Reporting Fury for Embezzlement

Taking out the phone Tony had given him, Lu Qi tested its functions and found that it was pretty similar to the smartphones from his own world. There were still relatively few apps, though. That would have to wait until the software companies negotiated with Stark Group to develop smartphone apps.

He opened his computer and uploaded the photos he had taken at Stark's home to his blog, immediately drawing a huge amount of attention. After all, plenty of people were interested in the daily life of a billionaire like Tony.

Even though Lu Qi had not photographed Tony's interior decor and had only taken pictures of the beautiful ocean view outside Tony's window, they still generated enormous traffic.

Lu Qi gave them a cursory glance, had a ninja manually manage the comments, and deleted all the malicious ones.

Thinking of Tony's condition, Lu Qi decided to pay S.H.I.E.L.D. a visit. However, there was still some distance between him and S.H.I.E.L.D., so he needed to notify them first. He called Coulson.

"Coulson, where are you?"

"I'm at headquarters handling some matters. What is it?"

"Nothing. I just called to see whether you were absent from your post."

"..."

"Fine, I want to visit S.H.I.E.L.D. and see Fury."

"Alright. I'll ask the Director. Wait for my message."

After speaking with Coulson, Lu Qi went outside and waited for a while before receiving a message from him.

After reading it, he opened a portal straight to the outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., at the same location as last time.

He walked toward S.H.I.E.L.D., but no car came to pick him up.

"How stingy." Lu Qi helplessly shook his head and simply used Shadow Stealth to reach the outside of S.H.I.E.L.D.

As soon as he revealed himself and took two steps inside, Coulson appeared before him.

"You finally decided to come to work? The Director has recently been considering whether to cut staff."

"Didn't you say I usually had no assignments? Besides, didn't I go see Tony last time?"

Coulson led Lu Qi to an elevator, and they stepped inside.

The elevator had transparent glass walls, and Lu Qi watched the busy clerks outside.

"Looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. has quite a lot of people."

Coulson glanced outside and smiled. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has to handle all kinds of incidents around the world. There's a lot of work to deal with every day."

It was obvious that Coulson liked this job. In his eyes, S.H.I.E.L.D. had always been protecting world peace.

But Lu Qi knew that Hydra had long since hollowed out S.H.I.E.L.D. from within. More than half the money Fury had painstakingly conned from the World Security Council had been spent by Hydra.

Regarding this, Hydra's leader, Pierce, believed Fury was an excellent worker who had earned half of Hydra's empire for them.

But had a shrewd man like Fury really failed to notice that his private stash was shrinking? Lu Qi had serious doubts.

As he let his thoughts wander, the elevator arrived at Fury's floor.

"Just go straight ahead." Coulson pointed toward the Director's office across the corridor.

Lu Qi nodded and walked directly over. At the same time, former Director Alexander Pierce received word from his assistant Sitwell that Lu Qi had come to visit.

Remembering the strength Lu Qi had displayed, Pierce considered it and sent several people to probe Lu Qi's attitude toward Fury. He would never complain that his side had too little power. Lu Qi was also far stronger than the previous test data had indicated, making him worth the risk of trying to recruit.

After organizing his documents, Pierce planned to go argue with the Council again and secure a few hundred million more dollars for Fury, then watch Fury build Hydra for him.

Lu Qi had no idea Hydra was already planning to contact him. He had just entered Fury's office.

"What made you decide to come clock in today?"

Fury glanced at Lu Qi while processing the documents on his desk.

"I came to see whether S.H.I.E.L.D. has any way to help Tony. His condition is getting worse and worse. It looks like he's already preparing for his own funeral."

"What, you don't have a solution? There should be plenty of extraterrestrial elements. Is there no element that can solve his reactor problem?"

Lu Qi shook his head. What extraterrestrial elements? He did not know a damn thing. But that was his persona, and he could not let it collapse, or Fury would come knocking every day asking who he really was.

"My spaceship was destroyed. To earn the first pot of gold I needed to survive on Earth, I sold the ship to a scrap dealer. I have no way to bring those elements back to Earth."

Fury looked at the report saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had found Banner at a Palame Beverage Factory in Brazil and nodded. This guy's intelligence was quite accurate.

Once he had finished processing the documents, Fury looked up at Lu Qi and asked, "Why do you think I can save Tony?"

"I don't think S.H.I.E.L.D. has any talent capable of saving Tony, but you definitely have a way to get him out of his current situation."

Leaving aside the S.H.I.E.L.D. from television dramas, the movie version of S.H.I.E.L.D. truly had no outstanding scientific talent. Their flying helicarriers looked impressive, but they were merely patchwork creations stitched together from the advanced technologies of this world.

So Lu Qi had absolutely no hope that they could develop a new element. Howard had made the hint so obvious in the video that S.H.I.E.L.D. could not possibly have missed the issue with that model of the complex.

Yet they had failed to create the new element. They still handed everything to Tony, and Tony figured it out himself.

"That really hurts. Still, I've already had people develop an injection to suppress palladium poisoning. It can temporarily reduce the palladium in Tony's blood, but it won't cure the root cause."

Fury spoke calmly, as though there was nothing else he could do.

Lu Qi shook his head. This guy would not act until he saw a benefit. If Lu Qi wanted him to bring out those things early, he would have to offer him something first.

But Fury would definitely save Tony in the end. After all, his plan required many superheroes to join, and Tony's potential was beyond question.

"Then can you give me a few doses first? I'll take them to Tony."

"That stuff hasn't been fully developed yet. It'll take a few more days."

Lu Qi shook his head, growing increasingly suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s capabilities.

"Send me a message once it's developed."

He turned and left. Whether it was because the Hydras inside S.H.I.E.L.D. were deliberately slacking off or because they were genuinely incompetent, they inspired no confidence at all. He had no idea why the Council gave them billions of dollars in funding every year.

Returning directly home, Lu Qi felt irritated. He could have simply snatched that model and stuffed it into Tony's hands, but everything afterward would definitely become far worse.

"So annoying!" Lu Qi shook his head. Even after transmigrating, he still had to worry about this and that. He was truly disgracing all transmigrators.

Just then, Lu Qi's phone rang. Seeing it was an unknown number, the instincts he had honed through anti-fraud apps told him it was a scam call.

"I'm not buying a house, I'm not buying a car, and I don't need a loan. Stop calling me."

Already irritated, Lu Qi answered and shouted a few lines. Once he felt a little better, he hung up.

Why buy a house now? Before long, the Chitauri invasion would happen here. Even if the Chitauri invasion did not destroy the house, Big Apple's pattern of a minor disaster every three days and a major one every five days was more than anyone could endure.

But not long after he hung up, the phone rang again.

Lu Qi looked at it. It was still an unknown number.

Frowning, he sensed that something was not so simple and answered the call.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Qi. We are not a sales or scam call."

Before Lu Qi could speak, the other party quickly introduced herself.

"We are a subordinate department of the World Security Council, responsible for overseeing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s various operations. We have recently discovered signs of corruption within S.H.I.E.L.D. and would like to consult you regarding its affairs."

"If you have doubts about our department, you may call the relevant personnel at S.H.I.E.L.D. They will give you an answer."

The woman on the other end spoke to Lu Qi in a sweet voice, but her words carried an intense confidence. After all, a department capable of overseeing an organization as large as S.H.I.E.L.D. held tremendous authority.

Why had these people approached me? Why were they asking me for this information?

Most people would have already started telling the person on the other end all about S.H.I.E.L.D., but Lu Qi did not see it that way.

He had only just returned from S.H.I.E.L.D. when they called. This was no longer mere oversight; they had direct control over all kinds of internal information within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hydra? Thinking of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other side, Lu Qi became suspicious. Still, he hung up first and asked Coulson about it, learning that such an organization did indeed exist.

Coulson also told Lu Qi that before applying for funding, they had to submit the relevant reports to that department, which would then forward them to the World Security Council.

Interesting. A department directly responsible for funding applications?

Thinking of all the bases S.H.I.E.L.D. had established around the world, Lu Qi felt these people were highly likely to be Hydra.

The Council should not have allowed S.H.I.E.L.D. to establish so many bases. That had already far exceeded S.H.I.E.L.D.'s proper military scale, yet every one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s applications received financial support.

Pierce had always been the one discussing funding with the World Security Council. This department was also very likely Hydra's own department, polishing up the various applications before submitting them upward so S.H.I.E.L.D. could obtain the funds.

After thinking it over, Lu Qi called that number back.

"I do have something to report. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury is leading the corruption. He applies for hundreds of millions of dollars every time, yet S.H.I.E.L.D. is still desperately short on funds. Fury must have embezzled it!"

Lu Qi stated this with absolute conviction, leaving the Hydra spy on the other end stunned.

Bullshit! Hydra was clearly the one using all that money. Nick Fury was innocent!

But the spy certainly could not say that. After thinking for a moment and recalling the mission, she continued asking questions.

"May I ask what kind of corruption you suspect Nick Fury may be involved in? What is your impression of him?"

"Terrible. Ever since I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I've worked diligently, but my salary just won't go up. I can barely afford food now! When I learned the amount Nick Fury applies for every time, wow, it felt like the sky was collapsing. I always thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was a poor but conscientious organization that kept saving the world, but I never imagined we had so much financial support. Yet this is how us low-level employees live! He must have embezzled all our wages! I want him to give the money back! RN..."

Lu Qi was gradually getting into character, but before he could finish, the other party interrupted him.

"Then I roughly understand the situation. We will immediately begin investigating this matter and give you an answer later."

With that, she hung up.

Lu Qi nodded, planning to check later whether his salary had increased.

Meanwhile, the spy recorded the call, intending to send it to her Hydra superior. As for investigating? Everyone was one of their own, and those in the know knew. A token gesture would be enough. At worst, they could quietly raise that guy's salary a little. Still, Nick Fury really was innocent, so investigating would be pointless.