บท 726: 496
"The term 'inaction' is not entirely accurate." Shiller replied.
He opened his mouth slightly, a hesitant expression spreading across his face. It seemed like he was unsure how to phrase his words. He said, "I understand you hope for some evidence from me so you can shift the blame for this onto S.H.I.E.L.D."
"After all, Russian spies fall under your jurisdiction, while Hydra falls under that of S.H.I.E.L.D's. When the KGB manages to seize power using Hydra and mocks you by revealing everything, both parties aim to accuse the other of incompetence."
Narrowing his eyes, Mark asked, "So, Nick Fury did indeed..."
Shiller shook his head before nodding it, then shaking it again. In the end, he remained silent.
No matter how Mark pressed afterward, Shiller remained tight-lipped. Mark realized he might have touched a sore spot.
Therefore, he became increasingly desperate for answers. He started repeating his questions or looking for other opportunities to get Shiller to talk.
Shiller stayed silent for a while, nearly exhausting Mark's patience, he finally raised a question, "Aren't you an investigator from the Central Intelligence Agency? Interrogation isn't your job. Why are you grappling with me over this?"
Mark crossed his arms, standing before Shiller, seemingly considering whether to respond to his question.
In an interrogation, relentless denial and forceful inquiries aren't always the best approach. Proper compliance and response can induce the one being interrogated to speak up. As such, agents often utilize answers to some unimportant questions to prompt the suspects to talk until they reveal their intelligence.
"I was originally a field operator, but due to S.H.I.E.L.D's operational errors, which caused damage to America's international reputation, the Central Intelligence Agency was under immense pressure. As a result, I was ordered to investigate this matter thoroughly," Mark said.
Before uttering these words, Mark made sure he didn't leak any crucial information. However, Shiller managed to extract the information he wanted.
Mark Speight, an agent from the Central Intelligence Agency, and also a Marvel superhero named the Moon Knight.
In the comic plot, Mark left the Central Intelligence Agency to become a mercenary. He was killed on a mission in Egypt, and was resurrected by the Moon God, Khonsu, consequently becoming Khonsu's agent on Earth, also known as the Moon Knight.
This superhero's backstory tends more towards the mystical; even more interesting is his other persona. That is, he suffers from dissociative identity disorder, i.e., he has multiple personalities.
In the comics, he has three identities: mercenary, millionaire, and taxi driver. In the television adaptation, these changed to mercenary, timid museum staff member, and an unknown third identity with the name, Jack.
Currently, Mark seemed mentally stable. Though Shiller had tried multiple methods to provoke his extreme emotions, he did not lose control, and there was no sign of the so-called Moon God Khonsu.
If we follow the comic timeline, Mark, who has yet to resign from the Central Intelligence Agency, probably hasn't taken on the mercenary mission in Egypt yet. This likely means he hasn't met the Moon God Khonsu and hasn't become the Moon Knight.
Shiller sighed, feeling somewhat disappointed.
Originally, his plan was to stimulate Mark's emotions, forcing the Moon God Khonsu to appear and then recruit him for The Avengers to fight against.
If it's the Moon God Khonsu from the comics, he's purely a villain and deserves to be beaten. Khonsu from the television series shows signs of improvement, but is still powerful, so being beaten is of no real consequence. Regardless of which version, Khonsu is a Cosmic Sorcerer and getting beaten is only the least that he deserved.
However, from the look of things, the timeline wasn't developing as expected. Though the entire plot of the Avengers' Civil War had come to an end due to Shiller's existence, with Iron Man and Captain America having several big fights and currently in a state of cold war, the actual timeline remains early in the plot. Many villains and superheroes still haven't stepped onto the grand stage of New York.
Having failed to make his move, Shiller didn't plan on wasting any more time here. For each moment he spent here, Hydra lost a portion of its valuable strength. As such, he dissolved into a mist of grey right then and there, breaking away from restraints of the interrogation chair and floating in mid-air.
Mark's eyes widened in astonishment as he watched the suddenly transforming Shiller. As Shiller prepared to float away, Mark took a couple of steps back and yelled, "Battlesuit!"
All of a sudden, a silver cape fell like a moonbeam, and Mark appeared at the center of the room, clad in his Moon Knight's battlesuit.
With both hands forming a cross on his chest, two crescent blades glittering lethally appeared in his hands. His eyes, hidden under the hood, suddenly lit up, launching an immediate attack on the grey mist.
It was clear to see that the grey mist paused in mid-air for a split second before decisively dispersing, dodging Mark's ambush. It reformed into the shape of a person in the corner, and Shiller raised his hand, saying, "Wait! Moon Knight? Khonsu? Moon God Khonsu? Are you there?"
With the "sizzling" sound ringing out, the flicker of the lightbulb increased, and between the interplay of light and darkness, a giant figure appeared in the center of the room, getting closer and closer to Shiller.
Shiller looked up at him, staring at the horrifying floating head with a long beak. He asked, "Moon God Kong Su, is it you?"
At this time, the Moon Knight Mark, who was falling from midair, froze. He looked at Shiller and asked, "You can see him?"
Shiller didn't turn his head to look at Mark. He kept staring at Kong Su. Just as Mark thought he would say something important to Kong Su, Shiller opened his mouth and said, "Kong Su, have you heard of the Holy Sanctuary?"
Drawing himself up, Kong Su, his back originally to the two, slowly twisted his head 180 degrees, staring at Shiller with vacant eyes.
Unable to decipher any expression from his face, Shiller said, "It's okay if you haven't heard of it. I can introduce it to you. The Sanctuary of the Nine Realms is a high-end club co-founded by the Asgard Supreme Magician and Earth's Kamar-Taj Supreme Magician, dedicated to maintaining relationships with Cosmic Sorcerers and creating a pleasant dimensional environment..."
"The Sanctuary has always provided various services to the Cosmic Sorcerers with a top-class attitude since it was established, and there have been thousands of successful cases. Kong Su, you should belong to the Egyptian Pantheon, so I have to introduce our last season's membership gift..."
"I think you should be familiar with a certain leopard and lion. During the last season, they received our membership gift, which should've been of great assistance. Now, allow me to introduce our membership package..."
The Moon Knight was dumbfounded. He didn't understand what Shiller was talking about, but when Shiller mentioned the leopard and lion, the terrifying giant figure slowly turned around.
He crouched down, poked Shiller's head with his large beak. Shiller took a couple of steps back and then said, "Uh, if you're not interested in a membership, I can also introduce you to our hourly or per-usage billing..."
Suddenly, a deep voice echoed in the room: "Was it you who gave Bast such great power?"
"Yes." Shiller nodded, speaking sincerely: "And that was just our seasonal membership gift. In the future, there will be continuous gifts handed out to our premium members..."
Instantly, the figure of Moon God Kong Su disappeared, leaving behind a murderous voice echoing in the room: "Mark, kill him!"
With a "pop" sound, Shiller turned into a gray mist again, dodging two scimitars that were aimed at him. The mist quickly passed through the balustrades and the door, speeding in the corridor. The Moon Knight chased Shiller with the same pace.
As Shiller flew, he yelled, "Just because you don't like a pitch doesn't mean you have to kill me! Your temper is terrible!"
"Iron Man! Captain America! Spider-Man! Help!! An invasion by the Cosmic Sorcerer!! Where are the Avengers? Help!!!"
Shiller flew along the twisted, dark hallway of the Central Intelligence Agency base, seeing from the flickering lights that Moon God Kong Su kept appearing in the dark corners, his horrifying eyes focused on him. Despite not being able to read any expression from the distorted monster face, Shiller could sense an infuriated aura surrounding him.
When the gray mist finally flew out of the basement and reached the ground, Shiller discovered that it was evening. However, the moon in the sky kept getting fuller. Shiller was very confused—what wrong word did he say to make Moon God Kong Su so angry that he changed the celestial movements?
Meanwhile, Mark, who was chasing Shiller, had the same question. Everything had happened so fast.
Initially, he summoned his suit instinctively when he noticed Shiller's non-human traits. But who would have thought that the strange and terrifying cloud of mist would recite classic sales pitches?!
What Mark found even more baffling was that Moon God Kong Su turned out to be an extreme anti-sales hater that he directly ordered him to kill Shiller.
Mark didn't intend to follow Kong Su's order but he had to stop Shiller and figure out what on earth was going on.
The two kept running and chasing each other under the moonlight, between buildings, and after circling around New York, Shiller eventually had to stop.
He realized that the Avengers seemed to be on vacation this evening. No Iron Man flying in the sky, no Spider-Man hopping between buildings. Regardless of how many circles he would make dragging Kong Su along, nobody would come to slay the monster.
Shiller sighed, stopping on the rooftop of a building. He returned to his human form again, reaching out his hand and saying, "Stop! Let's first figure out what's going on, okay?"
Even though Moon God Kong Su was still full of killing intent, Mark managed to stay rational. He stopped, looked at Shiller with his glowing eyes. Shiller asked first, "How did you become the Moon Knight?"
Mark was surprised. He didn't expect Shiller to ask this question. However, upon hearing this question, he couldn't help reminiscing about the thrilling Egyptian adventure.
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