While global support was being coordinated for S.H.I.E.L.D., Niel was enjoying his first dinner in this new world.
The meal wasn’t lavish, as agents needed to remain inconspicuous, so the safe house typically stocked various military-grade, compact rations.
Despite this, Niel found the food incredibly delicious. Back at Winter’s Home, most people’s meals consisted of sawdust-laden broth, which was unappetizing and prone to causing illnesses. The leader didn’t want to provide better food, but the hunters’ inconsistent daily catches meant that not rationing could easily lead to shortages, riots, and dissatisfaction.
Sitting by the window, eating his quick-heated meal and sipping hot tea, Niel’s face was full of contentment. If it weren’t for the pressing responsibilities from another world urging him forward, he would have loved for such days to continue indefinitely.
As he savored his meal, Niel suddenly noticed unusual activity with his surveillance target—an unusually high number of people entering and leaving the building.
Quickly putting down his meal, he grabbed his binoculars. From afar, he saw many individuals in bulletproof vests, armed to the teeth, emerging from various streets and converging at the building’s entrance.
This activity alarmed ordinary passersby, causing many pedestrians and vehicles to detour upon seeing the gathering.
As the crowd grew, Niel took out his phone to report to his superiors, but a priority command flashed on the screen: a summons for all field agents not involved in the research base rescue operation to assemble. Niel was among those summoned.
After reporting the surveillance situation to his superiors in a brief text, Niel finished his meal in a few big bites, armed himself with all available weapons, locked the safe house from the inside, and left through the secret passage.
As Niel made his move, Kingpin stood on the rooftop opposite the safe house, watching. Although Niel had left without altering any lights or other indicators that might expose his departure, Kingpin’s experience told him the watcher had left.
“Boss, the guys are all gathered. What’s the plan? Where to?” a subordinate quietly asked behind Kingpin.
Kingpin pointed at a car across from their hideout, “Spread the men out across the nearby streets and tail that car. No one makes a move until I say so.”
The subordinate looked through the window just in time to see Niel dash out of the adjacent building and jump into the car. After confirming the target, the subordinate quickly relayed Kingpin’s orders.
Once in the car, a screen lit up, showing navigation. It displayed two routes: one tracking Loki’s group and the other showing Niel’s current location.
Before coming to this world, Niel had only driven old, vintage cars. Despite having some agent memories, my hands-on experience was different. A bit nervous, Niel started the engine, and the car shot out of the parking spot, almost hitting a black Jeep in front.
“Boss, that kid we’re supposed to follow almost hit us,” said a guy with a rat-like face after glancing at Niel’s license plate.
“Damn it, I saw it. You don’t have to tell me,” grumbled the person in the passenger seat. “Does this guy know whose turf he’s on?!”
“Boss, calm down. The big boss said no action without orders!” the driver quickly intervened.
“I know. Without the order, he’d already be full of holes. Make sure you tail him properly,” the boss settled back in his seat, wary of crossing Kingpin.
Niel wiped the sweat off his forehead, thankful the brakes hadn’t failed. Adjusting his steering, he eased up on the accelerator and continued, briefly apologizing to the car he nearly hit.
“Boss, that kid apologized to us.”
“Apologized? That’s a provocation! Follow him!” the boss snapped, hitting his subordinate on the head and pointing at Niel’s car.
After some time, Niel got the hang of driving. It’s not hard, but avoiding violations is tricky. Luckily, agents on missions don’t worry about traffic rules.
Soon, Niel noticed the screen showing Loki’s car hadn’t been updated for a while.
“All units, the target has disabled the tracking device. Begin a wide search as planned. Report any sighting of the suspect vehicle immediately!” the superior said through the earpiece.
Niel had expected this. After all, who was Hawkeye? A top S.H.I.E.L.D. agent wouldn’t be unable to handle a tracking device.
Fortunately, the route from the research base to New York City was relatively remote, and Loki’s group wouldn’t have many chances to switch cars. So, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began patrolling the outskirts of New York City.
After half an hour of searching with no leads, it was as if Loki’s car had vanished. Niel could only circle around with Kingpin’s men in tow.
Yes, Niel had noticed the large group tailing him. No one is stupid; a couple of cars tailing might be ignored, but a convoy? And especially in sparsely populated outskirts?
“Boss, he seems to have noticed us and is leading us in circles,” a subordinate told Kingpin, looking at the electronic map.
“I know,” Kingpin pondered. “Send someone to force him to stop. I want to know what orders he received!”
“Got it!” the subordinate replied eagerly. Interrogation was their forte, much better than surveillance.
“No harm,” Kingpin added.
“Huh?” The subordinate was puzzled. How do you get intel from an agent without force?
Kingpin turned coldly to his subordinate, “Do as I say. Don’t mess this up.”
“Yes, boss,” the subordinate answered reluctantly, puzzled by how to extract information without violence.
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