"Long time no see, Mr. Coulson. But I imagine you're not very happy to see me at this moment." Zhou Yi personally welcomed Coulson, who had rushed over. When he led Coulson to the study, Serana had already thoughtfully brought two cups of coffee.
"Thank you, Young Miss Serana." Coulson first bowed slightly to Serana in thanks, then responded to Zhou Yi. "Although my Superior has been furious about this matter, and has been scowling for over a week, I honestly don't care about his expression anymore. So seeing you, I'm very happy. Thank you for what you did for the people of Paris."
"Wow! That's quite a surprise." Zhou Yi smiled, very pleased with Coulson's statement. "Should I say you're a special Agent, or should I say I have a unique charm? To make an Advanced Agent like you stand on my side?"
"Perhaps a bit of both." Coulson had a playful smile on his face. "But I believe the former is more important. Not everyone can be like me, putting themselves in others' shoes, especially when I'm in such a unique line of work."
"Alright, alright. Let's talk business. I'm here to ask for your help. Or rather, to ask for the help of that Department of Homeland Strategic Attack behind you. That's what it's called, right? Honestly, you really should change your name. Who can remember a name like that?"
"We've already changed our name, Mr. Zhou." Coulson replied with an unchanging smile. "We're now called S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D.. The suggestion to change the name was made by your good friend, Mr. Tony Stark. After a unanimous internal decision, we changed to our current name."
"Alright, S.H.I.E.L.D.. Hmm, that sounds much better." Zhou Yi shrugged, repeating his previous topic to the now serious Coulson. "As I just said, I need S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help."
"That's absolutely no problem, Mr. Zhou. But you know, everything comes at a price. We can provide help, but in return, you'll also have to pay a certain price." Coulson agreed to Zhou Yi's request without much deliberation. For him, establishing a cooperative relationship with Dawn Knight at this time was very important, especially after Dawn Knight had displayed such terrifying strength.
"A price? Still a price? I thought with our relationship, asking about a small issue wouldn't be a problem." Zhou Yi said in a rather helpless tone. He genuinely hoped to get some information from Coulson for free.
"Minor rumors are no problem with our relationship. But if it concerns classified information, or requires the use of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal manpower and resources, then I can only apologize. After all, I'm just an employee." Coulson appeared even more innocent, responding to Zhou Yi's request with a very clear statement.
Zhou Yi had already anticipated this answer. S.H.I.E.L.D. was, after all, an intelligence organization, not a charity. It would be impossible to get them to exert effort without paying some price.
"Alright, what do you need?" Zhou Yi asked.
Coulson shook his head slightly, asking back with a smile.
"No, no, no, it should be what kind of help do you need from us? Only after knowing your needs can we determine what kind of price you need to pay. After all, we still want to establish a cooperative relationship with you, and foolishly overcharging is not something a smart person should do."
Silently gazing into Coulson's eyes, Zhou Yi carefully observed the man's gaze. From his eyes, Zhou Yi saw only sincerity. And this sincerity was enough to make him lower some of his guard.
"Very good, Mr. Coulson. A man like you deserves my friendship."
"That's my honor." Coulson's face showed a surprised expression. "To gain the friendship of the Dawn Knight is enough to brag about to my friends for a while. Shouldn't we take a photo as proof or something? You know, in my line of work, there are many who like to rely on evidence."
Coulson's words carried a hint of jest, which made the atmosphere a bit more lively. Of course, it also made the subsequent negotiation of interests a bit easier.
"As long as you don't put something like that in front of Young Miss Maria Hill, I think it shouldn't be a problem. Of course, I'll have to put on my armor first."
At the mention of armor, Coulson's face twitched a few times. He had suffered a great loss in the last transaction. The few armors S.H.I.E.L.D. acquired from Zhou Yi, aside from being made of rare Materials and having stronger impact resistance, had no other use whatsoever. And their exorbitant cost directly silenced those who had the idea of popularizing the dawn armor in the Military. Spending millions of U.S. dollars to equip such things was a complete waste of taxpayers' money. Although this was something they had always done, they didn't dare to be so blatant.
Of course, Coulson also received a lot of reprimands because of this matter. Although Director Nick Fury had pushed back on the disciplinary action, the verbal admonishments were still unpleasant, especially when they came from Nick Fury, who always enjoyed ridiculing people.
"Of course, but I think we should address the main issue first, shouldn't we?" Coulson directly changed the subject. Mentioning armor again would remind him of Nick Fury's nagging, which was not something worth recalling.
"Alright, you call the shots." Although he didn't understand why Coulson had changed the direction of the conversation, Zhou Yi still accepted his statement and began to explain his needs.
"My requests are very simple. First, I need to know who attacked Professor Charles Xavier, the headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The more detailed this information, the better, preferably telling me directly where Professor Charles is now! Second, I need S.H.I.E.L.D. to step in and stop the President's unfavorable bill against Mutants. These are my requests."
"The first request should be no problem. Our intelligence channels should quickly find the answer you need," Coulson pondered for a moment before replying. "But for the second, I can only say I'm sorry. We have no authority to interfere with the President's orders, even if his term is almost over."
"It's not necessary to stop him from passing the bill. As long as it can be delayed until I rescue Professor Charles, that's also acceptable."
"I need a little time to report this situation. This matter needs to be decided by Director Fury. Also, as a friend, I need to caution you that your relationship with Mutants is too close. This is not a good thing for your public identity." Coulson stood up. He needed to find a place to report Zhou Yi's request. At the same time, he also advised Zhou Yi as a friend.
He knew about Zhou Yi's family situation and his affection for Charisse. But to provide assistance to the enormous group of Mutants just because of these reasons was a bit too much. One must know that a considerable portion of Mutants were extremist racial elements like Magneto, posing a huge threat to the security of human society.
"I think I've chosen the correct Dao, Phil. But still, thank you for your kindness."
Zhou Yi subtly rejected Coulson's advice.
He had been planning for so long, even risking his life. There was no way he could choose to give up at this point. Of course, he wouldn't explicitly tell an outsider like Coulson about such things.
Coulson spread his hands. He had fulfilled his duties as a friend. Naturally, there was no need to dwell on the matter any further. After all, their friendship had not reached such a strong level. So he directly pushed open the door and went outside to report their transaction.
Not long after, he returned and gave Zhou Yi the answer.
"Director Fury has agreed to your request. We can delay for two weeks. After two weeks, you will need to persuade President on your own."
"Okay, so what about the information I asked for?"
"Currently, we only know that a special department under the Military made the move. They seem to possess peculiar abilities that can resist Mr. Charles's psychic powers. Furthermore, they have highly elite special forces. The information we received indicates that Professor Charles and his student, Mr. Scott Summers, were subdued in less than a minute. At the time, they seemed to be planning to take a train directly to Washington, but they were ambushed midway."
"Do you know who launched the attack? And what did they do to Professor Charles? Is he still alive, and if so, where is he imprisoned?"
"Professor Charles is still alive. Our video records show a group of people taking two unconscious individuals onto a Military helicopter. One of the unconscious individuals was in a wheelchair. However, we don't know their exact location. The Military has always had a grudge against us, and it's difficult for us to get core information on such highly classified special units. Currently, all we know is that the head of this unit is Major General William Stryker. He was involved in early Military Mutant experiments and is a thorough anti-Mutant extremist!"
Upon receiving this news, Zhou Yi fell silent. He needed some time to process the information. Coulson, being perceptive, remained quiet, simply enjoying Serana's coffee while waiting for Zhou Yi's reaction.
After a while, Zhou Yi spoke.
"Thank you for the information, Phil. I think I know what to do next. So, tell me your conditions. I imagine, as smart people, you wouldn't make any excessive demands, would you?"
"Of course, trust us. We're making the most suitable and fairest deal." Coulson smiled and winked. "Our request is simple: we hope you can accompany one of our Agents to infiltrate Raccoon City after Christmas, using your public identity. You know the information you sent me; those things have attracted a lot of attention."
"But Umbrella's security measures for Raccoon City are very strict, and it's difficult for our spies to get in with ordinary identities. So we thought of you. Use your public identity to negotiate with Umbrella. We know Umbrella has some major financial issues recently, and they definitely won't refuse an investor with a large amount of capital. Our people will then use your identity as a cover to gather enough evidence. As long as there's enough evidence, Umbrella's doomsday won't be too far away."
"Just using my public identity?" Zhou Yi smiled; this was a debatable point.
"Ideally, only your public identity. Of course, if an emergency arises, we'll need a hero to save the day, won't we?"
Coulson asked back. Zhou Yi thought about this answer for a moment, then extended his right hand.
"Pleasure working with you!" Their hands clasped together, signifying that a behemoth had entered the attack against Umbrella.