Gwen Stacy felt like her day had been nothing short of magical. First, she'd seen the true form of the alien creature within her body, then, as host, she'd signed a rigorous research assistance agreement with Heberon on behalf of the symbiote, Quiet. This might be the first contract signed between an alien intelligent being and a company on this planet.
Maybe someone named Nick Fury would be furious if he found out, calling in angrily to question the situation and citing a few security regulations, but who cared? He was busy dealing with the turmoil in the underworld and negotiating with the higher-ups who needed the longevity potion over its distribution.
It was clear that Nick had the upper hand over the higher-ups this time. He had leveraged a longevity potion to his advantage, earning him a significant amount of funding and subsidies. While he didn't make much profit on the potion, the money he secured was enough to secretly build two or three more safe houses.
Similarly, after receiving the funding, Nick immediately placed a massive order for self-healing potions with Hebron. He explained that every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is hard-earned. They constantly carry out high-risk missions, with a consistently high casualty rate. The annual compensation costs to S.H.I.E.L.D. are astronomical. In Nick's view, these talented individuals are S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most valuable assets, and they deserve the best possible logistical support.
Self-healing potions are the perfect medicine that can greatly offset this casualty rate! If you don't specifically approve the funds, you're disregarding the lives of all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Nick's impassioned words made the many high-ranking officials present squirm. They were all veterans, so who didn't know everyone else's tricks? Did you really think that list of fallen agents you'd reported in the past, Nick Fury, was devoid of any ulterior motive? It was simply that S.H.I.E.L.D. operated in isolation, its internal and external communications nearly sealed off, making it difficult for others to interfere. Everything was decided by you, Nick Fury. Otherwise, you would have been reported long ago.
What? Are you starting to stop focusing on the agents' pensions and start looking for something new?
Nick could certainly guess what the higher-ups were thinking, and he felt he should change his tactics. He couldn't keep inflating the number of dead agents to defraud pensions. Even if the pensions for SHIELD agents were generous, if he kept doing that, the old foxes would have caught on over the years.
Reporting the names of fallen agents would result in their pensions being cut in half. While this was still profitable for Nick, the situation was becoming increasingly tense. The days of simple, unbiased approval were gone. If he wanted to make a living in this field now, he'd have to engage in heated arguments with the money managers.
Nick has long wanted to develop new avenues.
Luke's self-healing potion was a life-saving relief for Nick! The longevity potion was even more of a surprise!
After listening to Luke's introduction to the two potions in Hebollen that day, Nick immediately had a comprehensive plan in his mind. This is why he was willing to be at the forefront, confront those politicians and businessmen, and pave a safe path for Hebollen.
After all, while there's a lot of money to be made from lying about pensions for fallen agents, training for new agents, and so on, the channels are clearly shrinking, and the amount of money that can be squeezed out each year is decreasing. But self-healing potions are different! These are life-saving injections that can be used even when you're injured! Don't you all complain to me every year about the high number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who have been killed?
I've found a way to reduce it now. All it takes is a shot of self-healing potion!
No injury or pain, you can even save the money and time of going to the hospital for emergency treatment!
The best part? The best part is that the self-healing injection is a one-time consumable. This means that an agent with a high attendance rate might experience near-death experiences three or five times a year.
Isn't this faster than making money from a pension?
Compared to relying on Void Agent pensions, this method is obviously safer and has no consequences.
Nick, holding a share of the longevity potion, has been experiencing both joy and sorrow these days. The pressure is certainly immense, but the ultimate reward is also extremely rich. He also knows that this opportunity only comes once. Next time, those veterans, with more time on their side, won't play the game of compromise with him.
After everything was settled, Haibolun soon received an order for self-healing drugs worth 20 billion US dollars and an order for longevity drugs worth billions.
…
California.
Life Foundation.
This was a massive enterprise spanning space exploration and biology. While it couldn't be compared to the likes of Stark Industries, it was still a major player in California. In the words of a major media owner, the Life Foundation could easily buy their newspaper building for a small sum, acquire their newspaper, and have them work for it.
Carlton Drake was the current manager of this large corporation. He looked young, always gentle and courteous to outsiders, and his words had a persuasive power. At this moment, he stood in his laboratory with a gloomy face, watching the dying experimental subjects.
"Symbiote A02, current status: weak, number of days fused: 9, temperature: 103."
Looking at the vital signs information displayed on the screen, Carlton Drake coldly sentenced the experimental subject in the laboratory to death.
"Find a few more test subjects," Carlton Drake instructed his trusted security guard. Then, he turned to Dora Scholes, who stood beside him with an uneasy look on her face, "Doctor, let's proceed with the next experiment."
"But we've run out of candidates," Dr. Dora said uneasily. She had seen several subjects die in the past few days. They were often homeless people, unemployed people, and down-and-outs, deceived by Carlton's persuasive words and signed an experimental contract that they themselves couldn't understand. Then, they were tricked into entering the laboratory and becoming the parasitic hosts of the symbionts.
Unfortunately, none of the experimental subjects could perfectly match the symbiont and coexist with it.
Dora felt a constant sense of torment these days. She couldn't smile calmly like Carlton at the deaths of several experimental subjects. The only thing that upset and saddened him wasn't the loss of life, but the failure of the experiment. This filled her with a deep sense of fear. Her conscience told her not to aid the evildoers, but faced with Carlton's strong demands, she couldn't refuse.
She has a family! And Carlton is very good at taking advantage of people's weaknesses.