Chapter 181
If Nick Fury dares to target Wanda, Leo would not hesitate to erase S.H.I.E.L.D. from existence.
He has not moved against Nick Fury for two reasons: first, Fury's continued existence has some value. He can be useful in dealing with HYDRA or occasionally be leveraged to accomplish certain tasks, and he has never directly provoked Leo.
Second, there's the concern of Fury's friend, Captain Marvel. With her power to single-handedly take on the Kree fleet, she's a formidable force that Leo isn't yet ready to contend with.
But if it came down to it, killing Nick Fury wouldn't be too difficult. Leo has plenty of ways to use obscure spells and ninja techniques to ensure Fury dies before he can call for Captain Marvel, leaving no trace of his involvement.
It's just that things haven't escalated to that point yet.
As for world peace, this world is never short of superheroes or various organizations that claim to maintain peace. Even without S.H.I.E.L.D., the world would continue to function just fine.
Earth, a planet that has birthed numerous ancient gods, is not so easily destroyed.
"By the way, it's almost noon. Let's have lunch together!"
Wanda, not giving it much thought, noticed it was already twelve o'clock. She invited Natasha and headed to the kitchen, closing the door behind her.
Natasha tried to get up to help, but Wanda pushed her back out. Since Wanda now used magic to cook, she didn't think it would be appropriate for Natasha to see. Natasha didn't insist either; she was looking for an opportunity to talk to Leo while Wanda was busy in the kitchen.
"The Director said that if you're willing to help..."
"No need. I'm busy training these days and don't have time."
Before Natasha could finish her sentence, Leo raised his hand and cut her off.
S.H.I.E.L.D. can no longer offer him anything valuable. He already has plenty of money, his company's scale is expanding rapidly, and most of his competitors are gone.
As for influence, besides his own cultivated power, he recently subdued the ancient global terrorist organization, the Ten Rings.
So, no matter what conditions Nick Fury might propose, they hold no appeal for him.
Natasha, hearing this, looked at Leo sincerely. "Mr. Chen, I know you're not a bad person. Otherwise, with your abilities and resources, there's no need for you to frequently engage in such good deeds.
"If we don't stop those two aliens, who knows how many people will die when their alien army invades Earth."
Based on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence, Leo had indeed ordered the killing of numerous competitors after arriving in New York, but it was mostly in self-defense, not premeditated murder.
Furthermore, the affordable medications produced by Leo's company had indeed saved many lives globally. Deep down, Natasha wasn't opposed to him killing those unscrupulous drug lords.
Though legally it was questionable, they didn't have direct evidence against him since Leo wasn't the one who committed the killings. Their assumption that Leo was behind it was mainly because the victims were all wealthy individuals opposing Leo's group.
Even if his company was about profit and charity work aimed at winning hearts and improving the group's image, what could be said about his recent anonymous acts of magic to help ordinary people?
So, her assessment of Leo was that he was a ruthless, but fundamentally good-hearted person.
Leo walked over to Natasha, who was seated on the sofa, exuding a powerful aura. He bent over slightly, towering over her as he looked down and said, "I know more about this than you all do. If action is required, I will take it. But it will be on my terms, not because of Nick Fury's orders.
"Go back and tell Nick Fury that this world is far more complex than he thinks. Aliens, gods, demons—what he knows is just the tip of the iceberg. So he should stop thinking he can control everything, especially Wanda. If he targets her, I will make sure he doesn't see the sunrise."
After the warning, Leo's expression softened, and he added with a smile, "Alright, enough of this talk. Drop by more often when you have the chance; Wanda likes having you around."
"I will," Natasha nodded, swallowing hard.
She understood that Leo wasn't joking with his words.
Although she failed to persuade him, she gained some valuable insight from his remarks: Leo seemed to know more about those two aliens than they did and already had a plan to deal with them; he just wasn't interested in working with S.H.I.E.L.D.
The evening before the main mission was set to start...
"Everything seems to be on track. Time to enter the small world!"
Seeing that the main mission was still active and had not disappeared, Leo, lying in bed, knew that his recent days spent at home studying ninjutsu had not affected the main mission's scheduled start.
This meant that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, tomorrow Gamora and Nebula would open a space wormhole atop Stark Tower using a machine powered by the Tesseract, allowing the Chitauri army to invade Earth.
Why Stark Tower? Because only the massive Arc Reactor within Stark Tower could provide the necessary energy to activate the Tesseract's spatial power to open the wormhole.
So now, he needed to use the five months of time in the small world to further enhance his strength.
The Thor side mission took three months, acquiring the Ten Rings took another month, and he had accrued about a month from various good deeds scattered throughout. Altogether, he had five months of small world time.
"Enter!"
He opened the panel, navigated to the small world section, and selected "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." The scenery around him shifted, and he found himself back in the grand mansion of the Fawley family.
Opening his mouth, he spat out a small palm-sized box, opened it, and was satisfied with what he saw.
All the items he brought from the main world were intact, confirming that as long as the items were stored within his body, it didn't matter if they were transported from the small world to the main world or vice versa, as long as they weren't living beings.
"Credence, come here!"
"Yes, Master."
Downstairs, Credence, who was reading a magic book, heard Leo's call. He quickly put down the book and Apparated over.
"Lift up your shirt, expose your stomach, and stand still!"
Leo instructed Credence to stand in position, then formed hand seals with his hands.
"Four Symbols Seal!"
He pressed his hand onto Credence's body, imprinting a spiral-shaped sealing pattern on his stomach.
"Now, the Obscurus will no longer affect you, and your lifespan will return to normal."
The Four Symbols Seal, derived from the Uzumaki Clan, utilizes the balance of four elements to seal away malevolent forces. This sealing technique can imprison powerful enemies within a chosen vessel for an extended period.
The Eight Trigrams Seal that Minato used to seal the Nine-Tails' Yang Chakra inside Naruto was essentially a double-layered Four Symbols Seal.