Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

After Pepper Potts fobbed off all the official organizations from the ruins of Tony's mansion, Black Widow went back with them.

Thanks to Sherlock's intelligence, the first thing Black Widow did upon returning was to begin an investigation into the Pentagon's connections to Killian.

It would have been fine if they hadn't investigated, but after a thorough investigation, even Scarlett Johansson couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

Killian's Pioneer Technology was a company that was established entirely out of thin air, and its main business was to use the Extremis virus to efficiently restore severed limbs.

Killian was a company that was established by swindling funding from the Ministry of Defense based on Mayan research.

Most importantly, this guy not only got something for nothing, but his experiments were also far from rigorous.

According to the documents stolen by Black Widow, Killian only conducted plant and animal experiments for less than a year before eagerly starting human experiments.

The materials used in human experiments are mostly disabled veterans!

The invitation was issued in the name of the Ministry of Defense, but after the experiment failed and deaths and injuries occurred, the Ministry of Defense covered it up. In the end, those 'guinea pigs' who participated in the experiment were given a medal and a pitiful amount of compensation under the guise of sacrifice, and that was the end of it.

As Black Widow's investigation progressed, the missing evidence that Sherlock mentioned was also copied by her from the Department of Defense's servers.

That was a video recording of an experiment.

In the video, after Killian and Maya injected the Extremis virus into the disabled soldier who was strapped to a frame, flames like blood vessels began to emerge from the soldier's body.

In less than a breath, the soldier strapped to the frame exploded like a small bomb, leaving not even a trace of his body behind.

The only trace that could prove this person's existence was the black figure on the frame that held the body in place, which looked like the shadow left after a nuclear explosion.

Scarlett Johansson gasped when she saw this.

After storing the USB drive containing the evidence, Scarlett Johansson began her investigation into the group of heartless maggots within the Department of Defense.

After all, Killian's limb regeneration project couldn't have gotten investment from those heartless maggots for nothing. In their eyes, soldiers were expendable, inferior people, and even less valuable than a good weapon.

Under such circumstances, do you expect those black-hearted maggots in the Pentagon to consider the lives of disabled veterans and to research limb regeneration technology in order to ensure that they can live normal lives after their discharge?

Grandma!

Anyway, Black Widow knows that Killian's ability to secure investment definitely wasn't for that reason! A more likely reason is that Killian's pioneering technology has something those heartless maggots need.

The first thing Scarlett Johansson thought of was where the funds would go.

After all, in the United States, it's not uncommon for Commissioner Smith to launder money under the guise of a company. Just look at how much money Commissioner Smith and his associates made from a bag of screws worth $90,000.

However, after Scarlett Johansson's investigation, it was unfortunately decided that this path was rejected.

Although there are indeed traces of those Smith agents in Pioneer Technology, they are not the most important part; rather, they are more like a dispensable line of communication for those Smith agents.

After ruling out the issue of funding, Scarlett Johansson then turned to the issue of security.

There is an unwritten rule in the United States that after retiring from official positions, high-ranking officials usually take up senior management positions in companies, especially in military-industrial complexes. This is not uncommon, and a special position has even been created for this purpose.

Government communicator!

To put it bluntly, they are the company's lobbyists for the government!

Typically, such positions come with an agreement that clearly stipulates the working hours, salary, and benefits.

Black Widow investigated the shady characters connected to Pioneer Technology, but to her surprise, these people didn't seem to be the real owners of Pioneer Technology. Instead, they appeared to be a group of Pioneer Technology's 'informants' planted in the Pentagon.

However, Scarlett Johansson did not come away empty-handed while investigating these people.

During the investigation, Scarlett Johansson learned that one of the current deputy ministers had a daughter who lost an arm in a car accident!

This news doesn't seem that important, since apart from signing off on the investment in Pioneer Technology, Scarlett Johansson didn't find any connection between the deputy minister and Pioneer Technology.

However, the daughter lost her arm, which inexplicably coincided with the research conducted by Pioneer Technology on using the Extremis virus to repair disabled limbs.

Out of caution, Scarlett Johansson secretly sneaked into the deputy minister's house while she was out and conducted a search.

However, the result surprised Scarlett Johansson.

At the deputy minister's home, Black Widow discovered numerous reports related to Killian's Extremis virus, and even found a large number of emails communicating with Killian on the official's computer.

The only thing that surprised Black Widow was that although this deputy minister was secretly supporting Killian, he was unaware of the underhanded tactics Killian was pulling behind the scenes, and even ruthlessly restricted Killian's pioneering technology.

Unsurprisingly, a large part of the reason Killian created this mess involving the Mandarin was probably retaliation for the deputy minister's oversight of Vanguard Technology.

After all, the Mandarin could distract the deputy minister and divert his attention from the research on pioneering technologies.

On the other hand, such behavior is also consistent with Killiana's twisted personality.

After all, the surveillance and investigation that followed the deputy minister's promotion were seen by Killian as a betrayal and distrust, and such vengeful thoughts were perfectly normal to Black Widow.

After quietly copying and photographing all the evidence, Black Widow returned to the Department of Defense without anyone noticing and secretly sent all the intelligence to Captain America and Sherlock.

The captain didn't reply immediately, but Sherlock replied to Black Widow right away.

Sherlock's idea was simple: let Black Widow contact the deputy minister. With the evidence in hand, he wasn't worried about the deputy minister disobeying him.

Black Widow's task was simple: to get the Deputy Minister to sever ties with Killian and Vanguard Technology as soon as possible, prioritizing her own position.

As for that poor little girl, in Sherlock's words, he could totally go and treat Killian instead. Compared to the terrible Extremis virus, his alchemy was a much better choice, and he could even customize whether it was physical restoration or mechanical ascension!

At that time, this deputy minister will become a spy for the Avengers among that group of black-hearted maggots, at least ensuring that the Avengers are not so passive when facing that group of black-hearted maggots.

Chapter 457 A Heart Illness Requires a Heart Cure (Part 1)

Looking at the message Sherlock sent on her phone, which was as long as a sycophantic essay, Black Widow's face showed the expression of an old man on the subway.

Scarlett Johansson would even swear that the main reason she shared the information she had gathered in the group was simply to let others know what had happened, so that some messy things wouldn't affect her subsequent judgment.

Could a seasoned spy like her not have imagined turning that deputy minister into a mole? Isn't that exactly what Black Widow does? Does she really need Sherlock, a greenhorn, to teach her how to handle things afterward?

What's the difference between this and a 10-year veteran of CrossFire coming to teach Zhao Weike how to use a gun?

After staring at her phone screen for a while, Scarlett Johansson turned off the screen with a speechless expression and went back inside.

Although Sherlock Holmes has gone somewhat against the natural order, he's not wrong about some things: the Avengers do need a spies among those black-hearted maggots.

As for how to bury this nail, Scarlett Johansson felt she needed to plan it carefully, at the very least ensuring that this nail had no connection to the Kirian of Pioneer Technology!

As for Sherlock...

To be honest, Sherlock didn't pay any attention to what Black Widow was thinking. He even sent her the short essay after simply converting it to text.

After all, Sherlock has no time to care about what's going on with Black Widow right now.

What? You're asking what Sherlock is up to right now? Simple, watching a movie! An amazing live experience of Iron Man 3! Starring Tony Stark himself! A super movie shot entirely with real footage and no special effects!

If you were in that situation, would you want to watch it?

Sherlock was thoroughly enjoying the show, and in no time at all, he had eaten almost three buckets of popcorn.

Especially when she saw Tony using his intelligence to fight against the two Killian guys who came to cause trouble, Sherlock even clapped his hands excitedly on the rooftop of the town.

There's a reason why Sherlock didn't participate in Tony's affairs at all, which put Tony in danger.

Actually, when Sherlock used the Space Stone, he immediately arrived near Tony. It has to be said that, according to the method given by the Ancient One, the Infinity Stones are really useful.

However, after finding Tony, Sherlock did not choose to show himself immediately to help Tony solve the problem.

The reason is simple: when Sherlock found Tony, Tony was already in the garage of Harry, the orphan boy with exceptional mechanical engineering talent.

Sherlock originally intended to take Tony away directly, but after listening to Tony and Harry's conversation for a while at the warehouse entrance, Sherlock decisively abandoned that idea.

There's no other reason than that Harry, this little boy with an extremely high talent for mechanical engineering, does indeed bear some resemblance to Tony in his younger days.

This gave Tony the feeling of talking to his past self, greatly relieving his damn anxiety.

If Sherlock's previous methods were like Western medicine, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, temporarily suppressing Tony's anxieties and waiting for time to heal all the wounds...

So this little boy named Harry, who made Tony feel like he was seeing his former self, can be considered a very effective traditional Chinese medicine, treating both the symptoms and the root cause.

Not only can it completely cure Tony's anxiety, but it can also, by sheer coincidence, make Tony understand something under the pressure of his environment.

The so-called Iron Man is not that damn suit of armor, but Tony Stark himself!

Even if anyone else wore that suit of armor, they would never be Iron Man!

Sherlock truly understood this, which is why he didn't show himself and chose to watch the show silently. Of course, if Tony were to encounter any life-threatening crisis, Sherlock would definitely step in.

But unless his life is in danger, Sherlock is just a spectator.

Therefore, Sherlock witnessed Tony single-handedly outmaneuvering two Firemen injected with the Extremis virus, and watched Tony sneak into a van and, with the help of his fans, investigate and find out what Killian was all about.

It wasn't until Tony had finished dealing with his fans and emerged exhausted from that damned van that Sherlock appeared beside him in his Raptor.

"Hey handsome, need a ride?"

Tony was startled by Sherlock's sudden appearance, especially after smelling the cloyingly sweet popcorn scent emanating from him. Tony was completely incredulous.

"Sherlock, you bastard! Don't tell me you were here all along, just hiding on the sidelines watching the show! Watching me get chased by those two damn little firemen like a stray dog!"

Tony spoke through gritted teeth, his expression suggesting he was about to break his back teeth.

But Sherlock, sitting in the driver's seat, just shrugged cheekily before speaking to Tony.

"Of course, the great Iron Man dealt with those two little firemen with his own wisdom, didn't he? I, an alchemist, can only stand on the sidelines and watch the show! I even plan to watch the whole thing and just be the driver at most."

Although Sherlock wasn't being very serious when he said it, Tony surprisingly understood what he meant.

Sherlock's meaning is clear: the carefree playboy of the past is dead in that damned cave in the Middle East, and now only Iron Man is alive. Even without that skin, Tony Stark is still Iron Man.

Of course, even though he understands, how could a proud and arrogant guy like Tony really let Sherlock off the hook? Giving Sherlock a solid middle finger is still inevitable.

Even after getting into the passenger seat, he slapped Sherlock in the chest without saying a word while Sherlock was driving.

Then, under Sherlock's incredulous gaze, the makeshift suit of armor that Sherlock wore to act as a humanoid figure was ripped open by Tony's slap.

Tony, without any hesitation, completely disregarded his own position and reached into the tentacles of Sherlock's body, taking out a large amount of food and drinks from the tentacles that had merged with Sherlock's four-dimensional pocket.

While eating, he spoke to Sherlock.

"Next time, prepare more cheeseburgers; I love those!"

After a pause, Tony seemed to remember something and continued speaking to Sherlock with a mischievous grin.

"Or you could prepare a teppanyaki grill; it's been so long since I've had teppanyaki octopus tentacles!"

Chapter 458 A Heart Illness Requires a Heart Cure (Part 2)

Upon hearing Tony's words, Sherlock almost instinctively raised his middle finger at Tony. However, to Sherlock's dismay, Tony merely touched his armor with his middle finger, and the entire forearm of the armor fell off.

Seeing this, Sherlock was speechless as he used his tentacles to control the steering wheel while staring intently at Tony across from him with a murderous gaze.