Fifty million U.S. dollars!
Nick Fury's brows immediately furrowed; Satan's price was truly exorbitant.
Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. was indeed a large organization, it couldn't withstand repeated expenditures of tens of millions.
This amount of money was not a small sum for any organization.
Perfectly and seamlessly allocating it would require a lot of effort to conceal.
But considering Satan's strength, what else could Nick Fury do?
"As a mercenary, your quote truly doesn't conform to the usual practices of this line of work."
Nick Fury merely sighed softly to Zhou Cheng.
"My strength also doesn't conform to industry standards, does it?"
Zhou Cheng shrugged confidently.
"That's why I'm here."
Nick Fury nodded in deep agreement.
For someone of Satan's caliber to be a mercenary was indeed a serious waste.
It could be said that he single-handedly elevated the entire mercenary industry by several levels.
"Same old rules, once the advance payment is received, I can act at any time."
Zhou Cheng's voice rang out again; he didn't waste time with useless talk and directly started pressing Nick Fury for payment.
Nick Fury nodded, took out his phone, and dialed a number.
Within just a few minutes, Zhou Cheng confirmed that Nick Fury's advance payment had indeed arrived.
It had to be said that this was the advantage of doing business with Nick Fury; he was indeed efficient and decisive, never delaying payments in the slightest.
"OK, I'll be ready at any time."
Zhou Cheng spread his hands to Nick Fury.
"Wait for my message."
After a greeting with Zhou Cheng, Nick Fury didn't waste any more time there and got up and left directly.
He went to make other related preparations.
"Satan, gather here at two o'clock."
It wasn't until seven days later that Zhou Cheng received a message from Nick Fury, which also included the corresponding address.
Since the employer had already paid the advance so readily, Zhou Cheng naturally wouldn't drop the ball.
After changing into the appropriate uniform and putting on his mask, he set off in a hurry.
He headed towards the location Nick Fury had sent.
What Zhou Cheng didn't know was that while he was still on his way, a group of people had already assembled at the meeting point.
Who were they?
None other than Captain America, Red Guardian, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, the original Avengers.
Of course, Bruce Banner was not present.
Dr. Banner's condition was still unstable; ever since he was manipulated by HYDRA to be a tool to eliminate Iron Man, he had left again.
Under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s arrangements, he went to a deserted place to resume practicing yoga and cultivating his mind.
According to Nick Fury's observations, his situation seemed to be very good.
At least until now, Dr. Banner had never lost control.
According to the intelligence Nick Fury had, he was almost indistinguishable from a normal person.
However, this mission was clearly not suitable for Hulk, so Nick Fury did not disturb Dr. Banner.
Instead, he gathered the other Avengers.
Although Nick Fury had already spent a large sum hiring Satan, to ensure everything was foolproof, he still called upon the Avengers.
Furthermore, this was a rare training opportunity after New Mexico.
Nick Fury did not want the situation described in the diary to occur, where the Avengers were still disorganized even when the New York Battle arrived.
"After such a long time, there's finally a mission again, how exciting!"
Red Guardian, who was already fully equipped (though his public identity was now Peace Warrior), spoke first with immense excitement.
It's worth mentioning that after this period of secret training, Red Guardian was no longer the middle-aged man with a potbelly.
Instead, he had transformed into a majestic warrior.
"This mission isn't simple. If I were you, I wouldn't use the word 'exciting'."
Black Widow couldn't help but interject with a complaint.
"Natasha, who are we? We are the Avengers!"
Red Guardian was still incredibly excited, his eyes shining, "Simple missions are not worthy of our intervention!"
"Captain, is this mission definitely for us?"
Hawkeye Barton walked up to Captain America with a very serious expression and asked for confirmation.
He had already read the mission brief. If the information wasn't exaggerated, then it was clearly a situation they couldn't handle.
Or rather, the risk was simply too great.
With their current lineup, they could at most deal with a few Extremis Warriors.
Eleven of them, that was indeed too much of a stretch.
"No, Nick said there's one more person, he should be arriving soon."
Captain America, however, shook his head and gave everyone this answer, "Satan, have any of you heard of this name?"
Satan?
Red Guardian immediately couldn't help but sneer, "What kind of person dares to use such a codename? That's too exaggerated!"
That was Satan!
Even Red Guardian, who came from the Soviet Union, naturally knew of this infamous fallen Angel.
"Satan? So it's him?"
Black Widow, hearing this, immediately smiled, her voice unconsciously filled with confidence, "I should have thought of it earlier."
"I knew it," Tony also said with a confident look, "Besides that guy, Nick couldn't possibly find anyone else."
"Are you talking about that legendary mercenary?"
Hawkeye Barton asked Black Widow and Tony with great curiosity.
Compared to the other two diary holders, Barton had only heard of Satan's name but didn't know him as well as they did.
And the attitudes of these few immediately aroused the intense curiosity of Captain America and Red Guardian.
It turned out that besides these two old-fashioned individuals, everyone else knew him, and they all spoke of him as if he were incredibly formidable!
Who exactly was that Satan?
"Wait a minute!"
Red Guardian immediately waved his hands repeatedly, forcing his way into the conversation, "Who exactly are you talking about?"
Although Captain America on the side didn't ask aloud, he was equally curious about this question.
"A mercenary who has recently risen to fame but is incredibly powerful. Officer has cooperated with him before."
Black Widow briefly introduced Satan, though not in too much detail, "With him, we have a much higher chance of winning this time."
Mercenary?
Red Guardian and Captain America immediately understood.
However, for a mere mercenary to have such a reputation and be so trusted by Nick Fury, it seemed he was indeed no ordinary person.
Whoosh!
Just as they were about to say something else, everyone present suddenly felt a whooshing sound.
Subconsciously, they all turned their heads to look.
They saw a person in a uniform and wearing a mask suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Undoubtedly, it must be Satan.
Tony and Black Widow, who knew Satan's background, were fine, but Captain America, Red Guardian, and Hawkeye Barton subconsciously observed and scrutinized Zhou Cheng.
This was Satan?
And while they were observing Zhou Cheng, unbeknownst to them, Zhou Cheng, beneath his mask, was also observing the people present.
His expression was also a bit interesting.
These guys had gathered together last time when they fought the Asgard Destroyer, and now they were gathered together again to deal with the Extremis Warriors.
Could it be that Nick Fury had already formed these people into a team in advance?
Otherwise, it really didn't make sense.
So, the Avengers were going to debut early?
And there was an extra Red Guardian from the "Black Widow" solo movie?
What kind of development was this!
It was truly a complete mess.
"You must be Satan."
Black Widow's voice rang out; she stepped forward first and greeted Zhou Cheng, "I'm Natasha."
Zhou Cheng simply nodded to Black Widow; he naturally knew who this person was.
"Captain America Steve Rogers, I don't think he needs much introduction, and Tony Stark. Also, this is my colleague Barton, and Erik."
Black Widow then briefly introduced her companions beside her to Zhou Cheng.
Of course.
Black Widow knew that she was completely redundant; Satan definitely knew everyone, but she still had to go through the motions.
"You can call me Satan."
Zhou Cheng also simply greeted the Avengers, and the two sides were officially acquainted.
"Alright everyone, let's go!"
After the greetings, Captain America didn't waste any time.
He called out to everyone, and they set off spiritedly.
Although Zhou Cheng could completely use Jack Sparrow's compass for positioning and then fly with his wings to reach the destination as quickly as possible.
However, since the employer requested teamwork this time, Zhou Cheng didn't try to show off unnecessarily.
Instead, he comfortably took a backseat, not worrying about anything, leaving everything to Captain America and the others.
It was like a tour.
And so.
They first took a Quinjet, then transferred to a car midway.
After about three hours of traveling, they finally arrived at Kilian's secret Base.
"Operation commence!"
At Captain America's command, the Avengers unleashed their full power, infiltrating the secret Base.
The result goes without saying.
Given the Avengers' capabilities, the ordinary security personnel on the periphery were simply a dimensionality reduction strike.
Without much effort, they smoothly dismantled the Base's security forces and infiltrated the core.
"According to intelligence, after passing through this building, their laboratory is just ahead."
"What we need to do next is to completely destroy that evil laboratory!"
Inside the main hall of the Base.
Captain America surveyed the situation and said to the Avengers in a deep voice.
Initially, Captain America had no intention of carrying out any missions for Nick Fury, until Nick Fury showed him the Extremis experiments, which convinced Captain America.
However, unfortunately, while the Avengers were formidable, Kilian and his people were not to be trifled with, were they?
"I'm sorry, but you can't do anything!"
Before Captain America finished speaking, an incredibly sharp voice rang out.
On the second-floor corridor, a middle-aged man with a crew cut appeared.
He stood with his hands on the corridor railing, looking down at the Avengers from above, with an arrogant demeanor.
The Avengers' expressions all hardened.
They had recognized him; the man on the second-floor corridor was none other than the Extremis Warrior from the intelligence files, Eric Savin.
He also had a rather cool nickname, Coldblood.
"Where is Kilian? And the others?"
Captain America looked up at Coldblood and demanded in a stern voice.
"Everyone, Captain America wants to see you, what do you think?"
Coldblood scratched his face with one hand while turning his head and calling out to the direction behind him.
Rustle rustle rustle!
Disordered footsteps followed, and several figures also walked out, standing with Coldblood.
The Avengers looked up and swept their gaze over them, their expressions all becoming incredibly solemn.
They even felt an indescribable pressure.
A total of eight people, all of them Extremis Warriors from the data!
"I truly didn't expect Captain America to still be alive. I wonder if you could give me an autograph?"
Coldblood's voice sounded again, his tone so nonchalant, "That way, when I go pick up girls, maybe I can show off a bit."
"Are you sure?"
A long-haired woman beside Coldblood shrugged, "I was planning to beat up Captain America, that would be much more interesting."
"Whatever, I was just saying," Coldblood spread his hands.
The few of them, with their back-and-forth banter, completely disregarded the Avengers below.
Their arrogance was, it must be said, quite blatant.
"It would be far more interesting to crush you like ants under my feet."
Tony, inside his armor, retorted sharply.
"Destroyer, tsk tsk tsk."
Coldblood shook his head repeatedly, his face cold, "You'd better pray your iron shell is thick enough!"
Whoosh!
Boom!
Before he finished speaking, Coldblood leaped, jumping directly from the second-floor corridor to the hall floor.
He landed heavily in front of the Avengers.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Figures flashed continuously, and booming sounds kept erupting.
The other Extremis Warriors, like dumplings falling into a pot, leaped down one after another, also landing with a mighty crash in front of everyone.
Each of them had red energy surging around them.
Like red-hot iron rods.
"Catch them!"
Coldblood gave the order, then took the lead and charged towards Tony Stark.
The other Extremis Warriors did the same, without any delay, each finding a target and launching their attack.
The great battle between the Avengers and the Extremis Warriors erupted in full.
Swoosh... Bang!
Tony's reaction was the quickest.
Facing the aggressively charging Coldblood, he raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast.
It hit Coldblood squarely in the chest.
Coldblood's body shook violently, and he was blasted backward by Tony's repulsor, flipping onto the ground.
But in the very next moment.
Coldblood stood up as if nothing had happened, a surge of red energy constantly moving across his chest.
In the blink of an eye, the large crater blasted into his chest completely healed, as if it had never been there.
Coldblood twisted his neck left and right, and muttered, "That really hurts!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
His complaining didn't delay Coldblood's actions; he charged towards Tony again like a swift leopard.
His speed was much faster than before.
Bang bang!
Tony naturally didn't waste words, firing two more repulsor blasts at Coldblood, but Coldblood dodged them.
He successfully darted in front of Tony.
Tony threw a heavy punch at Coldblood, but Coldblood simply extended a hand.
Clang!
With a light sound, Tony's armored arm froze in mid-air, because Coldblood had grabbed Tony's armored arm with one hand!
"This guy!"
Tony was secretly shocked. This guy's strength was no weaker than the Winter Soldier's back then.
And besides strength comparable to the Winter Soldier, he could also do things the Winter Soldier couldn't.
For example, emit heat.
Tony immediately felt a burning sensation.
He instinctively turned his head to look, only to see that Coldblood's right arm was already fiery red, completely "red-hot."
At the same time, his own armored right arm was also heating up, turning red!
Tony instinctively wanted to break free from his grip, but found he couldn't.
He had no choice but to swing his other fist to attack Coldblood, but that too was caught by Coldblood.
Now both of his armored arms were caught by Coldblood, and both were heated red by him.
If this continued, his armor arms would definitely be scrapped, and Tony's own hands would also undoubtedly be ruined.
Fortunately, Tony wasn't without other tricks.
Whoosh!
With his dual-foot propulsion system at full power, the Destroyer armor flew into the air.
Dragging Coldblood along, it slammed heavily into a nearby wall.
Only then did Coldblood get forcibly dislodged.
And after this lesson, Tony dared not be careless with Coldblood in the slightest.
He began to concentrate all his energy on dealing with Coldblood.
However, Coldblood was too strong, and Tony still couldn't gain any advantage.
After all, his current armor was not the one from "Iron Man 3."
The same was true for the other Avengers.
Bang bang bang!
Black Widow continuously pulled the trigger on an Extremis Warrior, bullet after bullet entering his body.
But his body only turned red for a moment, then instantly returned to normal; the bullets had no effect whatsoever.
On the contrary, any casual punch or kick from him was deadly to Black Widow.
Though bare-handed, he left Black Widow gasping for breath, forcing her to evade frantically.
The same applied to Barton.
His various arrows had almost no effect on the Extremis Warrior, and he was completely suppressed by him.
The only one who could still respond methodically was Captain America.
There was nothing he could do; Captain America's shield was too extraordinary.
Extremis Warriors could easily melt any metal, but they alone could not melt Captain America's shield!
All their attacks were perfectly blocked by Captain America using his shield, unable to cause any effective damage to Captain America.
However, unfortunately, the same was true for Captain America.
Bang!
During the fierce battle, Captain America slammed his shield heavily into the face of the Extremis Warrior he was fighting, knocking him to the ground.
His nasal bone was directly broken.
But in the very next moment.
His broken nasal bone recovered as good as new, and all the other blows his body had sustained did the same.
Captain America, despite his full effort, could not harm him in the slightest.
As for Red Guardian?
Without a weapon like a shield in hand, he was much more disheveled than Captain America.
For a time, all the Avengers fell into this bitter struggle, each one groaning in misery.
Of course, this did not include Zhou Cheng.
This situation was completely trivial for Zhou Cheng.
Facing the Extremis Warrior charging towards him, Zhou Cheng merely waved his hand casually.
A blade of energy condensed from repulsive force was released.
Swoosh!
The Extremis Warrior had no idea what was happening, and his head flew into the air.
It fell to the ground with a thud.
And rolled around.
What!
With a wave of his hand, an Extremis Warrior was taken down?
The Avengers, who caught a glimpse of this scene, all felt their hearts pound, greatly stimulated.
Is this the strength of that Satan?
It's actually so strong!
This is too exaggerated.
They struggled painstakingly but couldn't defeat their opponents, and were even almost beaten into submission by the Extremis Warriors.
Yet Satan defeated one with a flick of his hand.
The gap, it must be said, was too great, practically turning them into dust.