The East River pier under the night sky.
The atmosphere was colder than a morgue.
William, hands in his pockets, watched Tyrone, who was trembling like a phone on vibrate mode.
A benevolent smile was on his face.
But the words he spoke were like an HR manager painting a grand vision.
"Don't be nervous, Tyrone. We're defining this operation as a 'special asset penetration test.'"
"Just imagine yourself as a top White Hat hacker, except this time, the target server is physical."
Tyrone's face turned pale.
He looked at the bottomless black river water, then at Emil Blonsky standing beside him like a statue of a god of slaughter, his teeth chattering.
"I... I can't do it. It's too dark down there... and it's in the Water. What if I lose control and get... swallowed by the darkness?"
William was about to pour another bowl of "corporate culture" chicken soup, but Emil spoke first.
His words were cold and hard.
"Fear is a normal physiological reaction, meaning your survival instinct is still working."
His face, which clearly stated "I can fight very well," showed no unnecessary movements.
He merely stated calmly,
"But your boss bought you insurance."
This made Tyrone freeze, even forgetting to tremble.
William also froze. He turned to look at Emil, with only one thought in his mind:
Good heavens, has this guy been PUA'd by me into professionalism?
He's even using insurance lingo to comfort employees?
Yet, the effect was surprisingly good.
It was like a powerful tranquilizer shot.
Although it made him flinch, it truly calmed Tyrone's heart, which was about to leap out of his throat, a little.
William immediately seized the opportunity and patted Tyrone's shoulder.
"See? Even Emil has full confidence in our after-sales service."
"Go boldly, treat it like experiencing a paid beta test of a wall-hack. If you succeed, you can pick any latest model game console you want."
"Plus the complete set of collector's edition games," he added.
The power of money is infinite.
Tyrone finally nodded, though it looked more like he was heading to the execution ground.
Officer Maurice, who had been waiting impatiently, spat, and with a "gurgle," his entire body transformed into a puddle of humanoid Water.
"Stop dawdling, you're delaying my knocking off work. Kid, get in!"
The puddle of humanoid Water extended an arm made of Water and grabbed Tyrone.
The next second, Tyrone felt himself enveloped by a giant, icy jelly.
The Maurice-brand "Hydraulic Human Torpedo" was officially activated.
It carried Tyrone as he submerged into the pitch-black riverbed.
The sensation of being enveloped by Water was peculiar; the feeling of suffocation was gone.
But the oppressive feeling of being confined in a sealed space was incredibly strong.
Soon, they hovered in front of the massive metal wall.
Through night vision, Tyrone could clearly see the twisted patterns on the wall.
In the dim underwater light, they resembled grotesque ghost faces.
"Boss, I... I'm here."
Tyrone's voice came through the communicator, with a suppressed tremor.
"Very good, don't be afraid."
William's voice rang out clearly.
"Now, you have three seconds to forget you're a law-abiding good young man."
"Imagine yourself as that cheater in a game with an invincibility hack, and pass through for me!"
Tyrone closed his eyes.
He no longer thought about what kind of wall it was or what was behind it.
He only thought about that latest game console.
Darkness surged from his body.
Not the kind of black where light is obscured.
It was a purer, deeper, seemingly all-consuming 'nothingness.'
The outline of his body began to blur, like a drop of ink falling into clear Water, rapidly dissipating and merging into the surrounding environment.
The next moment, like an insubstantial Shadow, he effortlessly penetrated the metal wall that could even deflect Stark Industries' detection signals.
The process was incredibly smooth.
When Tyrone re-coalesced, he found himself standing in an exaggeratedly large, sealed space.
Under his feet was dry, hard ground.
The air was filled with a stale odor of something sealed away for thousands of years.
No Water, no mud.
It was like an underground fortress forgotten by the World for billions of years.
He looked up, speechless at the sight before him.
The walls inside the fortress were covered with countless strange hieroglyphs.
The style of some of these characters resembled the totems of Mayan or Aztec civilizations from textbooks, full of primitive mystery.
But another part was intertwined with those totems, forming intricate patterns similar to those on modern integrated circuit boards.
It felt like a crazy design concocted by a priest from an ancient civilization and a top engineer from the future after getting drunk together.
In the very center of the entire fortress stood a pyramid-shaped altar made entirely of obsidian.
And at the very top of the altar, a basketball-sized black crystal quietly floated in mid-air.
The moment Tyrone stepped into the fortress, the dark power within him suddenly let out a joyful cheer, like a pack of stray dogs seeing their kin.
An indescribable sense of familiarity enveloped him.
That black crystal was silently calling to him.
"Boss..."
Tyrone's voice was full of confusion and a hint of imperceptible excitement.
"This place feels very strange. My ability... it seems... it's home."
Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Triskelion headquarters.
A piercing alarm shattered the tranquility of the command center.
A technical Agent hurried to Nick Fury, his face etched with gravity.
"Officer, the New York City 'Anomalous Energy Fluctuation' monitoring system has been triggered! A never-before-seen energy singularity just appeared beneath the East River riverbed, and its energy level is continuously rising!"
Nick Fury strode to the giant electronic map.
On the screen, a dazzling red dot was frantically flashing at a location he knew all too well.
North Brother Island.
"Rodriguez..."
He murmured.
"I knew giving you that island would eventually bait out something unexpected."
He turned and gave orders to Hill beside him.
"Initiate the 'City Waterway Cleanup' plan, A-level priority. Send a small team, disguised as a municipal engineering crew. I want to know what the hell is happening beneath that damned river!"
At the pier, the atmosphere was peaceful.
William leisurely listened to Tyrone's live report.
In his mind, he was already calculating how to package and extract that "black crystal."
Just then, Jarvis's polite and calm electronic voice came through the communicator.
"Sir, abnormal scheduling has been detected in the New York City municipal system. An engineering team belonging to the 'Public Health Service Agency,' carrying a large amount of non-standard detection and excavation equipment, is rapidly heading towards your tunnel's designated exit area."
The smile on William's face instantly vanished.
Fury, that old fox with a sense of smell sharper than a police dog, had already caught wind of it so quickly.
He immediately pressed the communicator.
"Tyrone, situation has changed. Our 'municipal inspectors' seem to be arriving early for a surprise hygiene inspection. Party's over, prepare to retreat!"
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