"Eh?"
Nick opened the door, walked out, and then opened it again to take another look. Realizing he wasn't dreaming, he was very surprised. Inside the room sat Natasha, Barton, and Banner, along with Reed and Ben. There was also a kid who looked eight or nine parts similar to Captain America, whose name seemed to be Johnny. But the presence of the last person truly surprised and delighted Nick. Artoria was sitting beside Natasha, bored out of her mind. Natasha kept talking to Artoria, while Artoria responded to Natasha's words distractedly. Johnny kept staring at Artoria with a look of infatuation from the side. Banner and Reed were chatting happily, while Barton and Ben, two men of few words, were currently staring at each other.
Actually, Artoria hadn't intended to come, but the email Nick sent was very sincere and was just an invitation to talk face-to-face. Artoria decided to give this Director Egg some face, come over to sit for a while, and properly see who was in this newly formed organization. As it turned out, everyone inside was an acquaintance, which made Artoria feel extremely bored, so she didn't have much energy to chat with the beauty Natasha.
The moment she saw Nick enter, Artoria was also surprised. What was wrong with this guy? Why was his face swollen, and why were there several bumps on that shiny black head of his? It wasn't just Artoria; everyone present, except for Johnny who kept staring at Artoria, noticed Nick's appearance. For a moment, everyone fell silent. Because Nick saw Artoria's surprise, he closed the door and opened it again, revealing his brutally beaten appearance to everyone present.
"For your sake, you girl, I got beaten up by your bastard Father."
As he walked into the room, Nick subconsciously touched a bump on his head. This was from when an enraged Howard had smashed an ashtray directly onto Nick's head; it hadn't even gone down yet! Thinking of Howard, Nick couldn't help but touch the bandage on the back of his head, the pain making his face twitch. Compared to Howard, Maria was even more ruthless; she had picked up a champagne bottle from the side and smashed it onto the back of Nick's head. Nick had bled profusely at the time, and after both of them had finished venting their anger, Nick was dragged into the emergency room and had to get a dozen stitches.
"Boss, what happened? Did you get beaten up for harassing a married woman?"
Natasha looked at Nick, who was pretending to be calm, and was very curious about what was going on. Although she had gone out to complete a mission, she had been away for less than seven days, and this black-hearted boss had finally been beaten up. Although she was very hap... cough cough! Although she was very sympathetic, surely no one would specifically beat up a person at the Director level, right? Thinking this, Natasha became even more curious about what Nick had been beaten for, which made her start letting her imagination run wild.
"Everyone, welcome here."
Without caring about the looks from the others, Nick said with a serious face. In fact, everyone sitting there, except for Artoria, had basically already joined his newly organized team. Natasha was his subordinate; as long as he gave the Order, Natasha and Barton would unconditionally obey, just like with the Avengers. As for Dr. Banner, Nick had already done the work over the phone, and since Banner owed Nick a favor from before, how could he refuse this recruitment? The remaining Fantastic Three had also joined under Nick's flowery words. Only Artoria was the exception. He couldn't grasp why Artoria had come, nor was he sure if Artoria would join, but Nick decided to try and win her over.
"This guy can really talk."
It had already been three and a half hours since Nick entered the room, and he had been talking non-stop about many things. It seemed he had made ample preparations. From the history of human development to World War II, to the evil human experiments on Mutants, the recent high frequency of destruction caused by super-powered individuals, and many secret events—Nick had laid it all out, showing how much sincerity he had brought today. Although she was a bit disgusted by Nick's mouth, Artoria was still shocked by the data Nick had compiled. What was going on? So many things had happened in this period. Just the incidents involving super-powered individuals had risen by more than eighty percent compared to previous years. Ordinary crime wasn't scary; the scary thing was when the criminal was a super-powered individual. The harm this caused to society was definitely a hundred times greater than that caused by ordinary people. The data was startling, and it was still constantly rising.
"A new era has dawned. The world is no longer the world of ordinary people it used to be. With more and more super-powered individuals, plus the appearance of the Inhumans, the future direction of the world's development is unknown. But the only thing that is certain is that the disasters suffered by ordinary people are becoming more dangerous. You could be eating at home and get caught in the crossfire of a battle between super-powered individuals. Now, the government has attached great importance to this matter. From the joint statement by the President and Congress, there must be a department capable of restraining these super-powered individuals. We cannot let ordinary people continue to be implicated."
"Therefore, Congress and the President have jointly passed a resolution to form the'Super-Powered Police Squad,' which will have the establishment of both Police and military units. While having the right to enforce the law, it will also be able to execute uncontrollable criminals on the spot. I hope everyone will consider this carefully."
As Nick said this, his eyes kept fixed on Artoria. He hoped Artoria would join, but Artoria rolled her eyes internally at Nick's words. This black-hearted guy only talked about power; he didn't mention the treatment, salary, or other matters. In other words, if this squad were established, the economic lifelines would likely still be controlled by this black-hearted guy. That would be just like being an Special Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.—not only would there be no days off and the requirement to be on call at all times, but one would also have to endure the situation of having no salary. It was just too miserable, wasn't it?
Artoria inwardly despised Nick's black-heartedness while pretending to be indifferent. In any case, the meeting was over, and it was time to go home. She had wasted half a day for nothing today. Fortunately, this was only a clone; her main body hadn't come over at all. At this moment, Artoria even felt a bit of admiration for herself. Sure enough, nothing good ever happened when coming here. It was fortunate that only a clone had come, otherwise, it would have wasted half a day of her time.
"Please consider it carefully, Miss Artoria."
When Artoria's clone got into the luxury car, Natasha suddenly appeared beside it. This made the clone, who hadn't started the car yet, look at Natasha curiously. Did this girl have something to say? When she said that line, Artoria's clone understood: she had come to be a lobbyist for that Big Bald Head, Nick. The clone knew that Nick was a guy who wouldn't give up, so after giving Natasha a mysterious smile, she started the car and drove away directly.
"How did it go? Natasha."
Watching Artoria's clone leave, Natasha had an earpiece hidden under her hair, from which Nick's inquiring voice slowly emanated. Facing Nick's inquiry, Natasha was also very helpless. Judging by Artoria's attitude, the other party hadn't taken this matter to heart at all. Was she supposed to say, "Boss, give it up! The other party doesn't take us seriously"?
"Personally, Director, I think you need to put in more effort. Although Miss Artoria's personality isn't as vile as Nick's, the stark family doesn't seem very friendly towards our profession."
Natasha's words made Nick on the other end understand her meaning. In other words, he had talked for so long without moving the other party at all. This made Nick somewhat dejected. It seemed that talk-no-jutsu wouldn't work; he couldn't even swindle a little girl. He would need to bring out something practical to move this girl. Thinking of this, Nick felt a pang of pain. He subconsciously touched his head, but it hurt even more, as if it were reminding him not to mess with the girls of the stark family.
"Don't get involved in this matter anymore; I'll think of a way."
"Yes, Director."
Hearing Nick say this, Natasha replied happily. After waiting for him to hang up the communication, Natasha let out a deep sigh of relief. Recruiting Artoria was harder than doing an A-level difficulty mission. Even that girl Sharon hadn't succeeded, let alone an outsider like her! Now that this complex task was no longer on her shoulders, Natasha's burden felt much lighter. Taking one last look at the garage, Natasha turned and left the place; there were still many things to do!
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.