69novels Chapter 82: Tips and the Deal Completed
Chapter 82: Tips and the Deal Completed
Chapter 82: Tips and the Deal Completed
The ward was quiet.
Frank lay on the hospital bed, a breathing mask over his face, the monitor screen flickering.
Banner sat in the chair, his gaze shifting back and forth between Li En and the bald man. His lips moved several times, but he ultimately remained silent.
Coulson stared at Li En, who didn't even lift an eyelid when Coulson mentioned the school experiment.
He suddenly realized something and blurted out, "You know Natasha is one of us?"
Lee En calmly replied, "Natasha is so beautiful."
*Smack.* Coulson slapped his forehead, making a sharp sound.
He sent Natasha to apply for a job at the school because he thought she could gain Lee En's trust in the shortest amount of time.
But he overlooked a common sense fact.
A beauty of Natasha's caliber has access to an incredible amount of resources in New York.
She can be scouted by talent agents three times if she goes for a stroll in Times Square.
Even without talent scouts, wealthy people driving luxury cars on the street will roll down their windows and extend their wrists, which are adorned with limited-edition watches.
This isn't speculation; Natasha actually did this during her vacation.
This woman suddenly appeared at a newly renovated charity school on the edge of Hell's Kitchen, saying she wanted to apply for a sociology teacher position.
It's suspicious no matter how you look at it.
"It was indeed my oversight." Coulson reached up and rubbed his temples, pressing his fingers back and forth on his brow bone.
He has been extremely busy lately.
Captain America's defreezing has reached a critical stage, with burning motorcycles appearing in the West and many people dying inexplicably in the South.
Several things piled up together, causing him to overlook such a simple logical flaw.
"She must have shown you all the information, right?" Li En said.
He stretched his right hand under the table, and when he raised it again, there was a tube of green medicine between his fingers.
The liquid inside the glass tube, with its spiral DNA structure, exhibited an unnatural fluorescent green color, and under fluorescent light, it emitted a pale yellow halo.
The markings on the tube wall indicate that only one-tenth of the liquid inside has been removed.
"This is it—" Coulson sprang up, placing his hands on the table.
His pupils contracted sharply, and his right hand instinctively pressed against the handle of the gun at his waist.
Of course he knew what it was.
He read through every page of the documents Natasha sent back from the Umbrella School, and he could almost recite the description of the G-virus from memory.
It is airborne, with an alarmingly high infection rate. Once it spreads, the entire city of New York could become a ghost town in a very short time.
Unlike Banner, Banner's mutations are isolated and not contagious.
General Ross's daughter, Betty, was in the lab at the time, along with other soldiers. No one mutated from contact with Banner.
But the G virus is different.
If this information is leaked, the consequences will be dire.
Li En flicked his wrist slightly.
The glass tube sprang from his fingers, tumbled in the air, and landed back in his palm.
He shuddered again, and the glass tube bounced up once more.
Coulson stood ramrod straight, his lips slightly parted, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He stared at the tube of green liquid tumbling in the air.
Every time it fell back into Li En's palm, his heart would skip a beat.
Each time it bounced up, his fingers would spasm as they tightened and loosened on the gun handle.
"This is my trump card." Li En pinched the glass tube, twisted his wrist, and the medicine disappeared into his palm.
He put his hand back under the table, and when he took it out again, his hand was empty.
"Only you, Natasha, and your chief should know about what's happening at school."
"If anyone else comes to me because of this—I'll smash this thing down in Times Square."
Coulson's lips trembled a few times.
He looked at Li En's expressionless face and his unwavering eyes.
This person just tossed a vial of virus that could destroy an entire city around like a coin.
Moreover, Coulson found it impossible to tell whether he was joking or not.
Seeing Coulson's trembling lips and the way he was trying to hold back, Lee couldn't help but sigh, honest people are indeed easy to bully.
With a flick of his wrist, another vial of medicine appeared.
This tube is pale blue, the liquid is clear and transparent, and it glows with a faint, cool white fluorescence under fluorescent light.
"This is Elpis, a virus inhibitor."
He showed it around once, then returned it to the space warehouse.
Coulson stood there, staring at Li En for a long time, before he grinned.
He wasn't wrong about Li En; he's a good person.
Their style of doing things might make your blood pressure soar, but their underlying nature is certain.
Coulson let out a soft breath, his smile still lingering on his face, before he turned the conversation back on track.
"But it's too dangerous to research that kind of thing in a public place like a school."
"Don't worry, my teachers are all very capable." Li En tilted her chin towards Banner.
When Banner heard himself mentioned, he looked up from his fingers and nodded to Coulson.
Coulson glanced at him, his mouth opening and closing.
He recalled the scene in Fury's office when he received the report of Banner's mutation and battle with Lee.
Nick Fury watched the combat footage captured by military surveillance on the screen twice.
The green giant leveled the forest, only to have every punch caught by a man in a tattered police uniform with a dagger.
After reading it, Fury remained silent for a long time, so long that Coulson thought he was about to make some major decision.
Fury simply leaned back in his chair and said casually, "Coulson, Earth is fragile and needs protection."
Colson didn't fully understand the meaning of that sentence at the time.
What exactly is threatening Earth?
He is still sitting in a hospital ward now.
In front of him was a policeman who had just finished fighting with that green giant and was still able to sit in a chair and calmly negotiate terms.
Beside him was a physics PhD who had a green giant inside him and was currently awkwardly rolling up his sleeves.
On the way to the hospital, Natasha sent back a message.
At the Umbrella School, the virus being researched is highly contagious, but it also has a strong healing ability.
The current side effect is that it can cause users to lose their minds.
If this side effect could be eliminated—
As Coulson stepped into the hospital elevator, Fury's words echoed repeatedly in his mind.
"Want a shield?" Lee's voice pulled Coulson back from his thoughts.
Coulson nodded subconsciously.
Captain America's thawing went smoothly, and he is expected to be fully recovered in about ten days.
Fury is already arranging the wake-up procedure.
Without his shield, the captain always felt like something was missing as he stood there.
"You're also worried that the school isn't safe enough, right?"
Li En didn't continue discussing the shield issue and immediately changed direction.
Before Coulson could respond, he continued.
"Then I have a win-win suggestion: you can send that black-haired woman who came to the police station last time to the school to be a teacher."
"Together with Natasha, she can serve as both a force to protect the school and a force to monitor it."
"I'll give you the shield and arrange for her to come over." A smile crept onto Li En's lips. "How about it?"
"Didn't you just say you didn't want anyone outside the three of us to know about school matters?" Coulson lowered his head.
Melinda's abilities are undeniable; her Iron Rider moniker was earned through sheer hard work and experience in field missions.
Natasha is also a top agent.
With both of them at school, the safety level would definitely be completely different.
But just now Li En said he only trusted three people, and now he suddenly invited a fourth person to join.
"That woman knows, but apart from that—I don't trust anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D."
When Li En said the words "S.H.I.E.L.D.", his pronunciation was a little strange, as if he deliberately mispronounced half a syllable.
Coulson suddenly looked up.
What this guy meant was that he believed there was something wrong with the department.
What's wrong with the bureau? What problems could arise?
"Don't hesitate, I still need to take Banner to school."
"By the way, your headphones have been muted, those two outside can't hear you." Li En pointed his index finger at Coulson's ear.
The small device that Barron left in the ward before he left—a black cube no bigger than half a palm—is now quietly attached to the underside of the bed, its indicator light flashing on and off.
Coulson reached out and pressed the buttons on the headphones twice, but there was no response.
He looked at Li En and mentally went through the entire negotiation from beginning to end.
The G-virus is the trump card, Elpis is the bottom line proof, the shield is the bargaining chip, and Melinda is the exchange condition.
He had planned every step meticulously, including before he even entered the room.
Coulson laughed and held out his hand.
"Can."
Li En grasped his hand.
"Give them a shield as soon as they arrive."
"Okay." Coulson released his grip and straightened his suit collar.
He nodded to Banner, then pushed open the door and walked out of the ward.