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Chapter 39: The More You Guess, The Closer You Are to the Truth
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 12:48:02 +0000 UTCTony Stark is a real rich man!
Once he lends his support to the Avengers, the future of the organization will be bright.
"Hah, what a missed opportunity!" Hawkeye Barton sighed.
"You don’t want to buy into Stark Industries, too?" Black Widow Natasha Romanoff glanced at him.
Hawkeye Barton gave a sheepish smile and replied, "You know me, Nata. I’ve got a big family to support. Although the welfare at S.H.I.E.L.D is decent, it's still not enough. I also want to make some money this way!"
The group exchanged knowing looks and chuckled. The idea wasn’t only Hawkeye’s; they all had thought about it. They knew that risk was part of gambling, but predicting that they'd make a fortune—that was investment!
Despite being top-tier agents within S.H.I.E.L.D, they still lived modestly, far from the lives of true billionaires. They could only maintain the lifestyle of an elite middle class, or worse.
If this venture paid off, it could fund their retirement.
It was a shame that neither Luo Chen nor they were able to wait for Tony Stark’s capture, which would have caused the stock price to plummet. They had missed their opportunity to profit.
Nick Fury continued reading, seeing Luo Chen’s complaints about being targeted by Tony Stark. He realized that, despite not knowing about S.H.I.E.L.D initially, Stark was eventually aware of it. But for someone like Luo Chen, who knew everything, nothing should be a secret.
"Braised egghead, hahahaha!" Natasha Romanoff chuckled when she read Luo Chen’s description of Nick Fury in the diary. She recognized the term for what it was.
It referred to a popular dish in the East—an egg cooked in a savory sauce.
Looking at Fury, his already dark complexion became even darker. Luo Chen had referred to him as a "braised egghead" more than once.
Although they all joked about him in the diary, the problem was that this diary had been seen by many of Fury’s subordinates—especially Tony Stark. Fury could already imagine how Stark’s sharp tongue would make fun of him, and there was no doubt Stark would take every chance to mock him.
As the diary continued to spread, more people would read about his “braised egghead” nickname.
Fury was furious and almost felt like beating someone up.
"It's not just Fury. Phil Coulson, your nickname is the 'Head of Novice Village.' What’s that all about?" Hawkeye Barton couldn’t help but ask.
"The 'Head of Novice Village' is a term used in games, typically referring to the leader of a village where the protagonist begins their journey," Natasha explained.
Everyone thought about it but still couldn’t figure out what connection there could be between Phil Coulson and the 'head of Novice Village,' so they let it slide.
"But he seems to know Phil Coulson’s style very well. He knows you’re often pretending to be part of the FBI or CIA," Natasha teased.
Phil Coulson could only grin and say, "After all, S.H.I.E.L.D is a secret organization. Most of the time, outsiders have no clue. It's a lot less effective than the FBI or CIA!"
In reality, it wasn’t just Phil Coulson. Many S.H.I.E.L.D agents had fake FBI or CIA credentials to make their work easier. It wasn’t limited to just the FBI and CIA either—agents used fake identities from other intelligence agencies of the five major countries.
Except for the East’s impeccable Shenspear Bureau, getting through these agencies was usually smooth.
"Now it’s all out in the open. He’s exposed that I’m undercover!" Natasha groaned. "You haven’t even sent me there yet, and now it’s known by everyone. Tony Stark probably knows it too!"
Nick Fury was also concerned. He had planned to send Natasha undercover to Tony Stark’s side, both to protect him and observe him to see if he was suitable for the Avengers.
Fury knew Tony Stark wasn’t a bad person, but he also knew Stark had a major flaw—his lustful tendencies. He had been involved with countless models. That was part of the reason he’d wanted Natasha to go undercover with him.
"But one thing is really strange. How did Luo Chen catch Tony Stark’s attention?" Nick Fury wondered aloud. "He mentioned in his diary that Stark just went out to enjoy the sun. Even if Tony Stark targeted him, how would he have known he was being watched? There was no other reason for being out in the sun. What could it mean?"
"Maybe 'basking in the sun' is a code or a secret Tony Stark uncovered," Natasha speculated. "Maybe that's how he knew he was being targeted by Stark."
"Forget it. When the time comes, I’ll talk to Tony Stark face-to-face and ask him about it," Nick Fury said, dismissing the matter for now and returning to their discussion.
"Damn it, you b*****d!" Tony Stark muttered as he read on. He had seen Luo Chen’s diary entry about Nick Fury sending an undercover agent to his side, and he was immediately furious.
How could he tolerate such a thing? Even though, according to the diary, they might become allies or even comrades-in-arms in the future, Tony still couldn’t understand Fury’s actions.
"You even called me lustful! And you're thinking about Spider-Woman and that girl in your diary every day…" Tony Stark complained, still agitated. "I may be lustful, I’ll admit it. I go to nightclubs, I smoke and drink, but I’m still a good guy!"
When he returned to his mansion, Tony noticed that Luo Chen had updated his diary again. He couldn’t resist reading it, only to find Luo Chen yet again complaining about his lustful behavior.
Despite being half-furious, Tony immediately instructed J.A.R.V.I.S to write down the names mentioned in the diary.
"Head of Novice Village" Phil Coulson, "Braised Egghead" Nick Fury, and Widow Natasha Romanoff, the former Russian agent and "beautiful snake."
It was clearly a dangerous game, but Tony had never encountered a woman like her before, and now he was intrigued.
A former Russian agent—if he could win her over, it would be far more exciting than bedding some cover model.
Tony Stark, still reeling from his kidnapping experience in Afghanistan, had begun to change. His thinking was evolving, and though he had not fully transcended his previous impulses, he was beginning to see things differently.
