[Short-Term Active Acceleration: Activated]
'Boom—'
The young woman's figure sped through the air like a hurricane or a phantom.
"Where's the target? I can't see her!"
"Ah!"
"Team member down! Where's the target?!"
'Brrr! Brrr! Brrr...'
In an instant, the sound of gunfire erupted through the once-pristine underground trading center.
"Stop firing wildly! Are you guys an idiots?!"
[Electric Dart Deployment Complete]
[Electric Dart: Activated]
'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh'
The darts shimmered in the air, accurately striking the enemies who were shooting aimlessly.
The battle was brief, lasting only about 30 seconds.
On the second floor of the hideout, there were over twenty fully armed mercenaries holding a variety of advanced weaponry.
With this level of firepower, most regular agents or operatives would have a hard time escaping unscathed.
However, these mercenaries were incredibly unlucky.
Their opponent was Flashblade, who had received a major upgrade in her gear.
Be it standard assault rifles, shotguns, advanced electroshock guns, or even the so-called "tungsten-alloy tactical knives"—nothing could harm Flashblade.
Her new combat suit, made of vibranium, granted her formidable defense.
Once the vibranium's special properties were activated, any kinetic energy from incoming attacks was absorbed by the suit itself and converted into a mini energy reserve.
Amidst a storm of sparks and bullets, Flashblade moved with graceful precision, dodging and flipping while throwing electric darts that incapacitated the armed mercenaries one by one.
She also destroyed all the advanced weapons they held.
The "White Moon" gear didn't have much in terms of weapons, but it was more than enough to deal with these ordinary mercenaries.
Plus, when 'Short-Term Active Acceleration' was activated, these human mercenaries couldn't keep up with Flashblade's speed—they were easily taken down.
"Well, looks like the situation just flipped completely."
After dispatching all the mercenaries, the black market hideout fell silent again.
Flashblade landed lightly, walked over to the agent who was lying in the corner, and asked, "Now, can you take me to meet Mr. J?"
"Hah... Hahahahaha!" The agent broke into a manic laugh.
"No wonder you're called Flashblade! A true superhero! To think you could do all this by yourself! Mr. J's predictions were absolutely spot on!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Talking about what? Nothing."
The agent kept his smile. "I was just thinking about how unlucky I was. Mr. J had already predicted you'd show up here to investigate, and said that would be our doom."
"If you knew it was going to turn out like this, why still help Mr. J sell advanced weapons?" Flashblade asked.
"Why? Because of money, of course." The agent grinned.
"Who doesn't like money? Mr. J provided us with such advanced goods that we could easily monopolize the entire black market."
"As long as you didn't come, we'd be living the good life. Why not take advantage of that?"
"I also heard Mr. J would give us some 'Stage Two' stuff in the future—maybe some kind of advanced weapon. Too bad you showed up, and now all that's gone to waste."
"Stage Two?"
Flashblade furrowed her brow. This was starting to sound more problematic.
In this time period, the term "Stage Two" usually only appeared in one place.
That would be S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Stage Two" weapons project using the Cosmic Cube, a top-secret initiative.
But how could anyone have the ability to secretly sell weapons developed from such a project?
S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't leak weapons meant for deterring alien civilizations... would they?
Wait a minute… S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Suddenly, it clicked. Could it be...?
"Who exactly is this Mr. J?" Flashblade asked.
"Hmph, well, now that I'm finished, I don't mind telling you."
The agent sneered. "Listen closely, little girl, Mr. J is... S.H.I.E.L.D...."
'Whoosh—!'
"Ugh—!"
Before he could finish, a black arrow shot out from the dark corner of the second floor, piercing the agent's throat and turning him into a corpse in an instant.
"Well, that complicates things. Though he was just a pawn, talking too much never ends well."
A special agent dressed in black combat gear and holding a longbow appeared from the corner of the second floor.
"Long time no see, Flashblade. It's unfortunate, but it seems Director Fury's plan can no longer stay under wraps."
Flashblade turned to face the corner.
"You managed to evade my drones, so I'll give you credit for that. But what I don't understand is, Hawkeye Barton, why are you here? What's going on with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"With the optical camouflage suit from R.I.S. and my training, dodging your drones wasn't that hard. Besides, I've been caught once already; getting spotted again would be too embarrassing, wouldn't it, Flashblade?"
Barton put away his bow. "As for what's going on here, some secrets are better left unknown. You've already wiped out this hideout completely. Isn't that enough?"
"I'm afraid not. I'm the type who likes to dig for the truth," Flashblade replied.
"Besides, your appearance pretty much gave me the answer I was looking for."
Mr. J.
Nicholas J. Fury.
"So this mysterious Mr. J is actually Nick Fury?"
Clint shrugged. "Well, Flashblade, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't evil, but we're not exactly heroes either. Ultimately, what we do is to protect the world. I hope you understand."
"Is that so? Then you'd better give me a good explanation."
Flashblade said, "If it's just Hydra's undercover work, I can overlook it."
"But if S.H.I.E.L.D. is the one behind the illegal weapons trade, which increases crime rates and causes chaos in the black market... I might have to consider adding you to my list of targets for elimination."
'Szzzz!'
Just then, a hidden door at the back of the underground trading center opened.
"Your tone's pretty big, Flashblade."
A voice come from behind the door.
"I knew if you figured this out, it would cause a huge misunderstanding. But do you know why I still went ahead with this plan?"
"You'd better explain yourself, Director Fury," Flashblade said, putting away her combat stance. "Or else, I might start treating S.H.I.E.L.D. as an enemy!"
"I assure you, your enemy isn't S.H.I.E.L.D.," Nick Fury said.
"We share a common threat... one from beyond the stars."