Sitting aboard the plane, Yang Bo immediately spotted the thick black smoke billowing from the crater. The Quinjet found a relatively flat patch of ground some distance from the volcano and slowly descended.
Coulson stood up and said, "We're here!"
He opened the lounge door as he spoke. When the people in the cabin saw him come out, they handed him two gray protective masks.
After taking them, Coulson turned and handed one to Yang Bo, explaining, "Volcanic ash can do serious damage to your respiratory system. Wearing this gas mask will help a lot!"
It paid to listen to good advice.
Yang Bo didn't bother explaining that his digitized body had nothing to fear from a little volcanic ash. If breathing this stuff could hurt him, wouldn't Steve die the moment he entered Dandruff Canyon in Minecraft's Nether, with all the ash floating around there?
He took the gas mask and put it on. The rear hatch of the Quinjet slowly opened, and a strong gust of wind swept inside.
Yang Bo stepped out of the plane, with Coulson right behind him.
"I can go over there on my own!"
Coulson shook his head slightly. "This volcano is still erupting. I'd better come with you. If anything unexpected happens, I can help!"
Yang Bo merely chuckled and let the matter drop, turning toward the crater. The plane had landed some distance away from it. There was no helping that-the ground closer in was covered with solidified black lava, making it impossible to land, not to mention far more dangerous.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park lay beside the ocean. The sea wind howled that day, scattering volcanic ash everywhere, as though a heavy gray-black snowstorm had swept through.
As he stepped onto the solidified lava, Yang Bo felt warmth beneath his feet. He took a bucket out of his inventory and aimed it at the black lava on the ground, wanting to see whether he could scoop it up.
Ugh, it won't even give me a chance to cut corners...
The warm, solidified lava on the ground didn't budge. Looking resigned, Yang Bo glanced up at the scorching lava still flowing in the distance and had no choice but to keep going.
Beside him, Coulson's eyes narrowed sharply as he watched the iron bucket suddenly appear and disappear in Yang Bo's hands. Although surveillance footage and other sources had already revealed that Yang Bo possessed something like spatial storage, seeing it firsthand was still shocking.
The Marvel cinematic world of 2008 hadn't yet reached the later stage when all manner of monsters and freaks ran rampant. Even as a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson had encountered only a limited number of superpowered incidents at this point.
In the days ahead, though, all sorts of extraordinary incidents would keep Coulson busy enough to lose his hair.
The closer they got to the lava, the hotter their surroundings became. Suddenly, a scorched smell drifted over. Yang Bo sniffed and turned toward its source, only to see thin wisps of white smoke rising from Coulson's leather shoes.
He couldn't help laughing and teased him:
"Coulson, you'd better stop. Keep going and you'll melt too!"
Yang Bo also lifted a foot to check his own sneakers. They showed no sign of damage. The clothes he wore had been digitized as well, so they couldn't be damaged at all. He had discovered that when he was shot earlier.
Feeling the heat beneath his feet, Coulson looked at the completely unaffected Yang Bo and gave a wry smile. "I wanted to go with you, but it looks like that's not happening!"
"Be careful!"
Yang Bo nodded. Without Coulson following him, he picked up the pace and raced across the ground toward the lava. Before long, he reached the still-flowing river of lava.
He pulled out the iron bucket and aimed it at the fiery red lava. His guess had been right: this time, the lava went into the bucket with ease.
"Hehe, thanks for the treat!"
Taking out the iron buckets, which normally could only stack up to sixty-four, he rapidly scooped up the lava on the ground. Soon, Yang Bo had effortlessly cut off the entire lava river.
With his haul secured, Yang Bo glanced at the black ground. After a moment's thought, he took out his Pickaxe and began mining the solidified lava beneath him.
At the sound of an item dropping, Yang Bo picked up the block that had fallen onto the ground. Now he knew for certain that this stuff wasn't obsidian. Otherwise, he couldn't have mined it with an Iron Pickaxe.
[Solidified volcanic lava] ×1
Completely useless. It hadn't turned into a Minecraft material at all. He curled his lip, closed his inventory, and headed back the way he had come. If Coulson hadn't accompanied him this time, he would have jumped into the lava and gone straight home instead of wasting time traveling.
Should I tell Coulson about Captain America ahead of time? As repayment? Staying in his debt would be a problem too!
Yang Bo wasn't exactly a good person, but he couldn't take someone else's help for granted either.
Spotting Coulson waiting in the distance, Yang Bo walked over to him.
Coulson smiled. "All finished?"
Yang Bo nodded. Looking at Coulson in his gas mask, he considered what he was about to say.
"Coulson, thanks for your help this time!"
"You're welcome! This was very easy for me. Don't worry about it."
Coulson's voice remained as calm as ever, without the slightest change.
The two walked toward the plane side by side. Yang Bo removed his mask and said with a serious expression:
"Coulson, I want to tell my friend Coulson something. Consider it a gift for him."
"This is very important to my friend!"
Coulson stopped and took off his own mask, looking at Yang Bo seriously. He had no idea what Yang Bo was about to tell him.
"Go ahead. Right now, I'm just your friend, not an agent!"
Yang Bo pointed at Coulson's earpiece. Coulson immediately understood and pressed a button on it. Then he took a small black device from his jacket pocket and switched that off as well.
"Heh, as an agent, I carry quite a few devices. That's perfectly normal, isn't it?"
He then reached up and grasped a button on his collar.
Yang Bo nodded. He knew those probably weren't the only gadgets Coulson was carrying, but what he was about to say would definitely put Coulson on his guard.
Leaning close to Coulson's ear, he said softly, "Captain America isn't dead. And the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division isn't safe on the inside!"
This finally shattered Coulson's composure. He stumbled and nearly unlocked the achievement of kissing the ground.
His eyes went wide, and his smile froze on his face. The two pieces of information in Yang Bo's words brought his brain to a standstill. It took several seconds before he recovered-something that should have been impossible for a level-eight agent like him.
For a moment, Coulson felt his mouth go dry. He couldn't tell whether it was the surrounding heat or the sheer shock of what he'd just heard.
He ripped the button off his jacket, threw it onto the ground, and stomped on it until the electronic components inside were exposed. Then he pulled a black object from the heel of his shoe and hurled it into the distance.
In a hoarse, tense voice, he asked, "You know what you're saying, don't you?"
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