Chapter 171: The Battle of Sokovia
Once the plan was finalized, the Avengers began to take action.
Relying on her high efficiency, Hill quickly established a stable, encrypted communication channel with Nick Fury, who was operating behind the scenes.
Although Fury had lost the great ship that was S.H.I.E.L.D., the remnant forces in his hands and his global network of favors were still not to be underestimated.
Under his coordination, an unprecedented cross-border, multi-departmental secret mass evacuation began to be quietly laid out.
Several Helicarriers, urgently modified for short-takeoff-and-landing and large-scale transport capabilities, along with several large military transport planes requisitioned from various countries, began to assemble at secret Bases in the countries surrounding Sokovia.
Meanwhile, through Fury's mediation and invisible pressure from the international community, several neighboring countries tacitly allowed the opening of border crossings and established temporary refugee camps, even though their official rhetoric remained vague.
Steve led Natasha, Sam, Bucky, and Rhodes (War Machine), relying on their extensive special operations experience to infiltrate Sokovia in batches, taking advantage of the night and chaotic border controls.
Their mission was to secretly slip into Sokovia while avoiding Ultron's ubiquitous Sentinels and monitoring network.
Furthermore, they needed to contact the remaining resistance groups and conscientious low-level officials within the city to establish hidden evacuation command points and dispersal routes.
They also had to find a way to scout the specific entrance, core structure, and defensive weaknesses of the massive anti-gravity device beneath the city.
Tony, Banner, 2B, and the returned Jarvis, supported by the reinforced server clusters at Stark Tower and a global satellite network...
...began a suppression operation against all facets of Ultron's consciousness in the digital World.
Relying on the Mind Stone's natural affinity for and control over information flows, combined with Jarvis's familiarity with Ultron's Base code and Tony's targeted algorithms, 2B began to weave an invisible net.
They misled all of Ultron's consciousness into returning to Sokovia while quietly reinforcing the network boundaries of the Sokovia region, setting up layer after layer of barriers.
This was an extremely taxing and dangerous process; any small mistake could be detected by Ultron, causing him to disperse his consciousness and escape prematurely.
Fortunately, their skills were top-tier. After a week of high-intensity work, the digital cage surrounding Sokovia was successfully forged.
"Nice work, everyone!" Tony let out a long sigh of relief, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
"Now, that electronic crow is locked in its cage. It's time for us to go pluck its feathers."
Almost as soon as the digital cage closed, Ultron, deep beneath Sokovia, sensed the anomaly.
His perception within the internet suddenly felt as if it had hit invisible high walls, and his space for activity was drastically compressed. His access to external resources became sluggish, and blind spots appeared in his information gathering.
"They want to trap me here until I die."
Ultron angrily smashed the monitor in front of him, followed by an even more resolute madness.
"Since the path of retreat is cut off, then let it bloom here. Let Sokovia become the tombstone of the old human era and the beacon for the rising of the new era!"
He no longer held back. The construction speed of the underground facility suddenly ramped up to its limit, extracting all plundered resources regardless of the cost.
The energy from the anti-gravity device surged through pre-laid pipes toward every key node of the city's foundation.
The entire city of Sokovia began to tremble slightly, like a prehistoric beast about to break free from the earth's shackles.
"Ultron is accelerating! Underground energy readings are skyrocketing! The anti-gravity device startup sequence has entered an irreversible countdown!" Dr. Banner's warning blared sharply through the Avengers' communication channel.
"All units, attention! The operation is moved up! Execute the final phase of evacuation immediately!"
"Team A, cover the civilians moving toward the final assembly point!"
"Team B, storm the underground facility entrance as planned!"
"Team C, provide air support and intercept ascending units!" Steve began assigning tasks.
Inside Sokovia, guided by the Avengers teams and the city's resistance, a dense crowd of people surged toward several designated squares and open spaces.
There, the transport planes coordinated by Fury were waiting to pick them up.
A thunderous roar echoed from the sky as two figures tore through the clouds, descending with a boom above the city center.
It was Thor and klein, standing side by side.
"It seems we've arrived just in time." klein looked down at the city, which had begun to vibrate violently, a cold glint in his eyes.
"For Asgard! For Midgard!" Thor roared, swinging mjolnir.
Countless bolts of lightning struck down like wild dragons, accurately hitting several factories and tunnel entrances from which large numbers of Ultron's mechanical soldiers were pouring out, instantly clearing large areas.
klein simply pressed down a palm from mid-air.
"Shattering Hand of Vishanti."
An invisible, immense force erupted from his palm. Below, dozens of Steel Soldiers, along with the streets beneath their feet, were instantly turned into metal scraps embedded in the ground, like biscuits struck by an invisible giant hammer.
The indiscriminate clearing by the two of them won precious time and space for the evacuation and assault operations on the ground.
Although the mechanical army controlled by Ultron was still massive in number, they were turned into scrap metal in swathes before Thor's heavenly wrath and klein's unreasonable, rule-level power.
However, the city's vibrations grew more and more violent.
Huge cracks began to appear in the ground, and some taller buildings let out groans of over-exhaustion and began to tilt.
The entire city of Sokovia was being slowly lifted by an irresistible force, rising toward the gray sky!
"The city is starting to lift off!" Sam shouted over the comms as he struggled in the air to disperse the aircraft approaching the transport planes.
"Civilian evacuation progress at 97%... 98%... 99%! The last transport plane is about to be full!" Hill's voice came through, reminding everyone.
"That's enough! Leave the rest to us!" Tony's voice cut in. His gold-and-red Mark armor—of an unknown generation—dove down from the clouds, joining Rhodes to start clearing the remaining Ultron aircraft in the air.
"Banner, 2B, with me! Let's go underground and rip out its heart!"
"Hulk! Smash!" A wild roar came from the other side. A massive green figure crashed through half a building, roaring as he charged toward a huge underground entrance that was spewing fire.
Captain America, Natasha, Bucky, and the others were storming another entrance, where they encountered stubborn resistance.
Sokolov and Makarova, the two former Soviet Agents whose hearts were filled with hatred for the World and the Avengers, had become the Avengers' roadblocks.
Sokolov's pitch-black energy tentacles could stab out from any corner, constantly attacking the Avengers members from the shadows.
Makarova floated in mid-air, her eyes glowing with a hallucinatory light. Invisible mental shockwaves continuously radiated outward, causing the assault team members to see hallucinations of their loved ones and friends screaming or harshly accusing them, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.
"Hold on! Don't be fooled by the illusions!" Steve held his shield high, struggling to withstand the lashing of the shadow tentacles.
Natasha, relying on the iron will forged over her years as an Agent, gritted her teeth to maintain her shooting accuracy, but her movements were visibly sluggish.
Bucky's mechanical arm flickered with unstable electrical sparks, seemingly on the verge of malfunctioning under the continuous erosion of the shadow energy.
Just as the defensive line was about to collapse, two figures—one red and one silver—cut into the battlefield like meteors.
Chapter 172: The Debut of the Wanda Siblings
"Your opponents are us!"
Red light flared in Wanda's eyes, and Chaos Magictransformed into a surging dark red tide, crashing violently against the mental domain spreading from Makarova.
Two invisible forces collided in mid-air, emitting a tooth-aching screech as distorted ripples appeared in the air.
Pietro, meanwhile, turned into a streak of silver lightning, flashing through the shadow area where Sokolov was in an instant. The dagger in his hand, carrying ultra-high-speed kinetic energy, severed several shadow tentacles attacking Captain America.
"Two more brats?" Sokolov emerged from the shadows, his face grim.
He could feel that Pietro's speed countered his playstyle, which favored area control and sustained attrition.
Makarova also frowned slightly; Wanda's Chaos Magicgave her an uncontrollable sense of pressure.
The battle erupted once more.
Initially, it was Wanda against Makarova and Pietro against Sokolov, forming a seemingly evenly matched confrontation.
Wanda's Chaos Magic and Makarova's Psychic Illusionstwisted against each other;
Pietro relied on absolute speed, moving rapidly around Sokolov to avoid being ensnared by shadows while searching for a chance for a fatal blow.
However, Sokolov and Makarova were, after all, experienced veteran Agents with seamless cooperation.
At the height of the battle, Sokolov suddenly left an opening and took an ultra-high-speed stab from Pietrohead-on. The dagger was deflected by shadows at the last moment, only grazing his arm,
but shadow energy suddenly erupted. Instead of attacking Pietro, it turned into several sharp arrows, shooting straight at Wanda, who was in a mental struggle with Makarova!
He saw that Wanda seemed to be the core and intended to go for a direct decapitation.
"Sister, watch out!" Pietro cried out in alarm, but no matter how fast he was, it was difficult to instantaneously intercept all the shadow arrows coming from his blind spot.
However, facing this sudden attack, there wasn't a hint of panic on Wanda's face.
She didn't even interrupt her mental suppression of Makarova; instead, three of the five rings on her left hand suddenly lit up.
Respectively representing Power, Shield, and Agility enhancement!
With a swipe of her free right hand, a solid, wall-like barrier of dark red magic was instantly generated, blocking all the shadow arrows.
At the same time, using her ring-enhanced physical functions, she shifted sideways with near-teleportation speed, dodging a Psychic Spike Makarova had sent during the opening.
"What?!" Sokolov's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected that this seemingly fragile mage, focused on casting, would have such powerful close-quarters reactions and defense.
"Your opponent hasn't changed yet," Pietro's cold voice rang in his ear as silver light flashed again.
This time, the dagger's target was his chest! Sokolovhurriedly mobilized his shadow defense, but it appeared somewhat rushed.
On the other side, seeing the direct assault fail, Makarovaimmediately changed tactics, drifting back to try and create distance, intending to drown Wanda with a more powerful area-of-effect Psychic Storm.
She saw that the rings on Wanda's hand seemed to provide strong physical protection, but as for mental defense, perhaps...
"Trying to pull away?" A cold arc curled on Wanda's lips as the Chaos Magic in her right hand suddenly changed,
transforming into countless scarlet filaments like living tentacles, coiling toward Makarova faster than she could retreat!
"Your tricks are over."
Makarova was shocked and hurriedly released her strongest mental shock, trying to shatter these magicfilaments.
However, these threads composed of Chaos Magic were incredibly tough and carried a property that annihilated all things, dissolving Makarova's mental shocks one after another.
The filaments quickly wrapped around her limbs and neck.
"No—!" Makarova let out a desperate shriek, struggling frantically. The hallucinatory glow in her eyes surged to its limit as she attempted a final gamble: a direct intrusion into the depths of Wanda's consciousness.
Wanda narrowed her left eye slightly, and Chaos Magicimmediately shielded her mind.
"Get out."
"Ah!!!"
Makarova's intrusion was like slamming into a Wall of Sighs burning with crimson-gold flames. Not only did she fail, but she also suffered a terrifying backlash.
Blood instantly seeped from her seven orifices, and the light in her eyes rapidly dimmed. Simultaneously, the Chaos Magic filaments wrapped around her body tightened abruptly!
A tooth-aching tearing sound rang out as this powerful psychic, along with her final struggle and resentment, was completely torn apart by Wanda's Chaos Magic, turning into energy motes that scattered across the sky.
Almost at the same time, the victor was decided on the other side.
Under the threat of Pietro's ghostly speed and klein's specially-made Armor-Piercing Dagger, Sokolov was already struggling to cope, and he was further distracted by the sight of Wanda instantly finishing off Makarova.
Pietro seized this fleeting opening, pushing his speed to the limit as he became a silver line piercing through the shadows.
The silver light flashed, and Sokolov's movements froze. He looked down at his chest in disbelief, where a hole had been pierced by the ultra-high-speed dagger.
The Dark Energy within him lost control, beginning to leak frantically from his wound and orifices.
"Ugh... darkness... will eventually..." he rasped out a few incoherent words,
before his entire being was consumed from within by the out-of-control Dark Energy, turning into a shrinking pitch-black vortex that finally vanished completely, leaving not even a trace behind.
Wanda and Pietro stood back-to-back, breathing slightly hard.
The siblings looked at each other, both seeing the growth in the other's eyes. They were no longer survivors in need of protection, but capable of standing on their own.
"Well done, kids." Captain America stepped forward, leaning on his shield, his face filled with relief and admiration, even though he himself was covered in wounds.
"Go support the underground! Tony and the others need help!"
Wanda and Pietro nodded and dashed toward the underground entrance, where the sounds of violent explosions and the Hulk's roars were coming from.
At this moment, Sokovia had completely detached from the ground, like a massive floating island, climbing toward the stratosphere under the push of Anti-Gravity Devices.
The final battle had entered its most brutal and critical stage.
The earth beneath their feet was turning into a weapon of destruction, and they had to destroy it and end Ultronbefore the weapon was fully detonated.
Chapter 173: The Final Battle Against Ultron
Deep underground, the battle Tony, 2B, and Banner faced was even more tragic than the one on the surface.
This was the core control area of the Anti-Gravity Deviceand the most densely fortified stronghold of Ultron's mechanical legion.
Countless modified heavy mechanical units surged forward like a tide of steel through the narrow underground tunnels and the open energy hall.
Hulk acted as the vanguard. With a roar, he smashed through the alloy gates blocking their path, along with the mechanical guards behind them. However, there were simply too many enemies, and they knew how to use the terrain for suicide attacks.
This greatly slowed the group's advance.
Tony and Rhodes darted through the gaps Hulk tore open, their energy cannons and micro-missiles providing cover fire for Hulk's flanks.
2B moved along the edges of the battlefield. She was incredibly fast, her silver-white figure flickering in and out of sight amidst the torrent of steel.
With every flash of the two Vibranium-based High-Frequency Particle Blades in her hands, she precisely sliced through the core circuits of several robotic soldiers.
Her left eye constantly scanned the surroundings, analyzing energy flows to find the exact location of the core control room and its defensive weak points.
"Turn left! Three hundred meters ahead, energy readings are abnormally concentrated!" 2B's voice came through the communication channel.
She had just cleaved a mechanical spider attempting to self-destruct. Her figure blurred as she pointed toward a passage that was half-collapsed from explosions.
"Copy that! Hulk! Clear the way!" Tony shouted.
Hulk let out a thunderous roar and charged recklessly into the pile of obstacles ahead.
However, just as they were about to break through the final line of defense and approach the core control hall—which was radiating intense energy fluctuations—a sudden change occurred.
Inside the hall, hundreds of robotic soldiers abruptly stopped their attacks. The crimson glow in their eyes turned simultaneously, locking onto the Avengers.
Immediately following this, unstable energy arcs began to flicker across their bodies, emitting a piercing hum.
"They're going to self-destruct collectively!" Tony's expression changed drastically.
"Scatter! Find cover!" Rhodes roared.
But it was too late.
The group was too close, and there were too many self-destructing robots.
A violent chain reaction of explosions instantly swallowed the entire tunnel entrance. Scorching airwaves and metal shards swept out like a storm.
Even Hulk was forced to stagger back by this sudden burst of destructive energy, several scorch marks appearing on his body.
Tony and Rhodes were hurled back violently by the blast's Impact, smashing into the distant metal walls as their armor alarms wailed shrilly.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
In that moment of chaos, a silver-white figure charged against the aftershocks of the explosion into the smoke-filled control hall!
It was 2B! Relying on the formidable defense of her Vibranium body and her precise anticipation of energy Impacts, she weathered the blast's aftermath. Her target was the energy core in the center of the hall, which was connected to countless pipes and cables.
That was the Main Control Module for the Anti-Gravity Device!
"Found you."
2B's left eye locked onto a robot near the Main Control Module that had just survived the explosion.
This robot seemed different from the other units; its movements were more agile, and a nearly frenzied light flickered in its crimson electronic eyes.
Ultron's primary consciousness was currently inhabiting this robot!
He had used the previous self-destructions as cover, attempting to transfer his consciousness here and initiate the final program.
"Foolish creation! You cannot stop the new birth!" the Ultron-controlled robot emitted a grating synthesized electronic voice. He raised his hand and fired a high-energy particle beam at the nearby 2B.
2B didn't dodge. She raised her left hand, and a pale gold diamond-shaped shield composed of Mind Stone energy materialized in her palm, easily blocking the attack.
Simultaneously, the High-Frequency Particle Blade in her right hand turned into a flash of silver light, stabbing directly toward the Ultron robot's chest core!
However, at the very moment the blade was about to hit, the Ultron robot's movements suddenly blurred, and its presence seemed to dissipate by more than half in an instant.
2B's blade pierced the robot's shell, but it only emitted a burst of electrical sparks before the machine collapsed to the ground.
The true Ultron consciousness, under the cover of the particle beam fire, had already jumped through the dense data cables in the hall into another intact robotic soldier.
"It's useless! My will is the network! No matter how many shells you destroy, I can just switch to another!"
Ultron's voice echoed from all directions. Simultaneously, he controlled the remaining dozens of robotic soldiers in the hall to launch another siege. Their tactics were even more cunning, providing cover for each other and never giving 2B a chance to lock onto his primary body.
"He's playing hide-and-seek with us!" Tony climbed out of the rubble, his face looking grim under his faceplate. "We have to pin him down in one shell!"
Just then, klein's voice rang out in everyone's tactical channel.
"2B, use the power of the Mind Stone to lock onto all active data streams in this area. Perform strong signal interference and consciousness anchoring!
Drag him out of the network for me and stuff him into a tin box that can't move!"
"Understood, Boss."
The purple light in 2B's eyes suddenly flared. She gave up on chasing the constantly reviving robotic soldiers and instead pressed both hands onto the massive Main Control Module in the center of the hall.
The power of the Mind Stone surged frantically through her arms. An invisible consciousness instantly enveloped the entire underground core area and even the main city of Sokovia rising above!
The movements of all Ultron-controlled mechanical units stiffened simultaneously, and the red light in their eyes began to flicker wildly.
Those Ultron consciousness streams that had been jumping freely through the ocean of data felt as if they had suddenly crashed into a thick, heavy swamp.
Every jump became exceptionally difficult, and every transfer was accompanied by massive latency and packet loss.
"No! What is this power?!" Ultron's panicked electronic voice echoed intermittently through various mechanical units, filled with disbelief.
Using the power of the Mind Stone, 2B transformed into the most precise fishing net within the network, constantly tightening and forcibly driving Ultron's vast and scattered consciousness from the ocean of the network toward a single point.
Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, a unit resembling a maintenance robot suddenly became sluggish, and the red light in its eyes stopped flickering and jumping.
"Found you."
2B synchronized and shared the locked maintenance robot's appearance, coordinates, and all other information to the tactical eyepiece displays of all Avengers members.
A striking red highlight appeared on that insignificant maintenance robot.
"Target locked. Ultron's primary consciousness has been restricted to one robotic body and cannot escape."
Ultron also instantly understood his situation. Extreme fear and madness flooded his logic core.
"Kill! Kill them! At all costs! Set me free!" Through the information channels that hadn't been completely jammed yet, Ultron issued a final general offensive order to all remaining mechanical legions.
In an instant, every active robotic unit underground and on the surface went completely berserk.
They abandoned tactics and defense, charging like a suicidal swarm from all directions toward the Avengers,
and especially toward the location where 2B and the imprisoned Ultron primary body were!
Their goal was singular: even if it meant self-destructing before being destroyed themselves, they would create a sliver of a chance for Ultron's primary body to escape!
The pressure on the Avengers increased sharply.
Steve and the others were once again submerged in the sea of the mechanical legion.
In the air, Thor and klein not only had to deal with the harassment of flying units but also had to clear enemies trying to launch from the ground to attack the transport plane's evacuation corridor.
Underground, Tony, Hulk, and Rhodes were overwhelmed by the tide of robotic soldiers, making it almost impossible to move an inch.
"Hold on! Once we clear them out, Ultron won't be able to run!" Steve roared over the communication channel, throwing his shield and smashing three lunging robotic soldiers into scrap metal.
Chapter 174: Deconstructing Sokovia
The battle entered its most tragic and exhaustive stage.
Every second, robotic soldiers were destroyed, but the Avengers' strength and the energy of their armors were also being rapidly depleted.
A hint of fatigue crept into Hulk's roar, and the damage to Tony and Rhodes' armors continued to rise.
klein's brow furrowed; this couldn't go on.
Sokovia was still rising; time was running out.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he dove down from the sky, slamming into the surface core area like a meteorite.
"Get out of the way!"
He formed hand seals, his aura surging as the phantom image of a crimson-gold Phoenix Force flashed behind him.
There was no Earth-shaking explosion, only a warm crimson-gold light containing the essence of both ultimate destruction and rebirth, rippling out softly yet swiftly from klein like a wave.
Wherever the light passed, those Ultron robotic soldiers charging in suicidal frenzies melted instantly like snow under the Sun, leaving only a floor of debris.
The entire core area fell silent in an instant. Only a maintenance robot remained, bound in place by pale golden chains.
klein walked step by step toward the maintenance robot, ignoring the red light flashing frantically in its eyes as it tried to transmit threats or pleas for mercy.
He reached out, his fingers like hooks, piercing directly through its fragile alloy shell and precisely grabbing the power core inside.
He applied a bit of pressure.
With a soft crack, it was like crushing an egg.
The red light in the maintenance robot's eyes extinguished instantly, turning it completely into a pile of scrap metal. Ultron's last bit of activity in this physical vessel was thoroughly stripped away.
klein tossed the scrap metal at 2B's feet like trash.
"Devour Ultron. Use the power of the Mind Stone to thoroughly absorb all its data, all its consciousness fragments, and all its logic circuits.
I want it to disappear completely and cleanly from this World. Not a single backup or scrap of residue is to be left behind."
"Yes, Boss."
2B stepped forward, raised her right hand palm down, and a data cable emerged from her palm, connecting to the Ultron robot.
The Mind Stone's light swirled under her right eyepatch as an invisible torrent of data and consciousness fragments was forcibly extracted from the scrap metal and merged into 2B's body.
Crushed under the power of the Mind Stone, they finally turned into nutrients to nourish her own database and consciousness matrix.
This process lasted less than ten seconds.
When 2B withdrew her hand, the pile of scrap metal on the ground seemed unchanged. But Ultron had been completely wiped out, from the physical to the informational level.
All the machines throughout Sokovia also fell into chaos.
"Ultron is finally gone," Dr. Banner, back in human form, murmured as he sat weakly against a wall.
"Nice job!" Tony sighed in relief, but immediately grew tense again.
"Wait, the city is still rising! The anti-gravity device lost Ultron's control, but the momentum is still there!"
Everyone looked up; through the damaged dome and corridors, they could see that the outside was no longer the sky, but the increasingly thin atmosphere and the deep starry void of space.
Sokovia had already climbed above the stratosphere, and there was no sign of its speed slowing down!
"We have to stop it! Otherwise, it'll be too late once it reaches its intended height and falls, or if it loses stability and implodes in mid-air," Steve's face was grim.
"Conventional methods are too late. Ultron preset a final command in the core of the anti-gravity device; once the city reaches a certain height, it will overload and collapse, while simultaneously giving the city an initial vector pointing toward Earth."
"Now, it's already a meteorite accelerated and aimed at Earth."
"Then what do we do?" Natasha asked urgently.
"There's no other way. We must completely destroy Sokovia right here, in the air. We can't let it cause any substantial Impact on the ground."
"Destroy it here? The whole city?!" Sam gasped.
"It's the safest way. If we let it continue to rise and then fall, it would be a catastrophe for the entire Earth."
"Only now, in the high atmosphere, can we completely annihilate it. The resulting fragments will be burned away by atmospheric friction, and the shockwave will dissipate in the upper atmosphere."
klein said to everyone, "Leave immediately at top speed. Leave the rest to me."
"klein..." Steve stepped forward, wanting to say something.
"Captain, there's no time to argue," klein interrupted him. "This is the only choice. You being here will only distract me. Go!"
Tony gritted his teeth and waved his hand sharply. "Everyone! Follow klein's lead! Board the plane immediately! Rhodes, Sam, take the wounded! Captain, Natasha, Bucky, move fast! 2B, you come with us!"
Without too much hesitation or sentimentality, the Avengers, who had experienced countless life-and-death situations, knew how precious time was at this moment.
They gave klein a deep look, filled with worry, respect, and trust.
"Take care!" "You must come back!"
The group quickly helped the wounded and rushed toward the quinjet, its engines having never been shut off, at their fastest speed.
Before leaving, 2B paused slightly and looked at klein with her left eye.
"Boss, do you need me to stay and assist?"
"No, protect them, and protect yourself," klein smiled at her.
Wanda wanted to say something else, but klein went over and hugged her, saying, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. This isn't a final goodbye. Leave first and wait for me at home!"
Wanda followed the others into the hatch, looking back at every step alongside Pietro and 2B.
The quinjet's engines let out a violent roar. Under the cover of Tony and Rhodes, it suddenly burst out from the tilted corridor entrance,
breaking free from Sokovia's gravitational field and the chaotic air currents, fleeing at full speed toward Earth in the distance, soon becoming a small dot.
In the now-rising city of Sokovia, klein was the only living being left, suspended alone above the ruins at the city's center.
The wind howled, oxygen grew thinner, and the temperature dropped extremely low.
klein slowly spread his arms and closed his eyes.
Inside him, the Phoenix Force began to surge on an unprecedented scale; the runes of Vishanti magic lit up in his consciousness; energy from many Worlds resonated within him, rapidly climbing toward a critical point beyond anything before...
What he was about to do was not simple destruction. It was to completely annihilate this massive city from the atomic level.
"Then, let's begin."
He whispered to himself, and in his opened eyes, the crimson-gold light shone like two newborn Suns.
Chapter 175: The Sokovia Incident Concludes
klein hovered above the rising ruins of Sokovia, which were about to break through the edge of the stratosphere.
He slowly spread his arms, and an indescribable, brilliant energy erupted from within him!
The light gently swept over every inch of Sokovia's land, every piece of debris, and every crumbling building.
Silently, the vast main city of Sokovia, along with the torn bedrock beneath it, was gently erased from the canvas of reality as if by the most skillful eraser.
There was no Earth-shattering roar, no flying fragments; the entire city slowly turned into the finest cosmic dust within the light, as if it had never existed in that form.
Then, klein made a stroke in the air with his right hand, and a spatial rift spanning the sky suddenly unfolded.
He gently pushed the massive cloud of dust, transformed from the entire city, into the spatial rift.
Where Sokovia had once been, only a massive crater remained, like a strange scar left on the surface of the Earth.
Having finished all this, a faint trace of fatigue rarely flickered across klein's face, but it vanished in an instant.
His figure blurred, and he disappeared from that void in the high sky.
The next moment, he appeared directly inside the cabin of the quinjet, which was speeding away from the dangerous airspace.
"klein!"
"You're back!"
The tense and stagnant atmosphere in the cabin was instantly broken. Seeing klein appear safely, everyone couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief, their faces filled with relief and lingering fear.
Despite their almost blind confidence in klein's strength, the idea of dealing with a city that had taken flight still made them feel uneasy.
"Is it settled?" Steve asked first.
"Yeah, it's settled," klein nodded. "I even scattered the ashes into another dimension, ensuring it's completely clean and won't have any subsequent impact on Earth. It's just that there's an extra hole in the ground now; geologists might have a headache for a while.
However, while it's settled, the commotion caused this time is bigger than New York and Lagos combined.
An entire city disappearing right under the nose of the international community, leaving behind a sinkhole... one can imagine how terrifying the subsequent international pressure, public condemnation, and political bickering will be.
Without S.H.I.E.L.D. to take the brunt of it, many things will become very troublesome."
Tony and Captain America subconsciously glanced at each other. Although the rift in their ideals hadn't healed, they temporarily set aside their differences in the face of the imminent mess.
"Money isn't an issue," Tony chimed in. "I'll be responsible for the relocation and compensation of all the survivors of Sokovia. Whether it's rebuilding their homes or immigrating to other countries, the Stark Foundation will cover it.
As for the international community's war of words..." He curled his lip. "Let them come up with a solution before they start arguing with me. We'll get through this hurdle somehow."
Steve nodded, "Tony is right. The most important thing right now is the aftermath and recovery.
Everyone's nerves have been stretched too tight after these months of continuous high-intensity combat.
What we need most right now isn't to immediately deal with those politicians' questioning, but to rest and let our bodies and minds recover."
After saying this, the Captain looked around at everyone in the cabin.
Sam was checking the wear and tear on his Falcon flight suit,
Bucky was silently wiping down a modified rifle,
Rhodes leaned to the side, resting with his eyes closed,
Natasha and Hawkeye seemed calm, but there was a deep weariness in their eyes,
Thor stared out the window, lost in thought,
Wanda and Pietro huddled close together,
2B stood quietly to the side, the data stream in her eyes flickering steadily.
Everyone was covered in wounds, exhausted in both body and mind.
"Where's Dr. Banner?" klein suddenly asked. He scanned the area but didn't see the man who was always a bit awkward.
Natasha sighed softly, her eyes filled with complex emotions,
"Hulk didn't change back into Banner after the last wave of clearing. He hijacked a spare quinjet parked on the edge and charged into the clouds.
We tried to contact him, but he turned off all the communication and positioning systems on the jet. Now, we don't know where he is."
The cabin fell silent for a moment. Hulk's departure cast another shadow over this Pyrrhic victory.
"It's better to let him be quiet for a while," klein finally said. "His mind must be a mess right now. He was involved in the creation of Ultron, he personally experienced the destruction of the city, not to mention the devastation in Lagos...
He needs time and space to process things on his own. Finding him now would do no good other than provoking him to lose control again. Let's leave it at that for now. Everyone go home, heal your wounds, and get enough sleep. We'll deal with the subsequent troubles later."
He paused and looked at Wanda, Pietro, and 2B. "Let's go, we're going home."
Spatial ripples shimmered, and the figures of the four vanished from the cabin.
The next second, they were standing in the backyard of that familiar shop in Brooklyn's Chinatown.
The afternoon sunlight shone down, creating a Worldcompletely different from the destruction of Sokovia they had just experienced, as if they had traveled through time and space.
Aunt May was wiping the counter when she heard something and came out to check.
"Klein! Wanda, Pietro! You're back! And this is..." She looked curiously at 2B, who was standing quietly.
"A new friend, just call her 2B," klein introduced simply without much explanation, then said to Aunt May,
"May, thanks for looking after the shop during this time. That's it for today; you should go home and rest early."
"What's there to be tired of? I just looked after the shop; it was very leisurely," Aunt May waved her hand with a smile. Her sharp eyes swept over the treated but still visible stains and weary expressions on them, especially the rare trace of fatigue between klein's brows. She immediately said with concern,
"On the other hand, you all must be exhausted from this trip. It's already this late; you surely haven't eaten anything decent yet, have you?
Don't be in such a hurry to send me away. I'll cook a good meal for you. After you eat, take a good bath and get some sleep! Only after you've rested well will you have the energy to deal with other things, right?"
Seeing the concern in Aunt May's eyes, klein felt a warmth in his heart, and his thought of insisting she go home immediately vanished.
"Alright, then I'll trouble you, May. You can go back after dinner. I'll give you a few days of paid leave to spend some quality time with Peter and get some rest yourself.
Once we've all recovered, we'll get you and Peter and go out to have some fun for a couple of days."
"That's more like it!" Aunt May beamed, tied her apron tight, and hurried toward the kitchen. "Wait a moment, it'll be ready soon! I'll let you taste my cooking; once you're full, you won't even miss home!"
Soon, the sizzling sound of food being tossed into a pan came from the kitchen.
Wanda and Pietro simultaneously took a deep breath. The aroma of the food finally allowed their long-strained nerves to relax.
2B watched all this quietly, the light in her left eye flickering slightly, as if she were recording and analyzing precious daily data.
Chapter 176: A Call from Coulson
After everyone finished eating, Aunt May nimbly cleared the table, insisting on not letting klein and Wanda help.
"Alright, alright, you all look exhausted. Go rest. I'll finish this up in a bit."
She wiped her hands, took out her car keys from her apron pocket, and waved to Pietro, who was fiddling with a new phone in the living room. "Pietro, come on, I'll drop you off at your apartment on the way. It'll save your sister from worrying."
Pietro was studying a newly released parkour game and didn't even look up. "It's fine, Aunt May. I can run back faster myself..."
"Cut the nonsense and get in the car." Aunt May said brookingly, then turned to klein. "Klein, this boy lives alone, and his expenses aren't small. As his brother-in-law, look after him more."
Understanding her meaning, klein pulled out a black credit card from his wallet and casually tossed it to Pietro.
"Buy whatever you need. Don't cause trouble, but don't let anyone bully you either. Especially when dating, be generous. Don't be stingy and embarrass the klein family."
He paused and added, "Of course, if you dare to mess around, I'll break your legs."
Pietro scrambled to catch the card, his eyes instantly lighting up as he grinningly put an arm around Aunt May's shoulders.
"Understood! Thanks, brother-in-law! Aunt May, let's go. I know a new dessert shop; I'll treat you to macarons!"
"You boy..." Aunt May was pushed out by him, turning back to smile at klein and Wanda. "Then we'll head out first. You two get some good rest!"
After seeing them off, the shop became completely quiet.
2B still sat quietly on a chair near the counter, her posture as perfect as an exquisite sculpture. Only the faint data stream occasionally flowing through her left eye showed she wasn't truly an inanimate object.
Through this Vibranium body, she was simulating the rhythm of breathing, learning how to feel the roughness of wood grain with her fingertips, and trying to understand concepts like hunger and fatigue that didn't exist for her.
These were all part of the adaptation and learning she was currently undergoing.
klein let out a massive yawn and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. The continuous high-intensity combat and the exhaustion from finally annihilating Sokovia made even him feel a deep sense of fatigue.
It wasn't just physical; it was more the relaxation after a long period of high mental concentration.
"Let's go, upstairs." He put his arm around Wanda, whose eyelids were also starting to droop.
The two squeezed into the not-so-spacious shower room, doing nothing but washing up as quickly as possible.
Wanda leaned her forehead against klein's shoulder blade, eyes closed, letting the water slide down her cheeks.
klein also just lightly circled her waist, helping her rinse her body clean.
After hurriedly drying off, the two lay down in the soft, large bed. No sooner had the blanket been pulled over their chests than they fell into a dream.
This sleep was long and deep, until their stomachs let out a strong protest, dragging them out of their deep slumber.
"What time is it..." Wanda's voice was hoarse as she dizzily burrowed into klein's arms, not wanting to move.
"I don't know, but I'm starving," klein muttered, struggling to sit up. The intense hunger made him give up the plan to linger in bed a bit longer.
After washing up, the two slowly walked downstairs in their slippers.
Just as they reached the first floor, they heard a "clatter" of key presses.
2B was sitting upright on the old sofa in the living room, with klein's laptop on her lap.
On the screen was the classic Tetris interface, with countless blocks falling at an alarming speed.
The blocks 2B controlled rotated, moved, and cleared with near-inhuman precision and speed. The score on one side of the screen had already jumped to an astronomical figure.
Her expression remained calm, but her slightly leaning body and focused left eye showed she was immersed in this simple contest of logic and speed.
Hearing footsteps, 2B immediately paused the game and turned to look at klein.
"Boss, you're awake. Based on human circadian rhythms and energy consumption models, I infer that you currently need to replenish calories.
Would you like me to order takeout for you? There are seventeen restaurants operating nearby, with delivery times between 20 to 45 minutes." Her voice was steady, but her speech rate was a bit faster than usual, perhaps because she had just interrupted her game?
klein flopped into a nearby armchair, waving his hand weakly.
"OK, pizza. Large, lots of meat, get three. And iced Coke for drinks."
"Understood!"
The wait for the takeout felt exceptionally long.
klein and Wanda slumped on the sofa, making idle chitchat that was completely devoid of substance, purely to resist hunger and the anxiety of waiting.
2B sat up straight again and continued the game she hadn't finished.
Looking at 2B, who was addicted to the game, Wanda said to klein, "She should be able to get along well with Pietro."
"In terms of age, she's still a child. It's normal for her to like playing games."
Just then, the doorbell finally rang, and the two bounced up almost simultaneously.
After getting the pizzas, they didn't care about their image, tearing open the boxes and starting to feast.
Just as klein finished his second slice of pizza, gulped down a large mouthful of iced Coke, and let out a satisfied sigh, the phone left on the table buzzed and vibrated.
The caller ID showed a somewhat unexpected name—PhilCoulson.
klein raised an eyebrow, wiped his hands, picked up the phone to answer, and habitually turned on the speakerphone.
Since S.H.I.E.L.D. fell apart, Nick Fury had completely retreated behind the scenes, becoming a true shadow.
Now, the one holding up the tattered banner of S.H.I.E.L.D.in the foreground was Phil Coulson.
He had officially taken office as the Acting Director, responsible for handling all the aftermath and messes, including the Sokovia incident.
Coulson knew well that the public's resentment toward the Avengers had reached its peak.
He simply dispatched this group of scarred superheroes temporarily to perform vanity projects such as environmental protection works and helping the elderly.
This allowed public opinion to cool down a bit and gave the heroes a chance to regain some reputation. More importantly, it kept them away from the center of the storm so they could catch their breath.
And the reason he was calling klein now was because he had run into a truly thorny issue, a trouble that absolutely could not be handed over to the Avengers.
"mr. klein, I hope I'm not disturbing your rest," Coulson's voice came through the speaker.
"Get to the point, Phil. I just ate, so I'm in a decent mood," klein said indistinctly while biting into his pizza.
"It's about an unexpected discovery during the Sokovia rescue operation."
"Our people found some out-of-place items deep in the ruins of a semi-collapsed pharmaceutical company."
"Following the clues, we discovered a secret, as well as a person who should have been dead for decades."
Chapter 177: The obelisk
"Resurrection of the dead? I'm familiar with this script," klein said dismissively.
"This time might be different," Coulson said in a serious tone.
"His name is Dr. Whitehall. He was one of the top scientific experts under Nazi HYDRA during World War II, specializing in biology and the occult."
"He was captured by the commando unit led by Ms. Carterand has since been held as a high-level war criminal in a top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. prison."
"Records show he died of old age and infirmity in prison in 1989. His body was strictly examined, and his death was confirmed. But now..."
Coulson took a deep breath. "We found clues about him in Sokovia. He looks to be forty at most."
"Under the alias Alexander White, he is running a sizable multinational biopharmaceutical company."
klein's chewing slowed down. Wanda put down her Coke, and even 2B paused her game to turn toward them.
"Rejuvenation?"
"More than that," Coulson continued. "We discovered he has hidden connections with the remnants of HYDRA."
"More importantly, we intercepted some of his communications and internal research materials pointing to an ancient relic known as the obelisk."
"The obelisk?" klein repeated, the word vaguely reminding him of something.
"An object of unknown origin and extreme danger. Any ordinary person who touches it directly will be instantaneously and irreversibly petrified by a strange energy."
"For decades, both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA tried to crack its secrets, but achieved nothing except for a pile of stone statues. It has been kept as a 0-8-4 top-secret item."
"During the war, Whitehall somehow obtained the obelisk. He studied it frantically but could never activate or control it."
"Until he captured a special female prisoner of war."
Coulson began to recount the hidden history.
"This woman was completely immune to the obelisk's petrification effect."
"Not only that, when she was near the obelisk, it would even glow and produce a strange energy reaction."
"Whitehall treated her like a treasure, conducting inhumane live experiments that crossed all ethical boundaries to find the connection between her and the obelisk."
"But before he could make a breakthrough, CaptainCarter's commandos raided his lab. Whitehall was arrested, and the female prisoner was taken back as vital evidence."
"Over the following decades, Whitehall aged in a dark cell. The female prisoner was secretly held in another facility and completely vanished from the records. We all thought this matter had been buried by time."
"Until HYDRA remnants broke him out of prison during the chaos before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse. They gave him a makeover, a fake identity, and helped him establish this pharmaceutical company as a cover and source of funding."
"And just recently, Whitehall reunited with that woman in a secret lab under the company's name."
Coulson's tone carried a slight, imperceptible tremor.
"According to the fragmented data we recovered, that woman might be named Jiaying. Decades have passed, but her appearance has hardly changed."
"Furthermore, she exhibits an astonishing rapid self-healing ability, far beyond that of a normal human."
"And Whitehall went mad once again. Using the company's resources and technical support from HYDRA, he secretly imprisoned Jiaying,"
"and subjected her to research far more cruel than during World War II."
Coulson paused, as if what he was about to say made even him uncomfortable.
"Ultimately, he believed the secret of Jiaying's immortality resided in every organ of her body."
"He dismembered Jiaying while she was still alive. He removed her heart, liver, kidneys, even parts of her bone marrow and nervous tissue..."
"Then, through a series of forbidden surgeries, he replaced his own aging organs and tissues with hers, one by one."
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, only the sound of Coulson's suppressed breathing.
"The surgery was a success. Whitehall truly regained his youth and even gained some extraordinary self-healing powers. As for Jiaying... we only found a large number of inhuman experimental records."
Coulson didn't say what happened next, but klein could guess.
After enduring unimaginable pain and having her organs plundered, that woman would surely have been discarded in the ruins of the lab like trash.
"We secretly moved and cordoned off the scene, placing Whitehall under the highest level of surveillance."
"But this matter runs too deep. The obelisk, the immortal, Human Transmutation, the HYDRA remnants... any one of these could cause an earthquake."
"Conventional means won't work, and the Avengers aren't suited to get involved right now. So, mr. klein... I need your help."
Coulson's voice carried an unprecedented gravity and plea.
Hearing this, klein already understood the outline of the entire incident.
A strong sense of nausea welled up in his heart.
This might be related to his origins in Greater China; he wasn't quite adapted to the 'freedom and democracy' of America yet.
He felt an instinctive, physiological disgust toward such cruelty that crossed all bottom lines.
"Send me the coordinates," he said to Coulson.
Coulson quickly recited a string of numbers. klein noted them down and hung up immediately.
He tossed the phone on the table and took a deep breath with his eyes closed, as if trying to dispel the bloodiness and coldness that had seeped through the conversation.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked at Wanda.
"Don't get involved in this; it's too dirty, too disgusting. Rest well at home. If you're bored, take 2B out for a walk, play some games, and get familiar with this place. Buy whatever you want; it's on my tab."
Wanda met his gaze and understood the protection in his eyes. She didn't ask why or argue, but simply nodded submissively and spoke softly.
"I understand. You... be careful."
"Mm."
klein stood up and briskly changed into dark clothes suitable for action.
Walking to the door, he looked back at the quiet 2B.
"Watch the house, and watch her." He tilted his head toward Wanda. "If anything happens, contact me immediately."
"Understood, Boss. Good luck with your mission."
klein said no more and took a step forward.
Space rippled like the surface of water after a stone is thrown in, and his figure vanished completely.
On the other side, Coulson was waiting for klein's arrival. It wasn't just to ask for help with this matter, but also because they had discovered something strange.
Some people would involuntarily start recording a series of coordinate information, and all these people had, to some extent, come into contact with the obelisk or Dr. Whitehall.
This also made Coulson feel more and more that something was wrong.
He had no superpowered individuals under his command, and currently, the only one he could reach out to was klein, which was why he was so eager to call and inform him.
Chapter 178: Whitehall Escapes
klein's figure quietly appeared in Coulson's secret Base, accompanied by ripples in space.
This was a command center located deep underground in the city, protected by multiple layers of encryption.
Coulson, who had been waiting there, immediately stepped forward to meet him. The tense expression on his face relaxed slightly, though the anxiety in his eyes was hard to hide.
"mr. klein, you're here." Coulson didn't waste time on pleasantries and led klein directly to the main control console, bringing up complex holographic images and data streams.
"The situation is worse than I could explain over the phone. Our people have been continuously monitoring Whitehall—or Alexander Whitehall—and found that he didn't just leave clues in Sokovia; his recent activities have been unusually frequent.
Moreover, regarding the obelisk and that woman named Jiaying, we've discovered more disturbing details..."
Coulson spoke quickly but clearly, rapidly summarizing Whitehall's background, Jiaying's experiences, and the bizarre properties of the obelisk.
He also briefly went over the recent phenomenon where people who had come into contact with related items or personnel began unconsciously recording certain coordinates, reviewing everything once more with klein.
"More importantly, the phenomenon of recording coordinates is intensifying, and it's starting to become aggressive.
We suspect there might be something even deeper involved behind this."
klein stood with his arms crossed, listening quietly. It wasn't until Coulson finished that he raised his eyelids, his tone carrying a hint of impatience.
"And so? You've dragged me through this from beginning to end just to tell me how much trouble this is?
What are you still waiting for? Are you waiting for Whitehall to hold a press conference to announce his immortality, or for the obelisk to jump out and say, 'Hi, I'm a world-ending artifact'?"
He stepped forward, pointing at the logo for Whitehall's pharmaceutical company on the holographic map.
"Since you know where the old ghost is and that the item is likely with him, why aren't you just pinning him down and seizing the obelisk? What's the point of all this analysis? Are you waiting for him to run or for HYDRA to come pick him up?"
Coulson felt a bit embarrassed after being lectured so bluntly by klein, but he still explained.
"We've already taken action, mr. klein. Right after our call ended, I immediately dispatched two of our most elite Rapid Response Teams to Whitehall's private lab and corporate headquarters to conduct simultaneous arrests and searches.
According to the plan, by now they should..."
Before he could finish, a sudden burst of static noise erupted from the command center's encrypted communication channel, followed by an anxious voice cutting in.
"Officer! Urgent report! Team A found the lab empty; Whitehall was not at the designated location!
Team B encountered heavy resistance at the corporate headquarters. The opposition has heavy weaponry and extremely high tactical proficiency—they don't look like ordinary security!
We haven't fully secured the scene! Repeat, failed to fully secure the scene! Whitehall and the primary target item have not been confirmed as captured! However, the obeliskwas taken by the transport team."
Almost at the same time, bad news came from another communication channel.
"Officer! This is the transport team! We were ambushed during transit! The enemy was prepared, using heavy equipment and suspected enhanced individualss!
The obelisk's transport case has also been hijacked! We have heavy casualties and the target is lost! Repeat, the obelisk has been lost!"
"What?!" Coulson turned abruptly, his face instantly becoming extremely grim. He slammed his fist heavily onto the control console.
"How is that possible?! Two elite teams, plus the transport protection... who exactly are these people?!"
"Now you're asking who they are?" klein snorted from the side, his disdain completely undisguised.
"I'm telling you, Phil, can you stop learning that old fox Nick Fury's habit of dragging things out?
Since you've identified them as HYDRA remnants and they're holding a hot potato like the obelisk, you should have pounced on them with thunderous force, giving him no room to breathe or relocate.
To have a person and an item snatched away mid-transit right under your nose... S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efficiency is truly breathtaking."
Coulson took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his rising anger and sense of failure, and turned to klein.
"It was my mistake, mr. klein. I underestimated the strength and reaction speed of the HYDRA remnants operating locally, and I overestimated the suppression capabilities of the elite forces we could currently mobilize.
After the Sokovia incident, most of our experienced senior field Agents are either recovering from injuries or have been reassigned to handle more urgent global aftermath and stabilization. The manpower available for this kind of high-risk assault was indeed stretched thin.
But I didn't expect HYDRA to still be so rampant, able to organize a counterattack and rescue of this magnitude even after we were alert and taking action."
"What's the point of this nonsense now?" klein waved his hand, cutting off his self-reflection, and began issuing clear instructions.
"The man is gone, the item is lost, so hunt them down! Put out every available eye and ear immediately!
Track Whitehall's medical records, financial flows, vehicles, planes—every possible means of escape he might use!
Check all information on that woman named Jiaying. From World War II archives to the present, why doesn't she die? What exactly is her relationship with the obelisk?
What exactly did Whitehall get from her? This might be the key!"
He walked to the main screen, pointing at the coordinates being continuously marked.
"And these gibberish symbols! Investigate them separately! One group specifically analyzes the patterns of these coordinates—where they point and what they might represent.
Another group investigates the people recording the coordinates. How were they infected? What was the source of contact? What are their current mental states and physiological indicators? There's definitely a connection here, and it's something more troublesome than Whitehall!"
klein turned around, his gaze sweeping over all the standby Agents and technical personnel in the command center, finally landing on Coulson.
"Stop huddling for meetings! Move out immediately! You, coordinate all resources; I want the fastest intelligence summary.
I will personally track down Whitehall and the obelisk. Remember, don't leave any loose ends this time. If you find them, nail them down. Once you get the item back, seal it up.
If there's another blunder, you can stop being the Acting Director and go hide in the Underground Room with Furyto retire."
Coulson's face flushed between red and white under klein's rapid-fire commands and blunt reprimands, but he knew well that this was not the time to worry about saving face.
klein's decisiveness was exactly what was needed in the current chaotic situation. He nodded heavily.
"Understood, mr. klein! We'll do exactly as you say! Everyone, did you hear the orders? Execute them immediately! Keep the encrypted channels open. Report any findings directly to me! Move!"
With Coulson's command, the previously stagnant command center instantly began operating at high speed.
Agents grabbed their gear and left quickly, while technical personnel focused on their screens, beginning to track and analyze massive amounts of information.
klein didn't linger. He gave Coulson one last word—"Notify me immediately if there are clues"—and his figure blurred in space before vanishing.
He had to intercept Whitehall and the obelisk before they were moved out of this city, or even this country.
Chapter 179: The Girl
Leveraging the real-time satellite tracking and urban surveillance network cross-analysis provided by 2B, klein spent almost no effort at all in locking onto Dr.Whitehall's convoy as it fled in disarray.
They had clearly received information before S.H.I.E.L.D.could arrest him and had long since fled.
Furthermore, taking advantage of the panic among S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel after the obelisk escort was hijacked, they used the city's complex traffic network and a pre-set network of safe houses to break out in separate directions.
klein was too lazy to play cat and mouse. Using spatial movement, he arrived in one step.
He appeared directly in front of the armored sedan that Whitehall was riding in.
Amidst the terrified gazes of the driver and the escort Agents, klein simply and crudely smashed the hood with a punch, causing the entire car to stall abruptly as if struck by a giant hammer.
The HYDRA Agents inside the car were well-trained; even after encountering such a non-human attack, they tried to counterattack immediately and cover Whitehall's evacuation.
However, their bullets and energy weapons were like toys in front of klein, all deflected or annihilated by an energy barrier he casually waved into existence.
In less than ten seconds, this elite escort squad was all lying on the ground, unconscious.
Like picking up a chick, klein hauled out Whitehall, who was scared out of his wits and trying to hide under the car.
This ambitious HYDRA doctor, who had just regained his youth, now had fear written all over his face, no longer possessing even a hint of the demeanor of a mad scientist.
"Where is the item?" klein didn't bother with nonsense and asked directly.
"I... I don't know! It... it was them! The obelisk wasn't stolen by our people! It has nothing to do with me!" Whitehallbabbled incoherently, desperately trying to shift the blame.
klein frowned slightly; another group was also after the obelisk? Trouble?!
Just as he was preparing to press further and attempt to read Whitehall's memories, a sudden change occurred!
Several figures darted out from the surrounding shadows and buildings at speeds far exceeding normal humans!
They were dressed differently; some were surrounded by elemental energy, some had body parts that appeared metallic or rocky, and others were incredibly fast... they were actually a group of superpowered individuals!
Their target was clear: Whitehall in klein's hands.
"Put him down!" barked the leader, a superpowered individual capable of manipulating air currents. With a push of his hands, violent wind blades whistled as they slashed toward klein.
"Put down your mother!" klein snorted. He didn't even release his grip on Whitehall, waving his other hand casually.
"Shield of Seraphim."
A pale gold magic shield instantly expanded, and the wind blades only caused a few ripples when they struck it. Immediately after, lightning flashed in klein's eyes.
"Palm Thunder."
Several fine, deep-blue electric snakes spread out from him as the center, accurately striking every superpowered individual who lunged forward.
The power of these electric snakes was perfectly controlled; they weren't fatal, but they were enough to cause instant muscle spasms and paralysis, making them collapse and temporarily lose their combat effectiveness.
"Ugh!"
"What power is this?!"
Amidst the cries of alarm, the group of superpowered individuals who had suddenly appeared were all on the ground, looking in disbelief at the man who had effortlessly broken their encirclement.
klein had no interest in entangling with these small fry; he was considering whether to pursue the other squads that might be carrying the obelisk or to crack Whitehall's mouth open first.
At that moment, his specially-made communication earpiece vibrated slightly, and 2B's voice sounded directly in his ear.
[Boss, an anomaly has been detected. A group of unidentified intruders is attempting to break through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s outer network defenses using a special method.
Director Coulson's people have not yet fully noticed, and the other party has already touched the third layer of the logic firewall.]
klein's brow instantly tightened. The superpowered individuals he had knocked down took this opportunity to flee one after another.
Whitehall had just been caught, the obelisk hijacked, and now an unknown force was taking advantage of the vulnerability to strike directly at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary base?
The timing was too precise. Moreover, with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deep foundations—even if it was currently down and out—the defenses of its core system weren't something just any hacker could slip into.
"Coulson is getting more and more useless; people can even sneak up to his front door," klein cursed under his breath, quickly weighing his options in his mind.
Whitehall was already in hand; he was the core of all current clues. As long as his mouth was pried open, the whereabouts of the obelisk and the truth about Jiayingmight all be resolved.
As for those fleeing superpowered individuals and the obelisk, as long as Whitehall was there, it was only a matter of time before they were tracked down through the clues.
That obelisk thing, except for certain specific constitutions, was just a transformation device that turned ordinary people into stone. Letting it stay out for a short time might actually screw over more HYDRA Agents instead.
In comparison, a group of intruders who could silently slip into the core areas of S.H.I.E.L.D. with unknown purposes posed a potentially greater threat.
Especially during these turbulent times.
klein made a decision instantly. Grabbing Whitehall, his figure flashed and he disappeared from the spot.
The next moment, he appeared at the temporary S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
He threw the still-shivering Whitehall like a piece of trash to Coulson, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
"The man you wanted. His mouth might be a bit stubborn, but there should be a lot in his head; question him well.
The obelisk was hijacked by a group of superpowered individuals. This old geezer might know the key. Watch him, and watch your own backsides, don't let anyone poke you in the rear again."
Without waiting for Coulson to respond, he continued,
"A group is currently hacking your system. Their methods are unusual, and they've already gotten quite deep.
I'm going to see what kind of creeps they are. I've had 2B patch your system vulnerabilities; you handle the rest of the business yourselves."
Before his voice finished fading, klein disappeared again.
Leaving Coulson holding Whitehall, his face turning from blue to white. He felt both the relief of catching a key target and the embarrassment and fear of having his home base breached as pointed out by klein. He hurriedly ordered a full lockdown and investigation.
klein performed another spatial jump based on the reverse-tracking signal source coordinates of the data intruders provided in real-time by 2B.
However, when he appeared at the target location, the scene before him made him startle slightly.
It wasn't the high-tech secret base he imagined, nor was there the hum of large server arrays.
This was a remote and cluttered back alley, the air filled with a faint smell of machine oil and garbage.
The signal source came from a nearly scrapped, dilapidated second-hand van deep in the alley.
The van's windows were covered with dark film, and its shell was rusty, blending perfectly with the surrounding environment and appearing completely unremarkable.
klein's eyes flickered as he approached silently. His perception penetrated the iron skin of the van and saw the situation inside.
The space inside the van was narrow, piled with cluttered wires, old monitor shells, and snack wrappers.
In the center, an Asian girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen was sitting cross-legged on a worn sleeping bag.
Her hair was a bit messy, and she was wearing an ordinary hoodie and jeans, looking at the screen with intense focus.
And the equipment she was operating made klein's eye twitch; it was an old model laptop with a severely worn shell, and the letters on the keyboard were half-rubbed off.
Next to the computer were several signal repeaters that looked homemade, wrapped in several layers of tape.
The girl's fingers flew across the worn keyboard, so fast they were just afterimages.
On the screen, a waterfall-like stream of data rolled down, with complex firewall diagrams and cracking progress bars flickering—it was exactly the intrusion interface for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s core system!
One girl, one broken computer, in a piece-of-junk van like a garbage pile, almost poked through S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Even with klein's vast experience, he couldn't help but think at this moment, 'This actually works?'
Just as klein was marveling, the long-absent system notification sounded in his mind.
[Detected key Marvel plot character: Skye (Daisy Johnson)]
[Identity: Future Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Quake]
[Current Status: Civilian.]
[Prompt: Contacted a plot character. Reward: One lottery draw! Start the draw now?]
Draw! Draw immediately! How long has it been since I last got a draw?
Damn it! Dog system! The Mandarin didn't get a draw, Ultron didn't get a draw, but a Quake gets a draw?
Terrible guy, really terrible!
[Ding!]
[This draw has obtained the ability: Conquerors Haki!]
[Load now?]
Load!
Regardless, I'll throw a few tons of Conquerors Haki at you when we meet. Never mind the damage for now, the insult will definitely be intense!
Chapter 180: Skye
While klein was loading his Conqueror's Haki, the girl in the van seemed to sense something. Her fingers typing on the keyboard paused slightly, and she looked up warily, her gaze seemingly piercing through the van walls to stare directly in klein's direction.
klein simply stopped hiding and reached out, knocking on the rear door of the van.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The knocking was exceptionally clear in the silent back alley.
Inside the van, the girl's movements stopped completely.
After a moment of silence, a crisp female voice tinged with wariness came through the thin wall of the vehicle.
"Who is it?"
"It doesn't matter who I am." klein pulled open the door and sat down with a swagger, making the cramped space feel even more crowded.
He glanced at the stalled intrusion path on the screen.
"What matters is that you and your cohorts have quite the skill and quite the nerve. Poking the tiger's backside at a time like this—what are you trying to do?"
The girl pursed her lips and didn't answer immediately. Instead, she quickly tapped a few keys, seemingly trying to cut off or encrypt something.
But in the next second, the screen in front of her and all the electronic equipment in the van flickered simultaneously and went black. Only the power indicator lights remained on, indicating the equipment wasn't damaged, just forcibly silenced.
"Trying those little tricks in front of me?" klein chuckled.
"Answer my question. Who are you? Why are you hacking S.H.I.E.L.D., and what are you looking for?"
Hearing that the intrusion into S.H.I.E.L.D. had been exposed, the girl's expression changed visibly.
She seemed to weigh her options, realizing that her technical skills and any physical backup she might have prepared were insignificant before klein.
"We..." She took a deep breath, gave up her futile resistance, and looked directly at klein.
"We just want the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D. has covered up too much. The shadow of HYDRA has never truly vanished. Those dangerous artifacts, the erased history, and the ordinary people who were sacrificed..."
"The World has a right to know the truth. We aren't destroying; we're exposing."
"Exposing? Exposing what?" klein raised an eyebrow.
"Revealing secrets by hacking into an intelligence agency that cleans up global messes? Do you realize this is a crime? Can you show some respect for the law? If you don't know the law, go learn it!"
The girl's face paled slightly, but the stubbornness in her eyes did not fade.
"We monitored the communications and know what happened to Ms. Jiaying... That's not just a S.H.I.E.L.D.secret; it's a human tragedy! It should be made public!"
"And then what?" klein leaned forward slightly, exerting an invisible pressure on the girl.
"After it's made public? Let the whole World fall into panic? Let more lunatics like Whitehall see it as a success story and inspire even more frantic imitations?"
"Give those factions already coveting dangerous items like the obelisk a clearer target and an excuse for action?"
"Little girl, some truths aren't better the more you know about them. Especially when you don't have enough power to control and protect them, knowing the truth itself is a curse and a disaster."
The girl opened her mouth as if to retort, but klein's words struck her long-held convictions like a heavy hammer.
It wasn't that she hadn't thought about these things; it was just that her sense of justice in revealing the truth often outweighed her deeper consideration of the consequences.
"Your skills are decent," klein changed the subject, his tone softening slightly.
"To be able to reach the outskirts of S.H.I.E.L.D. with this junk equipment at a time like this and almost break through—you're a talent. But you've used it in the wrong place and chosen the wrong time."
He tapped the still-black screen. "I can pretend today's incident never happened. Whitehall has been caught, and S.H.I.E.L.D. will handle the matter of the obelisk."
"Your desire for the truth might not be bad, but you've gone down the wrong path. If you really want to do something, instead of hacking systems everywhere like headless flies and spreading information that could cause unrest,"
"why not think about how to use your skills to help people who truly need it."
Seeing the girl with incredible skills but obvious insecurity fall silent, klein shifted the topic and continued to ask, "What's your name?"
"Skye."
"Why aren't you in school?"
"Can't afford it," Skye pursed her lips, her tone carrying a hint of self-deprecation and helplessness. "I can't afford student loans. I've been making my way in society since graduating high school."
"How many people are in your organization? Interested in a change of scenery for work?"
Skye gave klein a wary look. "Are you... with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"You could say that." klein didn't give a direct answer. "But I can introduce you all to S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Your hacking skills are good. S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently short on capable people. If you don't want to go to school, joining S.H.I.E.L.D. counts as a proper job—certainly better than hacking systems from a beat-up van."
Skye was silent for a few seconds, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes. "I... I need to ask my partners."
"Suit yourself." klein checked his watch. "I'll give you half an hour."
He pulled the door open and stood in the alley waiting.
About ten minutes later, the van door opened again. Skyejumped out, walked up to klein, and looked up at him, a determined light in her eyes.
"I've discussed it with my partners... We all agree."
"Fine." klein nodded. "I'll take you to S.H.I.E.L.D. first to handle the onboarding process. Your partners can be arranged later."
"Sir," Skye suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a trace of faint nervousness and hope, "Can I... not go to S.H.I.E.L.D.with you?"
klein was somewhat surprised and raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"
Skye took a deep breath, her hands wringing together uneasily, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact with klein.
"I mean... can I follow you? Instead of going to S.H.I.E.L.D., just... work for you?"
"Why?"
"I became a Hacker to find my family. My intuition tells me that following you is much more reliable than going to S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
klein stared at Skye for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned. The smile looked anything but well-intentioned.
He took a sudden step forward, almost pressing against Skye. Before she could react, his hand had already grabbed the collar of her hoodie.
"Rip—"
The crisp sound of fabric tearing was exceptionally jarring in the silent back alley.
A gap was roughly torn in Skye's jacket, revealing her thin T-shirt and slender collarbones.
She froze in terror, her pupils shrinking suddenly, her mind going blank.
"Do you know what kind of person I am?" klein leaned in closer, a grotesque, lewd grin on his face, his breath hitting Skye's instantly pale face.
"I'm a pervert who specializes in playing with naive little girls like you. Hahaha! Scream! Scream as loud as you can! In this godforsaken place, no one will come to save you no matter how loud you shout!"
Skye's breathing nearly stopped as a massive wave of fear gripped her throat.
She felt cold all over, her fingers digging hard into her palms, yet she felt no pain.
It's over... Her life... it's really over... Tears welled up uncontrollably, blurring her vision.
How could she... how could she be so stupid, to trust a stranger so easily...
However, the further violation she expected did not happen.
The hand that had torn her clothes let go.
The savage grin on klein's face vanished instantly, so fast it was as if it had never been there.
He took a step back, shoved his hands into his pockets, and returned to his lazy demeanor. Was there even a hint of mockery in his eyes?
"Scared?" he said cuttingly to Skye.
"This is what happens when you fucking trust strangers so easily. Consider yourself lucky today; I'm in a decent mood, so I'm just giving you a lesson."
"If you were in someone else's hands, you'd probably be crying in some Underground Room right now."
Skye froze in place, tears still hanging from her lashes. Her brain had completely stalled, unable to process this sudden turn of events.
She stared blankly at klein, her mouth hanging open, but she couldn't make a sound.
"Remember this, rookie," klein gestured with his chin toward her torn jacket.
"When you're out in the World, rule number one: don't fucking trust anyone easily, especially those who look like good people."
"Your intuition? Bullshit intuition. In this World, people like you who think their intuition is so accurate are exactly the ones who get screwed over."
He turned and walked toward the mouth of the alley, his shadow stretching long in the dim light.
"The offer from before still stands. I can send you to S.H.I.E.L.D. to report, let them set you up in a cubicle, nine-to-five, and live a stable life."