Chapter 364: The Advantage is Mine (5000+)
Chapter 364: The Advantage is Mine (5000+)
When everyone saw that Jerry's portal had failed to open, they instantly fell into despair.
"Jerry, can your defensive magic withstand a missile strike?"
Coulson asked, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
He remembered that Jerry seemed to have a protective magic like an energy shield that could block modern weapons.
Jerry thought for a moment:
"Well, I haven't tried it, but if ten missiles hit at once, I doubt it would hold up!"
Jerry's improved Ironclad Spell was incredibly powerful, but the impact of ten missiles hitting simultaneously was no joke.
A few direct hits might be manageable, but ten was a bit much. Besides, he hadn't tested it, and different missiles had different power levels. Who knew what kind of missiles were coming?
Hearing Jerry's response, everyone fell silent.
When you have only ten seconds left to live, what do you do?
Some people accept it calmly, some are nostalgic, some feel guilty, some regret, and some suddenly realize and boldly do things they've never dared to do before, just like Fitz at that moment.
When he saw the instrument showing that the missiles were ten seconds away, he suddenly felt that if he didn't do something now, he would die with a huge regret.
"Jemma, I like you!"
Fitz threw the instrument aside and quickly walked to Jemma. He loudly said what he had always kept hidden in his heart, then embraced her and kissed her.
Fitz and Jemma were typical scientist geeks. Before being chosen by Coulson, they spent most of their time in a lab, gradually developing feelings for each other. Unconsciously, they had become the most important people in each other's lives.
However, due to their personalities, neither of them realized it, thinking they were just good friends.
Only after a year of frequent fieldwork with Coulson and experiencing multiple crises did they finally understand their feelings for each other.
But there was still a barrier between them, unbroken.
Now, facing death, Fitz, as a man, mustered the courage to break that barrier.
At that moment, ten massive missiles could be clearly seen hurtling towards them. In perhaps two seconds, or one, the stone mountain they were on would be reduced to rubble.
"Even if it might not work, I—"
Seeing Fitz and Jemma kiss, Jerry stopped mid-sentence, shook his head, turned, and picked up his wand, pointing it at the ten missiles that were almost upon them:
"Stop!"
With a powerful surge of magic from his wand, the ten massive missiles in the sky froze in place, as if hit by a Petrificus Totalus spell.
Indeed, Jerry was using his time magic, which he had been studying for a while.
Although the Ancient One had warned him not to use the Time Turner to create new timelines, using time magic to freeze a localized area was perfectly fine.
In fact, in that situation, he could have used a Transfiguration Spell to turn the missiles into something else, but the missiles were moving too fast to aim, and he could only transform one at a time, not all ten simultaneously.
The best and safest way was to use time magic to freeze the area where the ten missiles were. He had learned a lot about time magic from the Ancient One and had made significant improvements in his skills.
Of course, there were many other ways to avoid the missile attack, such as opening the Mirror Dimension and pulling everyone inside, where even a nuclear explosion wouldn't affect them.
Or using "Gale" to sweep the missiles into the air and detonate them before they hit.
In short, Jerry had plenty of magic options to deal with modern weapons. Using time magic was more about testing his recent research.
So far, the results were good.
Seeing Jerry use his incredible magic to stop the missiles, the tense nerves of Coulson and the others relaxed. No one wanted to die.
However, there were exceptions, like Fitz and Jemma, who were still lost in the thrill of their first kiss.
But soon, they opened their eyes in confusion, as even in their daze, they could sense that more than ten seconds had passed.
"Don't worry, I think you can kiss for another ten minutes, and I should still be able to hold it!"
Hearing Jerry's teasing voice and seeing everyone looking at them with knowing smiles, Fitz and Jemma blushed and quickly separated.
"Alright, let's focus. What do we do now?"
Coulson turned to Jerry and asked.
Jerry summoned Norbert and Nosa:
"I can't keep the time frozen indefinitely, so we should fly out of the blast radius first!"
Time magic was extremely draining, and even with Jerry's current magic power, he couldn't maintain it for long.
A moment later, high in the sky.
Standing on Norbert's back, Coulson looked down at the stone mountain that had been completely flattened by the ten missiles and couldn't help but sigh:
"Good thing we parked the supersonic jet far away, or we'd be in trouble!"
"Let's go down. The Seer should be in there."
Jerry pointed to the steel-built underground base that was exposed after the mountain was flattened.
The base built by the Seer organization was clearly not just inside the mountain; it extended deep underground, or perhaps the main part was beneath the mountain.
The ten missiles just launched had only blown up the stone mountain and the upper layers of the base. The underground base had barely been damaged.
After landing, Jerry retracted the two Fire Dragons and took out the owl again.
As expected, the owl immediately flew to a metal door that seemed to lead underground, carrying an envelope.
"Alohomora!"
An Alohomora spell opened the metal door, and Jerry followed the owl down a staircase, heading towards the location of "Seer."
Before they had walked far, a shrill alarm suddenly rang throughout the corridor.
Jerry paid no attention and continued following the owl.
When they encountered guards rushing over with guns, he simply cast a Stunning Spell to knock them unconscious.
They cleared the path smoothly, reaching a massive warehouse in less than five minutes. Inside, a S.H.I.E.L.D. supersonic jet was preparing to take off.
The roof of the warehouse was slowly opening, revealing a clear blue sky outside.
"Jerry, don't let him escape!"
Coulson shouted as the supersonic jet was about to take off.
"Don't worry, he won't get far."
Seeing the owl eager to head towards the supersonic jet, Jerry understood that "Seer" had likely detected their intrusion and was trying to escape.
"Wind!"
Jerry pointed his wand, and a green wind emerged from the air, wrapping around the supersonic jet, which had already started to lift off due to its thrusters. It then slammed the jet into the right wall of the warehouse.
The impact was so severe that the right wing of the supersonic jet was completely severed, making it impossible for the jet to take off normally.
A moment later, over twenty warriors, with metal segments embedded in their bodies and backs like centipedes, supported a middle-aged agent with a bleeding forehead as they emerged from the grounded supersonic jet.
The moment Coulson saw the middle-aged agent, his pupils dilated, and he looked completely disbelieving:
"John Garrett!"
"Look who it is, my old buddy Coulson. Remember the good old days when we learned tactical skills under Fury and went on missions together? Why are you so aggressive now, when I'm just trying to leave?"
Garrett wiped the blood from his forehead, which had been caused by the collision, his tone filled with regret.
"You bastard, you're Seer. Have you forgotten the oath we took when we joined S.H.I.E.L.D.? Fury will personally tear off your head when he finds out!"
Hearing Garrett's words, Coulson was completely convinced that his former comrade-in-arms was indeed the elusive "Seer."
No wonder every S.H.I.E.L.D. operation against Seer's organization had been predicted and evaded. No wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. had launched missiles at their location.
He had always suspected that Seer's organization had a spy within S.H.I.E.L.D., but he never imagined that the leader of Seer, the spy, was one of his most trusted friends, a high-ranking Level 8 agent.
Level 8 agents were extremely rare in S.H.I.E.L.D. currently, with only Victoria Hand, John Garrett, and himself, who had been promoted after the battle in New York, holding that rank.
Even Black Widow, Hawkeye, Sitwell, and May were only Level 7 agents.
"Don't be so agitated, Coulson. S.H.I.E.L.D. is just a shell now. Do you think I'm the only one? The ideals you cling to are laughable, and Nick Fury is just a megalomaniac.
Why don't you and your team join us, Coulson? And that Witch, why work with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Join us, and you can have anything you want.
Money, women, a strong body, even Eternal Life—these are not impossible for us to provide!"
Garrett showed no anger at Coulson's insults, instead laughing and spreading his arms, as if trying to persuade everyone.
Coulson spat on the ground in disdain, and Jerry didn't even give Garrett a second glance.
To Jerry, whether it was Seer, Hydra, or S.H.I.E.L.D., none of them could offer him anything truly useful.
Money? With his current magical abilities, he could get as much as he wanted, making it as worthless as paper.
Advanced equipment? If he really needed it, he could obtain it without relying on S.H.I.E.L.D., it would just take more time.
As for other trivial things, Jerry didn't need them. He already had Eternal Life and numerous powerful magical abilities, and he had good relations with beings on the level of the Ancient One and Odin.
The only benefit these ordinary organizations could offer him was red stars.
Currently, Seer and Hydra were evil forces, so taking them down would earn him red stars, which was why he was cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. ever became an evil force, taking down S.H.I.E.L.D. would earn him red stars, and he would stand against S.H.I.E.L.D. It was that simple.
Therefore, Garrett's words held no appeal for him.
Seeing that his speech had no effect, Garrett wasn't surprised and simply smiled:
"It seems there's nothing left to talk about. Don't blame me for being ruthless, Ward!"
As Garrett's words faded, Grant, who had been standing behind Jerry, quickly turned the gun to point at the back of Jerry's head.
"Jerry, don't move, especially don't speak or try to cast any Magic, or I will shoot immediately!"
"Grant, what are you doing? Put the gun down!"
Seeing Grant point the gun at Jerry, Coulson and the others immediately changed their expressions, showing disbelief.
A flash of guilt crossed Grant's face, but then his tone turned cold as he replied:
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this."
"Coulson, you forgot that Grant was the one I specially recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. He has always been my man!"
Garrett burst into laughter.
The reason he could so accurately control the movements of Coulson's team wasn't just because he was an eighth-level agent; it was also because he had a mole in Coulson's team.
To him, Coulson's team was no threat. The real culprit that made him plan to escape the base was the Witch, who was terrifying in every aspect.
After all, with his more than twenty centipede warriors, even the S.H.I.E.L.D. special forces would be no match, let alone the few members of Coulson's team.
Originally, he didn't want to conflict with the Witch because there were too many uncertainties.
But since he couldn't escape, he had to try a desperate battle. The words he just spoke weren't meant to convince Coulson and the others; he knew Coulson's temper well. He was just trying to draw everyone's attention, especially the Witch's, so that Grant could launch an attack.
The Witch was indeed powerful, but not without weaknesses.
First, the quantum device in the base was still operational, preventing the Witch from teleporting away.
Second, they had discovered the Witch's greatest weakness: every time the Witch cast Magic, it required the use of a wand and the recitation of a spell, accompanied by specific movements.
So, as long as they could gain the Witch's trust and get behind him, they could subdue him before he had a chance to cast Magic, greatly increasing the chances of preventing the Witch from resisting.
Just like now, the Witch's head was held at gunpoint by his ace agent. Any movement, any word, any sign of casting Magic, and Grant would shoot him dead.
"Grant, wake up! Think about the missile attacks just now. He didn't even consider you!"
At this moment, Skye, who had always had a soft spot for Grant, loudly tried to persuade him.
Grant's face showed a complex expression upon hearing this, but he didn't lower his gun:
"Skye, I'm sorry, truly sorry. I like this team a lot, and I enjoy being with everyone. Coulson, Jemma, May, Fitz, you are all great people.
But I owe Garrett more, so much that I would even give my life to repay him. So, I'm sorry!"
Grant liked Skye and the family-like feeling of Coulson's team, but Garrett's favor was even greater, and he had to repay it.
He came from a twisted family where his father enjoyed abusing all the children, his mother favored only the youngest brother, and his older brother, jealous of the younger one, forced him to do the dirty work.
Unable to bear it any longer, he chose to set fire to the house in a desperate attempt to end it all. When he failed, he was sent to a correctional facility, where he lost all hope.
It was then that Garrett found him, treating him like a son, personally training and guiding him, developing his potential, making him strong and confident, and turning him into the person he was today.
Although deep down he knew that Garrett might have just seen him as a tool, a more valuable tool, if Garrett hadn't pulled him out of the correctional facility, he might have already taken his own life.
"Inject everyone with an anesthetic, give the Witch three times the dose. Leave the others here and take the Witch to Baron Wolfgang von Stark. He will be very interested!"
Seeing that his ace card had worked and the Witch was neither moving nor speaking, Garrett felt confident of victory. He then ordered his centipede warriors, who had brought anesthetic equipment from the plane, to approach Jerry and Coulson.
"Baron Wolfgang von Stark, Coulson, do you know who he is? From the tone, it sounds like they're in league with each other!"
However, at that moment, a questioning voice came from Coulson's right side.
Everyone turned to see, and to their surprise, Jerry's figure slowly materialized where Coulson's right side had been empty.
On the left side, the Jerry that Grant had been pointing the gun at flickered and disappeared like a phantom.
It turned out that the moment Grant showed hostility towards Jerry, Jerry, who was in Superman Mode, had already sensed it. He quickly left a phantom in place while the real Jerry went into hiding to observe the situation.
The need for a wand, a spell, and specific movements to cast Magic was long outdated.
With his current level of Magic, he had long been able to cast spells silently and without a wand. Besides, he had the Magic Ring he had obtained from the Mage's Apprentice world.
The reason he always took out a wand and loudly recited spells was to mislead potential enemies. Only enemies would go to great lengths to study his weaknesses and strike a fatal blow at the right moment.
"Impossible!"
Garrett's face changed dramatically when he saw Jerry appear on Coulson's right side.
I clearly had the advantage, why did this happen?
(End of Chapter)
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