Chapter 137: The S.H.I.E.L.D. Temporary Squad

Directly above Bruce Banner’s abandoned laboratory, a special reconnaissance and combat team from S.H.I.E.L.D.—three men and one woman—lay concealed nearby, watching the area ahead.

Suddenly, one of the younger male agents glanced at the high-energy signal displayed on the screen around his wrist and said to the middle-aged Black captain behind him, “Captain, we’ve detected the high-energy signal. The target has presumably activated the machine.”

The captain nodded, indicating that he understood, but said nothing.

The entire team once again sank into silence.

At last, the only female agent seemed unable to endure it any longer. She rubbed her aching neck and muttered, “How long are we going to lie here?

“The target has already begun the experiment, yet we’re not going inside to take a look. The interior is completely enclosed—it’s practically the perfect place to capture him.

“Even if we don’t subdue the target, we could at least sneak a look at what kind of experiment he’s conducting.

“That would still be better than lying here on the ground without a purpose.”

“Do not question the captain’s orders!” The agent with the wrist display immediately turned his head and snapped back at her.

Seeing the captain’s loyal lapdog speak up, the female agent rolled her eyes and said nothing more. Clearly, she had already experienced firsthand over the past few days just how irritating that lapdog could be.

“This is the director’s order,” the captain explained. “Our mission is to observe the target covertly. The most important word is ‘covertly.’ Therefore, no matter what happens, we cannot reveal ourselves or allow the target to detect us.”

His tone was extraordinarily patient. Clearly, he was quite tolerant of this sharp-tongued female agent.

“Ugh. I really don’t know what the director is thinking. A dangerous monster like that should simply be locked in a laboratory, have his blood drawn every day, and be dissected for research.”

The female agent sighed and continued viciously, venting her frustration.

“He actually let him out to run wild. Not only that, he allowed him access to a laboratory. Who knows how many more monsters he might create?

“I’ve been following him nonstop for days, and I’ve suffered terribly.

“I haven’t even had dinner tonight, and now I’m lying on this freezing floor. At this rate, we’ll be here all night.”

The woman complained without pause, her mouth rattling like a machine gun.

“Then why did you become an agent?” the lapdog retorted mercilessly. “Why not go waste away in a nursing home?”

The female agent gave a disdainful snort. “Who’s like you? You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Ordinary people like me become agents for the money. I chose S.H.I.E.L.D. because it pays well. Otherwise, how could I afford to raise my child, pay the mortgage, and support my parents?

“A rich young master like you could never understand the misery of someone like me!”

The lapdog continued arguing. “Stop with the moral blackmail. There are plenty of people in this world who have it worse than you. Since you chose to become an agent, whatever your reason, you have to do the job perfectly.

“Besides, this is the safest and simplest surveillance mission imaginable. Look at you—”

“That’s enough!”

The captain glanced at the female agent, whose eyes seemed ready to spit fire, and hurriedly put an end to their argument.

“Both of you, say less.”

He did not take sides. As he spoke, he looked at both the woman and the lapdog.

The captain’s words were clearly effective. The female agent’s complaints immediately caught in her throat, leaving her visibly uncomfortable. After her expression shifted several times, she finally abandoned her verbal assault on the lapdog.

Instead, she turned toward the fourth member of the team—the man who had remained silent at the very back. He was enormous, and his sheer size exerted an invisible pressure on everyone around him.

“Big guy, do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.”

“Eat?” The big man shuddered at once. He hurriedly looked around, suddenly brimming with anticipation. “Is it mealtime?”

The female agent’s face darkened. She turned away and ignored him.

There was even a hint of disgust in her eyes.

“Oh, so it’s not mealtime yet…” The big man surveyed the area, and upon finding no food, spoke with obvious disappointment.

Then he turned his pitiful gaze toward the captain.

There were even glimmering tears of longing in his eyes.

The captain felt his entire soul recoil at the sight.

A huge, ferocious-looking man more than two meters tall was staring at him with the pitiful expression of a child begging for food. Surely anyone would wonder whether something had gone horribly wrong with the world.

The captain rubbed his brow, speechless.

What kind of people made up this hastily assembled surveillance team?

After a moment of reflection, he decided that remaining silent was probably the wisest course of action.

And so…the entire team fell silent once more.

“By the way, Captain, there’s something I’ve always wondered,” the lapdog said suddenly after staring at his wrist display for a long while. “How did you know there was an abandoned gamma-ray laboratory here? And how did you figure out that the target would definitely come here?”

The captain smiled faintly. Clearly, he was delighted by the question.

Then he spoke the line he had rehearsed countless times in his mind.

“Because I was the one who gave him the key to the laboratory.”

The moment he finished speaking, the captain immediately observed the surroundings from the corner of his eye.

When he saw the astonished and admiring looks on the faces of the female agent and the lapdog—and the big man’s pitiful expression… Well, he ignored that one—the captain suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

There really was nothing quite like revealing one’s hidden brilliance in front of others.

All the effort he had put into setting up such an elaborate scheme, and all the time he had spent keeping silent, had been worth it for this very moment: the instant the truth was revealed and everyone looked at him with admiration.

“In other words, you were the one who spoke with the target all these days?” the lapdog asked.

The captain shook his head. “Not me. But I took control of that person long ago. He was a close friend whom the target trusted deeply. That was precisely how I was able to guide the target into making his choice.”

The admiration on the lapdog’s face could no longer be concealed. He hurriedly praised him.

“The captain truly sees ten steps ahead!”

“All right, all right. Stop flattering him. Sucking up is the only thing you’re good at,” the female agent said. She clearly did not get along with the lapdog and seized every opportunity to needle him.

Watching the two of them on the verge of another quarrel, the captain was once again rendered speechless.

Then he glanced back at the big man, who was still staring at him pitifully.

Suddenly, he felt that the big man might actually be the only normal person here.

That was what the captain thought to himself.

———

Earlier that same day, at 2:37 a.m.

Inside the New York Police Department, officers were being urgently mobilized…