"Coulson, whatever it takes, make sure the Dragon Ball doesn't fall into the hands of anyone with ulterior motives!" Nick Fury formally ordered Coulson.
The implication, however, seemed to be that every faction except S.H.I.E.L.D. had ulterior motives.
"That ability... isn't it practically unbeatable?"
"Not really." Krillin rubbed his belly, as though he had eaten his fill.
Tony asked curiously, "What are its drawbacks?"
"Some vague, intangible wishes come with restrictions or drawbacks," Krillin said seriously. "Besides, my master said that using supernatural items always comes at a price."
"What price?"
"Uh... oh, come on, how would I know all the details? Before today, I thought even the Dragon Balls were nothing more than a legend." Krillin scratched his head in frustration.
For a moment, the others couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth or making excuses.
After all, Krillin was young and didn't seem particularly calculating.
"Once you find the Dragon Balls and gather them all, can you make a wish?" Victor adjusted his listening device.
"Of course not." Krillin rolled his eyes at Victor, seemingly mocking his naivety. "If making wishes were that easy, the Dragon Balls would've been abused long ago. It wouldn't have been so many years since anyone made a wish."
"According to legend, Dragon Balls usually appear amid conflicts. Only the winner can obtain them. Taking a Dragon Ball by force is pointless. It only works if the winner gives it to you, I think."
That condition was fairly restrictive. It would be fine if nobody knew what the Dragon Balls did, but once two factions understood their exact purpose, neither would ever give one away.
Nobody could resist the temptation of three wishes.
Especially when those wishes could include superpowers.
Tony was highly intelligent, so naturally, he grasped the crucial point.
I can't use a Dragon Ball I take by force, but I can keep anyone else from using it!
"What should we do next?" Tony asked Krillin solemnly.
Thump-
Krillin hopped onto the soft bed.
"Sleep, obviously. Once they settle who's won, you can just ask for it or buy it."
"Snore... snore..."
Before long, Krillin's snores filled the room.
He actually fell asleep?
"In that case, Mr. Stark, what do you plan to do next?" Victor asked.
"Get some rest." Stark told Happy to arrange accommodations for Victor.
Coulson's voice came through the earpiece. "Victor, come back first."
Nick Fury had issued the withdrawal order.
Nick Fury didn't want this information spreading widely.
He believed Tony Stark was smart enough not to leak anything about the Dragon Balls.
After all, the Dragon Balls were far too dangerous!
He would keep both Coulson and Victor under surveillance to prevent the secret from leaking.
Of course, to verify whether the Dragon Balls were real, they still had to wait for this supposed battle to end and try to find one.
Naturally, only Coulson and Victor could carry out that mission.
Sending too many agents now would draw too much attention.
Boom-
Boom-
Billy the Beast began wreaking havoc as Zuer had requested.
Naturally, his first target was the psychiatric hospital that reminded him of his nightmare of blinding lights.
Dazzling flames flared everywhere, punctuated by occasional explosions.
Coulson and Victor watched Al Psychiatric Hospital through binoculars.
"They really are fighting. What's going on?" Victor asked Coulson beside him.
A moment later, through their binoculars, they saw the hospital's main gate shatter with a thunderous crash. Billy the Beast emerged through the entrance, covered in dust and dirt, his face twisted into a ferocious expression.
He threw back his head and howled.
He really did resemble a lone wolf.
"What... what the hell is that? The guy who tore down the gate is shirtless?" Victor stared at the hospital's distant iron gate and the man who had just destroyed it.
"Victor, has the information on this psychiatric hospital come through?"
"Yes." Victor nodded, opened the newly received files on his tablet, and placed it between them.
"This psychiatric hospital has support from both military and government personnel?" Victor was astonished after reading it.
"One of the people confined there is a man named David. He was being considered for recruitment into the agency, but he was still under evaluation."
Coulson skimmed the text, caught sight of another page out of the corner of his eye, and quickly finished reading the report.
The intelligence wasn't detailed.
Given the time constraints, gathering even this much demonstrated impressive intelligence capabilities.
Victor sighed. "Sir, is this really a battle we can get involved in?"
"Someone has to."
"Then... why don't we call in people who can handle this sort of situation..."
Victor voiced his thoughts in an almost inaudible murmur.
After experiencing the cruise ship incident and witnessing that terrifying Dimensional Lifeform, Victor had developed a much deeper fear of supernatural beings.
In his view, specialized work should be left to specialists.
"Victor, you're getting a little too anxious. Maybe you should see a therapist when we get back," Coulson said reassuringly.
To Coulson, Victor was simply anxious. His very first protection assignment had involved a supernatural incident, and a particularly powerful one at that.
Afterward, he had also undergone S.H.I.E.L.D.'s routine internal questioning.
It was certainly easy for psychological problems to develop under those circumstances.
As far as Coulson was concerned, supernatural incidents weren't that common.
In his decade or so as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., how many strange incidents had Coulson encountered?
At most, those people were a little stronger or faster. They still died when shot.
They had sought out this hospital incident themselves, and the man tearing down the gate didn't look as though he had an invulnerable body.
He was a lifeform they could deal with using firearms.
During their brief observation, Billy the Beast had nearly finished demolishing the entrance.
Billy curled both hands into claws and pushed with all four limbs, actually climbing up the wall like a gecko.
The nearby security guards gradually closed in.
They cornered Billy at the edge of the parking lot.
They also passed out of Coulson and Victor's line of sight.
Just after the security captain ordered the others to spread out, a head suddenly poked out from beneath a car.
The security captain's expression changed. Without a word, he began backing away, hurriedly aiming his gun at Billy.
But it was already too late.
Billy slid nimbly out from under the car.
He gathered his strength!
Then struck hard!
There was no roar or shout.
Thud-
The security captain fell to the ground, clutching his neck and kicking wildly.
Finally, his last breath escaped, and he stopped moving.
Billy let out an excited growl, freely venting the emotions he had suppressed over the past few days.
Meanwhile, Zuer, the psychic, watched the spectacle from the surveillance room.
"David." Zuer switched on the speaker in David's room and shut off the water jets inside.
"Hm?" David heard the voice through the speaker and noticed that the water had stopped.
David looked around. "Who's there?"
"That doesn't matter," Zuer said. "Billy. You've been investigating him lately, haven't you?"
"Yes. He's killed a lot of innocent people."
"He's killing people right now, too. Though his current victims might not be innocent."
"What?" Hearing that Billy was killing people, David could no longer remain calm.
Seeing that he had stirred David's emotions, Zuer made his next move.
He switched off the speaker.
"Explain yourself! What's happening outside?"
Bang-
David slammed into the heavy iron door imprisoning him.
Crash-
With just one blow, the door fell to the floor.
David heard a commotion outside the building.
Through the window, he saw horrifying cracks, wrecked cars, broken doors, and other debris.
"This is bad."
David was a good man in the traditional sense.
He stood up for others and returned lost valuables.
He held himself to strict standards.
Rather than using his supernatural powers to commit crimes, he fought for justice alongside his son.
That was something most people would struggle to do.
Even if it was a little illegal.
David ran out of the building as fast as he could.
Following the sounds, he reached the parking lot.
Unfortunately, he was a moment too late.
Apart from Billy, almost no one remained in the parking lot.
Before you continue