Nick Fury and Coulson exchanged a glance. They knew they had achieved their goal.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had invited William in the first place to help deal with threats beyond the ordinary. They had always assumed the danger would come from the Ten Rings, since rumors claimed they possessed extraordinary power.
But the Ten Rings never showed up. Only then did he realize their true enemy was the terrifying Iron Monger.
Whatever the case, William had played a major role in the battle. They still had no idea what his abilities were or who he really was.
But when dealing with someone this dangerous, being friends rather than enemies was probably the wisest choice.
"I have one more request," William said.
Nick Fury's face darkened. Please don't let this be another headache.
"You don't have to look so grim," William said helplessly. "I just want a clearance level. I heard S.H.I.E.L.D. has different levels of access. I'm not asking for much—just give me Level Seven!"
Coulson was startled. This guy was asking for a lot. He was only Level Six himself.
Nick Fury thought, I'm already black. After a moment, he said, "I can consider it. But I hope you'll work with Coulson. We won't monitor you anymore, but he'll still be staying here for a while to protect you and assist with your activities!"
"Anything I want?" William asked.
Why did he want Level Seven clearance? Because Coulson was only Level Six, and he'd be spending a lot of time with him from now on. At the very least, until S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, he wasn't about to spend every day taking orders from Coulson.
If anything, he wanted Coulson to be his underling. Besides, William had his own reasons for wanting that clearance.
"As long as your activities don't endanger anyone or interfere with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations, I can agree to your terms," Nick Fury said without hesitation, selling Coulson out on the spot.
Honestly, it was impossible not to monitor William at all. Even if they didn't install cameras in his home, Coulson would still have to keep an eye on him.
"Pleasure doing business with you." Satisfied, William nodded and shook Nick Fury's hand.
After finally seeing the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents off, William hurriedly searched his entire home again. He was worried those guys hadn't given up and might have planted bugs or something.
To be absolutely sure, he transformed into Hanzo and fired a Sonic Arrow, checking every corner of the room before he finally relaxed.
He didn't find any bugs or cameras, but he did find a silver key.
More precisely, it was a USB drive—the important item he'd stolen from the Skull Gang back then. He'd hidden it away at the time, and after so long, he'd forgotten where he'd put it.
The Skull Gang Secrets mission had earned him a briefcase. Inside was a pile of crisp bills. He'd thought he was about to get rich, but who could have guessed the whole case was full of counterfeit money? What a joke.
But soon, he found a secret hidden inside the briefcase: a mysterious USB drive. It contained a terrifying Self-Destruct system that had nearly killed him.
Fortunately, he'd drawn Sombra's Hack earlier and disabled the death countdown. To his surprise, he discovered that the USB drive was connected to the long-vanished Hydra.
Hydra had been hiding in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s shadows, waiting for a chance to emerge. There had to be secrets belonging to Hydra on this drive. He'd tried to open it, only to discover it had a second-level password that required a fingerprint to unlock.
"Special event triggered. Hidden mission initiated!"
"Hidden Mission: Mission: Impossible: Successfully infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters at the Triskelion and search for clues to the second-level password. Steal a fingerprint."
Just then, Athena's voice rang in his ear.
William had been wondering whose fingerprint could unlock the USB drive. Now that a hidden mission had appeared, it seemed he'd have to pay the Triskelion another visit when he had time!
"Sir, here's your new ID."
Coulson handed William the new ID with a helpless look. There was nothing he could do. William was Level Seven, and he was Level Six. Even if he wasn't happy about it, he had to remain polite.
William took the ID and smiled. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What favor?" Coulson asked curiously. A rank higher was enough to make a man his servant—William was already putting him to work.
"Don't worry. I just want you to teach me some of your agents' knowledge and skills."
Agents were synonymous with mystery. They were trained in multiple languages, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and knowledgeable about psychology. They usually adopted special identities to carry out all kinds of dangerous, confidential missions.
Big jobs included hunting down criminals, sniping terrorists, gathering intelligence, and going undercover in other countries. Small jobs included catching thieves, helping old ladies cross the street, and rescuing cats stuck in trees.
Of course, those were the kinds of things the FBI or CIA often did. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a more unique organization.
S.H.I.E.L.D. stood between this world and stranger worlds beyond it, preventing people from learning things they weren't ready to know. It was the world's last line of defense.
Superpowers, paranormal events, future technology, even alien invasions—the threats they faced were far greater than those faced by ordinary agents.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had many employees, but they generally fell into three categories: field agents, office staff, and support staff.
Field agents carried out missions in the outside world. Office staff mostly sat at desks, while support staff had the busiest jobs, handling things like sanitation and medical care.
After learning the basics, William and Coulson returned to the Triskelion. They would be training there. But as it turned out, William hadn't really wanted to learn anything else.
After some basic firearms and hand-to-hand combat training, William asked casually, "Coulson, could you teach me some special agent skills?"
"What special skills?" Coulson asked.
"Like picking locks and stealing fingerprints." William finally revealed his goal.
"Why do you want to learn that?" Coulson frowned.
William shrugged. "I've always thought those skills were cool. I'm not going to force you or give you orders. I hope you'll teach me willingly!"
Coulson rolled his eyes. That's not you not forcing me. You're obviously threatening me.
There was nothing he could do. Coulson didn't think William would do anything truly wicked, so he could only teach him those skills.
Picking locks wasn't difficult. All you needed was the right tools. But stealing fingerprints was no simple task.
First, you needed an original fingerprint. Then you had to preserve it intact. Finally, you had to find a way to copy it onto something else.
Every step had to be done perfectly!
After Coulson finished teaching William how to steal fingerprints, he suddenly sensed something was off. "Wait, why are you learning this? You're not planning to rob a bank, are you?"
"Of course not!" William's answer left him completely baffled. "Do you think I'm Talon?"
Talon can rebuild your father's empire~
Before you continue