Sometimes a Bigger Fist is More Useful Than Any Words!

"Director, that's roughly the situation. Yes! The enemy's two Quinjets have been shot down by Annie. That's right, exactly!"

Coulson immediately reported everything to Nick Fury over a secure line. Honestly, when he saw Melinda with a dark face leading a somewhat displeased Annie down from a Quinjet that was charred black in places and pitted with dents, Coulson was genuinely startled!

After learning that Annie and Melinda had been attacked by two Quinjets belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D., he realized the severity of the issue. Given what the director had told him about S.H.I.E.L.D. being infiltrated by Hydra, he immediately sensed this might be some kind of signal from them. So, after calming the two down, he quickly called the director to report.

Looks like some people can't sit still anymore. Nick Fury held the receiver and pondered for a moment. He couldn't quite figure out the purpose behind the other side's actions. Was it targeting his Avengers initiative? Or was it a probe regarding his discovery of Hydra? Or perhaps both? Regardless, it seemed the Avengers plan had to be accelerated. When the time came, the Avengers would be his trump card—it had to be established immediately!

"Director? Director?" Seeing no response from the phone for a long time, Coulson spoke up again.

"Don't worry about this for now. Just file a report through the usual channels as per standard procedure. Then, your Avengers recruitment plan must be executed immediately! I'll send you Robert Bruce Banner's location. Go handle it now! What do you mean it's nighttime? Nighttime too! I'll have Hill arrange a plane for you."

Without knowing the other side's specific intentions, Nick Fury felt it was best to handle this unauthorized sortie with high-profile routine procedures. First, throw a big tantrum, then order those responsible to launch an immediate investigation.

Once the investigation results came out, he could just grab a few scapegoats—and make sure not all of them were Hydra agents. That way, it shouldn't overly provoke Hydra. Let them think he still knew nothing. After all, what Nick Fury needed most right now was time—more time!

"Yes, Director!"

Coulson helplessly hung up the phone. It seemed his recent peaceful life was gone for good. Here it was, nighttime, and the director was still pushing him to work. Sure enough, being ready to deploy at any moment was the normal way of life for an agent.

"Uncle Coulson, it's nighttime now! Can't whatever it is wait until tomorrow?"

After enjoying a super thrilling and fun aerial dogfight at ten thousand meters today, Annie was really tired. She had planned to take a bath and go to sleep after dinner, but who would've thought that before she could even digest her meal, Uncle Coulson dragged her onto another Quinjet.

Her Quinjet had been taken by the staff to the New York branch for repairs and repainting. It would probably be a few days before Annie could take it out to play again. According to the staff, it would take about ten days to fix. A bunch of lazy bums! Taking that long—Annie was very unhappy about it.

"Annie, this mission is very important. The director said it has to be handled right away!" Coulson was actually quite helpless too! If the director hadn't pushed him, he would've waited until tomorrow as well!

"Oh, very important? Then can't you just go alone? Bye-bye, Uncle Coulson, have fun!" With that, Annie planned to jump out of the cabin. She didn't want to accompany him on some mission in the middle of the night. It didn't sound fun at all. She'd rather go back, take a bath, and sleep!

"My dear Annie, just do Uncle Coulson a favor, okay? How about this... well, I'll pull some strings and get you two days off from school whenever you don't want to go?" Seeing Annie about to leave, Coulson hurriedly blocked her. Without Annie's company, how could he dare to go find that big green Hulk?

"Five days!" Hearing Uncle Coulson's offer, Annie's eyes lit up, and she held up a hand with all five fingers spread.

"Five days is too much! At most, three!"

"Deal!!!"

Melinda, sitting in the pilot's seat, rolled her eyes, watching the two goofballs haggling 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 that I told you about. We're here to recruit him this time." Coulson said as he knocked on the door, introducing the situation to Annie.

During the flight here, he had explained the Avengers plan to Annie, and she said she had nothing better to do anyway, so of course she wanted to join something this fun! Seeing Annie agree so readily saved Coulson a lot of breath.

As for Captain America, Coulson had already left that to Black Widow and the others. As for Iron Man, he'd make a personal visit in a couple of days. If he apologized properly, he believed it wouldn't be a big problem. So, if he could just secure this Hulk today, his mission would be practically perfect!

"Who are you?!" Hearing the knock at the door late at night, Bruce Banner opened it. Seeing the unfamiliar adult and child in front of him, he couldn't help but feel wary.

"Hello, we'd like to talk to you about something. Won't you invite us in?" Coulson shrugged his shoulders and smiled at the other man. Blocking guests at the door wasn't very polite.

Though reluctant, Bruce Banner stepped aside and let them in. Maybe because he saw Annie, he didn't think someone bringing a little girl would mean him any harm.

"Fine, come in. But sorry, I don't think I know you? Who exactly are you? What do you want?" After entering the house, he stared at the pair for a while, still puzzled. "And I'm very dangerous. I don't think being around me is a good idea."

"Maybe," Coulson said nonchalantly, taking a look around the Hulk's temporary dwelling. It seemed the military had been hounding him hard—the place looked quite shabby. With time pressing, he decided to get straight to the point.

"We're here mainly to recruit you. By the way, let me clarify—we're with S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

"Recruit me? You? S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Bruce Banner had never heard that name before.

"That's right! S.H.I.E.L.D.! If you join us, you won't have to worry about being hunted by the military anymore. We have an Avengers plan..."

Coulson launched into his spiel, explaining S.H.I.E.L.D.'s general functions, then focusing on the true purpose of creating the Avengers. He not only laid out the director's ideas but also polished them up a bit, picking whatever sounded good to say. Selling it—that was Coulson's specialty!

"This little girl is also a member of the Avengers? Are you trying to provoke me? I don't see the point in joining an organization that even a little girl can be part of!"

At first, hearing Coulson talk about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, Bruce Banner was quite tempted! It would let him escape the military's endless harassment and fight for Earth? Pretty appealing, right?

But a little girl a few years old was also an Avenger? What kind of joke was that? Bruce Banner felt his anger rising. This guy must be insulting his intelligence. He really wanted to transform and smash this man into a pulp with one slap!

"Oh, that's right! You might not know Annie, but you definitely remember the toy bear she's holding." Coulson gave a knowing smile, gesturing for him to look at the toy in Annie's hands.

"Tibbers says he kind of wants to play with you! Do you want to fight him?" Annie giggled, holding up her little bear Tibbers and thrusting him in front of Bruce Banner. At Annie's signal, Tibbers grew a bit bigger, and flames began to flicker on his body, though he didn't transform into the massive Flame Giant Bear.

Actually, Tibbers didn't want to fight this Hulk at all. It was nighttime now, and even though Tibbers was a Shadow Bear, he still needed his rest! He had no time to spar with this loser—it was too boring! But since Annie, his master, had spoken, he reluctantly put on a little show.

"This!!!"

"What do you think? Remember now?" Watching Bruce Banner stumble back several steps in shock, Coulson felt immensely pleased. The director was truly shrewd—bringing Annie along was definitely the right call.

"Wait! No! God! Alright, alright, I'll join!!"

A wise man knows when to yield. This toy bear was very familiar to him! Even though its size seemed off now, the feeling was unmistakable. He still had a lingering fear. Look—it was now covered in flames and starting to grow bigger? That's right! It must be that same Flame Giant Bear from before!