Balthazar Arrives

Sitwell pushed up his glasses, and it looked as if a white light flashed across the lenses.

"According to the latest intelligence we obtained from S.H.I.E.L.D.., Temari, the Sunagakure Puppet Shop, is the daughter of the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure."

"Given her status, it's highly likely she brought some genuinely valuable supplies with her when she left."

"As for Physical Enhancement Serum, although we haven't developed such a side-effect-free agent, these extraordinary forces might have the potential to obtain it."

"Based on Charlotte Agency's long-standing good cooperation and its unwavering intelligence, the newly opened Sunagakure Puppet Shop certainly wouldn't sell counterfeit goods."

"Secondly, according to the intelligence we have, ninjas graduate from the Ninja Academy at around twelve years old, and there are even outstanding individuals who graduate early. The fact that the enemy's Genin possesses such formidable strength is undoubtedly due to the effects of this Physical Enhancement Serum."

"Perhaps this enhancement agent has long been universally available among ninjas, and that they've been injected with it since childhood."

"However, we'll know exactly how effective it is once we buy one and conduct an experiment."

Upon hearing Sitwell's analysis, Pierce nodded; it was roughly the same as what he had thought.

Is it possible to obtain the formula directly from the other party?

Sitwell shook his head. "Unless they're an idiot, they won't just sell us the formula."

"Unless this enhancer is extremely low-end."

"No, even if it's a low-end product, they won't sell the formula unless we have a similar one."

"Just like the technology products the America sells to some countries, it only sells or even trades technology at low prices when others have made breakthroughs in that technology; otherwise, it will only..."

"However, once we've confirmed the true effectiveness of the enhancer, we can purchase several more vials and send some of the medicine to the Science Team for research."

"With actual drug samples, I believe the Science Team members will be able to replicate it sooner or later, given their capabilities."

Pierce nodded at Sitwell's analysis, acknowledging the high probability of such a possibility, but still spoke up:

"Although there's a high probability that they, like us, won't sell the actual formula."

"But you can try asking; you might get a different result."

"Grant Ward said the other party saw through his Static Veil disguise, and that if they wanted to be sincere, they shouldn't resort to such low-level pretense. Once the metal supplies were ready, he would arrange for a team of non- S.H.I.E.L.D. members to hand over the equipment to the Sunagakure Puppet Shop."

"That way, even if Coulson and the others run into them, they won't be able to trace it back to S.H.I.E.L.D.."

"Sir, the personnel responsible for escorting the supplies must be fully prepared. Since Werewolf appeared and kidnapped Jane, they might also appear and kidnap metal materials or enhancement agents."

Pierce hesitated for a moment before speaking, "For safety, I will deploy a Winter Soldier to provide escort throughout the journey. With him there, I believe no one can easily steal these things."

"Given the secrecy surrounding this transaction, which was known only to the two of us, there's only one possibility that it's been leaked: we have a mole within our ranks."

"But how could there be a traitor within our ranks?"

Pierce and Sitwell exchanged a glance. How could there be a traitor within Hydra's ranks? They were extremely confident in the loyalty of their team.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to remain hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D.. for so long without being discovered.

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Magic World.

Balthazar walked on the land of the Great Rift, examining the changes here. Although the attack from the Hell Dimension had been repelled, magic circles had been raised and enveloped the entire Magic World.

However, after the invasion ended, this land still underwent significant changes. The infiltration of the flesh and blood of Hell Creature made it somewhat different.

Just as Balthazar was inspecting the changes here, the paper crane that Ginny had sent flew over.

As he watched the paper crane fly towards him, Balthazar frowned slightly. He recognized it as the item he had given to Ginny to contact him; she wouldn't use it to contact him unless it was something important.

After receiving the paper crane, Balthazar saw the message inside. "Emergency situation, return immediately!"

Meanwhile, Dave, who was training inside the Magic Tower, also received the message from the paper crane. The moment the master and apprentice received the message, they stopped what they were doing and used Merlin's Teleportation Array to arrive at Charlotte Agency.

Ginny, who had been anxiously waiting in the Training Room, finally saw Balthazar and his apprentice several hours later.

Balthazar glanced at Ginny, who was standing guard there, and asked directly, "What happened?"

Dave asked curiously, "Golden Secretary, is there something so important that even my senior brother, Prime Merlinian, couldn't solve it?"

"Archmage Balthazar, something unusual has happened to Prime Merlinian. We're not entirely sure what it is, and we need you to confirm it."

Ginny then explained the phenomena that had occurred to Charlotte Doyle to Balthazar and Dave.

Dave was completely bewildered. Although his strength had improved considerably, he hadn't even spent a year studying magic. Despite cramming on a lot of knowledge recently, his experience was still insufficient, and he didn't understand what this phenomenon was.

Balthazar frowned and slowly said, "Let's go to the scene first. Only by seeing the actual situation can I determine what happened."

"Okay, I'll have John take us back to base right away."

Balthazar immediately rejected Ginny's suggestion, saying, "Let's not delay, let's use a faster method."

Balthazar summoned Steel Eagle with magic and then led Ginny to the garage in the backyard of the Agency.

The three had only been in the backyard for a few seconds when the Steel Eagle flew over and landed on the open ground.

Balthazar and Dave jumped directly onto the giant eagle, Ginny followed suit. Once everyone was on board, Balthazar said, "Let's go."

The Steel Eagle leaped across the courtyard and then spread its wings, flying towards the base.

The Steel Eagle flew very fast; what would normally be an hour's drive took only a few minutes to get back to base.

The giant eagle had just reached the airspace above the base when it was spotted by the Werewolf Squad and ninjas guarding it. Fortunately, Itachi Uchiha saw Ginny and Balthazar on the giant eagle and prevented them from attacking, allowing the Steel Eagle to land safely.

Ginny glanced at Itachi Uchiha, the Anbu member who was standing guard nearby, but didn't say anything. She then led Archmage Balthazar and Dave straight to the building where Charlotte was.

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