The target had vanished, and the military found it difficult to maintain the blockade.
After all, this wasn't some desolate wilderness; it was New York, a city often ranked alongside London as one of the world's two major financial centers.
Every minute of lockdown and martial law resulted in significant economic losses.
Even with the military's resources, they couldn't act rashly.
Indeed, by the time Coulson drove Shi Xiaolei away from Hell's Kitchen and back to the street where he had originally been dropped off, the military had already issued the order to withdraw.
Aside from a small team left to clean up the mess, most of the soldiers had boarded troop carriers and were retreating towards the military base outside the city.
Catching a glimpse of Shi Xiaolei's small gesture and guessing his thoughts, Coulson asked, while still controlling the steering wheel, "Do you need someone to tow your car for repairs? From what I hear, your car seems to have been damaged in the recent incident."
"No, Stark sent someone," Shi Xiaolei replied, then suddenly realized, "From what you're saying, you guys were here much earlier?"
"Yes," Coulson explained, "Unfortunately, communication with the military wasn't very smooth.
So, to avoid misunderstandings, we could only stand by."
"No wonder you found me."
"It was a bit of a coincidence, I suppose," Coulson said with a smile.
"On the way here, I received a report.
That agent had been staking out your neighborhood for a while and remembered your appearance.
He told me that you had a minor run-in with the military, which is how I knew you were also on the scene."
Although he could understand, as the monitored subject, hearing this still left him feeling a bit annoyed.
"..."
"Did what I say cause you to misunderstand?" Perhaps he had already prepared his excuse, or perhaps he was trying to salvage the situation on the fly, Coulson naturally explained, "After we reached our cooperation agreement, we removed those observation points.
Perhaps you didn't hear clearly earlier; I said 'had been.'"
"Then how would he know I had a minor run-in with the military?"
"That's why I said it was a coincidence," Coulson smoothly responded, "At the time of the incident, he was carrying out a mission in the building closest to you."
"...The one above the hot dog stand?"
"Yes."
"Alright then." Still a little suspicious, but seeing Coulson's firm conviction, Shi Xiaolei had no choice but to accept his explanation, "It truly is quite a coincidence."
"After receiving his report, I immediately contacted the technical department and had them track your phone's location." Coulson gave a 'thank you for believing me' smile and continued, "Combined with what I know about you… it turns out my guess was pretty accurate."
Besides explaining why he appeared so quickly before Shi Xiaolei, Coulson also took the opportunity to subtly badmouth the military.
"You're not kidding, are you?" Shi Xiaolei was taken aback by Coulson's words.
The fact that the military-led super-soldier experiment led to the birth of the Hulk was not surprising; after all, Shi Xiaolei was a transmigrator, intimately familiar with the original plot and remembered it clearly.
What truly surprised Shi Xiaolei was that he had once again flapped the butterfly's wings, bringing some changes to this event.
Let's rewind the timeline a bit.
Ever since partnering with Stark to establish that company, they had received numerous orders from official departments or secret agencies.
Without exception, these orders all included two parts: one part was the weakened version of the stamina potion replicated by Stark, and the other part was the authentic potion that, for now, only Shi Xiaolei himself could provide.
The military was also one of the buyers.
Although Shi Xiaolei was Chinese, from his standpoint, he wasn't particularly keen on cooperating with the military.
However, because Stark had always maintained a good working relationship with the military, to avoid putting his friend in a difficult position, Shi Xiaolei eventually relented and, out of respect for Stark, provided a small batch of potions to the military.
There wasn't much to begin with, and with so many active US soldiers… after receiving the potions, the military never even considered distributing them.
Instead, they immediately took them to the lab and began research.
No one knows which researcher suggested it, but after concluding that they couldn't analyze the formula, the scientists simply changed their approach—since the stamina potion could increase a subject's endurance, allowing them to last longer; the red potion could aid recovery, somewhat mitigating muscle damage inflicted on subjects during experiments; and the black potion could remove toxins, perhaps useful against radiation… Believing these potions to be excellent auxiliary materials, they used all the remaining potions on the 'super-soldier creation' project.
At the same time, feeling more confident, they also discussed moving the experiment date forward.
According to the original plot, the birth of the Hulk would have taken at least several more months, perhaps even half a year or a year.
But now, due to the acquisition of potions that weren't originally in the plot, the military's research plan underwent some changes, ultimately leading to the premature birth of the Hulk.
Of course, given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s infiltration of the military, or rather, given Coulson's current rank, he obviously couldn't have figured out the full truth in such a short time.
So, his statement to Shi Xiaolei about 'the potions leading to the Hulk's birth' actually had no basis.
Its alignment with the facts was merely a coincidence.
As for why Coulson said these things… the reason is actually very simple: under Shi Xiaolei's deliberate control, the number of authentic potions brought out each time was limited.
The military wanted them, S.H.I.E.L.D. also wanted them, and in a situation where there were too many monks and too little gruel, as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson naturally wanted to see his side secure a larger share.
"Look, selling to the military leads to these kinds of consequences.
If you chose us, there wouldn't be so many problems like this."
Although not explicitly stated, Coulson's words clearly carried a persuasive intent.
Undoubtedly, he was badmouthing the military.
If it were anyone else, they would likely fall for it.
Unfortunately, Shi Xiaolei was a transmigrator.
Whether or not to reduce the supply to the military was another matter; in any case, Shi Xiaolei had no intention of increasing the number of potions supplied to S.H.I.E.L.D.
After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. had not yet experienced 'breaking down and rebuilding,' and a highly dangerous venomous snake lurked within its ranks.
If the military could conduct human experiments with impunity, how much better could Hydra be?
In fact, judging solely by the threat to the entire world, Hydra was even more dangerous than the US military.
Increasing the supply of potions to S.H.I.E.L.D. would only benefit Hydra.
Given the nature of those lunatics, they would undoubtedly cause an even bigger mess than 'the Hulk rampaging through the streets of New York.'
"I never thought things would turn out this way… Sigh, it's truly hard to accept.
I need some time to calm down."
All the way to his doorstep, Shi Xiaolei didn't respond with the words Coulson wanted to hear.
Instead, he feigned a look of responsibility and guilt, remaining silent the entire journey.
Only after getting out of the car did he turn around, lean on the car window, and say to Coulson, "Thank you for bringing me back."
"...You're welcome."