Chapter 280

There was a room aboard this S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. It was small and simply furnished, its main structure made of high-strength adaptive glass. It was a special cage: with the slightest impact, or a simple command from an external computer, the cage would be dropped directly from the Helicarrier to enjoy a free fall from 9,000 meters. This room had originally been prepared by Nick Fury for the Hulk, but now it had welcomed a different guest.

Loki paced elegantly back and forth inside the room. Even trapped in prison, the ambitious Asgardian prince strolled about as if he were taking a leisurely walk through a garden. The calm composure of someone who held every card in his hand constantly showed off just how dashing he was.

However, perhaps because of some passive skill, whenever his coolness reached its peak, something bad always happened to him. Most of the time, anyway.

Loki suddenly stopped walking, a wicked smile appearing on his face as he turned around. "Not many people can sneak up on me."

The visitors were Evenson and Black Widow. Since Nick Fury felt that Loki’s sudden capture had to be part of some other scheme, he had sent these two to sound him out.

Evenson glanced at Natasha. The two of them had walked boldly in through the front door, so how had that become sneaking up on him?

"Loki, we’ve dealt with each other before, but this is our first proper meeting." Evenson stood with his hands behind his back. "Let’s get acquainted."

"I know you. Barton told me about you." Loki still wore that wicked smile. "You’re the one who sheltered Thor after he lost his powers and ruined my plan."

"That’s right." Evenson admitted it readily, then added with a straight face, "But you missed one thing. In Stuttgart, I was the one who blasted you into the steps with a Human Cannon shot."

Natasha silently rolled her eyes beside him. Taking credit after selling out a teammate really was… very much in keeping with the spirit of professional spies.

Loki’s face visibly twitched. Even now, he had thought that blow had been the metal-clad fellow’s crow-rides-a-plane move. He had not expected there to be more to it.

Still, he suppressed his irritation, because he had more important matters to attend to. Forcing a smile, he said, "I truly didn’t expect that. But what surprises me even more is that someone like you would mix with those people. What do you want? Pretend you’re protecting the world?"

"Pretend to protect the world?" Evenson looked deeply puzzled. "I have a fairly large house in New York, and a one-of-a-kind car so cool it’s ridiculous. My business hasn’t been doing too well, but fortunately I have a very decent side job. I can barely count myself among the high-income crowd now. And recently, I’ve even gotten myself a girlfriend."

Evenson concluded, "My career and life are both on the rise right now. What makes you think I don’t sincerely want to protect all of that?"

"Oh, right." Evenson seemed to suddenly remember something. "After this is over, I’ll have a very good reason to ask Nick Fury to raise my pay grade a little more. That’s something worth looking forward to."

Reasonable, well-supported, and measured. Evenson’s words truly caught Loki off guard. He had thought Evenson would be shouting slogans about the unity of humanity on Earth and how all alien reactionary forces were paper tigers. He had not expected this guy to refuse to follow the script. These practical, plainspoken reasons were the hardest to refute.

"You deserve a better life." Loki adopted an expression of disappointment. "I know your strength, and I know what you can do. S.H.I.E.L.D. forced you to seal your power within yourself. In the name of world peace, they have kept you from truly being unleashed."

"Yet they themselves recklessly seek to meddle with power they do not understand at all. The Cosmic Cube—surely you don’t really think they intend to let all humanity share its light and warmth?"

This showed the advantage of Nick Fury’s compartmentalized management. Before Evenson officially arrived and joined in, not even Hawkeye knew that Evenson had participated in the Phase Two plan, much less which specific project he was responsible for.

So Loki still naively believed that, like everyone else, Evenson had no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to do with the Cosmic Cube and had been completely fooled into joining.

"So?" Evenson, who had known everything long ago, was utterly unmoved. "The officials can set fires, but the common people can’t light lamps? You think I’ve been treated unfairly?"

"Have you not?" Loki had no idea why Evenson could remain so calm, but he continued to tempt him. "Why accept the shackles they have forced upon you? Why not resist their oppression? If you are willing to follow me, then in the new world I rule, I can promise you a position above all but one. You will gain true freedom."

"Freedom? Hah!" Evenson sneered. What a boring old cliché. If I wanted to be a collaborator, you wouldn’t even get the chance. "I know many people who pursued power and authority, betrayed their own worlds, and secretly turned to mighty, invincible forces. But they usually met bad ends. Even if they weren’t destroyed along with their worlds, they gained a new identity: slaves."

Whether Ner’zhul or Gul’dan, weren’t those famous Azeroth collaborators all slaves of the Burning Legion? True, Gul’dan had gained immense power and seemed able to command countless followers, with numerous demon underlings at his beck and call. But did he have freedom?

No! He was merely a tool of his demon master. He could not even afford a single failure, and when his demon master abandoned him, he was nothing.

"I will not be a slave, much less a lackey." Evenson stared directly into Loki’s eyes through the glass.

"Hehahah…" Loki did not seem disappointed that his recruitment had failed. Laughing, he returned to the only bed in the cage and sat down. "Such noble sentiments. But do your companions understand you? Do they know how evil the magic you use is, even though you appear to uphold justice?" Since recruitment had failed, he decisively began sowing discord.

Though Loki had not personally seen Evenson use magic, he had heard Hawkeye’s descriptions of those spells. As someone called the God of Mischief, he could tell with certainty that it was extremely dangerous black magic.

"Listen up, you bald black guy!" Evenson suddenly shouted at the surveillance camera. "My magic is extremely evil—the darkest of black magic! Cruel, blasphemous, inhumane, anti-humanity, super vicious! Awoo!"

After letting out a strange cry, Evenson said to the somewhat stunned Loki, "See? They’ve known all along."

Natasha thought, Kid, I don’t think you’ll ever get a year-end bonus for the rest of your life.