The Wraith Tewal

Seeing this, Coulson's worries did not ease.

He had not seen Ah Xing use many exorcism techniques.

No matter how strong his martial arts were, they would be of little use against ghosts.

Although, during their time together, Coulson had come to believe that Ah Xing was not blindly arrogant.

He still felt uneasy about Ah Xing charging straight up to the Museum's entrance.

"Relax. Don't underestimate him." Old Man seemed to see through Coulson's concerns. "He's a member of the Foundation, after all. His abilities cover quite a few bases."

"I hope so."

Coulson found Old Man's words fairly convincing. A person's strength really could not be judged by appearances alone. After all, despite Old Man's scrawny appearance, Coulson could not even withstand a single punch from him.

Old Man cast a protective spell.

Ah Xing, who was walking near the front, seemed to spot something.

In his field of vision, Ah Xing saw an extremely blurry phantom. Its shape resembled a human figure. Without a closer look, he really might have mistaken it for a person standing there.

Without a word, Ah Xing closed his eyes and used his martial instincts to sense the positions of Old Man and the others.

He abruptly drew a Desert Eagle. Taking Old Man's method of imbuing objects with magical power and working backward from it, he poured in mental energy to enchant the bullets.

Bang-bang-bang-

Without hesitation, he fired three shots in a row.

The bullets flashed past, tearing three holes through the pitch-black mist ahead. The holes kept expanding.

"It worked?"

Ah Xing put away his gun and prepared to keep moving forward.

He did not have many bullets. He needed to conserve them.

An odd look crossed Coulson's eyes, tinged with surprise. After all, he had just seen a firearm that worked against a Wraith.

Was this Foundation really that powerful?

Did they have the manufacturing capacity to produce firearms?

And they could even use those guns to hit ghosts!

[Emotional Value from Coulson +100]

Seeing Ah Xing use a firearm had made quite an impression on Coulson.

To Coulson, possessing firearms could mean that the Foundation had connections with a country, region, or gang from which it purchased weapons.

That possibility was still relatively acceptable.

The other possibility was that the Containment Foundation had the industrial capacity to manufacture firearms. Judging by the gun's design, its industrial capabilities were far from primitive.

For S.H.I.E.L.D., that was very bad news.

It meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. could not exploit an advantage in information or technology to gain benefits.

Of course, there was an even worse possibility: the Foundation could be doing both.

Coulson's wandering thoughts did not stop them from continuing forward.

After passing through the Museum's reception hall, they were about to enter the Exhibition Hall.

The Museum was not particularly large, with only two exhibition halls in total. For the Violet Exhibition, they had even gathered up the exhibits in the other hall to clear space for a backup venue.

They entered the only exhibition hall open to visitors.

The Exhibition Hall was a mess. Only the few display cases in the very center were relatively tidy.

Everyone present was sharp enough to realize that one of those tidy cases must contain something connected to the talisman.

Ah Xing was the first to walk toward the display cases.

After only a few steps, Ah Xing abruptly ducked his head. An Iron Sword came whistling through the air.

To Ah Xing, it was not particularly fast. In fact, it was somewhat slow.

Coulson and Frank instinctively whipped their gazes toward the direction the Iron Sword had come from, their hearts jolting.

If that sword had been aimed at them just now, they might have died.

"Heh heh... hahahaha..."

A laugh drifted from the display cases, starting low before gradually growing unrestrained.

"You actually... dodged it."

The voice came from that mass of black mist.

"What is that?"

Everyone present was deeply shocked, their pupils contracting.

The Wraith could talk now?

Or was a person actually controlling everything behind the scenes?

"Hahahaha..."

The Wraith Tewal seemed to sense their shock and let out a crazed, hoarse laugh. "I am the Wraith. The Wraith you've been trying to destroy, all this time. Are you, shocked that I, can speak?"

Although the Wraith Tewal could now speak, its word order was somewhat muddled. Still, that did not stop them from understanding it.

"The Wraith can actually talk now? What's going on?"

Coulson's mind was in turmoil when something suddenly occurred to him.

Since it was conscious, that meant communication was possible. If they handled it properly, they might even secure a powerful ally for the agency.

As for the ordinary people it had harmed, they naturally did not enter his considerations.

Old Man took out the Dried Lizard and the Dried Pufferfish, bracing himself for a formidable enemy.

A conscious Wraith and an unconscious one were two entirely different things.

"Mr. Cheng, perhaps we could talk to it first. After all, it has gained consciousness..." Coulson's voice grew quieter and quieter.

Old Man felt a wave of disappointment. During their cooperation over the past few days, he had already developed a low opinion of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s methods.

Now, Coulson's words were the final straw that tipped the scales in Old Man's mind.

Admittedly, Coulson had indeed been influenced by this Wraith to some extent.

But under the protection of magic, it could only amplify an existing thought in the minds of those who entered. It could not create an idea out of nothing.

"Fine. Go talk to it."

Old Man's cold tone instantly snapped Coulson out of it, and he inwardly groaned.

But he had already offended Old Man. He could only steel himself and approach to negotiate.

"Sir, I'm Phil Coulson, an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We're responsible for... and we hope we can talk."

"Heh heh. Talk? About what?" Tewal was exceptionally agreeable, though it kept chuckling strangely.

Seeing the Wraith's attitude, Coulson even felt that he had a chance.

"Here's the situation. We're dedicated to protecting ordinary people, but the black mist you're releasing seriously interferes with that principle. We hope you can..."

The atmosphere suddenly grew strange.

Coulson went on and on, introducing his agency and offering his views.

Tewal chimed in from time to time, its attitude so agreeable it bordered on absurd. It was far more accommodating than Ah Xing or Old Man.

At first, none of them thought anything of it.

They simply took it as a normal negotiation.

But after a while, something was clearly wrong.

Apart from responding with "Mm-hmm" and "Haha," the Wraith Tewal had done nothing of substance.

Even an idiot could tell something was off.

It was stalling for time!

"Mr. Tewal..." Coulson tried to continue.

"Hahaha... hahahaha! You want me to leave? Sure. Sacrifice a hundred people every week. No old ones!" Tewal cut him off, revealing its vicious nature.

At this point, Coulson realized he had been played.

It had never intended to negotiate. He was not even sure whether it had understood anything he had said.

It had simply been buying time.

Bang-bang-bang-

While they were deep in conversation, Ah Xing had swapped magazines. He fired several shots in quick succession, sending bullets hurtling toward the Wraith.

A miss!

Another miss!

Still another miss!

The bullets struck only the black mist.