"Name?"
"..."
"Why did you try to rob Spider-Man's car? Don't you know he's New York City's hero, and a specially appointed hero of the NYPD? Did someone make a hamburger out of your brain?"
"..."
"Michelle, apply to the higher-ups to investigate this person's background. Someone Spider-Man warned us about is definitely not ordinary."
The NYPD officer said to his assistant. He couldn't imagine a sane person trying to rob a superhero. They had been interrogating for a while, and the guy wouldn't cooperate.
Aside from his rambling nonsense, his clothing was also very strange. He was probably out of his mind. It would be best to start with psychiatric hospitals; maybe they could find some leads.
"Got it. I'll go ask now."
The officer named Michelle responded, got up, and prepared to make some calls. If they couldn't find any information on this person, he might be a natural-born superhuman. In that case, he'd have to be sent to a special prison.
Before handing the man over to the NYPD, Peter had also put him in special handcuffs and leg irons made of a special material. Even Peter himself couldn't easily break them, so he felt confident leaving Loki with the NYPD.
As Spider-Man, he had caught many unusual people in New York City – strongmen, drug injectors. Many had come from Hell's Kitchen. After Peter caught them, he turned them over to the NYPD, but the NYPD found it difficult to hold these people with ordinary inmates, so they were all sent to special prisons.
Soon, Michelle returned, but he didn't bring news. Instead, he brought the police department's deputy chief and a few others.
"Shel, hand this criminal over to Mr. Nick. They'll take over from here."
"Yes, Chief."
After saying this, the deputy chief nodded to Nick Fury and left.
When it came to superhuman criminals, the NYPD usually transferred them to special prisons. SHIELD had the authority to take people directly from those prisons, but this time they just skipped the middle step.
Nick Fury tilted his head, and two SHIELD agents stepped forward to lift Loki from his seat. They immediately noticed the special cuffs on his hands and feet. The black bald man recognized them immediately; he had been cuffed with those not long ago.
Nick Fury turned to Chief Shel and asked, "Do you have the key?"
"Yes. Spider-Man always leaves the key. But after we send criminals to the special prison, we return the cuffs and key to Future Biopharmaceutical Company."
Chief Shel told Nick Fury indirectly that the cuffs weren't theirs, and they had to be returned.
"Once he's at SHIELD, I'll have these returned to you."
With that, the SHIELD team took Loki away, put him in another vehicle, and headed towards SHIELD headquarters.
"Those cuffs aren't comfortable, are they? There's no technology like this on Earth. It must be from another alien civilization. Did you know about it?"
Nick Fury looked at the key in his hand and said to Loki. Even though they were in the same vehicle, he wasn't afraid of Loki trying to take the key. With those cuffs on, Loki couldn't even move his fingers, unless he could stretch his neck half a meter and use his mouth to hold the key to unlock himself.
"You Asgardians should have good connections. Have you never seen this kind of cuff before?"
Loki looked up at Nick Fury upon hearing this, but still said nothing.
Seeing this, Nick Fury didn't say anything more. He quietly escorted Loki to SHIELD and locked him in a special prison.
"If you feel like talking, let us know. We've had contact with Thor of Asgard recently."
After saying this, Nick Fury turned and left. But when Loki heard Thor's title, anger flashed across his face.
He would find a chance to escape, and he would never cooperate with monkeys from Earth!
After a period of investigation, SHIELD had arrested almost all of HYDRA's members. The rest had either fled or gone into hiding. Nick Fury had resumed control of SHIELD.
However, due to the HYDRA incident, SHIELD's strength had suffered significant losses. The leader of the special forces unit, dozens of senior agents, core personnel from other departments, their deputies – all had been exposed as HYDRA members.
After the purge, SHIELD was like a fat man after liposuction: lean but lacking strength. It would take time to recover.
Tony Stark had left the Avengers. Bruce Banner had little interest in transforming into the Hulk; he wanted to focus on his professional expertise. Transforming into the Hulk to fight was something he would only consider in extreme danger.
The main issue was that Bruce Banner couldn't control the Hulk's actions. If he transformed, the first person to get hurt might very well be from SHIELD.
Nick Fury agreed to Bruce Banner's request. In his view, keeping him at SHIELD was already a win. Besides, Bruce Banner's achievements in physics were remarkable. Perhaps he could use the energy data from the Tesseract to develop more powerful weapons.
The successive upheavals made Nick Fury urgently want to strengthen SHIELD. He felt that even the Avengers might not be enough to handle the coming changes.
Now, when it came to dealing with sudden threats or extraterrestrial dangers, SHIELD might not be as capable as the Super Seven Team or the military's Super Soldier Squad.
The New York crisis had been resolved by Hyuga Mirai alone without any fanfare.
Aside from a detention record at the NYPD proving Loki had been to Earth, the citizens of New York knew nothing of the impending alien invasion.
Hyuga Mirai wasn't one to boast about his achievements. He was used to working behind the scenes. Getting what he wanted was enough.
Now Earth had three Infinity Stones. The Power Stone, Soul Stone, and Reality Stone were still being collected by Thanos in space. The Soul Stone would be the hardest for Hyuga Mirai to obtain. He would never sacrifice a soul he cherished, so his only option was to let Thanos acquire it and then take it from him.
After Hyuga Yuzuki was born, Hyuga Mirai delegated most of his responsibilities. Aside from research, he focused on raising his child. This was his fifth child and the only one currently with him.
With one being a true god and another close to godhood, their child could truly be called a child of the gods. Her talent was several times greater than Mio's or Yuto's. From the moment Hyuga Yuzuki was born, she possessed chakra even greater than the Nine-Tails'.
Moreover, she instinctively learned to condense chakra into a Tailed Beast Ball at a 2:8 ratio. If Hyuga Mirai hadn't noticed in time, New York State would have been gone.
Adults know not to pull the pin on a grenade because they understand the danger. Children don't; they act purely on impulse. After that incident, Hyuga Mirai sealed Yuzuki's chakra completely, just as he had done with Hyuga Mio. He wouldn't lift the seal until she was old enough to understand.
During this time, Hyuga Mirai invited Peter Parker, Wanda, and Pietro over for a meal. Aside from them, only the Ancient One knew about Hyuga Yuzuki's birth. This master of the mystic arts didn't come empty-handed; she brought Hyuga Mirai a copy of an ancient magical artifact creation manual.
It detailed the creation of various magical items, with the most important section covering how to imbue magical items with their own consciousness. Though it was extremely valuable, Hyuga Mirai realized he could achieve similar results with his technology, like the magical cloak.
By adding a magnetic field function, one could fly freely. For intelligent control, he had 18, who had been with him from the start and would never betray him.
Wanda and Pietro had decided their paths, and their choices were completely opposite. Wanda planned to dedicate herself fully to being a superhero, intending to abandon her studies entirely. Pietro, aside from necessary superhero activities, planned to focus on his academic development. Possibly influenced by Peter, he thought becoming a scholar was a good path.
However, Pietro wouldn't neglect developing his abilities. He also enjoyed superhero activities, but if he was too weak, he wouldn't be able to handle future crises.
Not long after Hyuga Yuzuki's birth, the first Divine Tree bore a mature fruit.
After the Chakra Fruit formed, the area for a hundred miles around the tree turned into a sandy desert. Even Hyuga Mirai was surprised.
"The Divine Tree absorbed a massive amount of energy right after the fruit ripened. The power contained in this Chakra Fruit might exceed that of any Divine Tree fruit recorded by the Otsutsuki. The life energy on this Earth is incredibly rich; it's the most suitable planet for planting Divine Trees."
Unfortunately, Hyuga Mirai had promised the Ancient One not to plant Divine Trees on Earth. Otherwise, he could give one to everyone, allowing all his loved ones to become gods proficient in creation.
"The Divine Tree also has an instinctual consciousness. Without the Otsutsuki's pre-set commands, it develops in the optimal direction. Earth's life energy far surpasses other planets; few in the entire universe can surpass Earth... Enough of that. Kurenai, you should eat the fruit."
Hyuga Mirai picked the fruit, and the thousand-meter-tall Divine Tree immediately withered. Its surface turned as dry as deadwood, resembling the Gedo Statue.
Kurenai Yuhi took the Divine Tree fruit and ate it directly.
Instantly, immense energy surged within her. A shockwave erupted from Kurenai's body. They were over a thousand meters in the air, yet the shockwave reached the ground, kicking up dust for several kilometers.
Fortunately, Kurenai's body was strong enough. Having previously consumed one-third of an improved Divine Tree fruit, she could fully withstand the fruit's immense power.
The Rinnegan with Tomoe, the Sage's robe with magatama, and a tangible flame of chakra all manifested on Kurenai Yuhi in an instant.
After gradually calming the energy within her, Kurenai opened her eyes. The Rinnegan with Tomoe on her forehead turned slightly. Hyuga Mirai suddenly felt a familiar power envelop the entire Earth and even extend beyond.
"Sir, all life on Earth has stopped moving. They have fallen completely into an illusion."
18's voice sounded beside Hyuga Mirai. Hearing her reminder, Hyuga Mirai asked Kurenai in slight surprise, "Kurenai, is this your ability?"
"Just the basics. My Rinnegan with Tomoe seems different from what you described. This is my illusion space. The Divine Tree fruit seems to have enhanced my natural abilities. For instance..."
Kurenai pointed to the ground as she spoke. The next moment, a hundred-story skyscraper appeared where she had pointed. Then she used her ability on Hyuga Mirai, conjuring countless copies of him around him.
"Is this... an enhanced version of the Water Mirror Technique?"
Hyuga Mirai asked doubtfully. His body and abilities were not easily replicated. He formed a Truth-Seeking Ball in his hand. What surprised him was that dozens of the "Hyuga Mirai" before him also formed Truth-Seeking Balls, their power no weaker.
"They really are Truth-Seeking Balls. Kurenai, is this reality-altering illusion?"
Hyuga Mirai dispersed his Truth-Seeking Ball. His perception should be accurate. If so many Truth-Seeking Balls exploded, New York State would become a massive crater.
"Part of my ability. My illusion space currently has many functions. Compared to creation, there's probably no difference."
Kurenai replied with a smile. With full control over Yin-Yang Release, creation was already an instinctual ability. After eating the Divine Tree fruit, she sensed that some places on Earth were not covered by her illusion space, which was likely Kamar-Taj.
Kurenai then withdrew the illusion space covering Earth. The next moment, all life resumed their original trajectories, though the observant would notice they seemed to have lost focus for a few minutes.
Those few lost minutes would remain an unsolved mystery, as the Ancient One would at most tell her disciples, not the public.
Now, Hyuga Mirai and the other two were all like gods, capable of easily destroying a planet.
Tsunade pointed to the withered Divine Tree and asked, "What should we do with this Divine Tree?"
"Absorb it into your body, or store it in my space. Either works. It's now part of Kurenai; absorbing it into her body is better."
Hearing Hyuga Mirai's words, Kurenai absorbed the withered Divine Tree into her body. In critical moments, she could release this Divine Tree, turning it into the emaciated Ten-Tails to fight for her. However, it would only be effective against those weaker than her; against equals, the Gedo Statue would be useless.
With the Divine Tree gone, there was no value left here. Hyuga Mirai used chakra to smooth over the pit left by the Divine Tree's removal, but he didn't want to deal with the hundred-mile desert. Restoring the land would require vast amounts of Yang Release chakra to revitalize the area.
Too much trouble. And America having one more desert wasn't a big deal.
So after Kurenai absorbed the Divine Tree, the three of them went back directly. If Yuzuki woke up and didn't see them, she would surely make a big fuss.
(End of Chapter)