Chapter 24: Sometimes, having a bigger fist is more useful than any words!

“Director, that’s the general situation. That’s right! Both of the enemy's Quinjets have been shot down by Annie. Yes! That’s exactly what happened!”

Coulson immediately reported everything to Nick Fury over the secure line. To be honest, when he saw Melinda walking with a dark expression and a somewhat unhappy Annie jumping down from a Quinjet that was blackened by explosions and riddled with holes in its hull, Coulson was genuinely startled!

Upon learning that Annie and Melinda had actually been attacked by two of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own Quinjets, he realized the gravity of the situation. Given what the Director had told him about Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., he immediately sensed that this might be some kind of signal sent by the enemy. Thus, after comforting the two of them, he rushed to call the Director to report.

*It seems some people are getting restless,* Nick Fury thought, holding the receiver and pondering for a moment. He wasn't quite sure what the enemy's objective was. Was it a vendetta against his Avengers Initiative? Or a probe in response to his discovery of Hydra? Or perhaps both? Regardless, it seemed the Avengers Initiative had to be accelerated. When the time came, the Avengers would be his trump card; they had to be established immediately!

“Director, Director?” Seeing no response from the phone for a long time, Coulson spoke up again to inquire.

“Don't worry about that for now. Just follow protocol and file a formal report through the regular channels. Furthermore, your Avengers recruitment plan must be executed immediately! I'll send you Robert Bruce Banner's location first; go do it right away! What do you mean, tonight? You're going tonight! I'll have Hill assign a plane to you.”

Without knowing the enemy's specific motives, Nick Fury felt it was better to handle the unauthorized sortie of the fighter jets with high visibility, as per usual. It was best to throw a massive tantrum first and then order an immediate investigation.

Once the investigation results came out, he could just pick a few scapegoats. Moreover, the scapegoats couldn't all be Hydra agents; that way, he wouldn't overstimulate Hydra. He would let them believe he still knew nothing. After all, what Nick Fury needed most right now was time—more time!

“Yes, Director!”

Coulson hung up the phone helplessly. It seemed his peaceful life was gone for good. Here he was, being rushed by the Director to work even though it was nighttime. As expected, being ready for a mission anytime, anywhere, was the true lifestyle of an agent.

“Uncle Coulson, it's nighttime! Can't anything wait until tomorrow?”

After having a free, super-thrilling, and super-fun aerial combat session at ten thousand meters in the sky today, Annie was exhausted. She had originally planned to shower and go to sleep after dinner, but she never expected that right after eating, before she even had a chance to digest, Uncle Coulson would drag her onto another Quinjet.

Her jet had already been sent to the New York branch by the staff for repairs and repainting. It was estimated that Annie wouldn't have a chance to fly it for a few days. According to the staff, it would take about ten days to fix. What a bunch of lazy people! To take *that* long—Annie was very unhappy about it.

“Annie, this mission is very important. The Director said it must be handled immediately!” Coulson was actually quite helpless himself! If the Director hadn't pushed him, he would have wanted to wait until tomorrow too!

“Oh, very important? Then why don't you just go by yourself? Goodbye, Uncle Coulson, have fun!” With that, Annie prepared to jump out of the cabin. She had no desire to accompany him on a mission in the middle of the night; it sounded boring. She'd rather go back to shower and sleep!

“My dear Annie, just think of it as doing Uncle Coulson a favor! How about this—if you don't want to go to school, I'll help you take two days off?” Seeing Annie trying to leave, Coulson hurriedly stepped forward to stop her. Without Annie accompanying him, how could he dare to go find that big, green Hulk?

“Five days!” Hearing this, Annie's eyes lit up, and she held out a palm.

“Five days is no good! That's too much. Three days at most!”

“Deal!!!”

Melinda, sitting in the pilot's seat, rolled her eyes as she watched the two clowns bargaining in the back of the cabin, unsure of what to say.

“Alright, Annie! The person in this house is one of the candidates for your Avengers team I told you about. We are here to recruit him this time,” Coulson introduced to Annie while knocking on the door.

On the way here, he had told Annie about the Avengers plan, and Annie had expressed that since she had nothing better to do, she would certainly participate in something so fun! Seeing Annie agree so readily saved Coulson a lot of breath.

As for Captain America, Coulson had already assigned Black Widow and the others to handle it. As for Iron Man, he would make a personal trip in a couple of days; if he offered a proper apology, he believed it wouldn't be a big problem. Therefore, as long as he secured the Hulk today, his mission would be basically complete!

“Who are you?!” Hearing a knock in the middle of the night, Bruce Banner opened the door. Upon discovering the two people—one large and one small—whom he did not recognize, he couldn't help but become wary.

“Hello, we have some things we'd like to discuss with you. Won't you invite us in for a seat?” Coulson slumped his shoulders slightly and looked at him with a smile. Blocking a guest at the door was not polite behavior.

Though reluctant, Bruce Banner stepped aside and invited them in. Perhaps because he saw Annie, he didn't think people bringing a little girl along would be there to harm him.

“Fine, come in. But I'm sorry, I don't think I know you? Who exactly are you? What are you doing here?” After entering the house and staring at the pair for a moment, he was still very puzzled. “And I am dangerous. I don't think associating with me would be a pleasant idea.”

“Perhaps,” Coulson said nonchalantly, while simultaneously sizing up the Hulk's temporary residence. It seemed he was being pursued quite heavily by the military; the living conditions here were quite dilapidated. Due to the time constraints, he intended to get straight to the point.

“We are here mainly to recruit you. Oh, and just to clarify, we belong to S.H.I.E.L.D.!”

“Recruit me? You? S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Bruce Banner had never heard of this name.

“That's right! S.H.I.E.L.D.! As long as you join us, you won't have to live in fear of being hunted by the military anymore. We have an Avengers Initiative...”

Coulson began his "persuasion mode," explaining the general functions of S.H.I.E.L.D. and then focusing on the true purpose of creating the Avengers League. He not only relayed the Director's thoughts but also polished them himself, choosing whatever sounded best. Scams! This was Coulson's specialty!

“This little girl is also a member of the Avengers? Are you trying to provoke me? I don't think an organization that even lets little girls join is worth my participation!”

Originally, upon hearing Coulson's introduction to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, Bruce Banner had been quite tempted! If that were the case, he could not only escape the endless harassment of the military but also fight for the Earth? Wasn't that attractive?

But this little girl of a few years old was also an Avenger? What kind of joke was this? Bruce Banner felt his anger rising; this person must be trying to insult his intelligence. He really wanted to transform and smash this man into meat paste with a single palm!

“Oh! That's right! Annie, you might not recognize her, but you will certainly have a deep memory of that teddy bear in her hand.” Coulson gave a playful smile and gestured for him to look at the toy in Annie's hand.

“Tibbs says he misses you a little! Do you want to fight him?” Annie grinned and raised the little bear, Tibbs, in her hand, holding it up in front of Bruce Banner. At Annie's signal, Tibbs grew slightly larger, and flames began to emanate from his body, though he did not turn into a massive flame bear.

In truth, Tibbs didn't want to fight this Hulk at all. It was nighttime, and even though Tibbs was a Shadow Bear, he still needed rest! He had no time to spar with this defeated foe; it was too boring! However, since his master Annie had spoken, he would reluctantly put on a performance.

“This!!!”

“How about it? Do you remember now?” Looking at Bruce Banner, who had retreated several steps in fright, Coulson was extremely proud. The Director was indeed far-sighted; bringing Annie along was truly the right choice.

“Wait! Don't! My God! Okay, okay, I'll join!!”

A wise man avoids unnecessary losses; he was very familiar with this teddy bear! Although the size seemed a bit off right now, the feeling was absolutely correct. He was still trembling with fear—look, it was covered in flames and starting to grow? Yes! It must be that giant flame bear from before!