How to Use the Witch Medea!

Afternoon, Stark Tower.

[Detected that the host was happy after eating something delicious. Pleasure points +100]

"Ah, so comfortable~"

Yu Xian patted his stomach, a satisfied expression on his face.

Y Squad, who had stayed behind to mooch food and drinks off Tony, was enjoying dessert after the meal.

Exquisite tiramisu, layers upon layers of cream and biscuits, and a plate of lemon ice cream...

"Say, with your lazy personality, you actually wanted to become a savior? That doesn't sound like the Yu Xian I know. Were you plotting something bad behind everyone's backs again? For someone who never got up early without profit to be this dedicated, it had to be something very important, right?"

Tony looked at all the Winter Lord videos flooding his phone, then could not help asking Yu Xian, who was eating ice cream beside him while watching a show.

"Heh, of course there was a reason. I—"

"Me, me, me! I know! Someone finally asked!"

Catalina, who had long been unable to hold herself back and was overflowing with the urge to complain, rattled off Yu Xian's entire plan with honeyed lips.

Tony, Pepper, Yinsen, and the others all pricked up their ears.

"You have no idea just how devious the captain is..."

As it turned out,

the Winter Lord in the news videos Tony had watched was not Yu Xian at all,

but a counterfeit played by the witch Medea using an illusion spell from the Age of Gods Magecraft System.

Of course, part of it was real—the Yu Xian flying through the sky.

Through Catalina's explanation,

Tony and the other two gradually learned of Yu Xian's scheme—

a plan to recruit a hacker girl.

The protagonist of this story, Skye, was twenty years old and female.

She had been shuffled through orphanages since childhood, passing through as many as twenty-three of them.

At twelve, she taught herself programming at the Brooklyn Public Library.

At fifteen, she hacked New York's power grid to "take revenge" on the orphanage, which suffered frequent blackouts.

That was when she first used "Rising Tide" as her hacker alias.

Now, she drove a modified RV across North America,

making a living by selling fake identities and cracking security systems.

She was currently active in the Brooklyn slums.

To bring her under his command, Yu Xian had personally entered the game, using his identity as the Winter Lord as bait.

He repeatedly exposed his whereabouts online and had Medea use illusion magic to impersonate him,

carrying out all sorts of rescue operations across Brooklyn in his place.

Fortunately, the witch Medea's innate skill, "Age of Gods Magecraft," could cast ice magic, so having her act in Yu Xian's stead was no problem at all.

As he listened to the blonde girl's explanation, Yu Xian secretly glanced at Medea.

Seeing no unusual reaction on her face,

he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She was still easy to talk to for now.

In their eyes, he probably just wanted to slack off,

did not want to work, and thus pushed rescuing people and punishing evil onto Medea, making her an absolute tool.

What they did not understand was that he was trying to help Medea find a reason to live.

Since her heart bore such a massive wound,

there was no way it could be healed all at once. He could only use the various orders he gave her, bit by bit,

to make her feel needed, slowly and gradually breaking through her solid psychological defenses.

Slacking off was indeed what he wanted, but this was the real reason he had created the double plan.

When Yu Xian saw Tony giving him an expression that said, Just as I thought, he knew Tony had gotten the wrong idea.

He did not explain himself. Instead, Yu Xian silently considered whether there were any loopholes in the plan and whether it needed adjustment.

The girl's explanation continued.

After Medea acted, she would leave behind a few flaws and traces at the scene.

Then, through Cat Group, led by Fatty within the intelligence team, they would casually provide the girl with hints and guidance time and again.

With those clues,

if someone possessed superb hacking skills and investigated carefully,

they would be able to uncover a faint trail leading straight to an abandoned factory in Brooklyn.

And there,

Yu Xian had placed a barrel full of documents burned beyond recognition.

However, a tiny bit of information had been preserved inside.

That information was the address of Y Squad's Waterside Villa, north of Manhattan beside the Hudson River.

As long as Skye found that slip of paper

and followed the address, an irreversible road would be waiting for her.

As for the plan after that...

Tony and the others were immediately stunned when they heard this.

"Damn, Yu Xian, are you really going this far now? She's only one person. Was she really worth all this effort? If it were me, I'd have just walked up and invited her directly. If she refused, then the price clearly wasn't right. There's nothing in this world money can't settle. And if there is, then it just means you didn't offer enough."

There was something Tony did not say aloud.

Could this guy have been traumatized because Yinsen rejected his invitation before,

and then he saw me invite Yinsen to join Stark Industries?

No, no. With this guy's personality, he would never care about something that minor.

Yeah... probably?

At that moment, Catalina stared fixedly at Yu Xian without saying a word.

The girl blinked her large eyes rapidly, shifting her gaze between Medea and Tony's group.

She signaled him with her eyes.

What the blonde girl had originally meant was, "Captain, this involves Sister Medea's ability secrets from here on. Can I say it?"

Yu Xian noticed the girl's look and immediately understood. What a big deal over nothing. Tony and I are family. No need to worry.

Yu Xian nodded and personally spoke up. "The rest of my plan is..."

Flap! Flap!

A white owl beat its wings and flew in through the window, entering everyone's view.

It was none other than White Phoenix, one of Yu Xian's three intelligence chiefs.

Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! (Hello, everyone!)

White Phoenix flew onto the coffee table opposite the group, crossed its feet, folded its wings over its chest, and bowed slightly, greeting Tony and the others like an elegant gentleman.

Amid Tony and the others' amazed looks, White Phoenix conveyed the purpose of its visit to Yu Xian.

Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! (Master, the protagonist is in position. She has obtained the most important intelligence.)

"She had already set out?"

Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! (Yes. She should reach Master's base in about an hour.)

Yu Xian's eyes lit up at this. He apologetically said to Tony and the others, "Sorry, everyone. Our protagonist is ready.

It's time for me to build her a stage to perform on. Tony, until next time!

When I come again, we'll talk in detail."

"Sure.

You'd better bring that girl you value so highly next time. I want to see for myself who could possibly be so charming that even Yu Xian was willing to go to such lengths to get her."

"Haha, definitely!"

"Medea, Catalina, let's go!"

A flash of magic circle light passed through the lounge. Yu Xian, the two women, and the owl vanished completely before Tony and the others.

Tony looked at the empty space and quietly sighed.

"Teleportation arrays really are convenient!"

One hour later,

outside Y Squad's Waterside Villa,

a battered modified RV slowly came to a stop.

The door opened, and a petite girl hopped out.

She wore a faded black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and heavily worn black combat boots.

The girl warily scanned her surroundings. After confirming there was nothing unusual,

she pulled a crumpled slip of paper from her backpack and checked the address again.

"Waterside Villa?"

"This is the Winter Lord's residence?"