See You Again, Ancient One

Early the next morning, Old Wang arrived at Triskelion Headquarters with Skye and the relevant equipment.

Egghead looked over his shoulder at Old Wang, who had suddenly appeared behind him, and felt his teeth ache.

They said agents were no good—wiretapping, surveillance, and occasionally breaking into private homes in the dead of night to violate citizens’ rights.

But compared to mages, they were practically saints.

I’m in the middle of a meeting, and you just barge in like this? Could you not go so far?

"Agent Hill, have Tony develop a spatial stabilization device. The kind that covers all of Triskelion Headquarters. I don’t want someone reporting missing toilet paper or sanitary pads one day!" Egghead said grimly.

Hill: "…"

Director, isn’t that unnecessary? Besides, we don’t even understand the principles behind teleportation. Going to Tony won’t help!

And Director Wang wouldn’t steal toilet paper or sanitary pads anyway. He doesn’t even care about Sky Carriers anymore. The only things he might want are probably the Cosmic Cube and the Light Speed Engine blueprints. You should be careful!

Her superior was in a foul mood, so she could only nod in agreement. When the show demanded cooperation, she could not simply pretend not to see it.

Then she turned and left.

The meeting was not over, but it clearly could not continue. They would resume after Director Wang left.

Once everyone had departed, Egghead finally asked irritably, "Director Wang, what do you want?"

He glanced several times at the equipment that had appeared alongside Old Wang. It looked similar to the Brain Mapping and Memory Upload equipment. Had this guy sold version 1.0 last time and come to scam them with version 2.0 this time?

"Of course, it’s good news."

Old Wang smiled. "Director Fury, what are S.H.I.E.L.D.’s annual casualties like?"

Egghead frowned.

Why is he asking that?

And what is there to ask? The girl beside you breaks into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s firewall three times a day. The Shengun Bureau has backups of all information below Level 7. The casualty rate isn’t exactly classified. Why ask me?

Old Wang glanced at Skye.

Skye got the hint, cleared her throat, and rattled off a string of figures. "Over the past six months, S.H.I.E.L.D. has suffered 147 deaths and 573 serious injuries. Compensation, medical expenses, and other costs totaled 270 million dollars. Various losses caused by missions exceeded 500 million dollars, while compensation for damage exceeded 1 billion dollars…"

The numbers were startling, yet Egghead’s expression did not change.

This was an exception.

This year was unusual.

Since the battle at Triskelion Headquarters, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been going all out to purge Hydra, attacking one Hydra base after another. Naturally, the losses had been severe.

That was only because the Avengers Initiative was involved, and Director Wang’s Iron Soldiers had helped deal with the toughest target, Strucker Castle.

Otherwise, the numbers Skye had listed would have been at least ten times higher.

There had not been so many in previous years.

Whether agents or soldiers, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s people were all elite. Under normal circumstances, annual casualties would not exceed a hundred, and would most likely not even reach fifty.

"As far as I know, Hydra is still rampant, The Hand still has plenty of remnants, terrorist organizations are everywhere around the world, and the frequency of mysterious incidents has continued to rise in recent years."

Old Wang smiled. "Director Fury, even if this year is unusual, I imagine the losses caused by missions in future years will not be less than 500 million dollars annually. That’s correct, isn’t it?"

Egghead neither nodded nor shook his head.

The actual figure would definitely be higher, but he simply did not want to answer. He could not let Director Wang set the pace.

Seeing Egghead’s haughty expression, Old Wang chuckled. "How about this? Give me 100 million a year, and I’ll reduce S.H.I.E.L.D.’s losses to under 100 million dollars. What do you say?"

Egghead remained expressionless, but inwardly, he was beginning to stir.

Even for S.H.I.E.L.D., 100 million dollars was no small sum.

If they could really reduce mission-related losses to below 100 million dollars, they could save several hundred million every year—

Not just in compensation and resource losses.

They might even be able to take the opportunity to cut staff. They would not need so many people, and labor costs would drop significantly as well.

The problem was…

Was Director Wang trustworthy?

"There’s no point in talking more. Try it yourself."

Old Wang gave a look, and Skye hurriedly activated the equipment before handing Egghead a helmet.

Egghead hesitated.

This thing hasn’t been tampered with, has it? Like once I put it on, I can’t take it off, and he uses the opportunity to map my brain and steal my memories?

Probably not. Director Wang was not that low-level.

More importantly, if he really wanted to do that, there was nothing Egghead could do to resist anyway…

The moment he put on the helmet, Egghead’s expression changed sharply.

First came surprise, then curiosity, followed by delight, confusion, and finally contemplation.

A full half hour passed before he removed the helmet and looked at Old Wang with blazing eyes. "Virtual training? Using Brain Mapping to build the necessary virtual environments, then reducing personnel casualties and equipment losses in real missions through repeated training and attempts?"

"Talking to smart people is convenient."

Old Wang calmly slipped in some flattery and smiled. "So? Do you want it?"

Egghead fell silent.

He considered it for a full two minutes before asking in a low voice, "One hundred million a year is not much to you. You came here in person because you want me to help sell it, right?"

"A director is a director. You really are smart."

Old Wang blinked. "I’ll give you a commission… how about 10%?"

"Twenty percent, minimum!"

Egghead bargained. "I know people in the Department of Defense and every command headquarters. The military’s annual casualty rate is higher than S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. Compensation payments alone are astronomical. I can secure you orders of at least 2 billion dollars a year…"

He did everything he could to persuade Old Wang, only to hear him say softly:

"Deal!"

Egghead froze instantly.

Why did you agree so readily?

Is it too late to change it to 30%?

After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., Old Wang continued making deals.

Egghead certainly knew many people, but most of those with real influence were in the United States.

When it came to connections, the Security Council’s councilors were the real heavyweights.

They worked at the United Nations and had ties to leaders around the world. They also represented the five most powerful nations on Earth. Selling through them would be absurdly effective.

Old Wang had always been generous. He promised a 20% commission and won over all four councilors.

There were so many countries. If nothing unexpected happened, he could secure orders worth at least 3 billion dollars.

And that was merely the first batch.

In a few months, once everyone saw the real results brought by virtual technology, orders would definitely increase dramatically.

Virtual technology was a money tree, and the military and related agencies were merely small branches on it.

The true trunk was the general public.

"I still need to develop a virtual world that everyone can participate in as soon as possible, starting with virtual games…"

Old Wang stroked his chin.

"World of Warcraft" would definitely have to wait. "Heroes of the Storm," "Hearthstone," and "Warcraft III" were all relatively simple, with smaller settings and fewer characters, making them easier to create.

The problem was that Heroes had never become popular. Old Wang had not played much of it, and he had never visited worlds other than Warcraft, making it difficult to develop.

If he had to choose between "Hearthstone" and "Warcraft III," then "Warcraft III" was clearly the more reliable choice.

Once "Warcraft III" became widespread and won the public’s affection, it would pave the way for "World of Warcraft."

Besides, developing "Hearthstone" first had another drawback—it could easily spoil the story.

Old Wang was well versed in the art of leaving people wanting more, so he decided to develop "Warcraft III" once he finished making deals.

"Only one left!"

Old Wang was just about to open a portal to Kamar-Taj.

Suddenly, he sensed a familiar spatial fluctuation.

It was in New York.

He hurriedly opened a portal to New York and saw a gleaming bald head.