The Wisdom of an Ordinary Dog

The Wisdom of an Ordinary Dog

Inferring a person's character and conduct from their everyday behavior was a required skill for an agent. The reason Nick Fury had Coulson ask Evenson about Tony Stark's disappearance this time was not because he truly suspected Evenson was involved. After all, the grounds for suspicion were far too flimsy.

He did it to test Evenson's character. Although Coulson and Melinda had already made contact with Evenson once before, that visit had only been to determine whether he was dangerous. This time, it was to determine whether he was worthy of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s trust.

Nick Fury was fairly satisfied with the results. Evenson had neither groveled before nor tried to flatter the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Even when faced with an extremely serious suspicion, he had shown no unease or fear. First, that indicated he possessed a certain degree of strength. More importantly, he was a man with self-respect, someone who would not easily bow to authority. That was good. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to recruit talent, not servants. And if he feared and flattered S.H.I.E.L.D., then when he encountered criminal organizations that might not be as powerful as S.H.I.E.L.D. but were certainly far more ruthless, would he wag his tail and beg for favor just the same? Only a person with self-respect was worthy of trust. A groveling person might flatter you because you were strong, but he could just as easily flatter someone else because they were stronger. Such a person could not be trusted.

As for his ability to treat ordinary people as equals, that pleased Nick Fury even more. As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had seen many Mutants who, after gaining a little power beyond that of ordinary people, came to think highly of themselves and placed themselves above everyone else. Their ultimate fate was to head toward destruction amid intoxication with power and swelling self-importance. The greatest trait of such people was selfishness: benefiting themselves at others' expense and disregarding life. In short, they were scum. Once they gained power, they became dangerous scum. The best way to deal with such people was to eliminate them humanely. No one would trust them, because they had no reason to deserve trust.

For those reasons, Nick Fury placed great importance on Evenson's attitude of still being able to associate with ordinary people as equals despite possessing special powers. Perhaps he merely followed the principle of not provoking others unless provoked, but that was enough. At the very least, it guaranteed that he would not burn hostages and criminals alike to ashes just to complete a mission. Of course, he would not be like Captain America, selflessly sacrificing himself for others and willingly dedicating everything. After all, not just anyone could be called God's righteous man.

Given these reasons, Nick Fury had added Evenson to the candidate list for the special response unit he envisioned. Of course, he was only a candidate for now. Whether he could become an official member would depend on further contact.

With that, Nick Fury had more or less settled on the plan for the special response unit, though that was a matter for the future. For now, they should focus on what was right in front of them. "No need to trouble two people with the same matter. Since you brought that stupid dog here, Coulson, I'll have to trouble you once more. Take him to Afghanistan yourself and search for Tony Stark. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. I guarantee the mission will be completed." Coulson naturally understood Nick Fury's intentions. The matter concerning Evenson was currently classified at Level Ten. Due to special circumstances, Coulson had already learned of it above his clearance level, but Nick Fury clearly did not want more people to know. Besides, Coulson felt the arrangement was not bad. Though the environment in Afghanistan was hardly ideal, working there with the local US Army as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was far more comfortable than staying in New York and dealing with a bunch of arms-industry tycoons.

"One more thing. Try not to let that stupid dog talk," Nick Fury added with special emphasis. It seemed Hubbs's slick tongue had left a deep impression on him.

"No problem, sir." Coulson had already made up his mind. The moment that dog opened his mouth, he would stuff it shut with dog food. After all, a dog speaking human language was truly world-shattering, and judging by that mouth of his, the usual outcome for anyone who tried to argue with him was squatting in a corner and contemplating life.

"Still haven't found it?" Just as Nick Fury finished arranging the next step of the operation, Evenson was in his shop, directing his subordinates as they turned the place upside down.

"No, Boss," his subordinates replied in unison.

Sitting behind the counter, Evenson silently lit a cigarette and pondered. "No way. Why hadn't I noticed before that that idiot was so good at hiding things?"

"Could it be that the thing doesn't exist at all?" Sarah asked tentatively.

"Impossible." Evenson denied it decisively. "The Secret Treasure of Ha definitely exists. I'm certain of it." Then his voice became confused again. "But where exactly is it?"

Evenson took intermittent puffs of his cigarette, desperately thinking over where Hubbs might have hidden the Secret Treasure of Ha.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He felt as though he had grasped something elusive. He sprang to his feet and looked around at his subordinates. "Come on. Grab the shovels and head to the alley behind the shop."

The group hurried anxiously toward the dark alley behind the building and stopped beside a dumpster.

"According to my observations, this dumpster is clearly five centimeters shorter than the other dumpsters. That means the ground beneath it has sunk. And every time Hubbs went out for a walk, he would deliberately linger here for a while. Therefore..." The location of the Secret Treasure of Ha was shrouded in mystery. The only one who could see through the truth was the famous detective Evenson, who looked handsome and charming on the outside but was actually a bit of a goofball inside. "There is only one truth. The Secret Treasure of Ha is beneath here. Tyler, start digging."

After Evenson reached his conclusion through serious deduction, Tyler kicked the dumpster aside. Sure enough, the concrete beneath it was shattered and had clearly been pried open before. Tyler then picked up a shovel and got to work: Legion Shovel, Demon Wind Shovel.

After a bout of frantic digging, they finally found a large cardboard box roughly two meters underground. "This is... this is the Secret Treasure of Ha?"

"Mm. All right, take the box out, then fill the hole back in." Digging a hole without filling it in was immoral, and Evenson naturally would not do such a thing. Then again, Huskies digging holes was instinctive. But for someone like Hubbs to dig through even a concrete surface, all that could be said was that he truly lived up to his hellhound bloodline.

The group carried the box back to the shop. The exciting moment had arrived. Under everyone's watchful eyes—there were only five people, really—Evenson opened the box, and the mysterious Secret Treasure of Ha finally revealed its true form.

There were ten huge bags of premium luxury dog food. Looking at the dog food, Evenson thought, I knew it would be like this. Every time that guy secretly ordered cash-on-delivery dog food behind my back, it would mysteriously disappear. That dog does eat a lot, but not enough to go through it that quickly. So he really had hidden it away. Hmph. A dog was still a dog. Even a hellhound couldn't change its instincts. Truly the wisdom of an ordinary dog.

"Sarah, go sell all of this, then use the money to improve our meals," Evenson said with satisfaction.

"Boss, is it really okay to snatch food from a dog's mouth?" Sarah said disdainfully.

"Hmph. Once I buy food, you can eat it or not. I don't care," Evenson said stiffly.

Sarah had only been teasing him. She was more than happy to improve their meals, so she picked up the dog food and prepared to go find somewhere to sell it.

"Also, prepare the ritual tonight." This time, Evenson's voice became low and solemn. "I'm going there."

"Going there?" Sarah also dropped her usual teasing tone and became serious.

"Of course." Evenson gave a mysterious smile. Being watched all the time did not feel good. Hydra had been played by him once. It seemed it was time to find something for S.H.I.E.L.D. to do as well.

P.S. Happy New Year, everyone. May all your wishes come true. A box of Core Oranges and a pack of four Orange cards.