To avoid raising suspicion, Leon, who had received the mission notification, did not show the expected joy or excitement.
However, what he didn't expect was that seeing Leon's calm demeanor, Clint Barton, standing by, evaluated him even higher.
Now that the mission was complete, it was time to say "goodbye" to Osborn.
Leon walked into Osborn's biological research center and approached Norman Osborn.
"Mr. Osborn, the thugs in the building have been eliminated, and it's time for us to leave.
Please take care of yourself; this country still needs people like you to defend it..."
After the "hostage incident" settled, Norman Osborn reverted to the powerful man in charge of a vast group with a market value of two hundred billion dollars.
His humble demeanor and incredibly friendly smile made Leon feel as if he was bathed in a spring breeze.
Especially when he reached out and shook Leon's hand, saying sincerely, "I don't know how to thank you enough."
Judging from the bright "Favorability: Harmonious" above Osborn's head, the owner of the Osborn Group was quite sincere in his gratitude for Leon saving his life and crucial scientific research technology.
"Well then, we'll take our leave..."
At this moment, Norman Osborn seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly called out to Leon, who was turning to leave, "Oh! That's right, I still don't know your names!"
Hearing this question, Leon almost blurted out, "You're welcome, I'm Red Scarf."
Fortunately, he managed to hold back in the end.
"As I just said, this is just our duty."
After dropping such an extremely pretentious remark, Leon waved his sleeve, leaving no gratitude behind.
Looking at the departing figure, Norman Osborn's eyes were like torches, and he murmured to himself, "S.H.I.E.L.D., huh..."
Sometimes, the more you don't let someone know what's in the box, the more curious they become about what's inside...
The group returned the way they came, aboard the Quinjet.
Perhaps the joy of completing the mission made the journey home feel significantly faster...
Before long, everyone was back at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters—the Hub.
As soon as they entered the tactical hall, Leon and his team were overwhelmed by the constant greetings from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Especially Leon, a newcomer who had joined less than five hours ago, received the most attention in the entire team.
"Is this the newcomer who completed a Level 5 mission on his first assignment?" This was the reaction of most people when they saw Leon.
Surprise, envy, approval... various gazes gathered on him, making him a little unaccustomed.
Some even walked directly up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and left with a patronizing remark: "Young man, keep up the good work; you will be a great agent in the future."
In fact, even before Leon's team returned to the Hub, the details of this mission had spread throughout S.H.I.E.L.D., driven by interested parties.
Evidently, even S.H.I.E.L.D., with its excellent secrecy, couldn't stop the rapid spread of internal rumors...
For the rest of the team, this mission might have just been an ordinary rescue mission.
However, for Leon, who was on his first mission, this one was quite fruitful.
Through this mission, he, having just joined S.H.I.E.L.D., demonstrated his extraordinary abilities as an agent and his innovative tactical thinking to his colleagues and superiors.
A teammate who can come up with various solutions is naturally much better than a teammate who only obeys orders.
Therefore, gaining everyone's recognition and praise was also to be expected.
Not only that, but he also personally rescued the CEO of the Osborn Group during this mission, unexpectedly gaining the friendship of "Green Goblin" Norman Osborn.
This was what Leon cared about even more.
Years ago, he already understood that his capital for survival in this Marvel world was the "Favorability System" that shared the same fate as him!
To him, favorability equaled knowledge, equaled skills, equaled everything!
Therefore, no matter who it was, as long as there was an opportunity to increase their favorability, Leon would do his best to do anything.
In short: Favorability? Just grind it out!
Ahem, of course, compared to the favorability of superheroes like Thor and Captain America, this big shot from the Osborn Group wouldn't be of much help in improving Leon's combat power.
After all, Norman Osborn doesn't have any superpowers...
However, having one more friend is better than having one more enemy, isn't it?
What's more, sometimes, money is also a manifestation of strength.
Referencing a certain playboy in an iron suit, and a certain guy next door who plays with bats in a cave...
Recognition, friendship—those are all rather illusory things.
What could immediately benefit Leon was naturally the reward after completing the mission—experience.
Speaking of experience, after escaping the congratulations from other colleagues in the department and returning to his seat, Leon finally had time to check the two thousand experience points that had arrived.
Looking at the more than twelve thousand experience points on his system panel, even Leon, who didn't like to show his emotions much, couldn't help but reveal a benevolent, father-like smile.
More than twelve thousand experience points!
This was enough for him to learn 12 "Excellent" level skills; or, he could directly learn 1 "Extraordinary" level skill.
For example, "Hawkeye" Clint Barton's [Archery Mastery] and [Acute Senses]!
That's right, when he saw Hawkeye's favorability towards him rise from "Harmonious" to "Enthusiastic," Leon finally saw the skill orbs floating around "Hawkeye" Clint Barton's body.
[Russian Language Mastery (Common)]
[Combat Mastery (Excellent)]
...Among them, two skills caught his full attention...
They were two orbs shining with purple light, labeled with the skill names:
[Archery Mastery (Extraordinary)] and [Acute Senses (Extraordinary)]
At this moment, Leon finally knew that the next level after [Excellent] was [Extraordinary]!
Not only that, but he also drew a conclusion from the color of the shining orbs: different colored orbs represented different levels of skills!
White orbs represented [Common] level skills; blue orbs represented [Excellent] level skills; and purple orbs represented [Extraordinary] level skills.
This immediately raised many questions in Leon's mind:
How strong are [Extraordinary] level skills, exactly?
What comes after [Extraordinary]?
...Thinking of this, Leon suddenly felt full of confidence about whether he could survive freely in this Marvel world.