Chapter 182: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (Part 2)

"Let's see how much you can recover," said Daniel Davis, determined to kill. He picked up a gun from one of the fallen guards and started shooting at the scientists injected with the Extremis virus.

The Extremis virus, no matter how powerful, couldn't restore infinitely, just like the G-virus.

Boom.

Under Daniel's relentless shooting, one of the scientists reached his limit and instead of regenerating, exploded violently. The high temperature from the explosion instantly destroyed the entire lab and engulfed everyone else in it.

Thus, a chain reaction of explosions followed.

"What a waste," Daniel couldn't help but feel a bit regretful as he looked at the lab destroyed by the explosion. It housed a lot of high-tech equipment he had planned to take back.

In fact, Daniel was already very wealthy and didn't lack these things. This was probably a case of old habits dying hard.

The power of the Extremis virus explosion was immense. However, for Daniel, who had a very good shield, it wasn't a problem. It wasn't the Protego from the Harry Potter world nor the Armament Haki from the One Piece world.

It was the portal from Kamar-Taj. By opening a large portal in front of him, he could transfer the flames elsewhere, protecting himself completely.

Perhaps because of the portal he opened, despite the chain explosions, the power was transferred away, leaving the underground lab relatively intact.

"Who are you?" As Daniel left the destroyed underground lab and emerged above, he was confronted by a dozen people, led by Killian. The explosions seemed to have alarmed him.

Behind him was his chief henchman and bodyguard, Savin, the pilot of the armed helicopter that attacked Stark's seaside villa.

"You don't need to know who I am. You just need to know what I'm here to do," said Daniel, opening the Mirror Dimension.

If he had opened the Mirror Dimension during the earlier fight, the underground lab wouldn't have been destroyed at all.

"What is this?" The sudden change startled Killian. "Fire!" He immediately ordered, and his henchmen aimed their guns at Daniel and pulled the triggers.

"Don't be so hasty." Daniel moved with a Soru technique, leaping into the air and throwing five web grenades below.

Boom.

With the explosion of the web grenades, Killian and his men were all bound. However, in the next moment, flames erupted from the arms of Killian and Savin, burning away the webs and killing the henchmen bound with them.

"Only two, huh?" Apart from Killian and Savin, none of the other henchmen could produce flames, indicating they hadn't been injected with the Extremis virus.

Whoosh.

Killian, with his arms glowing with red flames, glared at Daniel, took a deep breath, and spat a ball of fire at him.

"You can breathe fire. Seems better than the G-virus, if it weren't for the explosion side effect," thought Daniel as he dodged the flames with Soru.

"I almost forgot about this, Room." While blaming himself for forgetting, Daniel activated his Ope Ope no Mi power and cut Killian and Savin. The Extremis virus was powerful but couldn't withstand the power of the Ope Ope no Mi.

He had completely forgotten about using his Devil Fruit power in the underground lab, which could have easily solved the problem.

Cut into pieces, Killian and Savin couldn't activate their Extremis virus abilities.

"It seems I haven't developed the habit of using my Devil Fruit power all the time," Daniel reflected. His oversight was understandable.

In both the Marvel and One Piece worlds, Daniel rarely used his Devil Fruit abilities in combat to ensure his true power remained undiscovered.

He preferred using magic whenever possible. With his enhanced physical skills, he only used his abilities when he couldn't win otherwise.

Moreover, these people were ordinary humans, even those injected with the Extremis virus. They were still ordinary humans.

The Extremis virus performed better than the G-virus, but it had its shortcomings. It didn't significantly enhance physical strength.

Its attack power came from the high-temperature flames. Without the flames, there was almost no attack power.

Killian in the original story was defeated by Pepper. Despite injecting the Extremis virus earlier and understanding it better, he still died at Pepper's hands.

"That's Stark. Why is he here? Fortunately, I had my Observation Haki activated; otherwise, he might have been blown up," Daniel thought after defeating Killian and Savin and interrogating them. He sensed Stark's presence as he exited the Mirror Dimension to clean up, grateful he hadn't turned off his Haki.

Otherwise, accidentally killing Stark would have been a major scandal.

"Luckily, I didn't leave any traces. I should wear a mask for secret operations next time." With Stark's appearance, Daniel had no choice but to leave to avoid meeting him.

With Killian and Savin captured, Killian's plan couldn't proceed. From the interrogation, Daniel learned Killian's plan.

Killian planned to kidnap the president and kill him, then let the vice president take over. The vice president's daughter had a disability, and Killian promised that the Extremis virus could cure her. This persuaded the vice president to join his plan.

Once the vice president became president, he would support Killian's AIM, allowing him to control the president and eventually surpass Stark Industries.

Killian never forgot how Stark left him waiting on the rooftop on Christmas night, while Stark spent the night with a beautiful doctor. The difference infuriated Killian.

He not only wanted to destroy Stark Industries and make Stark taste poverty but also wanted to steal Pepper from him.

With Killian and Savin missing, and Stark finding the fake Mandarin, an actor, and rescuing the Iron Patriot, Rhodey, Killian's plot was soon exposed.

The president ordered an investigation into AIM and Killian. AIM quickly collapsed, and Killian's whereabouts remained unknown. The information from the fake Mandarin and the explosion led to the conclusion that Killian and Savin might have been caught in the explosion due to the Extremis virus's side effects. The high temperature made DNA testing impossible.

This conclusion was drawn to close the case quickly, especially since it involved terrorism. The government needed to assure the public. However, secretly, the government continued to hunt for Killian.

The aftermath included news praising the president and the country for solving the terrorist issue. Due to Daniel's intervention, the vice president's involvement wasn't exposed.

Only Killian and Savin knew about the vice president's role. With both missing, their henchmen were clueless.

"Killian's motive to target the president was partly justified," thought Daniel. The current US president, Ellis, had protected an oil company responsible for spilling a billion gallons of oil in international waters. Normally, such an incident would be severely punished, but the company supported the president's election.

"Does this mean I have leverage over both the president and the vice president?" Daniel pondered. While such leverage could be exploited, it wasn't very useful for him.

For minor matters, he could handle them himself. For major issues, even holding leverage over the president wouldn't suffice. For example, acquiring nuclear weapons wasn't within a president's authority.

"Still, having a couple of nukes would be a significant deterrent to the Celestial Dragons. Throwing two big fireworks at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise on the Red Line would be interesting."

The Mandarin incident quickly faded. People didn't care about outdated terrorists. However, Daniel knew it wasn't over because the actor was killed in prison.

"Is the real Ten Rings emerging?" Daniel noted it but didn't pay much attention, leaving such matters to the superheroes.

Characters like Kingpin and Madame Gao were for the superheroes to deal with.

"Daredevil's abilities seem like advanced Observation Haki," Daniel mused.

"It's time to find Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. They need time to train their abilities." Ultron not appearing was good, but the absence of Scarlet Witch, a top-tier superhero, was a big deal.

The Marvel world was dangerous, and Daniel didn't want such a powerful superhero missing because of him.

"Scarlet Witch is quite pretty," Daniel admitted, despite his preference for Eastern aesthetics.

"Too bad her boyfriend is gone because of me." Without Ultron, Vision didn't exist. However, this was a good thing as it saved Scarlet Witch future heartache.

The Mind Stone was powerful. Vision, though a robot, had a body resembling a human's due to the stone. He could have a girlfriend and even children.

With Vision and Scarlet Witch's abilities, their children would be extraordinary. However, neither in the original story nor now would this happen.

Sokovia was a chaotic country with many international volunteers working there due to its poverty and disorder.

Warlords, gangs, and thugs.

In such a chaotic place, Wanda's beauty naturally attracted unwanted attention. But Wanda and her brother Pietro were not easy targets. With Daniel secretly watching over them, their lives remained relatively peaceful.

"Without hatred for Stark and Stark Industries, their original animosity was likely instilled by Hydra. This saves me a lot of trouble," thought Daniel.

"Without the Ultron incident, Sokovia won't change either." Although the Ultron incident caused heavy casualties in Sokovia, it led to positive changes afterward, a great irony.

Without the incident, Stark wouldn't feel guilty and give extra attention to Sokovia.

"Hello to both of you." After considering for a while, Daniel decided to meet Wanda and Pietro as a magician.

"Are you a magician?" As an active superhero in the Battle of New York, even in Sokovia, Daniel's image was known.

"Yes," Daniel said, removing his mask. "I'm here to discuss something with you two. Our investigation shows you both have special abilities that haven't awakened yet. What do you think about becoming superheroes?"

"Can I become

 a superhero?" Pietro asked excitedly after hearing Daniel's words.

Without Hydra's instilled hatred, Pietro was just an ordinary young man.

Wanda, however, remained calm.

"Yes, I'm a magician and can help awaken your powers."

"Is it dangerous?" Wanda asked before Pietro could speak.

"To be honest, I can't guarantee it. That's why I'm here to ask for your consent. If you agree, I'll help you awaken. If not, we can forget about it."

Though theoretically, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver wouldn't be harmed, Daniel didn't make any promises.

"Are you really a magician?" Wanda asked after a moment of silence.

"Of course." Daniel demonstrated some magic with his wand. While magician costumes were widely available and many people cosplayed, real magic was his alone.

"I agree," Pietro said immediately, seeing real magic.

Seeing her brother agree, Wanda considered for a moment and also agreed.

"Before awakening your powers, I need to tell you some things," Daniel said, explaining the responsibilities and challenges of being a superhero.

"Can you promise not to use your powers for evil and to maintain world peace?" Daniel concluded.

"Do you mean I'll be very strong in the future?" Wanda quickly grasped the hidden meaning in Daniel's words.

"If you can fully master your powers, you won't be weaker than the current prince of Asgard." She was someone who could single-handedly fight Thanos.

"What about me?" Pietro asked, hearing his sister would be so strong.

"You shouldn't be weaker than Captain America."

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