The Watcher's Methods

The piercing pain did not last long. Once it faded, a new sensation emerged—a feeling of emptiness, as though some unknown thing had taken root inside his body.

"Watcher..." Shendu gritted his teeth and forced out the word.

Shendu lowered his head and looked at his hands. Orange-yellow light flowed through his palms. The gem had merged into his body, creating a wondrous resonance with the three talismans within him.

Shendu tried to activate this newly fused power, but the moment he did, he felt a sense of separation. His fusion with the gem was not perfect.

Shendu closed his eyes and tried to sense the Mind Stone's power. In an instant, the thoughts of everyone nearby flooded into his mind.

The old woman on the third floor was complaining that her neighbor's dog was too noisy;

The man on the fifth floor was considering how to propose to his girlfriend tomorrow;

The black man on the street corner was thinking about how to sell his "goods" at a high price.

It was too clear—abnormally clear.

Shendu tried to withdraw his power, but an intense pain suddenly erupted in his mind without warning.

Clutching his head, Shendu collapsed to the floor. It felt as if thousands of needles were stabbing into his brain.

The pain only faded more than ten seconds later.

Shendu sucked in a cold breath and opened his eyes. He now understood that feeling of separation. The Watcher had tampered with the Mind Stone. Unable to interfere with the world's workings directly, he could only resort to such little tricks.

This was not the first time.

Shendu had now discovered that every time he used the gem's power, he would suffer backlash. That backlash would worsen with each use.

"Nicely done." Shendu snorted coldly.

He tried to separate a trace of magic to inspect the situation inside his body, only to find spiderweb-like patterns appearing on the three talismans within him. The force of separation on the gem had also sealed away part of the talismans' power.

Just as Shendu was observing those patterns, police sirens outside the window interrupted his thoughts.

He walked to the window and saw several S.H.I.E.L.D. armored vehicles parked downstairs.

"Damn Watcher. Even with a concealment formation in place, the Mind Stone's energy still leaked out?"

Shendu clenched his fists. "My power is still insufficient. At present, I can only set up low-level formations."

Shendu released a faint psychic sense. The pain from before made him wary of using the gem's abilities too recklessly for the moment.

Even so, he caught Fury's thoughts.

"...The energy fluctuations are nearby, and they feel very similar to the Mind Stone. But the gem should be inside S.H.I.E.L.D. right now..."

Besides Fury, he also sensed Natasha and Steve at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, carrying out the plan.

Using the excuse that he had discovered suspicious individuals, Steve had taken a team to conduct a search farther away.

Natasha had "coincidentally" discovered a file on Chitauri spies in the archives and called an emergency meeting within the intelligence department.

Fury did not have many people available right now. A cold smile curled across Shendu's lips.

The sound of shattering glass came from the third floor, followed by three Chitauri soldiers jumping out from inside.

"Quick! Capture them!"

Fury directed the agents to charge at the three soldiers while he rushed upstairs himself. "The accommodations arranged for Valmont are on the fourth floor. Damn it, how did they know?"

When Fury arrived, he found Valmont slumped on the ground, with the corpses of two Chitauri soldiers lying before him.

"I didn't expect you to be this strong." Fury let out a breath of relief.

Shendu drew out his voice, sounding weak. "You only realized that now? Don't forget who detonated the nuclear missile during the Battle of New York."

Fury felt somewhat awkward. If it had not been for Valmont, that nuclear missile would have killed Steve and the others along with everything else. That might also have been one reason Valmont resisted joining S.H.I.E.L.D.

Shendu looked out the window. He had miscalculated earlier. Turning ordinary people into Chitauri soldiers resulted in bodies with poor physical fitness; they had already been crippled from jumping down the building.

Fortunately, Fury had not been present.

Fury was about to say something else when his communicator sounded. Natasha was reporting the situation of the meeting to him.

"Natasha, what did the meeting conclude?" Fury asked.

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then Fury heard Natasha's weary voice. "The situation is not optimistic. At least four senior officials have had contact with Chitauri remnants, but I feel there is someone behind them. For now, I can only narrow the investigation down to a surviving Hydra branch."

Fury frowned deeply. "Hydra? Since when did they become involved with the Chitauri?"

"That's what I was going to say." Natasha paused. "The files show a very strong connection, like someone deliberately left behind traces."

"Are you sure?" Fury asked.

"Steve's side is still keeping watch, but I don't think they can hold out much longer. Some of the higher-ups are still questioning the information in the files. We need you to issue an overall order now." Natasha lowered her voice, as though she were afraid the senior officials present might hear her.

Fury glanced at Shendu. "Do you need treatment?"

Shendu shook his head. "It looks like you have more important matters to deal with. I merely consumed too much power. I'll be fine after resting for a while."

Shendu "forced himself" upright. "I don't know why, but I keep feeling they came for me."

Fury fell into awkward silence again. He knew the Chitauri were driving a wedge between Valmont and S.H.I.E.L.D. Now that they had attacked directly, S.H.I.E.L.D. had yet to achieve anything in this matter.

He looked at Valmont's contemplative expression. It seemed to say, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't seem very capable.

Fury said nothing further. Leaving behind only a reminder to rest well, he hurried away.

After sensing Fury's departure, Shendu stood up again. The weakness in his eyes turned into disdain. "Ants of your level cannot establish a connection with me."

Shendu summoned the Monkey Talisman into his hand. The spiderweb-like marks on it had become even clearer.

When he had used the Monkey Talisman to turn those people into Chitauri soldiers earlier, he discovered that using the power of transformation allowed him to create memories and implant them into the people affected by the spell. Without a doubt, this was the result of the Monkey Talisman merging with the Mind Stone.

However, the marks on the talisman had deepened, and a small portion of the Monkey Talisman's ability had been sealed. While that portion was not particularly important, the impact would still be impossible to ignore if this continued too many times.

Shendu stared at the marks. "I am not a creature of this world either. Is the Watcher trying to tell me that the more I interfere with this world's powers, the greater the suppression I will face?"

"But so what?" Shendu put away the talisman.

Shendu walked to the window and looked in the direction of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Watcher's methods are indeed clever, but this level of suppression is not enough to make me stop."

"Earth, Asgard—sooner or later, all these places will become my dominion!"