Tracking

Twenty-four hours passed in the blink of an eye. When Natasha appeared at the entrance to the club activity room again, Li greeted her with a firm shake of his head. "We've decided not to join S.H.I.E.L.D."

Li pushed the USB drive back, its metal surface glinting coldly under the lights. "But that doesn't mean we'll stand by and ignore the dangers facing this world." Gwen was adjusting a newly modified detector beside him, while Scarlet Magic curled lightly around Wanda's fingertips. The posture of all three had already made their resolve clear.

Natasha showed no surprise. She merely slipped the USB drive back into her pocket, a meaningful smile curling at her lips. "Director Fury guessed you'd make this choice. But..." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the Protective Suit on the table. An unusual glimmer flashed deep in her eyes. "If you run into trouble you can't handle, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s communication channels will always be open to the Starks." Before her words had even faded, she had disappeared down the end of the corridor, leaving only the faint scent of rose perfume lingering in the air.

Li turned to clear the table, only to discover a strange rune that had appeared on the surface of the Protective Suit at some point. Its lines flickered with a ghostly green glow, as though slowly flowing.

His brow furrowed as he reached out and touched the rune. A bone-chilling cold instantly spread from his fingertips through his entire body, as if countless tiny ice needles were darting beneath his skin. "Gwen, Wanda, come take a look." Li called his companions over, his eyes filled with vigilance.

Gwen leaned closer for a careful examination and pulled out the portable spectral analyzer she carried with her. "This rune isn't made of any known material from Earth. The energy fluctuations it gives off are chaotic and strange, like traces of some ancient magic." Her voice trembled involuntarily. She exchanged a glance with Wanda, and both saw unease in the other's eyes.

Wanda stretched out her hand, Scarlet Magic wrapping around the rune, but her face instantly turned paper-white. She staggered back several steps, cold sweat covering her forehead. "This presence... it's an evil I've never felt before, completely different from any magic I've encountered."

Hearing that, memories from Li's previous life suddenly flashed through his mind. In his original world, he had been a fanatical Marvel comics fan, familiar with every character and plotline. As he stared at the bizarre rune, those long-buried comic panels flashed rapidly through his mind.

"This may be connected to Amora." Li's voice was low, but his heartbeat uncontrollably quickened. "She's Asgard's Enchantress. I... I saw similar magical traits in some ancient records. She's skilled in dark magic and excels at manipulating minds and energy. These runes look far too much like the magic she used in my memories. Her magic always carried a malice that corroded the soul. Her interference lay behind many of Asgard's crises. If she's appeared this time, she must be plotting something evil. We have to stop her."

Li fell silent in thought for a moment before continuing, "This mark appeared after Natasha showed up. Could S.H.I.E.L.D. have already noticed something? Or is there a conspiracy behind this that we don't know about? Either way, we need to be especially careful while investigating."

That night, the three of them began acting on their own. Li loaded part of the data he had secretly copied from the USB drive onto a computer, and the encrypted files gradually took shape under Gwen's decryption program. "The area with the most frequent energy fluctuations is concentrated in Brooklyn's old district." Li enlarged the map, the blue screen light reflecting off his tightly furrowed brow. "It's packed with abandoned factories and warehouses. Amora may have established a magical base there."

Gwen patted the backpack containing her new equipment, filled with magical disruptors and energy trackers she had modified overnight. "Perfect time to test these new toys. If this really has something to do with Amora, we'll need to find a way to break her magic. We can't let her scheme succeed." Wanda closed her eyes, magical energy flowing around her as she tried to sense traces of that mysterious force. "I can feel it... a cold, chaotic presence, deep within those blocks. It's exactly the same as the presence on that rune. She must be planning something big."

Late Saturday night, the three slipped past the patrolling police and infiltrated Brooklyn's old district. The damp streets reeked of mold, while broken streetlamps cast mottled shadows across the ground. Li's Protective Suit automatically activated its stealth mode, its smart material blending into the darkness; Gwen's detector gave off faint beeping sounds, guiding their direction; Wanda remained constantly alert, Chaos Magic gathering into a shield in her palm.

When they arrived before a rust-covered warehouse, the detector's alarm suddenly intensified.

Gwen crouched down, took a miniature camera from her backpack, and slipped it through the crack beneath the door. On the screen, strange magic circles filled the warehouse. Ghostly green flames danced around their edges, while twisted runes carved into the walls gave off a nauseating aura. Various crystals and magical tools emitting eerie light had been arranged around the room. A massive magic sphere floated in the center, constantly radiating powerful energy fluctuations. "These magic circles and tools..." Li stared at the screen, his pupils narrowing slightly. "Amora must be preparing a terrifying ritual. We need to find a way to stop her."

Just then, chanting suddenly drifted from inside the warehouse. The three quickly hid in the shadows and saw several figures in black robes standing in a circle around the magic sphere. Their faces were concealed beneath their hoods, and they held wands glowing with ghostly light. Above the magic sphere, an illusory figure gradually emerged. It was Amora!

She wore an extravagant green robe, her eyes flashing with an eerie, vicious gleam and an evil smile hanging from her lips. "What kind of ritual are they performing?" Wanda asked in a lowered voice, Chaos Magic twitching restlessly at her fingertips.

Li took out a tracker and was about to attach it to the warehouse wall when he suddenly sensed someone else's presence. He spun around and caught sight of a familiar black figure flashing across a distant rooftop—it was Natasha! She moved like a ghost between the buildings, the gun in her hand gleaming coldly. She seemed to be watching something, and her route also appeared to be guiding the three of them closer to the truth.

"Is she following us? Or watching those people?" Gwen tightened her grip on her stun gun, her eyes full of wariness. Li considered it for a moment, then said quietly, "Ignore her for now. Keep watching. If Amora's plan succeeds, who knows how many people will suffer? We need to figure out what she wants, then stop her."

The three quietly lay in wait outside the warehouse, tensely watching every movement within. Meanwhile, Natasha watched both them and the black-robed figures inside the warehouse from the rooftop.