After some commotion, the group returned to the reception room.
The weather witch went to fetch the video material, while Zheng Xian awkwardly explained the general situation to Lin Feng.
Not only had Pietro vanished, but the two agents sent to meet him, Sabretooth and Vector, were also gone.
The situation was awkward, but Pietro and the other two were likely not dead.
According to the "experts," Pietro had probably activated some kind of teleportation device on the spaceship.
The most likely scenario now was that the trio had been teleported away by the ship.
As for where they were teleported to, that remained unknown.
Zheng Xian wiped sweat from his brow as he spoke.
If the "experts" were wrong again this time, they would all be fired and sent packing.
Before long, the weather witch returned with a tablet.
Lin Feng took the tablet and saw that the screen displayed the footage of Pietro's disappearance.
In the footage, there were three people in total: Pietro and two others in somewhat peculiar clothing.
These were likely Sabretooth and Vector, as Zheng Xian had described.
In the underground space, Pietro dodged lasers, quickly approached the spaceship, and pressed a square button on it.
As the button activated, the spaceship emitted a humming sound and unleashed a shockwave, kicking up a large amount of dust that hung in the air.
When the dust settled, all that remained was a massive, semi-transparent protective shield enveloping the entire underground space.
Pietro, Sabretooth, and Vector had vanished from their positions.
There were no traces of blood or any other residue on the ground.
The video essentially ended here.
The subsequent footage showed weapons being fired at the protective shield.
Lin Feng keenly observed that the shield did not retaliate when struck by the weapons.
This indicated that the shield did not possess offensive capabilities, though it was merely a speculation.
This was also why the "experts" had proposed the theory that the trio had been teleported away.
"Alright, I'll go take a look at the site!"
Putting down the tablet, Lin Feng pondered for a while before deciding to visit the scene himself.
This alien spaceship was full of enigmas.
The information obtained solely from the footage was limited and lacked depth.
He wanted to see firsthand what kind of alien spaceship this was.
Zheng Xian deliberated for a moment and agreed to Lin Feng's request.
After all, it was the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who had gone missing, and Lin Feng, while a fellow countryman, was an outside expert commissioned by S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate the situation.
Moreover, given Lin Feng's strength, he might be able to make some new discoveries.
The Ministry of Superpowers had a centralized decision-making structure, and once Zheng Xian agreed, there were no further obstacles.
The spaceship was located about three to four hundred meters beneath the main peak of Mount Taibai.
Zheng Xian personally led Lin Feng to the underground site.
To Lin Feng's surprise, he had expected the Ministry of Superpowers to rely on simple elevators to travel between the surface and underground.
However, to his astonishment, an elevator to the depths had already been constructed, proving their reputation as infrastructure enthusiasts.
The reason was understandable, as the spaceship was incredibly massive.
The cost of excavating it for research would far exceed the cost of building an elevator, and bringing it to the surface would undoubtedly attract too much attention.
Furthermore, the spaceship was currently in a self-defensive state, making it impossible to approach, let alone figure out how to transport it to the surface.
Thus, an elevator was built to facilitate research by scientists.
The elevator was fast, and only Zheng Xian and Lin Feng were on this descent.
Upon reaching the underground level and passing through a rather narrow tunnel, Lin Feng saw their objective.
The first thing that caught his eye was the spaceship at the center of the massive protective shield.
It was a gray, disc-shaped vessel adorned with incomprehensible patterns that emitted a faint blue light, giving it a distinctly sci-fi appearance.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary alien spaceship, the kind seen in movies.
However, this spaceship was clearly operational, slowly rotating on its axis.
On its exterior, a square button, flickering with blue light, was visible. This was the same button Pietro had pressed, as seen in the video.
Lin Feng walked closer and reached out to touch the protective shield.
It felt somewhat elastic to the touch, but after pressing inwards about ten centimeters, he could go no further.
"This protective shield has a certain degree of flexibility, but we've used our most advanced weapons and still couldn't damage it," Zheng Xian explained.
The inability to breach the shield had stalled their research progress, which was bad enough.
What was worse was that it "swallowed" people.
Lin Feng nodded and circled the shield, observing it.
"Director Zheng Xian, please step back!"
Zheng Xian blinked in surprise.
Lin Feng clarified, "Step back a bit, I'll try to break through this shield!"
Zheng Xian nodded and unhesitatingly retreated.
Lin Feng's energy output had long since surpassed any measurable limits.
He was wary of any potential accidents that might harm himself.
The Ministry of Superpowers was currently at a loss on how to deal with this shield, much like a dog trying to bite a porcupine.
If Lin Feng could open it, it would be a tremendous help.
Seeing Zheng Xian retreat, Lin Feng wasted no time.
He fixed his gaze on the shield, bent his knees slightly, and with a single, hurricane-like punch, slammed into the protective shield.
*Boom!*
The shield, behaving like a non-Newtonian fluid, instantly hardened upon impact. Ripples appeared on its surface, resisting and dispersing the force of Lin Feng's strike.
The shield remained unharmed, but Lin Feng was not discouraged.
He hadn't used much of his strength in this first punch; it was merely a test of the shield's approximate resilience.
One punch wasn't enough, so he threw another.
Lin Feng swung his right fist, faster and more ferocious than the previous blow.
This punch, like a comet striking the earth, hurtled towards the shield.
*Crash!*
A deafening roar reverberated throughout the underground space.
The immense kinetic energy slammed into the shield, continuously dispersing in various directions.
The shockwave from the punch caused countless rock fragments to rain down from the ceiling, shaking the entire underground space.
Dust billowed as the debris hit the ground. Lin Feng's punch had nearly caused an earthquake.
However, the shield remained unchanged.
"Mr. Lin Feng, stop quickly!"
From a distance, Zheng Xian stumbled amidst the tremors, a cold sweat breaking out across his back.
Cracks had appeared in the rock layer above his head and were continuously widening!
Lin Feng's seemingly ordinary punch contained terrifying power.
He truly lived up to the title of Superman...
When Zheng Xian spoke, Lin Feng understood his concern.
He nodded at Zheng Xian, signaling that he would not strike again.
He had also noticed the destructive impact of his punch on the underground space.
Damn it, Lin Feng's brow furrowed.
With his strength, he could move planets. He was confident he could break this blasted shield.
But the problem was, before the shield shattered, the underground space would likely collapse first.