Beware Your Own Backyard

Coulson's expression immediately turned grave.

This was no small matter. According to Richard, the creature called a Space Beast that had appeared early yesterday morning was only the beginning. There might be many more such creatures in the future. And judging by the current situation, humanity's conventional weapons were basically ineffective against them. This was already a disaster serious enough to shock the entire world.

Coulson could no longer remain calm. "You're saying there will be many more monsters like that 'Space Beast' from yesterday?"

"No." Richard shook his head and said solemnly, "I mean there may be even more powerful ones in the future. Yesterday's was only a low-level Space Beast with relatively weak combat ability. At most, it was an appetizer."

Coulson nearly spat blood. A monster with hide like armor and limitless strength was only an appetizer? Why not just tell me what kind of Space Beast was the most badass? One that could swallow nuclear bombs whole?

Seeing Coulson's shocked expression, Richard could not help curling his lip.

That scared him already? I haven't even told him that all Space Beasts are small fry. The real bosses haven't shown themselves yet.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. learned that something like Dark Zagi might exist as well, who knew how badly they would panic.

But Richard did not say any of that. After all, he was not certain himself, and saying it would not help. If Dark Zagi truly existed in this world, Richard did not expect anyone to be able to help him fight Zagi. There were always some things one had to face alone. No one could do it for you.

"So if I were you, Agent Coulson," Richard continued, "I would start preparing now. A storm is already close at hand, and I'm not referring only to the Space Beasts."

"All... right. I admit that what you've said is extremely important, Mr. Li," Coulson said. "I think it would be best if you came with me and spoke to our director. There are some things that aren't mine to decide, and I..."

"No need." Richard waved a hand. "You seem reliable and responsible, so I trust you can convey the information accurately to your director."

Meet the director? Who would want to meet that bald bastard for no reason?

He was the king of spies, the greatest living master of lying with his eyes open. Just being in the same room as someone like that made people uncomfortable.

Coulson hesitated. Logically speaking, something this significant really did require the other party to speak with Fury. Under normal circumstances, judging by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s style, they would not even bother asking. They would just throw a hood over him, abduct him, and drag him before Fury. But that clearly would not work now. What if he got angry, grew huge, and slapped their S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier out of the sky...

Richard leaned back in his executive chair. "If there's nothing else, then let's leave it at that for today, Agent Coulson. Please convey my regards to your director. I'm very busy."

He really was busy. This week's episode of Prison Break had been released today. If Coulson had not come to interrupt him, he would have nearly finished watching it by now.

Richard was starting to regret not realizing how good Prison Break was before he transmigrated. Back when he could watch all five seasons of Prison Break for free, he had not cherished the opportunity. Now, like everyone else, he had to miserably wait for one episode a week while following season four...

"All right." Since his mission was more or less complete, Agent Coulson decided to take his leave and return to report in. Before leaving, he said, "There's one more thing. Regarding the Space Beasts, I hope you won't tell anyone for the time being, or publish anything in the newspapers..."

Richard rolled his eyes at him. "Don't worry, Agent Coulson. If I wanted to publish it, the Space Beasts would already be today's headlines. I won't make their existence public."

It was not that he did not want to. He simply could not do so.

According to the original story's setting, Space Beasts were creatures that fed on fear. They could grow stronger by devouring it. In the original TV series, to contain the situation, the authorities had established a department called the Memory Police to erase the memories of victims connected to Space Beasts, suppress information, and prevent ordinary people from panicking after learning of their appearance.

"Then thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Li." Coulson rose to his feet. "If anything else comes up, we'll contact you again."

Richard waved at him. But when Coulson reached the door, Richard suddenly asked, "By the way, that handsome young guy who came with you last time—didn't he come today?"

Coulson paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Agent Ward? He was injured during yesterday's mission and is receiving treatment today. But like me, he is deeply grateful for saving our lives last night."

"Oh." Richard nodded. "A word of advice, Agent Coulson. Keep an eye on your own backyard. Sometimes our greatest enemy isn't someone else. It's ourselves."

Coulson was utterly confused, but he vaguely sensed that what Richard meant might be no trivial matter. "What do you mean?"

"You'll understand sooner or later." Richard waved him off, making it clear that he was being dismissed.

Coulson was still completely baffled, but he did not ask further questions and soon left.

He had only said that to give Nick Fury a warning. Fury was a shrewd man, after all. From the movies, it seemed that before the Insight Project, he had more or less noticed signs that his own backyard was harboring a nest of spies. A small reminder might let him realize the problem sooner.

As for directly telling them that Hydra had not actually died out? Well, first of all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s people would definitely not believe him if he said it outright. And searching for clues and evidence would be too much trouble. Richard could not be bothered to wade into that mess. Even if S.H.I.E.L.D.'s backyard turned completely upside down, it had nothing to do with him. He enjoyed watching the chaos, and perhaps if his newspaper got the scoop, it could make a killing.

Watching Coulson cross the street and get into the sedan parked opposite through the newspaper office window, Richard let out a long sigh.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was nervous about the Space Beasts, but wasn't he just as worried?

Not to mention dark Ultramen like Dark Zagi and Mephisto—even some of the powerful Space Beasts from the later parts of the TV series were beyond what he could handle in Nexus's juvenile form.

So he needed power. He needed to become stronger.

But how?

Noah's power could continuously evolve and grow stronger; that had already been proven. When he had first transmigrated into this world, the light within him could not even support a transformation. Only three months later had he been able to transform into a human-sized Nexus, and now he could already assume a fifty-meter form.

But he had no idea whether his growth rate would be fast enough if this continued.

Richard had no clue how to awaken his power faster. It did not seem like something that could be accomplished through training or hard work. Fortunately, he was in the Marvel Universe, where cheat powers were everywhere. For now, it seemed he could only set his sights on the local specialty cheat powers to improve his strength.

For example, it would be nice if he could get one or two Infinity Stones... Wait, wasn't there just such a Stone on Earth? And wasn't it far away yet right before his eyes, currently in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands...