction of the mansion.

"Attention, personnel are starting to gather near the mansion. I will stall for time as much as possible. Captain, you must quickly eliminate the external enemies and get into the base!"

"Roger that!"

As the captain answered, gunshots rang out continuously from Black Widow and the captain's side, while Sherlock's side was not idle either, and the base inside the mountain began to change.

The base, which should have been safe and secure, suddenly came to life and turned into an escape room full of deadly traps, with spikes, tunnels, and even roads appearing inexplicably.

As a result, some of the people who had gathered towards the mansion were wiped out by the traps that Sherlock had hastily created.

The instant Sherlock sensed something amiss at the base, he perceived a small team of about 20 people beginning to converge on the core area at the center of the mountain.

Sherlock did not stop this behavior; on the contrary, he seemed to be happy to see it happen.

It's important to know that Sherlock couldn't use alchemy to make large-scale alterations to such a mountainous base, for a simple reason: he was afraid of landslides!

After all, it's not on the ground. There are too many uncertainties inside the mountain. If a node is accidentally disturbed and causes a massive collapse inside, then the situation would be dire. That's why Sherlock is constantly repairing the base while maintaining control of it.

Especially with those wicked maggots paying extra attention to the Avengers and himself, Sherlock didn't want to attract too much attention.

On the other side, the captain and Zhao Weike lived up to their reputation as one of the world's top combat forces. Although the captain rarely used firearms in combat, he was, after all, a soldier and was no stranger to the use of weapons.

Combined with the captain's freakish physical abilities and the 'shield' Sherlock crafted for him, along with Zhao Weike, the sharpshooter, and Black Widow, who took down the sixth brother with a sneak attack, the effect far exceeded expectations.

Of course, the teamwork between these three was far from amazing.

Tony was truly amazing!

Chapter 440 The Operation Begins (Part 2)

Compared to the captain and Zhao Weike, Tony didn't have their precise and flashy tactical maneuvers, nor did he have their tacit understanding like the pilots of the Jaegers in Pacific Rim.

However, thanks to his suit, which was arguably the strongest defensive suit in the entire arena, and the close-combat instincts he had honed through countless deaths at the hands of Sister Hua, Tony transformed into a sword saint.

Holding a strangely shaped weapon, he weaved through the crowd, blades and lead bullets flying everywhere. With his own abilities, he managed to achieve a K/D ratio that was on par with the captain and Zhao Weike.

As a result, Captain America, Zhao Weike, and even Black Widow had to remind Tony from time to time in the communications to conserve his energy and even tell him not to rush too hard.

However, it was clear that Tony hadn't fully heeded the others' advice. After all, as long as Tony didn't encounter any explosives, he was the most invincible being on the entire battlefield.

The reason why the explosives were still able to harm Tony is quite simple.

One reason is that Tony's suit is not a pure vibranium suit with nano-protection like the Black Panther's; it is just an ordinary suit mixed with vibranium and the Continental Hotel's bulletproof materials.

On the other hand, it's also because Sherlock couldn't make the vibranium suits that Wakanda wore.

It's not that Sherlock's technology is incapable of replicating Wakanda's vibranium technology, but rather that Sherlock completely misunderstands the principles behind Wakanda's vibranium technology.

After all, Wakanda is a technological nation that evolved from the properties of vibranium.

Or, to put it another way, giving an example would help people understand why Sherlock couldn't create the vibranium suit that Black Panther wore.

It's as if there's a substance that can travel against gravity, or even perform space jumps with just simple processing. Based on the physical properties of this substance, it's entirely possible to make an ordinary wooden ship, or even a stone ship, travel through space.

Most importantly, this substance is almost everywhere in the universe, but it is not found in the solar system.

If this were the case, the result would be that the Age of Exploration in space would completely abandon the solar system where Earth is located.

Even when aliens are waging war across nebulae with swords and guns, Earth, despite possessing powerful weapons like the atomic bomb, remains confined to its small solar system.

In this situation, Wakanda's vibranium technology is essentially equivalent to Earth, while the outside world's technological level is equivalent to those aliens. It would be a miracle if you could understand it.

Of course, in Sherlock's view, those black guys in Wakanda were just plain stupid, their technology was completely misguided, and they were still relentlessly exploiting others.

After all, vibranium reserves are limited. The day vibranium runs out will be the day Wakanda's technology collapses. However, considering that those black guys were still smug about doing stupid things like wearing Tony's high-tech armor to fight in tribal wars, Sherlock didn't say anything more.

On the battlefield, with the continuous efforts of the three below, the security personnel who had poured out of the base at the beginning of the battle were quickly wiped out by the three.

"Check! Change magazines! Alchemist, we're about to enter the building."

The captain quickly issued orders to his squad members and informed Sherlock, who was located on the mountaintop. Sherlock responded immediately after receiving the captain's report.

"Understood. I will take over the guidance from now on. Black Widow will go down the mountain to help you guard the exit."

"Roger! Assault team members, prepare to enter!"

After giving Sherlock a brief response, the captain led Tony and Zhao Weike, guns in hand, into the mansion. The captain, shield in hand, led the way, followed by Zhao Weike, and then Tony brought up the rear.

After the three entered the mansion, Black Widow put away her guns, glanced at Sherlock who had his hands pressed to the ground, and then turned and left.

Sherlock was now fully engaged, constantly updating the captain and the others on the situation inside the base.

"Two people around the corner ahead!"

"Kill him!"

"Turn left and go upstairs. It's the second room on your right. I've already opened a passage for you. Be careful, you'll be ambushed by a four-person squad once you enter. I suggest using grenades to clear the way!"

"Roger that!"

Under Sherlock's command, the three captains seemed to have X-ray vision, easily breaking into the base inside the mountain.

Even after entering the base, Sherlock's commands continued uninterrupted.

"Captain and Iron Man, continue forward. Night Demon, turn left and break away from the group! There is an ambush position 50 meters ahead. After advancing 100 meters, Night Demon can turn right at the third intersection to get behind the enemy. You may encounter small groups of enemies along the way, so be on guard."

With Sherlock's almost godlike command, the three of them encountered almost no resistance and arrived at the core of the mountain base without stopping.

When the captain and his team reached this point, they were unable to advance any further.

The reason is simple: the enemy inside the base seems to have noticed the captain and his team's unusual behavior and has concentrated almost all of their personnel at the entrance to the core area.

With such overwhelming numbers, even if the captain and his team were incredibly strong, they wouldn't be able to break through in a short time.

Seeing this, Sherlock thought for a moment before speaking to everyone over the communicator.

"Captain, stay hidden and try to buy some time. I'll cut off the scanner and Black Widow to come and support you!"

"Received. Be careful on the road!"

Upon hearing the captain's response, Sherlock decisively severed his alchemy, stood up, and ran towards the mansion.

Meanwhile, Black Widow, upon hearing Sherlock's words, ran into the mountainside without a word.

To Sherlock's surprise, shortly after he entered the base inside the mountain, the only remaining entrance to the base silently and automatically closed itself.

As Sherlock moved forward, he soon arrived beside the captain and his men.

Black Widow used almost all of the tactical equipment she was carrying in front of the gate to the core area, and at this moment, the location of the core area gate was, without exaggeration, a scene of utter hell.

Corpses and remains were everywhere, and a thin layer of sticky blood was spread on the ground. A nauseating stench filled the passageway.

The moment Sherlock arrived at the gate, he activated the helmet of his armor to seal off the outside air, not for any other reason than the unpleasant smell.

Of course, the reason why the captain and his team did not continue forward was also on the scene. The reason that prevented them from continuing forward was actually very simple: behind that hellish scene was a door that looked incredibly heavy.

Such doors are usually only found in banks or various types of shelters.

In other words, if Sherlock doesn't come, with their current firepower, they are practically helpless against this gate.

Chapter 441 Meeting an Old Friend (Part 1)

Unlike the captain and the others, the heavy door in front of him was practically useless to an alchemist like Sherlock. In fact, the numerous corpses at the entrance and the blood covering the ground posed more of an obstacle to Sherlock than the door itself.

Suppressing his nausea and the slippery ground beneath his feet, Sherlock's first action upon reaching the heavy door was not to use alchemy to dismantle it.

Instead, he took out a rag and, under everyone's indescribable gaze, manually cleaned a small, palm-sized area before pressing it against the door.

The next second, crimson lightning erupted, and in the blink of an eye, the heavy door turned to ashes right before everyone's eyes.

The sight inside the gate made the captain and his group's pupils shrink sharply.

The reason is simple: the scene inside the gate was simply too astonishing!

Beyond the gate lies a vast spherical space, and at the very center of this space is a massive spherical object, entirely encased in thick glass and connected to the outside spherical space by countless cables.

The huge sphere inside the glass enclosure has its interior space artificially divided into two parts: the upper part contains neat cabinets and indicator lights, while the lower part contains a huge battery pack to power the upper part.

The main gate and the giant sphere at the center of the space are connected only by an ordinary iron bridge. Only after walking across the iron bridge can one discover a giant screen, about the size of a person, at the end of the bridge.

Their target this time, a woman named Peggy Gardner, was standing right next to the screen, looking at them with her standard smile.

Like a robot, Peggy Gardner showed no signs of being alive.

Just as Sherlock and his companions were utterly astonished by the bizarre situation before them, and even began to ponder what was going on, something unexpected happened once again.

The large screen next to Peggy Gardner suddenly lit up, and a person who was extremely familiar to Black Widow, Captain America, and Tony appeared on the screen.

"Dr. Zola?"

Tony, his face filled with disbelief, ripped off his helmet and stared dumbfounded at the digital figure that appeared on the screen.

"Weren't you killed by that bunker buster bomb when you were at the base?"

Not only Tony, but even Captain America and Black Widow looked incredulous, after all, they had also experienced this incident and could be said to have been deeply affected by it.

Zhao Weike was the only one who didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that now was not a good time to ask.

Compared to the others, only Sherlock remained relatively calm.

After casually removing his helmet, he looked at Dr. Zola on the screen with an "I knew it" expression, patted Tony on the shoulder, and said.

"Don't even think about it. How could those people in high positions really die for one thing? From the beginning, I suspected that the one left in the captain's old base was probably just a 'clone,' and the one in front of us is probably the real Dr. Zola."

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Dr. Zola on the screen actually clapped for Sherlock, and the electronic sound effect then came out from the speakers.

“Excellent! Alchemist Sherlock Flamel! But how did you determine that the one before you was my clone, and this one is my true self? Or to put it more clearly, how did you determine that the one before you is not a clone?”

Hearing Dr. Zola's seemingly provocative remarks, Sherlock smiled and pointed to the huge sphere behind Dr. Zola's screen.

"First, answer the question of how you can determine that this is your true self and not a clone."

It's very simple. On the one hand, it's because I've cut off all external connections. To put it bluntly, this place is now an isolated island from the outside world. Even if I wanted to leave a clone behind to relocate, I probably wouldn't be able to.

Secondly, why can we be certain that you are Dr. Zola's true identity?