Jack clapped his hands together and brushed the dust off his clothes and pants with crisp, clean movements.
With a single thought, his body floated upward and shot back the way he came.
As he approached the target airspace, ripples suddenly appeared in the air. The hatch of a cloaked quinjet revealed itself. Jack accelerated and slipped lightly into the cabin.
The moment his feet touched the deck, a cool breeze washed over him.
Gordon handed him an energy drink.
"You've worked hard, Commander. It's truly shameful that we still needed you to step in. If it were up to us, it might've taken several more months to fight our way here."
Jack waved his hand dismissively.
"It's all for the great cause of world peace. I'll set aside more time for this kind of dirty work in the future."
…
Back at the Base, the first thing Jack did—as usual—was check on the jasmine flower he had personally accelerated.
It was no longer an ordinary jasmine. It had evolved into a jasmine tree nearly two meters tall.
Lush foliage and layers of tiny white blossoms covered its branches, its elegant fragrance filling the cold, hardcore military base.
Jack had deliberately erected a transparent barrier around it, worried that the rough idiots constantly coming and going might accidentally wreck his delicate flower demon.
The trunk was already over twenty centimeters thick, solid and well-grained, brimming with vitality.
Sonic probes showed that the root system was even more impressive than what could be seen above ground. The taproot plunged over ten meters deep, while lateral and fibrous roots spread densely like ginseng, burrowing into the soil.
Over the past month, Jack had spent most of his nights accelerating the jasmine tree's evolution.
Now, the tree had quietly grown to three meters tall, its canopy spreading like a cloud over four meters wide, forming a comforting miniature secret realm.
To accommodate it, the original partition had been expanded outward, and several nearby buildings were even demolished.
During this time, Jack had also farmed a considerable number of passive abilities by "handling" those disgraced concubines and female criminals—women already treated like withered flowers.
The process wasn't exactly noble, but for the sake of power, some prices were worth paying.
[Countless Ravines: 288/1000]
Although he felt a slight twinge of guilt, it was harmless. Compared to Immortal Venerables turning people into raw materials, he was practically a saint.
Feeling bored at the Base, Jack boarded a private plane that day and flew straight to the HYDRA base in Sokovia.
Thanks to his earlier planning, this stronghold hadn't suffered retaliation from Tony Stark—despite the genius still burying himself in his lab, endlessly iterating his armor.
The moment Jack entered the base, he saw Wanda Maximoff sitting in the office.
Her hair was loose and messy, her eyes filled with exhaustion, confusion, irritation, and grievance.
When she saw Jack, it was as if she'd finally found someone to lean on. She threw herself into his arms, pouting with a choked voice.
"Hubby… why are these people always like this? They clearly have enough to eat and wear, yet they still won't stop causing trouble…"
Jack gently stroked her back, steady and tender, whispering into her ear:
"Come on. Hubby will explain it to you properly."
After two hours of deep discussion, Wanda rested quietly against Jack's chest, her fingers unconsciously tracing the folds of his collar as she replayed everything that had happened recently.
"Hubby, you're right." Her voice was soft, yet firm. "It's time… to strike another heavy blow."
Jack ran his fingers through her messy hair, gentle but resolute.
"If you can carry this out, this place will eventually see real peace—just like the region Ethan manages."
During those two hours, Wanda gradually recognized her past limitations.
She saw the problems, grasped their root causes, and finally understood that to end chaos, the sources of chaos had to be eliminated.
In short: eliminate the people who breed problems and the ones who profit from them.
"It's good that you understand now." Jack lowered his head and kissed her lips, his tone helpless. "This land's habits are too old—fragmented, divided, and incapable of understanding the value of unification."
He looked out the window. Under the moonlight, this land—known as the European chessboard—seemed eternally trapped in cycles of division and conflict.
In such a small territory, dozens of states had clashed for thousands of years.
Jack then asked, "Where are Genos and Might Guy now? How's the New Era organization they founded doing?"
Mwah.
Wanda stood up, lips parting from his, and brought over a projection device.
"Look. These red dots are their branches. The New Era organization now has people in many European countries—but only this many branches."
"A few days ago, the EU officially labeled them a terrorist organization and launched heavy suppression."
"Fortunately, Genos is strong enough to conduct rescues in time. Otherwise, half these red strongholds would already be gone."
Jack scanned the projection, then noticed a dim red dot at the bottom.
"What about this point?"
Wanda glanced at it and immediately slapped him.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Jack saw the dot flicker and clicked it anyway, trying to find clues…
The next day, Wanda mercilessly kicked the disobedient Jack out of bed and abandoned him.
After getting dressed, she went off to implement the plan she'd extracted from him the night before.
Jack could only sigh and look for a few people willing to engage in "academic exchange" with him.
Unfortunately, their academic level was trash. Even combined, they couldn't survive Jack's solo verbal massacre.
By the time Wanda returned, Jack had already cleaned up. The "debate arena" was spotless.
He then exchanged results with her.
Wanda thought for a moment.
"Mm… everything went smoothly today, although many people opposed us."
"But using your method, hubby, they shut up pretty quickly and even kept praising it as a good policy."
"As expected, you're the best, hubby~ Here's a kiss."
With that matter settled, Jack took Wanda along.
Jack once again lived a peaceful life. As for whether the outside world was peaceful—he didn't give a damn.
However, reports kept coming in about an increasing number of orphans. Orphanages everywhere were short on beds.
Jack looked at the nearly completed Red Room Orphanage in the report, stroking his chin as he considered how to secure stable food and supplies.
Transportation was a headache. Apart from building roads, they could only rely on aircraft.
In the end, Jack decided to establish a massive new orphanage on the border between Mongolia and the East, importing vegetables directly from China—cheap, abundant, and easy to transport.
Besides, the trash in Mongolia was easy to deal with, and foreign forces wouldn't dare interfere.
Without hesitation, Jack issued orders to the Red Room girls.
When they saw the message, every single one of them deflated like punctured balloons.
They stared at the message sent by their Master, utterly exhausted.
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