Coulson looked at the watermelon in his hand, momentarily at a loss for words, unaware why Deathstroke would have such an item.
Even though, like Deadpool, Deathstroke often pulled out props suddenly, why was it a watermelon?
Seeing that everyone except those engaged in battle had a piece, Coulson had no thoughts about it. He signaled the others not to eat it yet, indicating he'd taste it first.
However, Daisy didn't notice his signal. Before he could speak, her mind was entirely focused on Earth's mystery, and she had already picked up a second piece.
This morning, she completed a task across time and was too busy to have breakfast. Although watermelon couldn't fill her up, it could at least curb her hunger.
Coulson silently sighed, having no way to handle Daisy. He continued the previous topic: "The underground war was fought by Dracula to control the Dark Side's power and become the strongest in the darkness."
Su Ming remained silent, continuously slicing and sharing the watermelon, appearing very calm.
Actually, unlike Coulson, who was unaware of internal news, Su Ming had heard some things at Kama Taiji a few days prior. Dracula had sent him a magical message.
Dracula wanted to rule the dark world? Impossible, he had no such intention.
His long life had tired him of himself, occasionally playing games like hide-and-seek or hero rescue with superheroes as a relief from boredom. Unifying the underworld? With just a lone commander?
Primarily, his dukes were all bloodthirsty war fanatics, thinking they had the confidence to challenge humanity with what they had gathered over thousands of years and wanted to seize control of Earth.
Dracula wasn't so foolish. Furthermore, even a few blood races couldn't withstand atomic bombs, not to mention solving the major weakness of ultraviolet light.
But the nobles pressured him to revolt under his flag.
Dracula came up with a good way to divert disaster eastward, letting them, along with their families, attack the underground world creatures.
Claiming that the underground was forever devoid of sunlight, naturally fitting for blood race survival; rich resources underground meant every vampire could feast well; Dracula even offered his biggest bargaining chip, that whoever could unify the underground world would get the title of 'Ancestor.'
After presenting all these benefits, the blood races' eyes turned even redder, directing their attention to previously unnoticed areas, eagerly advancing toward the underground cities.
However, globally, even with hundreds of dukes now, expecting them to unite and accomplish anything would take at least decades, and decades later, they'd have to decide the victor, which was even more remote.
Dracula's plan was simply to stall, stall until the end of days, until the world's destruction; he wouldn't die anyway.
Moreover, the underground races were not defenseless. Although these primitive demons and hybrid species were socially backward and technologically inferior to the blood races, they were spread across the globe, even beneath the seabed.
In addition to their older age than humans and longer development, their population advantage was enough to compete with the blood races, exchanging three-four hundred lives for one blood race was a gain.
Of course, that's under the condition the blood races don't use biotechnological warfare. However, later in the war, the underground savage creatures ultimately lost to viral weapons.
But even if the blood races declare victory decades later, millions of underground races survive, not completely wiped out.
Nowadays, the unassuming goblin slave races have emerged, using magic and scientific ability along with trading skills with humans, becoming the majority among underground races in the future.
With a smiling face, Su Ming watched Bobbi eat watermelon, nodding continuously, unwilling to share the intelligence he held.
This truth seemed absent in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records, although Coulson insisted Dracula initiated the underground world war, which wasn't entirely wrong, since he proposed the idea.
Despite this, the ancestor of the blood race remained considerate, taking the risk of intercepted intelligence to first report his plan to the Supreme Mage.
At that time, Su Ming was vacationing in Sochi, Hamill simply came over to tell him. Generally, Kama Taiji remains neutral and doesn't engage in war, so there wasn't much to say.
Let them fight, Kama Taiji maintains neutrality.
Yet now, Deathstroke got inadvertently involved in the battlefield, which was another matter; though an occasional skirmish wouldn't affect the big picture.
Vampires' individual combat abilities were negligible; only the constant biological weapons required precaution that Su Ming, a symbiote host, wasn't afraid of. Strangulation could restrain all viruses or bacteria within the host from a micro-level.
But the Shield Squad present, as well as the young butler, lacked such resistance, causing difficulty if they were hit.
Fortunately, it's still early in the war, so even a bit of careful defense should prevent major issues.
The target of the blood races was the underground people, of course, but they wouldn't have a good attitude toward humans either. Humans weren't their primary enemy, so appearing in their view wouldn't necessarily attract pursuit.
Right now, the existing forces underground included S.H.I.E.L.D., Leviathan, Longevity people, Underground races, Blood races; let's see what the last one is.
If it's also a faction solely out for war, not for Element Zero or Gravityium resources, the action plan would be much simpler, and Gravityium's location would become clearer.
The blood races weren't without enemies. Besides human vampire hunters, they had a sworn adversary species, the werewolves.
Their bond was almost like Wolverine and Deadpool's; seeing each other meant it was impossible to stop without turning the other into minced meat or a dried corpse.
Hope it's werewolves, hope it's werewolves...
However, when Xiaowang appeared carrying a corpse, everyone, including Su Ming, was disappointed.
The new corpse was placed on the watermelon rind, and Xiaowang accepted the last piece of watermelon left by the Supreme Mage: "Mission accomplished, Master, but I couldn't capture anyone alive from the last faction, only brought back a corpse."
Su Ming sighed, patting Xiaowang's shoulder, instructing him to hide tactically behind cover to avoid getting shot:
"It's okay, we all know which group this is from, right? Everyone?"
Coulson and Miranda exchanged a glance, silently nodding; even Daisy and Bobbi, who were avidly eating watermelon earlier, turned serious at this moment.
Only Youyou, from a small country in South America, hadn't realized the situation, murmuring to herself while holding a bitten piece of watermelon: "The badge with a skull spewing an octopus, I think I've seen it in the 'Frame'..."
"Hydra, they're Hydra." Daisy crushed the watermelon rind in her hand, pieces and juice flowing from her fingers, her tone full of hatred.
"But I haven't seen this style of uniform, the full green coat, yellow gear; their leader's aesthetic doesn't seem great." Bobbi poked the corpse's face with a short stick; this Hydra member had died the usual way, poison foam mingling with blood leaked from his mouth.
"Coincidentally, I haven't seen this outfit either." Su Ming showed a curious expression.