Chapter 1886 - Easy to Poach, Hard to Keep

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The Sokovian incident didn’t cause much of a stir globally.

In the chaos Ultron had created this time, it had only used the civilians as hostages and a distraction, and hadn’t aimed to kill them.

Less than 1,000 people in total had died.

In ordinary times, gunfire broke out every now and then in Sokovia’s city center, and dozens of civilians could be killed or injured at any time.

There had been several slightly larger conflicts in the country’s recent history, and while there was no exact figure for the number of civilian deaths, the number of casualties was estimated to range anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands.

Hundreds of people dying in Sokovia wouldn’t make the headlines.

If this had happened in New York ten years ago, it might have been called the world’s worst tragedy, and would still be in the top five to this day.

However, this was Eastern Europe, and most media outlets only reported one sentence: There was another conflict in Sokovia, which caused some civilian deaths

Because of the ongoing strife in Sokovia, phone networks basically didn’t exist, and not many people could afford smartphones.

Wanda had mentally guided the people closest to the battlefield to evacuate, so few people could record the battle.

As the saying went, “pics, or it didn’t happen.” The rumors online about the Avengers and the Bat Squad fighting in Sokovia ultimately didn’t take root.

Most people didn’t care about this at all.

The true dispute would take place between the European and American governments.

However, this dispute wasn’t about settling the refugees, but about how to distribute the benefits.

For example, the components of the anti-gravity system which Tony had taken away by carrier plane, the robots left behind by Ultron, and some extra supplies. After this, the Avengers and the Bat Squad’s rescue foundation would become the main focus.

With most of the attention diverted, there was naturally no way to denounce the Avengers and the Bat Squad.

Some forces who wanted to seize this chance to deal with the Avengers and the Bat Squad could only give up after trying several times.

Many countries and people were full of regret: How good would it have been if tens of thousands of people had died this time?

Then, they could have dispatched troops in the name of justice, and plundered benefits in the name of peacekeeping.

…

Amidst the turmoil, Luke wasn’t in much contact with the Avengers.

He and Tony would share intelligence whenever necessary, but they didn’t talk in-depth.

Everybody was too busy.

Tony had to deal with the government and internal affairs. While he kept an eye on his new ‘son,’ he also had to smooth things over with his teammates.

When he activated Vision, Thor, Dr. Banner, Natasha and Hawkeye had been on his side.

But when it came to Ultron, most people were on Steve’s side.

The former had been in an emergency situation, and there had been no other way.

With the latter, he had ignored safety protocols and had taken a private and risky development route.

They weren’t the same at all.

Tony had kept everyone in the dark and hoodwinked Dr. Banner into creating Ultron. He hadn’t been acting as a team player.

What was even more troublesome was that Dr. Banner was missing.

After the battle that day, Dr. Banner had left in the Avengers’ Quinjet without anyone knowing, and he hadn’t appeared since.

There was no response from Tony’s GPS on the Quinjet.

The atmosphere among the Avengers was gloomy, and Luke didn’t want to get involved at all.

He didn’t have the ability to find Dr. Banner, much less to coax the Avengers.

Besides, he had ‘stolen’ Helen Cho beforehand and lured Wanda and Pietro into the Justice League. He had to keep a low profile for now.

Tony had deliberately mentioned many times that the Avengers were too few in number and needed new members.

Luke simply pretended not to hear him.

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He knew that the tycoon was looking for suitable backup team members.

If Luke didn’t settle these ‘newbies,’ Tony might poach them. Luke’s biggest headache was Dr. Helen Cho.

This gentle, smart, and professional Asian doctor actually had a crush on… Thor, who was all brawn and no brains.

Just like Dr. Jane.

In order to appease Dr. Cho, Luke had no choice but to use his Knight ID to pull Thor into attending a gathering.

Knight, Big Dipper, Wanda, Pietro and Black Cat attended the gathering.

Currently, Selina in her symbiotic form was indeed the only person from the Bat Squad who could come to the gathering

Looking at Dr. Cho, who had turned into a little fangirl and was talking to Thor with a red face, Wanda was full of questions.

Previously, she had been the one to place Helen Cho under mind control in order to create ‘vision’ for Ultron.

Wanda knew very well that the woman was extremely knowledgeable and skilled.

Now… why did she look like a thirsty fangirl?

Thinking that, she looked to the side.

Black Cat pestered Big Dipper with questions, along with Pietro.

Selina didn’t know that Big Dipper was Luke. She only knew that he often operated together with Luke, and her curiosity about Big Dipper had never been satisfied.

Big Dipper was wearing a work jacket and combat pants. He had tidy white sideburns. He was in his forties and had a calm but stern expression, which was quite eye-catching.

Wanda was a little disappointed. She actually wanted to go over and talk to Big Dipper, even if he just ended up lecturing her a little more.

But asking to be scolded in front of Black Cat and Pietro was too humiliating.

She could only look to the other side, where Knight was sitting at the bar. Her eyes lit up the way Helen Cho’s had when the latter saw Thor.

Wanda had seen Knight’s face before, and knew that he was handsome.

But outside of his black armor, Mr. Bruce was undoubtedly another type of handsome.

Compared with Big Dipper, Knight’s manner was more mild but also more distant.

Even when he looked at everyone else, there was no change in his expression.

His emotions were completely hidden — Big Dipper was the same.

Sensing Wanda’s gaze, Knight turned around and waved at her with a smile.

After a brief hesitation, Wanda stood up and walked over.

Luke observed the young girl.

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Although she was already 20, she was still immature.

It was probably because she had been sheltered by Pietro.

Gesturing for Wanda to sit down, Luke gave her a bottle of juice.

Looking at the beer in his hand and the juice in front of her, Wanda was lost for words.

Luke seemed to know what she was thinking. “Drunkards do all sorts of strange things. If you had Steve or Thor’s physique, it wouldn’t matter if you drank a few bottles of whiskey, but you don’t – you barely have to do anything to get drunk.”

Wanda lowered her head in embarrassment. “Well, I won’t go crazy after drinking.”