Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

Upon hearing Batman's words, Diana merely glanced coldly around the venue before turning and following Batman out.

It was only at this moment that the old king, lying on the platform, finally came to his senses and tried to say something to T'Challa, but his ruptured lungs prevented him from uttering any words. He could only place the ring representing the king in T'Challa's hand with trembling hands.

T'Challa wasn't stupid. It was obvious that Wakanda was being used as a tool, and the people being used were obvious. Of the five great philanthropists, only the United States suffered heavy losses, which was the best answer.

Furthermore, Batman and Wonder Woman are not affiliated with Hydra, a fact that T'Challa could discern; at most, the Justice League members were merely observing from the sidelines.

With Batman and Wonder Woman gone, the once quiet venue began to liven up again, as did the Avengers who were responsible for security on the perimeter.

They had absolutely no idea about Hydra's operation, and didn't even know how Hydra had infiltrated the venue.

Nevertheless, out of a sense of duty, they confronted the fleeing Hydra.

Suddenly, the area surrounding the UN General Assembly, which had originally represented peace, was filled with the sounds of fighting and explosions. The fighting became even more intense after the captain recognized Crossbones.

Batman and Wonder Woman, who walked out of the venue, didn't even glance at the battle between the Avengers and Hydra before leaving.

After the two left, the captain successfully defeated Hydra once again, sending Crossbones to his doom. However, after learning what had happened inside the venue, the captain was quite upset.

Without the slightest hesitation, he dialed Tony's number. However, this time, the phone rang only once before Tony's figure descended from the sky and landed beside the captain.

When Tony's visor opened, the captain saw Tony with a face as black as the bottom of a pot.

"what's the situation?"

Looking at Tony's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, the captain suddenly had a bad feeling.

"The good news is that our initial plan to fall into depravity went very smoothly. As planned, things went wrong in Washington. Those heartless maggots were 'robbed' by the Justice League. Now they are too busy to take care of themselves, and the bill will no longer be on the agenda."

At this point, Tony paused slightly before continuing to speak to the captain.

"The bad news is that Sherlock has gone a little too far. The Justice League members haven't been put on the wanted list as expected, which means that Sherlock now truly has something that can overthrow the country."

Knowing that bastard's personality as I do, I think this whole thing might escalate much bigger than expected.

Hearing Tony's words, the captain breathed a sigh of relief, patted Tony's shoulder encased in steel, and said to Tony.

"It's okay. If all else fails, we can just call in reinforcements. I know a few interesting guys. At the very least, we can bring Wakanda along."

Upon hearing the captain's words, Tony merely glanced at him, rolled his eyes in annoyance, and then had Friday send the captain a video before speaking to him.

"It's not that simple. When Sherlock gets serious, I find him quite troublesome."

Faced with Tony's explanation, the captain's unease grew stronger. He took out his phone, clicked on the link Tony had sent, and entered a live news broadcast.

Meanwhile, the live stream was broadcasting the battle that had just taken place outside the UN General Assembly. One particular scene was being played repeatedly, showing Bucky walking out of the UN General Assembly gates as if no one else was there!

The captain was stunned when he saw this, and suddenly looked up in Tony's direction.

"Impossible, I didn't see Bucky come out of the gate just now, only Zheng came out..."

The captain stopped mid-sentence, and after a while, he realized what was happening and continued speaking through gritted teeth.

"...Cyborg's abilities! Sherlock Holmes is ruthless! The Hydra attack is covered by witnesses and evidence. Bucky has a Hydra affiliation, so even if he hadn't shown up, he'd be in deep trouble right now and there's no way to explain it!"

This time, Tony patted the captain on the shoulder and said with a hint of helplessness.

"It's obvious that the bastard wasn't joking at all when he said he would treat him as a real villain. His strategy of sowing discord is masterful. Captain, we can't underestimate that bastard anymore; something big is about to happen."

Chapter 719 Blood Tax Robbery

Washington, as the capital of the United States, has been the absolute center of the US's politics, finance, and even the exchange of interests since it was designated as the capital. It is also the residence of the US's "ancient" aristocracy.

Although it is not a coastal city, it has a wide river that flows directly to the sea. With this river, Washington has created a vast urban network that can be said to cover land, sea and air.

This has also created countless black-label aristocratic estates on maps that are not connected to any public transportation network and are even shown as seawater or wasteland on map software.

Throughout history and across cultures, anything associated with the word 'nobility' has never been a good thing, especially for the United States.

It's important to understand that China, at least, has been influenced by Confucian culture for thousands of years, possessing its own moral system based on the four cardinal principles of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher. However, the United States and the West as a whole have no such concerns.

That's why they invented contracts.

But in the end, a contract is nothing more than a way to show your bottom line. When you sign a contract and find that the benefits of breaching it not only cover the penalty for breach of contract, but are even greater than the benefits you would have gained by acting in accordance with the contract, then the so-called contract is just a piece of waste paper.

Businesses worth millions or tens of millions can be bound by so-called 'contracts,' but what about when the unit becomes tens of billions or hundreds of billions?

In this black-box world devoid of moral constraints, these aristocrats from the US invented something called the 'blood tax,' which, in plain terms, is leverage.

I have leverage over you that, if exposed, could lead to your immediate death or social ruin, and you have leverage over me as well. Only in this way can we become the most trusted allies.

This is the most basic logic behind the so-called blood tax.

Extending this further, the island that a certain world-famous pimp loves is essentially just a place where "blood taxes" are signed, and it may even be the most humane and least costly place to sign "blood taxes".

For the 'aristocrats' who have been entrenched on the US for hundreds of years, true wealth is never the numbers in their bank accounts or the power they hold, but rather the 'blood tax' in their own safes.

Indeed, Sherlock, playing a villain for the first time in his life, immediately set his sights on the 'blood tax' in the hands of those nobles.

After all, for Sherlock, money might just be a number, and power or resources are a joke. He might as well rob those blood taxes so he can have some fun, watch the drama unfold, and witness the ugly face of humanity.

After having this idea, Sherlock had already manipulated Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman to come to Washington and hide while Batman and Wonder Woman were at the UN General Assembly.

Unlike the flamboyant style at the UN General Assembly, the atmosphere in Washington was actually quite low-key.

Aquaman was immediately sent to the sea by Sherlock upon arriving in Washington. The reason was simple: firstly, switching between multiple routes made it easy to escape capture; secondly, the safe containing the Blood Tax was not necessarily on land.

Having Aquaman focus on naval warfare is a safe and reliable option.

Meanwhile, Sherlock, using the Flash's ordinary human form after removing his armor, worked with Cyborg to prepare several safe houses for the evacuation.

Of course, compared to Batman and Wonder Woman's 'grand outing' at the UN General Assembly, the three in Washington's gear seemed rather simple.

Aquaman simply replaced the original dirty-looking tight-fitting fish scale armor with a bright gold and green fish scale armor, and also upgraded the effects of the trident.

The Flash, on the other hand, simply replaced his original suit, which consisted of a rigid outer shell made of rocket shells and various ropes, with a more technologically advanced, form-fitting outer garment.

As for Cyborg, who is controlled by the main consciousness?

At least from the outside, there's no upgrade. It still looks like an unpainted, bootleg Iron Man. But if you actually think Sherlock hasn't upgraded Cyborg, you're probably in for a very bad time.

On the contrary, Sherlock upgraded Cyborg the most, after all, compared to other Justice League suits, Cyborg's practicality is undoubtedly the highest, especially since Sherlock couldn't create Superman yet.

After completing all the preliminary preparations as planned, Sherlock quietly awaited the start of the grand event at the General Assembly.

The moment Hydra stormed into the UN General Assembly hall, Sherlock Holmes, along with Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman, began the 'Blood Tax Heist'.

The process was simple: Cyborg hacked the security system, and The Flash overpowered the security guards with his speed. The two rushed into the manor, with Cyborg responsible for hacking into the system to search, while The Flash used his speed to interrogate the suspects using a 'high-frequency continuous big grappling' technique.

If the 'Blood Tax' is at home, it can be taken away on the spot or copied and then the original destroyed by Cyborg. If it's not at home, the original can be quickly transferred to a safe house using the Flash's speed.

If they were on a yacht at sea, then the Sea King would use his power to rob them, stuff them into waterproof bags, and take them away.

From the moment Hydra stormed the UN General Assembly until Batman and Wonder Woman finished their show and conveniently shifted the blame to Bucky, that unlucky guy whose name should never be reversed, less than half an hour had passed.

But in less than half an hour, the world collapsed for Washington's aristocracy, as most of the families with secrets were 'kindly' visited by Sherlock.

Sherlock displayed an extraordinary bandit demeanor, his movements and procedures as practiced as if he were entering his own living room. In less than half an hour, most of the nobles of the United States were robbed by Sherlock with a near-scorched-earth policy.

It is no exaggeration to say that under Sherlock's looting, the nobles of the United States may only have cash, gold, or some heavy assets and trusts that were spared from being completely plundered.

Sherlock completely wiped out all the cold wallets, cryptocurrencies, and other such items within the family.

Of course, for these heartless maggots, losing these virtual assets is not a big problem at all; the real problem is the loss of the family's 'blood tax'.

Even more critically, Sherlock's Cyborg Flash and Aquaman didn't even bother to conceal their identities, which terrified the group of noble scoundrels who thought they could control the Justice League.

This fear also affected the official level, so much so that even when Batman and Wonder Woman actually took action, there was no news or even any disclosure of the information.

On the contrary, those black-hearted maggots were desperately trying to steer public opinion toward Hydra and Pakistan, attempting to divert attention from the news of their own delegation's complete annihilation.

They were even willing to offend Wakanda, directly exposing the fact that they were using the old Wakanda king as a weapon.

Chapter 720 Rhodes: Is it too late for me to take sick leave now?

It's important to understand that the Avengers' original plan was simply to have the Justice League rob those heartless maggots sitting in their offices. However, Sherlock's approach was much more radical, directly targeting the mastermind behind those heartless maggots.

Fortunately, although it was a bit radical, the results far exceeded the Avengers' expectations.

The noble strategists hiding behind the black-hearted maggots, out of fear of the blood tax being leaked, not only did not issue any arrest warrants for the Justice League, but remained as quiet as if the incident had never happened.

After all, they knew perfectly well that the things the Justice League took away were things that could truly overthrow the United States. The Blood Tax was called a Blood Tax precisely because it was completely dishonorable, even evil.

Therefore, they clearly know that if the things held by the United States are released, there will only be one outcome for them: the collapse of the US's political base, which will also result in the loss of their own interests.

It's important to understand that the US is used to acting arrogantly and domineeringly in this world, and has accumulated countless enemies, even within its own borders. No one dares to gamble whether the Justice League is releasing a blood tax from its enemies or its own.

Within this dark forest system created by Sherlock, all they can do is wait for the Justice League's next move and formulate corresponding countermeasures based on the Justice League's actions.

For the Avengers, this move by the Justice League not only demonstrated the extent to which superhumans could go if they were truly determined to take revenge, but also transferred all the fear that the wicked maggots and the manipulators behind them had for the Avengers onto the Justice League.

After all, compared to the Justice League's actions, the Avengers were just trying to avoid being controlled, fighting bad guys like NPCs, and at most causing some 'collateral damage'. In the eyes of the heartless maggots and manipulators who have been plundered by the Justice League, they are practically saints.

More importantly, because of the Justice League's actions, even though they had the leverage over those wicked maggots, they were forced to 'submit' to the Justice League.

Given the nature of those guys who are used to bullying others, they wouldn't really be willing to do it.

The most likely outcome for them is that they will outwardly obey the Justice League's commands while secretly helping the Avengers and trying to pit the Avengers against the Justice League.

From any perspective, this is undoubtedly good news for the Avengers. Even if the Justice League disappears in the end, the Avengers probably won't have to worry about these black-hearted maggots anymore.

After all, these guys have always been afraid of power but not of virtue. Having learned their lesson from the Justice League, they will only appease the Avengers, which can be considered as fulfilling the Avengers' expectations.

The problem now is that the Avengers simply can't spare the resources to deal with the Justice League, or rather, Sherlock!

Sherlock's plan to shift blame almost successfully divided the Avengers' fighting force, forcing Captain America to set off to 'capture' his best friend for his safety.

Based on the conventional premise that "darkening makes you three points stronger, while redemption makes you as weak as a chicken," the Captain's side would need to take away quite a few combatants if they wanted to capture Bucky without causing any additional damage.

Falcon, Black Widow, and Hawkeye had no choice but to go with Captain America to deal with Bucky's problem first. After all, no matter what, the Avengers, who were still standing in the open and had not yet fallen, had to take full responsibility for the attack on the Allied Powers.

Therefore, even though everyone knew it was Sherlock's conspiracy, they were powerless to stop it.

Tony was also quite troubled, and even had the urge to rush to Sherlock's house, grab the little rascal, and beat him up, but he managed to hold back.

After all, those scoundrels and manipulators who had been punished by Sherlock had asked him for help through Rhodes, and he had to rush to Washington to deal with the mess left by Sherlock.

When Tony arrived in Washington, dressed in his armor, with a heavy heart and a belly full of anger, he strangely relaxed the moment he saw Rhodes, and almost couldn't help but laugh.

The reason is simple: Tony may have found the ultimate victim in Sherlock's 'cameo villain' exercise.