What Shen He lacked most right now was his own level.
His level had fallen so far behind that it was actually slowing down the strengthening speed of his Servants. Even when it came to obtaining enhancement materials, he'd had to rely on "creative solutions" like hiring native NPCs in dungeons to help him gather them.
Now it seemed that this system's new dungeons were being unlocked step by step according to the total number of Summoning Stones obtained.
As expected, it was all because Qi God farmed too insanely — that's how Shen He ended up stuck at a level cap before the EXP dungeons even appeared.
"These things called Aragami — you only need to destroy the core."
Looking at the towering monsters in front of him, Shen He felt like he was staring at a whole field of walking EXP packs.
"My telekinesis can't attack their insides directly."
Saiki Kusuo looked troubled. He had tons of psychic abilities, but not many suited for combat — of which telekinesis was the most useful.
For example, in dungeons, the simplest method of killing a monster was to twist its head around its neck like a rotating axis — instant kill.
"I remember you also have an ability that hardens objects, right?"
Shen He flew up to dodge the monster's next charge and grabbed a giant shard of sharp glass from a collapsed building.
Aragami were designed so ordinary weapons didn't work — but that only meant their cores couldn't be easily destroyed. If he could cut open their bodies somehow, Saiki could crush the cores effortlessly.
The battlefield was filled with rising, overlapping roars.
This place seemed to be a gathering site for this particular type of Aragami.
"Come on then — let's fight!"
Shen He swung his makeshift glass blade and charged straight at the roaring creature.
With his burning desire to level up, his blood was boiling, and his fighting spirit soared.
When the one-hour dungeon timer finally ended, he still felt reluctant to stop.
To his pleasant surprise, after returning he received another Summoning Stone. The event wasn't just double dungeon time — it was double Summoning Stones as well.
"Tony, help me make some close-combat weapons."Shen He rushed into the lab and put down the Mirage Mech, which now had multiple damaged sections."And refill the ultimate move. Also repair the exterior."
"…What did you do, participate in a large-scale military campaign somewhere?"
Tony stared wide-eyed at the bite marks left on the mech's armor by giant sharp teeth.
"Pretty much." Shen He nodded. "A world was hit by a monster outbreak. They called me over to help. Don't worry — I didn't bring anything dangerous back with me…"
Tony had long known that Shen He disappeared for one hour every day. According to Shen He, he was "helping a coworker" — so the coworker occasionally sent nice gifts in return.
"Well, excuse me, Mr. Savior." Tony looked genuinely envious. "You really can't take me along? I am part of your organization now."
"Correct — an outer-circle member." Shen He spread his hands helplessly. "Maybe someday. But our requirements are strict. Keep working hard. This isn't something I can decide."
The system decided — Shen He couldn't even visit his Servants' worlds on his own yet.
Although this event only added one extra hour of combat per day, Shen He treated it with exceptional seriousness. He spent all his remaining time preparing — figuring out what weapons killed monsters the most efficiently. He even made Violet Evergarden a three-meter-long polearm resembling Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
She wielded it with awe-inspiring force.
After breaking past the first strengthening limit, Violet and Ryougi Shiki developed in different directions.
Violet leaned toward balanced enhancement, while Shiki focused on agility.
After five days of nonstop EXP grinding, Shen He finally reached level 21, doubling his daily mana points to 125.
This directly boosted every Servant's leveling speed by a considerable amount.
Especially Saiki Kusuo — on the final day, he reached level 14.
And on that same day, Shen He and Tony received a gift delivered by Coulson.
"Inside here is all the information we've gathered."Coulson gazed emotionally at the small storage drive."It includes the possible location where Captain America is frozen. It's just… I won't be able to bring him back myself. That might become my greatest lifelong regret. Mr. Shen — promise me. You will bring him home safely, won't you?"
"Of course." Shen He nodded seriously.
There was nothing funny about it. Captain America was practically a spiritual pillar for an entire generation here.
He represented everything that era admired — courage, perseverance, sacrifice.
"Speaking of which…" Tony looked thoughtfully at the drive. "So Fury finally accepted our proposal?"
"Yes." Coulson nodded, looking heavy-hearted. "We investigated — Mr. Shen was right. S.H.I.E.L.D. can no longer be trusted. Destroying it is the only way to rebuild it. From this moment on, we are the agents planted by the new S.H.I.E.L.D. inside the old S.H.I.E.L.D."
It was, undeniably, a bitter irony.
The largest intelligence organization in the world — and more than half its people were moles for other groups.
"So what's your plan?" Shen He asked.
"There is no plan." Coulson shook his head. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is funded by the World Security Council. And more importantly, we don't know who around us can be trusted. We barely have any manpower we can safely use. Director Fury wants to know… if Chaldea has a plan."
Of course Fury wasn't helpless — he just wanted to gauge Chaldea's true strength.
Shen He thought for a moment. He knew he couldn't shrink back now, but he could only answer:
"We'll need some time."
In the original storyline, by the time S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed, Alexander Pierce had already been defeated in Captain America 2. Hydra openly attacked S.H.I.E.L.D., succeeded, and then got taken down by Coulson later.
Right now, delivering a heavy blow to Hydra with the strength he currently had… was difficult. He couldn't just brute-force attack — he'd instantly become the world's most wanted fugitive.
Still, Shen He did have methods — and plenty of patience. It was his only short-term objective.
Coulson didn't stay long. His goal was simply to deliver Fury's message. Tony soon returned to his work. Shen He sat in thought for a while, then looked at the thirty Summoning Stones he'd accumulated.
It was time for a card draw.
With his current level and leveling speed, he could easily support one or two more Servants.
"Thirty Summoning Stones… I should at least get one or two more Servants, right?"
He gathered all his Servants into the room. After finishing all preparations, it was finally time for the most thrilling moment again—
The card draw.