Chapter 4838

Actually, he thought it was a prank by mischievous ghosts, but it turned out the house was warning him that someone had seen a ghost. He said, How come the supernatural phenomena he and others see are never the same?

Like Steve or whatever, they see some concrete phenomenon, but he keeps running into utter nonsense—bumping and tumbling like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. And everyone else sees sorrowful ghosts, while his aren't sad at all; they're almost funny.

Turns out it's because only he signed the house's contract, so he's deemed the owner by default. These sounds are the house alerting him, but he can't understand them and never thought of it that way.

Actually, it's all Dracula's fault. He concealed many things, even deliberately misled Greed. But Greed never figured why he'd do that—just to get back at him for causing trouble earlier, so superheroes came hunting him in New York?

But Dracula clearly knew that even if he emigrated to the Hsia Empire, the Avengers couldn't possibly fail to find him. Especially since his emigration was arranged by Shiler. Coming after him would be too easy. No need to dig himself this hole.

Moreover, Greed can't hear the alarm, and it harms him nothing. At most he'd feel baffled when learning the truth, but it wouldn't delay him anything.

Thinking this way, Greed realized Dracula wasn't seeking revenge on him, but on Hampton's lot. The house's owner not hearing the alarm—or mistaking it for ordinary supernatural phenomena—means Hampton's residents suffer the most.

If Dracula had plainly told Greed this house is a detector, and any movement means Hampton's in trouble, Greed might have acted sooner.

In Dracula's view, Greed is an Avengers friend, and the Avengers love meddling. If they heard this, they'd surely intervene. So Dracula hid everything to keep them from rescuing them.

In the end, when supernatural phenomena erupted fully and could no longer be concealed, even if the Avengers came then, it'd be too late. Or rather, not knowing the ghosts' nature or the manor's purpose, rescue odds are slim. Even if barely suppressed, many would die—maybe all. That's Dracula's aim.

Seems these people didn't take Dracula seriously either, and he's endured plenty of their nonsense here. When finally leaving, he didn't forget to screw them over one last time.

Still, his effort was wasted. If the house's owner were Captain America, upon learning the truth he'd likely rush to help. But the owner is Greed, who knows all too well what these people are like. Even if he knew, he'd probably only act now.

"I've warned my children," the old man said again, "to show sufficient respect to the mountain's lord. But few of our generation still live, and the Hampton survival rules haven't spread to the next generation."

Obviously, this old man already knew the chaos stemmed from Dracula's grudge. Even the Avengers didn't act early because they didn't want his nonsense. But he clearly could do nothing.

Fortunately, Pride's artistic creation knocked them all flat. Now they have zero energy for mischief—can't even scream—just lie down and pass out.

"What should we do now?" Steve asked, frowning. "I know many of them deserve it, but we can't let ghosts keep killing them. Otherwise this place'll become a no-go zone, and we can't explain it to the public."

"Or we could just call Professor X." Natasha suggested, "Since it's a mental issue, let the professor alter their memories first, then see what evil they did, and find a way to make them face legal judgment."

This idea gained most people's support. Not letting ghosts kill them is humanitarian and big-picture, but it doesn't mean their past evil escapes punishment. They should still be judged. Arresting more wouldn't cause panic—quite the opposite, it might earn applause.

Greed shook his head: "If it were that simple, I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble. Charles may be a psychology expert who can easily alter memories, but don't forget—ghosts aren't mere illusions; they've manifested in the real world. Charles knows no magic, so he can't deal with already-manifested ghosts."

"True enough," Baky said, "Professor X can dispel illusions but not banish ghosts. The Supreme Mage can banish ghosts but not touch illusions. Can't they combine forces?"

"The key is," Greed shook his head, "independent handling probably can't eradicate it. Otherwise, with these people so rich, why couldn't they solve it in decades?"

Coulson nodded. So-called wealth can make ghosts grind mills—this lot are America's top tycoons. Their money and connections are unimaginable; even when the Ancient One was Supreme Mage, they weren't out of reach. Not to mention Professor X, active in human society. Getting both here is possible, but it still wouldn't solve it.

"Still, we got key info," Greed said, "Harkness—a witch hiding in Massachusetts. Years ago, she suppressed Hampton's supernatural phenomena. She must have a way."

Greed turned to Strange, asking: "Have you heard of this witch family?"

"You shouldn't ask me that," Strange shook his head, "you guess why the Scarlet Witch is called the Scarlet Witch?"

"What? You mean Professor Harkness?" Wanda's voice came over the phone, "No, she's not in Massachusetts anymore. That place is the witches' homeland, but long ago they moved to New Salem, Colorado. As for the teacher… I don't know where she went."

"Could you trouble yourself to come over?" Greed asked.

"Oh, it's not impossible. But I've been… well, I'll come later. After breakfast. Wait for me."

Greed hung up, sank into the sofa with a long sigh. Natasha asked curiously: "What's the relation between Harkness and Wanda?"

"She's Wanda's teacher," Greed said, "the one who taught Wanda how to channel chaos magic's power, and once helped Wanda suppress her mutant ability's outbreak."

"She must be formidable," Coulson sighed, "No wonder she could build this manor and suppress Hampton's supernatural phenomena for so many years."

Greed nodded. Actually, Harkness is indeed a very important figure in the comics. Her story with Wanda is somewhat like the Ancient One's with Strange.

Agatha Harkness is a witch who's lived several hundred years. She once tried to lead Massachusetts witches in resisting mortal persecution, but was stopped. The witches fled persecution to the highlands of Colorado. Agatha, dissatisfied with their escape, didn't join them but went to New York. Later she met Wanda and became her teacher.

In many universes, she dies from Wanda's power surge, but even dead she continues as a spirit guiding Wanda. In this universe she's surely not dead. Moreover, she met the Fantastic Four and later became Franklin Richards's home tutor.

Greed didn't ask Reed because he knows Franklin now has no home tutor. If there really were someone who could rein him in, he wouldn't be drifting through the cosmos with a bunch of little terrors.

Wanda arrived quickly. Breakfast hadn't ended when she came. But the problem is, she brought her kids too.

Wanda's two Maximoff brothers, Billy sent earlier by Pride, little Morgan Stark sent with them, Steve's son Thomas always with them, and Franklin Reed's son—all came.

"Good, now you're not this place's biggest trouble." Stark told Greed.

"More than that. I fear I don't even rank in the top ten." Greed felt a headache coming. Whether Hampton's haunted or not no longer matters—what ghost could rival these kids?

"Oh! Oh! Don't run around!" Wanda still looked like a hen guarding chicks, holding them close, "Before coming out, how did I tell you? If you misbehave, I'll never bring you out to play again."

Of course, before the Scarlet Witch, they didn't dare act up. Though they stood obediently by her side, not running wild, their darting eyes already showed they were scheming something.

"Sorry, I was doing pre-shoot prep in Massachusetts. Since I didn't know how long I'd stay here, I couldn't leave the kids at the set, so I brought them all."

Greed knew most actors were already on set, likely doing a script read-through, so they'd sent Billy and little Morgan ahead to preview the lot.

But he didn't expect that on set, Wanda's in charge of the kids. She came over and brought them all.

"Is it because this manor's too old?" Franklin, grown quite a bit but still the youngest here, said. To look taller, he'd been hovering in the air.

Thomas also sniffed, obviously the supernatural phenomena had altered the dark matter here, though he'd never encountered this before and didn't know what was going on.

"Maybe the manor's just too old," little Morgan, holding Wanda's hand, said, "Geez, it's even older than my family's old home. I keep smelling rotting wood."

"Any smell?" Billy, the biggest here, sniffed left and right, then said, "I didn't smell anything."

Stark walked over, picked up little Morgan, and said, "All right, you'd better behave these few days. Or I'll tell your mom…"

Little Morgan whispered a few words in his ear, making Stark laugh outright. Then she jumped off him and ran back to her little pals.

Meanwhile, Billy ran over to Pride: "Professor!"

Others also noticed this "stranger." But these superpowered little terrors all have keen intuition. Franklin, seeing Pride for a moment, vanished with a whoosh. Thomas and the two brothers also stepped back two paces.

Soon Franklin reappeared. No idea what he saw in the timeline, but with another whoosh he flew to Wanda's back to hide, muttering with the others.

"Sorry," Wanda smiled at Pride, "the kids are a bit shy. Please bear with them, Professor. I still hope you'll tutor them in homework."

"My honor, ma'am." Pride nodded at her.

And just like that, the kids bared their teeth and grinned.