"The Sorcerer Supreme is someone who values peace and quiet. If you want her to support a unified front with S.H.I.E.L.D., you must show sufficient sincerity."
Before heading to Kamar-Taj, Fang Yuan gave Fury a heads-up.
Of course, anyone who knew Fang Yuan even slightly understood that he was simply raising the price.
Fury nodded, understanding that it wouldn't be easy to impress a centuries-old master of magic.
Raise the price if he wants, it wasn't his money anyway.
Fury was intimately familiar with the process of using public funds for personal gain.
Thus, Fang Yuan finally opened a Portal, leading directly to Kamar-Taj.
The three of them stepped through the Portal and arrived inside a guest room at Kamar-Taj.
Looking through the window at the ancient buildings and the warm climate, a hint of surprise appeared in Fury's single eye.
As expected of a magic organization, they could maintain a comfortable, spring-like temperature even on a snowy mountain.
However, Fury immediately realized something.
"The Alps? Huh?" He realized Fang Yuan had tricked him earlier.
Such structures with strong Eastern characteristics were unsuitable for the Alps, unless this was another mountain range—the Himalayas.
Natasha also fell silent. In order to gather intelligence, she had repeatedly recalled everything she saw through the Portal that day.
She had racked her brain studying everything from the sunlight angle and mountain orientation to even the granularity of the snow. Now they were telling her it was all a joke?
Natasha looked over at Fang Yuan with a reproachful expression, looking as though she had taken lessons from a Fox Spirit.
Fang Yuan remained expressionless: "I didn't say anything."
To Natasha's surprise, Fang Yuan wasn't swayed by her charm.
After all, he was a fish farmer, not a fox keeper.
Fish shouldn't try to play mind games with the Fish Pond Owner.
Fang Yuan led the two toward Ancient One's Meditation Room. As soon as they stepped out, Fury started looking around nervously. Noticing this, Fang Yuan blurted out: "You don't need to be so nervous; we do have Black sorcerers here."
...
Fury immediately fixed Fang Yuan with a deadpan stare. If looks could kill, Fang Yuan would have died hundreds of times over.
"How could Captain America be good friends with someone like this?" This question popped up again in Fury's mind, and this time, his thoughts branched out even further
—
"Could Captain America also be like Fang Yuan—a hero on the surface, but a jerk in reality?"
Because of his good friend Fang Yuan, Steve's reputation was directly damaged.
However, Fury quickly stopped his wild thoughts, as they had already arrived outside Ancient One's Meditation Room.
But just as Fang Yuan pushed the door open, the three heard a thumping beat coming from inside. Upon closer inspection, it turned out Ancient One was playing a rock song!
"Dada da dada..."
"Mockingbird can't you see."
"Little girl's got a..."
Natasha instantly recognized it as a recently released new song, and her head began nodding along.
Hearing the Psychedelic Rock melody, Fury immediately glanced at Fang Yuan: "The Sorcerer Supreme values peace and quiet... Huh?"
Fang Yuan gasped sharply. His surprise was much greater than that of Fury and Natasha.
Fury simply thought Fang Yuan was raising the price earlier, but having spent so much time with Ancient One, Fang Yuan genuinely didn't know the Sorcerer Supreme was so trendy.
Seeing Ancient One playing rock music gave him an instant sense of absurdity, like Guan Yu wearing sunglasses and riding a motorcycle.
"Clack!"
The music stopped abruptly.
Ancient One slowly walked out, a gentle smile still on her face: "The guests have arrived. Please come this way."
"Rock music?" Fang Yuan asked directly using Telepathy.
He never concealed his abilities in front of Ancient One; she knew everything anyway.
"Didn't you say you wanted me to become a star? I'm catching up on the latest trends," Ancient One replied using Mental Transmission.
Fang Yuan immediately forgave Ancient One for the embarrassment she had just caused him.
An employee with such initiative deserves encouragement.
"Very good, full of spirit, keep it up!" he praised via Telepathy.
Fury and Black Widow were both surprised upon seeing Ancient One; they hadn't expected the Sorcerer Supreme to be a bald woman.
And... she was centuries old?
Natasha's gaze lingered on Ancient One; she couldn't believe this was true.
After all, Ancient One looked only thirty or forty years old.
The four sat down around a tea table.
"Fang Yuan has already told me the purpose of your visit. Personally, I am not against cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D., because the threats facing Earth are growing," Ancient One said while personally pouring tea for them.
Fury was pleasantly surprised by the first half of her sentence, but the second half made him frown.
He quickly asked, "Earth is facing threats? What threats?"
Ancient One subtly glanced at Fang Yuan. Upon noticing this, Fang Yuan immediately puffed out his chest.
What threats? I don't know!
"Threats and opportunities lie in a single thought." Ancient One spoke in riddles.
She didn't specify whose thought she meant. Fury simply assumed she was being deliberately mysterious, which fit his stereotype of sorcerers.
Only Fang Yuan knew Ancient One was calling him out, making him feel wronged.
How am I doing anything bad?
All I did was destroy an Undersea Kingdom and make its king serve me like a dog, right?
I'm clearly eliminating threats to the World!
I am the Black King. My name is black, but my heart isn't, okay?
"However, the other sorcerers of Kamar-Taj have never publicly revealed their existence, and rashly doing so would affect their cultivation."
Ancient One introduced a twist in her statement.
"Therefore, I can allow Fang Yuan to fully represent Kamar-Taj in cooperating with you. I will also publicly reveal my identity, though this will naturally be based on Fang Yuan's advice, as he is the one among us who understands the outside World best."
"After the outside World and Kamar-Taj become familiar with each other through him, we will then fully allow sorcerers to go out."
Hearing that while Kamar-Taj wouldn't fully appear, the Sorcerer Supreme would take action, Fury immediately beamed with delight.
Although he didn't know the Sorcerer Supreme's exact strength, Fang Yuan's demonstration of the Portal alone showed great potential.
Moreover, sorcerers, in the public imagination, are known for casting all sorts of spells. Fury thought it was impossible that Kamar-Taj sorcerers would only know the Portal spell and then resort to Close Combat.
But he frowned again. Because the person in charge was—Fang Yuan?
Fang Yuan certainly understood the outside World, but Fury felt that Fang Yuan understood it too well.
Dealing with Fang Yuan was difficult to manage. He really wanted to discuss with Ancient One whether she could send another sorcerer who had been cultivating in the deep mountains for years instead. He promised to arrange everything comfortably for them!
But Fury also knew that since this project was negotiated through Fang Yuan, kicking him out was impossible. He could only grudgingly agree.
"I plan to form a Superpowered Team to handle various Superpowered Crises. Sorcerer Supreme, and... Fang, please join us?" Fury invited directly.
"Sure," Fang Yuan readily agreed. "But I'll join first. The Sorcerer Supreme doesn't need to rush."
Seeing that Fury still wanted to push the issue, Fang Yuan immediately added: "Mainly, your organization isn't run solely by you."
Fury was silent.
Indeed, although he was the boss of S.H.I.E.L.D., there was still the World Security Council above S.H.I.E.L.D. Furthermore, if others knew Ancient One was centuries old, he would find no peace.
Fury knew too well the insane lengths those old men and women from Large Financial Groups would go to in order to extend their lives.
Moreover, having Ancient One appear only at critical moments was also a safeguard for the situation.
But looking at Fang Yuan, his inner conviction grew stronger.
Fang Yuan was too difficult to handle.
Fang Yuan ignored Fury's silent complaints. Since he wasn't planning on sucking up to S.H.I.E.L.D., he naturally didn't need to comply with Fury's wishes on every matter.
His cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D. was only to provide convenience for his identity as Fang Yuan, and to use the opportunity to recruit various heroes.
Because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reputation was still very useful. Although HYDRA had infiltrated the high ranks and the Director was a jerk, there were still many righteous people within S.H.I.E.L.D. Didn't Black Widow choose to be here too?
In contrast, while he could use Telepathy to control the members of the World Security Council, he couldn't be so casual with Superheroes. After much thought, Fang Yuan concluded that the banner of justice was the most effective tool.
Superheroes fall for this kind of thing; they are professionals when it comes to Generating Power Fueled by Love!
Since Superheroes were going to contribute anyway, they might as well generate that power for Fang Yuan to use. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement; no one loses out.
Fang Yuan enjoyed doing this kind of good deed.
Having come all this way, Fury naturally didn't plan on leaving immediately.
"I wonder if our Agents can also learn magic?" he asked Ancient One.
Fang Yuan's Portal spell made him quite envious.
His first recommendation was naturally Natasha.
Unfortunately, Ancient One looked at Black Widow, then shook her head regretfully: "I regret to say, Ms. Romanoff does not possess Magical Talent."
"And even if she did possess it, Kamar-Taj's magic requires several years to achieve any success."
Ancient One wasn't exaggerating. Doctor Strange was the only one who became the Sorcerer Supreme after studying magic for just one year. Even Fang Yuan, with Ancient One's personal guidance, only achieved Minor Success within a year or two.
And this level of achievement for Fang Yuan was already the peak for most ordinary sorcerers. He was still far from the genuinely powerful Mystics of Kamar-Taj.
Doctor Strange's actions when fighting Thanos, and the Obliviate spell he later cast on Little Spider, both fall under the domain of Mystics.
Mystics simply rely more on talent, which is why the average Kamar-Taj sorcerer is a Close Combat Practitioner.
If they couldn't advance further in magic, they had to focus on other areas.
"Ha, looks like you won't get a chance to be a sorcerer. You'll just have to be my Secretary."
Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow at Natasha.
Natasha could only glare back at him irritably.
The discussion concluded, and Fury and the others quickly left.
Fang Yuan, the driver, naturally followed them. He was now the Kamar-Taj Representative to S.H.I.E.L.D. and had logically joined S.H.I.E.L.D. with Security Level 5, reporting directly to Director Fury.
Of course, they all knew this affiliation was just for show; Fang Yuan certainly wouldn't obey Fury.
When discussing Fang Yuan's specific duties, Fang Yuan decisively took charge.
"Didn't you want to form a Superpowered Team? I'll help you find members."
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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