Anomaly Point (Mid)

"It looked like I wouldn't need to keep sneaking around in the future." Shen Fei quietly returned to his single cabin, and by the time he stepped onto the deck, he felt much more relaxed. At this point on Earth, the person he feared most was the Ancient One.

With the Ancient One out of the picture, no one on Earth at this stage was his match. It made no difference even if Mordo and Wong had trained for many more years than he had.

Magic was wondrous, but science was just as wondrous. Take Pym Particles, for example—they could practically be considered magic in some respects.

"The military has mobilized." Hearing the roar overhead, Shen Fei looked up and immediately understood what was happening. Fighter jets and more than a dozen helicopters were flying toward Terragrigia.

"So they aren't planning to nuke the whole island flat. Is it because of that Anomaly Point?"

Just as Shen Fei had expected, once they learned that a persistently existing Anomaly Point was on the island, High Command's objective changed to retaking control of the island.

According to the scientists in Primeval, an Anomaly Point connected to Earth in a period of the past. Arbitrarily changing what happened there could affect humanity's future, so the best way to deal with creatures emerging from an Anomaly Point was to send them back.

Unfortunately, that was merely the scientists' opinion. To the vast majority of those in power, the appearance of an Anomaly Point represented immense profit. Those Anomaly Points that might disappear at any time were one thing.

But an Anomaly Point that might exist permanently was filled with untapped resources. As for its impact on the present or the future, never mind if they could not see it—if they could see it and it did not affect them, then who cared?

Humanity was a race capable of sincere cooperation in the face of certain great disasters, but it was also a race capable of continuing to slaughter one another amid those same disasters.

Just like in Avengers 4: Days of Future Past, after the superheroes brought back the half who had died before, not everyone was grateful to them. Those people were generally the ones who had not died in the snap.

"I wonder what these people will think when they see the Anomaly Point has vanished." Thinking of their reactions after fighting their way into the military base through blood and fire, only to discover that the Anomaly Point had disappeared, Shen Fei wore a faintly gloating smile.

"It's just a shame about the island." If the Anomaly Point had remained and troops had been stationed there, Terragrigia might have had a chance to flourish once more as time passed.

But without the Anomaly Point, the military certainly would not keep troops stationed there. In that case, probably not many people would choose to live in a city that had suffered a biohazard outbreak.

"Are you all right?" Shen Fei asked with concern as he looked at Rebecca, who had just woken up and come onto the deck, her face still somewhat pale. Although Rebecca had not fought much earlier, experiencing another disaster like Raccoon City had awakened her memories of STARS.

"I hope Chris, Jill, and the others are okay." Looking in Terragrigia's direction, Rebecca spoke with a worried expression. Chris, Jill, and the others had not evacuated, instead remaining on the island to clear out the Monsters.

"Don't worry so much. I just saw the military mobilize. They'll definitely be fine," Shen Fei said.

This incident was different from Raccoon City. That one could be concealed, but this one definitely could not.

"You're a mutant." Rebecca carefully observed the surroundings, and only after confirming that no one was nearby did she speak in a low voice.

Superpowers were not unfamiliar to Rebecca, who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cold storage facilities held quite a few people like that.

There were many such people in the Marvel Universe, chiefly Inhumans, radiation-induced mutations, congenital abnormalities, and so on.

As S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biochemical expert, Rebecca had been assigned to study them. S.H.I.E.L.D. even had a list of mutants, though the official term was Superpowered Individuals.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had its own procedures for assessing such Superpowered Individuals—whether they were harmful or harmless. Harmful ones were captured and sent to cold storage, while harmless ones were placed under surveillance and sometimes required to report regularly to a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.

The reason for such a policy was that practically none of the Superpowered Individuals who had appeared so far could be considered harmless. Once they had even a little power, doing whatever they pleased became the norm.

Rebecca was being so cautious because she had that concern. Moreover, as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, she was responsible for reporting the discovery of a Superpowered Individual to her superiors.

"I'm not some mutant. What I used before was magic." Shen Fei's words left Rebecca completely stunned.

"Magic? You're a sorcerer?" It took Rebecca quite a while before she seemed to recover.

"More precisely, I'm a mage." Shen Fei raised his right index finger and waved it with a smile.

"How do I know whether what you're saying is true?" After falling silent again for a while, Rebecca said this.

"Not here." Shen Fei gestured for Rebecca to follow him, and they left for the room he had stayed in earlier.

"Watch closely." Shen Fei brought his hands together, and a golden beam of light appeared before him, slowly spreading into a shield.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Rebecca, her face full of shock, lightly tapped the shield before confirming that it was real. Since the shield was real, Shen Fei's claim of being a mage had to be real as well.

"This isn't scientific." As a scientist, Rebecca voiced what most scientists thought when they first encountered magic.

"Magic is merely science that has yet to be discovered." Shen Fei quoted the famous words of a science fiction writer.

"I may need to report this to my superiors." After some internal struggle, Rebecca still said it, explaining S.H.I.E.L.D.'s regulations for managing Superpowered Individuals at the same time.

Shen Fei had exposed his abilities to save her, yet she was going to report those abilities. No matter how one looked at it, it carried the meaning of repaying kindness with ingratitude.

"Go ahead and report it. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Don't forget, I'm not an ordinary person now," Shen Fei said with a smile.

Shen Fei had anticipated this situation before taking action, which was why he had prepared an explanation. Exposing himself now was a little early, but it was not unacceptable.

In this world, it was impossible to develop better without coming into contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. Only by dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. could he gain access to more things, such as Thor from the future Avengers.

Having an official identity was extremely important. Without a certain status, it would be troublesome to even speak with him, much less travel to Asgard.

If Shen Fei wanted to advance further in magic, Asgard's magical system would be an excellent choice.

"Found them." On a Quinjet, Natasha and Sherry slid swiftly down ropes from the aircraft onto a luxurious Queen Zenobia ferry on the sea below. This vessel was the base of the terrorist organization Gray Hounds.

"Something's wrong. Be careful." Seeing that no one had emerged from the cabins despite such a huge commotion, Natasha immediately sensed that something was off and warned Sherry cautiously. Then the two entered the cabins with the various weapons dropped from the Quinjet.

Meanwhile, the events at the military base once again proved that biological weapons could not stand against modern weaponry. After a round of bombardment and a sweep by more than a dozen Helicopters, the military base was quickly retaken.

"What did you say?" Seeing through the surveillance monitors that the place where the Anomaly Point had been was now empty, a military High Command officer nearly smashed the communicator in his hand in fury.

They had wasted so much manpower and resources, only for it all to have been in vain. Even as a general, he would have a hard time bearing the consequences, especially with S.H.I.E.L.D. watching from behind.

According to the responsibilities established when S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, Anomaly Points fell under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s jurisdiction. Of course, regulations were just regulations. In reality, unless an Anomaly Point appearing in a country had already been exposed, no one would hand it over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Still, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only accept his bad luck now. According to the previous research reports on the Anomaly Point, it had closed on its own.

"I can rest properly for a while now." The Terragrigia incident shocked the entire world, naturally interrupting Shen Fei's internship. Publicly, the incident was announced as a terrorist attack, but according to information Shen Fei received from Rebecca, Jill, and the others, it had been orchestrated jointly by FBC High Command.

The reason was simple. Put in Eastern terms, it was raising bandits to justify one's own importance.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was overseen internally by the World Security Council, and the newly established FBC was naturally not composed entirely of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. The United Nations had sent over a High Command official as well.

Before the Raccoon City incident, the biohazard defense department had not been taken very seriously. After all, biological attacks were extremely rare, so its authority and funding naturally could not compare to those of other departments.

It was like a country launching a war and ultimately finding only a bag of laundry detergent. Many biohazard incidents were actually pretexts deliberately exaggerated out of proportion.

But after the Raccoon City incident, the biohazard defense department immediately rose in prominence. Its authority and funding soared.

In order to gain even more power, someone had planned this operation.

Of course, if this had been a purely Resident Evil world, that explanation would have made perfect sense. But in the Marvel Universe, that person was merely being used by someone with ulterior motives, a shield pushed into the spotlight.

"Hello." When Shen Fei entered his room, an unfamiliar voice immediately put him on guard. After seeing who had spoken, however, Shen Fei could not help smiling inwardly.

At first, he had thought it was someone from S.H.I.E.L.D., but after seeing who the visitor was, he knew it was not.

Dressed in a sharp, well-fitted black suit and wearing sunglasses, the visitor sat leisurely on the sofa. It was Wesker.

Standing behind him was Ada Wong. Judging from the bandages on her face, she appeared to be injured.