Aftermath and a Hot Potato

Inside the platform's core laboratory, a deathly silence had replaced the piercing alarms. Only the low, steady hum of the backup fusion reactor remained, along with the occasional crackle of electrical sparks jumping from the wreckage of instruments.

The air reeked of ozone, molten plastic, and a faint trace of blood.

Coulson and Natasha, along with the S.H.I.E.L.D. assault team members who had rappelled down afterward, all stood frozen in place like statues encased in ice.

Their eyes were locked on the massive screen above the main console, where the most critical and darkest secrets of Project Insight streamed down like a waterfall.

The real-time construction status of the three Helicarriers—Insight One, Two, and Three—their fully loaded weapons-system test data, global deployment network nodes...

That suffocatingly enormous "potential threat" elimination list scrolled past, packed with names and photographs. Every one of them represented a life that could be instantly vaporized by particle cannons falling from the sky...

Most horrifying of all were the final command set and authorization logs hidden beneath layers upon layers of encryption.

The final authorization for those commands was unmistakably linked to several long-trusted high-level S.H.I.E.L.D. IDs, even including certain members of the World Security Council!

And the operational records showed that this platform in international waters, which should have long been abandoned, had possessed a certain level of standby command authority over those three killing machines for months!

This was not speculation. Not suspicion. It was irrefutable proof! S.H.I.E.L.D., the shield that was supposed to protect the world, had begun to rot and rust from its very core, becoming a Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's heads!

"Paperclip..." Coulson's voice was as dry as sandpaper scraping together, his face drained of all color.

"Not a cloud of suspicion... but fact..." A bone-deep chill washed over him, worse than when he had faced the Chitauri army. The enemy had been in the place they trusted most.

Natasha clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms. She had suffered betrayal before, but never one so complete, so... nauseating.

Some of the familiar names and code names on the screen belonged to colleagues she had once fought beside. It felt as if the coldness of the Red Room had wrapped around her once more.

"Now!" Coulson suddenly snapped back to himself, his voice hoarse with urgency. "Lock down all data immediately! Maximum encryption! Physically sever every network connection to the outside! Everyone, hand over all communication devices! Move!"

He roared at the assault team members while personally yanking out the fiber-optic connections behind the console.

The agents moved at once, the atmosphere stretched taut as a bowstring. Everyone knew that what they held was a powder keg capable of setting off a global political earthquake and tearing S.H.I.E.L.D. apart completely!

And the spark that had lit that powder keg...

Everyone's gaze involuntarily turned toward the corner of the laboratory.

Xiao Han was reclining comfortably beneath the fusion reactor's observation window, his eyes closed. The blazing light from the reactor core outlined his sharply defined face. He seemed utterly detached from it all.

Basking in the glow of the "artificial sun," he showed no interest in the earth-shattering changes happening behind him. If anything... he seemed to be enjoying the free intense light.

One assault team member instinctively raised his weapon, apparently thinking that this unidentified being of terrifying power was also part of the enormous threat.

"Lower your weapon!" Natasha shouted sharply. She had seen with her own eyes how he "dealt with" threats.

The agent jolted and hurriedly lowered his gun, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Coulson took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. He straightened his crooked tie and did his best to appear composed before cautiously walking toward the corner.

"Xiao... Mr. Xiao?" Coulson's voice carried unconscious respect and a hint of tremor. "Thank you so very much... for intervening. You have prevented a tremendous disaster for us... for the entire world." The words came from the bottom of his heart, even if the method had nearly stopped it.

Xiao Han did not even lift an eyelid. He merely waved a hand lazily, as if shooing away a buzzing mosquito. "The noise source has been cleared, the data has been restored. As for the remaining trash..." He paused, as though searching for an appropriate word. "...sort it yourselves."

Sort it? Coulson's mouth twitched. That description... was actually quite fitting. They truly did have a pile of "trash" to sort through now—unconscious A.I.M. armed personnel, terrified researchers, and the console storing "trash" data capable of overturning the world.

"Yes, you're right." Coulson forced himself to agree. "We will definitely handle it properly. It's just... regarding this data..." he asked tentatively, his heart in his throat.

This stuff was too deadly. It was unsafe anywhere, and no one could be trusted completely with it. He did not even dare imagine what would happen if it got out.

"That's your business." Xiao Han cut him off, his tone plainly impatient. "Don't bother me with it." Apparently finding the light a little too weak, he adjusted his sitting position slightly to let more of it fall on his face.

Coulson immediately shut his mouth and did not dare ask further. He could see that this lord had no interest whatsoever in Project Insight itself. He only cared about two things: not being disturbed, and... whether the lighting was good.

Just then, Xiao Han seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, that military-grade searchlight Tony mentioned..." He raised his chin toward the reactor behind him. "...this is it, right? The output's decent, but the spectrum is a little too narrow, and the energy conversion efficiency is a bit low."

Coulson: "..." Mr. Stark, you're on your own!

He gave two dry laughs, having no idea how to respond. All he could do was grit his teeth and say, "As long as... as long as you're satisfied. This mission... succeeded thanks to you."

"Mission?" Xiao Han finally lifted his eyelids a fraction, a trace of confusion in his black eyes. "What mission? I came to look at the searchlight."

Coulson and Natasha, who was listening intently from a short distance away, both felt a wave of helplessness. Fine. Whatever you said.

"Yes, yes, yes, visiting the searchlight, visiting the searchlight..." Coulson readily went along with it. "Then... please continue your visit? We'll take care of the... uh... site sanitation?"

Xiao Han closed his eyes in satisfaction and ignored them again.

Coulson felt as if he had been pardoned. He quickly backed away, directing his subordinates to speed up the cleanup while contacting Nick Fury directly through a maximum-encryption line.

Once the communication connected, he lowered his voice and rapidly reported the situation, especially the ironclad data proving Project Insight and... the current situation involving that lord still "visiting the searchlight" beside them.

On the other end, Fury remained silent for more than ten seconds, so long that Coulson thought the signal had been cut.

"...I understand." Fury's voice finally came through, cold as Siberian permafrost and devoid of any discernible emotion. "Encrypt all data repeatedly, physically seal it, and personally escort it back.

Completely sweep the platform. All survivors... are to be strictly isolated and interrogated. As for him... meet every demand he has, then... get him out of there quickly and safely. Execute immediately."

"Understood, Director."

The call ended. Coulson wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began directing his people to dismantle the mainframe storing the data with the same care they would use for nuclear waste, sealing it away layer by layer.

The entire cleanup proceeded efficiently and silently. Everyone tried not to make a single unnecessary sound, afraid of disturbing the "visitor" in the corner.

Half an hour later, the data storage drives were placed inside a specially made lead case, which Coulson kept on his person. All surviving personnel on the platform were sedated and taken away. The laboratory was also given a rough cleanup.

Coulson once again forced himself to approach Xiao Han and said cautiously, "Mr. Xiao, we... we're basically finished here. You see... you've more or less finished visiting the searchlight, so perhaps..."

Xiao Han opened his eyes and glanced outside. The sun was sinking below the horizon, golden afterglow spilling across the ocean.

"Mm, it's time to head back." He stood and patted nonexistent dust from his pants. "The sunset here isn't as true in color as Malibu's."

As though he had merely completed an ordinary outdoor outing, he leisurely headed toward the "entrance" he had stomped out himself, preparing to jump directly back into the Quinjet hovering high above.

Coulson and Natasha watched his retreating back and simultaneously let out long, silent sighs of relief.

That great god was finally leaving. And the hot potato he had left behind was only beginning to radiate heat enough to burn the world.

The skies over S.H.I.E.L.D. were already thick with storm clouds. And perhaps the eye of the storm had only just departed.