"Why...wait, are you doubting us?!"
After a moment's pause, Dana realized what Colin meant and said angrily, "How could we possibly reveal our location to the enemy!"
But she was very angry at Colin's irresponsible words.
"Nothing is impossible." Colin said calmly.
He could understand why Dana would be angry about this, after all, she didn't know that Karen was a spy sent by the other side.
Originally, regarding the Karen issue, he planned to move the person to a place far away from Manhattan. After things here were settled, he would look for an opportunity to discuss with Karen and Alex and resolve the matter as smoothly as possible without leaving any hidden dangers.
But now, with their base being bombed by missiles, they can no longer think so.
The exposure of the base and the loss of some materials are secondary. With the support of national forces behind him, he no longer cares about those things.
More importantly, if he had not happened to stay because he needed to make some props, Karen and Dana would have really died there.
The occurrence of this incident put an end to his idea of making plans later. In order not to alienate his newly made ally, he must give Alex a sufficient explanation for this matter.
What we need to do now is to find evidence that Karen is a spy.
"excuse me."
Grabbing Dana and Karen's wrists with both hands, a stream of magic power transformed into a black mist that enveloped the two of them.
Dana struggled twice but failed to break free, so she simply stopped moving, looked at Colin coldly, and let him do what he wanted.
Colin didn't care and carefully examined Karen's body inside and out.
The base in Texas has no connection to the outside world, and Dana and Karen did not bring any cell phones or other technological gadgets that could actively send signals when they went there.
In this way, the location of the base can be exposed, which means that Karen must be carrying something that can actively send signals.
After a while, after checking, Colin released his grip on the two men's wrists and glanced at Karen's abdomen.
"Miss Karen isn't going to say anything?"
He could feel the signal-transmitting device in the other person's abdomen.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Karen's eyes moved, she lowered her head and clenched her fists, refusing to admit it.
Dana looked at Karen, who looked so pitiful, and suddenly she was furious. She grabbed Colin by the collar and yelled, "Don't go too far! You suspected me and now you are suspecting Karen! I tell you..."
"I have evidence."
The calm voice interrupted Dana's words, looked at Dana's suddenly stunned eyes, reached out and took away her hand that was grabbing her collar, tidied it up, and said: "Miss Karen has a foreign object in her abdomen. If you don't believe it, you can go ask her yourself."
Dana suddenly turned her head and looked at Karen who did not refute, and her expression was a little dazed for a moment.
Was it really Karen who betrayed them
But how could this be possible!
She could sense that Karen's feelings for her brother were definitely not false!
"Even if there is something in Sister Karen's body that can send signals, it doesn't necessarily mean betrayal. It's also possible that someone from Blackwatch implanted this thing without Sister Karen's knowledge, right? Sister Karen!"
Dana spoke a little panickedly and looked at Karen expectantly, hoping to get a satisfactory answer.
Although the two of them didn't have much actual contact time, she really liked Karen, this intelligent, beautiful sister-in-law who treated her very well. She even imagined a lot of things about the future.
And now, suddenly she was told that everything Karen had done before was fake.
How could she accept this for a while!
Karen opened her eyes and opened her mouth but said nothing.
Facing the sister of the person she liked, she really couldn't open her mouth to lie to her.
Especially because of her, Dana was almost killed.
"Please speak!"
Looking at Karen who lowered her head and said nothing, Dana said anxiously.
Karen remained silent for a while, looked down at her feet, and whispered, "Sorry."
She did not regret what she had done, but she felt very guilty towards Dana, who was implicated by her.
Listening to Karen's words, Dana stared blankly, opening her mouth but not knowing what to say. She had given up and sat on the sofa with a blank face.
Colin, who was watching from the side, had his eyes slightly moved, and said indifferently: "According to my way of doing things, I will completely kill the betrayer along with his soul."
Karen shuddered, clenched her fists and said nothing.
Dana, who was sitting on the sofa, heard this and looked up suddenly.
Colin looked at the reactions of the two and had a rough idea of what to do next. He continued, "But this is not just my business after all. It's also about Alex. So, the decision on how to deal with you will be made by him."
"I have already contacted Lupin and Alex to come back. I hope you can give us a sufficient explanation by then."
"I sincerely suggest you not to lie to us."
"Also, I've damaged the transmitter in your body, so no one will come to save you. Hmm... I forgot, judging from the missiles they launched to kill you, even if they knew you were still alive, they probably wouldn't come to save you, a discarded child."
He said this with a hint of sarcasm, and smiled inwardly as he felt the strong emotions emanating from Karen.
Maybe things are not as bad as imagined.
…
Nick's office at the Manhattan SHIELD headquarters.
“… So those animal protection organizations reported the incident to the White House and Congress, and then they put pressure on us?”
"Do those bastards understand what is going on? Can the lives of some animals be more important than human lives?!"
Nick was so angry that he slammed the table. Hill, who came to report to him, shrugged and said, "Obviously, they don't understand. And there is no clear evidence that pets will cause large-scale harm to humans because of the virus, so we are facing great resistance to action."
The Manhattan animal removal plan officially started a day ago, but due to various factors and the fact that many people regarded it as alarmist, progress was difficult.
"Fuck! Let the captain come out to do the publicity!" Nick said after cursing.
Hill said helplessly: "This is already the result of the captain's propaganda. If it weren't for the captain's prestige, the situation would only be worse now."
Most American families keep pets, and many treat them as family members. The fact that there is no direct confrontation with guns is largely due to Steve Rogers' propaganda.
Even so, there is still a considerable number of people who strongly resist this policy.
"We can't stop." Nick was silent for a while after listening to Hill's words, "And we have to speed up!"
The number of people infected with the plague is increasing every moment. The government has been pushed to the limit in terms of ensuring the epidemic prevention for personnel, and there is really no extra energy to protect the animals.
Especially since this epidemic is different from general epidemics, every infected person must be resettled.
Otherwise, patients who enter the deep infection period will actively seek out uninfected people to attack. For the sake of the overall situation, we would rather bear the pressure from both sides at this time than let the epidemic develop to an unstoppable level.
"I'll try." Hill sighed.
These things are easy to say, but when you do them, the problems involved are enough to make your head explode.
Nick now understands Hill's current difficulties, but the more the epidemic develops, the more he agrees that Natasha's proposal is correct.
So we cannot retreat at this time, but we also cannot continue to be tough.
At that moment, he offered a suggestion: "Increase the publicity efforts again, invite experts and celebrities to carry out publicity, and ban all newspapers, media, scholars, experts and celebrities who dare to sing against us at this time! If this still doesn't work, contact General West Germany and Black Watch and ask them to send more military support!"
"We can't take even a single step back at this time!"
Nick sat on the chair, his only remaining eye emitting a ferocious look.
Hill glanced at him briefly and then responded seriously.
Nick looked at him and said with a calmer tone, "Now is a critical moment. You don't have to follow the rules. If someone finds you because of this, just blame it on me!"
"yes… "
Dongdong…
As Hill was responding, there was a knock on the door.
As the door was pushed open, Coulson walked in hurriedly.
"Director."
Coulson said to Nick and nodded to Hill.
Hill also nodded in response. Seeing that Coulson didn't say anything, he immediately took the initiative to excuse himself to Nick and said, "I'll go take care of things first."
After saying that, Hill walked out of the office and closed the door.
Coulson waited until Hill completely left the office before turning his head back and saying, "Emergency intelligence, Black Watch has just contacted the Texas garrison and launched five missiles at an area in Texas."
As he spoke, Coulson took out a map and pointed to the location where the missile was launched.
Nick stood up suddenly when he heard it, took a look and asked, "What's the reason?"
"It's not clear yet, but I think it may be related to the intelligence we just obtained from Dubai."
Coulson responded, handing over a document.
Nick took it and read it over. "Colin Black and Alex's sister and girlfriend were found at Yosel's residence in Dubai, but for unknown reasons, they left there with others at around 15:00... Do you suspect that the place where Blackwatch bombed with missiles was where Alex's sister and girlfriend were hiding?"
Nick asked, looking at Coulson.
"Yes, sir." Coulson nodded. "The missile was launched not long after Alex attacked the Blackwatch's hidden base. I don't think there is any connection between the two."
Nick listened without saying anything. Indeed, judging from the information currently available, this possibility is very high.
"What impact do you think it will have if this is true?" Nick asked thoughtfully.
"If Alex's sister and girlfriend died in the missile attack... Colin and Alex would probably fall out, and an enraged Colin would probably directly attack the troops stationed with missiles. Even the vaccine issue might cause some problems."
After a moment's thought, Coulson replied.
There are many ways in which things could develop, but given Colin's character, it is certain that he will never just take a loss and let it go.
Nick listened and nodded slightly.
Indeed, what Coulson said is very likely to happen.
However, it would be best if this happened after the vaccine was available. Then, no matter which side was killed, he would open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Now, there are some troubles.
"There must be no problems with the vaccine, this is the bottom line!"
Nick first set the tone for the matter, then looked at Coulson and said, "As for what we should do next, let's see how they react first, but first collect the evidence that Black Watch asked the local garrison to launch missiles for me, I might need it when the time comes."
"Yes, sir."
After responding, he looked at Nick, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Sir, the people below have recently discovered some traces of a cult."
"Cult?" Nick suddenly became alert.
"Yes, they built an altar and engraved the array pattern with blood. It seems that they really have some strange abilities. All the people they arrested died in the detention center that day, and they all died with strange smiles on their faces."
Coulson recalled the scene at that time and said with a somewhat grim expression.
"They built an altar, and all the people they captured died with a smile on their faces." Nick repeated, then asked seriously, "Have you found any other traces of a cult?"
However, he associated Coulson's report with the demon mentioned in the phone call that day.
"not yet."
Coulson shook his head. After learning about this incident from the report from his subordinates, he deliberately paid attention to this aspect. So far, this is the only similar case.
"Investigate, send some people to pay special attention to this aspect. Anyone who spreads the cult, especially those who draw magic circles, should be arrested and interrogated immediately!"
Nick's eyes were sharp. The current situation was already chaotic enough, and he didn't want another demon to jump out and disrupt things.
"Yes." Coulson agreed, and then said: "I have sent people to pay special attention to this aspect. If there is similar news, we will be informed as soon as possible."
"That's good… "
Jingle Bell…
The phone on the table rang at this moment. Nick paused and reached out to take it.
After a while, after hanging up the phone, a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Is it good news?"
Coulson, who was standing nearby, saw and asked.
Nick listened and exhaled, "Natasha has done it!"
"That's still really good!"
Coulson was also a little surprised when he heard this.
The combat capability of SHIELD directly under their control is not sufficient now. It is a good thing for them that Natasha has persuaded the big green guy.
Nick smiled and said, "Indeed, I was worried whether Natasha could persuade the other party before the final battle. If Tony can also end it before the final battle, our chances will be better."
"Tony is still very trustworthy." Coulson expressed his opinion.
"I hope so." Nick said noncommittally.
He believed in Tony's ability, but the time left for him was still a little too short.
(End of this chapter)