boyutpedia Chapter 8 Amulet
Chapter 8 Amulet
"The situation is most serious in Times Square."
Steve drove along the road and looked to both sides: "Tony was right, the Congress chose the busiest place to drop the nuclear bomb."
"They are afraid."
Steve gripped the steering wheel: "Fear is understandable, but it doesn't mean it's right."
The Holy Lord glanced at him.
This human being possesses a rare quality: the courage to uphold right and wrong amidst chaos.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that what was going through the Holy Lord's mind at that moment was not an assessment of Qitarui Technology at all.
The car was parked outside a temporary cleanup station.
This place used to be a parking lot, but it has now been transformed into a material transfer station.
Under the huge tent were piles of metal debris of various shapes, and people in different uniforms were registering, sorting and loading them onto trucks.
The Holy Lord spotted Quill immediately. The outsourced garbage collector was squatting next to a pile of wreckage, scanning a metal plate with a device in his hand.
"His efficiency is pretty high." Steve followed the Lord's gaze.
"I need to examine the wreckage up close," the Lord said.
Steve hesitated for a moment: "Don't leave my sight."
As they approached the cleanup area, Quill heard footsteps, looked up, and immediately saw the Holy Lord: "Hey, the mascot's here."
"He's not a mascot," Steve corrected again.
"Just kidding, why are you taking it so seriously?" Quill stood up, dusting off his hands. "What, you guys are interested in trash too?"
The Holy Lord did not speak. He walked to the pile of wreckage and scanned it with his eyes: twisted metal, broken circuit boards, and parts whose purpose was unknown.
Then he felt the pulling sensation, clearer than the night before, coming from Quill, specifically from his pocket.
The Holy Lord's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed a rather oddly shaped pendant in Quill's pocket, with one corner sticking out. It looked like something that wasn't very finely carved.
There's no mistake about that pulling sensation; it's definitely the Monkey Talisman.
"How do we get these energy cores?" The Holy Lord forced himself to look away from the row of transparent containers next to him.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will collect them all," Steve said. "Tony said he'd look into whether they could be used for clean energy."
"That's a good idea."
The Holy Lord no longer cared about the remaining things; he was thinking about how to approach the talisman without arousing suspicion.
If you take direct action, Quill will fight back, Steve will intervene, and then everything will be over.
He needed an excuse, a legitimate reason that would leave no room for refusal.
"There are some things about these remaining items that you'd better not touch," the Holy Lord suddenly spoke.
Quill raised an eyebrow: "For example?"
"The Chitauri's communication module," the Holy Lord pointed with his claw at a broken metal plate, "if it contains unsent signals, they might be received by their homeland."
Steve's expression turned serious: "Are you sure?"
"I sensed some kind of information fluctuation while I was fighting them."
The Holy Lord took a deep breath, his expression turning serious: "Although the explosion may have destroyed most of it, it's still better to be cautious."
Quill shrugged and said nonchalantly, "What does that have to do with me? I'm just a contract worker who picks up recyclable materials."
The Holy Lord turned to him: "You've touched the most things left. Among the things you picked up, is there anything that looks like a communication module?"
Quill thought for a moment, then took out a few things from his pocket: several screw-like metal parts, a broken chip, and the pendant.
"Does this count?" Quill shook the monkey-shaped pendant. "Found it on an officer's corpse. It looks pretty unique. I'm planning to sell it."
"What's that?" Steve leaned closer to take a look.
"A protective item," Quill said nonchalantly, "Aliens believe in this too, it's quite interesting."
The Holy Lord stared at the pendant, which was three inches in size and had the shape of a monkey engraved on it. There were fine lines on the surface, which were the marks of the talisman he had personally carved years ago.
One of the twelve talismans, the power of transformation.
It's right there, within easy reach.
The Holy Lord did not move; he suppressed his desire and tried his best to appear ordinary.
"Let me take a look," the Holy Lord said calmly.
Quill handed over the pendant, and the talisman was caught by the Lord's claw.
The moment they touched, a warm sensation surged from his palm, coursing through his veins and throughout his body. It was the talisman returning to its original form, the power he had lost for thousands of years calling to him.
The Monkey Talisman can be activated with just a thought.
It can shrink its body, transforming it into a human, a bird, or any shape it desires.
The Holy Lord did not do that. He held the talisman, examined it carefully for a few seconds, and then handed it back to Quill: "This is not a communication module."
Quill took it back and casually stuffed it into his pocket: "I've told you before, it's just an old amulet, you're overthinking it."
"But there is indeed energy left there," the Holy Lord added.
Steve immediately tensed up: "What kind of energy?"
The Holy Lord frowned, narrowed his eyes, and tried to hide his gaze: "It's quite weak, similar to that kind of mental fluctuation. It's probably one of those tools the Chitauri use to make people feel better."
He's lying; it's a necessary lie.
If he says it's a talisman, they will ask him more questions.
If he shows any desire, they will be suspicious.
They will only lose interest if they belittle it as a trivial trinket.
Quill will stay on Earth for another week; he still has time.
"You'd better be careful of that kind of thing."
The Holy Lord looked at Quill as if he were looking at an unfortunate child: "Some alien artifacts can have unknown effects on human consciousness."
Quill laughed: "Don't worry, I've seen it all. I have plenty of experience dealing with these alien things."
The Holy Lord said nothing more. He turned around and continued to examine the wreckage, poking at the metal fragments with his claws and occasionally asking a few irrelevant questions.
The Holy Lord was already plotting in his mind how to retrieve the Monkey Talisman.
He had to find a plausible and unsuspecting way to retrieve the talisman within that week.
or……
He glanced at Quill, who was talking to Steve.
Or let that person stay on Earth temporarily. After all, it's reasonable for an Earthling who has been drifting in space for many years to suddenly return home and want to stay a few more days to see the changes in their hometown.
As for how to get him to stay...
The Holy Lord lowered his eyes, concealing the fleeting glint within them.
He has plenty of ways to do things.
Not far away, Quill sneezed.
He rubbed his nose. "Strange, who's talking about me?"
The subsequent inspection was quick, as Quill and his team had already categorized the wreckage.
All the Holy Lord needed to do was walk through each pile of wreckage and pretend to inspect it.
Steve, watching this scene from the side, pressed his earpiece and kept reporting Shendu's actions to S.H.I.E.L.D.