Marvel and Mercenaries

At ten o'clock at night, New York beneath the darkness still resembled a city that never slept.

Neon lights shone everywhere, making the sky bright and visible even at night.

A tall, handsome man dressed in a black cloak was flying low through the night sky, about a hundred meters above the ground.

He moved incredibly fast, yet attracted no one's attention, as though his entire body had blended into the darkness.

In New York stood an exceptionally conspicuous building, bearing the English name of Stark Industries.

The man cast a deep glance at the tower. It was far from the first time he had seen this highly iconic building.

But no matter how many times he saw it, this landmark and its owner, Tony Stark, reminded him of one thing.

This was not the world he had lived in during his previous life. This was the Marvel World, filled with danger, superheroes, and all kinds of supernatural forces.

If he had merely been an ordinary person without any power, he would have needed to consider staying as far away as possible.

After all, New York in the Marvel World was not a place where ordinary people could survive.

And ordinary people not only could not remain here—they also had to pray that, a few years from now, some Purple Sweet Potato would not snap his fingers and erase them.

Fortunately, he was not an ordinary person with no means of self-defense in this life.

He had awakened the League of Legends Void System, which gave him at least some ability to protect himself in this dangerous world.

After flying for a while, the man descended directly before a luxurious estate in Brooklyn.

He skillfully unlocked the front door with a key and walked inside.

At that moment, his phone began vibrating rapidly.

The man took out his phone and saw a string of newly received messages.

The first read, "Grim Reaper, after deducting a five percent intermediary fee, the remaining payment has been safely transferred into your account. We look forward to working with you again."

The second read, "Dear Mr. Harvey Anberlaka, Zero Technologies has transferred 14.25 million into your account."

The third read, "Your current balance is 163.24 million."

Harvey Anberaka smiled when he saw this.

A long string of zeros in one's account was enough to brighten anyone's mood.

In his previous life, the man had been named Chu Wei, a genuine Chinese citizen.

In this life, however, he was called Harvey Anberaka, an orphan.

The only person to whom he owed even a little gratitude was the director of the orphanage.

Although life at the orphanage had not been wealthy or comfortable, it had still allowed him to grow up safely.

Because he had awakened the system two years ago, he had received the aid of the League of Legends Void System and gained the power of Voidreaver Kha'Zix, one of the Void Race.

It granted him the ability to vanish into darkness. As long as there were shadows, he could turn invisible at will. He also possessed blades that could easily cut through steel, astonishing physical abilities, and nearly monstrous jumping power.

Harvey had also gained the long lifespan of the Void Race from League of Legends. More importantly, he had acquired the ability to absorb any energy-bearing substance and evolve.

Now that Harvey Anberaka possessed power, he naturally could not fear it or hide it.

This was the Marvel World. As an ordinary person without power, he could die at any moment from collateral damage caused by battles between heroes.

Therefore, the first thing he considered was how to make money and improve his life.

With his nearly permanent invisibility, he could silently enter any place as long as it was nighttime.

He certainly had the ability to rob wealthy people or even directly rob banks, but that would be illegal.

It was not that Harvey could not reveal his identity. He simply did not want to deal with the FBI all the time.

In the end, Harvey Anberaka chose to become a mercenary.

As long as someone could offer the price he wanted, he would accept the mission and carry it out.

Depending on the mission, the profession could be called that of an assassin, a bodyguard, or a protector.

Although that was illegal in a sense as well, it would not affect his everyday life.

More than two years as a mercenary had greatly improved his lifestyle.

He had bought multiple manor villas outright and could use money to purchase whatever food and items he wanted, allowing himself to evolve more effectively.

As for the orphanage, he had donated one million to repay that kindness.

It was not that he could not give more money. It was simply not a debt of gratitude that required repayment with his life or an entire lifetime.

So Harvey Anberaka believed one million was enough to repay the kindness he had received during those years.

Even in darkness, Harvey could see more clearly than he could in daylight.

Harvey walked through the long corridor into the living room, turned on the lights, took a bottle of fine wine from the cabinet, and sat down on the luxurious sofa.

He poured himself a glass, then picked up the tablet beside him and logged onto a certain dark website.

It contained all manner of missions: assassinating important figures, protecting people, or even destroying certain places.

Harvey refused assassination jobs targeting Asians, but he would consider every other job, including military contracts.

The militaries of various nations naturally had many things they could not do openly.

Where there were glorious deeds, there would also be unsightly darkness moving alongside them.

Militaries and wealthy individuals in various countries needed agents to handle certain dark matters, and people like them—mercenaries who risked their lives for money—were undoubtedly those agents.

Harvey browsed through the missions posted on the dark web until he came across a special one.

The mission was to travel to Afghanistan in one month and kill someone under military protection. The minimum reward was ten million, and depending on the level of completion, it could reach as high as fifty million.

When Harvey saw the location and realized that the person issuing the bounty knew the target's itinerary completely—

He glanced at the year displayed in the lower-right corner of the tablet: 2008. He immediately knew who this bounty was intended to capture.

The mission explicitly required killing someone under military protection, while offering a reward of up to fifty million. That alone proved it was anything but ordinary.

Yet there had never been any shortage of desperadoes willing to risk their lives for money.

It was no exaggeration to say that a fifty-million bounty meant that even if several people worked together, they could retire peacefully after completing it.

Harvey would need to complete several jobs to earn that much, but he did not consider accepting it.

Instead, knowing that Tony Stark was about to begin his journey as Iron Man, Harvey started wondering which of the properties under his name still lacked insurance.

During his more than two years as a mercenary, aside from the beginning, Harvey had mostly taken major contracts. As long as the price was right, he accepted anything.

Naturally, he did not own only this estate and have merely 160 million in savings.

In fact, ever since learning this was the Marvel World and gaining his abilities, Harvey had been making preparations.

He had purchased Stark Industries Shares, bought various properties, and arranged a whole series of insurance policies.

He knew that after Tony Stark became Iron Man, New York would soon become dangerous. At the same time, it would also mean an opportunity to make money.

As long as he prepared properly, he could not only claim large sums from insurance companies openly and legitimately, but also fleece Tony Stark.

The price he had to pay was merely moving into one of the manor villas he owned in another city for a while.

Thinking about the vast amount of money that would soon come his way, Harvey could not help smiling.

He would not take the Iron Man job. As Harvey continued browsing other bounty missions—

A private contact message arrived.

"Mr. Grim Reaper, we have a designated mission for you."

Harvey became thoughtful when he saw the message.

Designated missions were uncommon among mercenaries, but as long as someone had enough fame and an extremely high completion rate, they would occasionally receive such contracts.

Moreover, designated missions usually paid very well, because their fees were calculated according to the mercenary's own terms.

The assassination of that Afghan official he had just completed had been a major contract worth twenty-five million.

"Since you came looking for me, you should know the price for specifically hiring me, correct?"

Harvey sent his reply.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

A bald Black man wearing an eyepatch saw the reply. Grim Reaper had not asked about the mission details, instead directly asking whether they understood his price. Nick Fury could sense unparalleled confidence from it, perhaps even arrogance.

Naturally, Nick Fury had investigated Grim Reaper before contacting him.

In the mercenary world, no one knew who the mercenary codenamed Grim Reaper truly was or what he looked like. Only a few facts were widely known.

Grim Reaper had entered the mercenary world two years ago. He always appeared draped in a black cloak, only accepted major contracts exceeding ten million, and possessed absurdly powerful abilities.

Bounties exceeding ten million were undoubtedly high-paying jobs that required risking one's life to complete.

Even when many mercenaries cooperated with teams of their peers, they could not guarantee a one-hundred-percent success rate and might return in complete defeat.

After all, sometimes they might be facing an army of thousands, fully equipped with firearms and weapons.

Or they might need to infiltrate an institution protected by layer upon layer of defenses to steal the most classified documents.

Even some agents under Nick Fury's command would find it difficult to guarantee completion if they joined forces.

But no matter what major mission Grim Reaper accepted, he completed it with a one-hundred-percent success rate.

No matter how alert the target was, how many troops had been mobilized, how tight the defenses were, or what kind of protection surrounded them—

As long as Grim Reaper accepted the mission, the target would die mysteriously in the darkness, while the intelligence would quietly disappear, as though he possessed some kind of superpower.

It was no exaggeration to say that Grim Reaper had become a legend known to everyone in the mercenary world after only a little more than two years.

There was even a saying among mercenaries: as long as Grim Reaper accepted the bounty you posted—

You could leisurely drink fine wine and wait for your goal to be accomplished.

It was precisely because of those legendary achievements and rumors that he possessed superpowers that word had reached Nick Fury.

It made Nick Fury consider meeting Grim Reaper.

However, after investigating, even with his methods, he could not uncover any concrete information about Grim Reaper beyond what was already known.

To contact Grim Reaper, he had to offer at least twenty million for a designated mission, with no upper limit depending on the mission's difficulty.

And once the other party accepted, he had to pay ten million US dollars as a deposit.

Twenty million—US dollars, not Zimbabwean Dollar.

But Nick Fury also knew that mercenaries were desperate people who risked their lives for money. It was not impossible to deceive them or rob them after the fact.

The prerequisite was having sufficient strength. When dealing with a mercenary of unknown identity, unknown abilities, and a high possibility of possessing superpowers, deception and robbery were certainly not the first options to consider.

Still, mobilizing twenty million US dollars would require him to spend considerable effort persuading various parties. He would also need to write up some false plans and convince his superiors before he could access the funds.

But if he could advance the Avengers Initiative and successfully recruit Grim Reaper, Nick Fury felt that price was not unacceptable.

After the money had been prepared, Nick Fury did not immediately contact Grim Reaper.

It was only tonight, when news arrived that the Afghan official had died mysteriously and that Grim Reaper had been the one responsible—

That Nick Fury finally made his decision and contacted Grim Reaper through the dark web.

"Of course I understand, though I do not know whether what I am about to say will offend you."

"However, before explaining the specific mission and payment, we hope to meet with you in person."

"Because the bounty mission I wish to post is somewhat special."

Nick Fury hesitated internally before typing those words.

Then Nick Fury waited nervously.

No one knew Grim Reaper's background, which had much to do with the fact that he appeared only on the dark web.

"As long as the money is there. Time and place."

Harvey naturally did not refuse after seeing the message and replied directly.

"Then, how about three o'clock the afternoon after tomorrow? Meet at this location. Any problems?"

Seeing Grim Reaper's response, Nick Fury immediately sent over a map location.

"Fine."

When Harvey saw Washington, a glint flashed through his eyes, but he still agreed to the meeting.

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