Salted Fish, Witch, Girl!

New York, S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, Y Squad office.

"Ugh, this is miserable, Medea!"

"Do you have any magic that can lift my mood?"

"Hit me with it!"

A month had passed since Iron Man met Yinsen.

But the pain their meeting had brought Yu Xian still refused to heal.

Holy crap!!!

He had never imagined that one day, someone would poach his talent!

According to his original plan, after letting Tony and Yinsen meet,

he would first carry out Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative,

lay out the world's potential crises for Tony,

reveal that humanity was not alone in the universe,

and invite him into the Avengers Initiative while his mind was still reeling.

Just as Yu Xian had expected, Tony showed interest.

The next step was to wait for Nick Fury to assess him!

Then, Yu Xian would gentlemanly send Dr. Yinsen an invitation to join the team.

Dr. Yinsen should have been moved to tears, gladly accepted the invitation, and joined Y Squad.

How perfect!

But,

what Yu Xian had not expected was,

Dr. Yinsen actually refused!

Refused!

Refused!

That was a result Yu Xian had never anticipated.

Dr. Yinsen stood in the conference room then, his gaze exceptionally firm.

"I'm truly sorry, Agent Yu Xian!"

"Although I'm very grateful that you saved my life, but..."

"I am unwilling to accept a rigid hierarchy and missions that may violate morality!"

"More importantly, I know something about the work Y Squad does—honestly, I don't think I can adapt to that kind of..."

"Uh, 'high-efficiency' way of working."

That alone would have been one thing, but Tony took the opportunity to extend an invitation, and the guy agreed immediately without another word.

What a pair of adulterers!!!

Damn it!

After this,

Yu Xian no longer had the confidence to invite the future "Quake," Daisy Johnson—currently Skye—to join the team.

He still had not built the relationship properly.

They had not drunk enough together!

Skye,

his fated future teammate, required a foolproof plan

to secure her for the team, nice and steady.

After getting rejected, did he not have any pride?

Ugh, this was miserable!

No, it was time to find someone to share his troubles with!!!

Medea, sharing her Master's damage was what a Servant should do!!!

Mental damage was still damage!!!

"Medea..."

[Detected that the host is in a pleasant mood. Pleasure Points +300]

The witch Medea looked at her Master, who had gone crazy on his own again, and felt a faint headache coming on.

After observing him for some time, she knew he had no intention of betraying her,

and that he needed her very much.

But,

but,

this need was completely different from what she had imagined.

None of the battles, magecraft experiments, and other related scenes she had envisioned ever happened.

What had replaced them?

Documents, documents, endless documents.

And what did he make her do?

Wash clothes?

Watch dramas together?

Watch horror movies together?

Cook?

Sigh,

if only she had never tried cooking!

Ever since he had tasted her food, his palate seemed to have become spoiled.

If he went a day without eating it, he would tirelessly torment her.

"Medea, how is it? Have you started cooking?"

"Medea, I'm thirsty!"

"Medea, is it ready yet?"

"Medea..."

"Medea..."

Thinking of this, Medea's anger surged higher and higher.

Huff.

Take a deep breath.

No.

Elegance.

I must remain elegant.

"Medea, what are we having today?"

"Medea, I want to eat the desserts you make!"

"Medea, why are you ignoring me?"

"Medea..."

Snap~

The pen Medea had been using to review documents instantly broke in half.

Black ink immediately ran down her fair fingers, staining more than half the document.

"This period has been so relaxing!"

Watching her captain bicker with Medea as usual, Catalina felt the illusion of peaceful, tranquil days welling up inside her.

No, no, Catalina, you have really fallen!

You are supposed to become a top agent, a woman who becomes a hero protecting people from harm.

You cannot sink into such comfort!

Still,

to be fair,

ever since Sister Medea joined the team,

the atmosphere of the entire squad had changed.

When Catalina heard the captain asking Sister Medea what she was cooking today,

she could not help secretly pricking up her ears to listen.

Sister Medea's cooking was simply too delicious.

She could not be blamed for her wavering resolve!

"Meow!"

Carter felt an itch against her calf and looked down.

A plump Garfield was rubbing itself all over her leg.

"Fatty, you're being naughty again!"

Carter picked Fatty up in her arms and extended her devilish claws, kneading it from top to bottom.

Amid the joy of petting the cat, the girl could not help sinking into her memories.

Over the past month, Y Squad had happily welcomed three new members.

Well,

those three were not people. They were all animals.

But they were extremely intelligent and could understand human speech.

Who knew how the captain had trained them?

The first one she had met was the captain's White Phoenix,

a white owl that always maintained its elegance.

Then there was Fatty in her arms,

a Garfield that always maintained its laziness.

The last was Tatakai,

an otter that always maintained its desire to fight.

The three respectively ruled the skies, land, and waters.

The captain proudly called them the three great intelligence chiefs under his command.

Without question, they were the three giants of sea, land, and air.

If their squad had not received an urgent mission from above during that time,

to find the long-missing,

scientist who had suddenly appeared in New York—David Banner,

they probably would not have had a chance to make the captain reveal his true colors.

During Y Squad's intelligence-gathering operation,

the captain made no attempt to hide his ability to control animals and communicate with them.

Although Catalina was very happy that the captain had opened his heart to her without any reservations,

why did she feel that the captain was actually just lazy

and did not want to conduct the search himself?

And besides,

looking at the three busy generals around the captain,

looking at the endless stream of animals coming and going before them,

then looking at the captain watching dramas while drinking tea off to the side,

the thought in her heart grew stronger and stronger.

God, the captain was truly unbeatable.

He did not spare humans,

and even animals could not escape his clutches.

Unfortunately,

even after the captain activated the intelligence network he had built,

they searched for a full half month without finding the slightest trace of David Banner.

It was as if no such person had ever appeared in New York.

Who knew where the higher-ups had obtained their intelligence?

Sigh, she wondered how much longer this mission would last.

At that moment, the troubled girl heard Medea's helpless voice:

"Carter, what do you want to eat?"

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Hello, Director!"

"What? Another mission?"

"No, we still have a missing-person mission in progress. We don't have time!"

"Uh, that mission has been canceled? Fine, then what is the mission?"

"Hm?"

"Protect Bruce Banner?"

"..."