Old Man's expression abruptly turned grave when he saw the pictures.
Looks like trouble.
That thought rose unbidden in Frank's mind at Old Man's reaction.
They hadn't dealt with any supernatural incidents lately.
But when Old Man had dealt with incidents like the Wraith at the Museum, he had always been relaxed and at ease.
Even when he occasionally looked serious, he had never been this solemn.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Old Man was still staring at the pictures.
"Mr. Cheng?" Nick Fury was starting to get restless.
Agents received professional training to build their mental resilience.
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't panic.
But that didn't mean they were utterly fearless.
A wizard had spent ten whole minutes staring at pictures of a supernatural object he had provided?
And he looked this grave?
It was like watching a doctor sigh over an X-ray.
Absolutely terrifying.
"Where did this statue come from?" Old Man finally spoke.
The oppressive silence finally eased.
"A fishing village," Nick Fury answered simply.
"Sir, what exactly is it?" Frank pressed, oblivious to the mood.
"Come here."
Frank leaned in, bringing his ear closer.
Smack-
Old Man held two fingers together and struck Frank on the head.
"Who do you think Old Man is? An encyclopedia? No! So hurry up and get Xiang to help search the library."
"Sir, Xiang went on a cruise. He'll be away for two weeks."
Not wanting Old Man to worry, Jiang Xiang hadn't told them about the shipwreck.
Besides, since it involved something supernatural, the incident would most likely be hushed up.
Nick Fury's eyes lit up at the mention of a library. "Mr. Cheng, if you're short on help, we could..."
"Heh."
Old Man rolled his eyes at Nick Fury and went into the back room alone.
"Frank, keep an eye on him. Don't let him touch Old Man's things."
"Yes, sir."
It seemed Old Man didn't know that Jiang Xiang's cruise ship had met with an accident.
Nick Fury didn't presume to tell him.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s relationship with Old Man had already deteriorated.
There was nothing to gain from making himself even more unwelcome and offending Jiang Xiang too. It wasn't worth it.
"Frank, long time no see." Nick Fury changed tack, trying to reminisce with Frank about their days as comrades.
"Mm."
Frank offered a few noncommittal replies, then largely ignored Nick Fury.
They had originally been on reasonably good speaking terms.
But lately, Frank had been asking old friends to help investigate the mastermind behind the attack on his family.
When he had approached Nick Fury, this was exactly the attitude he had received.
No promises, no refusal.
Nick Fury didn't let any of that bother him. He kept trying to get friendly.
After talking for a while and getting nowhere, he finally fell silent.
Puff-puff-
Old Man brought out an ancient volume covered in dust.
"This is about the only account I could find of something resembling the statue in those pictures."
Frank promptly brought over a table and set it in front of the other two.
With a flick of his hand, Old Man spread the volume across the table.
Nick Fury's gaze fell on the scroll.
Well, he couldn't recognize any of the writing on it.
All he could make out was the illustration of a similar statue.
Old Man chuckled, took out a magnifying glass, and carefully read the text.
Time ticked by.
"Phew."
Old Man licked his lips. "How exactly did you get this statue?"
The atmosphere instantly grew awkward.
How could he casually disclose an intelligence source?
Nick Fury ventured, "The means of acquisition is classified internal information. If you'd be willing to join..."
"Frank, show him out." Old Man headed for his bedroom without looking back.
"We got it from a townsman who had gone mad," Nick Fury said without a change in expression.
Bang-
Old Man had already shut the door.
Nick Fury and Frank stared at each other.
"..."
Clearly, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., whose confidence bordered on arrogance, had overplayed his hand again.
Seeing that Old Man hadn't put the scroll away, Frank had a rough idea of what he intended.
Does he want me to translate it and tell Nick?
Better go ask him first.
Frank knocked on the bedroom door.
After receiving Old Man's permission, he took out the little translation booklet he had been studying lately.
He began matching the text word by word, sentence by sentence.
The wording on the scroll wasn't complicated. There were no particularly obscure phrases or hidden meanings.
As he deciphered the information, Frank's expression shifted constantly. Sometimes he looked stunned; sometimes he sucked in a sharp breath.
Nick Fury wanted nothing more than to snatch the booklet and scroll away and translate them himself.
But he couldn't. Or perhaps he didn't dare.
The growing number of strange incidents lately had severely stretched S.H.I.E.L.D.'s manpower and resources.
Yet apart from a few trump cards kept as deterrents, S.H.I.E.L.D. currently had virtually no supernatural power at its disposal.
At such a critical time, they mustn't offend supernatural forces-and couldn't afford to, either.
Nick Fury mentally added more details to his plan.
At last.
Frank finally finished translating.
He gave Nick Fury a look that seemed somewhere between pity and sympathy.
Alarm bells rang in Nick Fury's mind.
This isn't good!
"If the account in this book is accurate, this statue should come from Indus Mythology," Frank slowly delivered his answer.
"Indus? Which Ind..."
"Hiss-" As though something had occurred to him, Nick Fury couldn't help drawing several sharp breaths.
The people whose scalps had a price on them?
Their mythology?
"Mythology? Do gods actually exist?"
"That depends on how you define them." Frank thought for a moment. "Take a lighter with enough fuel to last years back two thousand years, and you could probably pass yourself off as a minor fire god."
Of course, that was only half-serious. He was teasing Nick Fury.
Having witnessed the wonders of Magic, however, Frank firmly believed that gods had existed in the past.
Nick Fury regained his unflappable expression.
"What else?"
"The god worshipped through this statue should hold Divine Authority over Hunting and Harvest."
Hunting? Harvest?
Then why did people who came into contact with it hear whispers?
Why did they go mad and lose control?
Judging by those domains, it shouldn't be an evil being, should it?
Or was that merely a disguise worn by an evil god...
In that moment, Nick Fury's thoughts scattered far and wide.
The night passed just like that.
Inside Yan Shuangying's Safe House.
Though there were only two people there, the atmosphere was heavy.
After a night's rest, Natasha gradually regained her full ability to think clearly.
Yesterday's exploration seemed pointless.
Yan Shuangying had already survived here for over a month.
Judging by his behavior yesterday, he didn't seem stupid.
Could he really have failed to explore those possible methods?
Impossible!
Then what was his goal?
Before you continue