I Really Am a Demon

Deep in the alley stood an abandoned hospital. It had been blown apart by a Leviathan during the previous battle. Judging by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s repair progress, it would still take several days before they reached this place.

Shendu summoned a ninja and had him keep watch from the shadows.

He placed the ant in a room inside the abandoned hospital. The Monkey Talisman activated, and Glenn appeared before him.

"Where is this? Where's Mr. Stark?" Glenn looked around in panic. The environment was unfamiliar, and so was the man before him.

Glenn still remembered the instant "Tony" had turned him into an ant. It was a power he had never seen before.

"Relax. There's no one around. I have a few questions for you."

Shendu walked up to Glenn. He was not worried that the man would run, nor had he tied him up.

"Who are you?"

Glenn stared at Shendu and tried to move, only to find that he could barely control his limbs. Having changed back from an ant into a human, he needed time to adjust to his restored body.

Shendu ignored Glenn's question. He pulled over a chair and sat down. "Have you ever seen someone who could turn invisible?"

Glenn froze. He recalled that "Tony" had said something similar before. Had S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered something?

He had heard that S.H.I.E.L.D. had a group of special agents assigned to missions they could not handle openly. The man before him was very likely one of them.

"No. I've never even heard of such a person." Glenn's gaze was resolute.

Shendu had expected that answer and was in no hurry. "I heard S.H.I.E.L.D. agents all undergo endurance training. I wonder what level you were at back then."

Glenn watched as the man placed a large fly plushie before him. Then came a buzzing sound, and the fly plushie began to move. More accurately, it came to life.

Glenn stared at the fly, which was as large as his head. Its mouthparts kept hovering over his face, making his scalp tingle. He simply shut his eyes and refused to look.

Shendu was in no hurry as he watched. He had never expected to make the man talk with just one method. If this alone could break him, then S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were far too unimpressive.

Glenn silently counted time in his head. When he felt he could roughly control his body again, he tried to raise an arm, only to discover that he could not lift it no matter what.

He cracked his eyes open and saw that part of his arm had turned to stone. Shendu was using a small knife to slowly cut away the fingers behind the petrified section.

Because part of his arm had been petrified, he could not feel any pain at all. He could only watch helplessly as Shendu dismembered him.

"What are you doing?!" Glenn ignored the fly on his face and stared wide-eyed.

Seeing Glenn open his eyes, Shendu activated the talisman and restored that section of stone to normal. Intense pain instantly slammed into Glenn's brain, and he cried out with his mouth wide open.

The fly seized the opportunity to thrust its mouthparts into Glenn's mouth.

Glenn recoiled and swatted the fly away with his other hand before violently vomiting.

Shendu caught the fly and turned it back into a plushie. "So, do you want to talk now?"

Glenn said nothing, only glaring at Shendu.

"Do you know about the uncanny valley effect?" Shendu suddenly asked. "Tell me, if someone who looked exactly like you appeared, could he completely replace you?"

After thinking for a moment, Shendu continued, "I remember you have a wife and a three-year-old daughter, right?"

"What are you going to do? If you dare lay a hand on them, I'll never let you go!" Glenn roared hysterically.

Shendu waved a hand. "Relax. I won't be the one laying a hand on them."

Glenn saw Shendu take another box from his pocket. Inside was a white maggot.

Shendu placed the maggot on the ground. Glenn watched as its body changed, growing larger and longer, sprouting limbs, until it finally became a human—one who looked exactly like him.

"Guess what? If I leave this 'you' at your doorstep, will your wife and child mistake it for you?"

Shendu looked at the "Glenn" crawling across the floor, his tone provocative. "Will they truly take this maggot for you and let it become the father of the family?"

Killing intent filled Glenn's eyes. "You're truly a demon."

"Just imagine it. Your daughter clinging to a 'maggot father' and crying her eyes out. Your wife will only think you suffered a serious attack during a mission, while you can only stand by as an outsider and watch a maggot completely replace you."

The more Shendu spoke, the more excited he became. Ever since coming to this world, he had constantly suppressed his demonic instincts. It had been a long time since he had felt the thrill of doing evil.

"Demon, you'll go to hell for this!" Glenn roared.

"Hell? Actually, I really am a demon." Shendu's tone was sincere, but to Glenn, the man before him only seemed insane.

Glenn felt sick as he looked at the "maggot Glenn" on the floor. Thinking that what Shendu described could truly happen, the last line of defense in his heart crumbled.

"Fine, I'll talk. But you have to guarantee that nothing happens to my wife and child," Glenn said weakly.

Shendu raised an eyebrow slightly. "You don't seem to understand the situation. You're negotiating with me?"

"Yes. I'll trade the intelligence you need for it." Glenn forced himself to sound as imposing as possible.

Shendu considered it briefly. "Fine. I agree."

Glenn took a deep breath and revealed what he knew. "During a previous mission, my partner got a stone from a robber. There was a snake drawn on it."

"During later operations, we discovered that the stone could make us invisible. We thought it was our chance to become senior agents."

"But there was only one stone. I wanted it for myself, so one night, I killed that partner."

"So you hid the stone?" Shendu asked.

Glenn lowered his head, as though regretting what he had done. "No. The stone isn't with me now. Just a few days after I got it, Agent Natasha found out. She took the stone from me."

Natasha? Shendu thought of what had happened in the interrogation room yesterday. Her behavior had been perfectly natural, without the slightest flaw. Even when they later captured the invisible Glenn, she had revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

Shendu frowned deeply. He clearly remembered that he had not sensed the Snake Talisman's aura on Natasha at all.

There was only one possibility: she had never used the Snake Talisman after obtaining it.

"That's all I know. If you want more information, you'll have to find Agent Natasha," Glenn said, interrupting Shendu's thoughts.

After thinking for a moment, Glenn added, "Since you just promised to protect my wife and child, I'll tell you one more thing. There's something wrong with Agent Natasha."