Dark.
Deep.
Silent…
Walking through such a place, Coulson felt not the slightest bit uneasy.
Instead, he remained perfectly calm, his mind replaying the mission Director Fury had given him.
Two months ago, frequent murder cases had begun appearing throughout different areas of New York.
Every victim bore signs of being torn apart by sharp fangs and teeth, some even showing signs of having been partially devoured.
It was unbelievable.
All the crime scenes were located in bustling urban areas far away from the wilderness.
No large, ferocious animals had escaped from any nearby zoo either.
It was difficult to imagine an animal daring to invade human territory and openly hunt people.
And in the end, neither the police nor the FBI investigators had discovered anything.
This attracted S.H.I.E.L.D.’s attention.
Using high-tech equipment and investigative methods unavailable to ordinary departments, they conducted their own investigation.
In the end…
They found nothing as well.
Fury believed that the matter was far from simple.
On top of that, the cannibalism cases were having a major impact on society.
So he sent his most trusted subordinate—
“Coulson.”
At first, Coulson hadn’t paid much attention to it.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
had specifically been established to deal with extraordinary incidents.
He had already handled numerous supernatural cases.
This one would simply become another incident among the many he had solved as a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent.
But.
Whether it was investigative technology far beyond the world’s current standards or high-tech equipment that ordinary people could only dream of…
After investigating for two entire weeks, he still hadn’t found the slightest clue.
And during that time, the frequency of the murders only increased, causing a tremendous public outcry.
Under the pressure of public opinion, every department involved, including S.H.I.E.L.D., intensified their investigations.
Yet they still found nothing.
With no idea what else he could do, Coulson decided to seek the advice of an old acquaintance.
Calling him an old acquaintance was somewhat of an exaggeration.
They had only conducted two transactions before.
He was an Asian man in his early twenties whose identity was shrouded in mystery.
He had opened a general-purpose agency in Hell’s Kitchen, taking money in exchange for completing jobs.
However.
Although he worked for money, he had principles.
He wasn’t exactly a law-abiding model citizen, but he had his own understanding of good and evil, right and wrong.
His personal code of conduct remained firmly above the moral baseline.
Coulson had noticed him during an incident once, and with his assistance, the matter had been resolved perfectly.
Afterward, they had another collaboration.
The result was equally perfect.
And now, this was their third.
Honestly, if he had a choice, Coulson absolutely didn’t want to work with this man.
Because he was far too mysterious.
No one knew where he had come from, what his family situation was, or what his true purpose was.
Even after using the authority of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director, all they had been able to discover was that this man had suddenly appeared in Manhattan one year ago and opened a small convenience store in Hell’s Kitchen.
Nothing else could be found.
It was as if he had simply appeared out of thin air.
Working with someone like that always gave Coulson the feeling that the other party was secretly plotting something behind the scenes.
It made him deeply uneasy.
Perhaps being suspicious was simply a natural trait of being an agent!
As these thoughts occupied his mind, a faint light appeared in his field of vision.
Coulson stopped walking.
Ahead of him was a tiny two-meter-wide window shop.
Beside it hung a sign bearing three Silvarise characters meaning “General-Purpose Agency,” with English written underneath.
So he’s from Silvara?
Seeing the Silvarise characters on the sign, Coulson made a guess.
“Yo, Coulson!”
The upper half of a young man’s body appeared behind the window.
A cigarette hung from his lips as he looked at Coulson with a smile.
Coulson calmly turned toward him, a friendly smile appearing on his face.
“Mr.
Leon Veyron, good evening!”
“Not good at all.”
Leon Veyron’s lips curled upward slightly, and he seemed rather pleased.
“If business were good enough, nobody would want to stay up until midnight every day.
I’m working my hardest just to make a living, you know?”
“Then why not come work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Coulson smiled.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.
may not offer an exceptionally high salary, but surely we’d pay you more than this place does.”
“That’s debatable!”
Hmm?
Coulson looked at the young man in surprise.
Seeing that Leon maintained his confident smile, he couldn’t help asking curiously, “Does Mr.
Veyron have a different opinion?”
“Yeah.”
Leon took a slow drag from his cigarette and gradually exhaled the smoke.
“Sure, this place of mine is remote, there’s hardly anyone around, and people can easily mistake me for a scam artist.
But occasionally landing one big job is enough to let me enjoy a luxurious upper-class lifestyle for a year or two.”
Hmm?
Coulson’s heart stirred, but his face merely showed an awkward smile, as though he couldn’t believe what he had heard.
“Come on.
Your business looks like an obvious scam.
Are there really people who would hire you for major jobs?”
“Of course!”
Leon dropped the cigarette butt into an ashtray and spoke leisurely.
“Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?
You came here to bring me a big job.”
Coulson froze for a moment before his smile returned.
“Does Mr.
Veyron know why I’ve come?”
“The cannibalism cases that have been making headlines lately!”
“Then does Mr.
Veyron know what’s really going on?”
“Can’t say I know the whole story.
I just happen to know a few things.”
As he spoke, Leon pulled out a card reader.
“Two hundred thousand dollars.
The information is yours.”
“Two hundred thousand!?”
Coulson stared at him in shock, unable to believe his ears.
“Have you gone crazy for money?
What kind of information could possibly be worth that much?”
“If it isn’t worth it, you can have the bank freeze my account.”
Leon didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“Besides, we’ve worked together twice already.
Don’t tell me you don’t even have that much trust in me?”
“We know almost nothing about Mr.
Veyron.
If…”
“If you don’t trust me, then please, be my guest.”
Leon extended his right hand toward the outside of the alley, wearing an expression that clearly said: Buy it or don’t.
Coulson stared intently at him.
After a moment, he finally relented.
“Wait a moment.
I’ll need to request the funds from my superiors.”
“Take your time.”
Leon casually grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the shelf and began cracking them open without a care in the world.
Seeing this, Coulson took a deep breath before pulling out his phone and calling Fury.
“…That’s the situation.”
After Coulson explained everything, there was silence on the other end for a moment before Fury’s deep voice finally came through.
“Give him the two hundred thousand.
But if the information isn’t worth that amount, have the bank freeze his account.”
“Understood.”
“Also, if possible, try to find out where he got his information.”
“Understood!”
After Coulson finished speaking, the call ended.
He raised his head and looked at the young man beside him.
Leon was casually cracking sunflower seeds while watching a variety show on a small television, seemingly completely unconcerned about the conversation.
Coulson couldn’t help taking another deep breath.
“They’ve agreed.”
Coulson stepped up to the window and took out his bank card.
After entering the password into the card reader, he said,
“Now you can tell me the details, right?”
“…Yep.
Payment received.”
After seeing the payment notification, Leon’s face once again revealed a friendly smile.
“Coulson…”
“Have you ever heard of a ghost?”