A Request From Unexpected Guest(chapter 44)

prevously in chapter 43

This made sense given their scale of operation, but that wasn't it. Even with his enhanced cognitive ability, S.H.I.E.L.D. was still able to fend him off, which spoke measures of the kind of power S.H.I.E.L.D. had. Truly witnessing their scale of power made Henry realize just how unprepared he was for a full-on attack from S.H.I.E.L.D. "What the hell have I been doing?" he asked himself as he leaned back in his chair. The reason S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't caught him after all this time and despite the things he had done was because he wasn't big or dangerous enough to garner their full attention, which hurt his pride. But then an idea popped into his mind.

"This is actually good. If they continue to undermine me, then I can continue to slowly raid their stashes of Super Soldier Serum and other stuff they have collected over the years." Thinking positively, Henry immediately became happy with himself and then got back to work, consuming the Tier 4 Limitless potions he made and continuously working on improving everything. That was until his nose bled, profusely at that. It turns out taking multiple brain-stimulating drugs really isn't that good, which led to Henry fainting, giving Terry the best day of his life.

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Chapter 44

It took hours for Henry's brain to catch some Z's before waking up, and even then, he was feeling dizzy and seeing double. "Oh, I should have known," he coughed as he tried to get up, only to stumble and fall. "Aghh," groaning, Henry finally stood up. "Fuck it, I am definitely combining the Super Soldier Serum and Extremis," he swore to himself as he stumbled through his hideout, while the darn turtle snapped his beak continuously. Ignoring the stupid reptile, Henry finally decided to get some sleep, even as the last Tier 4 Limitless potion stared at him.

The next morning, Henry could be seen holding a bottle of red liquid, which was actually an essence of flame extracted using his Essence Extraction skill.

[ Name: Essence of Alaskan Flame ]

[ Grade: 4th ]

[ Description: The Essence of Alaskan Flame is a rare and potent liquid extracted from a burning flame lit using wood from Alaskan trees. Using the Essence Extraction skill, this essence captures the raw, untamed power and energy of the fire, imbued with the unique properties of the Alaskan wood. This essence is a vivid, fiery liquid that pulses with heat and energy, embodying the primal force of fire. ]

[ Effects: +100% fire-based attack potency, +100% heat emission, +100% resistance to cold environments, +100% fire manipulation and control ]

[ Deterioration-Rate: 0% ]

He didn't only have one essence of Alaskan Flame but two of them, which he then combined into one, creating an improved version of the flame, though not a Tier 5 essence flame.

[ Name: Essence of Alaskan Flame ]

[ Grade: 4th ]

[ Description: The Essence of Alaskan Flame is a rare and potent liquid extracted from a burning flame lit using wood from Alaskan trees. Using the Essence Extraction skill, this essence captures the raw, untamed power and energy of the fire, imbued with the unique properties of the Alaskan wood. This essence has grown stronger through a unique process, though it has not yet broken through its tier limit. The essence is a vivid, fiery liquid that pulses with intensified heat and energy, embodying the primal force of fire. ]

[ Effects: +100% fire-based attack potency, +100% heat emission, +100% resistance to cold environments, +100% fire manipulation and control ]

[ Deterioration-Rate: 0% ]

"Shit, it really works," he chuckled. "Well, now I have to repeat the same process over and over again." The reason why he was doing this was simple. While high on Limitless, he figured out that he could create great materials, even Tier 6 or 7, by just using his Essence Extraction skill and then combining the essence either through potion synthesis skill or the alchemy weaponry skill. This would create a stronger material, but the chances of failure were quite high given that all of his hard work could be ruined by just one of his combinations or essence extractions failing.

"Well, I can just solve that using luck potions," he chuckled to himself, rather laughed to himself, much to the displeasure of Terry the turtle. He continued doing this, not because he had nothing better to do, but because he wanted to create a Tier 5 material with his own hands. After a couple of failures, he did. "I need to do this with some other elements, like wood and water or ice," he pondered to himself before glancing at his status panel. "Just a couple more and I'll reach level 5 alchemy and unlock a new skill. I wonder what type of skill it's going to be?" he mused to himself as he stared at a vial containing a reddish-blue liquid, this was all of his hard work and his lifeline which brought a smile to his face, "pheonix warrior huh? i like it" he smiled to himself

That's when suddenly, several alerts rang in his ears through his comms that were connected to Kai. {Sir, we have a problem,} Kai, who was more sophisticated, said in a less robotic voice, which grabbed Henry's attention. Kai automatically pulled up several prompts on the monitors. Henry was able to get not only electricity but also WiFi, completely off-grid. Arriving at the monitors, Henry checked the problem and frowned. "Someone is systematically taking out my contacts. I guess Centipede wasn't happy with the result of their attack," which were basically low lives and drug dealers that sell his drugs. {It seems, sir, someone is looking for you, and from the police reports on the affiliates' deaths, they were shot,} which surprised him because that wasn't Centipede's MO, given that they use super soldiers.

"Who else wants me dead? It could be S.H.I.E.L.D.," he mused to himself as another prompt suddenly popped up. {Sir, you have a message,} which wasn't a direct message but a message he understood. "Now what the hell do they want?" he asked himself as he sighed. {It seems, sir, that they want a favor, a potion, they want a healing potion,} Kai informed him as Henry sighed. "Yes, kai, I can see the screen," before smiling. "Now this is about to be interesting," as he got to making the potion.

-scene change-

Inside what seemed to be a waiting area in a secluded hospital, Coulson and his team, minus Skye, could be seen waiting solemnly. As a doctor appeared, Coulson was the first to speak. "How is she doing?" The doctor remained quiet for a second before saying, "Not good. The two gunshots penetrated both her small and large intestine. We resected what we could, but the damage is too much," earning a sigh from the team as Coulson asked again, "What can we do?" The doctor replied, "We can keep her comfortable, but the choice is yours, whether to keep her on life support or to let her go," which silenced the team as the doctor left them to make their choice.

That's when Coulson picked up a phone before speaking to an agent. "Get me to Director Fury," he demanded, but the agent spoke on the other side of the phone, saying something that infuriated Coulson, who said, "The message is that an agent is dying, and I want answers," as he hung up the phone. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have let her go after Ian Quinn in the first place. What was I thinking?" Fitz blamed himself as Ward said, "It's not your fault. She shouldn't have been there in the first place," looking at Coulson, who said, "I might have an idea of who can help her," which earned a surprised look from the team except for Agent May, who said, "You are not thinking about him, are you?" she asked as Coulson sighed.

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A/N: So yeah, Henry created something powerful, but he's not consuming it? Who knows, maybe the side effects are too serious. But you know what would happen? Probably something bad would force him to consume it regardless, or am I just kidding? Am I? and does it this has something to do with his contact being taken out, one by one? who is looking for him.

PS: No matter the hatred, as long as the benefits outweigh Henry's hatred, then he would put that aside. Just remember that.