radicalducati Chapter 126 Nationwide Emergency, Island Exposure
Chapter 126 Nationwide Emergency, Island Exposure
Chapter 126 Nationwide Emergency, Island Exposure
The battlefield suddenly became extremely quiet.
The agents stared wide-eyed at the empty space ahead, where hardly any corpses remained.
Just moments ago, the area was teeming with endless dark creatures, but now they have all vanished.
Someone murmured, their voice trembling, "We...we're saved?"
Coulson let out a heavy sigh, placed the white ivory on his lap, and the fighting spirit in his voice instantly dissipated: "That's right, we're saved."
After confirming those words, some of the remaining agents behind him collapsed to the ground, while others gasped for breath.
Several people grabbed each other's shoulders and pulled each other up.
Natasha suddenly pointed to the sky, her voice extremely short and sharp: "Look!"
Everyone's eyes turned to the direction she was pointing.
The moon had turned a dark red color at some point.
In the night sky, which was bathed in the blood-red moonlight, two extremely large dark red spots of light suddenly appeared high up, where there should have been nothing.
They are arranged symmetrically, with enough spacing to fit more than one football field.
The two points of light slowly rotated at an extremely small angle, and then simultaneously focused downwards towards the position where Li En was standing.
Those were a pair of eyes.
Bathed in moonlight, the outline behind my eyes began to emerge, so vast that it could not be measured by any building.
The dark silhouette's head was at least a kilometer above the ground, and its two eyes were only a small part of its face.
It was looking down, at an unknown distance.
Across the desolate battlefield left behind after thousands of dark creatures were instantly annihilated, across this trampled and crushed desert.
Quietly watching Lee Eun.
Coulson's voice was completely distorted as it squeezed out of his throat: "Lee En, that thing—"
When Li En spoke in his demon form, his voice naturally carried several overlapping layers of low-frequency resonance, as if several of him were speaking at the same time: "Don't worry, it's just a demon."
He raised his hand and twisted it, the Rebellion Greatsword falling into his hand, which he gripped in reverse with his left hand.
The rebellious sword underwent a noticeable change after he transformed into a demon.
The originally rough and thick blade has become more slender and streamlined, and the bone-spiky decorative ribs on both sides of the spine have converged into a close-fitting ridge.
The sword now looks more proportionate to his current demonic body.
He assumed a horse stance, his left hand holding the Rebellion Greatsword straight in front of him, his right hand holding the Yama Blade horizontally, his legs bent, and after a moment's pause, he suddenly exerted force.
boom.
The shockwave from the explosion beneath his feet cracked the concrete slabs of the fortification behind him.
He transformed into a blood-red meteor, hurtling straight toward the troll whose two eyes alone hung nearly a thousand meters in the air.
As the red comet crashed into the darkness, an unimaginably large, dark red ball of light suddenly exploded from the night sky.
The range of the light was comparable to that of a nuclear bomb. People within a radius of thousands of kilometers looked up at the same time and saw the light that dyed the entire sky blood red.
Countless people who were illuminated by the red light believed they were witnessing the end of the world.
People scattered and fled in the streets, cars crashed into fire hydrants, and supermarket glass doors were shattered.
Someone rushed home, pulled out the pistol that had been hidden away for many years from the depths of the closet, pushed open the window, and burst into laughter at the red light in the sky, laughing until tears streamed down their face.
He laughed and shouted, "I've been waiting for this day for far too long!"
The chaos quickly spread to the surrounding continents and then to the entire country.
The president immediately declared a national emergency, and the military entered cities to suppress the unrest.
In New York, the same message, suspected to be a nuclear attack, was also received.
However, the people living here did not experience the looting and vandalism that occurred in other parts of Tianzhou.
Many citizens even took up arms to patrol, and if they found anyone trying to take advantage of the free shopping spree, they would fire a rubber bullet at them.
These people all wore red headscarves with white skull and sword patterns on their foreheads—the sword of hell.
In previous years, whenever chaos occurred, New York was definitely the most violent city in the United States.
But at this moment, everything became incredibly quiet.
The morning light pierced through the darkness and fell upon the area in front of the makeshift defensive base.
The remains of those dark creatures that covered the sky last night have now mostly turned into black mud and emitted black smoke under the sunlight.
It seeped into the desert sand in clumps, was blown away by the wind, and drifted into the sky.
The dozen or so remaining agents all slumped to the ground, their backs against the concrete barrier, their guns resting on their laps.
No one spoke; they simply breathed in the dry, cool morning air.
Li En withdrew from his demon form, and the dark red armor and sharp horns gradually retracted into his body.
He stretched his neck, making a few crisp clicks, and then walked back towards Coulson and the other two.
Before he could speak, a rapid telegram broke out from Coulson's waist.
Coulson, exhausted, pressed the call button, and immediately heard Acting Director Alexander Pierce roaring from the other end.
"Coulson! What's going on over there?! Did someone drop a nuclear bomb in New Mexico?"
"The US president has ordered the military into a state of emergency—answer me immediately!"
Listening to Pierce's voice, so taut it seemed about to snap, Coulson felt strangely calm.
He leaned against the fortification wall, his tone as indifferent as if he were reporting a routine patrol: "Mr. Pierce, we do need the military's help here in New Mexico."
Before he could finish speaking, Pierce roared again: "What do you mean we really need the army's help! I'm asking you!"
What on earth happened?!
Coulson took the communicator away from his ear, glanced down at it, then reached out, pinched the communication cable, and pulled it outwards.
The plug came off the connector, the indicator light on the communicator flashed red twice, and then went out.
He didn't intend to say another word to Pierce and casually tossed the communicator onto the empty ammunition box next to him.
This action stunned both Natasha and Barton, who were standing nearby.
Having worked together for so many years, this was the first time they had ever seen Coulson so openly defy his superiors.
Regardless of whether they had already guessed that Pierce was a Hydra agent, at least on paper he was still the acting director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The fact that Coulson, who was always the most honest and steady, would do something like this was truly unexpected for both of them.
A rumbling engine sound came from afar.
Everyone turned to look and saw an off-road vehicle driving out from the depths of the desert, its body covered in mud and dark bloodstains, and its bumper bent at one side.
The car stopped outside the fortifications, and Thor jumped out, followed by a woman and an old man.
He still held the two military short axes in his hands. The electric arcs on the axe blades were several times thicker than before, and a pale blue light could be clearly seen, constantly moving along the spine of the axe.
His gaze swept across the surroundings, his voice louder than the engine: "Where are those dark creatures? And that big guy, that fellow named Atel, where did he go?!"
"It's been resolved." Li En stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
His gaze then fell on the axe blade in Thor's hand, which had turned gray from the high temperature, and he spoke softly.
"Look, you are not the god of hammers, my ally, Thor."
Thor paused for a moment after hearing this, then looked down at the two axes in his hands.
The arcs of electricity dancing on the axe blade were reflected in his pupils, flickering.
Then he grinned and nodded: "Well said, ally."
He was knocked unconscious by Hell Vanguard Atel and fell from mid-air into the depths of the desert.
Fortunately, she was found by an astrophysicist and her student whom she had met by chance.
When he woke up, he had only one thought in his mind—to go back and fight again.
Standing in the morning light, he finally managed to clear the feverish excitement and fervor that had clouded his mind during the battle and began to think things through again.
Only then did he realize that the moment he recklessly charged towards Atel, the divine power within him had already been forcibly torn open by his will.
He has regained a portion of Thor's power.
Thinking of this, he suddenly became excited, and the light in his eyes burned back into two blue flames: "I have regained my power! I will go and take back my Mjolnir!"
Without saying a word, he rushed into the temporary base.
Li En stood there, watching the blond giant smash open the base gate like a raging bull, and shook his head helplessly.
This guy really loves that hammer.
A moment later, an extremely mournful roar came from deep within the base.
"No—no! Why? Mjolnir—why!"
The sound was incredibly sorrowful, drawn out for an extremely long time, bouncing back and forth between the metal walls of the base several times before slowly dissipating.
It's like someone losing the love of their life.
Li En did not go in to comfort him.
He led Coulson, Natasha, and Barton into the monitoring room.
A dozen agents and two unofficial staff members, Jane Foster and Eric Selvig, also followed.
Li En glanced at them sideways and said, "You guys go outside and get something to eat, then take a rest."
Upon hearing this, the other agents immediately turned and left, leaving only Coulson and his two companions.
He then added to Jane Foster and the old professor, "Go and see Thor."
Jane Foster stood there for a moment, seemingly reluctant to leave.
Eric Selvig grabbed her wrist and whispered, "They're asking us to go out first. Don't be rude."
Jane Foster then realized what was happening and left the room with the professor.
After they all left, Li En clicked on the computer screen in the monitoring room and established an encrypted communication link.
The screen then displayed live footage of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Connors.
The three were still in the Umbrella Academy laboratory when Tony's face appeared on the screen, and they immediately erupted in anger: "Lee, you tell us about this! These bastards' deeds must be exposed! Exposed right now!"
Connors, standing nearby, urged, his tone anxious but organized: "The news is full of reports that New Mexico has been attacked by a suspected nuclear bomb. Global public opinion is in an uproar, and the United States has entered a state of war emergency."
"Releasing this information at a time like this will only further divide society!"
"I agree to expose it, but could we wait a while?"
Banner stood between the two, nodding repeatedly in a dilemma, his expression as if he were repeatedly swallowing something he couldn't get down: "They're both right, I almost transformed just now."
"These people are all beasts."
Li En was a little confused, so he simply asked, "Jarvis, what happened?"
The scene changed accordingly.
Jarvis pulled up the surveillance footage from the area near the lab entrance.
Benjamin Lester, the leader of the Hellsword squad, has led his team back to school.
Behind the three were three large boxes, each filled to the brim.
Jarvis's voice rang out calmly: "Mr. Lester led his team to the target island and has successfully rescued and brought back 680 children, who are now being housed in a school."
Li En nodded: "Isn't this a good thing?"
Jarvis was about to continue when Tony's voice boomed in from off-screen, so loud it crackled through the speakers: "The problem is the heads they brought back!"
"Movie stars, Hollywood moguls, business elites, government officials—everyone's a familiar face!"
"The box also contains all the evidence of their wrongdoings—videos, files, and the dates and locations are all clearly marked!"
"These beasts, if we don't expose them, they'll get a grand funeral tomorrow!"
"Those kinds of trash deserve to go to hell!"
Connors chimed in, his voice much calmer than Tony's, but equally firm: "I agree that it must be exposed, but not now."
"The whole country is in a state of emergency right now, the military is being deployed to your area, and the media and public attention is all focused on this fake news about nuclear weapons."
"If we release this information now, it will easily be buried, or even used against us by those kinds of people. We need to choose a better window of opportunity."
Banner nodded repeatedly beside him, his voice muffled: "They're all right. You can argue all you want, but could you please turn off those videos in the box first? I almost got cuckolded just now."
"These people, really—I'm not going to say anything more."
Coulson walked to the monitor screen, his expression extremely grave, and lowered his voice: "Could you send us a copy of that document as well?"
Jarvis's voice rang out from the monitoring room: "Mr. Li En?"
Li En was silent for a moment, then replied softly, "Send a copy over."
A moment later, a very detailed document was transmitted to the terminal in the monitoring room.
Coulson opened the first page, with Natasha and Barton standing on either side of him behind him.
All three people saw the first set of photos at the same time.
Coulson's masseter muscles bulged suddenly below his cheekbones, and the veins on his forehead began to stand out one by one.
Patton read less than two pages before ripping off his blood- and sweat-soaked tactical vest and slamming it to the ground. His voice was hoarse and dry as he forced out a sound from his throat: "This is what I've been protecting all along?"
Natasha's eyes were wide open, and she didn't blink once, as if she wanted to etch everything in the scene into her brain.
Coulson didn't speak; his fingers hovered over the page-turning button, his fingertips trembling slightly.
Even though he was exhausted to the extreme, a surge of heat still rushed from the depths of his heart into his brain.
He was burning with urges to jump up from his chair and kill everyone on the list.
After the three of them had finished reviewing the information, Li En turned his attention back to the center of the screen and spoke to Tony, Banner, and Connors on the other side of the screen: "So the current situation is: First, there is Thor's hammer in New Mexico, and this thing must not be taken by anyone who shouldn't have it."
Secondly, the commotion I caused while clearing out the dark creatures last night was too great, and the US president has issued a wartime order, putting the entire country under martial law.
Third, should we expose these guys' affairs immediately? Did I miss anything?
"That's right, no leaks." Tony immediately replied, his voice back to normal volume, but he emphasized each word more heavily than usual.
"I still insist on exposing this. It's disgusting, damn it."
He swore several times in a row, not giving anyone a chance to interrupt.
He truly never imagined that the world could be so dark.
Even if he was a complacent arms dealer back then, and the weapons he manufactured were used to fight countless wars in the Middle East and Africa that he shouldn't have fought, that was still war.
War has a set of rules that, while dirty, are at least universally accepted.
But what happened on that island didn't even qualify as rules; it was pure, unadulterated evil.
After returning from Afghanistan, he shut down Stark Industries' weapons division and donned Mark armor to travel around making up for his past debts.
He helped Umbrella develop Dragon's Blood tablets for the same reason.
But he never expected that those faces who were once in the same circle as him would turn out like this.
Those who smiled and waved at him with champagne at charity galas, and casually chatted with him about stock trends in the boardroom, actually had another face behind the scenes that was completely indescribable.
He berated Jarvis for this.
Stark Industries' satellite network had already collected that data and image information long ago.
Jarvis simply never included this information in his briefings.
Jarvis did not refute this point.
After Tony finished yelling, Li En turned his gaze to the area below the camera and looked at Coulson, who was standing to the side of the monitoring console: "You guys have more experience with this kind of thing, give me some advice."
Coulson took two deep breaths, forcing himself to pull himself out of the emotional shock brought on by the document he had just read.
He didn't speak immediately, but instead mentally prioritized the three things one by one before finally speaking.
"First, there's Thor's hammer and Thor, which are matters of Earth's security, or even the security of the universe, and are directly related to the survival of humanity as a whole."
Its priority is the highest; Thor's hammer must never fall into the hands of anyone who shouldn't touch it.
Secondly, the claim that New Mexico was hit by a nuclear bomb was a false alarm.
The president needs someone to explain things clearly to him in person.
Once he understands that this is not a nuclear bomb, nor a foreign attack, but an unusual event that does not require full understanding at the moment, the military's state of emergency can be lifted.
This matter is not difficult to handle; the difficulty lies in finding the right person to talk to.
Third, regarding the crimes committed by these people —
He paused for a moment, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the knuckle of his index finger, his breathing a full beat slower than normal, before continuing.
"Logically speaking, I support Professor Connors's view."
We can wait a month until the situation stabilizes and then find the most suitable time to expose it all at once.
But personally speaking—I think we should throw it out now.
Let the whole world see the names and faces of these bastards.
Li En lowered his head and pondered for a moment, the muscles on his brow bone twitching slightly.
Then he looked up at Coulson again, and slowed his speech.
"Contact Steve and tell him to go to the president, not in the name of S.H.I.E.L.D.—in the name of Captain America."
Also tell Steve that he was present and commanding the battle here last night.
He led the team to withstand the threat of the dark creatures.
The nuclear bomb was a false alarm, which he confirmed.
The existence of the hammer was his decision to continue the blockade.
The reason is simple: Thor himself is here, and extraterrestrial affairs are to be handled by the rightful heirs of Asgard.
On Earth, security is provided by core members of the Avengers program.
Coulson paused for a moment, then his eyes slowly lit up, and he nodded heavily with his chin.
He got it.
At this moment, Pierce had no idea what was happening in New Mexico.
Tony had severed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network, and Pierce, sitting in his headquarters office, could only see a bunch of gibberish and unusual energy fluctuations.
In this information vacuum, Captain America personally stepped forward, bypassing S.H.I.E.L.D., to give a complete report directly to the President.
This incident alone will plant an absolute judgment in the president's mind: S.H.I.E.L.D. is unreliable, and the true allies are on the Avengers' side.
Coulson picked up a satellite phone from the table and strode towards the door.
After he left, Lee En turned back to the screen, her tone calm: "Expose it."
Tony's voice burst with delight, so loud that a slight electrical overload noise could be heard at the corners of the screen: "Great! I knew you'd support me!"
Ignoring his excitement, Li En continued speaking at a measured pace: "Don't give these people any time to react. Immediately contact all the newspapers you can reach and release all of this information at the same time."
If any newspaper is unwilling to cooperate—then forget it.
Let Jarvis be published simultaneously online, on all platforms, in all languages, leaving no blind spots.
The newspaper's credibility is still more important; we should try to gain as much influence as possible.
What you can't get, don't force.
Tony waved his hand dismissively, looking calm: "Don't worry about that. Stark Industries is either a major investor or a major shareholder of one of the top newspaper and media groups in the United States."
Anyone who dares to say no at a time like this, I'll make sure they wake up tomorrow morning to find their board seat completely gone.
Li En looked at Tony's face, which was clearly not joking, and remained silent for a moment before saying nothing more.
Then he turned his gaze back to the center of the camera, looking at Lester on the screen, who was standing straight with his hands behind his back.
Lester and his three squad members stood at attention simultaneously.
They stood in perfect unison, the heels of their tactical boots clicking together with a crisp sound.
Li En's voice was incredibly penetrating, each word like a bullet fired: "Have you found your own justice?"
Lester's voice came back from the other end of the screen, without hesitation or doubt: "Yes, Boss Lee, we found it."
Li En nodded.
"Very good, then let's put it into practice."
Hell's Kitchen no longer needs those things hiding in the shadows.
Clean up all the disobedient gangs.
"yes.
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