Chapter 315: Sandman and Bloody Mary

As Daniel Davis stepped off the aircraft, he had only taken a few steps before abruptly stopping. Moments later, a fast-moving figure appeared before him, coming to a stop as if inertia didn't exist.

In the past, Daniel might have envied Quicksilver's speed, but now, in close quarters, Quicksilver's speed was no match for his own. However, when it came to long-distance travel, Quicksilver still held a significant advantage. Thanks to his speed, Quicksilver had become quite popular among superheroes, saving many lives.

"Hey, long time no see," Quicksilver greeted Daniel with a wave and a smile.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Daniel replied with a smile.

"I've got work to do. Catch you later," Quicksilver said before vanishing as quickly as he had appeared. Shortly after, a Quinjet took off.

The Avengers' base was now far from the city, so most travel was by aircraft, as cars were too slow. Although Quicksilver could move at incredible speeds, running all the way to a mission site wasn't feasible due to his limited stamina.

In *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, Quicksilver had been shot to death largely because he had exhausted his stamina. Otherwise, with his speed, dodging bullets or even catching them would have been easy for him.

At the Avengers base, one of Quicksilver's training exercises involved catching bullets mid-air.

Unfortunately, Quicksilver's powers were granted by the Mind Stone, so even with the Ope Ope no Mi, there was no way to transplant them. If it were possible, Daniel would have already found a way to gain Quicksilver's speed and Scarlet Witch's chaos magic.

The abilities Daniel could obtain, like those of the Inhumans, either felt too ordinary or came with significant drawbacks, leaving him conflicted.

For instance, Skye's powers resembled Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi (Quake-Quake Fruit), but with similar drawbacks. While the power was immense, it was also highly damaging to the user's body. Despite Daniel's strong self-healing abilities and his use of the miraculous Angel's Breath Nen technique, he saw no need to acquire such a power.

"Well, this is a rare visit. Did you foresee that we'd be throwing a party today?" As Daniel entered the base's main hall, he saw several familiar faces, including one that surprised him—Spider-Man.

"Just in time, how about some dragon liver?" Stark said, without hesitation, making his request.

"Dragon liver? Are you serious?" Stark's words caught the attention of those unfamiliar with Daniel, such as Falcon and Spider-Man, who looked over in surprise. Even Black Widow and Hawkeye turned to look.

"You're using my stuff to make yourself look good," Daniel remarked, though he handed Stark a box anyway. Truthfully, dragon meat from the Harry Potter world wasn't as beneficial as Sea King meat from the One Piece world, but the name "dragon" carried more weight.

"This will go to Pepper," Stark said, handing the box to Black Widow Natasha after receiving it.

"With Hydra gone, I didn't expect so many others to emerge." After briefly reviewing the Avengers' recent work, Daniel couldn't help but be amazed.

While Hydra was a major threat, it had its advantages too. For one, Hydra's presence greatly suppressed the growth of other underground organizations, often more effectively than SHIELD. SHIELD had to follow procedures and couldn't just kill people indiscriminately, but Hydra had no such restrictions.

Now that both SHIELD and Hydra were gone, other groups saw an opportunity. With Hydra remnants stirring the pot, the frequency of large-scale terror attacks had increased significantly compared to when SHIELD and Hydra were active.

The Avengers now mainly dealt with large-scale disasters and terror-related incidents. As for more secretive issues, like those involving the Inhumans, the Avengers rarely intervened.

Inhumans were mostly handled by Coulson and his team at SHIELD. Thanks to the efforts of Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, and others, SHIELD was allowed to continue, though its power was significantly reduced.

Moreover, with some factions in the U.S. government pushing their agendas, SHIELD inevitably split into two organizations.

One faction, led by Coulson, adhered to Fury's principles and was backed by the high-tech cube that stored SHIELD's secrets. This cube was key to Coulson's ability to rebuild SHIELD, as money was essential for any organization's survival.

Daniel Davis was one of the shadow financiers behind Coulson's SHIELD, though only Fury and Coulson knew this.

When Coulson later stepped down after making mistakes, his successor lacked his connections, forcing them to engage in public speaking and networking to secure funding, something Coulson never had to worry about.

The other SHIELD faction, in practice, became a subordinate branch of the U.S. government, akin to the FBI, with its budget entirely controlled by the government.

"Why are you here today?" Stark asked after finishing up on his computer.

"Do I need a reason to visit?" Daniel retorted.

"Come on, I know you. You wouldn't come here unless you had a reason," Stark said with a grin.

"You're living the superhero life pretty leisurely, letting JARVIS handle most of the work for you." Stark used to suit up himself whenever disaster struck, but nowadays, he mostly operated his Iron Man suits remotely through JARVIS, often from a different location, like a social event or spending time with Pepper.

"I want to see Flint Marko." Seeing Stark's persistent gaze, Daniel decided to cut to the chase. After catching up on recent events and learning about Flint Marko, Daniel had decided to put other plans on hold.

"So it's him," Stark said as he tapped on his phone, then added, "Alright, I've sent you the access pass. If you can help him, please do."

"Thanks. I'll do what I can," Daniel replied, nodding as he checked the access pass on his phone.

Daniel was interested in Flint Marko because he was the Sandman, with abilities similar to the Suna Suna no Mi (Sand-Sand Fruit). Of course, while their abilities were similar, their destructive power was not.

Flint Marko had gained his powers after accidentally stumbling into a radiation zone at a waste treatment facility. Just when he thought he was done for, he unexpectedly transformed into the Sandman. After a street battle with Spider-Man, the Avengers intervened, capturing Sandman. Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, joined the Avengers afterward, although officially, he was part of Stark Industries, much to the envy of his friends.

Thanks to his new job at Stark Industries, Peter Parker no longer struggled financially, though he still ended up breaking up with his first girlfriend.

With Pepper, Black Widow Natasha, and others handling the arrangements, the outdoor banquet soon began, set in the Avengers base's large garden.

"Cheers!"

Just as the group was about to start celebrating, Quicksilver suddenly appeared, indicating he had finished his mission.

"Not too late, am I?" Quicksilver asked, somehow already holding a glass of wine.

"Just in time. But tonight's a rare gathering, so no using powers," Stark joked.

Quicksilver had grown quite obedient to Stark, which was somewhat surprising.

These days, Stark was the internal leader of the Avengers, with Captain America heading field operations, and Peggy Carter serving as the team's strategist.

After the banquet, Daniel headed straight to the facility where Flint Marko was being held. Technically, it wasn't a prison, but a freezer.

Flint Marko had been frozen because his irradiated body was continuously deteriorating. If he hadn't been frozen, he wouldn't have lasted long. Even now, freezing only slowed his body's breakdown.

Gaining powers from radiation didn't come without a price. When Daniel saw him, Marko's body had already turned to sand.

"Though he's a criminal, he's a good father." Flint Marko once had a decent life—a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter. But his daughter had fallen seriously ill, with a condition that was treatable but required a fortune. For Marko, that sum was astronomical, leading him to turn to crime. After being caught, he later escaped to continue funding his daughter's treatment, only to suffer a tragic accident.

America may be a paradise, but only for the wealthy. For the poor, life could be manageable unless they encountered a crisis. If they did, it was like the sky was falling.

But Marko no longer had to worry about his daughter. After his arrest, Stark had discovered his situation and immediately sent his daughter to the best private hospital in New York, where top specialists were treating her. Though they had missed the optimal treatment window, Stark's resources made it a non-issue. She'd just need to stay in the hospital a bit longer.

"Even his DNA has changed. This is going to be tricky." After taking a sample of the frozen Flint Marko's cells, Daniel returned to the Quinjet.

"Long time no see. It seems SHIELD is thriving under your leadership." Onboard the SHIELD 616, Daniel was greeted by Coulson and Simmons. Seeing nothing unusual in their expressions, Daniel was finally at ease.

"That's thanks to your support. I'm sorry I haven't come to see you personally, but things have been incredibly busy. I had no choice but to ask you to come here," Coulson apologized.

"No worries. I'm actually quite interested in what you mentioned." The matter that had piqued Daniel's interest involved the soul and the supernatural, specifically hell. If it weren't for that, Coulson wouldn't have bothered him.

Though SHIELD had changed, Coulson now commanded a team filled

 with elite agents. Even the legendary Agent 33 had joined Coulson's ranks. With such a capable team, there were few issues Coulson couldn't handle.

In fact, Daniel initially thought Coulson might be contacting him about Simmons.

"Here's what happened," Coulson began, explaining the situation in detail in the conference room.

"Of all the things to mess with, they had to mess with this. It's like they were asking for trouble," Daniel remarked with exasperation after hearing the story. The phrase "you get what you ask for" seemed to fit perfectly.

The situation was simple: at a New York college, a few bored girls decided to play the Pen Spirit game, combining it with other summoning rituals. These types of games were popular among students, used to scare friends or test their courage. Usually, nothing happened, but in the Marvel universe, there was always a chance something could go wrong. And this time, it did.

The participants started dying off one by one. The surviving girls posted about it online, which triggered an alert in Skye's system.

After learning about hell and the existence of souls, Skye had set up a network alert system for certain keywords. Although most alerts were false leads, this time, it was real.

Currently, Skye, Melinda May, Fitz, and others were on-site. Because the situation was so tricky, they had called for backup.

"If I'm not mistaken, they summoned Bloody Mary," Daniel concluded after examining the mirrors and other traces at the scene.

"Bloody Mary? I've heard she's pretty powerful," Coulson and Simmons said, recognizing the name. Both had read about the legend in books.

"If it's the original, it could be troublesome. But since the victims died one by one, it's likely not the original, as she would have killed them all at once," Daniel explained. What he didn't mention was that even if it were the original Bloody Mary, he wouldn't be afraid now.

"By the way, make sure they're in a place without mirrors," Daniel added.

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