Fury was the first to move.
Without looking at anyone, he walked to the corner and took out the black brick-like satellite phone. His back was straight, like a taut steel bar.
"It's me." His voice was low, but the tone of the command was very penetrating. "Activate the beacon protocol, highest priority. Clear the B-7 route, all airspace control. Yes, everything."
He didn't say why, and no explanation was needed. The person on the other end of the phone was only responsible for execution.
Chu Hang ignored him, walked to Maria and Monica, and squatted down. He looked into the little girl's eyes and said in a very soft voice, "Monica, are you sure you saw that office on the star on the computer?"
Monica nodded vigorously, there was no fear in his big eyes, he was all serious. "Yeah! That's the biggest computer in aunt Lawson's office! She even let me play Minesweeper."
"Very good." Chu Hang smiled and ruffled her hair, "You've been a big help."
Carol was holding on to the wall, her face still pale. She looked at the one-eyed dragon giving orders, and then at the tired General Skrull on the sofa. Finally, her eyes fell on Chu Hang.
Everything is in chaos. She has been fooled for six years.
"I..." She wanted to say something, but her throat seemed to be blocked by sand.
"We'll talk about what we want to say after we get the things." Chu Hang stood up and didn't let her continue, "It's time to leave now. Mr. Fury has already called the car."
Fury happened to hang up the phone and came back. He glanced at Talos, then at Carol, and finally said to Chu Hang, "The helicopter will arrive in fifteen minutes. From here to the old Project Pegasus base, it takes an hour and a half. The perimeter has been cleared, but the internal system is still running and needs to be cracked on site."
He spoke in a very calm tone, as if he was not the person who almost pulled out a gun just now. Only he knew that when talking to Chu Hang, he had to tense up his whole body in order not to show any timidity.
"It doesn't have to be that troublesome to crack." Chu Hang said, "We have the key."
He pointed at Monica.
Fury's one eye paused on the little girl for two seconds, and a trace of confusion flashed across his face. But he didn't ask. He had learned that when dealing with Chu Hang, don't use common sense to think about problems.
Fifteen minutes later, the roar of huge propellers came from far away. A Black Hawk helicopter, completely black and without any markings, was steadily hovering in the open space outside the house. The hatch slid open, and Phil·Coulson poked his head out and waved to them.
"Talos, you stay on the ground." Chu Hang said to General Skrull, "Keep your people in the ship and don't move. Mr. Fury, I think your men will be happy to help 'look after' this precious alien spacecraft, right?"
Fury twitched the corner of his mouth and said nothing. This was exactly what he wanted. A living General Skrull, a complete spaceship, this is a gold mine of intelligence falling from the sky.
Talos was a little hesitant. He looked at Chu Hang with a look that was non-negotiable. He finally nodded. He was not qualified to bargain.
"Maria, you and Monica are going too." Chu Hang said to the mother and daughter again.
"We?" Maria was stunned.
"Monica is the key, she must go. You have to accompany her." Chu Hang's reason is simple.
Finally, those who boarded the helicopter were Chu Hang, Carol, Maria, Monica, and Fury and Coulson representing S.H.I.E.L.D..
The helicopter took off and flew towards the depths of the desert.
No one spoke in the cabin.
Carol leaned against the window and looked at the rapidly regressing scenery below. The trees, houses, and roads were all shrunk into small blocks of color. She had overlooked the planet from a high altitude countless times before, but those were missions, targets, threats, and evacuation routes. This was the first time she looked like this. Like this, she simply looked at a world. This world that she was born in and was taken away from her. The memory was like a broken video tape, some blurry fragments flashed through. Sunshine, grass, and a woman's laughter. It was Doctor Lawson. Her heart began to throb again.
Fury folded his arms and closed his eyes. He was not sleeping, and his mind was running rapidly. Chu Hang, codenamed "Ghost", ability evaluation: unknown, threat level: highest. This man is not a chess piece, he is the chessboard itself. He can change the rules at will. Avengers Initiative, looks like a joke in front of him. But the opportunity is right in front of him, Skrull, Lightspeed Engine technology, Carol... These are S.H.I.E.L.D.'s springboard to the universe. The risks are huge, and the benefits are equally huge. He must bet.
Coulson sat among them, feeling like a mortal who had strayed into a fight between gods. He quietly glanced at Chu Hang, who was leaning on a chair with his eyes closed, as if he was really asleep. But Coulson always felt that even if he fell asleep, he would be more dangerous than all the people who were awake.
An hour and a half later, the helicopter landed in a desert.
In the distance, a huge, half-buried concrete building complex lies on the sand, like a stranded steel beast. That is the old base of Project Pegasus. A place that once hid mankind's most high-tech secrets, but is now almost abandoned.
Several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were already waiting at the entrance. When they saw Fury, they immediately saluted, and then secretly looked at Carol and Chu Hang behind him with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. The order they received was to "clear the place," but no one told them who they were to greet.
"Sir, the internal physical isolation has been lifted, but the central system still has independent biometric encryption and password locks." A technical agent reported to Fury.
"Take us to Doctor Lawson's office." Fury said.
The corridor is very long and glows with cold metal. The air is full of dust and the smell of old machinery. The emergency lights are still flashing, stretching the shadows of people on the wall.
Carol walked down this corridor, her steps a little weak. She remembered this place. She and Lawson had an argument about an engine parameter here, and Lawson said she was too stubborn. She also remembered drinking in the lounge. Lawson always liked to add two cubes of sugar to the unpleasant instant coffee. These trivial memories, belonging to "Carol·Dan Vers", came like a tide, making her feel strange and heartbroken.
Soon, they arrived at a heavy metal door. On the door was written "Dr. Mar-Vell's Chief Research Laboratory".
"This is it." Carol said softly.
Coulson came forward with two technical agents and started working on the control panel next to the door. Codes scrolled rapidly on the screen.
"No, sir." A few minutes later, the technical agent was sweating profusely, "Triple encryption, our cracking process will take at least three hours."
Fury frowned.
"Get out of the way."
Chu Hang walked over. He didn't look at the complicated control panel and directly pressed his hand on the metal door.
Buzz.
There was a low muffled sound.
No changes can be seen on the surface of the metal door under Chu Hang's palm. But inside the door lock, those precision gears and lock pins made of special alloys are groaning in pain. They are being forcibly twisted, crushed, and reorganized by an invisible force.
"Click."
There was a crisp sound and the door opened.
The whole process takes less than three seconds.
The two technical agents stared blankly at this scene with their mouths open. They felt that all the knowledge they had learned in ten years of hard work had been pushed to the ground and stepped on hard.
Fury's eyelids twitched. He held back his words and just made a gesture to signal everyone to come in.
When I opened the door, a dusty atmosphere hit my face. The office was large and filled with all kinds of equipment that seemed to be somewhat outdated now. Everything was still the same as it was six years ago, but it was covered with a layer of dust.
"That's the one!" Monica broke free from his mother's hand, ran to the corner of the room, and pointed at an old-fashioned computer with a huge spherical display.
Coulson immediately led people to rush over and connect the equipment.
When the computer is turned on, a password input box pops up on the screen. There is also a line of small words below: Three errors, and the system will be permanently locked and all data will be formatted.
"Damn it!" Coulson cursed in a low voice.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats.
"Monica," Carol squatted down and spoke in a soft voice, "Do you remember... how Aunt Lawson turned on the computer? Did she do any special actions?"
The little girl tilted her head and tried to remember, her brows furrowed tightly.
"I... I don't remember the password. But..." There was a trace of confusion on her little face, "Every time Aunt Lawson turns on the computer, she will touch the one on the table... that horse with wings..."
Everyone's eyes moved to the desk. On the corner of the desk, there was a half-old wooden sculpture of a Pegasus.
Coulson immediately picked up the wood carving and checked it over and over, trying to find some hidden switch.
"It's not like that." Monica shook his head, "She just... touched her."
Fury's brows furrowed even deeper.
Chu Hang walked over. He glanced at the wood carving, then at the computer screen, and then said to Monica, "Come and try."
He picked up the little girl and sat her on the chair.
"Just like what Aunt Lawson did in your memory."
Monica nodded in understanding. She stretched out her little hand, imitating the look in her memory, and gently touched the wings of the Pegasus wooden carving.
Then, she turned her head, looked at the keyboard, hesitated, stretched out her little index finger, and typed three letters.
S-K-Y.
sky.
She pressed the enter key.
The password box on the screen disappeared. A deep starry sky wallpaper appeared in front of everyone.
Success!
Coulson and his men suppressed a burst of cheers. Carol hugged Monica excitedly and kissed her on the forehead.
Fury looked at this scene with complicated eyes. The top technology and the most professional agents were helpless. In the end, they were solved by a child with the purest memory. This is so ironic.
Coulson soon found a multiple-encrypted folder on the computer. The name of the folder was "Home".
He started the intense cracking work again.
This time, Chu Hang did not take action. He just stood aside and watched them busy. He knew that the final key was still with Monica.
Sure enough, after trying more than a dozen solutions but failing, Coulson once again reached a deadlock.
"Monica," Carol asked for help again, "Do you remember anything else? About this folder?"
Monica looked at the icon of the small house on the screen, thought about it, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
"I know! When Aunt Lawson opens it, she will sing!"
"Singing?"
"Yeah! She can sing... Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, the sky is full of little stars..."
Coulson was stunned. He turned his head and looked at Fury with a look like "Are you kidding me?"
Fury's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He felt that his IQ was being repeatedly humiliated.
"Voiceprint password." Chu Hang leaned against the wall and spoke calmly, "Let her sing."
In the eyes of everyone, who were either expecting or doubting, Monica cleared her throat and sang into the computer microphone in her immature, slightly off-key child voice.
"Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle..."
The moment she sang the first lyric, the "Home" folder on the screen automatically opened.
There is only one file in it.
a coordinate.
A long list of numbers and symbols that points to orbital coordinates of an unknown location deep in the universe.
Found it!
Fury's eyes lit up instantly. He didn't even have time to feel the joy. Almost at the same time he saw the coordinates, he picked up his satellite phone again.
This time, there was a trace of irrepressible excitement and determination in his voice.
"Pick me up Quatermain. Start the 'Quinjet' prototype. I don't care which test stage it is in. Within an hour, I want it to be filled with fuel and waiting for me in the hangar."
After hanging up the phone, Fury looked at Chu Hang. He knew that next, it was the stage for Chu Hang and Carol. S.H.I.E.L.D. could only watch from the ground.
"Very good." Chu Hang nodded, "Coulson, take Maria and Monica back to the helicopter first. It will be very lively here."
Coulson immediately took the order and escorted the mother and daughter away.
Only Chu Hang, Carol and Fury are left in the office.
"I got the coordinates you asked for." Fury looked at Chu Hang, "The plane you asked for is also ready. Now, is it time to tell me your next plan?"
"My plan?" Chu Hang laughed, "My plan is that there is no plan. I am just an audience. The real protagonist is her."
He pointed at Carol.
Carol took a deep breath, and his eyes became extremely determined. "I want to go up, find the laboratory, and then go to Kree to settle this account."
"Very good." Fury nodded, and he looked at Chu Hang, "Aren't you going up?"
"Of course." Chu Hang said, "I have to ensure that she doesn't dismantle the laboratory in a hurry. In addition, Talos also has to go, and he has to confirm the coordinates with his own eyes."
Fury frowned. "Let a Skrull board S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most advanced aircraft?"
"Is there a problem?" Chu Hang asked back, "Director Fury, you have to figure it out. Now is not the time for you to make conditions. You are just a venue provider. Besides, aren't you curious about Skrull's expression when he sees the highest technology in mankind? This is first-hand information."
Fury was choked and speechless. He found that he would never have the upper hand when talking to Chu Hang.
"Okay." He finally compromised, "I will make arrangements. But the ground command must be in my hands."
"Whatever." Chu Hang shrugged indifferently.
The three of them walked out of the office and walked towards the secret hangar deep in the base.
Before boarding the plane, Chu Hang suddenly stopped, turned around, and said something to Fury who was following behind.
"Director Fury."
"What?"
"Your 'Avengers' plan is a good idea." Chu Hang's tone was very calm, as if he was evaluating a dish, "Find some special people to fight some special battles. But you have to remember one thing."
He took a step forward, leaned into Fury's ear, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear:
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket. And don't think that the trump card you find is the biggest card on the table."
After saying that, he patted Fury on the shoulder, turned around and boarded the sci-fi-looking Quinjet.