A New Deal Comes Knocking

Alexander Pierce kept a solemn expression as he reached out and patted Nick Fury on the shoulder.

"Fury, don't worry. Even if something really happens, I'll still support you."

Nick Fury's expression remained grim, but he forced out a faint smile and thanked Pierce.

"Thank you for your trust, Pierce."

At that moment, Garrett, the Level Eight agent who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.

"Director, if we asked that Lucifer for help, would there be a chance to cure Director Carter?"

Nick Fury's eyes instantly lit up. If there was a chance to resolve this matter ahead of time, he had no desire to face the backlash from people within the agency.

He looked at Maria Hill.

"We can give it a try. Go talk to him."

Maria nodded without hesitation and immediately turned to leave.

Watching this, Pierce nodded inwardly in satisfaction.

Peggy Carter's accident had been orchestrated by him from the very beginning.

At Peggy's current age, this was the perfect opportunity to use the incident to test a few things.

At the same time, the entire affair would leave no trace of his involvement, allowing him to remain perfectly hidden behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, soft lighting filled the living room of Lu Xi's villa.

Lu Xi sat on the plush sofa, lost in deep thought.

He had discovered that ordinary nobodies simply could not trigger a reaction from his authority.

It seemed that if he wanted to grow stronger by collecting souls, he would need the souls of certain key figures.

Judging from the contrast in how brightly Tony's and Pepper's souls shone in his perception...

The value of a soul seemed to be positively correlated with that person's importance in the Marvel Universe.

This happened to align with the theory of converging worldlines that the Ancient One had once mentioned.

To put it in a more easily understood way, suppose the Marvel Universe were turned back into a movie.

Take Iron Man 1 alone. Supporting characters like Happy, the driver, and Dr. Yinsen...

Even if their scenes were cut entirely, it might leave a few minor plot holes and make the story feel a little rough, but it would not fundamentally affect the main plot.

But if Pepper Potts's scenes, or even Tony Stark's own scenes, were cut, then the movie would become completely unwatchable.

In Lu Xi's view, a person's importance to the plot was essentially equivalent to the value of their soul.

As he thought this over, he began selecting, one by one, the targets whose souls he would collect in the future.

Before he knew it, evening had fallen.

Maria Hill arrived outside the villa and watched as the gate slowly opened on its own.

She had already learned from the intelligence report that the gate here opened automatically.

So she showed no surprise and simply walked in with a calm expression.

When Maria reached the entrance of the villa, she saw Lucifer holding a feather and gesturing for Wanda and Pietro to try touching it.

Lu Xi had just painfully plucked out another feather.

He had thought that since Daisy had undergone a transformation because of the feather, perhaps Wanda and Pietro might also have a chance to transform.

However, the result was obvious. It was completely useless.

Seeing this, Maria spoke politely.

"Lord Lucifer, hello."

Hearing her voice, Lu Xi put away the feather, looked up at her, and smiled.

"It's you. Why didn't that Coulson from last time come?"

The two had met once at the suburban base, and Lu Xi had a fairly good impression of this beautiful agent.

Maria answered with a smile.

"He has matters to attend to lately and has been sent elsewhere on field duty."

Lu Xi nodded.

"Alright. So what is it this time?"

Maria's features were relatively soft, lacking the overly sharp look possessed by most white women, which suited his Eastern aesthetic rather well.

Besides, a beautiful woman was far more pleasing to the eye than bald Coulson.

Maria's smile faded slightly, and her expression turned serious.

"We have a very important person whose life is in danger. We would like to ask for your help in saving her."

Lu Xi raised an eyebrow and spoke with a hint of teasing.

"What can you offer this time? You should know that you still haven't settled the debt from last time."

Maria said sincerely.

"What do you want, sir? As long as it is within our ability, we will arrange it immediately."

Lu Xi pondered for a moment. Previously, he had felt that he lacked nothing, so he had asked S.H.I.E.L.D. for a condition as vague as a blank check.

But now that he had confirmed his goal of collecting souls, he had specific terms he could propose.

Lu Xi stared intently at Maria.

"What if I said I wanted the souls of some people in your S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Maria's expression changed instantly, and she asked in disbelief.

"What did you say? Are you serious, sir?"

Lu Xi remained calm as he replied flatly.

"You can trade me ownership of your souls. Once you die naturally, your souls will belong to me. That should be easy enough to understand, shouldn't it?"

Maria's thoughts churned violently. Her first instinct was to flatly reject this... utterly absurd request.

However, her instincts as an agent forced her to suppress her resistance. She decided to gather more information first.

Thus, she frowned slightly without giving anything away and asked.

"Sir, could you explain in detail what form this so-called soul transaction would take?"

The corners of Lu Xi's lips rose slightly. With a light wave of his hand, a flash of light appeared in the air, and a scroll-like contract radiating a mysterious aura slowly materialized.

"The terms of the transaction are right there for you to see."

Lu Xi raised a hand and pointed at the contract, speaking unhurriedly.

"This contract will not affect your lives in the present world in any way."

"It will merely change where your souls go after your lives come to an end."

Maria stared intently at the contract, her gaze cautious as she silently memorized every detail written on it.

Then she shook her head slightly and spoke with a helpless expression.

"Lord Lucifer, most members of S.H.I.E.L.D. have their own beliefs and their own understanding of where they will go after death."

"A transaction like yours will likely be difficult for everyone to accept."

Lu Xi shrugged indifferently, a faint smile on his face.

"It's fine. I won't force any of you. Everything will be entirely voluntary."

Maria looked troubled as she spoke earnestly.

"Sir, a transaction on this level is far beyond my authority. It is not something I can decide."

Lu Xi nodded, his tone carrying a trace of amusement.

"You can go back and report it to your superiors, then take your time discussing it. I'm not in a hurry."

Maria bit her lip, and a flash of anxiety crossed her face.

"But... that important person's life is hanging by a thread. There is no time to wait any longer. Could you change the condition this time?"

"Of course, we will definitely give you an answer regarding the soul transaction afterward."

Lu Xi was slightly stunned by her words, genuinely surprised.

He had proposed this condition fully expecting that they would most likely refuse.

After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. was ultimately just an intelligence agency. Everyone was merely working a job.

Who would be willing to sell their soul just because of work?

So he had only considered it a bit of advance groundwork, so that the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. could prepare themselves mentally.

Yet they were actually willing to consider it. That immediately stirred his intense curiosity.

Just who was important enough that they would even consider such an outrageous demand?