The Snake Talisman's Whereabouts

"What's going on now?"

"No idea. I heard there's a mole in the agency, and every department is being reviewed."

"A mole? How could there possibly be one in the agency?"

A row of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discussed the matter outside the interrogation room.

Natasha checked the time. There were still ten minutes until the brainwashing device finished recalibrating.

"Tony" watched Natasha's grim expression and did not say anything. Instead, he communicated with the ninjas outside the building.

After speaking with the ninjas outside, the corner of "Tony's" mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

Something really was going on inside S.H.I.E.L.D. The moment they heard there would be an investigation for a mole, someone had genuinely started to panic. What a lucky break.

According to the ninjas' reports, one S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had been acting suspiciously. The ninjas had followed him before, but lost him.

Shendu knew the Shadow Legion's capabilities. Anyone who could shake off the ninjas was definitely no ordinary person.

Sure enough, the ninjas had made a new discovery during their investigation. That agent could turn invisible.

After every shift change, the agent would go somewhere deserted and then vanish. Right now, he was among the people outside the interrogation room.

"I'll go take a look outside and calm them down while I'm at it." "Tony" informed Natasha, then walked straight out of the interrogation room without waiting for her response.

Natasha glanced at "Tony" but ignored him. There was not much time left before the interrogation anyway, and she did not believe he could cause any trouble.

"Tony" reached the interrogation room door and walked past the agents one by one. "Gentlemen, don't be nervous. It's just a simple interrogation."

"Don't be nervous."

"Tony" deliberately stopped in front of one agent and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Stark, thanks for the reminder, but I don't think saying that to me will do much good." The man shrugged, looking perfectly calm.

"Tony" ignored him. He had already confirmed it—the man carried the aura of the Snake Talisman, though it was faint. Clearly, he was not carrying the Snake Talisman on him right now.

"Line up. One at a time."

The equipment had finished being adjusted, and Steve stood at the door, signaling for the agents to get ready.

"Tony" also returned to the interrogation room. He listened as Natasha questioned the others without interrupting, until the agent he had noticed earlier entered the room.

"Name." Natasha's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Glenn Pitt." The agent's tone was equally calm.

"Age."

"Thirty."

"Have you noticed anything unusual while on patrol recently?"

"No. Everything's normal."

Natasha stared into his eyes, trying to find a flaw in his microexpressions.

There was none.

"All right. Go put that machine over there on your head." Natasha pointed at the brainwashing machine nearby.

The agent had just stood up when "Tony" stopped him. "Hold it! Don't use it yet. I have some questions for you first."

"Tony" walked up to the agent and pressed his face close to his. From Natasha's perspective, the two looked somewhat intimate.

"Agent Glenn, we meet again."

Glenn's mind abruptly went blank. What was this guy doing? They had first met outside the interrogation room just half an hour ago. Why was he acting as though they were familiar?

"Yes, we meet again, Mr. Stark." Glenn gave an awkward smile, doing his best to act like he knew Tony well.

"You knew each other before?" Steve asked from the side.

"Of course. I'd heard of his legend, so I made a point of paying him a visit outside just now." "Tony" looked at Glenn, who was seated in the interrogation chair. "Right, Agent Glenn?"

Glenn nodded. He had no other choice now.

"Legend?" Natasha was intrigued. "Tony's" behavior had been strange all along. He would not have brought this up for no reason.

"Yes, a legend that sounds hard to believe."

"Tony" made an exaggerated expression and spread his hands. "Have you ever heard of invisibility?"

Glenn's expression shifted slightly at "Tony's" words, but he quickly returned to normal.

Even so, Natasha noticed that fleeting change.

"Invisibility? Is there really such an ability?" Natasha asked cooperatively.

"Tony" waved a hand, looking unconcerned. "Who knows? It's only a rumor, after all. Isn't that right, Agent Glenn?"

"Tony" gripped both sides of the interrogation chair, his face moving closer and closer to Glenn's.

The interrogation room lights suddenly went out. To conceal the brainwashing operation, this room had originally been completely sealed. Now, it was pitch-black.

"What's going on?!"

Natasha's voice rang out from the darkness at once, accompanied by a powerful beam of light that illuminated the interrogation room.

The blinding beam made "Tony" unable to open his eyes. "Natasha, don't tell me you've been carrying around a high-powered flashlight this whole time!"

Natasha ignored "Tony's" teasing. Her gaze was fixed on the interrogation chair. It was empty!

"Where did he go?!" Natasha swept the high-powered flashlight around the room.

Steve reacted immediately, pressing his back firmly against the interrogation room door. If the man could really turn invisible, then since the door had not opened, Glenn had to still be in the room.

The power outage did not last long. Electricity was quickly restored to the interrogation room.

Natasha looked at the interrogation chair again to confirm it. It was empty.

"Tony" reacted as well and swung a fist at the chair, hitting nothing but air.

"Looks like the legend of invisibility is real."

"Tony" muttered, deliberately raising his voice so Natasha and Steve could hear him clearly.

"You knew all along who was causing problems inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha asked.

"Tony" waved a hand. "More or less. After all, it was pretty easy for my drones to monitor S.H.I.E.L.D.'s perimeter."

"If you knew already, why didn't you capture Glenn from the start?" Natasha continued.

"Tony" looked at the empty interrogation chair. "There must be more than one mole in S.H.I.E.L.D. With the agency's security measures, there must be several of them covering for each other."

Steve still braced himself tightly against the door, shield raised before his chest to guard against a sudden attack from the invisible person in the room. "You wanted to use this opportunity to draw them all out?"

"That's right." "Tony" admitted Steve's guess.

Natasha scanned the interrogation room. "Looks like you overplayed your hand."

"You can't put it that way. At least now we've confirmed that they can turn invisible, that there's more than one of them, and that one of them is still in this room."

"Tony" paused. "I think catching him in this sealed space won't be difficult."

"That may be true, but we still can't let our guard down. S.H.I.E.L.D. agent uniforms include combat knives. We can't guarantee he won't suddenly stab one of us from some direction." Natasha's tone was serious.

Bang!

A sharp sound came from outside the door, followed by Steve sucking in a breath.

A dart pierced through the lock and struck Steve in the arm.

Steve cried out in pain, his force against the door weakening slightly. Then he felt a massive force slam into the door and send him flying.

When he got up and looked outside, he found only the agents who had been waiting in line.

"Someone came to get him." Steve stared wide-eyed at the dart in his arm. The last time he had seen one was at Stark Tower.

He gave "Tony" a look, its meaning clear: You were right.

"Tony" merely nodded and hid a small box from his sleeve. Inside was an "ant."