Why force me to respond with violence? What need is there for such hardship?

S.H.I.E.L.D.—recently renamed the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division—had been established a long time ago, tracing its origins back to the era of Howard Stark. The organization wielded tremendous power, boasting a vast number of agents whose presence could be found in every corner of the nation, and even the world.

The woman in the baseball cap was one of them.

After sending her message to her superior, Coulson, she followed behind Su Ye and ascended the stairs.

Upstairs, in the wrestling club’s office, a desk lay buried beneath a careless sprawl of banknotes. Behind it sat a middle-aged man, leisurely counting his money. Judging by his manner, he could keep at it all night, not stopping until his hands cramped.

Hearing Su Ye enter, the man looked up, frowning. “What are you doing here?”

Su Ye shrugged. “Obviously, I’m here for my payment. According to the agreement, I lasted three minutes. That’s three thousand dollars. Hand it over.”

The middle-aged man laughed. “Three thousand dollars? After you threw the whole place into chaos, the audience nearly rioted, and you still have the nerve to ask for payment? You should be glad I’m not charging you for damages!”

“We signed a contract,” Su Ye replied, his expression dark beneath the helmet.

“A contract?” The man snickered. “Don’t be naïve, kid. Do you really think something like that is worth anything? Go ahead and sue me—see if the courts help you or me.”

As expected, the hearts of capitalists were black as pitch. Earlier, nearly nine out of ten in the crowd had lost money, and with the scale of this venue, even if each lost only a hundred dollars, the organizers would pocket tens of thousands. Judging by the bitterness on those faces, though, it probably wasn’t just a hundred apiece.

Yet now, this man in front of him wasn’t even willing to hand over a hundred, while in the old movies, even Spider-Man managed to walk away with that much.

“Now, get out. Close the door behind you. Go on—scram.”

With that, the man lowered his head and resumed his counting, his dedication to the task unwavering.

Su Ye forced a bitter smile. So—gaining Spider-Man’s powers meant reliving Spider-Man’s hardships, even down to the indignities he endured? But this sort of humiliation—he had no intention of accepting it.

Why should they be allowed to change the rules on a whim, refuse to pay, declare the contract void as they pleased? If they abandoned all reason, why should he be reasonable?

“I’ve changed my mind. According to the original contract, if I lasted ten minutes, you owed me a hundred thousand dollars. But when you saw how easily I was completing it, you tore up the agreement and changed the terms. That’s a breach of contract.”

“I’m willing to overlook that breach. All you have to do now is pay me the hundred thousand dollars as stipulated. There’s about thirty thousand here on the table—how do you intend to pay the remaining seventy thousand?”

Aside from the wad in the man’s hand, a good deal of cash was scattered across the desk. It clearly didn’t add up to a hundred thousand, but seventy thousand seemed likely.

Even with just thirty thousand, haphazardly strewn as it was, it would be hard to carry without a bag. Maybe he ought to have the man arrange it neatly first.

Just as Su Ye was regretting not bringing a sack for the money, the office door swung open and a burly man with shock-white hair strode in. At the sight of Su Ye’s Iron Man helmet, the white-haired man hesitated but said nothing. Instead, he tossed a bag at the middle-aged man.

“Bag it up!”

The man’s temper flared, but one glance at the gun in the white-haired man’s hand made him fall silent. He snatched up the bag and began stuffing in the cash, all the while sneering at Su Ye.

“Not all of this is yours, Ironhead. Are you just going to watch it get stolen?”

Su Ye shook his head. “Just bag the money. Enough with the nonsense.”

“Your money?” The white-haired man turned toward Su Ye, visibly agitated, as though he might swing the gun around at any moment.

By now, the middle-aged man had nearly finished packing the cash. Su Ye smiled. “He’s right. That money is mine.”

“You—!” The burly man’s eyes widened, clearly mistaking Su Ye for a rival. The gun swung toward him.

And then he was flying through the air, crashing into the wall several meters away, where he collapsed, unconscious.

Su Ye withdrew his foot, reached out, and took the money-laden bag from the stunned middle-aged man, dusting it off.

“Your money was taken by an armed robber. I reclaimed what was mine and even helped you apprehend the thief. By that logic, you owe me your thanks.”

“But I’m not in this for gratitude. Forget thanking me. Just have the remaining seventy thousand ready—I’ll be back for it soon.”

“Oh, and your attitude just now left a sour taste—so here’s a parting gift.”

As he spoke, Su Ye’s hand darted out, seizing the man by the crown and slamming his head down onto the desk.

Thud!

Another one out cold.

“Why must you force an honest man to lose his temper?” Su Ye turned without a backward glance and strode out, heading for the stairwell.

The corridor was empty. Only when he entered the stairwell did the woman in the baseball cap emerge from the opposite end, following him inside. The gap between them was less than three seconds.

But when she stepped into the stairwell, she found it empty—no sign of Su Ye, not even a sound. She couldn’t tell if he’d gone up or down.

“Gone in three seconds? That’s…that’s fast. So, on top of super strength, he has super speed?”

Muttering to herself, she began composing a message.

She hadn’t witnessed the events in the office firsthand, but she’d heard enough to piece it together. As a woman, she secretly cheered when she learned Su Ye had intercepted the robber’s loot after being cheated out of his own payment. This kind of ruthless, underhanded boss deserved someone both decisive and capable to set him right.

But as an official agent, it was her duty to fight crime—so by rights and by duty, she had to pursue Su Ye.

Failing to catch him left her disappointed, but also somewhat relieved.

As for her report to her superior, honesty was the best policy—if her quarry moved that fast, it couldn’t be blamed on her.