Ethan turned his head toward the voice behind him. Standing near the shattered window was Natasha Romanoff, who had apparently climbed in through it. Beside her stood a man with a stern expression and a bow already in his hand.
Ethan recognized him immediately.
Clint Barton. Hawkeye.
"You're here to stop me?" Ethan asked coldly as his gaze settled on Natasha.
"Ethan, you've already killed hundreds of people throughout this entire block," Natasha said calmly. "Only this man is left. Hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. and we'll get the answers you want. Interrogation is something we're very good at."
While she spoke, Clint silently drew an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on the bowstring. The arrow tip pointed straight at Ethan, his intention clear without a single word.
Ethan's eyes darkened instantly.
Natasha had been watching his reactions closely the entire time, and the moment she saw the change in his expression, she realized something was wrong. She opened her mouth to tell Clint to lower the bow immediately.
But she was already too late.
Ethan casually raised his hand and flicked it toward Clint.
In the next instant, Clint's bow and the quiver on his back twisted violently in midair. The metal and carbon fiber warped like soft clay until both pieces of equipment collapsed into two useless lumps of scrap.
Before Clint could even react, another invisible force struck him.
His body flew backward and slammed hard into the wall.
"Clint!" Natasha shouted in alarm.
After a couple seconds, Clint pushed himself up from the floor, wincing slightly but otherwise unharmed. He shook his head and glanced at Natasha.
"I'm fine."
At that moment, Clint finally understood why Natasha had repeatedly warned him during the trip not to show even the slightest hostility toward Ethan.
Before arriving, Clint hadn't taken those warnings too seriously. Now he knew exactly why she had insisted.
Against someone like Ethan, he had absolutely no chance.
With a simple gesture, Ethan had destroyed his weapons and thrown him across the room without effort. If they truly fought, Clint wouldn't even have the opportunity to fire a single arrow.
Even ten versions of him working together probably wouldn't change the outcome.
Clint couldn't help thinking bitterly about the mission assignment. Negotiating with someone like Ethan clearly required a specialist in diplomacy.
Someone like Phil Coulson.
Unfortunately Coulson was currently in Los Angeles, and even a Quinjet would take two hours to bring him here. By the time he arrived, everything would already be over.
"Ethan, calm down," Natasha said quickly, stepping forward slightly. "We're not your enemies."
"I'm in a bad mood right now," Ethan replied flatly. "So don't try to provoke me. Understood?"
He glanced briefly at Clint before returning his gaze to Natasha.
"You want me to hand this man over to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Ethan continued. "At the moment, I strongly suspect this entire situation might have something to do with your organization. Do you really think I'd give him to you?"
"That's impossible," Natasha said immediately.
"Impossible?" Ethan repeated lightly. "These people clearly targeted Wanda and Pietro in order to get to me."
He took a step closer, his voice calm but cutting.
"I lived quietly in New York for five years without a single problem. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. suddenly obtains my information, and immediately afterward something like this happens."
Ethan tilted his head slightly.
"Don't tell me that's just a coincidence."
Natasha's heart sank.
The truth was that when she first received this mission, the same suspicion had crossed her mind. However, Nick Fury had personally assured her that S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with the incident.
Because of that assurance, she accepted the assignment.
"It might still be a coincidence," Natasha said carefully. "But whether it is or not, we'll investigate it."
Ethan said nothing for a moment.
Then a transparent bottle suddenly appeared in his hand. Inside it were dozens of small white pills.
This was a gadget from the future world of Doraemon.
The Honesty Pill.
Anyone who swallowed one would be incapable of lying for the next twenty-four hours.
This was Ethan's first time using the item, but he had absolute confidence in its effect. After all, gadgets from Doraemon's world were famously ridiculous in how powerful they were.
He took out one pill and used telekinesis to force it straight into the blond man's stomach.
Then he began asking questions.
"Why did you attack Wanda and Pietro?"
When the blond man heard the question, he almost laughed.
A moment earlier he had been worried Ethan might torture him or use some terrifying interrogation technique. Instead, the man simply fed him a pill and asked the same question again.
Did he think he was an idiot?
But the next second, something horrifying happened.
Before he could stop himself, the blond man heard his own voice speaking.
"It was an order from the leader. I was told to capture those two children alive."
The man's eyes widened in terror.
What just happened?
Why had he answered automatically?
Was it because of that pill?
Natasha and Clint exchanged shocked glances as well.
S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed truth serums, but they were extremely unreliable. The subject's willpower had to be weak, their mental state nearly collapsed, and even then the results often required careful verification.
But this pill had forced the man to answer instantly.
"Who is your leader?" Ethan asked calmly.
"Alexander Pierce," the blond man replied without hesitation.
The moment that name left his mouth, both Natasha and Clint's expressions changed dramatically.
There was no way they wouldn't recognize it.
Alexander Pierce.
Former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Current member of the World Security Council.
Ethan, however, looked completely unsurprised.
Before coming here, he had already considered several possible suspects.
There was roughly a twenty percent chance that Nick Fury was involved. After all, Fury was absolutely capable of orchestrating something like this if he thought it necessary.
A seventy percent chance pointed toward HYDRA.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had long been jokingly called the "Snake Shield," because any intelligence S.H.I.E.L.D. obtained could potentially fall into HYDRA's hands as well. If HYDRA knew about Ethan's abilities, they would never ignore such a valuable target.
The remaining ten percent belonged to other unknown forces.
"Ethan, he might be lying to you," Natasha said urgently.
If Alexander Pierce truly gave the order, the implications would be enormous.
"Lying?" Ethan shook his head calmly. "Impossible. Right now he's incapable of saying anything except the truth."
He waved his hand dismissively.
"And don't worry. This probably has nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D."
Natasha frowned in confusion.
If Alexander Pierce had given the order, how could S.H.I.E.L.D. be unrelated? After all, Pierce was still deeply connected to the organization.
There was one simple fact that demonstrated his importance.
Within the entire structure of S.H.I.E.L.D., only two people possessed Level 10 clearance.
Nick Fury.
And Alexander Pierce.
Ethan smiled faintly before turning back to the blond man.
"Go ahead," he said. "Tell her the name of your organization."
"HYDRA," the man answered.
"That's impossible!" Natasha exclaimed, her eyes widening in disbelief.
....
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