Chapter 2115

"Niagara Falls is shaped like a 'C' overall." A pale finger traced an arc in the air as he said, "In ancient Indian legends, they believed this was the mark left by a giant's heel."

"Information left in their murals and parchment scrolls once depicted a story—a giant wielding thunder battling the tiny people beneath his feet. The giant kept striking down with thunder, and the tiny people scattered and fled in a panic, losing their way."

"The giant thought he had already won the war, so he happily began to stomp his feet, leaving a massive footprint on the earth. Unexpectedly, the tiny warriors who had come along the water shot poison arrows into the giant's heel, and the giant was defeated right then and there."

"The tiny warriors, having realized they had won, did not see the deep pit ahead created by the giant's heel. Their raft drifted down the water and fell over the waterfall."

"A fascinating story, isn't it?"

Coulson heard a hint of a smile in the tone of this Dr. Shuo Xipu.

This was not a story where a people projected themselves onto the victor, though that is usually more typical; they would usually say they used wit to defeat the giant and then celebrate their victory.

But the ending of this story was that the careless tiny warriors were wiped out simply because of the puddle left when the giant stomped his feet.

Coulson did indeed feel a hint of strangeness; the story carried an eerie indifference and objectivity.

Although Coulson was not a scholar, he could vaguely sense that the giant in this story actually represented the great power of nature, and the tiny people were the lives living within nature.

Generally speaking, this type of story has two styles: either it is a complete eulogy to the great power of nature—they are powerful and indifferent, constantly punishing and whipping weak lives, giving no one a chance to argue.

Or, conversely, it praises the resilience and wisdom of the human race, describing how they used their calm minds and superior intelligence to defeat nature.

But this story was somewhat complex. The giant representing nature was powerful, yet was ambushed due to negligence; the tiny people were intelligent, yet were wiped out simply because of a moment of carelessness.

But for some reason, Coulson felt this story was very realistic. Nature is great and ruthless, but not entirely invincible; humans are full of wisdom and courage, but a single small mistake can lead to total defeat.

"Do you also believe this paranormal phenomenon comes from an Indian curse, Doctor?" Coulson asked.

Coulson stood beside this Dr. Shuo Xipu, strolling with him along the path in front of Niagara Falls.

Many paranormal enthusiasts rushed past them with equipment, and facing the increasingly thick fog, they all appeared very excited.

Coulson carefully observed the man's expression but found nothing strange—or rather, the strangest thing was that he appeared too calm.

"Mr. Coulson, did you sleep well?"

Here it comes again: weird topic shifts, full of mysterious metaphors, and a thick British accent, making Coulson start to feel a headache.

"I didn't have time to sleep. We packed our luggage after we got back, and then we saw the fog rising outside. I was thinking of driving to Maple Avenue to take a look."

"To see the maple leaves?... How spirited."

The low voice, combined with the heavy British accent, remained clear amidst the noise of the great waterfall. For some reason, Coulson just felt that this doctor knew what they had encountered.

"Alright, we did indeed encounter something." Coulson decided to be honest, because he hoped to win over this only ally who looked somewhat professional. Otherwise, what else could he do? Try to win over that group of paranormal enthusiasts?

His extensive experience as an agent made Coulson feel that the Indians were not the correct answer, and this Dr. Shuo Xipu might be able to give them what they wanted.

"We intended to drive to Niagara Falls to enjoy the night view, but the car drove into a thick fog..."

Coulson began to recount his experience, but he merged the two incidents of accidentally entering the thick fog, showing the characteristics of the Fog Realm as much as possible.

Then he saw Dr. Shuo Xipu raise an eyebrow, nod, and say, "It seems my guess was correct."

Coulson leaned forward, showing an interested expression, and then he adopted the posture of a reporter hearing big news and said, "Seriously, Doctor, the talk about Indian curses outside is just too cliché. If you can provide a more reliable explanation, the payment for the article won't be a problem."

But Coulson only saw those light brown eyes staring at him, a gaze that seemed to be looking at him, and also looking at something beneath his skin.

Coulson shivered, and just as he was about to say something, the other party withdrew his gaze and said.

"I hope you can answer a question for me first."

"What?"

"What is in Xinmoxigezhou?"

Coulson broke out in a cold sweat.

What is in Xinmoxigezhou? What else could it be? Of course, it was the supernatural case Coulson had perfectly handled last time: that hammer of the God of Thunder and the God of Thunder himself.

But this was a top-secret case; not only was it not announced to the public, it didn't enter any professional databases, and all eyewitnesses had been silenced.

But in fact, there were very few eyewitnesses to this matter. Xinmoxigezhou is almost equivalent to a no-man's-land; apart from the relevant agents, no one knew the inside story.

Could it be that these so-called folklore experts just like to run to uninhabited places and spend ten years squatting for an extraterrestrial object? This was obviously impossible.

Since it wasn't a leak and it wasn't witnessed firsthand, how did this doctor know about Lei Shen's Hammer?

Suddenly, Coulson thought of something: the meaning of the name Niagara Falls in the Indian language—roaring thunder or roaring God of Thunder.

Does this matter have something to do with the God of Thunder as well?

Wait, which God of Thunder?

Although the current God of Thunder is Lei Shen, the All-Father Odin is also known as the master of thunder. Combined with the story of the giant and the tiny people.

So the giant is Odin, and the tiny people are the Indians?

But how could the Indians defeat Odin? This is no longer ants fighting an elephant; this is an amoeba fighting a human. The evolutionary levels of the two are not even on the same plane; no amount of wisdom would be useful.

But the description of a giant wielding thunder really sounds like Odin, but there has never been any mention of Odin having the ability to cause thick fog.

No, his thinking is a bit limited. Think about the hammer of the God of Thunder falling from the sky out of nowhere, hitting the ground and being unable to be picked up, causing many strange phenomena. Could this time be the same?

Could something have happened in Asgard again, and something fell down?

The more Coulson thought about it, the more possible it seemed, because he didn't think there was anything on Earth that could achieve the space-time travel effect like the Fog Realm.

An agent of Coulson's level knows about the existence of the Sorcerer Supreme and Kamar-Taj, and understands how the Earth's defense network operates. Since Kamar-Taj didn't react, it means this thing shouldn't be an intentional invasion.

If it's not an intentional invasion, and it's so powerful and can cause large-scale strange phenomena, it can only be an artifact that accidentally landed on Earth.

Thinking of this, Coulson's heart grew hot. When Lei Shen's Hammer fell, they really had no way, because Odin had placed a curse on the hammer; except for those recognized by Lei Shen's Hammer, no one could pick it up.

But if this is another artifact left behind by Asgard or some other powerful alien civilization, then S. H. I. E. L. D. might have a chance to contain it.

S. H. I. E. L. D. is not a charity; they contain those powerful and dangerous supernatural items, and they don't just leave them there—they fully utilize their powerful abilities.

The Director will definitely be very happy, Coulson thought. However, he must get more information from this doctor; using small talk is no longer working.

Coulson stood still, turned around, sighed, took out his credentials from his pocket, flashed them at the person opposite, and said, "Special Agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Phil Coulson."

"Doctor, since you already know about certain events that happened in Xinmoxigezhou, let's not beat around the bush. This matter might be somewhat similar to the events in Xinmoxigezhou, but the impact is greater. Can you explain the story you just told me?"

The man opposite showed no surprise. He still stood there with a calm expression, looking at Niagara Falls, and said.

"In the midst of a catastrophe, a god fell. He left his mark on this land. Perhaps that is what you are looking for."

"Where is it?" Coulson asked immediately.

The man walked to the railing of the path and stood there in silence. Coulson walked up and stood shoulder to shoulder with him; in their field of vision, there was only Niagara Falls.

A few minutes later, Coulson walked down the steps quickly. Several people on the side looked at him and said, "How is it? Did you get any useful information?"

"May, grab the gear and come with me. We need to get close to the waterfall to take a look," Coulson said, waving to his assistant.

May didn't say a word and immediately grabbed the gear, ready to go. But Simmons stopped them. She looked at Coulson and asked, "What exactly happened? Where are you going?"

Coulson didn't say anything, just touched the gun at his waist while walking forward, and pointed at them, saying, "Don't worry about the equipment, we'll be back soon."

Coulson reached the place on the path closest to the waterfall at the fastest speed, but there was still a certain distance. So he jumped over the railing and took May with him, heading towards the bottom of Niagara Falls.

The further they went, the thicker the fog became. By the time they approached the water of the Niagara River, the fog was so thick that they couldn't see anything.

Coulson hesitated a bit; he felt he should have brought more people. But thinking it was just an initial investigation, there shouldn't be any danger, so he took a step forward, and suddenly everything opened up.

Directly beneath Niagara Falls, there was no fog at all; it was the clearest place among all the places where strange phenomena appeared. Even stranger, the fog outside didn't block the moonlight; on the contrary, it magnified the moonlight, making this place exceptionally bright.

Coulson looked up; the waterfall was very magnificent, and the noise was already so loud that it was unbearable. Fortunately, they had already put on special earplugs, so all they had to face was the impact of the sound waves.

But as he listened, Coulson found something wrong. This noise didn't sound entirely like the noise made by the falling waterfall; there seemed to be a rhythmic sound wave in it, not at all like a sound that could be made by anything in nature.

Coulson immediately pressed his earpiece, and Fitz's voice came through. Coulson said, "I'm turning on the recording equipment now. Help me analyze if there's any problem with the sound waves where I am."

Having received an affirmative answer, Coulson immediately took out the miniature recording equipment from his pocket and started recording. Soon, Fitz replied.

"Something's wrong, Phil. This isn't the sound of the waterfall. You need to leave there, you need to... Zzz—zzz—zzz—"