After about fifteen minutes, Rocket, Groot, and Drax, who were still engrossed in their tablets, walked out of the SHIELD branch’s weapon laboratory.
Drax and Groot remained as captivated by the tablet’s display of Earth’s landscapes as they were before, with one of them staring at the screen in admiration and the other swaying gently. However, Rocket wore a noticeable expression of disappointment.
“Ah, your weapons are no good! Aside from those two weapons still in the experimental phase, the rest of the finished products lack firepower. Moreover, their attack methods are too straightforward, and the energy systems are quite basic,” Rocket couldn’t help but express his disappointment as the large doors behind them slowly closed.
It was clear that Rocket, being a weapons expert himself, found all the weapons showcased by SHIELD unimpressive. After all, he had encountered advanced technology weapons from various cosmic civilizations, making Earth’s weaponry seem outdated in comparison.
“Uh… Mr. Rocket…” Coulson, who was walking ahead, felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing Rocket’s evaluation.
However, before Coulson could finish speaking, Rocket interrupted him, saying, “You don’t need to call me ‘Mr.’ Just call me Rocket.”
“Alright, Rocket. SHIELD is already at the pinnacle of Earth’s technological advancements. The weapons you saw just now are the best Earth has to offer,” Coulson explained, feeling the need to assert SHIELD’s position on Earth.
“Well, that only means the technological level of this entire planet is low! It doesn’t mean much. Besides, isn’t the technology on that Spaceship quite advanced? It’s way better than what we saw in that lab. Isn’t that Spaceship made by SHIELD?” Rocket responded, waving his small paw as he spoke and ending with a question.
“Um… that Spaceship…” Coulson hesitated, unsure how to respond.
Coulson was already the highest-ranking agent in SHIELD, and he was aware that the E Grade Spaceship was a culmination of resources from SHIELD, Stark Industries, the X-Men, and the League of Defenders.
However, he didn’t know where the surreal technology within the ship had come from. Thus, he couldn’t answer Rocket’s question.
“Never mind. If it’s classified, you don’t have to answer. I don’t really care about your Spaceship anyway,” Rocket continued nonchalantly.
“Hey, Coulson, can you take us outside? There’s no point in wandering around this base all day,” Drax finally shouted to Coulson, who had appeared indecisive.
After obtaining basic information about Earth through the tablet, Drax was no longer content with staying within the confines of the base. Unlike Rocket, who was mainly interested in high-tech gadgets, Drax enjoyed exploring. Moreover, Groot had perked up noticeably upon hearing Drax’s request.
“Going outside… I currently don’t have the authority for that,” Coulson replied awkwardly to Drax’s request.
Walking around the SHIELD branch with these three extraterrestrial individuals, who had peculiar appearances, was already attracting considerable attention. However, since they were within SHIELD, everyone was highly trained, and the appearance of Rocket, Groot, and Drax hadn’t cause too much surprise.
If Coulson were to take them outside, they would likely be swarmed by curious onlookers as soon as they stepped foot out of the base. Earth had recently experienced an attack from an unknown extraterrestrial lifeform, and many people were closely monitoring SHIELD. Therefore, going out at this time would be inappropriate.
“Who cares about permissions and all that? Star-Lord and Gamora have already gone out on their own, right? Look!… They’re at the mall now,” Rocket said nonchalantly, pulling out a translucent tablet-like device and pointing to the screen.
Upon hearing Rocket’s words, Coulson glanced at the translucent tablet. He saw a male and a female walking around the largest mall in New York in the image. The male had changed his clothes, indicating that it was Star-Lord.
However, the female’s identity wasn’t immediately clear, although Rocket had mentioned she was the green-skinned alien.
Evidently, Rocket had left tracking devices on both Star-Lord and Gamora and could transmit real-time footage from them. This made Coulson even more uncomfortable because he couldn’t easily explain their appearances to the public.
“Is that Gamora? Can she change her color?” Drax asked curiously after seeing the footage on Rocket’s tablet.
“You big dummy! That’s a kind of disguise. If you want to change, I can change you too!” Rocket retorted, not pleased with Drax’s question.
“Hehe, I don’t need that.”
“I am Groot!!” After Drax declined, the little Groot beside him suddenly exclaimed.
Having spent a long time inside the Spaceship, Groot indeed wanted to get some fresh air, and the SHIELD base wasn’t a suitable place for that. So, he wanted to go outside, and if changing his appearance allowed that, he was more than happy to do it.
“Oh, Groot, that method isn’t suitable for you. But if you stay still, I don’t think anyone will notice anything wrong,” Rocket, the only one who could understand Groot’s speech, reassured him, patting his tree branches before continuing, “Coulson, how about this? I can guarantee that no one will notice anything wrong if we go out. Moreover, if you take us on a tour, I’ll provide you with some technical guidance, not just for weapons development.”
Upon hearing Rocket’s proposal, Coulson’s eyes lit up. However, he still hesitated and said, “Well…”
“Coulson, please take them outside. Just be careful, I don’t think it will cause any trouble,” Captain Rogers’ voice suddenly came through Coulson’s communicator.
“Understood, Captain,” Coulson quickly agreed upon hearing Rogers’ words. He then looked at Rocket and his companions and said, “Let’s go, all three of you.”
…
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