As a professionally trained agent, Coulson refused to let his real emotions show. He forced a smile and said, "Mr. Ronin, given your qualifications and performance, S.H.I.E.L.D. would like to specially invite you to serve as a consultant for the organization."
"Wow! I can't even keep up with my own company's workload, and now you want me to be a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D.? No thanks!"
Ronin had zero interest in taking on extra work that would just make his life harder. He could barely be bothered to run his own company—why would he waste time working for someone else?
Working for other people was out of the question. Not in this lifetime.
"Sir, it wouldn't affect your daily life at all. You wouldn't have to come into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and work like the rest of us," Coulson explained.
"So it's just a title, basically? Then I'm even less interested. Alright, I've got to go."
Ronin opened his umbrella and stepped outside. Coulson could only sigh helplessly. It almost felt like S.H.I.E.L.D. was forcing the guy to take the position. Didn't Ronin realize how many people out there would kill for a chance to work at S.H.I.E.L.D.—even as a janitor?
Once outside, Ronin felt a bit awkward. He hadn't actually planned to go to the company, so he hadn't called Thomas.
"Heading to the office, sir? I can give you a ride."
Ronin pursed his lips but got into Coulson's car anyway.
"Sir, you know the world is getting more dangerous these days," Coulson said as he drove.
"Yeah, I know. That's why we have Iron Man and Soldier: 76—they can handle any threat. Oh, and you guys too. Almost forgot about the world's number one spy agency," Ronin said, tapping his forehead.
Coulson frowned at the sarcastic jab. "No, that's still not enough. You have no idea what's coming."
"You do?"
"Just a guess."
"Well, there you go. Guesses aren't facts."
"What about that green monster on the news? Do you know about it?"
"Just a bigger, greener Shrek."
Coulson's eye twitched. How could Ronin describe such a terrifying creature so casually?
Hmm?
Ronin suddenly noticed the route felt wrong. "This isn't the car heading to the company!"
Coulson gave a sly smile. "Sorry about that, Mr. Ronin. The Director wants to meet you."
"But I don't want to meet your Director. And do you realize I was on my way to discuss a multi-million-dollar deal?"
Ronin hadn't expected the agent to be this shameless. The guy would stoop to anything to drag him to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Because of this stunt, there was zero chance Ronin would ever join them. In fact, he might even try to poach some superheroes over to Overwatch just to spite them.
"Compared to a few million-dollar deal, I think this is more important."
Coulson didn't buy the business excuse for a second. Ronin hadn't even called his driver—he was clearly making it up on the spot to avoid him. Trying to fool a veteran agent? Too naive.
"But it's at least three hours from New York to Washington. I'm gonna puke."
"The Director is in New York, so no need to worry."
The car stopped in front of a coffee shop. Under Coulson's watchful eye, Ronin folded his umbrella and left it by the door before walking inside. In the distance, he spotted a bald, one-eyed Black man sitting there.
Coulson stayed outside, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
"I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Ronin!"
Nick Fury greeted him proactively. Ronin pushed down his irritation. Since he was already here, he might as well use the chance to make things clear and stop these people from hovering around him like ghosts.
"Director Fury is the real big shot here. I'm just a filmmaker—hardly worth that kind of praise." Ronin sat down.
"Waiter, a latte please, thank you!"
Fury smiled at him. "The lattes here are excellent."
"But I prefer tea."
Fury spread his hands. "Then I might not be able to accommodate you."
"Get to the point. What did you have Agent Coulson go through all that trouble to bring me here for? If it's to offer me the consultant position, I probably won't accept. And I won't use 'I'm too busy with my company' as an excuse. The truth is, I'm simply not interested in the job. I just want to run my own company properly."
Ronin had no patience for small talk. The sooner they finished, the sooner he could leave.
Fury took a sip of coffee and nodded. "I like straightforward people. Whether you take the consultant position or not doesn't matter. But there is one thing I hope you understand. S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded to deal with all kinds of unstoppable threats. If we wait until the threat has fully formed, it becomes much harder to stop. That's why we usually nip it in the bud while it's still small, minimizing the potential damage."
"Are you saying this for my benefit? I don't know what you're getting at. All I know is that I'm an ordinary person—at most a well-known rich guy. I hate illegal and criminal activity just as much as anyone else," Ronin said slowly.
"When power is still weak, people can control it well. But once power grows to a certain level, it starts to control people instead."
Ronin frowned. "What are you talking about?"
In reality, he knew exactly what Fury was implying, but he had to keep pretending he had no idea.
"I hope your actions match your words, and that you won't suddenly give me any surprises," Fury said.
Right now, Ronin truly had no inclination toward crime. The idea of some kind of enhancement serum was just S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own speculation.
However, Fury knew that General Ross had a "Super Soldier" project—possibly inspired by the movie Soldier: 76.
It was very likely that the film had planted the idea in Ross's head to research a super-soldier serum.
Then Soldier: 76 had suddenly appeared in the real world, demonstrating his incredible power to everyone.
Ross had gone mad with obsession after that.
He desperately wanted to build a powerful army made up of Soldier: 76s. He poured massive resources into researching a serum that didn't even exist, and ended up creating a monster instead.
That green monster had terrifying destructive power and had vanished without a trace. It was a potential threat. S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered to help investigate, but Ross had flat-out refused.
With the military refusing to share any information, S.H.I.E.L.D. had no choice but to wait—either for good news or for disaster to strike.
Fury had seen Ross's ambition clearly. Even if the super-soldier project had failed, the general's hunger for a powerful army would drive him to recapture that green monster and continue experimenting. If he succeeded in creating thousands of green monsters, the world would fall into chaos.
Monsters wouldn't obey orders.
Until this matter was resolved, Fury didn't want Ronin causing any more trouble. The only thing he hoped for was that Ronin would quietly run his company and stay out of everything else.
Ronin gave a small smile. "I'd actually like to become extraordinary, but that's probably not possible. My life will probably stay like this—running my company and living peacefully."
"That's good. In the future, I don't want to hear anyone say, 'Oh! I saw a big gorilla running wild in the streets!'"
Fury gestured dramatically with his hands, mimicking a gorilla with 99% accuracy.
Ronin nodded. You might end up disappointed. If he was forced into a corner, he really might turn into Winston one day. But he also hoped the outside world wouldn't give him any reason to transform, so he wouldn't get dragged in for another "coffee chat" with Director Fury.
A peaceful life was the real goal. He had no desire to get pulled into dangerous situations.