Agent Phil Coulson had hit a bottleneck in his work.
Ever since discovering the mysterious hammer in New Mexico, he had mobilized many specialists skilled at gathering intelligence, trying to investigate the hammer's origins.
But after a period of effort, there was no progress at all.
This gave Agent Coulson quite a headache.
Just at this time, he received another assignment:
Use "legal means" to ensure that the U.S. government abandoned its recommendation to have Abomination join the Avengers.
This proposal had been strongly pushed by General Ross.
In order to cover up the negative impact caused by his pursuit of the Hulk, he portrayed Blonsky's accidental transformation into "Abomination" as one of his own achievements.
And he embellished the report before submitting it to the top levels of the government.
"Such an outstanding warrior should have a better arrangement."
General Ross's actions caused senior U.S. officials to start considering bringing "Abomination" into the Avengers team, and they entrusted General Ross to handle the matter.
After internal evaluation, S.H.I.E.L.D. concluded that "Abomination" was far too dangerous and uncontrollable.
At the same time, they were unwilling to accept the government's arbitrary interference with the Avengers Initiative.
But after all, it was the government's will. Because of their position, S.H.I.E.L.D. could not openly oppose it, so they could only hand this difficult task to Agent Coulson.
"Letting a dangerous guy like Abomination join the Avengers, how could they even think of that?"
The Hulk was a hundred times stronger than him, and after all, every action the Hulk took was driven by protection.
From Director Fury's words between the lines, Coulson understood that finding an "annoying" guy to interface with General Ross and sabotage the whole thing had a very high chance of success.
An arrogant figure appeared in Coulson's mind.
Thinking about how even a well intentioned farewell when he left had managed to piss that guy off, there was no one more suitable for this mission.
That's right, the person Coulson thought of was Tony Stark.
The result was that Tony, as the newly appointed S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant, had an informal meeting with General Ross in a bar.
The conversation began in a harmonious atmosphere and ultimately ended smoothly with General Ross smashing the glass in his hand.
Afterward, Tony happily remarked, "What a lovely old man. Remember to call me next time something like this comes up."
Clearly, dealing with a stubborn old man like Ross posed no difficulty whatsoever for Tony.
General Ross was successfully enraged by Tony's arrogance and withdrew the proposal.
And just like that, Abomination was excluded from the Avengers roster.
The resolution of this matter gave Coulson inspiration for his research into the hammer. Why not seek outside help?
Coulson straightened his tie.
He thought of several candidates, but after further analysis, he eliminated them one by one, leaving only the final choice: the Crimson Silver Duke.
'Mr. Silver Duke charged high prices, but his abilities are indeed solid. At present, aside from him, there is no one else who can get the better of Director Fury.'
'Even Iron Man Tony Stark is a consultant now.'
Coulson reported the difficulties encountered in researching the hammer and his idea of seeking help from Cockroach to Director Nick Fury.
Nick Fury agreed with Coulson's proposal.
But thinking about having to bargain again with that money grubbing guy, the bald black man felt a bit annoyed.
"Forget it. It's for work."
He dialed Corin's number.
["Oh? Director, did you run into some trouble?"]
Hearing the hidden anticipation in Corin's tone, Nick Fury sneered inwardly.
'You're just itching for me to run into big trouble so you can charge a high commission~'
Outwardly, he spoke politely, "We found something and would like to commission Mr. Cockroach to investigate it for us."
'Oh? Investigate something?'
Receiving this kind of commission for the first time, Corin felt a little unsure, so he laid down the ugly words first, ["Director Fury, let's be clear in advance. No matter the result... the money is non refundable, and it has to be transferred up front."]
The bald black man cursed inwardly. As expected, "Fine. The usual rules. One hundred million dollars. I hope you can quickly uncover the secret of this hammer."
'Only one hundred million dollars?'
Hearing Nick's offer, Corin instinctively wanted to start negotiating the price.
Then he suddenly reacted, 'Investigate what?... A hammer?'
'Could it be Mjolnir?'
'It must be!'
A hammer that makes S.H.I.E.L.D. spend money to hire outsiders to investigate it. Other than Mjolnir, Corin couldn't think of anything else.
'Holy crap!'
'Others might not know, but I do!'
'Thor's hammer forged from Uru metal.'
'This money is way too easy to make!'
Corin's mind raced.
At first, when Director Nick mentioned New Mexico, he hadn't reacted yet, 'So that's where the hammer landed.'
'Since Mjolnir has already arrived on Earth, wouldn't Thor also be about to drop down?'
Thinking of how later on Thor would spend a period of time drinking himself into a barrel shaped body.
"Hammer Bro is a real fun guy."
Corin's thoughts kept turning. Thor might be a bit dumb, but he was still a god. Just casually picking something off him would be a piece of divine realm gear.
The price would definitely be beautiful.
And Thor fell from Asgard.
What kind of place is Asgard? Commonly known as the realm of the gods.
That's the place where they build houses out of gold.
If he could get on good terms with Thor and take the opportunity to make a trip to Asgard, wouldn't his account balance instantly skyrocket?
Corin's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
The problem of how to make money that had troubled him for a long time suddenly became extremely clear.
Thinking this through, Corin abandoned the idea of bargaining with Nick Fury.
After all, compared to the mountains of gold and silver in Asgard, a mere few hundred million dollars from S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed hardly worth mentioning.
Since they were providing such a crucial opportunity, he might as well be straightforward too.
["No problem, Director Fury."]
Corin agreed readily.
"Mr. Cockroach, for an investigation task, one hundred million dollars is already very high..."
Nick Fury habitually started to speak, planning to go through a round of bargaining. Halfway through his sentence, he reacted, 'Huh?'
"What the f**k?"
'He agreed'
'This money loving bounty hunter actually agreed so readily?'
The imagined bargaining session that would make him miserable never happened. Nick Fury was almost thrown off balance by Corin.
"O-Okay then, Mr. Cockroach. I'll arrange a private jet to pick you up immediately."
———
The call ended.
"How much money can things from the divine realm actually be exchanged for?", With this curiosity, Corin happily left Times Square.
Spider Man Peter Parker finally shook off the clingy reporters and searched for Corin's figure with his eyes.
'Mr. Silver Duke's help has been the key to dealing with Electro. Although I thought of the same method myself, I was ultimately a step too late.'
"I should thank him."
But looking around, in the now calmed Times Square where power to the billboards was gradually restored and the crowd had returned to normal, Peter did not spot Corin anywhere.
Shaking his head in regret, "I'll have a proper talk with Mr. Silver Duke next time."
Under the gaze of the crowd, the little spider shot out a web and swung off into the distance.
———
[Asgard, a Few Minutes Earlier]
Thor, who had been forcibly brought back from the Frost Giant territory by Odin, loudly berated his father Odin for his cowardly behavior in avoiding battle.
"If you don't dare to fight, the nation will fall sooner or later! I will let those Jotuns know who I am, and how powerful I am!"
He believed Odin had lost the courage to fight, a cowardice unbefitting of a king.
"This is arrogance, not the wisdom of a leader. You are too rash, too conceited, too eager for war, my child."
Thor, already in a rage, snapped back directly, "You're a timid, muddle headed old fool!"
After a moment of silence, Odin was deeply disappointed.
In a fit of anger, Odin stripped Thor of all his divine power and banished him to Earth.
Then he lifted Thor's hammer to his mouth and cast a spell upon it, "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."
After saying that, he threw the hammer into the portal of the Bifrost.
[T/N: There's a monthly discount ongoing on my P@treon page for the next three days. You can get 20% off on your membership. Enjoy~
p@treon. cum/AmbitiousTranslator ]