After informing Coulson of the battlefield location, SHIELD agents naturally took over the cleanup. As for the difficulties of the underground work, that was no longer his concern.
"Watson, are you heading straight home?" Coulson asked, looking into the rearview mirror as he drove.
Watson pondered for a moment, then turned to Natasha beside him and said, "Are you two going back to headquarters? I'll come with you. I haven't seen what a SHIELD base looks like yet."
"Perfect, Director Fury also wanted to meet you before, but there hasn't been an opportunity," Coulson said. Just as he finished speaking, he saw Natasha gently lean her head on Watson's shoulder. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Come on, there are three people in this car, okay? You need to consider my feelings!"
Watson chuckled from the back seat, closed his eyes, and began to feign sleep.
"System, tally experience points."
Ding! Statistics show a total of 70 Hydra combat members killed, +1400 experience. Manson the cyborg x1, +400 experience.
Current Level: 11. Current Experience: (1170/1500)
Ding! Mission progress updated.
Free Mission detected: The Dragon's Might, Not to Be Provoked!
There are always some small snakes in the shadows trying to provoke the dragon's might. Destroy them.
Mission Progress: Destroy Hydra Forward Base: (1/1).
Mission Status: Completed.
Mission Reward: Mysterious Gift x1
"System, open Mysterious Gift."
Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have received: Any Dragon Species Evolution Essence x1, Ancestral Dragon Essence x1, Potion Gift Pack (Medium Healing Potion x10, Medium Stamina Potion x10, Antidote x10), Monster Expansion Gift Pack (Volume x4 Pack x1, Quantity x4 Pack x1), Lottery Points x200.
Unexpectedly generous! The expansion pack is actually x4?
And there's Ancestral Dragon Essence again. What exactly is it used for? I have two Evolution Essences now; maybe I should consider giving one to Horns?
--- Washington S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
Watson looked up at the hundred-meter-tall SHIELD Triskelion building, and it truly felt quite awe-inspiring.
"Oh, the evils of capitalism—"
"Watson, don't forget you're part of it now," Coulson replied with a chuckle, hearing Watson's words.
Upon entering the lobby, they saw groups of agents in black bustling about everywhere.
"Darling, I'm off now~ Wait for me to come home for dinner tonight~" Natasha walked over, lightly kissed Watson, and then left directly, leaving a group of dumbfounded low-level agents passing by—was that—Agent Romanoff??
Coulson shook his head helplessly. Within minutes, everyone in the building would know. Agents' gossip was far more potent than that of ordinary people.
Knock knock knock~
"Enter."
Watson, who had just entered, suddenly fell silent as he looked at Nick Fury's face. After a long moment, he looked up and said, "Hello, Director Nick Fury. I suddenly feel I should apologize first. I shouldn't have used my cat's name to refer to you. I apologize on behalf of my braised egg."
"Your cat?"
"Braised Egg, sir. His cat is named Braised Egg." Coulson's mouth twitched a few times when he heard Watson's words.
"—That's not funny, Coulson. I believe you still have work to do. Remember to close the door."
Nick Fury slowly stood up, looking at the man in front of him. He walked and spoke at the same time: "Watson Dyalant, our specially hired strategic and tactical support consultant. I am Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. Should I call you superhuman, 'Zoo,' great detective, or America's new Casanova?"
Watson had initially thought Nick Fury's words were meant to put him in his place, and he was about to retort when he heard the last sentence. A moment's thought made him understand what was going on.
His mood suddenly brightened.
Nick Fury, with a stern, egg-like face, continued, "In just a few days, you 'turned' one of the few Level 7 agents in SHIELD worldwide. Although she hasn't been with us for very long, she is one of our best elites. And you, you actually turned a deadly Black Widow into a docile little kitten? If I didn't remember that April Fools' Day is still a long way off, I would think you two conspired to play a trick on me. Oh, by the way, thank you for your suggestion. The name SHIELD is quite good."
Watson, meanwhile, found a chair, sat down, shrugged, and said with a smile, "So, are we even now?"
"You want to trade a name for a senior agent? No way."
"Alright, Director Fury, stop dawdling. What do you want to say?" Watson asked, sitting up straight.
Nick Fury leaned against his desk and said, "We need one of your monster allies."
"That's impossible. They can't leave me beyond a certain distance, and unless I'm with them, they might attack indiscriminately, friend or foe," Watson began to talk nonsense with a straight face.
"Then provide a steady supply of those potions."
Watson pretended to ponder slightly and said, "Hmm—the raw materials for manufacturing them aren't so easy to obtain right now. This time, I can provide a large quantity once. Also, I've recently formulated a new potion; its purpose is detoxification."
"Detoxification? What good is that to us?"
Watson smiled: "You might not need it, but others might, right? For example, Hydra agents who try to commit suicide by biting poison?"
Fury, hearing that it could be used against Hydra, paused and asked, "Its effect and duration?"
"After drinking it, it takes effect immediately. Remember Kuilong? I also used an antidote that time, but that was a sample, and this is the finished product. The quantity is very limited, no bargaining, 200,000 US dollars."
Nick nodded: "Okay. We also need the other batch of potions."
Watson didn't expect Nick Fury to agree so readily. It seemed this problem had been bothering them for a long time.
--- Did I underprice it again?
Nick Fury suddenly said, "There's another condition. We only want high-grade healing potions, and only high-grade stamina potions that last for 1 hour. These are often the most useful. Of course, we are willing to add an extra 10,000 US dollars for each."
"Of course. However, if you only want high-grade healing potions, each bottle will be 100,000, because the cost of making larger bottles is higher. For high-grade stamina, 50,000 as you said is fine. Should I put them here?"
As he spoke, Watson stood up and walked to Nick Fury's desk.
At this point, such minor abilities no longer needed to be hidden. To those unaware of the truth, collecting monsters versus collecting other items was merely a difference in size. If he didn't hide collecting monsters, but secretly collected potions, that would be even more attention-grabbing.
"System, keep 5 medium healing potions and 5 medium stamina potions. Dilute the rest of the healing and stamina potions into small bottles with 10% effect and 1-hour effect, respectively."
Nick Fury made a call and said, "Have the tech department come to my office and prepare some potion crates."
Watson, with a beaming smile, said, "77 bottles of high-grade healing potions, 104 bottles of high-grade stamina potions, and 10 bottles of antidotes. Total cost: 14.9 million US dollars."