"Let's go, let's head down." Looking at the hole in front of them, Coulson took the lead, grabbing the rope and sliding down, while Tohka simply jumped—after all, she could fly.
"So, this is Hydra's aircraft? It really is advanced." Looking at the plane in front of her, Tohka couldn't help but admire Hydra's black technology. After all, this aircraft was definitely more powerful than any current U.S. military fighter jet.
"Let's go. Hydra is a terrorist organization. But it was wiped out years ago, so there's no need to be amazed." Seeing Tohka's astonishment, Coulson said indifferently. In his eyes, an organization that had been gone for so many years wasn't worth worrying about.
"..." Well, Tohka didn't say anything in response. Clearly, with S.H.I.E.L.D. and its former director around, neither Nick Fury nor Coulson ever considered this possibility. But any organization, no matter how secretive, would leave some traces. The most critical factor was financial transactions—after all, for such a massive organization to develop, it required enormous funding. If Nick Fury had seriously investigated, there was no way he wouldn't have found something.
"Wait, what's this?" At that moment, Coulson suddenly noticed a red shield beneath the ice layer. Not far from the shield, there was a tall human like figure.
"Is this... Captain America?" Hearing Coulson's words, Tohka walked over and immediately recognized the frozen hero. "Looks like this guy has been sealed here for quite a long time. I'll melt the ice and get him out."
Tohka suited up in her armor. She wasn't Kotori, so she couldn't generate heat herself—Tony's armor would have to do. She was really starting to appreciate Tony's armor—it was perfect for everything from combat to travel.
"Stop right there, Tohka! Are you trying to kill him?!" Seeing Tohka switching her armor mode, Coulson, who had just been thrilled to see his idol, hurriedly rushed over to stop her.
"Huh?" Tohka was confused. She remembered that this guy was Captain America's most loyal fan. He should have been eager for her to rescue him—why was he stopping her now?
"Hold on—Cap's been frozen for decades. Unfreezing him carelessly could kill him!" Tohka might not know, but Coulson sure did. Even though Captain America looked fine, who knew what might have happened to his body after being frozen for so many years? It was best to let S.H.I.E.L.D. do a full-body scan first.
Even if Cap looked fine, who knew what freezing for decades had done internally?
It'd be best for S.H.I.E.L.D. to run a full-body scan first.
"Alright, then what do you suggest?"
Hearing that, Tohka realized she might've caused serious trouble.
"It's fine—just cut the ice block with Cap in it and send it up. Leave the rest."
"And don't crack the ice!"
Watching Tohka lift her greatsword to slice the ice, Coulson's heart leapt into his throat.
If the legendary Captain America died because Tohka accidentally shattered him—it would be... something else.
"Got it. So now what?"
Holding the frozen Cap in her arms, Tohka looked at the icy chunk and asked Coulson, unsure what came next.
"Fly him up. The people up there know what to do."
"Got it, I'm on it."
Tohka flew the frozen Cap up and handed him off to a few agents.
Then she flew back down—Cap was just a bonus, after all.
No one expected him to still be alive. Their real target was something else.
"Mm, looks like this is it. Tohka, can you break down this ice wall—wait, don't use your sword! Use Tony's armor to melt it!"
There was no other choice—upon hearing the first half of Coulson's sentence, Tohka once again drew her greatsword.
A faint blade aura began to gather—
Knowing how scary her attacks were, Coulson stopped her—just like Tony had.
Her sword's piercing power was terrifying. One wrong move could tear through the entire glacier.
Worse—she might even destroy the Tesseract. That would be a disaster.
"Alright, alright."
Hearing his plea, Tohka put on the armor again and melted the ice wall.
She walked inside and soon found the Tesseract sitting in a hollow chamber—she picked it up without hesitation.
"So, this is the Space Stone?"
Holding the Tesseract, Tohka stared at the Infinity Stone, entranced.
As she slowly infused it with her spirit energy, she could feel the immense power within.
"Yeah... looks like this is what we came for."
While Tohka was studying it, Coulson arrived.
Seeing the Tesseract in her hands, he spoke excitedly.
"This thing... seems to..."
Tohka didn't hand it over right away.
Because at that moment, she realized the Tesseract resonated with her power.
As she poured more of her energy into it, the gem suddenly flared with blinding light—both she and Coulson went temporarily blind.
At the same time, Tohka instinctively threw the Infinity Stone away from her.
Once it lost her energy input, it quickly returned to its dormant state.
Thankfully, it didn't generate enough heat to melt the surrounding ice.
"Good thing Kabbalah is here... Can I finally see the outside world, even briefly?"
"But that thing... hehehe."
At that moment, the girl within Tohka's inner consciousness opened her eyes again, and fixed her gaze on the Tesseract with a look of desire.
Meanwhile, in another world—one unrelated to this one— a group of girls simultaneously stopped what they were doing.
They had felt a strange calling.
But it faded quickly.
They let out a breath of relief.
It felt like they'd nearly been pulled into another world— and not the spirit world, but an entirely new one.