They're All So Sheltered

Nick Fury understood what Oaks was hinting at.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations were not very environmentally friendly? That was bad. Very bad.

Although S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence was not universally known, as a global organization, it was hardly a secret.

And in the eyes of the public, they were merely a somewhat special security department. They had no idea how broad S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority truly was.

So, as a global organization, how could their environmental awareness be so abysmal?

Look at Stark Industries. Because of our environmental protests, they immediately released an environmental impact assessment report, specially developed air purification systems for their factories, and even invested in establishing an Environmental Protection Foundation.

Not only that, they spent heavily on environmental awareness campaigns. They were practically pioneers of environmental protection!

Even a military-industrial corporation had taken the lead in setting an environmental example. How could a global organization as huge as yours lack even the slightest environmental awareness?

Count it up. How much damage did your operations cause every year? How much pollution did they generate?

After all these years of existence, how much of the environmental foundation humanity depended on for survival had you destroyed?

Were you protecting the world, or tearing down our home?!

Extremists feared nothing.

They faced every heretic they had chosen with the bearing of holy warriors, then used deranged performance art to disgust you until you could find no peace.

This was especially true in America.

So how could such things be prevented?

Accepting the nominal affiliation of an environmental nonprofit organization was a good option.

Especially when that environmental nonprofit's founder and president was a well-known environmentalist in academic circles, as well as a partner of the Stark Industries Environmental Protection Foundation.

What did that demonstrate?

It demonstrated that S.H.I.E.L.D. had proactively recognized its own problems and was willing to take remedial measures.

With just that one move, in the eyes of those excited extremists, they would transform from heretics causing massive environmental destruction into paragons standing on the moral high ground.

However...

"Our budget funds will not allocate a single dollar to your Benevolence Society!"

Nick Fury felt that Coulson should have come today. That way, he could have kept his own hands clean and taken this opportunity to toss this seemingly loyal but actually black-hearted biologist to his most capable subordinate for full handling.

And it would not interfere with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reputation-building efforts.

But he was the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., after all. Nick Fury regained his composure in three seconds.

Having the Benevolence Society nominally affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. would do S.H.I.E.L.D. no harm.

And with no financial dealings involved, if the Benevolence Society pulled any stunts, S.H.I.E.L.D. would only need to issue a statement to wash its hands of all responsibility in minutes.

Nick Fury also understood that Oaks had his eye on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s background as a global organization, as well as its omnipresent network of connections—

Now that he was affiliated with them, could the Director really refuse to make things convenient for him?

For a behemoth like S.H.I.E.L.D., many matters could be easily resolved with nothing more than a name—matters that civilian organizations could smash their heads against and still fail to handle.

But he had actually traded his secret for terms like these...

Even Nick Fury, the cold-blooded man who claimed never to trust anyone, could not help wondering to himself.

Could this Oaks Lin truly be a Saint of the World, intending to develop environmental public welfare initiatives on a global scale?

Was he aiming for the scale of the United Nations Environment Programme?!

He would not believe it even if it killed him!

There could not possibly be someone that great in this world... well, except Captain America. But he had never met the man in person, and most of that was probably the work of publicity.

"We have our own profit plan. We don't need your funding."

Oaks's tone immediately warmed, and he even personally refilled the coffee of the stone-faced Nick Fury.

"So the Director agrees? Like I said, it's a win-win deal."

"But now I think this deal is unequal."

Nick Fury picked up his coffee cup and snorted.

"Then show me your bargaining chip. Let me see whether 'you' are worth my making such a ridiculous decision."

"Hey, buddy, don't worry. If he dares deny it, I'll run the ads tonight!"

Tony clapped his hands. For once, he found himself in agreement with Nick Fury.

"Give us something amazing... whoa!"

Tony's eyes slowly bulged, and his mouth fell wide open. He nearly jumped up.

"My God! Am I fucking dreaming? Huh? You're telling me this is science? Ha?"

He pointed at the huge cheetah that had suddenly appeared on the sofa and shouted wildly, nearly passing out.

"Is this a zoo? Since when did pet stores sell something this huge?! Oh shit, what am I even saying? Is that you, buddy? Oaks? You didn't fucking notice the sofa's about to give out?!"

Smash!

The coffee cup in Nick Fury's hand fell to the floor and shattered.

Only Zhang, the seemingly unremarkable international student, remained calm.

I was probably used to it by now. No matter how I looked at it, I could no longer summon any surprise. Looking at the scene before me, this sense of superiority came from nowhere—after all, it could not be anything beyond the Seventy-Two Transformations.

The two big shots beside me, one Black and one white, were both so sheltered. It actually made me feel a little pity for them.

The huge cheetah glared at him and bared its dagger-sharp teeth.

If I fucking knew the Seventy-Two Transformations, would I need to keep such a low profile?!

Zhang shakily rose to his feet. "Boss, I'm going to the restroom."

The atmosphere remained awkwardly silent for over ten seconds.

"No one wants to say anything?"

Tony clutched his chest, his heart still pounding rapidly. "Oaks?"

"Mm-hmm. Don't be so surprised. This is only one transformed form—the energy you discovered can do this."

The cheetah stretched, jumped down from the creaking sofa, nudged the happily bouncing Moco and Coco onto it, then patted Goose, who had hopped onto his head. Only then did he bare his teeth at the seemingly composed Nick Fury.

"This is what you wanted to see. Also, compensation for polluting the shop's environment and breaking the cup: one hundred dollars, please."

"It's just a talking cheetah. I thought it would be something more."

Nick Fury let out a deep breath and barely put on an expression that said, "I've seen it all."

"Special energy? Instantly transforming from a human into a beast... it reminds me of Hulk."

"It is fundamentally different. Hulk is an entirely new consciousness, but I am not."

Oaks took Goose off his head and let her go find Zhang, who had just emerged from the restroom.

"If the Director thinks that is nothing special..."

The cheetah revealed a smile no wild cheetah could ever make, then vanished amid two cries of alarm!

"Oh shit!"

"Motherfucker!"

Nick Fury abruptly stood up. If transforming into a beast, even a fierce cheetah, did not pose much of a threat, then this... was invisibility?

"Holy shit!"

Tony cried out from across the room, and only then did Nick Fury suddenly feel a chill at his neck—

A claw with extended, razor-sharp nails had silently appeared beside his throat!

"Director, what do you think now?"

The claw withdrew, then slashed sharply—

Boom!

The sofa Nick Fury had been sitting on split directly into four pieces, like butter cut by a sharp knife.

"One thousand dollars for the sofa, Director."

Oaks appeared before Fury again without him noticing at all, slowly materializing.

"I've wanted to replace that sofa for a long time."

"Mother..."