Arrival, Checking In at the Continental Hotel?

Meanwhile, Coulson, who had encountered supernatural power for the first time, was still pondering what kind of demands a supernatural being like Sherlock might make of S.H.I.E.L.D. On the other side, Sherlock had already boarded a plane bound for the Middle East.

After more than thirty hours of flying, Sherlock and his group successfully landed at a military base in the Middle East.

Helen was exceptionally curious about the place, but neither Sherlock nor John Wick showed any particular reaction.

After all, this mission had been issued by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place, while the ones who had lost Tony were military personnel. In theory, S.H.I.E.L.D. had only acted after accepting the military's request for help.

Moreover, most of the Continental Hotel's clients were high-ranking officials, upper-class figures, and wealthy businessmen. After coordination between all sides, landing the plane inside a military base was not a problem at all.

As for doro, doro understood nothing. It only felt that a great many people wearing identical shit-yellow uniforms had suddenly appeared, along with quite a few huge metal contraptions.

The military, meanwhile, had mixed feelings about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "outside assistance." On one hand, they did not want S.H.I.E.L.D. meddling in their affairs. On the other, Tony's identity and their own lack of intelligence left them with no choice but to ask for help.

Thus, Rhodes, who was responsible for receiving them when the plane landed, was in a complicated mood.

However, when he saw Sherlock's youthful face leading the way out through the aircraft door, the complicated expression on Rhodes's face instantly turned into anger.

The reason was simple: Sherlock was far too young. So young that Rhodes had briefly thought S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent someone like him merely to brush the military off, without taking Tony's life seriously at all.

Yet when Rhodes saw doro climb onto Sherlock's shoulder, the little anger in his heart immediately vanished without a trace.

As one of the Air Force's generals, Rhodes could barely be considered part of the upper echelon. Naturally, he knew that there were certain "experts" hidden among the public—or, to put it plainly, superpowered individuals.

And clearly, doro's art style, which was utterly out of place with the surrounding environment, was silently declaring that the young man walking at the front was no ordinary person.

Because of doro's presence, Rhodes put away his contempt. He led Sherlock's group to the operations room and briefly explained all the intelligence they had gathered. Afterward, Sherlock asked Rhodes for a satellite map and, without the slightest hesitation, left with the three people behind him.

Naturally, Rhodes was curious. In fact, he was far from the only one. doro's simplistic two-dimensional cartoon appearance was simply too eye-catching amid the endless yellow sand and the grim military camp.

Sherlock naturally sensed the eyes constantly watching him. However, this operation was meant to be a show of force, so he had no intention of hiding anything.

After casually finding an open patch of ground, Sherlock clasped his hands together in front of his chest. When he suddenly spread them apart, a spear radiating sacred light abruptly appeared before him, floating silently in midair.

If that had been all, the people around him would not have reacted too strongly. After all, quite a few magicians could achieve such an effect.

Although the spear floating before Sherlock's chest was covered in dazzling special effects, that was all it was.

As the saying went, they lived in the Marvel Universe and had grown up on this land of Eagleland. From ancient times to the present, what strange monsters and supernatural beings had they not seen? This little trick was nothing to the curious onlookers.

Sherlock naturally knew that as well. So from the start, he had never intended to stop there. Under John Wick and Helen's amused gazes, Sherlock could only choose to keep up the act to the bitter end.

He grabbed the spear floating before him with one hand and gave it a light sweep. The next second, a blinding light flared from the spear.

When the light faded, Sherlock's Raptor had miraculously appeared before everyone.

That move truly made the people curious about Sherlock suck in a breath of cold air. Yet Sherlock ignored those behind him. With a casual flick of his hand, the spear vanished, and he got into the front passenger seat on his own.

Seeing that Sherlock had already gotten into the vehicle, John Wick and Helen exchanged a glance. Only then did they board Sherlock's Raptor as well, both wearing enigmatic smiles. John Wick took the wheel, while Helen carried doro into the back seat.

The reason their expressions were so strange was simple. Sherlock's little performance could indeed fool people who did not understand him, but anyone who knew his abilities could naturally guess what he had just done.

Using the blinding light emitted by the Spear of Longinus as cover, Sherlock had frantically pulled out a spatial capsule he had made and thrown it onto the ground. That was how this vehicle had appeared.

After the four of them got in, the Raptor, which absolutely should not have been there, immediately sped toward the base's exit with a stomp on the accelerator.

Only after they left the base did Sherlock's taut expression finally relax. He let out a long breath and nearly slumped across the passenger seat.

Seeing Sherlock's lazy appearance, John Wick found it rather amusing. After exchanging a look with Helen through the rearview mirror, Helen lightly shook her head at John Wick with a smile in her eyes.

John Wick stopped paying attention to Sherlock, who was sprawled in his seat. After thinking for a moment, he said to Sherlock.

"Let's go to the Continental Hotel here first."

Upon hearing John Wick's words, Sherlock, who had been searching for the valley on the satellite map, abruptly looked up and stared at him in disbelief.

"There's a Continental Hotel here too? In a war zone?"

John Wick did not hold back in response to Sherlock's question. He merely nodded solemnly before speaking.

"That's right. There's a Continental Hotel here too, but this Continental Hotel operates under war zone rules. Still, for us, it counts as a good place to go."

Hearing John Wick's words, Sherlock was somewhat confused. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He had only known that fighting was forbidden within the Continental Hotel; this was the first time he had heard of so-called war zone rules, and he could not help being curious.

"Old Zhao, what are the Continental Hotel's war zone rules? Isn't fighting prohibited inside the Continental Hotel? Why are there war zone rules now?"

At Sherlock's question, a massive cross inevitably appeared on John Wick's forehead, but he still explained the Continental Hotel's rules to Sherlock.