Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Ash and Stark, on the other hand, huddled together to watch the scene unfold.

Under Ash's intrigued gaze, Stark put down his glass and said, "Don't look at me. These girls are all Pepper's spies now. I can't possibly have any ideas."

After explaining, Stark turned to Ash and asked, "I'm an advisor for the new department now, but I still don't know what our department is called?"

"The Special Containment Protection Department, you can call it the Control Bureau, the Protection Bureau, or simply ***D."

Chapter 142: Forced

"Whoever came up with the name, couldn't they have kept it simpler?"

Ash compared the lengthy name of S.H.I.E.L.D. and couldn't help but complain: "One S.H.I.E.L.D. is called the Strategic Homeland Defense, Attack and Logistics Agency! It's already good enough that they can use an abbreviation and have the name engraved on their law enforcement badge. Besides, this is not an organization that can be frequently exposed to the public."

Stark showed Ash some news articles on the tablet, indicating that Ash should pay attention to the trending topics.

“You’ve been attending meetings for the past month and haven’t been paying attention to anything. The entire Ami team now sees your new department as the savior of mysterious matters.”

As Ash flipped through the news articles that Stark had specially shown him, looking at the sensational headlines, he couldn't help but sigh that news media are the same everywhere.

However, news reports about Ash have gone to extremes, with the previous title of priest who could summon angels being replaced by the more seductive term "god's agent."

Ash frowned, handed the tablet back to Stark, and asked, "Who's pulling the strings behind this? This is putting me in a really tough spot!"

"Who else could it be? The military spokesperson sent a note to every media outlet, and even Stark Industries' media received a notification letter. All reports about you must present a completely positive image. These media people have no more intelligence about you and can only create something new based on what they already have."

Stark revealed the mastermind behind it all, and Ash felt very uncomfortable with this kind of stepping into the limelight.

Seeing Ash's furrowed brow and downcast expression, Stark advised, "I know you don't like it, but this is a plan they've already devised. Your image has even been forcibly established within the military. As far as I know, almost every soldier assigned to the Bureau of Investigation is a fan of yours."

Stark paused for a moment, then simply confronted Ashe.

“Actually, before I came to see you, I also received a call from General Ross. They know that you don’t care too much about this position, and even think it’s insignificant to you. But Ross asked me to tell you that even for the sake of these retired soldiers, you need to hold on to this position firmly. As far as I know, in order to give you full control over these soldiers, Ross and Sheffield have completely disrupted the original organization, and are waiting for you to reorganize it.”

Unexpectedly, Stark is now acting as a lobbyist. Ashe was also forced into the position of Soul King, and this time she has been pushed into the position of head of the new department.

Ash originally thought he would just serve as a figurehead for now and wait for someone else to take over. But he didn't expect Ross and Sheffield to go to such great lengths just so that he could hold onto his position.

You could even say this position was tailor-made for Ash.

Although he dislikes being assigned tasks, Ash will not abandon his responsibilities. This was true when he was the one who linked the flame, when he became the King of Souls, and now that he has been appointed as the commander, he will not give up his responsibilities.

Originally, I planned to lie low, take advantage of the other major events to steal the gems and leave.

But I never expected that the burden on my shoulders would increase so much.

Seeing Ash deep in thought, Stark simply waited quietly, even disbanding the dancing flight attendants and releasing Logan.

Finally, Ash came to her senses and said, "Stark, you can make phone calls on your plane, right?"

"Of course, my plane uses satellite frequencies planned by Stark Industries, so mobile phone communication won't affect normal takeoffs and landings at all. Have you thought that through?"

Although it was a question, Stark knew that Ashe had made the choice everyone had hoped for.

As Ash dialed the phone, he said, "How can I, the director of the Bureau of Control and the head of the ***D, be parachuted in without backup support?"

"Hey, Kvas? How's life in the mountains? Stop kidding, I have serious business. Coordinates xxxx.xx, parachute in four and a half hours, fire support and cover. I've found you a new job. Oh, and you can bring your dog."

Indeed, Ash thought of Swag, who was alone in the forest of Arkansas watching the fire. Since she was going to build a faction, she would definitely choose familiar comrades.

Since Swagger happened to be in Arkansas, it was best to bring him under his wing to prevent this unfortunate friend from being dragged into assassinating the cardinal.

Ash finished the last drop in his glass and said, "Stark, you owe me this time. You'll have to pay me back with a spaceship later."

"Well, I need to have it too. But I heard the military had alien remains from the Roswell incident. Can you get your hands on the relevant data?"

Stark became interested when the topic of alien technology came up, hoping to get more information from Ashe.

"Area 51 has nothing, at most some new electronic or information technologies, but these are all laboratory technologies and cannot be mass-produced at all."

"Aren't there aliens?"

"Of course not. Whoever possesses alien technology would become the dominant power on Earth. However..."

Ash left things unsaid, piquing Stark's curiosity and making him eager to know more.

"But what? Tell me!"

"But I need to know first first!"

“Go to hell!” Stark gave Ash a friendly gesture.

Ash just smiled and rolled over to sleep on the recliner.

Area 51 certainly doesn't have aliens, but it's hard to say about other places. The reason for not telling Stark is that Stark hasn't finished building his armor yet and has no means of self-defense.

Besides, hastily announcing these areas would only bring greater chaos. Ash just wants a few days of peace right now.

Sleep on a private jet is always of better quality than sleep at other times.

With the flight attendant's wake-up call, Ash and his team arrived over their target area in Arkansas. Logan was already donning his paratrooper gear.

Ash took the equipment from the flight attendant and put it on while talking to Stark.

"When will your armor be finished? It's been almost a month. With your skill level, it shouldn't be taking this long to be ready."

Stark, however, was somewhat discouraged and said, "The group's CEO, Obadiah Stan, seems to have some distrust of Pepper lately. Even after I handed things over to Pepper, he would still come to me to ask about the progress, which is why my research and development progress has been delayed."

Stark's mention of Obadiah Stan put Ash on alert, but given that it wasn't yet time for Stark to go to Afghanistan, he couldn't say anything.

Beep beep beep beep~ The cabin door was opened by the flight attendant, and the depressurization alarm sounded. Without saying a word, Ash and Logan jumped out of the cabin door and began their parachute descent.

Fortunately, Stark's plane had adjusted its altitude specifically for the parachute landing, and the normal 3,000-meter descent to the ground was completed quickly.

However, Logan deployed his parachute ahead of time, as his weight meant the parachute might need more time to adjust.

Ash landed by the roadside near a church. He didn't bother to retrieve the parachute; after all, he was a big spender and wouldn't be too upset if he lost it.

As Ash walked through the deserted parking lot and reached the church entrance, a man in a denim jacket pointed a silver Spencer carbine at her from behind.

A woman was crouching down next to a man in a sharp suit and glasses, providing emergency care.

Chapter 143: Meeting

The crisp click of a lever-action rifle being cocked rang out behind Ash. Before he could turn around to look, a Spencer carbine with silver engraved patterns was pressed against Ash's lower back.

"Who are you? Did you cause all this trouble inside?"

The man behind Ash was wearing a typical denim jacket, and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat covered his brown hair. He pointed a gun at Ash and approached the woman on the ground who was receiving first aid.

Upon getting closer, Ash noticed that the man lying on the ground had a bloody left eye, with some flesh even flying out of his eye socket. It was obvious that he had been shot in the head, resulting in this gruesome sight.

"Ginger juice, this guy parachuted here, there's definitely something wrong with him."

The man used his gun to stop Ash from getting any closer and shouted at Ginger, who was kneeling on the ground.

Ms. Ginger didn't look up. Instead, she took a metal rod out of her handbag, broke it in half, and a transparent film was pulled out from the middle.

Cover the fallen man's head with the thin film and wrap it tightly. Then unscrew the two metal parts to expose the syringe inside, and inject it into the man's temple.

A stream of blue liquid rapidly filled the man's head from the injection site, forming a blue gel that covered and filled the wound on his head.

After doing all that, Ginger stood up, rubbed his knees, and saw Ash with a gun pointed at him.

"Oh, it's you! Angel Priest!"

Ginger recognized Ash's identity, somewhat like a fan excited to see their idol, and tried to reach out to touch Ash, but withdrew her hand when she saw the blood on her own.

“Uh, I should wash my hands first. Tequila, put down the gun. He’s law enforcement. Didn’t you recognize him? You were showing off to me the other day that you got satellite footage of him in combat.”

Jiang Zhi looked helplessly at the blood on her hands, wanting to clean it but unable to find a place to do so, so she could only hold her hands up for the time being.

Meanwhile, Tequila, who was behind him, heard Ginger's words and was surprised. She twirled the gun in her hand, completed the ejection action, and quickly grabbed the bullet as it bounced out, turning to face Ash.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. I'm just... well, a fan of yours. Your fight on Brokeland Island was absolutely amazing."

After putting the bullets in his pocket and even somewhat awkwardly wiping the sweat from his hands on his jacket, Tequila reached out to Ash to shake hands.

Ash responded to her fans, shaking hands with Tequila as she said, "It's okay, I just received a notification from another department to come here and investigate."

By this time, the ginger juice had been prepared. Picking up the glasses from the ground, he asked Ash, "Sir, is he one of your men?"

"No, someone just told me that something might happen here, so I came to check it out."

Having received Ash's reply, Ginger handed Ash the glasses in her hand. Through the broken glasses, the circuitry and communication module were clearly exposed.

“Then this person is problematic. He slaughtered everyone in the entire church. He was dressed so politely, I never expected him to be a serial killer. Well, maybe not.”

Ginger juice looked at the glasses in her hand and compared them to the body on the ground, analyzing to herself as she spoke.

At this moment, Tequila reloaded the ejected bullet and whispered to Ginger, "Take the priest to a safe place. I've had a feeling that someone is pointing a gun at me, but I haven't found any clues."

Upon hearing Tequila's reminder, Ginger quickly grabbed Ash's arm and prepared to drag Ash away.

"Although Tequila is young, his intuition is very accurate, sir. Let's leave first."

Avoiding Jiang Zhi's help, Ash explained, "Wait, maybe this is someone I know."

Soon, Ash raised her right hand and made some kind of gesture above her head.

After gesturing, Ash said, "Okay, if it's someone I know, he'll be here soon."

Indeed, not long after, Swag drove a dilapidated blue pickup truck, turning the starter key repeatedly until the old engine gave its last gasp, and stopped in front of Ash.

"This is Swag, my backup. Swag, this is ginger juice, this is tequila."

After a brief introduction, Ash asked Swagger if he had observed anything.

“I drove around here and saw nothing but people going in and out of the church. When I got to the sniping position, I only saw a helicopter leaving quickly, then these two, and then your parachute in.”

Swag described what he had seen, but the final parachute landing reminded Ash of someone else who had parachuted with him.

Sure enough, looking up, Logan was maneuvering his parachute, veering erratically towards them.

"Everyone, that's Logan in the sky, consider it my support."

Logan's massive weight made controlling the parachute extremely difficult; the force of inertia sent him circling in the sky, tracing an arc as he landed on Swagger's pickup truck.

Logan's weight caused Swag's beat-up pickup truck to breathe its last, the engine roaring and billowing black smoke.

After freeing himself from the parachute lines, Logan jumped out of the car and said, "Next time, I'd rather just jump straight in. This is too uncomfortable."

Seeing his pickup truck smashed, the dent in the front and the black smoke clearly indicating irreparable damage, Swagger reached for the pistol at his waist and said, "But you ruined my truck!"

Logan lit a cigar and asked Ash casually, "Who's this? Pretty cute..."