Chapter 248

"Where am I?" Evenson suddenly woke from sleep, as if he were in an unfamiliar environment. His memory still lingered on the moment when the alcohol had fully hit him, when Nick Fury’s face had suddenly appeared right in front of him, and then he had been unable to control that overwhelming feeling of reverence…

"On a plane headed for the United Kingdom."

That voice was familiar. It was Sarah, his little succubus.

Evenson looked around. Not only was Sarah here, but the rest of his demons were here as well. He had planned to bring them along on this trip to the United Kingdom anyway, so he was not surprised to see them.

"I remember I was completely drunk. I could still get on a plane, and…" Evenson looked around in confusion. "This doesn’t seem like a commercial flight."

Not only was it not a commercial flight, it was not even a passenger plane. Looking at the piled cargo and the crude seat he was lying on, which resembled a long wooden board laid flat, Evenson could tell that this was a transport plane.

"This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. plane." Sarah yawned beside him. "For some reason, that black guy suddenly sent people to pick us up, then stuffed us and you into this transport plane that happened to be headed for the United Kingdom. It was like he couldn’t wait to get you out of his sight."

"Ah… I can probably understand." Evenson still remembered what he had done in Nick Fury’s office.

"But…" Evenson rubbed his head. "What kind of liquor were those two glasses? My head still hurts."

"The reason your head hurts is entirely because that black director grabbed you by the collar and threw you into the cabin," Sarah said flatly. "Your head hit the floor first."

"No way?" Evenson now realized that this headache was completely different from the kind caused by drinking. "I just threw up in his office. Did he really have to treat me like that?"

"You didn’t just throw up in that egghead’s office." From that nickname alone, it was obvious Hubbs was speaking. "You might have thrown up all over him too."

"Really?" Evenson raised an eyebrow.

"Trust my nose." Hubbs bared his row of canine teeth confidently.

"That explains it." Tyler suddenly spoke up. "When he dragged you onto the plane, I thought he was taking you toward the engine."

The engine? Damn, even if he wanted to silence someone, that was way too brutal.

Fine, the headache had been explained, but… "Can any of you explain what happened to my hand?" Evenson pointed at his visibly swollen left hand. There was even a small, round hoofprint on it. "Don’t tell me Nick Fury suddenly grew hooves."

Evenson said that to Sarah, because there were only two hoofed beings here. One was her, and the other was the burly Demon Guard Tyler. Evenson’s left hand was only a little sore and swollen now, rather than suffering a compound fracture.

"You brought it entirely on yourself." Tripsy, the little imp who had barely made his presence known until now, looked at him as if he were scum. "Big Sister Sarah felt sorry for you when she saw you lying on that wooden board, so she let you rest your head on her lap. Who knew that while you were asleep, you’d start pawing all over her?"

"That’s it?"

Sarah liked women, but she also enjoyed teasing Evenson. Casual physical contact and rubbing against him were common enough.

That was why Evenson found it strange. He had only groped her a little while unconscious. Did she really have to stomp on him that hard? And didn’t she know that being stepped on by a hoof was completely different from being stepped on by a foot?

"It would’ve been one thing if you’d only touched her…" Tripsy said gleefully. "But you kept muttering something too. Like, ‘Ah, Klayya, your chest isn’t as big as it looks?’"

After touching her, he had even complained that they were small. No wonder Sarah had gone berserk.

Once Evenson understood what had happened, he immediately felt deep regret. A thousand words condensed into one sentence: "What a shame." How could he not regret it? He realized he could not remember anything from the dream. So he could only silently light a cigarette and mourn the beautiful dream that had already passed away. Then the plane’s alarm went off.

Fortunately, this was not a commercial flight. Otherwise, Evenson’s first tourist attraction in the United Kingdom would probably have been a police station. Smoking on any plane was practically asking to die.

"What happened here?" The moment the alarm sounded, two agents came over to ask what was going on.

"Nothing happened." Evenson sat there calmly. "Maybe the alarm malfunctioned."

One of the agents’ mouths twitched. If you could kick the cigarette butt farther away from your feet, I might believe you.

The two agents exchanged glances, realized it was a false alarm, and decided to head back. Before leaving, they asked Evenson rather strangely, "Are you sure you don’t want to go to the passenger cabin?"

Evenson: "…"

Damn it, so that was where these two had come from. There was a passenger cabin on this plane?

Evenson glared reproachfully at his subordinates, thinking, Could you people be any less useless? There was a passenger cabin, and you chose to stay in the cargo hold for fun?

All five demons simultaneously snorted. How were they supposed to know? It was their first time on a plane. How would they know there was a passenger cabin? Actually… it was Evenson’s first time too.

"John Gattler, currently a Level Seven Agent. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Consultant." After everyone reached the passenger cabin, one agent took the initiative to introduce himself.

This agent named Gattler was probably around Coulson’s age, though he looked somewhat flamboyant. Evenson… well… had no impression of him.

"This is Grant Ward, a Level Four Agent." Gattler pointed to his subordinate as he introduced him.

He was a young man in his twenties. Though tall and somewhat muscular, he looked overly polished.

"You know, Ward?" Although he was only a Level Four Agent, Evenson knew who he was. There was no helping it; the guy had lived a long time. "I think you’d look better with a beard."

"I’ll give it a try," Ward said politely.

"Did Nick Fury send you to keep an eye on me?" Evenson asked. He felt that these two were probably in the same situation Melinda had been in last time.

"Not at all. We have another mission in the United Kingdom. We just happened to catch the same flight," Gattler denied.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Although Ward was capable, he was currently only a Level Four Agent. Monitoring Evenson was beyond his pay grade. Gattler’s rank was high enough, but he was not one of Nick Fury’s trusted inner circle. So this really was just a coincidence.

"Mr. Consultant…" Gattler suddenly said somewhat awkwardly. "There are some things I’d like to ask you about…" Then he hurriedly added, "Honestly, I don’t know how much S.H.I.E.L.D.’s confidentiality rules apply to the position of Consultant. So if the things I’m about to ask put you in a difficult position, you don’t have to answer."

Evenson said, "Go ahead and ask."

"It’s like this." Gattler asked, "I know Director Fury once gave you the files of several personnel, hoping you could select a suitable candidate and teach him your special abilities. And this subordinate of mine…" He glanced at Ward. "He was among them. I’d like to know whether he caught your eye?"