Let the Show Begin

This wasn't William deliberately stirring up trouble. It was simply the truth.

Whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. came up, Hydra couldn't be left out. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra were like the two sides of a coin, representing freedom and order, justice and evil.

During World War II, Red Skull followed the ideals of Hydra's past leaders and founded **Hydra. To fight the powerful Hydra, the Allies established the Strategic Scientific Reserve, the predecessor of modern-day S.H.I.E.L.D.

After the war ended, Hydra splintered and vanished without a trace. Over the course of several decades, the Strategic Scientific Reserve evolved into the S.H.I.E.L.D. people knew today.

People thought Hydra had been destroyed long ago. In reality, however, it had been secretly lying low within S.H.I.E.L.D. all along, using S.H.I.E.L.D. to sow fear and unrest around the world, reap the benefits, and await the day it could emerge once more.

In other words, the S.H.I.E.L.D. of today was effectively Hydra. Of course, Coulson couldn't possibly know that.

Coulson didn't understand what William meant. How had the conversation wandered so far off course? "Wait, I didn't come here today to discuss our organization's ideals. I came because..."

"Listen, buddy, I don't have time to shoot the breeze with you." William adopted a more serious tone. "Whatever secrets or crises you're talking about have nothing to do with me. I'm just an ordinary guy. I deliver food for a living, understand?"

Before Coulson could say anything, William had already turned and walked away. As he left, he even waved at him.

"We'll meet again," Coulson said, taking a sip of coffee. The man didn't seem like there was anything wrong with him, but in fact, there was a lot wrong.

William's firm, righteous tone was all an act. He'd noticed a hint of tension in the other man's forceful gaze. Coulson had hidden it well, but William had still caught it.

This man... definitely had something to hide.

William hurried into the kitchen, the confidence vanishing from his eyes at once. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't expected someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. to find him.

Why had Agent Coulson come? Had his secret been exposed?

Overwatch was his secret, a secret that belonged to him alone. He didn't want anyone to know the truth. He had no way to explain how it had all happened, because no one would believe him.

How was he supposed to explain it? That he was from another world, that he'd been transported to the Marvel Universe after getting electrocuted while playing video games, and that he'd gained the powers of the Overwatch System? Would anyone believe him?

People would surely think he was crazy—and the kind of crazy who'd played so many video games he'd developed delusions.

William had thought that after Coulson was turned away once, he wouldn't come looking for him again. But the next day, he saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the restaurant again, so he deliberately avoided him and pretended not to notice him.

Yet on the third day, Coulson was still sitting at the same table as before, leisurely drinking coffee and reading the paper. It made William wonder if these agents had nothing better to do. Weren't they supposed to save the world and catch aliens, instead of keeping an eye on him?

By the fourth day, William couldn't take it anymore. He sat down in front of Coulson and said, "All right, all right, you win. If you have questions, come to my place tonight. Since you've been watching me for so many days, you should know where I live, right?"

Coulson picked up his coffee. "All right, Mr. Lister. See you tonight."

Only after watching Coulson walk away did William let out a sigh of relief. The guy had finally left. But what should he do now? Run?

But in the Marvel Universe, no matter where he went, S.H.I.E.L.D. would probably find him. Hiding forever clearly wasn't an option. It was only a matter of time before he had to face S.H.I.E.L.D.

On the surface, S.H.I.E.L.D. was an organization devoted to protecting justice around the world, but behind the scenes, it had done things it didn't want people to know about. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't a charity, and the people in it weren't saints.

If they found out he had an extremely powerful system inside him, they might threaten or bribe him in an attempt to get its secrets.

No, he absolutely couldn't tell them the truth. If all else failed, he'd just have to bluff his way through it.

Tonight would be the ultimate test of his acting skills!

When he got back to his apartment that night, he thought Coulson would have arrived already and be waiting at the door. But he looked around and didn't see the agent anywhere.

He reached home and opened the door. The apartment was pitch-black. Just as he was about to turn on the light, someone stepped out of the darkness. "Sorry, it's really dark in here."

"Holy crap!" William jumped. You just waltz into other people's homes? Don't you know that's trespassing?

Then again, Coulson had been pretty courteous to him. Another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent might have already tied him up and thrown him in a dark room.

"Go ahead and find somewhere to sit. I'll get you some water." William switched on the light and went to pour Coulson a glass.

Coulson looked around and couldn't help but purse his lips. He'd already investigated William's background and living conditions and knew he was poor, but he hadn't expected the place to be even more rundown than he'd imagined.

The sofa in the living room was covered in dust. Coulson spent ages brushing it off before he could sit down. By then, William had returned with the water.

"Do you know about the bank robbery?" Coulson asked bluntly.

"I do." This time, William didn't lie. "I was there. I was going to the bank to get some money, but I ran into the robbers. Talk about bad luck, huh..."

"Stop." Coulson didn't let William continue. "According to eyewitnesses, the situation was extremely dangerous. Someone stepped up and saved everyone. Do you remember anything about that person?"

Just as William was about to answer, Coulson pulled out a tablet and opened a video. It was footage from a traffic camera.

In the video, a figure rushed out of the bank. He ran so fast that the camera couldn't capture him clearly.

Before William could explain anything, Coulson opened another video. In this one, Soldier: 76 was much easier to make out. He ran toward a phone booth by the roadside and rushed inside, but when he came back out, he seemed to have turned into a different person.

That person was none other than William, looking like an ordinary man.

William nearly covered his face. He remembered that the Superman next door changed clothes in a phone booth whenever he transformed. He hadn't been deliberately copying Superman; his transformation was about to wear off, and it was the only place he'd found.

He hadn't expected the traffic cameras on the roadside to catch every move.

"What do you have to say about these two videos?" Coulson asked, looking rather pleased with himself. The footage was basically conclusive proof that William was the one who had defeated the bank robbers.

But he knew that someone like William wouldn't admit it so quickly. He'd surely try to argue his way out of it first. No matter—he had other evidence.

"I have nothing to explain. I admit that person was me."

Coulson was a little surprised. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't the other man have denied everything and tried to make a scene? Why had he admitted it so quickly? This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

"Is that one of your special abilities?" Coulson picked up the glass and took a sip. He hadn't expected William's next answer to make him spit out his water.

"No, it's high tech. To tell you the truth, I'm from two hundred years in the future!"