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Chapter 275 Fury, Do You Need Merits?
Los Angeles, 8 AM.
Nick Fury woke up in his home, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and prepared to go to the washroom to freshen up.
But as soon as he opened the bedroom door, he suddenly noticed a well-dressed man sitting in the living room. Started, he instinctively grabbed the coat rack next to him, advancing step by step, and loudly demanded, “Who are you?!”
The man sitting on the couch turned his head and spotted the coat rack in Fury’s hand. Shrugging his shoulder, the man answered, “It’s me, Leo. Why are you holding a coat rack? You’re not going to hit me with that, do you?”
“Oh, my goodness! Leo? What the hell are you doing here? You scared me!” Upon realizing who the person was, Fury put down the coat rack and asked in surprise, “This is my house, why are you appearing in my living room out of nowhere without even a hello? This is trespassing.”
“No, technically speaking, I did say hello to you,” Leo replied, extending three fingers. “Three hours ago, I sent you three messages. But you didn’t reply, so I had to come here myself.”
“Really?” Fury pulled out his pager, flipping through it repeatedly. After confirming multiple times, he said, “No, there’s nothing here.”
Somewhat speechless, Leo stated, “What about the Daimi phone I gave you? That’s where the messages are! And why are you still using a pager? Ever since my Daimi took off, everyone has been raving about it. Pagers are so last year!”
“But I still prefer pagers, it’s much easier for me. I can’t get used to your high-tech products all of a sudden. Besides, the latest model you gave me before the New Year has too many features. I’m having a headache just looking at it.”
Without bothering to look for the Daimi phone, Fury sat across Leo and asked, “So, why are you looking for me?”
Leo suddenly touched his nose and expressionlessly said, “Fury, I think you should brush your teeth. Your breath… stinks!”
Fury, “…”
Ten minutes later, Fury finished freshening up and grabbed some food from the fridge. He sat across Leo and handed him a portion but Leo turned it down. New York was three hours ahead of Los Angeles, Leo had eaten some fried dough sticks and soybean pudding from a street vendor before flying over.
Therefore without any courtesy, Fury began eating breakfast himself. As he ate, he asked, “So, you better tell me what’s going on fast, I have field work later at 8:30 AM. I’m just a Level 3 Agent now, I don’t have a cushy office life to enjoy except the laborious tasks. They’ll cut my pay if I’m late.”
Hearing Fury’s words, Leo skipped the small talk and directly pulled out a stack of photos, tossing them in front of Fury, “About these photos, tell me everything you know, and then you can go.”
Glancing at the photos, Fury’s gaze sharpened. He stopped eating his breakfast and picked up the photos, carefully going through them one by one. He asked in astonishment, “Where did you get them?”
“Inside a H.Y.D.R.A. base in Africa. Dr. Zola wanted to get rid of them, but I snatched them away.” Leo casually replied, “By the way, I’ve already destroyed that base, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
When Fury heard Dr. Zola’s name, he immediately realized the importance of the matter. With a solemn expression, he pulled out a specific photo from the pile and placed it on top.
Focusing his gaze, Leo noticed the photo that Fury pulled out was the one marked “084.”
“Is there anything special about this photo? What does 084 mean?” Leo asked, feigning ignorance.
Fury adjusted his posture and replied solemnly, “According to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s protocol, 084 is a general designation that signifies something of unknown origin, purpose, and nature. Basically, something that we have no clear understanding of. 084 can be an object, a living creature, or even a human. Ever since the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D., we have encountered various types of 084 objects but most of them have been thoroughly researched and had their designations removed once their purposes were understood. As for the few that remained unexplained, depending on their level of danger, they were either locked away in some warehouse or guarded by dedicated personnel. In some extreme cases where no safe solution was found, they were simply launched into space!”
Upon hearing this, Leo had the strong urge to complain, ‘You guys are creating space debris! Watch out for fines from the Universal Environmental Protection Agency!’
However, the current situation didn’t allow itself for such a joke, so Leo asked with a serious face, “So, what does this 084 in this photo refer to?”
To his surprise, Fury bluntly replied, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t?!” Leo frowned, “But this is something from the S.S.R.”
Fury explained, “I know it’s from the S.S.R., but I still don’t know! Back then, although my clearance was high, that was because of my rank in the Army before I transferred. To be honest, when I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., the S.S.R. had already changed its name. And this item in the photo with S.S.R.’s name is just an old artifact collecting dust. I have no clue about its current state. So, it’s possible that this item has been thoroughly researched and had its 084 designation removed, or it might be stored away in some warehouse, or it could’ve been sunk into the ocean or launched into space. Besides, trying to find the specific handling method for it would be out of the question!”
Regaining his appetite, Fury took a sip of milk and a bite of bread before continuing, “If I were still a senior agent with my previous clearance, I could help you look into it. But now, I’ve been demoted, so I can’t help you with it.”
After listening to Fury’s explanation, Leo was slightly disappointed. Just as he was about to speak, Fury suddenly interjected, “I suppose you want to ask ‘Who else knows?’, right?”
Fury’s game of “guessing your questions” made Leo stumped for a bit. Taking a look at his watch, Leo calmly said, “You have 12 minutes left to explain it clearly. Otherwise, you’re going to have a pay cut.”
Instantly deflated, Fury raised his hands in surrender, “Alright, alright, no more teasing. I’ll tell you. Director Carter is the one who knows the most about the 084. The significance of this set of numbers, 084, was set by her, after all. Rumors have it that the first 084 was personally contained by Director Carter.”
After finishing, Fury swallowed the bread in his hand in a hurry and gulped down the milk before glancing at his watch and falling silent.
Meanwhile, Leo crossed his legs and tapped his fingers lightly on the table while silently pondering. He contemplated whether it was worth investing his energy and taking risks to investigate the 084.
Soon, he carefully weighed the pros and cons and concluded that it wasn’t worth it.
The first reason was that it wasn’t worth it to get involved with “Peggy Carter” because behind her stood a hotshot. If things went south and that hotshot was revealed, Leo’s plan of ‘Discovering and Nabbing Captain’ would be ruined.
The second was that it was meaningless to waste precious time on the 084. He never forgot that his ultimate goal was to collect the Infinity Stones. He had devised a detailed plan with his schedule already set for two years ahead.
So, as a busy person, he had no time to worry about other matters. It just so happened that during the H.Y.D.R.A. elimination mission, he stumbled upon the 084, which sparked his curiosity.
However, now that he knew the 084 was a hassle, he felt inclined to get rid of this inconvenience.
With an abrupt cheerful smile, he asked Fury, “Fury, do you need merits?”