Joining

Coulson pulled a tablet from his pocket, opened a video, and placed it directly on the table. In the footage, Meng Zu drove onto the street from his own home, sped all the way to Stark Industrial Park, and stopped. Meng Zu got out of the car and walked beyond the surveillance coverage. Nearly twenty minutes later, Meng Zu returned to the car and drove away.

Seeing that the video contained nothing from inside Stark Industrial Park, Meng Zu guessed that Tony had deleted the footage of him. He curled his lip at Coulson and said disdainfully, "That's it?"

"Isn't that enough?" Coulson said with a smile. "Evan, you should know that sometimes direct evidence isn't needed to decide everything."

Meng Zu fell silent. Coulson was right. Just like the FBI, sometimes indirect evidence was enough for certain matters, let alone S.H.I.E.L.D. But since they had not directly arrested him, they clearly wanted something from him. "What do you want?"

Coulson looked at Meng Zu seriously. "We want you to join us."

Meng Zu looked surprised. "Become an agent? Forget it. I'm used to freedom. It doesn't suit me."

Coulson explained, "More accurately, you would be an external contractor. You would not need to remain on call at all times like official agents. There would only be a few tasks requiring someone with your skills, so you needn't worry about it interfering with your everyday life. Furthermore, after you join us, we can erase some of your criminal records."

The only crime on his public record was speeding. Could S.H.I.E.L.D. have already uncovered his identity as an assassin? Meng Zu tested him. "Looks like you've found out about my identity beyond the public one."

Just as Meng Zu had guessed, Coulson admitted it outright. "Yes. Besides being a mercenary and running a detective agency, you are also an assassin affiliated with the Continental Hotel."

"Since that's the case, you should know that if I join you, do you think the Continental Hotel will let me go?" Meng Zu did not want to join S.H.I.E.L.D., not even as an external contractor. S.H.I.E.L.D. was, plainly speaking, Hydra in disguise. Getting involved with it would definitely bring plenty of trouble in the future. He tried to use the Continental Hotel as a shield, since its influence in the underworld was considerable.

Coulson could not help smiling at that, his tone brimming with confidence. "To us, the Continental Hotel is nothing. The same goes for the High Table above it. You would only be an external contractor, so they would pretend not to know anything. Even if you became an official agent one day, they would merely revoke your membership. As for retaliation, they should know better."

Hearing that, Meng Zu realized he had always underestimated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence. With things having reached this point, it seemed he had no choice but to join. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Since I'll be an external contractor, how will I be paid?"

"External contractors do not receive salaries. However, there will be bonuses for every completed mission."

Meng Zu's mood instantly soured. "Damn! Then can I refuse assignments?"

Meng Zu had expected the answer to be no, but Coulson said, "Of course. However, if you do take on a mission, as long as you do not assassinate the president or carry out a terrorist attack, we can clean up any loose ends for you."

"That sounds pretty good. Who will assign missions to me?" Meng Zu asked Coulson.

"Me. I'll be your direct supervisor. If there is a mission, I'll contact you."

"Fine."

After leaving his phone number, Coulson departed with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Meng Zu sighed helplessly. He was not Tony Stark; he did not have the power to disregard S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson coming to him was definitely the idea of that black egg, Nick Fury. Nick Fury had always been utterly unscrupulous. If Meng Zu refused, who knew what disgusting methods that black egg might use to threaten him later? Overall, the conditions were not bad, so he might as well go along with it.

Meng Zu had plans of his own as well. Many major events in the future would involve S.H.I.E.L.D. If he participated in them, he could certainly earn a great deal of Contract Points. The more Contract Points he had, the stronger he could become. Once he became strong enough someday, he could completely ignore S.H.I.E.L.D. just like Tony Stark.

The next day, Meng Zu went to the Continental Hotel. The moment Charon saw him, he said, "Evan, you gave up that contract yesterday. Leon shouldn't have been a match for you, right?"

Meng Zu smiled. "Of course not. But after meeting him, I found that he had someone to care about. There's a little girl by his side who depends on him for everything. He probably won't be an assassin anymore."

Charon sighed. "Once an assassin has someone to care about, he is no longer an assassin."

Hearing that, Meng Zu grew curious. "What happened?"

"John Wick retired yesterday."

Meng Zu was astonished. "No way. I remember he's only forty now. What was the reason?"

"Because he got married," Charon said. "That's why an assassin with someone to care about is no longer an assassin."

"All right. I wish him a happy marriage. But now the hotel has no Legendary Killer. Winston must be pretty troubled, huh?"

"Naturally. Did you come today to pick a contract?" Charon asked Meng Zu.

Meng Zu casually asked, "Are there any suitable ones?"

"No." Charon smiled. "But there was a contract yesterday that suited you quite well. Someone else completed it already, though. It was rather interesting."

That immediately piqued Meng Zu's curiosity. "Oh? Tell me what happened."

Charon said, "The person who posted the contract yesterday was that Italian assassin named Leon. His target was the person who had posted the contract you gave up earlier. But Leon was not as stingy as that guy. The reward was two million dollars. Less than an hour after the contract was posted, that guy was taken care of."

It seemed Leon had really followed his advice and posted a contract on that police officer through the Continental Hotel. Meng Zu could not remember the officer's name, so he asked, "Charon, who was that guy?"

"Stanfield, a drug-dealing crooked cop in Brooklyn. He clearly had money, yet he was too stingy to offer a higher reward. He was simply a miser." Charon was rather speechless when it came to Stanfield.

"Hehe, the world is huge. There are all kinds of people." Meng Zu chuckled. "Charon, where is Winston? I need to speak with him."

"Mr. Winston is drinking at the bar right now."

Before long, Meng Zu found Winston at the hotel bar, seated in a booth and drinking while chatting with someone. When Meng Zu walked over and sat down, the person who had been speaking with Winston stood up and left.

Winston set down his glass and asked Meng Zu, who had sat across from him, "Evan, Charon said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Last night, an agent from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division came to my home. After talking with him, I had no choice but to join them as an external contractor. I wanted to hear your opinion." Meng Zu spoke directly to Winston.

Winston was the manager of the New York Continental Hotel and the person who controlled it. As a hotel member, Meng Zu naturally needed to discuss this matter with Winston. Although Meng Zu did not need Winston's approval to join S.H.I.E.L.D., he still needed to show the proper attitude.

"They informed me about it last night already. It's fine, Evan. Being an external contractor will not affect any of the hotel's services available to you. Still, it is a pity. After John, you had been the person at this hotel most likely to become a Legendary Killer." Winston sighed.

John's retirement yesterday had already put Winston in a bad mood. Who would have thought that bad news would come one after another? Less than an hour later, S.H.I.E.L.D. informed him about Meng Zu. Legendary Killers did not merely receive higher-level services; they were also a hotel's symbol and core. Every year, Continental Hotels around the world were rated, and whether a hotel had a Legendary Killer affected one quarter of its rating. Now that Meng Zu had become one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s people, he could no longer be evaluated as a Legendary Killer.

Meng Zu grinned as he comforted Winston. "Winston, don't be so depressed. Maybe one day I'll leave that Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"Perhaps." Winston raised his glass and took a sip. Though he said that, he did not believe Meng Zu could leave S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a colossal organization, one that even the High Table above the hotel could not afford to offend. When someone from an official organization joined the Continental Hotel, there were usually only two outcomes: either they completed a mandatory hotel assignment and had their membership revoked, or they were eliminated outright. Unlike Meng Zu, they could not become external contractors while continuing to enjoy the hotel's services as usual.

After confirming from Winston that everything Coulson had said was true, Meng Zu chatted with Winston for a few more moments before leaving the hotel.