A Hasty Ending

"Let's call an end to this farce for today. I have no interest in playing with you anymore. Think carefully about what I said."

After glancing at everyone, Kaecilius waved his hand and led his Priests and followers away.

"Wait! What do you mean? Why did you stop fighting as soon as I got here?"

Tony Stark couldn't accept it. He'd finally dealt with the poisoning and had just come over to help wipe out the cult, only for the big boss to be walking away?

The move left Tony Stark stunned. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team and the Ancient One were just as surprised. Coulson had been about to stop them when his phone rang.

Coulson's hand trembled slightly. He answered almost instinctively, and the voice on the other end made him forget all about the imminent pursuit.

"Director, what are your orders?

Understood, Director, but I—

All right. I'll follow your orders."

After hanging up, Coulson looked at his comrades beside him, including Tony Stark and Master Gu Yi, and sighed.

"Let's go, guys. That's enough for today. We're pulling out."

Coulson waved helplessly, signaling his colleagues to stop fighting and retreat at once.

As agents, they were confused, but if their superior had given an order, they had to obey.

Besides, this superior had only just come back from the dead. Such a miraculous feat made them far too uneasy to disobey him.

Hawkeye glanced at the silent Ancient One and furrowed his brow. His throat bobbed, but in the end, he kept quiet.

Their obedience, however, didn't mean that the troublemaker Tony Stark would simply go along with it.

"Hey, Coulson, you're just leaving?"

"It's the Director's orders."

Coulson stated it bluntly, leaving Iron Man speechless.

Tony's face went pale, then dark. He turned around, pulled the Magic Conch from his pocket, and tugged its string.

"Magic Conch, what do you think my odds are if I attack this cult right now?"

"I think you should write your will first."

Tony's face fell. How dare this Magic Conch look down on him like that? Even if he couldn't beat them, couldn't he run away?

"Coulson, I think you're absolutely right. We should retreat for now."

Tony said it with a straight face. He figured he might as well show some respect for Director Xia of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders every once in a while. After all, he was a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant.

As both sides prepared to withdraw, a flicker passed through the Ancient One's eyes, as if she were making up her mind about something.

"What? How dare that old geezer do this without asking me?"

As soon as he got back to S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony couldn't wait to ask Xia Ling why they had retreated. Xia Ling made no attempt to keep it secret and told him the reason outright.

The Commander-in-Chief had called Xia Ling and ordered him to end the operation against the Church of Dagon.

Xia Ling was happy enough to have someone offer peace, so he'd taken the opportunity to back down.

What could he say? Kaecilius really knew how to play it safe. He understood that when you got involved in this business, you needed connections until you were powerful enough to dominate everyone.

Otherwise, under the crushing fist of capitalism, no cult could get anything done.

But the retreat left someone dissatisfied.

The Playboy was furious. This was New York, his own backyard, and they'd made such a major decision without even consulting him?

Did they really think Tony, a major capitalist, was a nobody?

He wasn't like the Tony from the original timeline, who'd joined some stupid Avengers team.

The Tony of today was a heaven-appointed man, high above the rest—not some minion who'd joined a chuunibyou alliance!

"Sure, sure, you're amazing. If you've got what it takes, go deal with Red Hulk."

"Red Hulk? Hmph. If that's the next challenge we have to face, I'll gladly take it on. But first, I want to know why we've been treated with such contempt in this matter."

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, looking disdainful.

Still, Tony knew perfectly well that if he went after Red Hulk now, he'd probably be taken out by Red Hulk's underlings before he even got near him.

He'd have to wait until he'd upgraded his armor further—at the very least, until he'd built an anti-Red Hulk suit.

"Red Hulk was one of the main reasons the Commander-in-Chief ordered me to end the operation."

Tony furrowed his brow. It only took him a moment to figure out what Xia Ling meant.

The government couldn't handle him, so they wanted to use the Church of Dagon to deal with Red Hulk and his army?

"That's only one of the reasons."

As if he'd read Tony's mind, Xia Ling added that.

Tony's expression shifted uneasily. As one of America's major capitalists, he knew political and power games were far more complicated than the scientific inventions he loved.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil inside him, and stared at Xia Ling. "Then what are the other reasons? Surely we aren't giving up on taking down a cult just because of Red Hulk?"

"That's not something I can tell you."

Xia Ling spread his hands, looking thoroughly punchable. Tony felt his anger flare.

He was one of the masters of this country. What could there be that he wasn't allowed to know?

But Xia Ling clearly had no intention of telling him, so all Tony could do was stew in silence.

"Coulson, go ahead and say what's on your mind. There's no one else here."

Seeing Coulson hesitate, Xia Ling openly invited him to speak.

Coulson looked at Xia Ling, then at the others, and slowly began. "Director, can you tell us the truth? Are you really Yahweh's messenger?"

At Coulson's words, Tony immediately turned his head, forgetting his anger. Everyone else watched Xia Ling with curiosity.

"Why do you ask?"

Xia Ling neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply asked that in a calm voice.

"Because everyone just saw it. That evil Priest called Kaecilius pierced my chest right in front of us, but not long afterward, I came back to life."

Coulson paused and looked at everyone's reactions. They were all intensely curious about how he'd come back from the dead.

After all, as far as the public knew, only one being could bring someone back to life.

"When I was dead, in a daze, I saw—I saw the Lord. He said it wasn't my time to come here yet. He also told me to help His messenger and follow His lead.

"And right now, I'm following your orders, Director. So, are you Yahweh's messenger?"

As Coulson finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Xia Ling in unison.

If it was true, they'd have a lot more confidence when they went on missions. They could come back to life if they died, and even if they couldn't, they could go to heaven. Either way, it was a win.

"I—"

"Just admit it, Director Xia. You're Yahweh's messenger!"

Tony declared with absolute certainty, as if the evidence proved Xia Ling was a prophet. However...