Not Recognized by S.H.I.E.L.D. is All Illegal! Must Be Banned!

The next morning, Director Nick Fury propped his hands on his gleaming bald head, staring with a headache at a report lying on his desk. He had thought the alien girl incident had settled down, but it seemed to be stirring up new waves.

Just last night, he had barely managed to settle that troublesome little girl Annie, but before he could catch a break, a few even more troublesome characters had popped up! According to the reports submitted by Coulson and Melinda, those people seemed to be mages of some sort, and likely belonged to some organization?

They could cast spells and use Mirror Space! Well... anyway, as far as S.H.I.E.L.D. was concerned, they were not to be trifled with! Because they could also draw circles and suddenly appear behind you for close combat! Even a combat expert like Melinda had been caught off guard by their circle tactics!

But the good news was: in the end, that little girl Annie had easily captured them.

According to the report from Level 9 Agent Hill, who had gone to provide backup last night, after she and her combat team jumped off the helicopter, all they could do was haul back the five people who were tied up and struggling on the beach!

Now Agent Hill was in a special cell beneath S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, overseeing the interrogation of these five. Actually, the interrogation had been going on all night, and it wasn't going smoothly—those people wouldn't budge, and Hill didn't dare use overly harsh methods, so things were at a standstill for now.

He knew Hill's abilities; hopefully she could dig up some useful intel soon? Director Nick Fury signed his name on the report and was about to call his secretary to file it away when he noticed the entire office space suddenly twisting?

Was this...?

Nick Fury grew alert, his remaining eye sharpening. Was this the Mirror Space mentioned in the reports? He understood—someone was up to something! And it had to be connected to the five people they'd captured!

With that thought, he quickly drew his Colt Python from his waist, spun around, and aimed at the other side of the office. His peripheral vision caught a figure by the sofa. He swore that a second ago, no one had been there! And now! A middle-aged bald woman in a linen robe was standing there?

She looked kind and gentle, and like him, she had a shiny bald head! But Director Nick Fury didn't care about that—no matter how harmless she seemed, he wouldn't lower his aim from her, well, bald head! In Nick Fury's book, there was no "bald heads don't hurt bald heads" principle.

"Please relax! Friend, don't be nervous. Trust me, I mean no harm. I just want to have a good talk with you, an open and honest talk." The bald woman smiled at Nick Fury, as if the gun aimed at her head didn't exist.

"Who the hell are you?"

Looking at the twisted space around him, Nick Fury's face grew serious. Instinct told him this was the Mirror Space from the reports—truly a remarkable spell! While speaking and observing his surroundings, his gun hand didn't waver, the muzzle still locked on her head. If she made any move, he'd fire without hesitation!

"You plan to talk to me like this? Please! Your weapon probably poses no threat to me." The bald woman still smiled, gesturing at the revolver aimed at her head.

Nick Fury was silent for a moment, studying the Mirror Space around him. After weighing his options, he reluctantly holstered his prized Colt Python.

After all, he was at her mercy now. As a normal human, he really couldn't fight these mysterious freaks with special abilities. Since that was the case, he might as well stop making a fool of himself.

"Is this how you all negotiate? I don't see any sincerity!"

As the mighty Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., being kidnapped by some unknown person in his own office? Of course he was furious! Looking at the twisted Mirror Space around him, Nick Fury could only curse under his breath: Damn mages! Damn bald heads! Uh... cough, well, he was bald too? Okay, scratch that!

"This is just a suitable way to avoid outside interference, isn't it? Director Nick Fury?" The bald woman spoke slowly, smiling as she looked out the window at the S.H.I.E.L.D. employees who hadn't noticed anything unusual and were still working.

"Let me introduce myself. You can call me: Ancient One, a Sorcerer Supreme from Kamar-Taj."

"Ancient One? Sorcerer Supreme? Sorry, I've never heard of you!"

Director Nick Fury strode back to his desk, slammed his gun down heavily, and sat back in his director's chair, staring coldly at this composed Sorcerer Supreme.

"Of course. You can think of me as the leader of an Earth-based mage organization called Kamar-Taj." Seeing Nick Fury's confusion, Ancient One explained.

"Actually, Kamar-Taj's function is similar to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s—at least very close! Only, you protect the peace of the material world, Earth, while we protect the mystical realm and prevent Earth from being eroded by the dangerous dark dimension."

"Excuse me, Earth has a mage organization? What's the dark dimension? How have I never known about this?" Nick Fury couldn't accept his ignorance. He was the mighty Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.—how could Earth have a mage organization called Kamar-Taj that he'd never known about?

"The mysteries of this world are infinite. In this great universe, we are all insignificant! Ignorance is not a fault; that's precisely why we humans keep exploring the unknown."

There's plenty you don't know! Kamar-Taj has existed longer than your country's history. Even Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, wouldn't claim omniscience—what's a mundane world director compared to that? But Ancient One didn't say this; she just kept smiling out the window. She was here today for a preliminary meeting, not a competition!

"Stop! Alright, state your purpose! Respected Sorcerer Supreme?" As a former Level 10 Agent, Nick Fury's will was unshakable. He wouldn't be fooled by this stranger's smooth talk.

But he roughly understood her mage identity. Since an alien mage girl had already appeared, an Earth-native mage organization wasn't too hard to accept.

"The five people caught yesterday—they're yours, right?" He wanted to seize the initiative in the negotiation, not be led around by her.

Ancient One turned back helplessly to look at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director who had interrupted her. This black man was tough to deal with! Her persuasion technique hadn't even gotten off the ground!

"Alright, that's correct! The leader of the five you caught is Daniel, a mage from the New York Sanctum. I deeply regret what happened yesterday and the misunderstanding between our sides! But please believe me, this was their private action and doesn't represent Kamar-Taj. I hope you can release them and resolve the misunderstanding." Since he wasn't keen on more conversation, Ancient One cut straight to the point.

"Even if you say that, that's not a reason for us to let them go! You should know, they attacked my people—you should pay some price for that!"

The art of negotiation was seizing the initiative, probing the other side's bottom line, then leveraging all available chips to force concessions or greater costs! The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director had these skills down pat.

He could release them! But they had to offer equal value in exchange! He was thinking: he needed to demand something worth as much as those five! Mystical spell knowledge? More intel? That required careful consideration.

"No, I think you misunderstand. Those people—I already took them away long ago. I came here just to inform you, hoping both sides can resolve the misunderstanding and avoid further friction." With that, a red circle appeared behind Ancient One. She stepped back into it and vanished. As she disappeared, the entire Mirror Space in the office returned to normal.

This! Nick Fury was stunned speechless! What the hell, she just left like that? He thought she was here to negotiate, so he'd been brewing a whole list of demands he hadn't even gotten to mention! And she just left? What did she take him, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, for?!

Her people attacked his side first, got caught, and she didn't even offer an apology or compensation! Instead, she came to rescue them without a word, then waltzed in to say: I've already saved them, it's a misunderstanding, hope you don't mind?! What kind of international joke was this? What did she think S.H.I.E.L.D. was? This was outright lawlessness!

Director Nick Fury felt that S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to get its hands on some supernatural power as soon as possible. Organizations like Kamar-Taj—unregistered, unrecognized, lawless wild mage groups—had to be shut down! Disband them, confiscate all their illicit property and books! They couldn't be allowed to keep developing like this!

"Director! Something's wrong! The five people suddenly disappeared!" Maria Hill, S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 9 Agent! She hurriedly pushed open the Director's office door, about to report, when she saw his grim expression and froze for a moment.

"I... just found out. You may go now!"