On a secluded street in Midtown Manhattan, New York, the area was renowned for its food. All kinds of cuisine were available to satisfy most food lovers in the world. Of course, the prices were definitely beyond what ordinary people could afford.
The area had relatively good public security, and its uniquely favorable commercial, financial, and investment environment had resulted in a fairly dense population. It was now lunchtime. The benches along the street and the restaurants were packed with all kinds of people. These elites, who had just gotten off work and were taking a break, or high-ranking executives from various companies, were enjoying their superior, comfortable lifestyles.
However, compared with the crowded conditions of the other shops, an ice cream parlor seemed rather unusual.
At present, there was only a little girl inside the shop, burying her head in a huge cup of ice cream. Even when the occasional passerby wanted to enter the shop and enjoy some summer coolness, the owner merely waved and shook his head, refusing them and informing them that his shop had been reserved for the day and would not be accepting other customers.
"Hi, hello! Is there anything unusual about the target?"
Not far from the shop, three people were sitting on a roadside bench. They were Phil Coulson, Melinda, and a nameless S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. As for the agent's name, there was no need to worry about it.
The person speaking was Coulson. He was holding two unusual gold coins, supposedly "exchanged" from the ice cream shop owner. In any case, the shop owner did not seem very happy about the exchange.
"Agent, so far, no! The target has been eating ice cream continuously from nine this morning until now. Oh, and some pastries as well. That's right—if I remember correctly, this should be her fourth cup."
The agent responsible for surveillance answered. He had just secretly done some calculations. Taking the local prices into account, he felt that the little girl had eaten the equivalent of a week's wages in a single morning! She really was a rich family's spoiled brat. An ordinary family truly could not afford to raise her!
"By the way, have you investigated these gold coins as well?"
Coulson toyed with one of the coins. He could not tell where the thing came from. Actually, he did not recognize a single one of the designs or characters on it, so he helplessly handed it to Melinda, who had been leaning over with apparent curiosity to take a look.
"Yes. We scanned the coins as soon as we obtained them this morning. The data model and material analysis have already been sent to headquarters' intelligence analysis department. However, according to their latest response, the comparison indicates that these gold coins do not belong to any type that has appeared in human history. At least, there is nothing identical or similar in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. Even our language experts have no idea what the writing on them means, but it is clearly not fabricated."
"Most importantly, sample testing shows that they are extremely ancient! They are even far older than the period of civilization in which humans began using gold coins. That is obviously impossible! So... you'd better see for yourself!" After speaking, the agent handed Coulson a communication device resembling a tablet computer. The latest information from the intelligence analysis department was displayed on it.
"All right. Perhaps we can have a proper talk with the little girl. Has she shown any emotional instability or violent tendencies?"
Coulson thought it over and decided to try directly contacting the target. That was also the main reason he and Melinda had come here. Looking at the dense crowd around them, he was a little worried. If contact went badly and the target became uncontrollable, things could become troublesome.
"No! From the time I received the order to follow the target until now, including after she entered this shop, she has done nothing but eat ice cream! She even paid for it." The agent answered honestly, glancing at the gold coin in Melinda's hand.
"Okay! I think I may know what to do." Coulson stood up and walked toward the ice cream shop. Melinda frowned, thought for a moment, and hurried after him.
"Wow! Ice cream is delicious! Tibbers? Do you want some too?"
Annie took a large spoonful of ice cream. This cup was strawberry flavored. She had already tried taro, chocolate, and cream! Apparently, there were many more flavors, but Annie was in no hurry. She had already paid the owner a large handful of gold coins, and he had said that all the ice cream in the shop belonged to her for the day!
That was wonderful news! When she left later, she absolutely had to pack some to take with her. About... a hundred cups' worth should be enough! Delicious food could soothe Annie's anxious and restless emotions. She could put going home aside for now.
"Oh! Sorry, Tibbers. I forgot that you can't eat." Annie looked at Tibbers, who had been tossed onto the chair beside her. It was her teddy bear.
That was right. To the eye, it looked exactly like a teddy bear. At least, that was what the shop owner thought. A little girl talking to her toy was perfectly normal. Although this girl was a little older than usual, who cared when there were gold coins involved?
Rich people's children really were loaded! The owner lightly touched the few gold coins in his pocket. The annoying part was that some law-enforcement department called something Bureau had forcibly taken two of them just now. Still, the rest were enough to exchange for a large sum of money! Perhaps he could even sell them as antiques. However, he was now a little worried about one thing: would the girl's parents send him a lawyer's letter once they found out?
(Master! That bald man and a female human auntie are coming over! I noticed them a long time ago! They whispered with that bad guy outside who has been watching you for ages. They must be bad guys too! Let me out so I can deal with them!)
Feeling the Mind Stone communication transmitted by Tibbers, Annie glanced at him but ignored him, continuing to eat her favorite ice cream.
"Little girl? Do you mind if Uncle and Auntie sit here?"
Annie had just finished talking to Tibbers and was about to eat another huge spoonful of ice cream when she suddenly noticed a man and a woman sitting beside her. The woman sat in the empty chair on the left, while the man sat in the chair on the right, where Tibbers had been. He casually picked up her teddy bear and toyed with it, grabbing both of its arms and tugging them back and forth while making what he thought was a funny gesture...
(Ah! Master! Let me out! I want to eat him! Eat him! He may look ugly, but after removing the head and feet, he should still be edible!)
Huh? Annie was a little surprised by what she saw. What was this somewhat bald, strange uncle doing? He—he actually dared to grab Tibbers and play with him like that?! Tibbers was a powerful Shadow Bear! After growing larger, he could slap an ancient dragon to the ground with one paw and leave it unable to get back up for half a day. The Shadowflame covering his body could burn everything around him to ashes.
Apart from Annie, no one had ever dared pick Tibbers up and play with him! Not even the Archmages of the Gray Order! No mage was stupid enough to let a Shadow Bear approach within ten yards of them, much less pick it up and toy with it. Of course, the Archmages of the Gray Order all knew what Annie's teddy bear really was. They would never court death like that.
"Uncle, are you a bad guy?" Annie sensed the emotional fluctuations transmitted by Tibbers and was somewhat uncertain. She looked at the bald, strange uncle and asked cutely around the spoon in her mouth.
"Oh! Of course not. Do I look like a bad guy?" Coulson replied, tugging the teddy bear again and making an even more exaggerated gesture. He even pulled a funny face at Annie.
"Oh, is that so? What a pity!" Annie carefully sensed the increasingly intense emotions coming from Tibbers and decided to ignore him.
She scooped up another large spoonful of ice cream and put it in her mouth. Her mother had said that she could not release Tibbers casually, nor could she casually burn people to death unless they were bad guys! This bald, strange uncle had a shifty smile. Although he did not look much like a good person, he had not yet reached the point where he had to be burned to death.
"What? What's a pity?"
Coulson and Melinda felt that they could not keep up with the little girl's train of thought. However, they had come to contact the target in the first place. Now that they had started talking, they naturally had to continue. Sometimes, important information slipped out in an opponent's careless words. A little girl speaking without thinking might reveal even more.
"Tibbers says he hates you. He wants me to let him out, and he says he'll bite your head off in one bite."
Annie took another bite of ice cream and turned to look at the bald, strange uncle. She suddenly felt rather sorry for him. If she had not been restraining Tibbers, his head would probably already have been bitten off.
"Tibbers? Who's Tibbers? Why... why does he want to bite off my... uh, head?"
Coulson felt a little embarrassed. If she had been an ordinary little girl, he would have assumed she was joking or babbling nonsense. But with this girl, he felt it was better to take her words seriously. Melinda's body had already tensed, as if she might attack at any moment, but Coulson signaled with his eyes for her to relax. Contact was proceeding smoothly, and things were nowhere near the point where an attack was necessary.
"The one in your hands is Tibbers!" Annie rolled her eyes at Coulson. He was holding Tibbers and asking who Tibbers was? How annoying! Thinking that, Annie lowered her head and focused on dealing with the ice cream in her cup.
"Uh... this teddy bear is called Tibbers? Ha-ha, you're quite a joker. Teddy bears can't bite people."
Coulson breathed a sigh of relief. How could a teddy bear bite someone? Perhaps she simply disliked other people touching her toys, just as he did not always let others touch his car. Even so, he carefully set the girl's toy down, unwilling to provoke her too much.
"I wasn't lying! Tibbers really can bite your head off in one bite! But I won't let him out." Annie thought for a moment, then reached out and pulled Tibbers into her arms, just in case they really did provoke him.
"Ha-ha..." Coulson decided it would be better not to argue with the little girl about this for now and quickly change the subject.
"So, little girl, can you tell me your name? We know each other now, don't we? I'm Coulson, Phil Coulson! And this beside me is Auntie Melinda."
"Um... Annie! My name is Annie!" Annie thought this strange uncle was a little bothersome and somewhat annoying.
Did he not know that he was interfering with her ice cream? Still, since he had introduced himself, Annie gave him her name. She had always considered herself a polite, well-behaved girl.
"Nice to meet you, Annie! So, where are your parents? Why is no one accompanying you? You didn't go home last night, did you? Perhaps we can help you find them and have them come take you home?"
Coulson quickly redirected the conversation toward the little girl's parents. His instincts told him this was a breakthrough. They could not find anything about the girl's background, but if they learned her parents' names, they might be able to locate more specific information.
"Can you tell me their names?"
"Oh?" Annie tilted her head and thought for a moment. She had been in this strange place for an entire day and night. She had clearly activated the coordinate-location spell, yet her father and mother still had not come looking for her. Perhaps these two strange people who had suddenly appeared might be able to help?
"My dad is Gregori Hastur, and my mom is Amoline!"
They had finally obtained some useful information! Melinda secretly gave Coulson a thumbs-up and quietly activated her portable device, intending to record the rest of the conversation in full.
"So, what do they do? Where do you live?" Coulson was afraid the little girl would not understand, so he hurriedly gestured. "For example, are they teachers, lawyers, drivers, or something like that?" However, Melinda disagreed inwardly. How could the parents of a beautifully dressed little girl who spent gold coins so casually be ordinary people like that? They had to be the chairman or president of some company, or members of a financial conglomerate.
Annie frowned. Teacher? Lawyer? Driver? What were those things? She clearly had a spell permanently cast on her that allowed her to understand languages, so why could she not understand him? Were they asking about occupations? Oh! Now she remembered!
"My dad is a Mystic Warlock! My mom is a Shadow Witch! We live in the Voodoo Lands." Annie bit her finger. That seemed to be all she knew. "The Voodoo Lands of Valoran! You must know where that is, right?"
"..." Coulson and Melinda felt certain they had misheard. Mystic Warlock? Shadow Witch? Voodoo Lands? What kind of nonsense was this? But when they thought of the scene in the photographs of the little girl setting three thugs on fire, Coulson and Melinda instinctively felt that she might actually be telling the truth.
"All right, let's put it another way. What organization do they work for?" Melinda took over and asked.
"Work?" Annie suddenly felt that the language-understanding spell was not working very well. The words spoken by these strange uncle and auntie were so difficult to understand! "Um... Dad is the leader of the Gray Order. Mom seems to be one of them too... Um, they work for the Gray Order? That's right! Dad is the most powerful Warlock on the Valoran Continent! Mom is also the most powerful witch on the Valoran Continent!"
The Gray Order? That sounded like the name of an organization. This was clearly important information! But what about the Valoran Continent? What was that supposed to be? Did Earth really have such a continent? Coulson and Melinda suddenly felt that if everything this girl named Annie said was true, S.H.I.E.L.D. absolutely could not deal with her the way it had dealt with Mutants in the past—capturing her and locking her in a freezer without a second thought. If they did that, they would probably cause immense trouble!
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