Magic Hodgepodge Soup

Stephanie entered the Witch Apartment again, but this time she would not be staying long.

Salomon now spent most of his time working remotely. She had only come here to discuss some details and handle unexpected situations. For instance, the construction permits for the Malik family's ancient castle in Gloucestershire, England, had finally been filed. Before that, the construction crew had already begun preliminary demolition. Unless they used heavy engineering equipment, no one could enter the castle's basement.

For instance, Fitz and Simmons of S.H.I.E.L.D. could be released after their quarantine and medical examinations, and Stephanie needed to know whether Salomon agreed to let them move about freely. Or whether Salomon and Agent Coulson had reached some sort of deal that required the City of Immortals to make concessions. Then there was the astronaut Will, the disposal of The Monolith, and a whole series of matters that needed to be handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D.—if they were not holding things Nick Fury had given them that could threaten the entire world, Stephanie would not want to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fussy bunch at all. Until they found out how many dangerous items S.H.I.E.L.D. had hidden through the "Sling-shot Program" and seized every last one, until they fully understood just how many little secrets Nick Fury had concealed, even Salomon had to make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. did not get itself killed.

What was more, S.H.I.E.L.D. still had a mission involving time travel to complete. Until then, they all had to stay alive.

At least alive. Salomon did not guarantee their limbs would remain intact.

Besides that, there were bulk commodity purchases, material appropriations for Mars, and so on.

Most importantly, there was the outcome of Stephanie's negotiations with General Hale. After the negotiations, General Hale would assist the Intelligence Department with its work, but