Chapter 90: Turmoil in New York

“Tony, we must find those people from before immediately.” Steve fell silent for a moment as he looked at the cult leader, who had returned to human form, then knelt down and gently closed his eyes.

“Jarvis is already scanning the area with satellites,” Tony said as soon as he realized the cult leader had been subdued. “But do you know what their goal actually is?”

“I don’t know... well, actually, I think I might have an idea now.” Steve looked up at the sky, where the blue protective shield that had once enveloped the area was beginning to dissipate.

“A shield? How did they manage that? Wait, I get it.” Tony stared in amazement at the disintegrating shield, then instinctively glanced behind him. Sure enough, another shield appeared in the distant sky.

“It’s a node,” Steve said, understanding what the cultists had done. “They destroyed the nodes here. When the tsunami comes, this place will be submerged.”

“And the tsunami is the blessing of the god they speak of,” Tony said as he immediately flew toward the beach, speaking into his comms to Steve, “I’m going to imprint the node on the beach. You go stop the cultists from destroying the other nodes.”

...

After arriving at S.H.I.E.L.D., Qu Yizhi prepared to begin mental suppression on the agents. Natasha and Barton received Director Fury’s message and returned to the facility.

After successfully suppressing Natasha, Barton, and several other agents, Qu Yizhi suddenly sensed danger and quickly dodged to the side.

An orange-red energy wave exploded where she had just been. Turning around, Qu Yizhi saw a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents closing in on them.

“Uh, guys, this isn’t good,” Natasha said, having narrowly avoided the attack herself, now aiming her gun at former allies from just minutes ago.

“What are you doing? Lower your weapons immediately! Miss Qu is here to help!” Fury angrily addressed his subordinates. This attack was beyond his expectations and filled him with a deep sense of foreboding.

“I’m sorry, Director, but this woman has defiled the gods, so she must be eliminated,” one armed agent said with a strange smile, intensifying Fury’s ominous feeling.

“Gods? Who are your gods?” Fury realized something was terribly wrong. He recalled the agents he had sent to investigate the otherworldly gods—each time they uncovered clues, accidents occurred, and all evidence was destroyed. That was why he had asked the Avengers to investigate.

“Surely you know already. What a pity—I had hoped you’d join our god’s embrace. But now, it’s time to say goodbye.” The agent’s smile widened as the weapon in his hand emitted that same orange-red glow.

Qu Yizhi and the others immediately fought back. Barton went first, using a combination of tranquilizer and splitting arrows to quickly incapacitate the agents surrounding the entrance. Qu Yizhi then moved forward to suppress the mental contamination. As several agents regained consciousness, their expressions changed drastically as they hurriedly told Director Fury, “Director, S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen. The cultists have taken over.”

“What’s going on? How did the cultists seize control of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Fury’s face darkened. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, it would not only mean his failure but also that many secrets had fallen into enemy hands.

The worst had happened: the cultists had silently taken over S.H.I.E.L.D., not Hydra. Suddenly, the alarm sounded in the room Fury and the others were in. The agents lying on the ground shouted at Fury, “Director, get out of here! Don’t worry about us. They won’t hurt us—at worst, they’ll just control us again.”

Qu Yizhi quickly interrupted, “I can get you out using ice transport, but you have to hold on.” The despair in the agents’ eyes was replaced with a glimmer of hope.

“All right, let’s go.” Nick Fury weighed the options and decided to leave immediately. They were isolated and vulnerable, and they needed to get the news out. Heaven only knew what kind of trouble these cultists disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents might cause.

Together, they helped the fallen agents into the ice vehicle Qu Yizhi created and rushed toward the outskirts of the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. Fury continued to question the agents inside.

“How did you get these weapons?” Although Fury accepted that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, he was puzzled about how they obtained such weaponry. Ever since the Cosmic Cube was returned to the divine realm, those weapons had been sealed away. These agents shouldn’t have had clearance to access them.

“It was Mr. Alexander. He’s also under the cult’s control,” the trembling agents huddled together pitifully, still feeling the effects of the tranquilizers, relying on each other for warmth.

Fury fell silent after hearing this. It meant the cult’s control had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. from top to bottom. Was he to be thankful that he, the director, had not been controlled?

“What about Coulson? Is he under their control too?” Natasha asked anxiously. Coulson was Fury’s best assistant and Natasha’s close friend, so she cared deeply about his condition.

“Agents Coulson and Hill have not been compromised. None of the field operatives are under control,” the agents revealed. This was an open secret within the cult; they needed to know who were their allies and who were reserves.

“All right, it seems things aren’t as bad as they could be. At least we’re not completely isolated.” Barton used an explosive arrow to blow a hole in the exterior wall of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The group charged out, followed by more armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

“Where are we headed?” Qu Yizhi manipulated an ice wall to seal the previous breach, slowing the agents’ pursuit.

“To the Avengers Tower. Tony has installed an automated defense system there, and with Jarvis’s help, we can avoid S.H.I.E.L.D.’s satellite surveillance,” Fury calmly ordered. In this situation, they had nowhere else to hide; leaving New York was the worst option.

And so, New Yorkers on the streets witnessed a pair of off-road vehicles tearing through the city, ignoring all traffic signals. Above one of them, an ice carriage, resembling a vegetable basket, carried several people.

This unusual sight quickly attracted attention, but what followed filled the onlookers with terror—the pale blue shield that had once hung over eastern New York vanished completely.