Pepper's Commission

Old Earl's life was simple. In the morning he went to work and dropped Chloe off at school on the way, and in the afternoon around three o'clock he picked Chloe up from school. The two of them returned to the supermarket, and then at five-thirty they got off work and went home together.

If Mike treated them to dinner, they would stay until around eight o'clock.

After nine o'clock, all sorts of monsters and spirits danced wildly in Hell's Kitchen, and the streets were unsafe.

Once the lease on Old Earl's original apartment expired, he and Chloe would move over here. After all, Old Earl's apartment was too small, and Chloe was gradually growing up and needed her own room.

After eight o'clock, the supermarket usually only had Mike and Skye left. The two of them watched television together and talked nonsense together.

A lonely man and a single woman... Well, actually it was not awkward at all.

After getting familiar with each other, Skye let herself go, often slouching sloppily in a chair with a bag of potato chips in one hand and picking her toes with the other.

Sometimes she even stuck her butt out toward Mike and let out a "poot" or a series of "poots," publicly and intentionally releasing toxic gas, and then collapsed onto the sofa laughing "cackling, cackling, cackling," laughing so hard she was out of breath.

Who would have thought Skye was actually like this!

Audacious!

However, the frequency of Mike going out to fool around was getting lower and lower.

This saves money!

Mike found an excuse for himself.

After several ups and downs, Stark Group's stock had dropped by a total of more than eighteen points, and was now stabilizing. After all, Stark Group was a corporate conglomerate with a mature operational system and a managerial system, and it wouldn't fall apart just because of one person, just like when Howard Stark accidentally died back then.

Tony Stark's role for Stark Group was beyond doubt; he was the company's genius engineer and symbol, but his role in management was far less than Obadiah and Pepper.

It's about time to wrap it up.

Mike prepared to close his positions tomorrow; he had already made a fortune.

No wonder some people said that standing in the path of a gale, even a pig could fly, let alone a reborn person with small wings.

Skye was balancing the books, looking intently at the computer.

Mike brewed a cup of coffee for her and quietly watched TV until the supermarket door was pushed open.

"Welcome."

The automatic electronic synthetic voice sounded.

Thinking a customer had arrived, Skye subconsciously sat up straight with a smile on her face.

The person who came in was a woman in a dark gray vertical-striped business suit skirt, wearing sunglasses.

A blonde white woman with thin lips, and cute little freckles distributed across her delicate nose bridge and cheeks.

Both capable and beautiful.

Inunexplainably, a faint hostility rose in her heart, which made Skye very irritated.

She's just a bit old, not Mike's type.

Thinking of this, Skye's hostility gradually faded.

The woman in the suit skirt took off her sunglasses. She wore relatively heavy eye makeup, but it couldn't hide her red, swollen eyes and deep fatigue.

So familiar...

Skye suddenly widened her eyes. Isn't this the famous Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant? Why is she appearing here?

Could it be that Mike has a connection to Stark Group and is a low-key super-rich second generation?

Connecting this to Tony Stark's disappearance, Skye mentally concocted a wealthy family drama full of dog-blood clichés.

"Hello."

Pepper's voice was a bit hoarse.

"H-Hello."

Skye was actually a bit nervous.

"Is Mr. Mike Tang here?" Pepper asked.

"He's here, he..."

Skye turned her head and saw Mike, who was yawning and picking an eye booger.

Skye: ...

"I am." Mike stood up and stretched. "Hello, Miss Potts."

Happy Hogan, who was providing close protection, stared dead at the hand Mike was using to pick his eye booger. If Mike dared to use that hand to shake Pepper's, he wouldn't mind teaching Mike what a heavy punch felt like.

Mike only said, "Please sit. Skye... brew two cups of wolfberry tea."

At this time, Skye had a strong sense of being an employee.

"This is a specialty tea from China with quite good health-preserving effects, especially suitable for..."

Mike wanted to say it was especially suitable for greasy middle-aged men who didn't know moderation, like Tony Stark. Considering Stark's fate was unknown, saying that would show a terrible lack of emotional intelligence.

"Thank you."

Pepper took a small sip and felt the taste was a bit strange, but not unpleasant.

She glanced at Skye, who was standing behind Mike with burning eyes full of exploratory desire and pretending to be a secretary, and said, "The matter we are going to talk about next is rather... in need of confidentiality."

"Oh, it's about Mr. Stark."

"Yes."

"Oh." Mike said solemnly, "Skye is not only my employee, but also a friend. Just as Mr. Stark unconditionally trusts you, I trust her."

When Skye heard "I trust her," her head went "boom" and her heart fluttered like a frightened rabbit.

He trusts me!

He trusts me!

...

Hearing Mike say this, Pepper experienced a mix of emotions in her heart. After a moment of consideration, she slowly spoke, "Phil Coulson introduced me. I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I know, the one with a worrisome hairline."

Pepper: "..., yes, it's him. He said you're a mercenary with special abilities who can do things ordinary people can't."

Mentioning mercenaries, Pepper couldn't help but size Mike up; he lacked the usual ruggedness of common mercenaries.

"Calling me a private detective or a jack-of-all-trades is more apt." This was Mike's positioning of his own profession, since after all, no mercenary would take commissions for writing homework for others.

"Miss Potts, what is your commission?"

"Tony, find Tony. Help me, please you must find Tony." At this moment, Pepper was so helpless she didn't look at all like the future CEO of Stark Group.

"This... I can only say that my commission success rate so far is one hundred percent."

Mike saw a wisp of white light drift out from Pepper... as well as a wisp of golden light.

Golden light?

It was the first time Mike had ever seen it.

At this moment, lines of text information generated in his mind—

[Pepper's Commission: Find and rescue the missing Tony Stark]
[Bounty: $1,000,000 USD]
[Mission Description: Find the kidnapped Tony Stark in the boundless mountains of Afghanistan, rescue him from the Ten Rings, and send him back safely to United States territory to be reunited with Pepper Potts.]

Mike took a breath and said, "Before accepting the commission, as usual, there are some matters to explain..."

Pepper anxiously said, "Money is not a problem!"

"Yes, yes, yes, money is not a problem, having no money is the problem..." Mike muttered inwardly, but aloud he earnestly said, "Please let me finish, Miss Potts."

Pepper said, "Sorry, I'm just too anxious."

"Understood."

Mike didn't mind at all, given the big client and the unknown golden light.

"First, the commission fee is one million US dollars, paid in full before the commission begins. Furthermore, if the mission succeeds, no additional fees will be added, and if the mission fails, no fees will be refunded."

"No problem." Pepper agreed without hesitation.

One million dollars might be an astronomical figure to an ordinary person. In Stark's hands, it was just the price of a big toy.

Happy, however, had a change in expression and wanted to say something, feeling that Mike looked like a scammer.

In the back, Skye couldn't help but exclaim, "You're robbing people!"

Mike proudly said, "How can robbery be this easy to make money from?"

In truth, his heart was bleeding.

System cuts, card fees, how much money would actually end up in his hands? He was just a wage slave to the system; it wasn't as lucrative as playing the stock market or robbing the rich to help the poor.

Happy: "..."

He really was a scammer!

"Quit making a fuss!"

Mike gave Skye a side-eye and continued, "Second, the mission location is in Afghanistan. I am unfamiliar with the place and will need lodging, a guide, a 24-hour standby helicopter and pilot, and other conveniences related to the commission."

Pepper said, "No problem."

Mike said, "Lastly, I need the intelligence you have gathered so far, the areas you have searched, and other known information."

Thinking for a moment, Pepper said, "Currently, those officially participating in the search and rescue for Tony are the United States and Afghan militaries, S.H.I.E.L.D., and mercenaries hired by Stark Group. I can't guarantee I can get all the intelligence, but I will definitely do my best."

"In that case, I'll take this job."

As his voice fell, the white light cluster and the golden light cluster drifted before Mike's eyes and submerged into the center of his brows.

System prompt:

[Soul Energy +1].
[Destiny Energy +1].

Destiny Energy?

While Mike was wondering, information about Destiny Energy appeared in his mind:

[The generation of Destiny Energy is related to figures who can influence the main plot of the current world.]
[Mixing Destiny Energy with Soul Energy will produce a higher-grade fruit--Destiny Fruit.]

Mike understood that only commissions from plot characters could generate Destiny Energy.

Some people thought that "finding pets" and "doing homework for others" on Mike's business card were purely comical, but that was not entirely the case.

The generation of [Soul Energy] was related to the emotions invested by the client, and often had nothing to do with the commission amount.

What kind of things will the Destiny Fruit grow?

Mike was full of anticipation.