S.H.I.E.L.D. Gets Involved

East London Port.

RUNICO Shipping Company warehouse!

A warehouse once piled with abandoned shipping containers and left unattended had, today, welcomed countless London police officers.

Police cars filled the surrounding area, and a ring of yellow caution tape had been put up.

"Agent Coulson, we've completely sealed off the warehouse, and all unrelated personnel nearby have been cleared out."

The potbellied police commissioner pulled a stiff, insincere smile across his fleshy face as he spoke to Coulson, who was dressed in a black suit.

"If there are no issues, we'll hand everything over to your S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle."

Coulson returned a professional fake smile. "Thank you for your support, Commissioner. We'll do our best to eliminate the anomaly here as soon as possible."

"Let's hope so."

The police commissioner adjusted his cap, then led the officers away.

The various cordons that had originally been guarded by the police were taken over by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

In the distance, a beautiful young girl emerged from the warehouse and waved toward them with a smile.

"Hey, Coulson. You finally showed up after making me wait so long."

The girl had blonde hair, blue eyes, and delicate features. A few scattered pimples dotted her fair face, making her look around fifteen or sixteen.

Yet the figure wrapped in her black combat suit was incredibly voluptuous, completely unlike what someone her age should have had.

At the very least, Coulson worried every time that her clothes might burst apart.

"Sorry, Yelena. Negotiating with John Bull's people delayed us for a while."

Coulson, old enough to be Yelena's father, quickly looked away and offered an embarrassed explanation.

Only then did he continue, "How are things here? Nothing unexpected happened, right?"

"What else could happen? It's just like the report said—there are some issues with the space and gravity here."

As she spoke, Yelena led Coulson and the others into the warehouse.

Five years had passed since she and her adoptive parents followed Nick Fury back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

The family had originally planned to hide their identities and return to being ordinary people, but Natasha's disappearance worried them, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been unusually attentive in checking on them.

So all three of them joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and became members of the organization.

Her mother, Melina, became a S.H.I.E.L.D. researcher and continued leading research into the items excavated from the ruins of the Red Room.

Her father, Alexei, was invited to join the Avengers Initiative because of his powerful physical abilities, helping safeguard Earth.

As for their daughter, Yelena, she returned to her old trade. With the brutal training she had undergone in the Red Room, she successfully became a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

She was also the youngest senior agent in S.H.I.E.L.D. history.

Due to the conditions the three had set for joining, as well as Nick Fury's concerns,

S.H.I.E.L.D. placed extraordinary importance on the missing Natasha and the Kamar-Taj she had inadvertently revealed, conducting searches almost worldwide.

Although Kamar-Taj was extremely well hidden, S.H.I.E.L.D., backed by the Security Council, had still identified several locations over the past five years.

Kathmandu, Tibet, New York, London, and Hong Kong.

They had found nothing in the first two places, and the locals had never even heard of a place called Kamar-Taj.

However, they had uncovered some clues in the latter three locations, identifying three strange buildings there.

Naturally, this was also why they frequently investigated those three places.

That was why, when this anomaly suddenly occurred, S.H.I.E.L.D. received word immediately and sent Yelena to begin the investigation ahead of them.

As they stepped into the enormous warehouse, they saw many discarded, scrapped vehicles and tools.

"It looks like an ordinary warehouse."

Coulson looked around for quite some time but found no abnormalities involving space or gravity.

"Ordinary? Then let me show you what isn't ordinary."

Yelena shrugged, then extended a slender finger and hooked the cargo rack beside her.

The cargo rack, which had been resting firmly on the ground, instantly floated into the air. Carried by the force of her gesture, it drifted toward the distant stairs.

It was as though it had no weight of its own—or as though something had erased its gravity!

"Oh, God. This really is serious."

After their initial surprise, Coulson and the others immediately turned much more solemn.

"I have a bad feeling. This could be another alien invasion, just like the one ten years ago."

Since everyone present was a mid- or senior-level agent, they more or less knew that an alien invasion had occurred in the past and had been resolved by Nick Fury.

So Coulson stated his suspicion directly, wanting everyone present to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"Agent Yelena, have you discovered anything else besides this?"

Sylvie, a bald man with glasses who looked like Professor Yi Xiaoxing, stepped past Coulson and took the initiative to ask.

"I suspect this anomaly may be caused by something similar to the Energy Cube in the agency. Only something like that could affect such a small area with such bizarre changes."

Sylvie, who held dual identities in Hydra and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Branch, probably never expected that his casual analysis had struck straight at the heart of the matter.

"Who the hell knows what caused it?" Yelena could not be bothered to analyze it with them and continued toward the stairs.

"There's also something wrong with the gap in this stairwell. Objects thrown into it will keep falling in an endless loop, but sometimes they vanish without a trace."

To prove her point, Yelena casually tossed a stone inside.

Then everyone watched as the stone, after falling to the bottom, returned from above and continued falling again.

Some curious agents tossed a few items in as well and found that it was exactly as Yelena had said.

One even took out several trackers and scattered them inside, but aside from the trackers that had not disappeared, the rest could not be located at all.

"Be careful. Don't use yourselves as test subjects. After all, we haven't changed like those objects since entering this place."

After offering that kind reminder, Yelena stopped in the corridor on one of the floors and pointed at the wooden boards blocking the door at the far end.

"If the changes outside were all caused by the influence, then this may be where the real source is."

"The real source!"

Everyone was immediately interested and stepped forward, wanting to pry open the wooden door and see what was inside.

However, Yelena remained where she was, grabbing the railing behind her with one hand and wearing a teasing expression.

"If you don't want to regret it, I suggest you only open a small crack."

Yelena's words made their outstretched hands freeze in midair.

"What exactly is inside?"

"You'll know once you take a look."

Remembering how she had nearly been sucked into the unknown place beyond that door earlier, Yelena felt unbalanced and wanted them to experience it too.

After exchanging glances, Sylvie stopped Coulson from going forward, then signaled for the others to open it.

Having received the order, several agents did not hesitate further and nervously used all their strength to pry apart the boards before them.

Whoosh—!

The instant the wooden boards opened, an overwhelming suction force appeared, making everyone unable to open their eyes.

Dust and scraps of paper scattered across the surrounding floor flew over at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint, shooting straight into the black gap that resembled an abyss.

"Damn it, close it!"

Sylvie's glasses were sucked from his nose as he desperately clung to the peeling wall, squinting and shouting at the top of his lungs.

But the agents had already reacted. As he shouted, they used every ounce of their strength to shut the boards.

The suction force instantly vanished. Everyone looked shaken, then turned in unison to look at Yelena.

Yelena snorted, raised both hands before her chest, and revealed her tattered specialized gloves and battered, scarred fingers.

"Don't look at me. To avoid getting sucked in, I had to claw my way out one step at a time while gripping the wall."

Damn impressive!

Admiration appeared on every agent's face.

Just as they were about to flatter her, a commotion suddenly erupted outside, accompanied by the sound of buildings collapsing.

Rumble!!!

Biu! Biu! Biu!

"Damn it, something crashed into the buildings and brought them down!"

"Unknown situation! Calling for backup! Requesting backup!"

"Everyone stay calm! Open fire and hold it back!"