บท 1: Chapter 1: Marvel and the Mercenary
It was 10 PM, yet New York, the city that never sleeps, was still glowing under the night sky.
Neon lights illuminated the surroundings, making it bright even in the depths of night. A tall, handsome man in a black cloak was flying low, just a hundred meters above the city.
His speed was incredible, yet no one noticed him. It was as if he had blended seamlessly into the darkness.
In the middle of New York, there was an unmistakable building with the words "Stark Industries" emblazoned on it.
The man took a deep look at the tower. It wasn't his first time seeing this iconic building, but each time he saw it, it reminded him.
This wasn't the world he once lived in. It was the Marvel world, filled with superheroes, supernatural forces, and constant danger.
If he were just an ordinary person without any powers, he'd have to think about getting far, far away.
After all, New York in the Marvel world was no place for ordinary people.
Not only that but even if you managed to stay, you'd have to pray that in a few years, you wouldn't be snapped out of existence by a certain purple villain.
Fortunately, he wasn't just an ordinary person in this life.
He had awakened to the Void system from League of Legends, giving him a fighting chance in this dangerous universe.
The man flew a bit further before descending in front of a luxurious estate in Brooklyn.
With practiced ease, he unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
At that moment, his phone buzzed rapidly.
He glanced at the new messages that had come in.
"The Reaper, after deducting a 5% handling fee, the remaining amount has been safely transferred to your account. Looking forward to working with you again."
"Dear Mr. Harvey Amberlock, ZeroTech has transferred $14.25 million to your account."
"Your current balance is $163.24 million."
Harvey Amberlock smiled as he looked at the string of zeros in his account.
No one could look at such a number without feeling a surge of happiness.
In his previous life, the man's name was Chu Wei, a native of China.
But in this life, he was Harvey Amberlock, an orphan.
The only person who had ever shown him any kindness was the head of the orphanage.
Although life in the orphanage wasn't rich or comfortable, it was enough to see him through to adulthood.
Two years ago, when he awakened to the Void system, he gained the abilities of Kha'Zix, the Voidreaver, from League of Legends.
This gave him the power to blend into darkness, allowing him to turn invisible in any shadow, easily slice through steel with sharp claws, and possess extraordinary physical strength and near-superhuman leaping ability.
Harvey also inherited the long lifespan of the Void creatures, and most importantly, he gained the ability to absorb any form of energy, evolving as a result.
With such powers, Harvey was not about to fear or hide from them.
This was the Marvel universe, after all. Being an ordinary human here meant that at any moment, you could die in the crossfire of a battle between heroes and villains.
His first thought was how to make money and improve his quality of life.
Thanks to his nearly permanent invisibility, he could sneak into any place undetected during the night.
Sure, he could rob wealthy people or even banks, but that would be illegal.
It wasn't that Harvey couldn't expose his identity, but he didn't want to spend his days being hunted by the FBI.
Ultimately, Harvey chose to become a mercenary.
As long as the price was right, he'd take on any job and see it through to completion.
Depending on the task, you could call him a hitman or a bodyguard.
While it was technically illegal, it didn't affect his day-to-day life.
After over two years of mercenary work, his life had improved drastically.
He bought numerous estates in full and had access to all the food and resources he needed to further his evolution.
As for the orphanage, he donated $1 million, paying off the debt of gratitude.
It wasn't that he couldn't give more, but that was enough to settle the kindness shown to him during those years.
Even in the darkness, Harvey could see clearer than most could during the day.
He walked through the long hallway and into the living room, turning on the lights and pulling a bottle of fine wine from the cabinet. He poured himself a glass and sat down on his luxurious sofa.
With a tablet in hand, he logged onto a dark website to browse the latest job offers—assassinations, protection details, and even assignments to destroy specific locations.
Harvey would take on any job, as long as it didn't involve killing Asians. Even military jobs were fair game.
There were plenty of dirty deeds that needed doing—things too unsavory for the light of day. And for those, mercenaries like Harvey were the perfect solution.
He was scrolling through the site when he stumbled upon an intriguing mission.
The job was to head to Afghanistan in a month and kill someone under military protection, with the base reward being $10 million. Depending on the level of success, the payout could reach as high as $50 million.
The detailed knowledge about the target's itinerary made Harvey certain who the target was.
Looking at the year in the corner of the tablet—2008—he knew exactly who the mission was targeting.
Even though the mission involved killing someone under military protection, the reward proved how serious the job was.
If you completed it, you could retire comfortably.
But Harvey wasn't interested.
He knew that Tony Stark was about to embark on his journey as Iron Man, and that made him think about whether all of his properties were properly insured.
Having worked as a mercenary for over two years, Harvey had taken on some large jobs. With a few more like this one, he could easily double his wealth.
He wasn't just sitting on $163 million. Ever since he found out this was the Marvel universe and gained his powers, he had been preparing.
He bought shares in Stark Industries, purchased various properties, and set up a series of insurance policies.
Once Tony Stark became Iron Man, New York would become a very dangerous place. But it would also be a great time to make money.
Harvey would make sure he was fully prepared—not only to claim massive insurance payouts but also to exploit Stark for financial gain.
All it would cost him was a temporary move to one of his other estates in a different city.
Thinking about the potential windfall, Harvey smiled.
He skipped the Iron Man job and continued browsing other contracts when a private message appeared on his screen.
"Reaper, we have a special job for you."
Harvey thought for a moment. In the mercenary world, getting a job specifically assigned to you wasn't common, but if you had a big enough reputation and a near-perfect track record, it would happen occasionally.
And these personalized jobs usually pay extremely well.
His last job in Afghanistan—assassinating a high-ranking official—was worth $25 million.
"You know my rates, right?" Harvey replied.
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
A one-eyed, bald, black man read the message. He noticed that the Reaper didn't ask about the specifics of the job, but instead went straight to discussing the fee—showing a level of confidence that bordered on arrogance.
Nick Fury had done his homework on the Reaper before reaching out.
No one knew the real identity of the mercenary called the Reaper. He always wore a black cloak, and his only rule was that he didn't take any jobs under $10 million. His success rate was astonishing.
Contracts worth millions were often the kind that required risking your life—jobs where even teams of mercenaries could struggle to succeed.
Sometimes, the targets were protected by thousands of armed soldiers or locked away in highly fortified locations.
Even SHIELD's top agents couldn't guarantee a 100% success rate on these missions.
Yet, the Reaper had never failed.
No matter how tight the security, how many troops were deployed, or what kind of defenses were in place, once the Reaper took the job, the target would end up mysteriously dead, as if by some supernatural force.
Within two years, the Reaper had become a legendary figure in the mercenary world.
There was even a saying: "Once the Reaper accepts your bounty, you might as well sit back and sip some wine, because your target is as good as dead."
These stories had reached Fury's ears, piquing his interest in meeting the Reaper.
However, even with all of SHIELD's resources, Fury couldn't uncover any more details about Reaper's true identity beyond the publicly available information.
To contact the Reaper, Fury had to offer a minimum of $20 million, with no upper limit depending on the difficulty of the task. He also had to be ready to pay a $10 million advance.
Twenty million dollars—it wasn't pocket change, even for SHIELD.
But Fury was willing to jump through hoops, using all sorts of fake plans to convince higher-ups to release the funds.
If he could recruit the Reaper for the Avengers Initiative, the price would be worth it.
After the funds were secured, Fury waited until the Reaper had completed his latest job in Afghanistan before contacting him through the dark web.
"I'm aware of your rates," Fury replied. "But I don't know if this will offend you… Before we discuss the details and payment, we'd like to meet in person."
"This job is a bit… special."
Fury hesitated for a moment before sending the message.
"Just make sure the money's ready. Time and place?"
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