c3 – Nick Fury's Attention
Meanwhile, Nick Fury, seeing that the Grim Reaper had agreed to meet, rubbed his temples, trying to steady his excitement and caution.
"Sir, how many of us will be going the day after tomorrow?"
"Based on our speculation, he's most likely male, right?"
"Should we bring Agent Natasha along?"
Phil Coulson, who had been standing nearby inside a secured facility of S.H.I.E.L.D., asked calmly.
Not many people were aware of the plan to contact the mercenary known as Grim Reaper, but Natasha Romanoff was one of the few informed.
If this Grim Reaper truly matched their analysis and possessed superhuman abilities, Fury intended to evaluate whether he could be recruited into the Avengers Initiative.
After all, paying twenty million dollars just for a meeting was already an extraordinary commitment something S.H.I.E.L.D. would not do lightly unless the potential return justified the risk.
"You can come with me."
"Agent Natasha is still investigating Harvey Ambellaca, so there's no need to involve her in this for now."
Fury tapped his fingers lightly on the table before giving his decision.
Harvey Ambellaca was also a person of interest.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already conducted a background investigation on this young billionaire who had risen suddenly within the past two years.
According to the records, Harvey Ambellaca was an orphan an Asian American who had grown up in a modest orphanage in New York City. His early life was unremarkable, aside from the usual hardships associated with limited resources and social isolation.
At the age of nineteen, however, everything changed.
He won a multi-million-dollar lottery. After paying approximately 5.7 million in taxes, he used 4.3 million to invest in Zero Technology, becoming an early shareholder.
From that point forward, Harvey's financial trajectory became almost unbelievable.
Zero Technology attracted further investment, and Harvey continued to receive substantial dividends. Using these funds, he expanded into real estate and the stock market, demonstrating an uncanny ability to predict market movements an ability that, in Fury's eyes, bordered on precognition, something not unheard of in a world that already contained enhanced individuals and mutants.
In less than three years, by the age of twenty-one, Harvey had transformed himself into a well-known young billionaire in New York, with assets exceeding four billion dollars.
Luxury estates, high-end vehicles, and expensive collections were all part of his lifestyle.
Despite being relatively low-profile compared to public figures like Tony Stark, Harvey still attracted considerable attention, particularly from the social elite and countless admirers.
On paper, Harvey Ambellaca was clean.
No criminal record, no suspicious transactions that could be definitively proven illegal, and consistent tax compliance making it difficult for S.H.I.E.L.D. to justify direct intervention.
Under normal circumstances, he would simply be classified as an exceptionally lucky individual who capitalized on opportunity.
However, in a world where extraterrestrial threats like those linked to Skrulls and hidden superhuman phenomena were known realities, Fury could not dismiss the possibility that Harvey's rise was anything but ordinary.
What truly stood out was not just his initial luck, but the precision of every decision that followed.
His investments never failed.
His timing was flawless.
And his overall trajectory suggested a level of foresight that went beyond financial intuition.
In addition, Harvey possessed an unusually large appetite his daily food consumption alone exceeded what most people could afford.
Yet outwardly, he presented himself simply as a wealthy young man indulging in luxury, making it difficult to identify anything definitively abnormal.
Because of this, Fury had authorized Natasha Romanoff to conduct a subtle, long-term investigation.
Direct action was not an option.
Even for S.H.I.E.L.D., there were limits to authority especially when dealing with a high-profile, law-abiding taxpayer.
Unless Harvey committed a crime, detainment or coercion was out of the question.
However, if Natasha discovered evidence of enhanced abilities or other anomalies, S.H.I.E.L.D. would move quickly to recruit him.
After all, threats to Earth could emerge at any moment from advanced weapons to cosmic invasions and every potential asset mattered.
"But I've heard Agent Natasha's progress isn't going well," Coulson added.
"It seems like a dead end. She's not exactly in the best mood right now."
Coulson was well aware of the situation.
Under normal circumstances, Natasha's skills made infiltration effortless. With her experience, charm, and adaptability, gaining access to the inner circles of wealthy individuals was rarely difficult.
Logically, someone like Harvey who owned multiple estates and properties should have employed staff such as butlers or personal assistants, creating multiple points of entry.
But Harvey was different.
He avoided hiring permanent staff and rarely allowed outsiders into his private spaces.
Most of his time was spent alone in his estate, with no obvious routines or patterns that could be exploited.
The only opportunity came from his frequent visits to restaurants and hotels across the city.
Even then, his behavior remained unpredictable.
He was not selective about food sometimes dining repeatedly at the same high-end establishment, other times suddenly appearing in small, unassuming locations such as food stalls in Chinatown.
This lack of pattern made surveillance difficult, even for someone as skilled as Natasha Romanoff.
After eating, he would go straight home, only occasionally bringing a stunning woman along for the night.
As a result, Natasha Romanoff had spent half a month infiltrating various restaurants across Hell's Kitchen and other parts of New York City without ever successfully encountering Harvey Ambellaca.
Although Natasha was highly skilled at using her beauty and charm to approach targets as she had done countless times in missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. such tactics were meaningless if she couldn't even meet him in the first place.
"Then I'll trouble you, Coulson… actually, forget it. I'll inform her myself."
Nick Fury, hearing about Natasha's frustration and the lack of progress, paused briefly before changing his mind.
Having Natasha present at the meeting would also provide an additional layer of security, especially if negotiations with the mysterious Grim Reaper took an unexpected turn.
Fury then sent a direct message to Natasha, instructing her to temporarily suspend her current assignment, take a day to rest, and rendezvous with him and Phil Coulson the day after tomorrow at a secure location near Washington, D.C..
Meanwhile,
Natasha, having just finished another uneventful shift working undercover as a waitress, returned to her temporary apartment.
When she saw Fury's message, her previously irritated mood eased slightly.
Over the past two weeks, she had rotated through multiple restaurant jobs, carefully selecting locations Harvey was known to frequent, yet she had failed to cross paths with him even once.
The situation was beginning to test even her patience.
She had already begun considering alternative approaches such as first obtaining Harvey Ambellaca's precise location through surveillance, then infiltrating his residence directly to initiate contact.
However, such a method carried risks.
Unlike casual encounters, deliberately approaching him in a controlled environment could easily raise suspicion, especially given Harvey's apparent caution and lack of predictable behavior.
What puzzled Natasha the most was Harvey's lifestyle.
For someone of his wealth and status, he rarely hosted large social gatherings no cocktail parties, no extravagant galas, no high-profile events where influential figures and social elites gathered.
Even compared to someone like Tony Stark, who was notorious for lavish parties and public appearances, Harvey seemed unusually reclusive.
If he had followed such a social pattern, Natasha would have had countless opportunities to infiltrate and establish contact naturally.
But targets rarely behaved as expected.
Suppressing her frustration, Natasha adjusted her mindset and prepared to rest.
As for why Fury had suddenly called her back, she didn't dwell on it.
Whatever the reason, she would find out soon enough.
.....