Chapter 30: Meeting Nick Fury

**

At this moment, the Purple Man was watching television, holding a glass of red wine in one hand and puffing on a cigar. The man and woman who owned the house were cooking dinner in the kitchen, completely under his control. Fortunately, there were no children in this household. Otherwise, Link would have acted sooner, as he still had a soft spot for kids, despite not being a saint.

When dinner was ready, the Purple Man stood up and moved towards the dining table. This was the moment Link had been waiting for. He squeezed the trigger. Despite the immense power of the anti-materiel sniper rifle, his body didn't move an inch.

"Bang!" The window and the Purple Man's skull shattered simultaneously. The controlled homeowners remained unphased, standing obediently by the table, waiting for further commands.

As the Purple Man's lifeless body hit the floor, Link didn't stop. He fired several more rounds into the corpse until his ammo ran out. Dropping the sniper rifle to the ground, he jumped off the building and quietly walked away.

The rest was no longer his concern. However, the strange behavior of the couple would undoubtedly draw attention.

Link changed his clothes, tossing the discarded ones into a trash can. He poured gasoline over them and lit a match before heading home.

Back in his car, he drove in circles to throw off any potential followers before finally heading home. The deafening shots from the anti-materiel rifle went unnoticed, as Link had fired from a rooftop. Although the shattering of the luxury apartment's windows did cause some glass to fall onto the streets below, leading someone to call the police.

When the authorities broke into the apartment, they were shocked by what they found. Several younger officers had to rush outside to throw up. Even stranger were the homeowners, a man and a woman, standing still and completely unresponsive to the police.

...

Returning home, Link showered to rid himself of the lingering scent of gunpowder. Jessica noticed it but didn't question him. Instead, she made him two sandwiches and warmed up some milk.

After eating, Link told Jessica about his conversation with the law firm, which piqued her interest. She asked several questions, which he answered patiently. The couple went to bed early that night.

The next morning, after dropping Jessica off at school, Link realized he had no pressing tasks. Fortunately, his phone rang—it was Coulson.

"Link, you did well this time. The rest is no longer your responsibility," Coulson said. "The Director wants to meet you. Tomorrow, head to headquarters. There will be a helicopter waiting for you at the division."

"Alright, I've been wanting to check out the headquarters," Link replied.

He spent the rest of the day relaxing, not particularly concerned about who would be taking over the task. After all, he was just one man, and this assignment made him feel more like a freelance spy than a proper agent.

That evening, he and Jessica went out for dinner and caught a movie. Later, they tested the quality of the new lingerie she'd bought. The following morning, Link dropped Jessica off at school before heading to the division.

After arriving at headquarters via helicopter, he was ushered into Nick Fury's office. Fury was easy to recognize.

"Agent Link, welcome to headquarters," Fury greeted him warmly, standing up to shake his hand.

"Director, I've been curious about this place for a while," Link said with a smile.

"I understand. You've done well on this mission—gathering such critical intelligence singlehandedly is impressive," Fury complimented. He had a resurrection plan, but it involved extracting substances from Kree bodies, a process that was incredibly cruel.

However, the discovery of dragon bones presented a different possibility, so Fury had pulled back agents like Hawkeye and Black Widow to work with Coulson on a secret mission. For now, Link wasn't on Fury's trusted list, but he still needed to be placated.

"You're still relatively new, but due to your solo efforts, I'm promoting you to Level 6 Agent."

"You'll need to keep up the good work. Continue gathering intel as a professional gambler in New York's elite circles. Some of these so-called 'upper-class' individuals might possess 084s or other dangerous items."

"I understand, Director. However, the circles I move in are primarily motivated by money or skill," Link replied.

"We've analyzed that as well. But this is how our organization operates—we can't wait for something terrible to happen before we act. Every agent contributes in their own way," Fury explained. "We need to be proactive."

"There's another task I'd like you to handle."

"Yes, Director," Link replied, fully cooperative.

"The military has been experimenting with recreating the Super Soldier Serum—the one used on Captain America," Fury explained. "Recently, one of their labs had a catastrophic accident, but they've kept the details under wraps."

"However, we've managed to gather some intel. The military has been searching for someone—a man. Here's his file."

Fury handed him a folder. After a quick glance, Link immediately grasped the situation.

Dr. Bruce Banner—a genius with seven PhDs.

"He was in charge of the experiment but disappeared after the incident. The military has been looking for him ever since," Fury continued. "They recently dispatched a team to Brazil, where they caused quite a commotion."

"Unfortunately, given the poor infrastructure in the area, they didn't recover anything useful."

"However, our agents have tracked Banner's return to New York."

"I want you to make contact with him and gather information."

"Understood. I'll begin the mission immediately," Link replied. He wasn't afraid of the Hulk, but he didn't want to expose his own powers to the green giant. The best strategy was to engage Bruce Banner early.

"Good. Take a tour of headquarters before you go," Fury said, clearly satisfied.

After leaving Fury's office, Link was greeted by a tall woman waiting for him outside.

"Hello, I'm Maria Hill, the Director's deputy," she introduced herself.

"I don't think I need to introduce myself. Nice to meet you, Agent Hill," Link replied, shaking her hand.

Hill guided him on a tour of the facility, explaining the various departments, though they avoided any classified areas.

Link had lunch at the headquarters before taking the helicopter back to the New York division. After landing, he drove home.

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(End of Chapter)