Elsewhere.
Nick Fury, the very person Tony and Smith Dole had been roasting, was currently in his office, listening to Coulson's report.
Coulson, holding a folder, was summarizing the chaos and intelligence gathered thanks to the combat power scanner. Then he added:
"Director, I think there's one matter that requires your attention."
Nick Fury raised a brow. Normally Coulson didn't give advance notice—he'd just say it.
"What is it? Speak."
Coulson pulled out an A4 sheet. It had photos of the Dragon Balls from one to seven stars.
"These are Dragon Balls."
"They've been popping up again in the underground world."
"The first known appearance was with Smith Dole's subordinate, John Wick."
"Back when John Wick was still a retired hitman, he began collecting them. This started right after his car was stolen and his dog was killed."
"He crossed paths with Gamora, who had one of them. She gave it to him as a reward, and then even issued a bounty: 2 million dollars per Dragon Ball."
Coulson then laid out all the clues he had gathered, as well as a few inferences, connecting John Wick to the Assassin's League—and showing how Wick eventually joined the organization.
"Last year, all the underground factions that were eliminated had ties to the Dragon Balls and the Assassin's League."
"And during that time, John Wick traveled to Monaco, Osaka, Hong Kong, and Russia—likely to collect them."
"Recently, Dragon Balls have become active again on the dark web. The price has risen to 5 million dollars each, and multiple parties are now involved."
Nick Fury pondered for a moment, but came up with nothing, so he asked:
"Do the Dragon Balls have any special function?"
Coulson shook his head.
"No idea. We don't have any ourselves."
"We tried collecting a few, but the fakes out there are insane. Honestly, I can't even tell what's real anymore."
"I've bought full bags of what look like the same type."
Hearing that, Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.
"How much did you spend?"
"Ten thousand dollars a bag. I bought seven different bags."
"Some of the individual ones were only a few dozen bucks. Others went for hundreds or thousands."
"I'll need to file for reimbursement."
Nick Fury rubbed his temples, exasperated, but still gave his approval.
"What's your take on it?"
Coulson took a moment before replying:
"One possibility: the Dragon Balls were released by the Assassin's League to stir up the underground and purge criminal elements again."
"Last time it was John Wick causing chaos. This time? Who knows."
"The other possibility is that the Dragon Balls have some kind of unknown, extraordinary function. That would explain why people are paying 5 million apiece."
"Seven of them total means 35 million dollars. Only if the benefit exceeds that price would it make sense for people to chase them so frantically."
Nick Fury thought for a bit and then said:
"If it's connected to Smith Dole, we can't ignore it."
"Assign someone to investigate. See what's really going on."
"If it's just the Assassin's League cleaning house, fine—let them."
"But if it involves supernatural elements, handle it under 084 artifact protocols."
Coulson nodded, then said:
"Yes, Director."
"Also, Smith Dole's still pestering us about access to S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities."
"He keeps bringing up that oversight role."
Nick Fury massaged his forehead. That guy really was a headache.
"Did we sign a contract when we invited him?"
"If there's no contract, then it was just a verbal agreement. The Avengers Initiative is on hold. He's still under evaluation."
Coulson added awkwardly:
"Well, uh… he recorded it."
Nick Fury was speechless. Coulson should've brought a jammer.
"Stall him. We don't need him right now."
"Authority comes with responsibility. No responsibility, no authority."
Coulson understood what to tell Smith Dole going forward.
"Director, one more thing."
"I'd like to apply for a combat power scanner for the expedition team searching for Steve Rogers."
"It might help."
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already recovered the Tesseract and Captain America's shield from that area, but not his remains.
Nick Fury almost said the scanner wouldn't work on a dead man—but remembering how much Coulson idolized Captain America, he relented.
"Approved. But don't get your hopes up. It's been decades."
Coulson smiled:
"Sir, I just want to do what I can for my childhood hero. Who knows? Maybe there'll be a miracle."
Fury waved it off. They had bought enough scanners—sharing one wouldn't hurt.
…
Elsewhere.
Soren looked at the piece of branded skin labeled as Lucian's in the archive—and tore it down.
He kept searching through the records. However, on the page depicting Lucian's appearance, the part showing his face had been torn away—only the body image remained.
Then Soren noticed the necklace in the image.
He immediately realized something was off.
Recalling his memory, Soren remembered that the werewolf who had attacked Michael today wore the exact same necklace as the one shown on Lucian's body.
Realizing the implication, Soren rushed out of the archive. He needed to find Selene immediately.
If his suspicions were true, then things had just escalated drastically. They had to wake Elder Viktor.
…
Elsewhere, Michael had returned home after leaving the castle.
His apartment was a mess. Bullet holes riddled the walls.
After tidying up a bit, Michael sat on the couch and opened a box where he kept his collection of stones—items he fiddled with when in a bad mood.
Among them was one particularly smooth stone he always found calming.
But when he opened the box this time, the stone was gone.
In its place was an orange orb, gleaming and round—with a single five-pointed star inside.
"What… is this?"
Curious, Michael reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched the Dragon Ball, a surge of information flooded into his mind.
…
(End of Chapter)
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