After visiting three corpse dumping sites in a row, Linen and the others still found nothing.
When they arrived at the fourth site, Tony Stark finally lost his patience.
"Sorry, I'm not doubting your expertise," Tony said, his tone half-skeptical, half-playful, "but are we really supposed to believe in ghosts and the undead now?"
Before he could finish, Linen, who had been squatting to inspect the ground, suddenly stood up. "There's a clue."
"Huh?"
Natasha, Tony, and the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. agents all gathered around immediately.
"What clue? What did you find?" asked one of the agents from the supernatural division, his eyes lighting up with curiosity.
Linen looked at him calmly. "How many bodies were found here?"
"One," the agent replied quickly. "A woman. Same as the others — her face was peeled off, internal organs removed, and her lower body was missing."
As the agent finished, Natasha stepped closer to Linen. "You mean there was more than one body dumped here?"
Linen nodded. "Everything in this world has its own magnetic field and frequency — humans included… and the undead as well."
"I didn't sense anything at the previous dumping sites, probably because too much time has passed. But here…" Linen's expression hardened. "I can feel it."
He raised his hand, palm down toward the ground. "If this were just a dumping ground, I wouldn't be able to sense anything. But a murder happened here not long ago. That energy stirred up the magnetic field, allowing the spirit of one of the dumped bodies to linger."
Tony Stark clicked his tongue. "You've got to be kidding me…"
To be honest, even though Tony had seen Linen's various abilities through the 'future videos' in the spoiler theater, it was still hard for him to believe any of this ghost-and-demon talk.
But before he could voice his doubt, the air around Linen shimmered — a strange, dark-green light radiated from his palm.
The sky, clear just moments ago, grew heavy and gray. Wind swept through the park, rustling the trees as the temperature seemed to drop.
Under Linen's necromantic power, a translucent soul slowly formed before them — a woman's spirit, missing half her body.
"Holy crap!" Tony shouted, stumbling back a few steps. "What the hell—? There are actually ghosts in this world?!"
Everything Tony Stark believed in — physics, science, logic — collapsed in an instant.
"This… this isn't scientific at all!"
Natasha had seen plenty of strange things during her years with S.H.I.E.L.D., even a few cases that couldn't be explained by science. She'd even visited the home of a girl possessed by an evil spirit just to get close to Linen.
But seeing an actual spirit manifest before her eyes still made her heart race.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent specializing in supernatural cases, however, looked ecstatic. His eyes sparkled as if he'd just discovered an invaluable treasure.
My God! he thought.
He hadn't expected the "consultant" Natasha brought in to actually have this kind of power.
If they could recruit him into their department, they could simply summon the spirits of the dead for clues during every supernatural case. Their clearance rate would skyrocket overnight!
While the others stood frozen in disbelief, Linen ignored them.
He turned toward Tony, who had just taken out his phone, and said flatly, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Tony paused mid-motion. "Why not?"
"Your phone can't capture the image," Linen said calmly. "And while it won't disturb the spirit, it's pointless."
Tony slowly lowered the phone, still trying to process everything.
Before he could throw another rapid-fire question, Linen turned back to the spirit. His voice softened. "We're here to help you."
"The magnetic field around you is fading. Although this place's energy is aligned with your spirit, it won't last long. You're barely holding on."
The translucent woman opened her mouth, letting out faint, distorted sounds in a language no one but Linen understood. She then pointed toward the right.
"I see." Linen nodded, dark energy swirling faintly around his hand. "Don't worry. The ones responsible will be joining you soon."
The ghost made a soft, mournful sound — then slowly dissolved into the air as her spirit dispersed.
The wind faded, and sunlight pierced through the clouds once more.
"Oh. My. God!" Tony exclaimed, rushing forward, eyes wide. "Linen, tell me I'm not hallucinating. There are really undead in this world?! That was insane!"
He circled Linen excitedly like a kid who'd just seen magic for the first time. "So tell me—can undead spirits really attack people using some kind of energy at night? Like in the movies? And what about Halloween—could real spirits be mixed in with all those costumes?"
"And if I wanted to protect myself, what kind of new armor should I design? Maybe engrave it with magical runes? Or coat it with some kind of exorcism alloy—"
As Tony's excited barrage of questions continued like machine-gun fire, Linen simply glanced at Natasha.
"I'm afraid the reward this time will have to be doubled," he said evenly. "According to what the spirit just told me… the ones conducting this summoning ritual aren't ordinary humans."
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