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*****
Jiaying watched the scene unfold with a grim expression. She hadn't expected things to spiral so quickly. Though she understood Gordon's actions were born of caution, they had only succeeded in making a bad situation worse.
However, before blood was shed, she wanted to try one last attempt at salvage.
"Everyone, stop!"
Jiaying shouted, her voice commanding enough to draw every eye in the room.
"I don't know where you heard such rumors," she said, looking toward Feny, "but we hide here only because we wish to avoid persecution."
She turned a gentle, motherly gaze toward Skye, attempting to win her trust first. "This is merely a paradise we've built. There is no war here, no destruction—only a family of people who are just like us."
Hearing her mother's words, Skye instinctively glanced at Feny. While a part of her knew this might just be a convenient excuse, another part of her desperately wished it were the truth.
Noticing Skye's conflicted look, Feny sighed. "To be honest, if you just wanted to handle your own transformations internally, that would be fine. But why do you insist on forcing everyone else to become Inhumans?"
He paused, his voice dropping an octave. "And aren't you worried about drawing the attention of the Kree Empire?"
Lincoln, the man with electricity crackling in his palms, looked at Feny with utter confusion. He had been summoned under the impression of an invasion; he still had no idea what the underlying conflict was about.
"You are not like us," Gordon interjected. He was the only one present who truly knew the depth of Jiaying's endgame. He was deeply unsettled by how much Feny knew. If this plan were leaked, many within 'Afterlife' would surely oppose it. It was supposed to be a secret known only to a select few. "You could never understand the pain we have endured."
"Tsk. So, what you're saying is... you want the world to 'feel pain'?"
Feny was momentarily reminded of a certain "God" from an anime in his previous life who had a penchant for monologues about the weight of a bag of rice—or rather, the cycle of pain.
Gordon didn't reply. Instead, his hand crept toward his pocket. Though his spatial abilities were currently suppressed, he had come prepared for a fight. He had a weapon.
The Diviner—the Obelisk—wasn't unique to S.H.I.E.L.D. Afterlife had their own.
However, they didn't know the location of the Kree temple, nor did they possess the mystic arts of the Ancient One. They had opted for a cruder method: melting down the Obelisk to extract the Terrigen Crystals within.
Unfortunately, their technology was imperfect. The crystals they produced were laced with the lethal metal of the Obelisk, making them "unpure."
For an Inhuman, this impurity was harmless. But for a normal human, a shattered crystal of this grade was a concentrated, airborne death sentence.
As soon as Feny saw Gordon pull a deep blue crystal from his pocket, he knew exactly what it was.
A flash of anticipation crossed Jiaying's eyes. She knew Skye had already undergone her transformation. In this room, Feny was likely the only "normal" human. If that crystal broke, he would be the only one to turn to ash.
Gordon didn't hesitate. Uncertain of what other tricks Feny might have, he lunged forward and slammed the crystal onto the floor with all his might.
CRACK!
The brittle crystal shattered instantly, releasing a cloud of fine, dark mist that surged outward.
However, as the dust reached the space directly in front of Feny, it stopped dead, as if hitting an invisible wall.
In reality, that's exactly what happened.
The moment Gordon moved, Feny had used Gold Selection to manifest a pressurized layer of air around himself and Skye.
With a flick of his wrist, a localized Burst Magic incinerated the hazardous powder into nothingness. Feny sighed. "So, I guess we're officially past the talking stage?"
The room fell into a tense silence. Jiaying looked ashen, Gordon was paralyzed by shock, while Lincoln and Alisha stood by in a daze, not yet grasping the lethality of what had just occurred. As the latter two prepared to attack, Jiaying stepped in front of them.
She looked at Feny, then cast a long, lingering look at Skye behind him. "What is it you want?" she asked heavily.
"I want a private word with you. And him," Feny said, pointing a finger at Gordon.
He knew that not everyone in Afterlife shared Jiaying's radical vision. Many truly viewed this place as a sanctuary—aside from the lingering hope of awakening a superpower.
"You two, get out," Jiaying commanded Lincoln and Alisha.
In Afterlife, Jiaying's word was law. Her status was akin to the Ancient One's in Kamar-Taj—not necessarily in raw power, but in absolute authority. No one dared to cross her.
Lincoln looked worried. "Jiaying, what is going on?"
"I will explain later. Leave us," she said sternly, her mind already pivoting to how she could neutralize the threat Feny posed.
Reluctantly, Lincoln and Alisha obeyed and exited the room.
"What do you want?" Jiaying repeated once the door closed. She glanced at the silent Skye, wondering what the exact nature of her relationship with Feny was.
"My goal is simple," Feny replied, his voice calm. "I want you to go back to being the woman you used to be."
Jiaying blinked, caught completely off guard. "Go back?"
Even Gordon was stunned. By the time he had met Jiaying, she had already been through her trauma. He had no concept of who she "used to be."
"I have already captured your enemy, Daniel Whitehall," Feny said slowly.
At the mention of that name, Jiaying's body physically recoiled. A flash of pure, unadulterated hatred flickered in her eyes, followed by a tremor of remembered horror.
"How you take your revenge is between you and your husband," Feny continued. "But I expect that once your vengeance is satisfied, you will leave this place, abandon your crusade, and return to a normal life with him."
Jiaying took a long, shaky breath, smoothing her expression back into a mask of composure. "First, I thank you for bringing that monster to justice. And I thank you for wishing for my family's reunion. But... I have no 'plan,' and the people here require my guidance. I cannot simply abandon them."
"And this is why I hate trying to solve things through conversation," Feny muttered with a sigh.
He didn't bother arguing. Instead, he turned to Skye and asked with genuine seriousness, "Do you trust me?"
"Yes," Skye answered without a second's hesitation. Despite the blood tie to the woman standing before her, she trusted the man who had been her anchor since childhood far more.
"I'm not going to hurt her," Feny promised.
He turned back to Jiaying and began walking toward her, raising the Scepter. Negotiations were clearly over; it was time to let the Mind Stone do the heavy lifting.
(End of Chapter)