Letting go to reel them in

The two of them seemed to have talked at length, but under the cover of the Barrier Formation...

Coulson had only heard what they said.

Much of it made no sense to him at all.

He had no idea what they were hinting at.

Judging solely by Coulson's experiences that day, it had certainly been eventful.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had always presented itself to the public as a special organization that handled unusual incidents.

Since joining, Coulson had dealt with very few genuinely supernatural incidents.

Most had been caused by advanced technology or biological mutations.

At most, he had encountered a few humans with special abilities.

Today, however, he had encountered the ghosts and evil spirits of legend.

Even well-trained agents like them had been completely powerless to fight back.

Of course, that had something to do with their lack of combat experience in this field, but who could guarantee that the enemies they encountered in the future would always be familiar ones?

Moreover, the strange magical abilities, uncanny methods of movement, and seemingly systematic supernatural techniques were beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.'s understanding, no matter how he looked at them.

After calming down, Coulson began thinking rationally again.

Before reporting to Director Nick Fury, he needed to consider what attitude he personally should take when approaching or dealing with this unknown group of supernatural individuals.

He considered it from the perspective of a professional American S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

In Coulson's view, no force should exist in isolation. There should be something to counterbalance it.

Whether authority or power, both should be subject to limits.

In supernatural incidents, S.H.I.E.L.D. was the institution that imposed those limits, acting as a third party.

Its role was to ease friction and balance power, ideally even exercising jurisdiction.

At least, that was what he believed.

The Wraith that had suddenly appeared was beyond their ability to restrain.

It wasn't as though Coulson had never heard legends about the Wraith.

After all, there was a Ghost Rider roaming around Mexico.

Since he intended to put on a show right inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Ah Xing naturally wouldn't disappear straightaway.

Of course, the current Ah Xing wasn't Jiang Xiang's real body, but his Kaitou Kid avatar disguised as Ah Xing.

There was no need to put himself in danger.

If danger arose, he could simply withdraw the Kidd avatar and pretend it was a spatial ability.

As for Old Man, ordinary people generally couldn't find him unless he wanted to see them.

"Wait, sir."

After leaving the teahouse, Coulson received word from the director that the young man hadn't vanished without a trace like the elderly man.

He therefore ordered Coulson to make initial contact with the young man.

Pushing through his fatigue, Coulson hurried over to Ah Xing.

"Hello, my name is Phil Coulson. I'm an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

Although he had previously posed as an FBI agent, if he wanted to try communicating, it was better to be a little more honest.

That string of words left Ah Xing stunned. Awkwardly but politely, he said, "Okay. Hello. Goodbye."

Ah Xing continued looking around, as though searching for some particular location.

Seeing this, Coulson realized that he probably wasn't very interested in dealing with government personnel.

After all, he had shown some aversion to them earlier.

"You can call us S.H.I.E.L.D. for short," Coulson said with a friendly smile.

Ah Xing looked Coulson over a few times.

"All right... S.H.I.E.L.D."

Although Ah Xing disliked government personnel, he didn't seem harsh. On the contrary, he appeared quite gentle, and his face gave the impression of someone thoroughly upright.

Coulson carefully gathered his words.

"Here's the thing. You seem to be looking for something. S.H.I.E.L.D. has personnel all over the world, including quite a few in New York. Could we help you look and ask you a few questions along the way?"

Ah Xing gave Coulson a strange look.

"Nicely put. I refuse."

Coulson was just about to ask his questions when the words caught in his throat.

"I'm with the Foundation. The Containment Foundation."

With that, Ah Xing continued walking down the street.

Coulson froze for a moment, waiting for instructions through his earpiece.

At the other end of the radio, Nick Fury furrowed his barely visible brow, carefully trying to recall any intelligence about the Containment Foundation.

Nothing!

"Coulson, continue the mission."

Coulson steeled himself and caught up once more with Ah Xing, who seemed to be out sightseeing.

"Sir..."

Ah Xing sighed, turned around, and said helplessly, "What is it now?"

"Sir, well, we'd like to learn more about your Foundation..."

Ah Xing raised an eyebrow, a trace of confusion flickering in his eyes. "Aren't you a government organization?"

Ah Xing narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, his imposing presence rising. "Or were you lying to me? You're not a government organization at all!"

Coulson immediately felt a crushing pressure, though he had no idea where it came from.

His awareness of his own limbs grew faint, and even his lips trembled slightly as he opened his mouth.

It was as though several starving tigers stood before him, glaring viciously at him.

The sight alone was enough to make him almost forget to breathe.

Coulson felt a helplessness and fear he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Forcing down his discomfort, he struggled to move his trembling lips. "We are... we are a government organization. We were established only a few decades ago. We're an internationally recognized global organization!"

Hearing this, Ah Xing gradually withdrew his imposing presence.

"Explain yourself properly next time. You're lucky you ran into me. Someone else would've attacked you on the spot."

Coulson collapsed to the ground.

Ah Xing walked farther and farther away, gradually disappearing from view.

With that, the introductory act for Jiang Xiang's Containment Foundation was essentially complete.

Things had gone fairly smoothly.

There wasn't much point in making direct contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. now. Ah Xing was almost purely a martial artist.

Without any miraculous supernatural abilities to display, it would be difficult to fool Nick Fury, that bald egg of a man.

He was a veteran agent whose age was anyone's guess. He had probably run S.H.I.E.L.D. for over a decade, met powerful beings like Captain Marvel, flown an alien spacecraft, and fought aliens.

Although he didn't seem to have many achievements to his name, building a network of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives within Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D. was no small accomplishment.

There was no denying that he was, ultimately, a hard-line operator who had participated in many secret projects.

Dealing with someone so wily required extreme caution. Jiang Xiang would have to overwhelm him with one powerful individual after another. The Foundation couldn't afford to look unimpressive.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Triskelion.

Nick Fury hurried toward Coulson's recovery room with a grim expression.

Coulson was his most trusted subordinate, the younger man best suited to carry on his legacy.

Losing him over an investigation into a suspected resurrection would be far too high a price.

As soon as he entered the infirmary...

Nick Fury saw Coulson. Only his forearms were bandaged; otherwise, he was largely unharmed.

"Phew... thank goodness you're all right."

Nick Fury let out a long breath of relief.

"Don't worry, Director." Coulson then turned to the mission. "Any information on that man?"

Nick Fury's expression remained unchanged. "We didn't find anything."

From the audio feed, their accents sounded like they came from Hong Kong, but Nick Fury hadn't found any relevant records.

Although Nick Fury seemed casual about it, as though he didn't care whether there were any records...

Inside, he was already reeling.

A person had lived for decades, from birth to adulthood, without leaving a single trace.

It was particularly strange that even a global intelligence organization like theirs couldn't find a lead.

Even a mysterious organization lurking in the shadows couldn't possibly erase all traces of someone from the moment they were born.

Yet they seemed to have managed it.

Nick Fury said, "Since you're all right, let's head back to the office."

In the office.

Coulson stood to one side.

Nick Fury picked up the brief report Coulson had submitted.

The report briefly outlined how the Wraith, Old Man, and Ah Xing had appeared, along with the supernatural abilities they had displayed.

Before long...

Nick Fury set down the report, thought for a moment, then picked up the phone. "Tell Natasha to wrap up her mission and return as soon as possible. There's something more important for her to handle here."

He dialed another number, and a deep male voice answered. "Hello?"

"Barton, I'm sorry to inform you that your vacation may have to end early."

"Phew." Barton sounded slightly disappointed. "All right. I'll head back immediately."