Chapter 1971 - Prelude, Private Discussion

Werner disappeared again, and the world was peaceful once more.

Luke didn’t gain much from questioning Gordon.

Reality wasn’t a TV drama.

There was no need for Werner to reveal all his secrets and plans to these pure puppets.

The ‘transport’ list which Gordon gave Luke only enabled him to catch two groups of four Afterlife Inhumans in New York and Tokyo.

The four people who had been caught had only received the order to hide. They didn’t know exactly what Werner was going to do.

However, based on how Gordon had transported these people to cities with more than ten million people, Luke had a theory.

Thanks to Luke’s surveillance in New York and Tokyo, the Inhumans were caught.

But there was nothing he could do about other places like Moscow, Seoul, New Delhi, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, and so on.

Werner seemed to have sensed that the way the Bat Squad collected intelligence was related to the Internet and cell phones, so he had already instructed these Inhumans to hide during the day and move around only at night, and to hide their figures and faces.

This was indeed very effective against Luke’s multifaceted system.

Most of the people in big cities weren’t as well-off. Even if a photo was posted, the image resolution was poor.

The TV dramas which bragged about restoring pixelated images were dumb.

Just like that, October arrived.

Phil looked for Knight one day. “Call Tony. Let’s find an absolutely safe place to talk.”

Naturally, Luke had no objections.

Soon, the three of them met in the basement of the Avengers base.

Tony went to the bar and asked, “Do you want anything to drink?”

Luke said, “Phil said that it has to be absolutely safe.”

Tony gave him a dead-eyed stare. “I personally set up the defense system. How can there be a problem?”

Luke said, “The last time Rhodes wore your armor, Ant-Man shorted it out.”

Tony’s face darkened. “That was a d*mn thing Dr. Pym made. Can your armor block it?”

“No.” Luke nodded calmly. “But I’m just reminding you not to be careless.”

“D*mn it!” Tony mumbled.

Luke: “Watch your lan…”

Tony immediately exploded. “Hey, didn’t we say that’s over?”

Luke remained calm. “I was going to say, watch your Lanie.”

Tony was baffled. “What Lanie?”

Luke turned to look at Phil. “It’s ‘one’ of Phil’s special agents.”

Phil opened his mouth and hesitated for a moment. “This… what does this have to do with Lanie?”

“We’re now facing Werner, who can completely control Inhumans; Lanie’s mask isn’t safe anymore,” Luke said in all seriousness.

Tony still felt that something wasn’t right, but since Phil had acknowledged Lanie’s existence, he didn’t dwell on it.

After operating the screen projected by his watch with a dark face for a moment, he finally stopped. “Alright, I’ve activated the energy shield. All known superpowers will be heavily affected.”

Actually, there was no need to go that far. Phil blinked, but didn’t discourage the tycoon.

In front of a group of superhumans, it was indeed necessary to be cautious. In any case, Phil didn’t have to pay for this shield.

He coughed and said, “After an exchange of intelligence with some old acquaintances, and coupled with information from ATCU, there are traces of suspected superhumans in many parts of the world. You have similar information here, right?”

Luke and Tony looked at each other and nodded.

Tony said casually, “But there aren’t many in America, and even fewer in New York.”

Phil looked closely at Luke. “Don’t tell me you knocked them out and captured them?”

Everybody in the Avengers and the Bat Squad knew that Luke had a strange hobby.

As long as someone caught a superhuman, he would come knocking and ask to spar with them.

Those who hadn’t done anything evil were usually just knocked out – it couldn’t even be considered a light injury.

Those who did evil got broken bones that weren’t light injuries at all.

Superhumans had appeared in many places around the world, but there were practically none in New York. How could people not suspect a certain person’s quirk?

Luke felt helpless and said, “Tony and I suspect that this is related to Werner.”

Phil understood. “You mean the Inhumans?”

Luke nodded. “You should have noticed that many of the people suspected of developing superpowers disappeared in a day or two, right?”

Phil nodded again.

Luke gestured at Tony. “Show Phil the image.”

Tony snorted and searched the virtual screen on his watch. He flicked his finger, and a small screen floated over to Phil.

Phil stretched out his hand… Hm, there was no reaction.

He looked at the tycoon helplessly.

Tony was enlightened. “Hm, now that I’ve seen this image, tell me about Lanie later. I’m very interested in this mysterious female agent.”

Phil: (“_”)

A moment later, Director Phil, who had obtained clearance, zoomed in on a map of the world.

Several cities turned into flashing red dots with the numbers 1 to 4 and a specific time.

Phil tapped the first dot, and an enlarged map with detailed information immediately appeared: New Delhi, 13 September 2011, 6:14am.

Suspicious target: Salman Khan, male, 16 years old…

Phil watched for a moment before he moved on to Mexico City No. 2, Moscow No. 3, and Cairo No. 4.

He skimmed through it, and it took him less than five minutes before he looked at Tony. “Cities where the outbreaks happen are always far away. With these people who suddenly develop superpowers, the locations and times when they first appear are closer to each other, before the activity suddenly stops. Is this how Werner operates?”

Tony nodded. “Bruce and I suspect that every time a superpower incident happens, he’ll be in the area. As long as the Inhumans awaken, he’ll immediately take them away. He has a precise time frame for his operation. By the time we get there, he’s already gone.”

Phil was stunned. “Then why didn’t you let me know? I can get New SHIELD to help.”

Then, he saw Tony’s shifty expression, while Luke looked away.

Phil cursed inwardly, while good manners prevented him from doing so out loud. “Gentlemen, our New SHIELD has always dealt with superpowers.”

Hearing that, Luke simply turned his face away.