After Skye injected herself with the healing agent and confirmed that there were no adverse effects—and that her injuries had genuinely healed—she gave Natasha a small nod.
They would verify Ethan’s identity later.
Naturally, they weren’t going to do it right in front of him.
Once both Skye and Natasha used the healing injections, their injuries recovered rapidly.
As elite S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents, neither woman could possibly fail to recognize the enormous value of such a medical product.
Without question, this was Ethan’s way of showing goodwill.
The hostility between them gradually eased.
Seeing that the atmosphere had relaxed somewhat, Ethan took the initiative.
“I’m a Foundation agent dispatched here to investigate SCP-939.” “The monsters you encountered are exactly what the Foundation deals with—anomalies.” By now, Ethan had become extremely practiced at this sort of explanation.
With remarkable ease, he began introducing Natasha and Skye to the concept of anomalies.
He openly explained all the known characteristics of SCP-939 that he was willing to disclose.
Of course, he only shared information that could reasonably be considered releasable Foundation material.
If he wanted to harvest Rumor Points from them, he couldn’t be stingy with information.
Sure enough, after receiving such a large amount of shocking intelligence, the two female agents were practically overwhelmed.
Their earlier hostility and vigilance disappeared almost completely.
Now they looked more like representatives from a friendly department cooperating sincerely while quietly trying to gather as much intelligence as possible.
Ethan found it amusing, though he kept his expression perfectly calm.
Then he said, “I assume you’re here because of Tony Stark?” The moment Natasha heard the name of their mission target, she immediately asked, “You know where Tony Stark is?” “Of course.” “I was being held in the same place as Tony.” Ethan glanced at the time.
“Come to think of it, he should’ve already broken out according to our original plan.” He then explained how he and Tony had been imprisoned together, how he had pretended to cooperate with Atala, and the escape plan they had worked out.
That information had already lost most of its value anyway.
He might as well use it now to build trust.
As elite S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents, Natasha and Skye were naturally skilled at judging whether someone was lying.
After listening to Ethan’s account, their attitude toward him became noticeably friendlier.
Seeing this, Ethan immediately pressed his advantage and made a natural proposal.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.
has never dealt with anomalies before.” “And your reinforcements may not arrive in time.” “Communications are heavily disrupted throughout this area.” “So for now, I’d like both of you to follow my instructions and assist me in containing SCP-939.” After accepting so much help from him, Natasha and Skye agreed without much hesitation.
“No problem, Agent Ethan.” “My current mission is to guide the Foundation’s incoming reinforcement team during the containment operation.” “You’ve both seen how dangerous SCP-939, ‘With Many Voices,’ can be.” “We have to contain them.” “If containment fails, they could cause a major disaster.” Ethan continued, “Based on my assessment, there should be an SCP-939 nest somewhere inside this forest.” “And judging from everything we’ve seen, the nest should be located…” He suddenly stopped.
Natasha and Skye followed his gaze.
Far above the forest, an unidentified object trailing flames suddenly descended from the sky.
It crashed directly into the central area of the woods.
Ethan’s expression changed instantly.
“Fuck!” “Isn’t that Tony?!” “He landed right near the nest!” Even Ethan couldn’t stop himself from swearing.
He immediately waved toward the two women, slipping naturally into the role of field commander.
“Agent Romanoff!
Agent Skye!” “Move!
We need to rescue him!” Natasha and Skye followed without argument.
Without anyone consciously acknowledging it, Ethan’s position as the leader of the group had effectively been established.
After all, when it came to anomalies, he was the only expert among them.
Not far from the suspected nest— Tony Stark came crashing down with a scream.
The Mark I prototype armor shattered badly on impact.
However, because Ethan had been there to assist him, Tony’s Mark I had been built somewhat better than the version from the original movie.
They had also managed to obtain more palladium.
As a result, even after the crash, the armor still retained some combat capability.
Shortly after landing, Tony ran into three fleeing Atala militants who were desperately trying to escape from SCP-939.
Tony instinctively raised the Mark I’s flamethrower.
But the three militants didn’t even look at him.
They simply sprinted past as fast as they could.
Tony stared after them in confusion.
Then— Something dropped from the treetops directly in front of him.
A massive dark-red reptilian creature covered in vicious spines.
Tony’s eyes widened.
“Holy shit!” He slammed a control on the battered Mark I.
One of the armor’s last remaining miniature missiles launched forward.
BOOM!
The SCP-939 in front of him was blown apart.
Tony barely had time to react before he noticed movement around him.
Three more SCP-939 specimens emerged.
They surrounded him from three directions.
Their grotesque jaws opened, exposing rows of needle-like teeth.
Tony stared at them in horror.
“WTF?!” “Motherf—!” His shouting immediately allowed the three SCP-939 specimens to pinpoint his location.
Then came the horrifying sounds.
Voices.
The dying screams of Atala militants echoed from the creatures’ throats.
The three monsters lunged at Tony.
At that critical moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from nearby.
“Hey!” “Over here!” The SCP-939 specimens, whose vision was extremely poor, instantly reacted to the sound and turned toward its source.
Then came a burst of gunfire.
RATATATAT!
The heads of all three creatures erupted as though struck by miniature high-explosive fragmentation rounds.
Their bodies crashed to the ground, shrieking and writhing as they lost the ability to fight.
Tony turned toward the shooter.
“Ethan?” He stared at Ethan’s equipment.
“Man, you look like 007 in that outfit.
I almost didn’t recognize you.” Ethan ignored Tony’s usual chatter.
“Maybe worry about staying alive first.” Tony immediately shut his mouth.
He looked around.
SCP-939 specimens were emerging from every direction.
The four of them were being surrounded.
Natasha and Skye raised their weapons and moved back-to-back, clearly preparing for a desperate fight.
But Ethan suddenly smiled.
“Don’t worry.” “The Foundation’s reinforcements are here.”