Marvel's whitewashing cop, you want me to save the world?

Chapter 145 Who Decides the Sacrifice?

"I only chipped a little vibranium off your shield, don't mind it."

Li En stopped trying to hide it and spoke directly.

His tone was calm and composed.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out the weapon that had already been completed on the forging page.

A pistol fell into his palm.

Frost Requiem, this gun is a whole size larger than Requiem.

The grip is wider, the barrel is at least a third longer, and the whole gun feels quite heavy in the hand.

But the center of gravity is distributed with extreme precision, and the grip fits the curve of the palm as if it were custom-made for his hand shape.

A layer of azure blue and grayish-white mist swirled and swirled on the surface of the gun, the two colors not mixing.

Each one slowly drifts along its own unique metallic texture, occasionally converging at a certain angle.

A faint, cold white light flashed at the point where they met, and then they separated again.

He pressed the magazine release button, and the magazine slid out of the grip and into his outstretched left palm.

There are markings of three different colors on the inside of the magazine.

Blue corresponds to frost ammunition, red to impact ammunition, and white to high-rate-of-fire ammunition.

All three types of ammunition come with the ability to freeze souls.

Furthermore, during firing, the controls can be seamlessly switched by flicking the switch button behind the grip with your thumb.

He tried dialing it, and the switching feedback was extremely clean and crisp.

Each press is accompanied by a very faint mechanical clicking sound, and the color of the mist on the gun changes accordingly.

He pushed the magazine back into the grip, pressed his thumb all the way down, and locked it with a click.

Then, raising the gun with one hand, he aimed the sights at the wall at the far end of the laboratory, which had already been cleared out.

The range indicator of the impact munition automatically determines the effective strike range in the kilometer range within the aiming field of view.

Frostbite and high velocity of fire were marked at 300 meters and 100 meters respectively.

A pistol that covers all combat needs at close, medium and long ranges.

Natasha and Barton walked in from outside the door.

Natasha's gaze was fixed on the gun in Li En's hand and she couldn't look away.

She looked her up and down for a few seconds, and when she spoke, her admiration was undisguised.

"This gun is good, much better than the two you gave us last time."

Patton stood beside her, his sniper-like eyes fixed intently on Frost Requiem.

He carried a metal box and walked to the platform. Together with Coulson, they carefully placed the Tesseract inside.

The lid closed with a dull click of the latch.

Li En put Frost Requiem back into his spatial storage and turned to face Steve, Coulson, Natasha, and Barton, who were standing in the room.

His expression turned serious in that instant, and the casualness and ease he had shown when he was poking at his teammate's shield had completely vanished.

"Everyone, there's something I'd like to hear your thoughts on."

If we have the opportunity to obtain a large number of alien technological products, such as spaceships, aircraft, and weapon systems.

However, acquiring these things may come at the cost of some sacrifice.

What would you choose?

Coulson frowned as he carried the metal box that had just contained the Tesseract.

He asked the question with caution in his voice.

"Li En, what exactly do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'accompanied by a certain degree of sacrifice'?"

Li En leaned against the edge of the lab bench, crossed her arms over her chest, and continued explaining calmly.

"We have indeed made considerable progress in biotechnology. The Dragon Blood Elixir has successfully completed the first phase of its enhancement path."

But when it comes to defending the universe, we are essentially at zero.

Tony and Banner had been working out the same conclusion over this period of time: the problem lay in two places.

First, human imagination is limited by the boundaries of existing technology; we cannot conjure up things we have never seen before.

Second, materials science is stuck; the existing periodic table of elements on Earth is insufficient to counter attack systems of alien civilizations.

But if we could obtain actual alien technology, even if it was just the wreckage of a spaceship or a damaged weapon system.

Through reverse engineering, humanity can achieve leapfrog advancements in space technology in a very short time.

So I said, if you had such an opportunity, but it came with sacrifices, what would you choose?

Everyone present fell silent.

Steve removed the shield from his arm and placed it on the control panel beside him. He crossed his arms, lowered his head, and several deep wrinkles appeared on his brow bone.

Coulson held the handle of the suitcase, while Natasha leaned against the wall, arms crossed, her gaze fixed on some unfocused spot in the air.

Patton crouched in the corner, his hand unconsciously fiddling with the buckle on the side of the quiver.

Just then, an extremely abrupt ringing sound came from Coulson's breast pocket.

He paused for a moment, then reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a flat, unbranded encrypted communicator.

The caller ID on the screen displayed only two words: "Director".

He looked up at Li En with a hint of apology.

"Chief Nick Fury has been listening to our conversations since just now."

Li En waved his hand dismissively.

"It's okay, go ahead and answer it."

Coulson pressed the answer button, placed the communicator on the console, and turned on hands-free.

Nick Fury's voice immediately burst from that small speaker.

The voice was hoarse and low, with a sense of urgency, but every word was enunciated extremely clearly.

"Li En, if you have a plan to acquire alien technology, as long as the plan doesn't lead to the destruction of the entire Earth, I think it's acceptable."

"Even if it requires me to die, I'm willing."

The air in the room became even stiller at that moment.

Coulson's hand, which was holding the suitcase, trembled slightly.

Natasha straightened up from the wall and turned her gaze to the communicator.

Patton stopped fiddling with his quiver.

Li En tilted his head to look at the communicator, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"I didn't expect you to have this kind of awareness."

"Li En, I don't know how much you know."

But over the years, I have suppressed all evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Every report of an anomaly is locked at the lowest level of the database with the highest security classification.

It's not because I don't want to go public—it's because I'm afraid to.

Nick Fury paused for a moment, and a change in his breathing rhythm could be faintly heard over the communicator.

After a moment, he spoke again, "We would be instantly crushed by alien technology."

Earth is no match for them; it's several orders of magnitude weaker.

It's not just one order of magnitude, it's several orders of magnitude.

So if you really have the opportunity, you can significantly improve Earth's space technology.

I believe that a certain degree of sacrifice is perfectly acceptable.

He paused for a moment, then spoke the last sentence in a lower, calmer tone.

"If you feel that this decision will burden your morality, then leave the plan to me to carry out."

I will give that order and I will bear all the consequences.

Even if I end up being sent to hell, it doesn't matter.

After he finished speaking, Steve walked away from the control panel.

He reached out, picked up the communicator, held it in his hand, and spoke into the speaker.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was extremely deep, and every word carried a kind of anger that was forcibly suppressed but still overflowed uncontrollably at the end of the syllable.

"Li En, how far are the potential sacrifices you've come from?"

Li En moved his back away from the edge of the lab table, straightened up, and looked Steve in the eye without avoiding his gaze.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it shouldn't destroy the entire city of New York. I estimate it will be about a third of the city."

Of course, now that the enhancement of Dragon Blood Potion Type II is complete, the losses may be reduced even further.

In his mind, he had already simulated the Chitauri alien army invading New York many times.

The few tens of minutes of battle footage seen in the movie have extremely limited expressive power and are insufficient as a basis for realistic assessment.

The true reference is the final decision.

Why did the president choose to launch a nuclear missile at New York at the last minute?

Being forced to this point indicates that, at that particular juncture, the information available to the decision-makers pointed to the same conclusion:

New York can't hold on any longer. If the spread isn't cut off, the whole world will fall.

Therefore, the losses will definitely not be limited to just a few buildings or streets.

He made a rough estimate of the number.

"New York now has a population of nearly ten million." Steve's hand gripping the communicator trembled slightly, and his voice rose uncontrollably.

Even if it's only one-tenth, that's still millions of people.

"The price is far too high."

"Steve Rogers." Nick Fury's voice boomed from the speaker again.

This time, he spoke faster and in a harsher tone than before.

"You are a soldier, and you should know that better than anyone else."

Sacrifice has always been a part of war.

Or perhaps I wasn't being blunt enough. You should have seen the Skrull who looked like me; that was an alien.

They were once an extremely large race. Judging from the various abilities they displayed, you should be able to deduce that their technology and strength in the universe once far surpassed those of Earth by many times.

But ultimately, their homeland was destroyed, and the entire tribe was reduced to only a few hundred survivors, narrowly escaping complete extinction.

His voice paused abruptly here.

Then everyone present heard it; during that pause, Nick Fury took a breath.

"Aliens could come knocking on our door at any time."

And right now, we don't even have a single shell that can penetrate their shields.

Making certain sacrifices, as long as it can gain even one chance to fight back, is entirely worthwhile.

At least we don't have to die on our knees.

Steve gripped the communicator tightly in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging one after another, stretching from his wrist all the way to his forearm.

He lowered his head, his lips moved several times, then suddenly raised his eyes and roared back, word by word, into the loudspeaker.

"But who decides? Who should be sacrificed, and who shouldn't?"

"Who decides?! Ah!"