Chapter 125: Be Careful Not to Break It

The call connected, and Old Wang spoke first: "I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please do not call again."

Fury: "..."

A series of black exclamation marks appeared on his face. Fury really didn't want to waste breath on a master who lacked the demeanor of a true master, so he went straight to the point: "Master Wang, I want Whitehall. Name your price."

The guy was fast with his information. Did he have a Quinjet hovering in the sky the whole time? Old Wang refused decisively: "He is priceless."

Fury was stunned. He hadn't expected such a flat refusal. Why?

Because he didn't know that Whitehall had once dissected Skye's mother, he couldn't wrap his head around it. "Fatty Wang, you should at least listen to my offer! That's not how business is done!"

After a moment of thought, he decided not to waste time and made his offer: "One billion dollars."

One billion?

Old Wang gasped. These rich elites were truly loaded!

If Whitehall weren't so important—if he didn't have to be handed over to Skye—he would have really considered selling him.

"This is not up for discussion," Old Wang refused again.

Fury frowned.

One billion dollars was the absolute limit of what he could scrape together; this year's budget was almost exhausted. He would have to make Pierce find a way to get more later.

Fatty Wang wouldn't sell him dead or alive—could there be some hidden detail he didn't know about?

The information asymmetry made him very uncomfortable.

He had always been the one in control, using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network to seize the high ground. He hadn't expected to be on the back foot everywhere after meeting Fatty Wang. How could there be someone in this world who knew more secrets than he did?

He sighed.

Once Fatty Wang made a decision, it was hard to change, though not impossible.

Once the right people were found, he didn't believe the man wouldn't come begging for help.

"I want the rest of the spoils, including the surrendered Hydra members," Fury said, tapping the table. "I'll send someone to talk to you."

"Bye-bye!" Old Wang hung up.

Whitehall's piloting skills were decent, and the two soon returned to the ground.

The battlefield was a scene of ruin. Hydra had suffered heavy casualties. The survivors were kneeling in rows with their hands on their heads, fewer than 20 in total, with Skye standing guard.

While his soul and body had been separated to pursue Whitehall, Old Wang's physical body had continued to fight, and he had killed most of these men himself.

The rest had been taken care of by Skye.

After days of training and development, the Quake-maker's strength was beyond doubt; dealing with these ordinary people was a breeze.

Not all of Hydra's men were die-hards; many surrendered the moment they saw the tide turning. Unfortunately, Skye's control over her powers wasn't precise yet, and she was a bit heavy-handed, or else at least 50 would have remained.

What annoyed Old Wang was the presence of something extra at the scene.

A Quinjet.

Watching Coulson and Melinda climb out of the cargo door, Old Wang let out a heavy huff.

*Fury, you really have been spying on me the whole time!*

There was no helping it. The Quinjet flew too high, and the high-definition cameras were too sharp. With them monitoring from high altitude, he really couldn't detect them. Ultimately, it was because he was still too weak.

"Master Wang, we meet again."

Coulson was all smiles, followed by twenty or so secret agents. "I'm sorry, the battle was already over by the time we arrived."

Melinda followed, her smile clearly more sincere. "Master Wang, thank you for your gift."

She was referring to a small bottle of essence wine.

Last time, when she had specifically flown in to deliver equipment, Old Wang had given her a small piece of dragon bone in return for Fury, and he had also given her a small bottle of Erguotou spiked with a drop of essence wine as a "hardship fee."

After drinking the essence wine, her constitution had improved significantly. Her 35-year-old body felt healthier than it had at 25, with increased strength and reaction speed. Her gratitude toward Old Wang was beyond words.

"We share the same blood; there's no need for formalities."

Even though he wasn't from this world, Old Wang still felt a sense of kinship with Chinese people and those of Chinese descent.

Being a stranger in a strange land was hard enough, let alone for decades; such loneliness was something ordinary people couldn't understand.

After a brief exchange, Old Wang looked at Coulson: "You can take everything else, except for the Jericho missiles and the sonic cannons. Give me the price list along with the money. As for these Hydra members, let's say one million dollars each. That's not asking for too much, is it?"

"Not at all, not at all," Coulson replied quickly.

The training costs and equipment for these people alone exceeded one million dollars, not to mention the Hydra secrets locked in their brains. With rigorous interrogation, they would surely be able to root out many more.

Master Wang was far more reasonable than the Director had claimed.

Coulson didn't understand why the Director held such deep prejudices against Master Wang, telling him to be on guard and to drive a hard bargain before he left, only for the man to let him name his own price.

As Melinda would say, to judge the Iron Fist by the standards of a one-eyed spy was going too far.

"Master Wang, about the Jericho missiles and the sonic cannons..." Coulson probed.

These were high-value items; the other weapons combined might not be as expensive as them.

Especially the sonic cannons—General Ross had only bought two to deal with the Hulk, and S.H.I.E.L.D. truly had no stock of them.

"Not for sale."

Old Wang took a picture with his phone and sent it directly to Tony Stark.

A minute later, a text popped up: "Where did you get these?"

Old Wang replied: "Hydra."

A full two minutes passed before the second text came back: "I owe you one."

Old Wang smiled.

Faced with ironclad evidence, Tony must have already made his decision. The original plot was bound to change; a good show was about to begin.

Obadiah was crafty, but Tony was no pushover. In terms of sheer intelligence and means, he could leave Obadiah in the dust. Besides, calculating the time, the Mark II should be debuting soon.

Being a prophet was a good thing, but since he had arrived in this world, how could he settle for being a faceless bystander? Not to mention that ten years later, there was still a snap waiting to happen.

"Whitehall?"

Skye saw Whitehall just as he stepped off the plane. She walked toward him, looking very calm.

"Miss Skye, I am very interested in your abilities. They were obtained from the Obelisk, were they not? I have some research on the Obelisk that you aren't aware of. I believe I can help you stabilize and enhance this power. Perhaps one day you will be able to destroy an entire city, like San Juan or New York."

Whitehall tried his best to show off his knowledge and talent, his face full of smiles.

Although he was more interested in Skye's body—hoping to dissect and section it—under the current circumstances, it was clear that his research would have to remain at a more "gentle" stage, such as collecting tissue samples or drawing blood.

The Iron Fist was hard to deal with, but he could certainly start with the people around him.

He didn't want to kill her; he wanted to win her favor.

"I'm also very interested in you."

A smile appeared on Skye's face, though it was somewhat icy. "Perhaps I should cut you into three hundred and sixty pieces, just like the legendary *lingchi*?"

Whitehall's smile stiffened.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

Where had things gone wrong?

"Agent Coulson, please send a few men to help me transport the Jericho missiles and sonic cannons to the laboratory."

"Skye, Whitehall shouldn't die at your hands. There are people who hate him more than you do."

"Of course, you can torture him as you like. There should be a list of the 'Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty' online. I'll have Fitz help you build the tools. Just don't kill him."

Old Wang found a random off-road vehicle and took Skye and Whitehall back to the laboratory.