Chapter 42: The Usual Scapegoat, Stark
To be honest, Coulson was also extremely speechless regarding Sherlock's request, as the matter was simply too coincidental.
The first time, that mysterious hammer fell from the sky, smashing the young man's beloved car into pieces. The scene was truly tragic. To be frank, if it weren't for the young man's abilities, it's questionable whether Coulson would even be seeing him now.
The second time, which was this time, a new car that had just arrived yesterday, a new car that even Coulson thought was good, was ambushed by that mysterious magic user from New York when those aliens and the silver armor were halfway through their fight yesterday.
In his rage, the silver armor began indiscriminate firing, and by an unfortunate stroke of luck, it only grazed Sherlock's raptor nearby.
If Coulson hadn't been absolutely certain that Sherlock had no connection whatsoever to that silver armor, he might have even suspected Sherlock was colluding with those aliens to defraud the insurance company.
After all, if this story got out, no insurance company would believe it. They would definitely find some "evidence" to prove that you were indeed committing insurance fraud.
Just as Coulson was about to say something to Sherlock, a roar began to emanate from a distance in the sky. Along with the roar, a flash of Fire appeared not far off in the horizon.
In just a short while, that Fire grew closer and closer under everyone's gaze. Everyone also discovered what that Fire truly was: Iron Man—Tony Stark himself.
With the classic superhero landing pose, Tony landed perfectly beside Sherlock. Sherlock deeply despised Tony's classic tardiness, arriving only after the problem was solved like a U.S. police officer, and his need to strike a pose upon landing.
Rolling countless White eyes in annoyance, Sherlock gave Tony no chance to speak, immediately turning his back to him.
Tony didn't mind Sherlock's attitude and turned to converse with Coulson.
Sherlock wasn't interested in what they were saying. His mind was completely filled with his raptor, and he even began to wonder if it would be asking too much of his magic to use the Polyjuice Potion to restore the puddle of molten metal on the ground back to the raptor's original appearance.
Just as Sherlock was considering how to restore his beloved car to its original state, Tony put an arm around Sherlock's shoulder from behind and, without a word, dragged Sherlock towards a deserted area.
The mortal Sherlock couldn't resist Tony, who was wearing the Iron Man armor, unless Sherlock used magic. But in broad daylight, Sherlock had just pulled off a 'The Cat Substitutes for the Prince' (a trick where one thing is secretly replaced by another, often of lesser value, in this context it means separating his identity) under Coulson's witness.
Naturally, he wouldn't cripple his own efforts by using magic in public now, so he allowed Tony to drag him to a nearby deserted spot.
Finding a deserted spot, Tony immediately scanned Sherlock without explanation. After confirming that Sherlock and the surroundings had no listening devices, he finally opened his faceplate and looked at Sherlock seriously.
"Hey, kid, I should have told you that the Water is very deep at S.H.I.E.L.D., and you shouldn't have contact with them, especially with your amazing potions."
At Tony's words, Sherlock rolled his White eyes in annoyance, then shrugged and replied.
"Oh, come on, Tony. Last time, when those people investigated my identity, I don't believe they didn't ask you. When they hit a wall with you, they could only start investigating the people around you.
Pepper was with Coulson at the time, so she naturally wouldn't be suspicious. That only leaves me, doesn't it? The people at S.H.I.E.L.D. aren't fools. The moment that hammer fell from the sky and smashed my car, they arrived only a little later than the insurance!
If you cover everything related to me too tightly, it will only make S.H.I.E.L.D. suspicious, especially their leader. That guy is definitely someone who can suspect everything!"
After carefully considering Sherlock's words, Tony nodded in strong agreement, especially regarding the part about Nick Fury. Just thinking about that Nick Fury, Tony felt that Sherlock was absolutely right.
However, as an elder, he still had to intervene. At least until he died, Tony still felt it necessary to be the barrier between Sherlock and S.H.I.E.L.D., because in his opinion, S.H.I.E.L.D. was indeed not a good organization.
"Alright, what you said makes sense, but I still object to you having direct contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. Trust me, Sherlock, this is not a good thing."
Tony still maintained his uncle's authority, speaking seriously to Sherlock. Although he knew Sherlock was telling the truth, he still didn't want Sherlock to have too much contact with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hearing Tony's words, a mischievous smile quickly appeared in Sherlock's eyes, like a thief whose plan had succeeded, but on the surface, he still looked at Tony seriously and replied.
"Okay, I understand. I won't have too much contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. At most, it will just be a simple potion transaction, and I plan to have you be the middleman…"
Tony nodded in satisfaction when he heard the first half of Sherlock's words, but the latter half immediately made Tony break down, staring wide-eyed at Sherlock.
"What?"
Sherlock, whose train of thought was interrupted by Tony's rhetorical question, looked annoyed at the astonished Tony. After organizing his thoughts, he continued.
"Don't make a fuss. I mean I plan to have you be the middleman. I'll only be responsible for providing the potions. Simply put, I'm just the factory; you're the supplier.
And I definitely won't give them too many potions. I'll only give them a small amount, and there will only be three types: antidotes, Bai Xian Potion for external injuries, and a very small quantity of Polyjuice Potion.
I've already told Coulson that I only accept gold as payment, understand, my uncle?"
After Sherlock's words fell, Tony, being a businessman, instinctively understood Sherlock's meaning. Sherlock hadn't specified the price of the potions. Following the principle of 'rare goods are valuable,' this meant that Tony himself could freely raise the price.
Moreover, these potions wouldn't just be potions; they could also be used as capital to exchange for things other than gold, especially for the current S.H.I.E.L.D., this was even more true.
After understanding Sherlock's intention, the two, one large and one small, instantly showed smiles like foxes. They no longer felt disgusted looking at the S.H.I.E.L.D. staff in black suits around them. Instead, their eyes sparkled, as if they had seen a pile of walking gold coins.