Chapter 58:
Mark was taken aback when he heard the voice on the phone. "Did I accidentally curse him to death?"
"This is no time for jokes, Mr. Mark!" Coulson replied anxiously. "S.H.I.E.L.D. base has been destroyed, and Director Fury was attacked by two aliens. He's critically injured and might die. Before he fell unconscious, he told me to contact you no matter what..."
"Wait, did you say two aliens?" Mark was suddenly stunned. "Are you sure?"
This seemed like the beginning of The Avengers, with the theft of the Tesseract and the explosion at S.H.I.E.L.D. base. But these two aliens were strange. Loki was still locked up in Asgard's dungeon, and even if he had escaped, who was the other alien? Could it be Thanos himself?
"Yes, two aliens," Coulson confirmed. "Mr. Mark, wait for me for two minutes. I'll be there soon. Only you can heal Director Fury's injuries..."
"Well... alright." Mark rubbed his forehead, unsure where the plot was going.
Soon, he heard the sound of a car speeding towards him. A black sedan screeched to a halt in front of Mark.
Coulson jumped out of the driver's seat but froze when he saw the destroyed house.
"What is this...?" Coulson looked bewildered. Mark walked over to him and asked directly, "Mr. Mark, were you attacked by aliens too?"
"Aliens are no match for me," Mark retorted. "Bring Kang the Conqueror here, and I'll mess with his brain and be done with it."
"But what about this...?" Mark cleared his throat and explained, "Just think of it as a magical experiment gone wrong. These things happen sometimes. Seeking the truth comes at a price, so don't worry about it."
"Alright," Coulson reluctantly agreed.
Pushing down his doubts, Coulson quickly said, "The director is in the car, barely holding on."
"Okay, got it." Mark walked straight towards the car.
Nick Fury was in bad shape. He had deep wounds on his chest, stomach, and legs, but the worst one was on his neck, like it had been cut by something sharp. Despite using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s advanced medical tech, the entire back seat was covered in blood.
Fury was unconscious.
Mark didn't waste any time. He poured a bottle of regeneration potion into Fury, and soon the wounds on his body started to heal rapidly. Before long, Fury suddenly sat up.
"The Tesseract has been stolen," was Fury's first thought after waking up.
Seeing his sarcastic buddy back among the living, Mark went back to his usual nonchalant self. "So now you've had the potion, but the Tesseract is gone. This means S.H.I.E.L.D. owes me $9.9 billion..."
"If we don't deal with this, S.H.I.E.L.D. is finished," Nick Fury declared. "We're in serious trouble. Earth is facing a powerful alien enemy, and we have no idea what they want. We need to work together to confront this..."
"Then go find Captain America and Iron Man," Mark shrugged. "Didn't I tell you from the start? I'm not a hero or anything..."
"But they took the Tesseract," Fury interrupted. "Honestly, I was planning to give it to you, but now some aliens have it."
"Damn those aliens!" Mark quickly drew his Hellish Cleaver. "Tell me where they are and get the Avengers ready for a fight. They'll be the filling in my dumplings tonight."
Agent Coulson, watching this, didn't dare say a word. He definitely didn't want to eat alien dumplings.
"I don't know where they are, but they must be planning something dangerous," Nick Fury said seriously. "Those two didn't just take the Tesseract; they also used a scepter to mind-control our agents and scientists. If they just wanted the Tesseract, they wouldn't need to control our people. They must have another motive."
'Just like the plot of The Avengers...' Mark narrowed his eyes when he heard Fury's statement.
"What are you thinking?" Nick Fury looked up and asked. "Is it another prophecy? What are we going to face? Can't you tell me exactly where those two aliens are?"
"I already told you, I can't predict everything perfectly," Mark explained. "Some things, even I can't see clearly. The future is always changing. Something as simple as spending ten extra minutes in the bathroom in the morning could change everything and lead to the destruction of Earth. I can only make predictions; I'm not all-knowing."
"Alright, I understand," Nick Fury nodded. "I need to tell Congress about this. This is serious. I need to get full authorization to activate the Avengers Initiative."
"Well then, hurry up with that." Mark waved his hand. "I'll go back to practicing sorcery, so those aliens can really feel the pain."
"I'll keep you updated," Nick Fury said as he discreetly pocketed the empty regeneration potion bottle. "Coulson, let's go."
"Yes, Director," Coulson responded.
Coulson quickly got into the car and sped away from the ruins.
After they left, Mark started testing the Void Ring again.
Mark wasn't the type who was good at building or researching complicated redstone contraptions. He couldn't remember complex crafting recipes from industrial mods either.
But when it came to fighting, he was incredibly talented.
His intuition, reflexes, and mental sharpness were top-notch.
In his past life, he had been stuck on an ordinary Earth where his abilities were useless, wasting his talent on meaningless games.
But now, he could finally use his abilities to their fullest.
Within a few hours, Mark had a
lmost completely mastered the Void Ring.