Matt, unhurried and calm, asked, "What gives S.H.I.E.L.D. the right to conduct a psychological evaluation on us?"
"Setting aside the fact that you've trespassed on sacred private property, there is no law in the United States that states civilians must cooperate with a government organization for a psychological evaluation."
"If you don't leave right now, we have the right to mount an unrestricted counterattack!"
As a former lawyer, Matt began citing legal statutes with sound reasoning.
Natasha simply crossed her arms. Without her needing to make a single move, a special agent behind her consciously stepped forward and produced a search warrant stamped with the red seal of the court.
"We suspect that high-risk explosives are hidden in the Rand Building. We now need to dispatch personnel to search the entire building, and you will also have to come back with us for investigation."
Natasha cast a contemptuous glance at Matt. Her seemingly indifferent tone conveyed an unquestionable, tough stance.
The hot-tempered Luke couldn't stand it anymore. He took a large stride forward, relying on his tough, bulletproof body, flexing his muscles as he started cursing.
"Listen up, I'm only going to say this once. All you walnut-brained idiots get the hell out of here right now, or don't blame me for getting violent!"
Seeing her boyfriend recklessly stepping forward to provoke them, Jessica was incredibly worried it would spark a fight right then and there. She hurriedly spoke up to divert their attention:
"Stop spinning these incredibly fake excuses. What is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s true objective here?"
Natasha's attention was entirely focused on her surroundings; the target could appear at any moment. Regarding Jessica's question, she merely offered a perfunctory reply.
"You're overthinking it. Our objective is very pure: we are simply here to evaluate your psychological state."
Seeing the atmosphere between the two sides growing increasingly tense, Wanda's heart grew more and more anxious.
A few more minutes passed, and the increasingly impatient Luke issued his final warning.
"Fuck, are you all deaf? If you don't get the hell out right now, I'm going to use my fists to send you out!"
Seeing this, Natasha took a slight step back. She waved her hand, signaling the special agents to head outside first.
"Calm down. We can talk everything over slowly..."
Her mission was only to stall for time and lure Master Harvey into this long-prepared trap; there was no need to start a war with the members of the Defenders.
Waiting nervously for ten minutes, Wanda had already cursed a certain bastard tens of thousands of times in her head.
"Why isn't he here yet? He isn't still busy exploring the profound mysteries of some woman's naked body, is he?"
Just as the situation was inching closer to spiraling out of control, a portal with sparking golden edges appeared.
Everyone's gaze involuntarily shifted to Harvey as he stepped out of the portal.
While adjusting the collar of his wizard robes, he coughed twice and surveyed the surrounding environment.
"Hi, good evening to all the superheroes. Wanda, why did you activate the alchemical badge to summon me?"
Wanda walked up beside Harvey, intimately hugging his arm. Leaning close to his ear, she briefed him on the current situation.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.... psychological evaluation... searching the building..."
"Mhmm... mmhmm..."
Harvey nodded from time to time as he listened.
He seemed to be taking it all in, but in reality, his mind was still savoring Cho Chang's passionate performance in bed just moments ago.
Once Wanda finished explaining the situation, Harvey didn't even look at the Black Widow staring intently at him from the opposite side.
He wrapped his arm around Wanda's waist, caressing the smooth leather of her outfit, and asked curiously, "So you sent out the emergency signal just to have me come over and bail you guys out?"
Wanda nodded repeatedly, shaking Harvey's arm as she said earnestly, "Darling, if you help get rid of these people, when we get back, I am willing to let you do whatever you want to me."
"Oh?" Harvey shot Wanda a slightly surprised look.
In order to bail out her other companions, Wanda was truly sparing no effort, actually daring to promise such a massive price.
"Don't worry, leave these S.H.I.E.L.D. small fries to me. I'm very familiar with this kind of dirty work!"
Saying that, Harvey drew his wand and was just preparing to cast magic to wipe out the S.H.I.E.L.D. grunts.
"Screech—thud!"
A brilliant blue figure descended from the sky accompanied by a series of sonic booms, landing right in front of everyone.
"Clack!"
The metal faceplate opened, revealing Tony Stark's slightly haggard face. He ignored everyone else present.
His hateful gaze locked firmly onto Harvey.
"You shameless scum, today is the day you die!"
"Jarvis, activate the Anti-Magic Energy Shielding function!"
The moment he finished speaking, the armor on Tony's back rapidly transformed, assembling into a two-meter-long antenna.
Immediately following that, a blue laser shot into the sky.
A spherical, pale-blue energy shielding layer enveloped the entire first-floor lobby of the building.
Standing inside the energy shielding layer, Harvey could distinctly feel a slight stagnation in the flow of magic within his body.
However, he didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, he praised, "As expected of a cursed genius. To think you actually developed this kind of anti-magic countermeasure in just a few short months."
Tony Stark had absolutely no desire to talk; he only wanted to hack Harvey into eight pieces to vent his anger.
Therefore, he initiated the battle, raising both hands to fire two high-energy laser beams.
One of the laser beams pierced straight through, hurtling toward Harvey.
Wanda's pupils shrank, and she hurriedly warned: "Look out!"
Faced with the incoming attack, Jessica, Luke, and Matt didn't even have time to react.
Harvey was just about to cast a Shield Charm when Wanda beside him lit up her hands with scarlet light, casting the Rings of Raggadorr.
A red magical shield materialized around them, steadily blocking the laser beam.
"Sizzle—"
The moment the high-energy laser beam and the magical shield made contact, they continuously wore each other down; neither could overcome the other.
Seeing this, Harvey revealed a look of satisfaction.
Wanda's strength had improved rapidly recently; she truly lived up to being the woman he had set his sights on.
Tony Stark saw the laser beam locked in a stalemate with the magical shield, and continuously firing lasers consumed too much energy.
So he decisively ceased his attack, then ordered Jarvis to fire every single missile the armor was carrying all at once.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Swoosh, swoosh..."
Miniature missiles ejected from the armor's shoulders one after another, auto-tracking as they flew toward the opposite side.
This time, Harvey made his move.
He waved his wand, casting the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth.
A semi-transparent purple barrier appeared.
The rapidly approaching miniature missiles, the moment they touched the purple barrier, all transformed into fluttering butterflies and flew back the way they came.
This bizarre and beautiful scene caused the slow-to-react Jessica and the others to exclaim in awe.
"My god, magic is just way too overpowered!"
"Is this the man behind Wanda? His strength is absurd!"
"No wonder she was so calm earlier, so she had such a powerful backer..."
Tony Stark watched as the miniature missiles turned into a swarm of butterflies and fluttered past him.
His face was incredibly ugly.
The offensive methods of the Anti-Magic armor were limited. After all, against a sorcerer who was as elusive as a ghost and possessed a vast array of techniques...
Ordinary attacks were completely useless.
Therefore, this armor of his only had a very few offensive options.
Now that he had exhausted all his methods, they were all easily neutralized by Harvey.
Tony Stark felt a mixture of hatred and helplessness.