Oaks was very interested in what Coulson had said.
His mission was not yet complete, which meant that before he had revealed his ability to communicate with animals, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already taken an interest in other aspects of him.
"Then what had you originally expected of me?"
"Dr. Lin, I apologize for conducting a series of investigations into you. I trust you can understand."
Seeing Oaks nod slowly, Coulson finally relaxed. Oaks's importance in his eyes had skyrocketed.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had originally possessed technology capable of making humans or animals obey absolutely, it had been stolen by Soviet spies and even led to the creation of Black Widow. Oaks's ability was something entirely different:
"We found certain discrepancies between your public transportation records, entry and exit records, and your stated itinerary."
Though Coulson put it tactfully, Oaks immediately understood what he meant.
Going to the Amazon had saved him the trouble of applying for a visa and buying round-trip tickets.
"We can discuss that another time."
Oaks shook his head slightly. It was not yet time to lay his cards on the table with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I need to know your leader's attitude."
Oaks had never intended to conceal his abilities forever.
He could work himself to death and still be unable to rapidly strengthen Earth's Biosphere on his own.
Of all the Archdruids who could merge with the consciousness of the biosphere, which one had not cultivated for thousands upon thousands of years?
For Oaks, he had to draw upon official power and leverage as much of human society's strength as possible to rapidly restore and strengthen Earth's Biosphere.
Only then would he possess enough power to deal with the coming crisis before it arrived.
Even though he already possessed the Nature Force of half the Amazon Rainforest, the rainforest was only a tiny part of Earth's Biosphere as a whole.
Using such a small fulcrum to connect to the entire biosphere was not impossible. There simply was not enough time.
Therefore, throughout this process, he had to occupy a leading position.
In the eyes of Druids who controlled Nature Force, a planet's biosphere possessed "consciousness."
This did not refer to Mother Earth or the ancient god Gaia, but to the biosphere itself.
In fact, the concept of Gaia, or the broadly defined "Earth Mother Goddess," was known in scientific circles as the Gaia Hypothesis, derived from an important scientific theory proposed in the late 1960s.
The theory's creator was the British scientist James Lovelock, known as the World Environmental Science Master. In his theory, Earth was regarded as a "superorganism."
The biosphere's self-regulation was extremely similar to the self-regulation of living organisms.
This was an important scientific hypothesis demonstrating the existence of the biosphere's natural consciousness from a scientific perspective, and it was also a major guiding theory behind the rise of environmental protection efforts around the world.
The old man was nearly ninety, yet he ranked fourth on this year's list of the world's ten craziest scientists—because his hypothesis was too alarming, with many supporters and even more opponents.
But in the eyes of Oaks, a Druid, Lovelock was right—and if anything, he had been somewhat conservative.
During humanity's efforts to restore and strengthen Earth's Biosphere, this consciousness meant that Oaks, as the controller of Nature Force, could only quickly gain its blessing if he held a leading position.
This was also something Oaks had to achieve. There were countless night elf Druids, so why had only Malfurion received Elune's blessing?
Because he was the first Druid, the disciple of a Nature Demigod, sufficiently gifted, sufficiently long-lived in cultivation, and also the leader of all Druids.
Therefore, Oaks had to display his abilities and become a figure of immense prestige, both in the scientific community and throughout human society.
That was the troublesome part about advancing through a righteous power system.
Fortunately, it did not conflict with Oaks's true heart.
If he had not possessed a heart that loved nature, he would never have received this opportunity in this life.
He protected Earth's Biosphere, and Earth's Biosphere returned power to him. It was a win-win situation.
For all these reasons, he would have to lay his cards on the table with S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually.
But the timing and method were crucial.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had now been thoroughly infiltrated by Hydra, it was still publicly recognized as an organization that protected the world.
They could cooperate, but Oaks would never allow it to restrain him in any way.
So, he would use the chips already in hand to test Nick Fury's attitude.
Whether he would use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources to openly build his reputation and develop rapidly, or appear to stand alone while secretly building his own power through special means, would depend on his next meeting with the agents.
"I understand..."
Coulson realized that the other man wanted to end today's conversation.
However, he still had one more question.
"Dr. Lin, aside from this house, you seem to own another property."
Coulson stared intently into Oaks's eyes. In fact, this was the most important point of their mission—the social assessment of Oaks.
"That Ecological Test Site in Brooklyn's slums... honestly, I never expected that someone as low-key as you would possess such remarkable research results."
Though it sounded like praise, to Oaks it was clearly saying, "There's nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. can't uncover about you, so come clean."
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."
Oaks fell silent for a moment, folded his arms, and nodded.
"To be precise, I rented that place. If you hadn't allowed the landlord to rent it to me, that place would have been finished."
Little Rainforest had the ability to defend itself, but only against ordinary people.
It stood absolutely no chance against S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Melinda, who had remained silent until then, spoke up as well.
"Dr. Lin, perhaps you do not know... the outrageously high crime rate in the slums has dropped almost to zero around that Ecological Test Site!
It is a place that is almost eerily peaceful and orderly.
That is why I said those idiots at the NYPD should all resign—they had not noticed something so obvious!
And although your test site there has very strong defenses..."
Melinda paused before sighing with a complicated expression.
"Our agents spent a great deal of effort getting inside. I am sorry; they even used certain unconventional methods.
But when we learned the truth inside, I truly had to say, Dr. Lin, your achievements far exceed your current standing in academia.
What you have done for the slum residents... impressed us even more."
Melinda's evaluation of Oaks was exceptionally high.
"Unfortunately, I am not as noble as you think. It was merely an accident."
Oaks sighed. Originally, he had intended to use them as targets for human experimentation.
The strange situation at Little Rainforest had seemingly put his original plan to end the experiment on indefinite hold.
"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 statement caught Oaks off guard.
"A social force? What social force?"
"Of course, the social force you have at the Ecological Test Site."
Coulson frowned slightly. Oaks's expression did not seem fake.
"No, I do not have any social force over there."
For the first time, Oaks's expression turned grave.
Something seemed to have gone unexpectedly wrong.
Before you continue