The moment Li Ming asked Coulson how he would choose marked the end of his rambling: I refuse to believe Fury would still dare ask me to resurrect Coulson after I've dragged blood relatives into this.
At this point, even if Fury wanted to resurrect Coulson, Coulson himself probably wouldn't agree.
Sure enough, upon hearing Li Ming's question, Coulson shook his head firmly without hesitation. Among his closest blood relatives, his parents' bones had long since turned to dust—what could he possibly offer as sacrifice?
As for children, Coulson made it clear he had none.
The idea of using siblings as sacrifice? Coulson couldn't even accept reviving himself by sacrificing ordinary lives, let alone those of his own kin.
"Sir, just let me rest in peace," Coulson said with a serene smile, as if he had already come to terms with death.
Stark opened his mouth, wanting to persuade Coulson further, but ultimately chose silence and stepped aside.
At first, when Li Ming mentioned that spells couldn't restore corpses or reanimate them, Stark wasn't bothered—in fact, he felt a hint of pride.
What magic couldn't achieve, he, the tech genius, could.
Even as Li Ming explained the resurrection spell, Stark was already brainstorming how to clone Coulson's body, then have Li Ming transfer Coulson's soul into the fresh clone.
Resurrection—just like that.
As for Coulson being under Li Ming's control afterward, Stark wasn't concerned either.
First, Stark knew Coulson and Li Ming had a decent relationship. With that foundation of friendship, would Li Ming really make Coulson do bizarre things for no reason?
Besides, Fury wasn't stupid. By the time Coulson was resurrected, Fury would've already handpicked people to monitor him.
To exaggerate a little, if Coulson spent more than ten minutes in the bathroom afterward, Fury would probably storm into Li Ming's trailer, grab him by the neck, and demand, "Why is Coulson stuck in the bathroom? Did you control him?"
At that point, Li Ming would probably develop a full-blown "Fury allergy" from sheer annoyance.
Between an incurable condition and controlling Coulson, what would Li Ming choose?
Based on Stark's understanding of him, Li Ming would likely lock himself in his trailer and play solo until he developed autism rather than suffer from "Fury allergy."
That condition was just too damn embarrassing.
If Fury was truly uneasy about Coulson or worried Li Ming might use him to extract S.H.I.E.L.D. intel, Stark figured they could just let the resurrected Coulson retire.
What could Li Ming even do to a retired Coulson?
But when he heard resurrection required sacrificing a blood relative, Stark's thoughts screeched to a halt. After a few stunned seconds, he looked at Li Ming in horror: This is a resurrection spell? More like dark magic that trades multiple lives for one.
Yet in the face of death—how strong is the temptation to live?Stark wanted to see what choice Coulson would make before deciding whether to persuade Li Ming to help.
If Coulson wanted to extract some genetic material before his corpse cooled completely, then use artificial insemination to produce offspring, and finally resurrect through bloodline...
Stark might not stop him out of past camaraderie, but asking for his help? Forget it.
A baby born through technological means is still a life! Stark couldn't accept sacrificing an infant to the Devil.
If Coulson chose to face death calmly, then Stark would persuade Li Ming to use another method to save him—like the time turner.
Of course, with Fury present besides Li Ming and Coulson, Stark didn't want the King of Agents to know about time travel. Otherwise, Li Ming would be pestered by Fury until he moved, and Stark would lose his Wizard friend.
This was the main reason Stark chose to stay silent.
Hearing Coulson's resolute refusal, Stark sighed inwardly, forced a smile, patted Coulson's shoulder, and left the room.
He disliked the oppressive atmosphere and needed fresh air.
Li Ming wanted to follow Stark out, but Fury had his own agenda, grabbing Li Ming for a private chat.
Pulling Li Ming aside to prevent Stark from eavesdropping, Fury crossed his arms, stroked his chin, and whispered, "Why must those you revive obey you?"
Why ask so pointedly? Forcing me to keep improvising... Li Ming scratched his head, thinking fast: "I told you—the moment Coulson died, hell already knew. Without proper justification, intercepting a soul would be declaring war on hell. The Devil could use this as an excuse to invade Earth."
"You're the King of Agents—tell me, would the Devil truly invade Earth or just come to plunder benefits?"
Fury glanced at Li Ming. Was this even a question?
Of course, they'd plunder first. If possible, the Devil would avoid Li Ming, retreat to hell after looting, then return under the pretense of targeting him—repeating until Earth was ravaged before finishing Li Ming off.
That was the Devil's strategy.
Seeing Fury's silent, one-eyed stare, Li Ming felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding and continued, "Second, souls can't survive alone."
"Nature's laws would grind any soul lingering on Earth to dust." He spread his hands.44
Innocently, he said, "So for Coulson to be revived, he needs to sign a Contract of servitude with me. The Contract tells Hell that Coulson is my slave, and even in death, he remains my private property—sacred and inviolable. Therefore, it doesn't count as unauthorized detention, and Hell naturally won't come after me."
"Secondly, it also uses the power of the Contract to protect Coulson's soul from dissipating."
Sacred and inviolable private property? Coulson inexplicably glanced down at his own body, his eye twitching as he said, "But I'm a person, not property."
"Same thing, same thing," Li Ming waved his hand dismissively. "Devils came to Earth during humanity's slave society era, so Hell has always recognized slaves as a form of property."
Just as Coulson was about to argue further, Fury narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are there other ways to protect his soul?"
"Yes," Li Ming replied, pulling out the pitch-black gourd that had previously contained the vengeful spirit from his shoulder bag. "There's a magic circle inside the gourd that can protect Coulson's soul from being ground to dust for a short time. But—"
Li Ming looked at Fury with a serious expression. "To certain magical creatures, a soul is a nourishing delicacy. Even if Coulson stays inside the gourd, he'll attract some creatures. If only one or two show up, the gourd can handle them. But if too many come, the gourd won't be able to protect Coulson."
Fury nodded thoughtfully before asking, "If Coulson's body is treated and filled with vitality, and you then return his soul to it, would he still be considered part of the evil faction?"
As soon as Fury finished speaking, Li Ming couldn't help but turn to Coulson with a grin. "Looks like your boss has already thought of something."
Coulson clearly realized it too. He lowered his head, touched his chest, and said helplessly, "Sir, are you planning to first perform heart surgery on me, then use corpse revival techniques to stimulate my body with vitality, and finally bring me back to life?"
"Is there a problem?" Fury asked.
Li Ming shrugged and chimed in first. "I don't have a problem. After all, if something goes wrong, it's not me who dies."
Coulson glanced at Li Ming. For some reason, he suddenly felt like he might be evolving into a vengeful spirit—otherwise, why would he find Li Ming so appetizing, with an urge to take a bite out of him?
"The world changes so fast. Nowadays, it's hard to even rest peacefully in a coffin." Coulson shrugged. "If I can live and breathe air, I don't want to die—"
Before he could finish, Li Ming cut him off disdainfully. "Stop with the air nonsense. What did air ever do to you? Just say you want to make babies with that cellist and be done with it."
Fury narrowed his eyes and, after a moment of silence, said, "No. Coulson will still be on the death list."
Before Coulson and Li Ming could ask, Fury continued, "Besides using Coulson's death to unite the Avengers, I also want him to go underground.""Underground?" Li Ming joked, "What, do you think being on the death list means Coulson can commute between hell and Earth?"
Fury shot Li Ming a glare. Seeing Coulson's equally bewildered expression, he paused before saying, "There's a problem within S.H.I.E.L.D., but aside from knowing it's serious, I have no leads."
Turning to Coulson, Fury commanded, "I need you to disappear from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. Later, assemble a team to help me uncover what's really going wrong inside S.H.I.E.L.D."
Then Fury looked back at Li Ming. "Coulson will face many troubles, and I may not be able to assist openly. I hope you'll step in when needed."
"'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' is about to begin," Li Ming grinned, already envisioning the flood of resources that would soon flow into his hands through Coulson.
Coulson tilted his head in thought, realizing he likely wouldn't see his girlfriend again. But for the sake of S.H.I.E.L.D., Earth's shield... he nodded silently with a trace of sorrow.
Noticing this, Li Ming aimed his black gourd at Coulson, drawing his soul inside. Patting the gourd, he said, "Old Coulson, you're the only resident in this gourd. If you get lonely, you can send me dreams. I'll make time to visit a church holding a funeral and find you some female companions to chat with. How about that?"
Handing the black gourd to Fury, Li Ming asked curiously, "Coulson is your trusted subordinate after all. Do you know his type? Does he prefer curvy women or slender ones?"
Fury had no idea how Coulson inside the gourd reacted, but he couldn't help twitching his eye corners. Rolling his eyes, he took the gourd and quickly walked away.
Li Ming had warned that the gourd might attract magical creatures, so Fury needed to secure Coulson in a safe location before any unknown beings arrived.