How about I lend you this ride for a few more days?

Unlike most Marvel fans,

even before transmigrating, Carl had never had much of a favorable impression of Nick Fury.

Arrogant, suspicious, greedy, paranoid, willing to do anything...

In Carl's eyes, Nick Fury had always used S.H.I.E.L.D. and protecting humanity as a front while doing dirty deeds based on the principle that those who obeyed him prospered and those who defied him perished.

It was as though anything that did not receive his approval was destined to be an evil act against justice.

Yet the truth was that many disasters had ultimately worsened and erupted precisely because of that one-eyed bastard's excessive interference.

Take the later Skrull Uprising—the TV version of Secret Invasion—for example...

If Nick Fury had not privately promised to help the Skrulls find a home, only to treat them as disposable tools,

and secretly ordered the Skrulls to carry out a classified project called Harvest without anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. knowing,

using blood samples left behind by the Avengers and other superhuman warriors on various battlefields to gather genetic material,

then synthesizing a special agent similar to "gene fusion,"

Gravik, the Skrull leader who had always hated humanity, would never have become a Super-Skrull capable of freely transforming into more than ten different superpowers!

And the most ridiculous part was that Gravik had been personally appointed by Nick Fury to carry out the Harvest Project.

So, the greatest threat in the Marvel Universe did not actually come from outside.

It came from this self-righteous troublemaking bastard!

The reason Carl had dared to confront Nick Fury head-on just now was because he was no longer afraid of the cards Fury had up his sleeve.

Even if they really came to blows and Captain Marvel—the square-faced captain... ahem—rushed over to save the day, he could call Ancient One over to keep things under control.

No matter how powerful she was, her attacks were still only on the physical level.

She was no match for the bald archdemon at all.

She could probably end the fight outright with a single Mirror Dimension!

That was where Carl's confidence came from.

After ending the call,

Carl first sent Nick Fury his bank account number, then began brainwashing Black Widow.

He erased everything in her memories related to Carl and Sokovia.

As for whether such massive memory loss would cause her any aftereffects, that was none of his concern.

At that moment, Pietro, who had remained silent until then, suddenly stepped forward with tears in his eyes and said,

"Carl, my good brother, I never thought you'd treat me this well..."

"Once that ten million comes through, we'll split it seventy-thirty. You take the bigger share, and I'll take the smaller one!!"

Clearly, the kid had been moved by Carl demanding breakup compensation for him.

He never could have imagined

that his two-and-a-half-minute shot had somehow earned him the astronomical price of ten million dollars.

If other people found out about this, wouldn't they start calling him Sokovia's Golden Cannon King?

But how should he spend those three million dollars to make up for the emotional trauma he had just suffered?

"I'm saying, little bro, what the hell is wrong with you?!!"

Carl said with a look of disgust, "What kind of sweet dream are you having in broad daylight? That ten million is going into the company coffers."

You still want a share?

Man, don't just drink—have a bite to eat too!

If you'd had even a peanut with your drink, you wouldn't be this drunk.

I was clearly just using you as an excuse to extort a sum from S.H.I.E.L.D. How did you take it seriously?

Besides, when you marry your sister off to me in the future, aren't you supposed to give me a dowry?

That ten million can only count as a deposit, got it?

Work hard from now on, kid. Try to save up Wanda's bride price as soon as possible.

A good man had to know his worth.

Very soon,

as the notification tone sounded, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ten million dollars arrived as promised.

It also included the time and location for the hostage exchange—five days later, at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!

Well, that was that disaster-prone unlucky place again...

"Say, does Black Widow really have so little status? Why do we have to wait five days for the handoff?"

Carl pursed his lips, clearly dissatisfied with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sluggish efficiency.

After all, every extra day Black Widow stayed here meant one more day of feeding her!

No, S.H.I.E.L.D. had to reimburse the food expenses too.

Warp Group absolutely did not keep freeloaders!

"Carl, if there's nothing else, I'll head back first."

Pietro said with a lifeless, heartbroken expression.

Looking at the bleak and desolate back of the pure-love warrior, Carl felt somewhat sorry for him.

No matter what, the guy was his future brother-in-law.

Carl was eating mouthfuls of meat, so he had to at least let him have some soup, right?

After thinking for a moment, he pointed at the expressionless Black Widow beside him, who looked like a puppet on strings, and asked uncertainly,

"Since we won't be returning her for another five days, how about... I lend her to you for a few more days?!!"

(＾＾●)

Pietro: Good brother, you really do understand me best!

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Warp Group Headquarters.

Inside a luxurious training hall specially built for Carl,

two muscular figures were fiercely grappling on the ring.

Whoosh...!!!

Carl nimbly dodged Frank's incoming strike.

Then, with a feint from his left hand, he threw a jab forward to draw Frank's attention.

His right hand, meanwhile, flashed out like lightning in a beautiful wide hook.

Bang...!!!

A trace of surprise flashed through Frank's eyes.

As he raised his arm to block the attack, a concealed low sweep disrupted Carl's balance and sent him tumbling to the floor.

Then he pounced forward like a tiger, locking his left arm in a V-shape around Carl's jaw while bracing his right hand behind Carl's head and shoving hard with his palm, quickly forming a chokehold with his left arm.

Slap! Slap! Slap!...!!!

Seeing that Frank's rear naked choke had taken shape, Carl immediately gave up struggling and slapped the mat to signal his surrender.

"Pant, pant, pant..."

Frank stood up wearily. When he glanced at the timer and saw that more than twenty minutes had passed, he cried out in disbelief,

"Boss, your rate of improvement is just too fast... No, I should say it's downright monstrous."

"If this continues, I'm afraid that in just a few more days, I won't be qualified to serve as your sparring partner anymore."

Frank was definitely not flattering Carl.

Rather, the latter had been improving at an astonishing pace every single day.

Without using any superpowers at all, Carl had gone from a complete novice who could only last thirty seconds in the ring before getting knocked down

to fighting back and forth with Frank for over twenty minutes now, to the point where even Frank, a top-tier super soldier, was beginning to feel faintly exhausted.

Carl had completed such an astonishing transformation in less than five days!

If Frank had not personally witnessed his growth,

he would probably have suspected Carl of deliberately hiding his strength.

At this point, it seemed "extraordinary talent" was the only explanation he could force himself to accept.

But then again... wasn't Boss a dimensional demon god?

Why was he still practicing combat skills?

Frank thought: I've truly never seen such a diligent dimensional demon god before!!!

Many thanks to "Pretending Not to Be Rich" for the two monthly votes, "Ending in 4599" for one monthly vote, "Wind and Fire Once" for one monthly vote, and "Team Rocket," who has left comments many times, for one monthly vote. This little author is immensely grateful!!!