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*****
"It's not a wig!"
Following Fini's memory tampering, Sitwell genuinely believed that he was the one who wanted a change, prompting him to ask Fini for help in growing a new head of hair.
However, looking at Sitwell with hair made Nick Fury feel increasingly uneasy. Everyone used to be bald, yet all of a sudden you have a thick mane of hair. Coupled with the Ghost's previous assassination attempt, Fury's expression grew cold.
Nevertheless, Nick Fury knew how to prioritize. He knew Fini must have had a reason for bringing Sitwell here, so he looked directly at Fini and asked, "Is he one of your men too?"
"You could put it that way."
Fini nodded, then added, "The previous assassination was an accident. I'm having him help you guys now, so let's just consider that matter buried. What do you say?"
"Fine."
Nick Fury agreed without hesitation. He understood that even if he wanted to hold someone accountable, Sitwell was untouchable with Fini backing him up.
"Then I'll leave him to you. Ask him whatever you want to know. I only have one condition: you must guarantee his safety."
Fini still felt a bit guilty about Sitwell. Unlike Pietro and Wanda, Sitwell didn't possess superpowers to protect himself, which was why Fini made sure to emphasize this request.
"Fine."
Though surprised by Fini's protective attitude toward Sitwell, Nick Fury agreed anyway. He then glanced at Sitwell and asked, "Can I speak with you alone?"
Fini nodded.
After Sitwell left the room, Nick Fury stared intently at Fini and asked point-blank, "When did he become one of your men?"
Fini looked back at Nick Fury and replied with a calm face, "All you need to know is that you can trust him. As for when, does it change anything right now?"
Nick Fury frowned and remained silent. After this incident, he began to suspect that Fini had other moles inside S.H.I.E.L.D., and they were very likely people he trusted and kept close.
Just like how he never could have anticipated that besides being a Hydra agent, Sitwell was actually Fini's man as well.
At this moment, several subordinates he had once trusted implicitly suddenly seemed less reliable. Most importantly, he didn't know what Fini's ultimate goal was.
Nick Fury decided that after dealing with the Hydra situation, he needed to hurry up and update his contingency plans for Fini, while also tightening his security measures.
Fini was unaware of Nick Fury's paranoid thoughts. Even if he knew, he would only find it amusing. Sitwell becoming his subordinate could only be described as a complete accident.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. I might be a bit busy over the next few days, so watch your own backs."
The Ancient One's Sanctum update test was coming up very soon. He wanted to be there to assist, as this directly affected the usage of his Evil Eye of the Dark Lord and Golden Spell of Large-Scale Realignment, making it an absolute top priority.
"What are you busy with?"
Nick Fury asked, his brow furrowed deeply. Because he was being bogged down by Hydra, gathering intelligence was a bit troublesome for him right now. Moreover, even without Hydra, keeping tabs on Fini's itinerary was no easy feat.
"Updating Earth's dimensional defense system."
Fini didn't bother making up an excuse and answered honestly, "To be frank, aside from the enemies you can see, Earth also has quite a few enemies you can't perceive. Someone has to take responsibility for that."
"So, you're not actually the only sorcerer on Earth, are you?"
After all these years, no matter how slow Nick Fury might be, he had noticed a few things. Summing up all the intelligence he had gathered on Fini, he knew at the very least that Fini definitely had an organization backing him up.
Though he had known this for a long time, it wasn't until today that he finally asked Fini about it directly.
"That's right."
Fini didn't deny it. He nodded and offered a warning, "But they don't like being disturbed. Don't say I didn't warn you; the history of sorcerers predates this country, so don't even think about bringing up matters of regulation and oversight."
Despite getting Fini's confirmation, Nick Fury couldn't bring himself to feel happy. Dealing with just one Fini was enough to give him a headache; thinking about a whole group of people like him made his scalp tingle.
However, it wasn't entirely bad news. At least he now knew there was another powerful force on Earth that could be leveraged. As for Fini's warning, when a true crisis struck, he wouldn't care less about such boundaries.
Looking at the silent Nick Fury, Fini didn't say much else and asked, "Anything else?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Nick Fury continued to ask, "How long will this dimensional update take? What kind of impact will it have on Earth?"
"I can't say for sure right now, but it won't be too long. As for the impact on Earth, it shouldn't affect you or normal humans at all."
Fini thought about it before answering. The Ancient One was only attempting a trial run for now; they would only know the specifics after trying it out. As for the consequences of the updated Sanctums, it would only affect him and any dimensional demon lords trying to invade.
After answering a few more questions from Nick Fury, Fini left the base.
Upon returning home, he collapsed onto his bed and let out a long sigh of relief.
Now that he had Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, along with Pierce's top confidant and the Ghost, if Nick Fury still couldn't handle Hydra with a lineup like this, then S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't deserve to exist anymore.
After handing Sitwell over to Nick Fury, Fini stopped worrying about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s situation. For the next few days, he spent almost all his time at Kamar-Taj, researching dimensional mechanics with the Ancient One.
A week later, they were finally ready to begin the first update to the Sanctums' power.
Since the Sanctums ultimately concerned the safety of the entire Earth dimension, the Ancient One was exceptionally cautious. The modifications she made were very limited, and she even wore the Eye of Agamotto just in case--if anything went wrong, she could reverse time to restore it.
Inside a room in the New York Sanctum.
Fini watched the Ancient One as she meticulously modified the magic array with her energy, feeling a bit envious. Although he was constantly closing the gap between himself and the Ancient One in terms of raw power, he was still miles behind her when it came to handling complex matters.
This was a gap in experience and knowledge. For instance, if there was a locked box without a key, the Ancient One might have dozens of ways to open it, whereas Fini could probably think of two or three at most.
However, the Ancient One had achieved her current status after centuries of study, whereas he now had no limits on his lifespan. As long as he kept growing, he would surpass her sooner or later.
Soon, under the Ancient One's delicate and precise control, the final magic array was successfully modified.
Perhaps because the modifications were simply too minor, Fini didn't feel any change when unsealing his Evil Eye of the Dark Lord or using the Golden Spell of Large-Scale Realignment.
As the person who made the modifications firsthand, the Ancient One understood the changes best. Seeing Fini's confusion, she explained, "It's actually not bad. At least it didn't fail!"
After saying that, she looked at Fini again and continued, "It looks like I'll have to trouble you to keep cooperating with me for a while longer."
"No problem."
Fini shook his head, not minding at all. Aside from his reasons regarding the Golden Spell of Large-Scale Realignment, a safer Earth dimension was beneficial to him as well. Furthermore, researching alongside the Ancient One allowed him to absorb a wealth of knowledge.