Agent Phil Coulson had arrived together with Agent Victoria Hand, accompanied by the science team from Coulson's squad.
However, this visit was nowhere near as lighthearted as Solomon's previous trip to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. This time, they had been blindfolded and had all electronic devices confiscated before taking an elevator down into the Immortal City, located beneath Rome. Agent Hand had brought two particularly important prisoners with her—though there was no joy on her face, as these spoils of war had killed many loyal agents. Director Weaver of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy had barely escaped with her life. Fortunately, Skye had seen her mother's true nature and chosen to cooperate with Hand. With the combination of Coulson's channel codes and the elite forces under Hand's command, they had successfully purged the Inhumans hiding within the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Due to the unstable nature of the technology, the individuals previously transported via teleport chamber had arrived in poor condition. To ensure the safe arrival of these high-value prisoners, Agent Hand had escorted them personally.
Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz were extremely curious about this underground city, but they weren't allowed to wander freely. No matter where they went, someone was always watching them.
Skye's father, Cal, was a charming, witty man when he hadn't taken the serum he'd concocted himself. Before everything had gone wrong, he had been a truly kind person—giving up a lucrative medical career to volunteer in rural China, where he married, had a daughter, and planned to live a quiet life. No one could have imagined that this same man would, on a stormy, pitch-black night, dig his wife's dismembered remains out of a trash can, searching through the reeking filth for salvageable body parts, stitching and un-stitching her again and again, just to try to bring her back to life. After going through something like that, no one would expect his mind to remain intact. Skye, knowing what her mother Jiaying had suffered through being dissected alive, couldn't blame her parents for their extreme actions—but that didn't mean she would let her mother continue killing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"It was like gutting a fish! They hung her on a hook and emptied out her insides!" Every time Cal spoke of it, his face twisted in pain and rage. Simmons had asked one question too many. "I searched for Jiaying's bones and organs in pig parts, cow parts, human remains—I pieced her back together! And then tore her apart again! Whitehall—where is Whitehall? I'm going to kill him! I'll rip him open—"
"Apologies, sir. He was mentally stable before the transfer," said Agent Hand, watching Cal through a reinforced one-way mirror. He was tightly strapped down, drenched in sweat, and wild-eyed. Agent Coulson and Solomon stood beside her in silence. This was the area for ordinary detainees. Though Cal's self-made serum had given him strength beyond that of a normal man, here in the Immortal City he was still just a mortal. All captured Inhumans had been heavily sedated before being locked up here—Jiaying included. Compared to the secrets buried within the Immortal City, these Inhumans were hardly dangerous enough to warrant more extreme measures.
"We still don't understand the effects of the gorilla-strength compound Testosterone on the human body," Simmons said helplessly.
"What exactly do you want?" Coulson asked. "This collaboration was supposed to be an exchange of intel, not one-sided decisions." He had come along to prevent the Immortal City's agents from going too far with the Inhuman captives—neither Solomon nor Agent Hand was the type to shy away from extreme measures, and they had no interest in making hollow promises. But even after asking several times, Coulson only received a vague answer.
"You should understand what kind of organization the Immortal City is, Coulson," said the sorcerer. "S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps its sights limited to Earth. The conflicts between nations are meaningless to us. The Immortal City confronts far more complex threats—interdimensional, extraterrestrial threats. Those are our enemies."
"So now Jiaying and the Inhumans are linked to those things?" Coulson frowned. "Just tell me what you want to know… maybe I can help. Stop dancing around it, Solomon. We're all trying to protect humanity. Just tell me what information you want. Skye can question Jiaying."
"You don't know, Agent Coulson. You don't even know how the Inhumans extract Terrigen. And something that small could point to a terrifying truth—I need to know. The interrogation results will tell us everything," Solomon replied. "I don't trust Skye—not because I think Jiaying can manipulate her, but because I don't believe she can carry out a proper interrogation. She hasn't been trained. I don't blame Jiaying for her past—her suffering is a reflection of the worst in human nature: tragedy born of apathy, because no one treated her like a human being."
Coulson saw the guilt on Solomon's face. He didn't think it was an act—he knew the man. But he also understood that once someone made a painful decision, there was no turning back.
"Coulson, what happened to Jiaying is a bitter consequence of what we humans have done. But as a member of Kamar-Taj, I will not allow an extinction-level event to occur. No matter how cruel it may seem, I must extract the truth from Jiaying's mind. Agent Hand, go get Wanda Maximoff and our interrogation specialist. As long as the memories exist in Jiaying's mind, our magic—mine and Wanda's—can unearth them. This concerns what threats we may face in the future."
Attilan, the city of the Inhumans.
Solomon remained highly suspicious of the place. He didn't know whether Jiaying had acquired the knowledge to extract Terrigen from there—after all, it was hard to believe a scattered network of Inhumans across the world could accomplish something so advanced. Perhaps their abilities allowed them to achieve things current technology could not, but only if those Inhumans had sufficient knowledge. Moreover, Solomon still didn't understand how Jiaying had managed to find so many unawakened Inhumans across the globe. These were answers he intended to pry directly from her lips.
His interrogation specialist was an external ally: Natasha Romanoff. She had since become close friends with Wanda Maximoff. While Solomon could teach Wanda magic, there were other aspects of her life he couldn't help her with. Natasha had become Wanda's life mentor, a frequent guest at the penthouse's afternoon tea gatherings. Maybe she was partly interested in observing Wanda's condition or in spending more time around Solomon—but regardless of her motives, the help she offered Wanda couldn't be overlooked.
Solomon had invited her so that the Avengers could stay informed on the situation with the Inhumans. But she wouldn't be leading the interrogation. That task would fall to magic—and potions—designed to unravel the mind. Solomon needed to know everything Jiaying knew, to find any hint linking her to the city of the Inhumans.
"You may take Cal," he said. "As for Jiaying… I promise, I'll give her the most peaceful death."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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