"Hahaha, don't worry, eat as much as you want. Even ten more portions wouldn't be a problem!"
Nick Fury waved his hand upon hearing this.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was currently developing and expanding rapidly, with too many places requiring funds. His current funds were somewhat tight, but it wasn't to the point where he had to economize on a meal.
"Really? Mr. Fury, you're such a good person. Waiter, bring me a hundred portions of those two dishes first. Just to whet my appetite."
Hawking's face instantly broke into a brilliant smile.
An hour later, Nick Fury looked at Hawking, who was still devouring his food at an undiminished pace, and his eyelids couldn't help but twitch a few times.
He ate too much, simply too much! Even a pig couldn't eat this much!
This was a high-end French restaurant, known for its exquisite dishes, high prices, and atmosphere. With Hawking eating like this, he was truly going to bleed money today.
It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, but the money spent on this meal could have armed a squad of elite Agents.
Yet, he couldn't say anything. At first, the boy was embarrassed and only ordered twenty apple black puddings and pan-fried sole. It was he who told the boy to eat as much as he wanted.
Now, realizing what happened, he was certainly tricked by this kid.
There was nothing he could do. Even though he knew Hawking was mentally mature and not an ordinary child, his childish appearance still provided a natural disguise, making it difficult for people to be wary.
Most importantly, he truly hadn't expected Hawking to eat to this extent.
"Beep beep beep beep."
Just as everyone's attention was focused on the ravenously eating Hawking, Nick Fury's communicator on his waist suddenly rang.
"It's Hill."
Seeing the caller ID, Nick Fury pressed the answer button.
But a moment later, his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly stood up from his seat.
"What? You said Colonel Stryker died of poisoning?!"
His words also caused everyone present to show expressions of surprise.
However, while the surprise was the same, the object of their surprise was different.
Everyone else was surprised by Stryker's death, while Magneto and Mystique were surprised that Hawking had actually accomplished this flawless poisoning.
If they hadn't known in advance that Hawking was responsible, they truly wouldn't have connected Stryker's death to Hawking at all.
However, both of them were seasoned veterans. Despite their surprise, they didn't look towards Hawking, preventing the Agents present from noticing anything unusual.
"Excuse me, I have matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first. Coulson will settle the bill after you all finish eating."
After a troubled conversation, Nick Fury turned off his communicator.
According to Agent Hill's report, Stryker suddenly died of poisoning during an Agent's interrogation.
Because immediately upon receiving Stryker, they had conducted a full-body examination, ruling out the possibility of Professor X and Magneto, among others, having poisoned him beforehand.
Moreover, these individuals were still eating with him now.
Therefore, Hill suspected that one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents who had later come into contact with Stryker had taken the opportunity to poison him.
As for who it was, Hill, being unsure, had all of them arrested and interrogated. The surprising result was the discovery that one of the Agents, freshly graduated from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, seemed to be a spy planted by a secret organization within S.H.I.E.L.D..
Thus, the current situation was even more serious than Stryker's death; S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal affairs were compromised, and he needed to return to deal with it as soon as possible.
"No problem, Director Fury and everyone, please go attend to your matters. We'll settle the bill ourselves later."
Professor X replied with a smile.
For him, the money Hawking spent on this meal was truly nothing. There was no need to trick Nick Fury, with whom he had just established good relations, over such a small matter.
"How can I let the guests pay? Coulson, stay behind. Everyone else, return to headquarters with me."
Nick Fury's face stiffened for a moment. He did not agree with Professor X's suggestion; as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he could not afford to lose face like that.
At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel at how incredibly wealthy the Xavier Family, built over generations, truly was.
As Nick Fury led Captain Marvel and others hastily out of the restaurant, Alexander Pierce, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and currently a Minister in the Triskelion Security Council, was also having a headache.
"Sitwell, you said Hill is interrogating a newly converted Agent?"
"Minister, this was an accident. Fortunately, that Agent doesn't yet know we are HYDRA. It was just for money…"
Sitwell, a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, quickly reported all the details.
As a primary HYDRA recruiter, he annually organized his subordinates to recruit and convert suitable Agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy graduates to join HYDRA.
However, for secrecy, these most junior HYDRA spies did not know their organization was HYDRA.
The Agent arrested by Hill was one that a HYDRA subordinate of his had just converted this year.
It was just bad luck that he got entangled in the Stryker poisoning and murder case, and couldn't withstand the interrogation, leading to the current awkward situation.
"Nick Fury is very shrewd and cautious. Before he returns, quickly deal with your subordinate, cut this line, and then redirect the clues towards some of the terrorist organizations we've disguised.
Also, halt all activities during this period, including those targeting Mutants."
Pierce paced back and forth in his office for a while, then quickly issued a series of commands.
He handed the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director to Nick Fury, rather than a HYDRA member under his command, mainly because he felt Nick Fury was too outstanding and capable.
Although not HYDRA, some of his philosophies and methods coincided with HYDRA's.
Indeed, in just a few short years, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scale had expanded several times compared to when it was under his control.
This also caused HYDRA, parasitic within S.H.I.E.L.D., to grow significantly.
But at the same time, he also had to be vigilant not to let Nick Fury discover HYDRA's existence. So now, everything had to prioritize appeasing Nick Fury, and other matters could be set aside.
Currently, Nick Fury was the most valuable asset to them.
However, this incident truly was a case of 'sitting at home and having trouble fall from the sky.'
Why would he send someone to kill Stryker?
He was also waiting for Nick Fury to interrogate Stryker for Mutant intelligence and those experimental data.
Anyway, anything Nick Fury extracted could be shared with HYDRA for research.
Unfortunately, he had to take the blame for this, whether he wanted to or not. He absolutely couldn't let the situation escalate and allow Nick Fury to discover that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal affairs were compromised.
It was best to steer Stryker's death towards those fictional terrorist organizations hostile to S.H.I.E.L.D..
Even he was now wondering who exactly poisoned Colonel Stryker.
Hawking, who was currently devouring his food, had no idea that his use of the Deformation Curse to poison Stryker had almost prematurely detonated the HYDRA bomb...