Marvel's Shendu: Dominating the Multiverse

Chapter 17 Tony's Good Luck

Just as the detection instrument was about to scan the bushes where he was hiding, a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from afar.

"There's an unusual energy fluctuation to the east!" The two agents exchanged a glance, then turned and ran towards the direction from which the sound was coming.

Quill felt relieved. He turned around and looked to the east, where he could vaguely see a plume of smoke rising.

Since Saint had made the move, Quill stopped thinking about it and quickly rushed towards the chicken coop.

The chicken coop was even more dilapidated than he had imagined, with rotten straw and bird droppings scattered all over the ground. Quill covered his nose with his hand and found a movable wooden plank in the corner.

He took a deep breath, lifted the wooden board, and jumped down.

The cellar was even darker than the one above, and there was a musty smell in the air. Quill used the Monkey Talisman to make his fingertips glow faintly.

In that dim light, he saw something huddled in the corner—a rooster dressed in a smaller version of the S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform worn in battle.

The rooster was staring at him with frightened eyes, clucking loudly.

Quill crouched down, trying to make his voice sound gentler: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to rescue you."

The rooster tilted its head to the side.

"Um... you might not remember, but we met last night."

A look of confusion flashed in the rooster's eyes, which immediately turned to fear. It flapped its wings and backed away, but was blocked by the corner of the wall.

Quill sighed and held up the monkey charm he was holding: "Relax, I'll turn you back to your original form right away."

The faint light from the talisman shone, enveloping the rooster.

The light faded after a moment.

A man dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D. war uniform was huddled in a corner, his face pale and his eyes vacant.

He looked down at his hands, which had returned to normal, then looked up at Quill in front of him, or more precisely, stared at Quill's face, which still resembled Coulson's.

"Agent Coulson...?"

Quill then remembered that he was still wearing Coulson's face and quickly used a spell to change back to his original appearance: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not Coulson."

Quill reached out and pulled the agent to his feet: "I'm here to rescue you. There's no time to explain now. You have to come with me."

The agent stood up unsteadily, his expression complex.

"I'm sorry, this might be a bit complicated to explain."

Quill pulled him toward the cellar exit: "Let's get out of here first."

The two had just climbed out of the cellar when they ran into a figure.

Tony Stark.

He was standing at the entrance of the chicken coop, holding a cup of coffee, watching the two people crawling out of the cellar with an interesting expression.

"that."

Tony took a leisurely sip of his coffee: "I just wanted to come here for some peace and quiet, but I didn't expect to stumble upon such a great show."

Quill stood there, frozen, wondering why Tony was here now.

Tony's gaze swept across Quill's face, then landed on the agent, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

"So," he said slowly, "can anyone tell me why the missing agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would crawl out of an unwanted chicken coop?"

Quill's mind raced.

"Mr. Stark," he tried to make his voice sound calm, "this is a misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "You mean, turning a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent into a rooster and then turning him back was a misunderstanding?"

Quill's heart skipped a beat. How did Tony know?

Just then, a roar came from afar, and a cloud of smoke rose up not far away, followed by a commotion and exclamations.

Tony glanced back, his brow furrowing slightly. "Looks like Coulson's in for a busy day."

He turned back, no longer paying attention to that area, and his gaze returned to Quill: "But before that, I'd like to hear your explanation."

Quill's mind raced, but he forced a confused expression: "Turn into a rooster? Mr. Stark, are you hallucinating from working too much overtime lately? I suggest you drink more hot water and get some rest..."

"stop!"

Tony raised a hand, the coffee cup pausing in mid-air: "First, don't talk to me like you're coaxing a child, second..."

Tony pressed a button on the bracelet, and a holographic screen popped up.

The screen displays a surveillance video.

In the scene, a rooster wearing a miniature S.H.I.E.L.D. combat suit is frantically scurrying around in the bushes outside the command center.

A few seconds later, a cat wearing a pendant appeared at the edge of the screen. The rooster, as if attracted by something, flapped its wings and rushed over. Then the screen blurred, and both animals disappeared at the same time.

Quill looked at the screen in front of him and joked, "So, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance system is now recording even the migration of wild animals? They're quite environmentally conscious."

Tony completely ignored his teasing, rewound the video, and finally stopped at a single frame, zooming in on it.

"this."

Quill saw what was in the picture clearly, and Tony deliberately magnified the talisman on the cat's neck.

His smile froze for a moment.

Tony captured that moment perfectly, and the corners of his mouth widened slightly: "Aha, looks like we've finally found common ground."

"That's... a pendant."

Quill's voice was dry: "My mom used to like putting these things on cats too, you know, middle-aged women's aesthetics."

"I have no problem with the aesthetics of middle-aged women."

Tony took a leisurely sip of his coffee: "Besides, I never said your mother put it on."

Quill fell silent, realizing he had misspoke due to nervousness.

After finishing his coffee, Tony put away the full-screen display, took two steps forward, and stopped less than a meter away from Quill. His gaze swept over the agent who had just returned to human form before finally settling on Quill.

"What I'm curious about is why, after the cat with the pendant disappeared, a young man who was acting crazy yesterday would bring a missing agent out of an abandoned chicken coop today."

The agent finally realized what was happening, abruptly taking a step back to distance himself from Quill: "Mr. Stark, it was him who..."

"I know he's the one who turned you back," Tony said without turning his head. "So you'd better shut up now and let me finish my question."

The agent immediately shut his mouth.

Quill took a deep breath, trying to make his expression look more natural: "Mr. Stark, it's actually quite simple."

"Last night I went for a walk and saw a rooster dressed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, so I followed it out of curiosity. Guess what? When I got here, it turned back on its own."

"It turned back on its own," Tony repeated.

"right."

"He transformed from a rooster back into an adult male."

Quill said with a sincere expression, "This is indeed a miraculous biological phenomenon. I suggest that S.H.I.E.L.D. establish a special research team. Who knows, we might even win a Nobel Prize."

Tony stared at him and laughed, a laugh that sent chills down Quill's spine.

After laughing, Tony slowly said, "You know what? I just wanted to find a quiet place to escape those annoying reports, but I got so lucky and stumbled upon such a wonderful scene. In return, I think I should tell you something."

"What is it?"

"When I came in just now," Tony pointed to the chicken coop entrance, "I did a biosignal scan of this coop, and guess what I found?"