"It's starting again. What on Earth is going on?"
The clone looked at the water cup on the desk with great curiosity. No one was touching it, but the water inside began to ripple on its own, along with the chandelier hanging from the ceiling and other things in the room. If it were a normal earthquake, it would be fine, but having three in less than an hour was a bit strange. The clone highly suspected that some supernatural power was at work.
"Susan, what's been going on lately? Artoria seems to have become a bit distant from us."
At the same time, Hope treated Susan with a peaceful attitude for the first time, which surprised Susan. Hope spoke to Susan seriously and with a bit of sadness about her recent discovery. They didn't care about how much the Earth was shaking; they were now very concerned about Artoria's recent attitude toward them, feeling that she wasn't as close as before.
"You're probably overthinking it! She's usually not overly affectionate with anyone. Maybe it's just that time of the month!"
Compared to Hope's sensitivity, Susan didn't think much of it. Artoria hadn't been excessively close to them on a daily basis anyway; perhaps she was just busy or had some physiological issues lately, leading to a poor mental state. This was Susan's own guess. She couldn't possibly guess that the Artoria sitting in the office was no longer the original, but merely a clone. The clone stayed away from them for fear of being exposed. Even if all vital signs, scent, and thinking patterns were identical to the original, it couldn't change the subtle differences between the original and the clone.
"Maybe I am too sensitive! But you should also be able to feel that the vibrations these days are a bit different, right?"
Hearing Susan's words, Hope temporarily suppressed her internal concerns and focused her attention on the constant earthquakes lately. Although the tremors weren't large, they affected normal life. Everyone was afraid of falling asleep at home and being unlucky enough to encounter a major quake, ending up buried in the ruins of what was once 'home'. Now many people ran to the streets at night to huddle with the homeless, fearing they wouldn't be able to escape at night.
"I know that too, but the government hasn't found anything yet, which is indeed worrying."
Hope's words made Susan put down her work. Because of the recent earthquakes, most employees valued their lives and didn't come to work. There were only a few bold and capable people: Susan, Hope, the little secretary Raven, and the assistant Gwen. The four of them were enough to manage the entire company's operations. Helen Cho and Maya were helping Artoria research a subject in a laboratory outside New York, so they weren't at the company.
"I Hope no more chaos happens. The alien invasion just passed not long ago; I'm really afraid the innocent public will have a mental breakdown."
The kind-hearted Susan still hoped for fewer events like the Battle of New York. They had superpowers and could protect themselves and their families, but the ordinary citizens were the direct victims. The media didn't dare report the number of Deaths and missing persons from the Battle of New York, but those at the top knew the number was no less than a hundred thousand. This string of numbers was shocking, but because the government suppressed it heavily, the media avoided the issue.
"How long has it been! So many villains have popped up. I've noticed that ever since Tony Stark announced he was Iron Man, the whole world hasn't had a moment of peace. Today a criminal jumps out, tomorrow a superpowered person. Artoria's brother is really like an object a friend from China told me about—an 'Auspicious Omen'."
Regarding Susan's words, Hope didn't say anything. But being meticulous, she indeed found that since Tony announced he was Iron Man, the world seemed to have exploded, with various strange things happening constantly. Such things felt very similar to the object her friend from China mentioned. That thing could be called good or bad; it was impossible to judge whether its existence was good or bad for people, but it commanded great awe. Isn't Tony Stark exactly that kind of guy?
"'Auspicious Omen'? What's that? Forget it, now's not the time to dwell on that. Reed and the others are also studying this abnormal movement of the ground layers. They seem to have some clues but haven't found the cause yet. Most importantly, S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to have intervened in this matter."
Hope's intelligence was still a step behind Susan's. After all, Hope's father, Dr. Pym, had long since broken ties with S.H.I.E.L.D. and no longer involved himself in their affairs. Hope's information network was cut off from her father's side. On Susan's side, Johnny was with Reed, and Reed had close ties with the Military. The Military and S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't get along, so they had Reed investigate this matter, only for S.H.I.E.L.D. to intercept it. Reed wouldn't hide it from Johnny, and Johnny wouldn't hide it from Susan, which led to Susan being a bit more well-informed than Hope.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.... I Hope they can be of some use and don't make the Avengers step in for everything."
As she spoke, Susan looked toward Artoria's office. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Natasha often appeared here, though she hadn't been around the last two days. But it was already clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely wanted to pull Artoria into the Avengers. They all agreed that Artoria didn't need to join any Avengers—it was too dangerous! Hearing Susan's words, Hope also looked toward Artoria's office. This was the first time they were in total agreement.
"Fire! Keep firing."
Fifty or sixty kilometers away from New York, a massive hollow appeared. Looking at the traces, it wasn't man-made but had collapsed on its own. Over a dozen people in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms were constantly searching inside with various instruments and radars. Director Egghead sat with his chin resting on his hands on a table, looking as if he were saying, 'I'm not targeting anyone, I'm just saying everyone here is trash!' while staring intently at the pitch-black hole. Fifty high-level Special Agents had already entered below, constantly clearing out 'monsters' crawling up from the deeper depths.
"Director, after dissection, these monsters are clearly manufactured. They are merely tools for slaughter, and the device commanding them is located at the top of their heads."
Jemma Simmons, a Level 5 Special Agent and member of Phil's field team, was a biochemist and physician. She had been called here primarily to study the creatures crawling out from underground. As it turned out, she discovered these things weren't biological at all. She didn't know who created them, but they were killing weapons that had been slumbering underground, only to be suddenly awakened, or rather, triggered by a set program.
"Based on the current situation, we can infer that there should be a leader deeper inside capable of controlling all these guys. We must capture and destroy it to stop them from climbing up, reaching the surface, and attacking the public."
Jemma glanced at the dense crowd of monsters that had no concept of Death. Even facing the heavy firepower set up by S.H.I.E.L.D., they kept charging. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been fighting here for several days, and they hadn't seen these monsters pause for a single moment. S.H.I.E.L.D. was astonished by how many such monsters were in this underground. However, Nick Fury didn't know that such a talented beauty was actually a member of Hydra.
"Rotate the teams!"
The people below had been there long enough, so Nick Fury immediately ordered a rotation. He had a massive headache and no other options. Should he call in the Avengers? These monsters weren't hard to deal with, but once the Avengers entered the scene, who knew how deep or large this pit really was? If they accidentally damaged the foundations of New York, the entire city would be gone. He was very troubled!
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