S.H.I.E.L.D.

Richard wasn't unwilling to work overtime. To be honest, he really wanted to sit in the office all night and supervise everyone as they finished the report. After all, this report was different. Its subject was himself, so naturally he wanted to oversee it personally.

But he really wasn't in great shape today. Perhaps because his fusion with Nexus's power was still incomplete, transforming into a giant left him gasping as though he had just run a marathon. His mind was exhausted too, as if he had been completely drained.

It hadn't been too obvious right after he transformed back, aside from feeling a little sleepy during the meeting. But after returning home, he had fallen asleep almost the instant his head touched the pillow. When he woke up, it was already nine in the morning.

That was highly unusual for Richard. Ever since before he had transmigrated, he had maintained a very regular schedule. He usually went to bed before eleven at night and got up around seven-thirty in the morning. He had kept that good habit after transmigrating as well. Sleeping past eight was unprecedented for him.

But the sleep had truly left him refreshed. Last night's exhaustion had been completely swept away, and his mental strength even seemed to have improved slightly. He could feel that the power of light had become more compatible with his body. Next time, he would definitely be able to last longer.

After washing up, he arrived at the company and happily saw that his newspaper's brand-new front page had already rolled off the presses.

Richard sat down at his desk, picked up a freshly printed paper, and looked it over. Hmm, the report was passable. Considering how tight the deadline for writing and proofreading had been, he would give them a seventy. The photographs were pretty good too, especially the one showing Ultraman from behind among the accompanying images. It had the grand feel of a movie poster. Give the photographer an extra drumstick... ah, no, a bonus.

Richard was enjoying himself when his secretary, Stephanie Lance, appeared at the door. Miss Lance was a beautiful young woman with black hair and green eyes, dressed in clean, simple office attire that showed off a pair of pleasingly long legs. Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, and her lively eyes seemed able to speak. She handled matters neatly and efficiently, making her Richard's most satisfactory secretary after he had gone through four previous ones.

Don't misunderstand. Richard had chosen Stephanie entirely because of her excellent professionalism and exceptional efficiency. It had absolutely nothing to do with any other factors... Yes, that was it.

Stephanie brought in the coffee Richard had requested—warm and without sugar. Without needing to be told, she clearly remembered her boss's preferences. She handed him the freshly brewed coffee and said, "There are two gentlemen outside who wish to see you, sir."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Two gentlemen who claim to be government agents," she said. "They have credentials. They seem to be from something called... S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Oh? They had found him this quickly? Had they figured out that the Ultraman who appeared last night was the owner of this newspaper?

Richard was slightly surprised. Since gaining his powers, he had only transformed once, and that had been last night. Even if this organization had eyes and ears everywhere, surely they couldn't have discovered that much already?

But even if they had, it didn't really matter. He wasn't like the human hosts of Ultraman in tokusatsu dramas, who had to leave Earth once their identities were exposed. If S.H.I.E.L.D. knew, then they knew. He would still do whatever he needed to do, and he didn't think his exposed identity would leave him constrained in any way.

First of all, with Ultraman's power, even the combined armies of the entire world probably wouldn't be enough to challenge him head-on. Anyone who wanted to threaten him with force had to have rocks in their head. Besides, he had come to this world alone. He had no parents above him, no children below him, and not even a partner so far. He was completely unattached. Having no attachments also meant having no weaknesses. Forget S.H.I.E.L.D.—even if some supervillain wanted to use someone close to him against him, they would find they had nowhere to begin.

Still, Richard had never had much of a favorable impression of S.H.I.E.L.D. Their obsession with secrecy in particular was practically the natural enemy of the news industry. The fewer dealings he had with them, the better.

"Tell them I'm not here," Richard said calmly. "Say I went out to cover a story myself."

At precisely that unfortunate moment, the office door opened. Two suited agents stood ramrod straight in the doorway, staring at Richard with expressions as stiff as robots.

Richard had always complained about the poor soundproofing in the office. Whenever Editor-in-Chief Stewart unleashed his lion's roar in his own office while berating reporters and photographers, Richard could hear it clearly from his own room. So there was no doubt that these two gentlemen had heard his lie as well.

But as such a successful boss, Richard had long cultivated the ability to remain perfectly composed even when his lies were exposed to his face. He waved Stephanie out, then said evenly, "Hello, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Mr. Li." One of the agents stepped forward. He was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline that had practically broken through the sky, and he had a rather kindly appearance. "I'm Phil Coulson, and this is Grant Ward." As he spoke, he pointed to the unsmiling gentleman beside him. "We're agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Richard raised an eyebrow.

Now this was interesting. He knew Phil Coulson. The man was a total nice guy, a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and an enormous Captain America fan. He was also practically the hardest-working man in the movies—he was running around in Iron Man, he was put in charge when Mjolnir fell in New Mexico, and when S.H.I.E.L.D. lost the Cosmic Cube in The Avengers, he was kept busy again. Later, when the superheroes fought separately and refused to work together, this model employee agent even had to die once before the heroes would finally cooperate obediently.

He knew the other agent as well. Grant Ward, an agent who appeared in the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series. He possessed top-tier combat skills and the finest professional discipline. He kept a straight face all day and never smiled, a classic James Bond-style elite agent. But this elite agent had one great secret: he was not actually a real S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The one he truly served was Hydra, the terrifying organization lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. Put simply, Agent Ward was a mole.

Agent Coulson presented their credentials. Richard glanced at them and saw a silver eagle emblem on the ID, with the letters "S.H.I.E.L.D." clearly printed across the top.

Richard thought for a moment. "Please repeat the full name of your organization."

Coulson: "???"