Chapter 22: S.H.I.E.L.D. Arrives
Early the next morning, Pietro glanced at the two revolvers on the table, silently picked up the fishing rod, and walked to the lakeside to start fishing.
He kept fishing all the way until noon.
Looking at the bucket filled with fish and shrimp, Yuumi was so tempted she was almost crying.
"What, not going to be your superhero anymore?"
Orion Cross walked over with the sleepy-eyed Wanda and sat down on a wooden stump nearby.
"I’m not going. This world is too filthy."
Pietro drooped his face, looking as if he blamed heaven and earth for everything, then forcefully cast the bait into the lake.
"Those people really are too much. Pietro was clearly helping them."
Wanda, who was holding the radio, also looked indignant.
Hearing Pietro’s cynical words, Orion Cross could not help laughing. He stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You run into one setback and that’s it? This world has both filth and beauty. You’re just still young and haven’t experienced much yet."
This world was neither black nor white. It was a delicate shade of gray.
Pietro did not speak, but the grief and anger on his face did gradually fade.
No matter what, Pietro and Wanda were still only around ten years old. Their outlook on life and values had yet to fully form.
Their parents had passed away at this time, and Orion Cross had happened to appear in their lives. This caused them to subconsciously rely on Orion Cross and lean toward his values.
"Want to hear something that’ll make you happy?"
Orion Cross took the radio from Wanda’s arms, pulled out the antenna, and pressed the switch.
"Hm?"
Pietro looked at the radio that had hurt him so badly. Last night, he had sat outside alone, holding the radio and listening to the evening news. In the end, all the content inside had been citizens demanding that he compensate them for their losses.
Even Sokovia’s officials had issued a notice. The next time the Silver Gunslinger appeared, they would dispatch police to intercept him. If the Silver Gunslinger refused to compensate the citizens for their losses, the authorities would arrest him.
Originally, Sokovia’s official forces were infamous existences that everyone cursed. The citizens would hold demonstrations at the drop of a hat, protesting the government’s inaction and accusing them of taking taxpayers’ money for nothing.
But now, the moment the official forces stepped forward to criticize Pietro, they actually became the good guys.
Click. Static crackled.
The radio was turned on. First came a burst of static, followed by the familiar broadcast voice.
"Emergency announcement, emergency announcement. The Sokovia Bank and jewelry store in our city were attacked by terrorists again at 9:50 this morning."
"But ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. We will be safe soon, because... someone will always come to save us. Yes, someone will always come to protect our property!"
Static crackled again.
"Damn it! Why haven’t those useless officials who sit in their positions and do nothing arrived yet? The robbers have already left! We’re going to march! We’re going to protest!"
The host’s furious voice came from the radio.
Hearing that voice, every listener understood that this robbery had probably cost the host quite a lot of property.
"What delightful news."
Pietro knew he should not gloat, but he still could not help laughing out loud.
"It’s about time for us to leave. Anything you’re attached to?"
Orion Cross glanced at the black-suited agent standing beside their cabin in the distance, smiled, and asked the two of them.
"No."
"Where are we going?"
"How are we leaving? By plane? Or by ship?"
Pietro and Wanda’s eyes lit up. They showed not the slightest sorrow about leaving their homeland. Instead, they asked a series of questions.
"Well, that depends on whether that agent over there prepared a ship or a plane for us."
Orion Cross pointed at the black-suited agent walking toward the lakeside.
"Sir, I’ve encountered the target. He looks exactly like the hand-drawn picture you gave me."
The black-suited agent with a heartbreakingly receding hairline noticed Orion Cross’s gaze and reported into his earpiece.
"As expected, he left the seal."
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury’s expression was complicated.
A few days ago, Nick Fury had discovered that the small-limit credit card number he had lent Orion Cross for online spending had suddenly shown several purchase records from faraway Eastern Europe more than ten days earlier.
This aroused his suspicion, but he did not immediately determine that Orion Cross had left the seal. It was also possible that a hacker had stolen it.
So Nick Fury sent one of the agents he trusted most, Phil Coulson, to Sokovia in his place to search for traces of Orion Cross.
"Follow him and satisfy his requests as much as possible. He is a man as great as Steve Rogers, perhaps even greater."
After a moment of silence, Nick Fury spoke.
Hearing this, Coulson immediately froze.
Steve Rogers. Captain America. That was his idol.
And now the director was actually saying that the person in front of him might be even greater than Captain America?
Was this an exaggeration meant to remind him to be gentle and not provoke the man?
Coulson fell into hesitation.
After struggling with it for a while, Coulson chose to believe him.
"Hello, sir. I am Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Director Nick Fury sent me here."
Coulson straightened his appearance, walked forward, introduced himself, and took out his agent ID before handing it to Orion Cross. "I heard that you met the director many years ago?"
"That’s right. It was the year you and Nick Fury encountered aliens together, but he went off on his own adventure and didn’t bring you along."
Orion Cross nodded and spoke.
Coulson: "..."