While Li Pu was worrying about the Little Broken Ball and cursing in his heart as he slid down the tunnel into the cavern, a pair of eyes was watching him from above.
Through a remote sensing satellite that S.H.I.E.L.D. had recently bought with an invoice from a certain major power, Nick Fury was seriously observing the Weyland construction site at Prudhoe Bay.
"Why is he appearing here too?"
The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. pondered for a moment, his fingers in his pants pocket moving slightly as he sent a text message to his most trusted Agent.
"Coulson, quickly check on Li Pu's movements and report back to me later."
The reason he wanted Coulson to report later was that he had a more urgent and important matter to attend to at the moment.
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was representing all of humanity in a "planetary-level" diplomatic affair.
He brushed non-existent dust off his leather trench coat before stepping off the quinjet, accompanied by Level 10 Agent Natasha and Level 9 Agent Maria Hill.
At this moment, their location was actually not that far from Li Pu in a straight line.
Their quinjet had landed in an open gold-panning mine in the Yukon region of Canada. The advanced jet formed a sharp contrast with the various large-scale washing equipment and rusty second-hand engineering vehicles surrounding it.
However, compared to another aircraft here, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s advanced quinjet actually seemed somewhat outdated.
Because that aircraft was less of a plane and more accurately a space shuttle equipped with a warp drive, capable of navigating the Universe.
The alien visitors who had arrived in this space shuttle were currently standing near their craft's hatch, waiting for Nick Fury.
"Are all the firearms left on the plane? These alien barbarians love hunting; carrying firearms might easily cause them to react aggressively."
On the way to those aliens, Nick Fury made a final confirmation in a low voice with Natasha and Hill.
In fact, the reason he brought two female Agents for this meeting was to minimize the probability of conflict as much as possible.
"Director, I only brought the Widow's Bite. Is that really okay?"
Natasha asked with some concern.
The aliens' tall and burly physiques clearly marked them as warriors with extremely powerful strength.
If a conflict broke out, Natasha estimated that with just her electric bracelets, she might struggle even to protect herself.
"Don't worry, I brought the ultimate dispute resolution tool." Compared to Natasha's worry, Nick Fury appeared quite composed.
He was carrying a pet cage containing a "fat ginger cat" that was currently dozing off after eating its fill.
In addition to this, Nick Fury also had a pager hidden on him that no one else knew about.
With these two preparations, it was definitely enough.
Sure enough, when Nick Fury walked up to the tall alien and it saw the pet cage he was carrying, the latter's mouth behind its face mask immediately emitted a series of "hissing and clicking" sounds.
In the Predator language, this sound signified shock and respect.
Because he saw that someone had actually used a crude device made of plastic and wire to "imprison" a super dangerous monster that was renowned even across the Universe!
Consequently, the Elder of this Predator Lone Clan immediately removed his face mask, revealing a face somewhat similar to a giant insect.
"Hiss-hiss-ha-ha!"
He expressed his respect to Nick Fury.
Only then did the Predator Elder put his mask back on—otherwise they would have no way to communicate efficiently—unlike in movies, how could aliens all speak English?
Even if they were to learn a language of the humans on Earth, they would only learn Chinese.
Because Chinese and the Predator language shared similarities; both were pictographic scripts.
Furthermore, the more highly intelligent a creature was, the more it would tend towards a language with richer expression, higher accuracy, and higher information entropy for communication!
"Greetings, respected Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Mr. Nick Fury. You may call me Iverson the Loner, or simply Iverson."
A voice that Nick Fury could understand came from the Predator Elder's mask translator.
"Hello, Iverson."
While speaking, Nick Fury extended his hand and shook hands with the Predator Elder, Iverson.
"Personally, I respect your cultural traditions, but I also need to declare to you once again: Earth belongs to Earthlings!
According to the information we have, 17 years ago and 11 years ago, members of your kind appeared on Earth.
Once in the rainforests of Borneo, and once in a densely populated city.
Although the impact caused both times was ultimately suppressed by us successfully,
You must know that your side's reckless behavior still put a lot of pressure on our work, causing significant economic losses and casualties..."
Iverson remained silent until Nick Fury finished speaking.
Because he was relying on the Predator computer built into his mask to analyze the Earth "administrative" official contacting him.
"This person is very capable; otherwise, he shouldn't be able to control a powerful and dangerous Flerken."
"But why does the content of his narration make it seem like he doesn't have sufficient information and is very ignorant?"
"Does he not know that for thousands of years, we Predators have visited Earth periodically?"
"Wait, is this person trying a deceptive tactic to make me lower my guard during the negotiation?"
"No, I need to conduct an intelligence assessment on this person. 'Iron Brain', scan him and estimate his intelligence."
A second or two later, the AI named "Iron Brain" discreetly scanned Nick Fury's brain, and after reading the neural signals released by 80% of his synapses, it reached a conclusion—
Nick Fury's IQ, by Earth human standards, was approximately 150, reaching the baseline for normal adult intelligence in the Predator race.
Iverson fell into confusion.
Nick Fury's IQ was neither high nor low, making it difficult to judge.
If his IQ were higher, the inference that "he is engaging in tactical deception" could be established.
If his IQ were lower, Iverson could understand if Nick Fury forgot some details because he didn't look at his notes while speaking.
But now, Nick Fury's IQ was stuck in the middle, making it very hard to determine.
In Iverson's view, for Nick Fury, this "planetary-level leader" of Earth, to not know how deep his own Planet's waters were... the situation was as bizarre as it could be.
However, being silent for too long would be inappropriate after all.
Iverson eventually gave his response through the translator, based on the information he judged Nick Fury must know.
"I express my regret regarding the situation you just mentioned. But those two incidents were the work of other Predator clans and have nothing to do with our Lone Clan.
Our Lone Clan has always been loyal to the Queen.
And Her Majesty the Queen deeply admires the powerful strength of that Captain Marvel among the Earthlings and is willing to be on good terms with Earthlings.
Therefore, our Lone Clan's hunting rituals on Earth have all been evaluated and modified to minimize the impact on your civilization's independence."
Nick Fury frowned.
Through the remote sensing satellite just now, he hadn't just seen Li Pu; earlier, he had seen three underage Predators slaughtering seven or eight mercenaries from the Weyland Corporation like cutting melons and vegetables.
"But three 'children' from your clan killed seven or eight humans just a few minutes ago."
"Those humans were all employed by the Weyland Corporation; they had nothing to do with your hunting ritual."
"Weyland Corporation is a Fortune Global 500 listed company with a market value close to 20 billion US dollars. The deaths of those people will definitely affect Weyland Corporation's stock price, which in turn will affect many people's lives."
A look of confusion appeared on Iverson's face.
Although he knew concepts like "corporations" and "stocks" on Earth, the Predator race did not have a corresponding culture.
Therefore, he found it hard to understand why Nick Fury cared so much about a company—did that company not directly link to the Earthlings' military power?
"Mr. Nick Fury, I do not understand. This was clearly an activity we conducted in accordance with local 'laws'..."
Confused, Iverson opened a holographic projection and played content from a documentary.
This "mainstream" documentary filmed by Americans showed how much Americans respected the traditions of indigenous peoples.
The documentary also showed that the resistance of indigenous people against rapists and other violent criminals was considered legal and justified self-defense.
"...Those scumbag mercenaries from the Weyland Corporation participated in a criminal act against your own kind last night, collectively assaulting a human female, and then murdered her and her mate in an attempt to escape punishment.
According to the laws of the Predator race, such crimes are utterly shameless.
Perpetrators would be subjected to torture such as skinning and dismemberment, and it would also bring shame upon their clan.
In the most serious cases, if the Queen passes a sentence of excommunication, their clan might even be demoted to 'Bad Blood'.
However, we respect the laws of Earthlings, so we merely executed them all according to local customs—customs being the essence of justice.
Although I admit there was a bit of selfishness in doing so, as my race does not wish for the sacred grounds of the hunting ritual to be defiled by villains,
I also gave instructions to those three children not to torture those scumbag mercenaries, but simply to kill them.
Does this not comply with your laws?
After all, isn't this how the film and television materials you produce for all Earthlings to watch promote it?"
Nick Fury was speechless for a moment.
"Hill, check this film."
Out of an Agent's nature to doubt everything, Nick Fury still had Agent Hill, who was accompanying him, quickly confirm the authenticity of the film.
After all, editing or filming some video materials themselves to fool people was something they had done quite often in the past.
As it turned out, Agent Hill really found it; that documentary actually existed.
Moreover, it was a legitimate documentary co-produced by CNN and the BBC, and the funding came from the American cultural propaganda department.
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