Chapter 591

The misunderstanding outside the pyramid had escalated into a brief clash, but fortunately, the situation had been resolved without anyone getting killed.

SHIELD and the Peruvian military police lowered their weapons at nearly the same time. Their respective commanders even began exchanging remarkably friendly words.

Melinda May wanted no part of it.

She stalked into the pyramid with a grim expression, deciding that whatever was happening outside was something she was better off not watching.

"What’s going on out there?" Skye asked anxiously the moment Melinda entered.

She was still new to fieldwork, and a sudden armed confrontation involving an entire foreign military was enough to put anyone on edge.

"Peruvian military and national police," Melinda replied flatly. "Apparently, they’re after the artifact too."

She paused.

"Coulson is currently catching up with their commander."

The last sentence came out through clenched teeth.

Evenson, meanwhile, was still standing in front of the stone wall.

He blew gently across the surface, sending a thin cloud of dust drifting away from the strange characters carved into the stone.

"SHIELD’s efficiency really has gone downhill," he muttered without looking back. "Back in the day, we could finish an entire operation before the local government even realized we’d been there. Now? We haven’t even gotten started, and the Peruvian military is already knocking on our door."

Melinda shot him an incredulous look.

"You’ve got some nerve saying that. Ever since we got here, you’ve done nothing but stare at these slabs of rock and God knows what you’re studying. When things started going bad outside, you didn’t even bother to look."

She narrowed her eyes.

"I was starting to wonder whether we’d all been shot to death out there and you wouldn’t even have turned around."

"Of course I would have."

Evenson gave a quiet snort.

"We’re friends, aren’t we? I’d have gone outside eventually and collected your bodies. I wouldn’t leave you lying around for the wildlife."

"That’s very comforting. Thanks."

Melinda’s expression suggested she meant the exact opposite.

Simmons watched the two of them bicker like old friends and wisely kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t close enough to either of them to casually jump into their argument.

Once they had finished, however, she offered her own explanation.

"Like Agent Hill said, the Battle of New York marked the end of the old world. We’re living in a very different world now. Every government is paying much closer attention to these unidentified objects with extraordinary energy signatures. They’re willing to invest more personnel, equipment, and resources into securing them."

"Yeah..."

Evenson pursed his lips.

"That certainly makes SHIELD’s job harder."

"You could do worse."

Melinda shrugged.

"At least the Peruvian military and police are willing to follow the rules. If we’d run into a rebel group instead, we’d have a real problem. They wouldn’t exactly care about international treaties or making our job easier."

She had barely finished speaking when—

Rat-tat-tat!

BOOM!

Gunfire and an explosion erupted outside.

Ward came sprinting through the entrance, frantically rummaging through his pack for equipment.

"The rebels are attacking!"

Everyone in the room froze.

Every head turned toward Melinda.

Even Evenson finally looked away from the wall.

Melinda stared back at them.

"What?"

There was a long, awkward silence.

"What are you all looking at me for?!"

She had no idea what expression she was supposed to make anymore, so she settled for her usual stone-faced glare.

Her hand went behind her waist and drew the jungle fighting knife she had carried with her ever since arriving in Peru.

"Pack it up," she ordered. "We’re leaving."

Then she looked directly at Evenson.

The look said everything she didn’t bother putting into words.

Well? Are you going to do something now?

Evenson shifted uncomfortably.

"Fine."

Apparently, doing nothing was no longer an option.

He stepped sideways, reached out with both hands, and gave the artifact mounted in the wall a sharp pull.

The ancient object came free.

He immediately placed it inside the sealed containment case they’d prepared beforehand.

"Whoa!"

Fitz nearly jumped out of his skin.

"How can you just rip it out of the wall?! What if it suddenly becomes active?!"

"Listen, Fitz."

Evenson grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around.

"First, I need to study the energy inside it. Second, this thing was built by meticulous Germans, so I’m sure it’s perfectly safe."

He strapped the containment case onto Fitz’s back.

"Actually, if you dig around within three meters of the wall, you might even find a German scientist wrapped in oilcloth whose sole purpose is to come back and repair this thing."

Fitz stared at him.

Evenson gave his shoulder an encouraging pat.

"So relax and carry the thing."

"Carry it... where?"

Fitz suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Evenson ignored the question.

He raised one hand.

The cramped chamber immediately filled with a chorus of high-pitched squeaks.

Several tiny creatures suddenly appeared.

Seven or eight imps with fiery red skin scampered around the room, each barely reaching a human’s knee.

"Whoa! What are those?!"

This time, Simmons was the one who nearly jumped.

But instead of fear, her eyes practically lit up with scientific curiosity.

"They aren’t among Peru’s three hundred known monkey species," she said, staring at the creatures. "Could they be some kind of mutation? I’d really like to examine them."

Thank God she isn’t thinking about putting me on an operating table.

Evenson’s mouth twitched.

"They’re my pets. You can call them monkey demons."

He gestured toward the creatures.

"I’ll have them clear us a path. Use the opportunity to get out of here."

"Us?"

Melinda immediately began organizing Fitz and Simmons, the two scientists with almost no combat experience, for the retreat.

Then she stopped.

She looked back at Evenson.

"You’re not coming?"

"Mm-hmm."

Evenson pointed toward the wall.

"I want to finish reading these before I leave. Don’t worry about me. Getting back won’t be difficult."

Melinda stared at him for a moment.

Then Evenson’s expression suddenly became serious.

"All right. Let’s move."

Under his command, the imps bounded out of the pyramid.

They scattered through the surrounding grass and trees, moving swiftly toward their targets.

Evenson waited.

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Now."

He raised two fingers.

"Go!"

The imps lurking outside immediately pounced on the nearest enemies.

Fel to the extreme!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions erupted simultaneously across the battlefield.

The rebel fighters were thrown into chaos as the blasts tore through their positions.

Coulson, who had been fighting alongside the Peruvian forces, immediately recognized the opportunity.

At that exact moment, Melinda and the others burst out of the pyramid.

"Move!"

The SHIELD team piled into their off-road vehicles and sped toward the aircraft waiting to extract them.

The Peruvian commander, Camilla, watched the explosions behind them with open admiration.

"You really came prepared, Coulson."

She glanced toward the battlefield.

"You planted explosives around the entire area beforehand?"

The firefight had been chaotic, and the imps were so small that nobody had noticed them moving through the grass.

Naturally, Camilla assumed the explosions had come from explosives Coulson’s team had planted in advance.

Coulson paused.

He hadn’t known what was happening at first.

Now, however, he was beginning to understand.

Evenson’s involvement wasn’t something he could exactly explain in front of the Peruvian military.

So Coulson did what any good agent would do in a difficult situation.

He reluctantly accepted credit for someone else’s work.

"Well..."

He gave a modest shrug.

"Better to be prepared."

As the vehicles raced away, Coulson suddenly frowned.

"Wait."

He looked around.

"Are we missing someone?"

His gaze settled on Melinda.

"Where’s Evenson?"

"He said he’d stay behind and cover our retreat."

Coulson nodded.

"Right."

He didn’t ask anything else.

Camilla, however, stared at him in astonishment.

So that was the agent who had remained behind.

A man he’d never even met had apparently chosen to stay alone at the pyramid and hold off the rebel forces so everyone else could escape.

Now that’s a soldier.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when—

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Machine-gun fire erupted behind them.

Everyone turned.

Another group of rebels was pursuing them in a pickup truck.

Fortunately, their marksmanship was atrocious.

They weren’t hitting the vehicles.

They weren’t hitting the road.

They weren’t hitting anything.

At this point, they were essentially firing a machine gun in the general direction of the concept of human beings.

Camilla slowly turned back toward Coulson.

Her expression had become complicated.

She reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"I’m sorry."

Coulson blinked.

"Sorry?"

"The man who stayed behind."

Camilla’s voice was solemn.

"If these rebels have made it this far, then he must have..."

She lowered her eyes.

"He was a hero."

Coulson stared at her.

"...Who are you talking about?"