Lord of Cinder in American Comics

As she spoke, a ball of energy gathered between her hands, and then she brought her hands together and aimed them at Kirk.

At this moment, the energy released from Wanda's hand resembled a blue beam of light from a torrent of souls, except that in Wanda's hand it was a bluish-black color.

Just before the beam of light reached Kirk, the Molten Iron Dragonslayer Armor instantly teleported in front of him, and the Dragonslayer Shield slightly deflected to block it.

The blocked beam of light shot into the sky at a deflected angle, blooming and transforming the unchanging twilight scenery of Huanyin City into a clear sky.

The sudden change drew everyone's attention to Wanda. Pietro stood in front of his sister, warily watching everyone.

However, when the Iron-Smelting Dragon Armor removed its shield, Constantine, who had been pierced, spoke.

"Wanda, don't worry, I'm fine. This is what I owe them."

Constantine tilted his head and looked at Wanda. After Wanda dissipated the energy around her body and fell from the sky, Constantine looked at Kirk and said, "I understand what you mean. If you're still not satisfied, you can strike a couple more times."

Kirk withdrew his dagger, and blood gushed from Constantine's wound. Constantine, clutching his wound, knelt on the ground, supporting himself with one hand.

"I hope you won't let this happen again. The tragedy has gone on for far too long..."

As Kirk spoke, he sheathed his straight sword and walked through the crowd to leave.

Yulia gripped the dark blade, its blade hidden in the crowd, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Kirk.

"Let him go!"

Constantine's voice rang out, and Julia in the crowd released her hand from the hilt of her sword, at which point the crowd parted to make way for her.

Watching Kirk's figure disappear into the distance, Constantine took out a silver flask containing elemental liquid and drank two sips to recover from the damage to his body.

The funeral was over, and the trainees, under the guidance of Orbeck and others, began to gradually move away from the abyss. Only Wanda and her siblings, along with the hunters, remained behind.

Geralt looked at Clint, who was following beside him, and said, "Why don't you go see your friend?"

Asking questions would clearly mean expelling irrelevant people, so Clint nodded understandingly and left with the Dragon Academy students.

Geralt didn't linger either, but walked around to the nearby hill.

Wanda helped Constantine up, looking at him with concern.

In response to the concern, Constantine said, "It's nothing, I'm not an ordinary person. But Wanda, you should come with me."

Wanda understood Constantine's meaning and prepared to leave with him. When Pietro was about to follow, Wanda stopped him.

With Wanda by his side, Constantine returned to his office.

At this moment, the office was already occupied; a silver-haired girl and an old man wearing a red hood were waiting for Constantine.

With others present, Constantine introduced Wanda: "This is Miss, you can just call her that. This is her guardian knight, you can also call him Grandpa Gale."

After Wanda greeted the two men along with Constantine, Constantine took out a strange painting and handed it to the girl.

The painting constantly shifts between an aging skeleton and a handsome man's face.

Wanda, who had just unleashed tremendous power, clearly sensed the soul attached to the painting, but out of trust in Constantine, she did not bother to warn the girl.

The girl took the painting and said happily, "Thank you, Ash. Even without Grandpa Gale's Dark Soul Paint, I can still paint a cold, dark, yet gentle picture... One day, it will become a place for someone to stay."

The girl took the painting and sat on a stool that was even taller than herself, while Gale took out various painting tools and placed them in front of the girl.

The girl disassembled the picture frame, took the eerie painting in her hands and rubbed it. The paint fell into the palette as she rubbed it, while a black flame ignited in Gale's hand, heating the paint.

Faintly hearing the wails of the soul in the painting, Wanda stared blankly at the pair of girl and old man until Constantine woke her up.

“Wanda, do you know why I called you here?” Constantine’s words were filled with regret.

With her head bowed, Wanda looked like a good student caught doing something wrong. She lowered her head and whispered to Constantine, "I know..."

What did I tell you back then?

“Teacher, you said there’s no need to pledge allegiance to this King of the Souls of Londor to gain power. I have better options.”

Wanda precisely repeated Constantine's original teachings, but this obedient student behavior only made Constantine more dissatisfied.

Constantine's tone became even more stern: "So what's wrong with you today?"

Wanda said in a tearful voice, "I... I just saw that my teacher was injured, I just wanted to help my teacher, and I only heard my teacher mention the King of Ghosts, a demon god..."

Faced with the girl's cries and explanations, the inexperienced Constantine didn't know what to say.

He slowed his tone and tried to ask gently, "Where is your Dark Ring located?"

Upon hearing Constantine's question, Wanda blushed and, after glancing at the girl and Gale beside her, whispered, "On...on my left shoulder."

Constantine came up behind Wanda and gestured for her to expose her shoulders and back, where he saw dark rings that looked like wrinkled scars. Constantine then placed his hands on Wanda's back.

By the time Constantine withdrew his hand, the dark ring on Wanda's back had already disappeared.

Touching her newly smooth back, the girl's mood brightened considerably, but upon seeing Constantine, Wanda couldn't help but cry out.

"Teacher...you?"

Constantine had aged terribly by this time; to call him a withered, dried-up corpse would be an understatement.

Such a sight did not even make the girl and the old man turn around. Constantine simply took out a gray stone with a small skull embedded in it from the drawer of his desk and crushed it.

A burst of light erupted from the stone, swirling around Constantine before disappearing, and Constantine returned to his original form.

"That's why I don't let you seek out the Lord of the Souls. Anyone who accepts the Dark Ring will eventually become like this, until they become wandering souls. Such treatment is far too cruel for a lady."

Chapter 141: Special Affairs Control and Protection Bureau

Rewind a few hours, and our Ash should be holding his endless meetings in the Pentagon.

Since Ash was confirmed as the head of the new department, he has been forced to attend all the formation meetings.

Although the establishment of the new department is underway and construction has begun after the initial site selection, the sheer number of meetings is overwhelming.

It is worth mentioning that, given that the department was split off from the military, and given the strong martial spirit of the Ami people, any disagreements that could not be reached during the meetings were resolved with fists.

The negotiators had already drawn a large number of people skilled in creating and reporting budgets from Ross and Sheffield to serve as negotiators, but Ash had to find his own enforcers.

After discussing this matter at the sacrificial site, Logan, for some reason, insisted on coming with Ash.

The once unkempt Wolverine, who could wear the same jacket for centuries, was now a sophisticated gentleman in a suit and tie. Seeing Logan's insistent request, Ash had no choice but to take him along.

Fortunately, the military has various security teams, and giving Logan a covert identity allows him to freely enter and exit the pentagon building, although he will attract attention every time he goes through security.

Even within the pentagonal building, there were rumors that Ash had a battle-hardened warrior by his side, whose shrapnel could be used to rebuild a cannonball.

Logan's help was also immense; even if he couldn't brandish his steel blade, his adamantium-reinforced bones were extremely useful in physical negotiations.

Since Logan punched everyone to death in the previous physics negotiations, no one has made any other demands.

Even later, the situation in the negotiations would change as soon as Logan coughed twice while smoking a cigar.

So at this moment, Ash was lying in a chair sleeping, while Logan sat next to him, watching the atmosphere of the negotiation and ready to make a move at any time.

Suddenly Ash shuddered and fell off the chair.

"what happened to you?"

"It's like being stabbed with a sword."

"Aren't you a doctor? You don't even know about myoclonic jerks?"

"Stark, when did you arrive?"

Yes, it was Tony Stark who questioned and mocked Ash. He came here while Ash was asleep and even sat right next to her.

“Me? Don’t forget I’m your special advisor, and the construction of your new department will be handled by Stark’s construction company.”

Ash, like a stubborn mule, returned to his lying position and asked, "I forgot to ask, where is the new department located? It's too far, commuting will be too tiring."

Stark shook his head and said, "You're the head of a department, and you don't even know where your own department is?"

Unexpectedly, Ash, with a clear head, said, "This department was originally drawn from the military, and the personnel are also military personnel. I'm just managing it on behalf of others. There's no need to worry so much."

"Your department is located on Long Island, and the base also includes a prison and research institute, and even independently manages an air defense missile battalion."

"Long Island? Land prices are so high! How can we afford it?"

Faced with Ash's shock, Stark was even more shocked than Ash. Stark's tone was full of disbelief: "You live on Long Island. How long has it been since you paid attention to what's going on on Long Island? Since the dimensional invasion incident, Long Island's housing prices have plummeted. Now they're practically free. If the military hadn't taken over, Long Island's housing prices would definitely have become another Detroit."

Ash, who was feeling uncomfortable lying down, sat up straight again, took a sip of water from the table, and said, "I don't need to care about those things. Anyway, I have all precious metals in my hands, and my assets won't suffer any loss."

This nonchalant answer, however, made Stark start to think.

"Should I do what you did and convert some of my assets into precious metal investments? But Stark is a military-industrial company, and precious metal investment is one of the group's projects. Should I ask Pepper to increase the investment?"

Ashe rolled her eyes as she watched Stark begin to arrange the group's affairs on his own.

"Stark, you've come to see me?"

Stark, as if waking from a dream, said, "Oh, right, an elder asked me to entrust you with a matter. Don't worry, if you agree, I will also pass on the investigation notice to you at the same time."

Stark's elders are definitely not Stan; the only one still alive is Peggy Carter.

Curiosity about the matter and the boredom of the meeting led Ash to agree to Stark's request.

Stark handed the relevant documents to Ash, asking with some curiosity, "Aren't you going to think about it?"

“Tony, I’ve been sitting here for almost a month, watching them argue and then fight every day, then argue and fight again. How long can you endure this kind of life?”

Having never experienced such a long meeting before, Stark felt a chill run down his spine as he found himself in the tedious and lengthy board meeting.

Seeing Ash's aggrieved and helpless expression, Stark said in a sympathetic tone, "You've had a tough time."

Ash opened the sealed document bag, browsed through the contents, and then slipped out with Logan and Stark.

“Stark, by the way, why did Peggy Carter send me to investigate this? Wouldn’t the London branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. be better positioned to contact the New York or San Francisco branches? At the very least, shouldn’t Carter have contacted the FBI?”

Ash's question left Stark speechless, after all, he had never spoken of his relationship with Peggy Carter, and any news about it had been concealed by Peggy Carter long ago.

However, given their life-or-death bond, Stark didn't doubt Ashe's intelligence sources. After all, the military was involved in the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Ashe could now be considered one of the bigwigs in the military, so it wasn't a big deal for her to know this information.

After pressing the button on the watch and confirming that there were no listening devices around, Starkla led Ash to the corner, while Logan acted as their bodyguard, standing guard outside.

“Last time I went to Brokeland Island with you, S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposed to inform Aunt Peggy, but the message from S.H.I.E.L.D. was blocked. After that, Aunt Peggy became suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D., and it was through Aunt Peggy’s introduction that I learned about S.H.I.E.L.D. I even learned that my father was involved in creating S.H.I.E.L.D.”

When Stark spoke of his father, his voice lowered, but he quickly regained his composure and said in a low voice, "Aunt Peggy told me that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not trustworthy now. Ash, you have to be careful too."

Ash patted Stark on the shoulder to indicate that he understood, and then the two walked out of the pentagonal building. They were going to take Stark's jet to the mission location.

The destination was Kentucky. As soon as the plane began to fly smoothly, the flight attendants started a lively dance party. Unexpectedly, among the three, the tough-guy Logan was the flight attendants' primary target.

Three flight attendants danced around Logan, making the wine glass in his hand click and rattle.