Although Nick Fury knew Luo Xia never came without a reason, he hadn't expected him to open with such an outrageous demand. The Tesseract was now the only thing S.H.I.E.L.D. could still put on the table.
The energy extracted from the Tesseract and the weapons made with it were S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest source of strength. Its once widespread network of agents was now gradually being replaced by heroes from the Hero Association.
Whenever people ran into trouble, the first thing they thought of was calling a hero. And on the hero rankings, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who had once held every advantage, had gradually been squeezed out beyond the top two or three hundred.
There was no other reason than the gap in strength.
If a high-rise caught fire, calling a Mutant would bring someone who controlled water or fire. They could draw away the heat from the flames, then douse the area to cool it down, finishing the job in the blink of an eye. S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, meanwhile, could only put on fireproof gear and charge inside. They might fail to save anyone and end up dying themselves.
The only team that could still rank near the top was Coulson's Special Response Team. With Pokemon and Mutants among its members, its combat power and adaptability could barely compare to those of other heroes.
But building just this one team had already cost a great deal of money. No matter how lavish S.H.I.E.L.D. was, it could not establish several such teams. Too few would be meaningless, but too many, and S.H.I.E.L.D. might not even be able to pay their salaries.
Now Luo Xia was going after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s foundation itself, trying to take away the most valuable thing it possessed, while talking about a price suitable for a trade. The implication was clear: if