Stare and Get Pregnant

Clack—clack—clack.

A series of strange mechanical sounds rang out as the lock sealing the Book of Kino opened.

With a flick of his hand through the air, the pages began fluttering rapidly.

"Oh, you'll do."

Having found his target, Kino pressed down lightly with his large hand, and the flipping pages immediately stopped.

Nick Fury saw that the open page was black. Was this dark magic?

"@&%@￥%&￥%#￥&...@@%!"

After a chant in some obscure, incomprehensible language, a bug fluttered out from the black page.

Of course, Kino was deliberately putting on an impressive act. There was no ancient magical language at all; it was all just for show!

At the sight of that disgusting bug, Maria Hill hurriedly covered her mouth, bent over, and began dry-heaving.

"No way, we haven't even had time to exchange bodily fluids, and you're already pregnant?"

Maria Hill turned around and glared at him before continuing to retch.

"Could it be that I've mastered the divine art of Stare and Get Pregnant?" Kino continued clowning around.

Although he knew it was fake, Nick Fury still tightened his trench coat around himself and took half a step back.

Yeah, the bug was a little disgusting.

It was basically shaped like half a brain. You know what that meant.

No head!

But it had a pair of extremely sharp forelegs, like a praying mantis's scythes.

A pair of transparent wings on either side fluttered constantly.

Yeah, it really was disgusting.

"H-Hey—what... what is that?" Nick Fury asked, forcing down his discomfort.

"A Soul-Eating Bug. It enjoys eating human brains, then controls its host like a parasite. Once controlled, the host's mind dies, but the body survives. Moreover, the Soul-Eating Bug has a unique ability—it can read all of the host's memories from before their death, including memories long forgotten or memories that were deliberately erased," Kino explained.

Nick Fury immediately understood. "Hey—you don't mean to... No, he's still a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. You can't..."

"Too noisy!"

Kino flicked his hand lightly and sealed Fury's mouth again.

"You seem to have forgotten, Mr. Nick Fury. I'm the one in control here, not you!"

After saying that, he ignored the dark-skinned man. With a thought, the Soul-Eating Bug shot toward its target with a whoosh.

Grant Ward was dumbfounded. What did it mean, the host's mind died while the body survived? Wasn't that fucking turning him into a zombie?! No, absolutely not! No matter what, he could not tolerate an ugly bug entering his body.

Unfortunately, he could not resist. Gravity pinned him down so completely that he could not move an inch.

Seeing that damned bug closing in, his only chance of survival was to confess and cooperate!

"I'll talk—I'll talk. I'm an agent Hydra planted here. I..."

Unfortunately, Kino had no intention of giving him that chance.

"Sorry, I have another plan."

The Soul-Eating Bug landed on Grant Ward's forehead as it wished, then stabbed down fiercely with its two sharp forelegs. Like snapping open an eggplant... it forcibly tore open a hole in his forehead.

Strangely, not a single drop of blood emerged.

Seeing the white brain matter inside, the Soul-Eating Bug was like a cat that had smelled fish. Its bloated body wriggled as it burrowed in bit by bit. As it entered, the glaring wound on Ward's forehead quickly healed and vanished...

And Grant Ward...

As the Soul-Eating Bug entered him, his eyeballs began rolling erratically—up and down, left and right—while tears, snot, and drool streamed down his face.

At last, his eyes abruptly turned black, the whites disappearing completely until they became pure darkness without pupils. Then, just as quickly, they turned deathly white, without even a trace of black.

It was fucking like watching a horror movie.

Maria Hill had only just finished dry-heaving when she bent over again.

Even the battle-hardened Nick Fury and Phil Coulson felt chills run down their backs, their necks stiffening mechanically.

After several rounds, his eyes returned to their original black pupils and white sclera.

"Master!"

Grant Ward stood up, maintaining the same military posture as before, but everyone clearly understood that he was no longer that Level 4 agent.

"You can speak now."

"Level 4 Agent Grant Ward, true identity: Hydra spy and adopted son of Level 8 Agent John Garrett. By John Garrett's orders, I infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D..."

Boom—

Nick Fury was dumbfounded. "Impossible. This can't be true. Garrett, he..."

A former comrade, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founding members... was actually... actually one of Hydra's people?

It was as though he had taken a heavy blow straight to the heart, leaving him completely stunned.

It was not just him. Phil Coulson was dumbfounded too.

Maria Hill had stopped dry-heaving as well. Her face was full of shock. Hydra had already infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s upper ranks? God! If this was true, then... who in all of S.H.I.E.L.D. could still be trusted?

She looked at the director beside her and then at Coulson, feeling a faint bitterness in her heart. Probably just those two? Since Hydra's infiltration had been exposed in front of the three of them, the three of them had surely been ruled out.

Grant Ward did not stop speaking because of Nick Fury's doubts. However, what he revealed surprised Kino greatly, because he named not only Clairvoyant but also several others who had never appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

After all, when making a television show, they had to consider the budget. It was impossible to include every single Hydra agent.

"Tell me your plan."

As expected of a seasoned elite, after an intense internal struggle, Nick Fury took a long breath and sat back down. After all, Grant Ward had already admitted his identity earlier.

And with Kino's telepathic ability, he could be trusted for the moment.

"A plan?" Kino glanced at Nick Fury with amusement and waved his hand dismissively. "This is merely a small gesture of goodwill from me. Now it's time for you to show some sincerity as well. As for how you handle things afterward, I can't be bothered to care. Of course, I can have the Soul-Eating Bug obey your orders."

With that, he gave a signal.

Grant Ward suddenly straightened his chest. "Level 4 Agent Grant Ward, awaiting the commander's orders."

Nick Fury nodded almost imperceptibly, then turned and signaled. "This matter is now classified Level 10!"

Maria Hill and Coulson both nodded. "Understood!"

"Hill, help him get settled later."

"Yes!"

Kino smiled and pressed his advantage. "An ID, a bank card, household registration documents, that sort of thing. Please take care of those too."

Maria Hill rolled her eyes.

Only then did Nick Fury believe that Kino truly came from another world.

As if recalling something, Kino suddenly said in a mysterious tone, "Hey, baldy, shouldn't someone like me be assigned a personal monitor?"

"Huh? A monitor?"

"Yeah! Someone as powerful as me—you definitely won't feel at ease, right?" As he spoke, Kino openly glanced at Maria Hill.

Nick Fury understood immediately. Damn it, he wanted to hit on one of his subordinates... He should've just said so!