John Constantine

"Yes, we should find Tony Stark!"

"Didn't Loki say he was his friend? He'll definitely have a way!"

"Find Tony, quickly! I don't want to be killed by a vengeful spirit!!"

"."

If it had been an ordinary murder case, it would have been manageable, but this case seemed to carry a hint of something sinister no matter how one looked at it.

Curses and vengeful spirits were mentioned again and again, and everyone feared that they would become the next victim!

They had no confidence that the police and bodyguards could fight off vengeful spirits and guarantee their safety.

And what about Tony?

Early that morning, he received countless calls from other wealthy tycoons. Even as he realized the severity of the situation, he could only helplessly say that there was nothing he could do.

He was clearly telling the truth, but some people, driven frantic with desperation, refused to believe him and left threats over the phone one after another.

Reflected in the stock market, Stark Industries' share price began to fall continuously, while investors wailed in misery.

At the same time, S.H.I.E.L.D. had not been idle either.

Natasha Romanoff had successfully joined Stark Industries and, with her outstanding abilities, became Pepper's assistant.

"Mm, I just saw Stark. He looked rather awful, as if he'd run into some trouble..."

Taking advantage of a trip to the restroom, Natasha pulled out her phone and reported the situation when she had just encountered Tony to Nick Fury.

"All right, all right, I understand. I'll keep at it."

After hanging up, Natasha naturally slipped her phone back into her pocket, adjusted her glasses, and, dressed like a professional businesswoman, swayed away in high heels.

Laboratory.

Tony Stark summoned JARVIS.

"Sir, how may I help you?"

"JARVIS, pull up all the surveillance footage from Stark Industries Tower that day.

"I need to know who came by that day!"

Tony gave the command, and JARVIS swiftly retrieved the surveillance footage, projecting it densely across the empty space before him.

"Remove the useless information and bring up any suspicious individuals."

The images began to diminish rapidly. With the AI's powerful computing capacity, the footage was successfully narrowed down to twenty-seven clips.

"Not this one. Not this one either."

His hands moved rapidly as he swiped away one image after another. Tony's eyes darted around as he made quick judgments.

Hard work paid off. In the thirteenth image, he finally found the clue he was looking for.

"That's... Assistant Pepper's office?"

A hand suddenly extended out of thin air and inserted a USB drive into the office computer's main unit.

The owner of that hand seemed to notice the camera's location. After flashing a V sign toward the camera, the hand withdrew and vanished.

Although the time was brief and the footage was not very clear, using the footage of Loki from the Four Seasons Hotel incident and computer comparison, the probability that the two were the same person reached an astonishing 99.73%.

"Loki!"

Tony's expression darkened.

[Emotion Points from Tony Stark +373]

He had already found it strange that, despite both being artificial intelligences, JARVIS's defenses had been breached so easily.

He had not expected the enemy to penetrate the interior and bypass the system to upload something directly.

But even after learning the other's method, it did nothing to improve the current situation.

After hesitating again and again, he finally made up his mind and gave JARVIS an order.

"Bring up the video Loki uploaded that day. I want to study it again."

"Yes, sir."

Bzzzt~

The lights in the laboratory flickered ever so slightly.

For one instant, it seemed as though an old woman stood there in deathly stillness.

"Coulson, I need you to make a trip to the New York Police Department and bring someone out."

"Yes, Director Fury."

After hanging up the phone, Nick Fury narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze back to the image before him.

On the open ground beside the outer wall of a certain mansion, a man in a brown trench coat was spat out as if space were vomiting garbage.

Crack.

New York Police Department, interrogation room.

Holding up a lighter, Officer Tom lit a cigarette for the man across from him, then impatiently slapped the table and urged him on.

"All right, kid, I lit your cigarette for you.

Now tell me—why were you near Noel Manor?"

Taking a long drag, the man in the brown trench coat slowly exhaled smoke through his nostrils, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"If I told you that the moment I appeared in this world, I smelled the presence of vengeful spirits coming from that manor, would you believe me, Officer?"

"Vengeful spirits?"

"That's right. The presence there was very strong. As the famous Hellblazer, I had to—"

Bang!!

Slamming his fist hard on the table, Officer Tom shot to his feet. With an intimidating glare, he grabbed the man by the collar and roared.

"Fuck. Listen up, kid, my patience is limited!

If you want to keep wasting my time talking about your fairy tales, believe me, I'll make you regret it!"

Shit, he had had enough of this bastard's constant bullshit!

"Listen, stop playing games with me and answer my question honestly!"

Yet the man across from him looked utterly unconcerned and even took another drag from his cigarette.

"That's what I'm saying, Officer.

You don't believe the truth when I tell it to you. Do you really want me to make up a lie just for you?"

Staring into the man's eyes, Tom could not find even a trace of fear in them.

This guy... was an old hand.

He must have dealt with the police plenty of times.

Tom let go of him and cursed inwardly.

The higher-ups were pressing hard now, and he had finally managed to find a lead. No matter what, he did not want to let this opportunity slip away.

But looking at the thug-like face of the man, who refused to respond to either threats or persuasion, he knew that the chances of getting him to talk through proper procedures in a short time were infinitely close to zero.

Thinking of his wife's complaints over all these years, Tom was unwilling to waste any more time. Blinded by his desire to earn merit and a promotion, he pulled out his baton with reddened eyes, ready to use force and beat a confession out of him.

But the man merely smoked and watched him indifferently, as though he were looking at a pitiful clown.

"Bastard!!"

Enraged, Tom lunged forward, raising his baton to smash it into that irritating face.

Bang!

The interrogation room door was violently shoved open.

An officer entered with a group of people.

"..."

The fury in Tom's heart instantly vanished. He stood there awkwardly, baton raised in midair (;￢_￢).

"Hello, I'm FBI Agent Phil Coulson. Here are my credentials."

Among the group that entered, a slightly older man with somewhat thinning hair stepped forward first.

Pointing at the smoking man seated across the table, he spoke sternly to Officer Tom.

"Under an administrative order, this man, John Constantine, is now under the full jurisdiction of the FBI!"

Sure enough, after picking through so many works, I still chose you in the end, Constantine, you bastard (●｀●)