Empty!

Nick Fury paced back and forth, urgently considering the situation.

This was blatant military intimidation, yet Nick Fury had to weigh it carefully. S.H.I.E.L.D. had never bowed to such tactics, and when armed terrorists held hundreds of hostages for ransom, he could refuse to compromise.

But this was a massive, mysterious force aiming devastating weapons at any city in the world. Could he really remain hard-line to the end? This was an entirely different kind of incident.

Helium-3—of course Nick Fury knew what that was. The electricity generated by one ton of helium-3 could power a city like New York for an entire year. And if it were turned into a weapon…

The most powerful nuclear weapon humanity had ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba, was equivalent to 3,846 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Terrifying, right? Yet one ton of helium-3 could release twice that amount of energy.

And Nick Fury did not doubt their resolve to use such a terrifying weapon. If things truly reached that life-or-death point, then even if he refused, the World Security Council would adopt the same response. The only difference was that they would not use the horrifying helium-3 weapon, but a tactical nuclear missile.

At the final moment, they would not hesitate to sacrifice some people to save the majority.

"I accept your goodwill," Nick Fury finally said through gritted teeth, because this was the best option. Then he said to Carter, "Ms. Carter, take her downstairs to rest."

Carter grabbed Dottie by the arm and started walking. "Listen, I can see much more clearly now than before, so you’d better behave yourself. Don’t even think about trying anything, or else…"

"Or else what?" Dottie asked mischievously. "You’ll throw a fishing net over me and electrocute me again?"

"You mentioning it reminded me." The corner of Carter’s mouth curled upward. She had done exactly that to Dottie before. "That’s actually a pretty good idea."

"Oh, I’m really looking forward to it." Dottie curled her lip.

After they left, Hill walked over and said to Nick Fury, "Sir, is this really a good idea?"

"Do you have a better choice?" Nick Fury asked flatly.

"But perhaps we could try to get more intelligence from her." Hill had once been ordered to form a Special Squad specifically to deal with Umbrella Corporation, but so far, that Special Squad had been so idle it was almost ridiculous.

Forget capturing anyone from Umbrella Corporation—they had not even obtained a scrap of useful intelligence. It had left her incredibly frustrated. Now that a living Umbrella Corporation member had appeared right in front of her, she felt that if they did not make proper use of her, it would be a betrayal of her conscience.

"Could you get anything out of Natasha?" Nick Fury asked.

Hill thought about it, then ultimately shook her head. Getting intelligence out of Natasha was harder than climbing to heaven. Even with her hooked up to a lie detector, you would have no idea which of her words were true and which were false.

"This Dottie Underwood is no easier to deal with than Natasha. Besides, Umbrella Corporation would never send someone who knew too much here. But…" A sharp glint flashed in Nick Fury’s eyes. "The person who told her to deliver that message let something slip."

"What?" Hill frowned, puzzled.

"Helium-3. Giant cannon." Nick Fury faced Hill. "Those two terms are worth examining closely."

Hill thought it over carefully and slowly nodded.

Helium-3 was the ideal new energy source. Compared with conventional nuclear energy, it produced no radiation. But Earth’s reserves of helium-3 were extremely limited, while the Moon’s reserves were astonishingly abundant.

As for a giant cannon, it was a direct-fire weapon. No matter how far its range extended, it could not possibly strike every location on Earth. If some giant cannon truly could do that, then it meant the cannon was not on Earth at all.

So unless Umbrella Corporation had forcibly given some kind of missile the name giant cannon, the best location for that cannon would be the Moon.

Based on those two points, along with the intelligence Evenson had provided before, Nick Fury felt that he could already determine the location of Umbrella Corporation’s headquarters.

Hmm. It seemed time to discuss speeding up exploration of the far side of the Moon with the Space Agency. Just as Nick Fury was thinking this, he suddenly received a communication. "Sir, Agent Coulson isn’t going to make it."

Nick Fury, who had been brimming with confidence moments ago, immediately sprinted away. His trusted subordinate could not just die like that.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast he rushed, he only managed to see Coulson one last time. After leaving behind a few final words, Coulson passed away.

"What a tragedy." In the corridor, Evenson saw Coulson’s body being carried away. He stopped them, mourned him with a sorrowful expression, and after the body was carried off, a small purple bead appeared in Evenson’s hand.

The Soul Stone, which Evenson had prepared for Coulson in advance.

"How do you plan to thank—" Evenson held the Soul Stone before his eyes and smiled, but his smile froze halfway through the sentence. His eyes widened as he examined the Soul Stone closely.

"Bastard!" Evenson hurled the Soul Stone to the ground in furious frustration. "It’s empty! How could it be empty?!" He stomped it to pieces beneath his foot, roaring unwillingly as he crushed it. "How could this happen?! How could this happen?!"

It took a long while before Evenson gradually calmed down, but he still could not understand why the Soul Stone had failed to preserve Coulson’s soul. Had Loki’s scepter interfered with the Soul Stone? Had his own shaky hands caused the spell to fail? Or was there some other reason?

Without realizing it, he had arrived at the place where Coulson had died. This was the first time someone he knew had died.

After a while, Captain America and Iron Man arrived as well. It seemed Nick Fury had already mobilized them.

"You’re here too?" Tony asked. He had not seen Evenson during the meeting earlier and had been wondering where he was.

"Coulson…" Evenson’s lips moved twice before he finally said, "I’d known him for a long time. Aside from Melinda, he was the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to make contact with me."

"He was a good man. I teased him before, and I used some terrible jokes that made him so angry he nearly jumped… I also…" Evenson wanted to say more, but he shook his head and finally said, "He shouldn’t have died here."

Sorcerers were hard-hearted, but Evenson truly could not remain indifferent to everyone. He plotted against S.H.I.E.L.D. because he believed it was necessary, but he had never intended for those familiar people to die.