New York, S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, Y Squad office.
"Ah, this hurts, Medea!"
"Do you have any magic that can lift my mood?"
"Hit me with one!"
A month had passed since Iron Man met Yinsen.
But the pain their meeting had brought Yu Xian had yet to heal.
Holy crap!!!
He had never imagined that someone would poach his recruit one day!
According to his original plan, after letting Tony and Yinsen meet,
he would first carry out Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative,
lay out the world's hidden crises to Tony in full,
reveal that humanity was not alone in the universe,
and invite him to join the Avengers Initiative while he was still shaken.
Just as he had expected, Tony showed interest.
The next step was to wait for Nick Fury to evaluate him!
Then, he would gracefully send Dr. Yinsen an invitation to join the team.
Dr. Yinsen should have been moved to tears, happily accepted the invitation, and joined Y Squad.
How perfect!
But,
to his surprise,
Dr. Yinsen actually refused!
Refused!
Flat-out refused!
That was an outcome he had never expected.
Dr. Yinsen stood in the conference room at the time, his gaze utterly resolute.
"I'm truly sorry, Agent Yu Xian!"
"Although I'm deeply grateful that you saved my life, but..."
"I don't wish to accept a rigid hierarchy or missions that may violate my morals!"
"More importantly, I know something about what your Y Squad does—honestly, I don't think I can adapt to that kind of..."
"Uh, 'high-efficiency' work style."
That alone would have been one thing, but Tony seized the opportunity to invite him, and the guy agreed without a second word.
What a pair of adulterers!!!
Damn it!
After that,
he no longer had the confidence to invite the future "Quake," Daisy Johnson—currently Skye—to join the team.
Their relationship just had not been handled properly.
They had not drunk enough together!
Skye,
his destined teammate, needed a foolproof plan
to secure her nice and steady.
If I get rejected, what happens to my dignity?
Ah, this hurts!
No, it was time to find someone to share his troubles!!!
Medea, sharing her Master's damage was what a Servant should do!!!
Mental damage was damage too!!!
"Medea..."
[Detected host's pleasant mood. Pleasure Points +300]
The witch Medea watched her Master lose his mind on his own again, and a faint headache began to throb.
After observing him for this period of time, she knew he had no intention of betraying her,
and he needed her very much.
But,
but,
that need was completely different from what she had imagined.
None of the battle, magecraft experiments, or other related scenarios she had envisioned ever happened.
What replaced them?
Documents, documents, endless documents.
And what else did he ask her to do?
Laundry?
Binge-watch shows with him?
Watch horror movies with him?
Cook?
Sigh,
it would have been better if she had never tried cooking!
Ever since he had eaten her food, his palate seemed to have become spoiled.
If he went a single day without it, he would relentlessly torment her.
"Medea, how is it? Have you started cooking?"
"Medea, I'm thirsty!"
"Medea, is it ready?"
"Medea..."
"Medea..."
At the thought of this, Medea's anger surged upward.
Hoo.
Take a deep breath.
No.
Graceful.
I must remain graceful.
"Medea, what are we having today?"
"Medea, I want the desserts you make!"
"Medea, why are you ignoring me?"
"Medea..."
Snap~
The pen Medea was using to review documents instantly broke in two.
Black ink immediately ran down her pale fingers, staining more than half the document.
"This period has been really relaxing!"
Watching her captain bicker with Medea every day, Catalina felt a strange illusion of peaceful years.
No, no, Catalina, you've really fallen apart!
You were supposed to become a top agent, a woman who became a hero protecting people from harm.
You couldn't sink into this comfortable nest!
Still,
to be fair,
ever since Sister Medea joined the team,
the entire atmosphere in the squad had changed.
When Catalina heard the captain ask Sister Medea what she would be cooking today,
she could not help secretly perking up her ears.
Sister Medea's cooking was simply too delicious.
She could not be blamed for her wavering resolve!
"Meow!"
Catalina felt an itch against her calf and looked down.
A chubby Garfield was rubbing himself wildly against her leg.
"Fatty, you're being naughty again!"
Catalina scooped Fatty into her arms, extending her devilish claws to grope him all over.
Amid the joy of petting the cat, the girl could not help sinking into her memories.
Over the past month, Y Squad had successfully welcomed three new members.
Well,
none of those three were human. They were all animals.
But they were all extremely intelligent and could understand what people said.
She had no idea how the captain had trained them.
The first one she had met was the captain's White Phoenix,
a white owl that was always elegant.
Next was Fatty, whom she was holding in her arms,
a Garfield that was always lazy.
The last was Tatakai,
an otter that was always eager to fight.
The three respectively ruled the skies, land, and waters.
The captain proudly called them his three intelligence chiefs.
They were, without question, the big three of sea, land, and air.
If their squad had not received an urgent mission from above during that time,
to find the long-missing
scientist who had suddenly appeared in New York—David Banner—
they probably would not have been able to make the captain show his true colors.
During Y Squad's intelligence-gathering operation,
the captain made no effort to hide his ability to control and communicate with animals.
Although she was happy that the captain had opened up to her without holding anything back,
why did she feel that the captain was actually just lazy
and did not want to search himself?
And,
as she watched the three generals bustling around the captain,
watched the endless stream of animals coming and going before them,
then watched the captain drink tea and binge-watch shows nearby,
that thought only grew stronger.
God, the captain was truly invincible.
He did not just spare no humans.
Even animals could not escape his clutches.
Unfortunately,
even after the captain activated the intelligence network he had built
and searched for a full half month, they had not found the slightest trace of David Banner.
It was as though such a person had never appeared in New York at all.
Who knew where the higher-ups had gotten their intelligence from.
Sigh, who knew how much longer this mission would last.
At that moment, the worried girl heard Medea's helpless voice:
"Catalina, what do you want to eat?"
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Hello, Director!"
"What, there's another mission?"
"No, we still have a missing-person case on our hands. We don't have time!"
"Uh, that mission has been canceled? Fine, what's the mission?"
"Hmm?"
"Protect Bruce Banner?"
"..."
Before you continue