Fang Yuan broke the atmosphere on purpose.
There is a saying that a small favor breeds gratitude, but a large one breeds resentment; there's also the phrase 'gratitude as heavy as a mountain.'
When kindness is too great, it can make people feel lost and pressured, which would instead distance the relationship between Fang Yuan, Tony, and the others.
So, after Tony realized the immense debt of gratitude he owed Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan took the initiative to show his unreliable side, immediately relieving Tony of his psychological burden and making him feel much closer to Fang Yuan.
Being friends and family is better than being a benefactor; the debt of gratitude isn't going anywhere anyway.
In the end, Tony didn't call him Uncle Fang, but he became very close to Fang Yuan.
Next was the Stark family reunion time. Pepper, as the girlfriend, stayed with them, while Fang Yuan and Rhodes didn't disturb them and temporarily left.
Rhodes had to escort Ivan out to hand him over to the authorities. Ivan didn't look panicked at all; if he could escape from prison once, he could escape a second time.
He only needed to follow his Master's orders.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan experienced a surge in popularity. Those he saved were all high-society figures, and he had cleverly utilized the added prestige of being a Kamar-Taj Outer Disciple. The guests weren't promoting Fang Yuan himself, but the opportunity to come into contact with magic, which made their enthusiasm completely different.
Once they returned and leaked even a bit of information, it would radiate to a lot of people.
So in just one day, Fang Yuan's fame increased by dozens of points.
[Name: Fang Yuan]
[Level: C+]
[Reputation: 42 (Slightly Famous)]
[Unlock Rewards: Tier 1 Reward (Claimable)]
[Tier 1 Reward: While being the Stark family's greatest benefactor, the host is also the mastermind behind the attack on the Stark family. Error Halo level increased to B.]
[Error Halo (Rank B): When the outside world's impression of the host deviates from reality, obtain an attribute boost. Current attribute boost: 7%/25%.]
Fang Yuan was very happy that the halo level had increased.
But the description was too much, and the Black King was very angry.
"What do you mean 'mastermind'? I didn't actually kill anyone. At most, I demolished a Villa and let someone beat up Iron Man."
Fang Yuan stood with hands on his hips and spoke loudly: "If I hadn't set the damage within a controllable range, who knows how much Iron Man would have lost? I should be called the 'Behind-the-Scenes Guardian'!"
However, the panel could only perform simple Q&A and couldn't argue with Fang Yuan, so the label of 'mastermind' was stuck on him.
"This is too much. I clearly just wanted to find a channel with exposure to farm some reputation." Fang Yuan's heart suddenly stirred. "Right, the Stark Expo is about to be held soon..."
[Error Halo current attribute boost: 8%/25%]
(▼ヘ▼#)
Slander, it's all slander!
"Ring ring ring!"
Fang Yuan picked up the phone; it was Howard calling, asking him to go see how Vought Corporation was developing now, because Howard knew Fang Yuan was quite interested in this.
The Stark family was now living in the Stark Tower in New York, and Fang Yuan had personally opened the Portal.
Although he didn't know why Fang Yuan was specifically interested in an entertainment company, what Fang Yuan cared about was what Howard took to heart.
Normally, Fang Yuan would have readily accepted, but he knew today was special. There was no way he could go see which cute young ladies were in the company.
Sure enough, Howard soon said over the phone: "Uh, wait, we have a visitor. It's... S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Voices came through the communication.
"Who did you say you were?"
"Mr. Stark, I am the Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Nick Fury. Of course, we go by S.H.I.E.L.D. now."
"My name is Phil Coulson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark."
"Fang, do you know..."
"I know them!"
While Howard was still asking, Fang Yuan's voice rang out at the scene.
The group turned to look as Fang Yuan just stepped out of a Portal. This side of the door was the Stark Tower, but the other side was a seaside location.
Howard, Tony, and Fury had seen this before and were relatively calm, but the harmless-looking Coulson next to Fury was stunned.
On one hand, it was his first time seeing such a magical thing, and on the other, it was because of Fang Yuan's special identity—Captain America's friend!
Coulson was a die-hard fan of the Captain and took everything regarding Steve Rogers to heart. So when he learned that Howard Stark, who was from the same era as the Captain, had been resurrected, Coulson used a lot of persuasion to get Fury to agree to bring him along.
So upon seeing Fang Yuan, who was also a friend of the Captain, Coulson became even more excited.
The outside world knew that Captain America's iconic shield was made by Howard Stark, but Coulson, who had studied Captain America deeply and knew many undisclosed details, understood that it was Fang Yuan who had established the shield within Captain America's heart.
Coulson had great respect for this man who had led Captain America toward greatness.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fang Yuan," he took the initiative to greet him.
"Hello there, Agent Coulson."
Fang Yuan returned the greeting with a smile. Who wouldn't like the adorable Coulson?
He even specifically said to Fury: "See how likable Coulson is? I actually think he's more suited to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. than you."
Fury tilted his head, glaring at Fang Yuan with his remaining dead-fish eye.
"Ah, you guys know each other?" Tony immediately caught on.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kamar-Taj reached a certain cooperative relationship not long ago. I am now the Kamar-Taj liaison within S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fang Yuan explained.
"Oh, by the way, your former secretary, Natalie, is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fang Yuan exposed, not caring if he caused trouble.
Tony's face immediately fell: "I was wondering why such an excellent secretary just up and left."
"Potts, go issue a termination notice for Natalie. Make sure to remember that I fired her!"
Pepper smiled and shook her head; Tony was just that willful.
"We noticed an abnormality in Tony's health, so we sent Agent Romanoff to check the situation," Fury quickly explained.
Then he immediately changed the subject to state his purpose: "We've come this time hoping that Mr. Howard can return to S.H.I.E.L.D. You have made indelible contributions to S.H.I.E.L.D., and we truly hope you can come and help us!"
"Return to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Howard frowned instead. "I'm not very satisfied with the current S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Why didn't you give my research materials to Tony?" he asked with some resentment.
"We wanted to, but then the Iron Guardian appeared, so we didn't have time," Fury lied with a straight face.
In fact, he hadn't expected that Howard really hadn't revealed a single bit of information about the new element to Tony.
By the time they realized something was wrong and finally dug out Howard's research materials, it was too late. S.H.I.E.L.D. had painfully lost an opportunity to gain Iron Man's favor.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. does indeed have areas that need improvement, so we very much hope that the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. can help us rectify things."
Fury couldn't remember the last time he had spoken with such high emotional intelligence.
But facing Howard Stark was, of course, completely different from facing anyone else.
Howard was a figure who had truly made outstanding contributions to S.H.I.E.L.D., and his portrait still hung in S.H.I.E.L.D. today. If Howard were resurrected but didn't return to S.H.I.E.L.D., the agency would face a massive crisis of trust!
"Fury? I remember seeing you before," Howard suddenly said.
"Yes, sir. In the Triskelion building in 1991," Fury answered respectfully.
This also explained why Fury's attitude was so proper; when he first met Howard, he was just a Level 3 Agent who had just shed his rookie status.
Howard's heart ultimately softened. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. was his life's work. Although there were parts he didn't like, it was still completely salvageable.
Fury had just started to smile when Howard suddenly turned to Fang Yuan and requested: "Fang, why don't you also formally join S.H.I.E.L.D. to help me!"
Fury's smile immediately vanished.
After a brief conversation, he knew Howard was still the reliable leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. from before, but Fang Yuan?
Although Fury didn't know how many black-hearted things Fang Yuan had done behind the scenes, he understood that Fang Yuan was definitely not as upright as he appeared on the surface.
So as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he somewhat didn't want Fang Yuan to formally join S.H.I.E.L.D., lest he pollute the purity of the agency.
Ah, that's right; at least in Fury's heart right now, the state of S.H.I.E.L.D. was quite good.
Who could have imagined that the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. was already riddled with holes?
It wasn't his fault for being kept in the dark despite being the Director; HYDRA had hidden itself perfectly. When the HYDRA Agents weren't on a mission, they were very normal, even more hardworking than S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, and didn't do anything abnormal.
Mainly because without the certainty of a killing blow, HYDRA would not move.
Only when something like the Insight Project in 'captain america 2' appeared, which could provide a decisive victory, would HYDRA take the initiative to attack.
But Fury knew that since Howard had spoken, he had no excuse to prevent Fang Yuan from formally joining. He could only take the initiative to speak first: "No problem. Fang Yuan can first become a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., with a security clearance level the same as a Level 5 Agent."
"Wasn't I already Level 5?" Fang Yuan countered.
Fury's expression didn't change: "Before it was temporary; now it's a formal appointment."
"Only a consultant after a formal appointment?" Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes.
"Tony Stark is also a consultant. Once Mr. Howard is formally working at S.H.I.E.L.D. and you have also passed the evaluation, we will make adjustments."
Fury quickly explained.
"Level 5 is already very high. It takes a normal Agent at least seven years to be promoted to Level 5!"
It was obvious that Fury didn't want to give Fang Yuan too high a level. It wasn't that S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford the benefits, but rather that an Agent's level and their security clearance were linked.
Level 5 already allowed browsing of general classified information. Any higher would involve even more sensitive secrets, which were exactly what Fury didn't want Fang Yuan to access.
Fang Yuan shrugged and agreed: "Fine, Level 5 it is then."
He didn't actually care what level he was, because whether through Howard Stark or later through HYDRA, there was no way any intelligence in S.H.I.E.L.D. could be kept from him.
But Tony was unhappy at this moment.
"Wait, weren't you going to invite me to join your super-boy team?" Tony frowned. "How did I become just a consultant?"
"Because under Agent Romanoff's evaluation, you are volatile, extremely narcissistic, and even have self-destructive tendencies. So you can only be a consultant for now," Fury replied without blinking.
After hearing this, Tony swore in his heart that if Howard and Fang Yuan hadn't been there, he would have had Jarvis kick the man out on the spot.
"By the way, there's a sudden emergency. Perhaps you can help."
Fury hurriedly spoke to Fang Yuan about the serious matter.
"A hammer fell from the sky in New Mexico!"
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