Of course, Su Ming wasn't actually bored and shooting the breeze with Wang.
As they entered this branch path, they discovered even more paths branching off like tree limbs, along with several pits large enough for a person to hide in. Searching them all carried risks, especially since he was with Wang.
Although Xiaowang is still a novice with little combat experience and needs to be nurtured gradually.
When bringing along a newbie, you can't just charge ahead; you need to be alert to any missed threats to avoid any accidents.
Thus, he devised a plan to block the main branch, deliberately allowing the other party to hear their conversation and come out into the open, even if they planned to ambush him.
He knew someone was hiding in one of these branch paths; Strangulation had long detected them. He had been loudly speaking English with Wang earlier to observe any reactions from those hidden in the passageways.
After all, this was in the Fur Bear Country, and Leviathan was highly sensitive to English.
However, the people hiding in the darkness, aside from initially making sounds of chattering teeth, had calmed their breathing upon hearing English, accompanied by rustling movements, as if planning to come out and identify themselves with the two.
Except, there were two people, and it seemed one pulled back the one who wanted to come out, followed by silent discussion.
It seemed they were from an English-speaking country, so perhaps negotiations could be possible.
"Come out, I've discovered you," Su Ming signaled to Wang to employ magic for his own protection and then shouted into the numerous branch paths.
Chattering teeth indicated fear, so instead of using deadly force, he'd see what was going on first. His underground intelligence was unclear, and live capture held more value than dead bodies.
The sound echoed back and forth among countless branch paths, but did not form an echo, suggesting these paths weren't deep and likely dead ends.
However, after shouting, there was no movement; the other party still hoped for luck.
Su Ming chuckled under his black and yellow mask, and deliberately said loudly:
"Wang, give me a bomb with a long fuse, yes, the largest kind."
Without even glancing at the bewildered Wang behind him, he continued to watch the branch path entrances closely, then... he pulled out a can of Powerful Beverage from his belt, shook it, cracked open the lid a little, and sent it rolling into one of the small branches.
"Sss....."
Carbon dioxide squeezed out from the narrow gap along with the beverage, producing a hissing sound of high-speed airflow, which in the darkness sounded like a snake's hiss.
In almost the next second, Su Ming watched as two figures swiftly darted within the branch path, even performing a diving maneuver to leap out.
"Thud! Thud!"
A man and a woman slid a considerable distance across the ground, sprawled out before him without moving.
How should one describe it? Their actions were quite adept; diving, prone, hands covering heads — a smooth sequence of actions suggesting they had been bombed more than a few times before.
"Cough, cough!" Su Ming put a fist near his mouth and lightly coughed.
Quivering, the two people were still shivering and hadn't heard Su Ming's cough. Fearing their eardrums might burst, they had covered their ears tightly.
Seeing their clothing and their cowering demeanor, Su Ming could pretty much guess who they were.
"Wang."
Understanding this, Xiaowang let the light ball float above his head, then invoked magic with both hands, causing a golden light shield to slide under the two, slowly lifting them off the ground to stand upright.
However, it seemed they hadn't realized they were made to stand; they appeared like contorted figures surrendering, holding their heads while making exaggerated faces. Their expressions were tightly twisted, as if they had bitten into an ultra-sour lemon, eyes clenched shut, waiting for the bomb to explode.
Wang tilted his head to observe them and said, "Master, are they idiots?"
Su Ming transformed Godslayer into an ultra-long back scratcher, extended it to tickle the man's armpit:
"No, not idiots at all, but indeed rare smart ones."
"Quit joking around!"
The man, originally holding his head, eyes shut tight and ears plugged, quickly swatted away the back scratcher when tickled, re-covering his ears, and twisting his body.
Su Ming looked at Wang with a helpless shrug, realizing he might have proved their intelligence prematurely. He reverted Godslayer to its original form and instructed:
"Wash their faces."
"At your command, Master."
Wang, too lazy to use magic, took a water bottle from his waist, opened the cap, and splashed it over the two with grotesque expressions.
The two, already panting heavily, instantly inhaled water, choking and coughing, flailing around for a good while, neither here nor there, finally realizing they had been deceived.
However, just as they both managed to open their eyes, intending to draw their guns in resistance, they saw the black and yellow armor standing in front of them.
The curved blade in the opponent's hand constantly dabbled; they shivered as if drenched from head to toe by cold water.
"Deathstroke?! What are you doing here?!" The young woman, unable to hold back, cried out in terror.
Su Ming put away the curved blade; from their most feared subconscious reaction, he gathered they knew Deathstroke but weren't aware of his true identity, clearly indicating they were S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 40K squad.
However, this was normal. Fury knew his true identity but obviously wouldn't disclose it to others, treating it as his hidden trump card.
Add to that, Coulson is a little fanboy of Steve and simply can't hold such a significant secret, Fury wouldn't tell him.
Thus, having seen through everything, Su Ming donned the stance of a Supreme Mage, nodded slightly with courtesy to both:
"This question should be asked by me, Agent Simmons, Agent Fitz, have you jumped into a time-traveling love game without notifying the Supreme Mage?"
The man and woman exchanged glances, suddenly revealing embarrassed smiles full of guilt.
"Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, the 'Siamese Twins' of the Coulson Squad, privately time-traveling to Tungus in 1956 to face the Leviathan at its peak. Looks like I have to tell Nick Fury about your unauthorized actions... Oh, by the way, you haven't worked for many years, right? How much is your monthly mortgage? Being suspended indefinitely shouldn't be too fatal?"
Su Ming seemed about to take something out of his bag.
"Wait, Mr. Deathstroke, we're really cornered into this!" Fitz shook his head and hands frantically, stepping forward a couple of paces, only to retreat even faster under the gaze of the red sole eye: "We have a very important mission in this era!"
"What mission?" Su Ming tilted his head.
"Uh, according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hyper-spatial substitution protocol, Article 357, we're prohibited from disclosing any future intelligence to people in the past." Jemma dared not look at Su Ming, lowered her head, and mumbled.
But she knew such hope was dim. They all knew what kind of terrifying presence the Supreme Mage was, and now finding themselves in his grasp was truly unfortunate.
"Oh, that's the case, is it..." Su Ming nodded indifferently, turned to say to his back: "Wang, toss these two over to the London Temple to Master of Mischief, saying they're two space-time dimension traversing test subjects. What's their test subject serial number up to now?"
Wang raised his hand, preparing the Teleportation Gate, with the increasingly dazzling golden light circle before the S.H.I.E.L.D. duo resembling the footsteps of doom.
"Previously reached number 10086, Master, if prioritizing the lady, Agent Simmons would be number 10087. The dissection can be scheduled right away."
Innocent Wang promptly answered the Supreme Mage's query, entirely unaware this answer left the duo swallowing hard, producing a gulping sound.