Action Plan Against S.H.I.E.L.D.

Oaks found Coulson's explanation intriguing.

The fact that his mission wasn't over meant that, even before revealing his ability to communicate with animals, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already taken an interest in other aspects of him.

"So, what else did you originally expect from me?"

"Dr. Lin, I apologize for the extensive investigation we conducted on you. I trust you can understand why."

Seeing Oaks nod slowly, Coulson breathed a sigh of relief. In his eyes, Oaks's importance had just skyrocketed.

Though S.H.I.E.L.D. once had technology to enforce absolute obedience from humans or animals, it was stolen by Soviet spies, leading to the creation of Black Widow. But Oaks's ability was entirely different:

"We noticed discrepancies between your public transit records, entry-exit information, and your actual itinerary."

Even though Coulson phrased it delicately, Oaks immediately grasped his meaning.

The downside of skipping visas and round-trip tickets to the Amazon.

"We'll discuss this another time."

Oaks shook his head slightly. Now wasn't the time to lay his cards on the table with S.H.I.E.L.D.:

"I need to know your leadership's stance."

Oaks had never planned to hide his abilities forever.

Relying on himself alone, he'd exhaust himself to death without rapidly advancing Earth's biosphere.

Which of those Archdruids capable of merging with the biosphere's consciousness hadn't cultivated for tens of thousands of years?

For Oaks, he had to leverage official power, mobilizing as much of human society as possible to quickly repair and strengthen Earth's biosphere.

Only then could he amass enough capability to face the coming crisis.

Even with half the Amazon Rainforest's natural power, compared to the entire Earth's biosphere, the rainforest was just a tiny fraction.

Linking the whole biosphere through such a small fulcrum wasn't impossible—it was too slow.

So, in this process, he had to take the lead.

To a Druid wielding natural power, a planet's biosphere possessed "consciousness."

Not a Mother Earth or ancient Gaia, but the biosphere itself.

In fact, the concept of Gaia—broadly defined as the "Earth Mother Goddess"—is known in science as the "Gaia Hypothesis," derived from a major scientific theory of the late 1960s.

Its proponent was British scientist James Lovelock, hailed as a world authority on environmental science. In his hypothesis, Earth is viewed as a "superorganism."

The biosphere's self-regulation is strikingly similar to an organism's self-regulation.

This is a key scientific hypothesis demonstrating the biosphere's natural consciousness from a scientific angle, and a guiding theory behind today's global environmental movement.

Now nearly ninety, the old man ranked fourth in this year's list of the world's ten craziest scientists—because his hypothesis was too startling, with as many supporters as opponents.

In Oaks's eyes as a Druid, Lovelock was right—even a bit conservative.

This consciousness of Earth's biosphere meant that, during humanity's efforts to repair and strengthen it, Oaks, as a wielder of natural power, could only gain "Its" blessing quickly if he held a dominant position.

This was something Oaks had to achieve. Just as there were countless night elf Druids, why was Malfurion the only one blessed by Azeroth?

Because he was the first Druid, disciple of a demigod of nature, brilliant enough, trained long enough, and the leader of all Druids.

Thus, Oaks had to showcase his abilities and become a figure of immense prestige, both in the scientific community and human society.

Raising a positive power system was this troublesome.

But fortunately, it didn't conflict with Oaks's true intentions.

Without a heart that loved nature, he wouldn't have earned this second chance.

He protected Earth's biosphere, and it gave him power in return—a win-win situation.

For all these reasons, he would eventually have to lay his cards on the table with S.H.I.E.L.D.

But timing and method were key.

Though S.H.I.E.L.D. was now thoroughly infiltrated by Hydra, it remained the world's visible guardian organization.

He could cooperate, but he wouldn't be constrained by it in any way.

So, he had to use his current leverage to test Nick Fury's stance.

Whether to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources to openly and quickly build prestige, or to stay ostensibly alone and secretly build power through special means, depended on his next meeting with the agents.

"I understand..."

Coulson realized the other party wanted to end today's conversation.

But he still had one question.

"Dr. Lin, besides this house, you seem to have another property."

Coulson stared intently into Oaks's eyes. In truth, this was the most critical point of their mission—a social assessment of Oaks.

"That Ecological Test Site in the Brooklyn Slums. Honestly, I never imagined someone so low-key could possess such groundbreaking research."

Though it sounded like praise, to Oaks, it meant "There's nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. can't find out about you, so come clean."

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Oaks was silent for a moment, then crossed his arms and nodded:

"To be precise, I rented that place. If you stop the landlord from leasing it to me, it'll go to waste."

Little Rainforest had self-defense capabilities, but only enough to handle ordinary people.

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents? Absolutely unstoppable.

Melinda, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up:

"Dr. Lin, you might not know this... the crime rate in the Slums is notoriously sky-high, but around that Ecological Test Site, it's nearly dropped to zero!

That place is almost eerily peaceful and orderly.

So I say those idiots at the NYPD should all resign—they didn't even notice something this obvious!

And your test site there, though heavily fortified..."

Melinda paused, then sighed with a complicated expression:

"Our agents went to great lengths to get inside. I'm sorry to say, they even used some unconventional methods.

But when we learned the truth inside, I really have to say, Dr. Lin, your achievements far surpass your current standing in academia.

What you've done for the Slum residents... it leaves us even more in awe."

Melinda's assessment of Oaks was remarkably high.

"Unfortunately, I'm not as noble as you think. That was just an accident."

Oaks sighed. Originally, he had intended to use them as human test subjects.

The bizarre situation that had created "Little Rainforest" had indefinitely shelved his original plan to end the experiment.

"But Dr. Lin, I hope you understand that building a social force of this scale has made our assessment of you uncertain."

Coulson's sudden remark caught Oaks off guard:

"Social force? What social force?"

"The social force at your Ecological Test Site, of course."

Coulson frowned slightly. Oaks' expression didn't seem fake.

"No, I have no social force there."

For the first time, Oaks' face grew serious.

It seemed things were a bit more unexpected than he'd thought.