Chapter 149: Confession
"Remarkable, absolutely remarkable!"
In a secure laboratory filled with various sophisticated instruments, Howard Stark, sporting his signature mustache, kept praising the object before him.
It was a chalice displayed under a transparent glass dome, its surface gleaming with a smooth, metallic sheen.
"Can you figure anything out?" Agent Peggy Carter approached and asked with concern.
She had been working alongside Howard Stark for quite some time now. Although he'd been unreliable in many ways, he'd proven surprisingly trustworthy when it came to important matters.
Catching a whiff of Peggy's perfume as she leaned closer, Howard felt his pulse quicken slightly.
This woman was incredibly difficult to impress, and precisely because of that challenge, he found himself extraordinarily interested in her!
"Of course I can," Howard nodded confidently, casually smoothing back his hair with one hand—a practiced gesture.
As he spoke, Peggy Carter fixed her gaze on him, her eyes filled with anticipation.
The cup they were currently studying had come from that mysterious Dark Council.
According to reports, water from this chalice could heal nearly any injury. Even mortally wounded soldiers, after just a small sip, would instantly regain their strength and vitality!
However, the Dark Council's appearance had been so sudden that it caught all major powers completely off guard.
While the mysterious young nun had been performing her miracles, a sharp-eyed sergeant in the camp had secretly sent a telegraph to headquarters. Though skeptical, Colonel Chester Phillips, the commanding officer, immediately dispatched a small reconnaissance team to discreetly follow the little saint.
They had quietly tailed her to a secluded house on the outskirts.
After the young nun entered, the soldiers rushed in moments later—only to find the building completely empty.
The windows were sealed shut, there was only one door, and no tunnels or escape routes could be found.
It was essentially a sealed room—so where had everyone gone?
After a thorough search yielded nothing, the so-called Dark Council became even more mysterious and enigmatic.
Only a strange ritual circle remained drawn on the floor, along with the metal chalice now sitting before Peggy Carter and Howard Stark.
The ritual circle had been carefully copied and documented on-site, while the chalice was entrusted to Howard Stark for analysis.
And now, in just one day's time, he claimed to have discovered the secret of this cup. How could Peggy Carter not be excited?
"The craftsmanship of this chalice is both extremely simple and remarkably complex," Howard began.
"Cut to the chase," Peggy Carter interrupted. Having worked with this showboat for so long, she'd learned to recognize when he was about to launch into a lengthy monologue just to show off.
"Fine, fine," Howard Stark sighed dramatically, and to Peggy Carter's shock, he directly opened the glass protective dome and picked up the chalice with his bare hands.
"What are you doing... Stark!" Peggy Carter moved to stop him. "At the very least wear protective gloves! You can't just handle potentially dangerous artifacts with your bare hands like that..."
Howard shook his head mysteriously. "Just listen to me." He held the cup in his right hand while pressing down with his left, signaling her to calm down.
"This had better be good!" Peggy warned.
"This chalice is very simply constructed," Howard explained, holding it up between them. "It's made from a novel alloy—extremely durable, yet only about a quarter the weight of ordinary steel."
"What's particularly impressive is that it oxidizes extremely slowly, meaning it could last for centuries without tarnishing."
"Anything else?" Peggy pressed impatiently.
"Anything else?" Howard shook his head innocently. "That's it."
"That's all? What about the property that turns water into healing elixir? Didn't you figure that out?"
"I did investigate that thoroughly, but there's nothing there." Howard casually tossed the chalice into the air and caught it with one hand. "It's just an ordinary cup—albeit one made from advanced materials."
"So I believe this chalice doesn't actually possess any supernatural properties. Either the so-called holy water is a complete fabrication, or perhaps the healing water is something else entirely, and this cup is merely a container."
"Are you serious?" Peggy Carter asked incredulously.
"Completely serious. Though there is one other thing worth mentioning."
"What's that?" she pressed.
"This cup is extraordinarily smooth," Howard shrugged and casually set the chalice back on the examination table. "Which means it's impossible to extract any residual traces of the so-called holy water from its surface."
"The only silver lining is that we've obtained the formula for a new lightweight alloy. If applied to military equipment, it could significantly reduce the weight of soldiers' combat gear."
In the end, the so-called Holy Grail was not dissected or destroyed, but instead carefully stored in the Strategic Scientific Reserve's secure vault—the organization that would eventually evolve into S.H.I.E.L.D.
The secret of the ritual circle was destined to remain unsolved, as it had simply been drawn by Jake on a whim with no actual meaning.
Just when every major power was desperately trying to capture members of the Dark Council or obtain more of its artifacts, Jake—having returned to the world of The Princess Diaries—encountered his own unique problem.
"Someone confessed their feelings to her again?"
This was the report from his AI assistant. The person who'd confessed was Princess Mia Thermopolis, whom Jake had been dating for some time now.
Now a college student, Mia was becoming increasingly beautiful—like a radiant flower in full bloom, constantly attracting admirers who wanted nothing more than to win her affection.
To keep track of his girlfriend's situation, Jake had his AI assistant monitoring Mia's communications—not surveillance exactly, but staying available to answer her calls and messages at all times.
In just over six months at university, she'd already received no fewer than a hundred love letters from various suitors.
As Jake's appearances became less and less frequent due to his dimension-hopping, a relationship crisis seemed inevitable.
Westerners often took a more casual approach to relationships, and Jake wasn't entirely sure how Mia felt about their increasingly long-distance relationship.
This time, one of the confessions had even come from a prince of a small European nation—undoubtedly a political scheme by some country hoping to create an alliance with Genovia through marriage, dreaming of gaining both a beautiful bride and political power in one stroke.
Jake couldn't afford to wait any longer. Upon receiving this intelligence, he immediately drove his black car toward Mia's university campus.
Soon enough, Mia—her long hair flowing and radiating an almost regal grace—emerged from the campus gates and quickly spotted Jake's distinctive vehicle.
The passenger door swung open, and Jake smiled at her warmly from the driver's seat. "My dear princess, your chariot awaits."
"I didn't expect you to actually come," Mia said with genuine surprise mixed with pleasure. "Weren't you traveling on business? Where were you this time? New York? Or somewhere in the Middle East?"
The usually carefree princess revealed a hint of complaint in her voice, showing that she wasn't nearly as indifferent to his absences as she tried to appear.
"This time I was in New York," Jake confirmed.
After Mia settled into the passenger seat, Jake started the engine and smoothly pulled away from the university gates.
"Yes, you've been going to New York a lot lately," Mia nodded, a slight edge to her voice.
The sleek black car driving across the San Francisco skyline drew appreciative stares from a group of students still lingering at the campus entrance.
"Actually..." Jake suddenly pressed down on the accelerator, and the powerful engine roared to life as the car surged forward at impressive speed. "This particular New York was a little different from the usual one."
"Huh?" Mia braced herself against the dashboard, clearly enjoying the thrill of the high-speed drive despite her confusion, then turned to Jake with a questioning look.
"The New York I just came from," Jake said with a mysterious smile, "was New York City... in 1943."
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