Chapter 21: Exploring Shop and Cat
Coulson's expression became extremely colorful, while Melinda pretended to admire the green plants, her face slightly blushing.
Even experienced S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like them were slightly taken aback by Antonio's words.
The incident caused by the famous playboy Tony Stark had already been reported by various news media.
How could they, as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, not know about it?
However, they could never have expected that there would be such a twist!
No wonder Tony Stark had left the store in a hurry just now, accompanied by his female assistant!
But they, as resilient senior agents, quickly regained their composure.
Melinda rolled her eyes at Antonio, who was grinning foolishly, seemingly embarrassed, and headed towards the rest area without hesitation.
Coulson gave Antonio a look that said, "please understand," and then showed approval on his face.
"It seems there's an unexpected gain... I hope the price doesn't go up?"
"Of course not. It's still 5,000 dollars. This is just an undisclosed method of use. After all..."
Antonio rubbed his chin, looking serious.
"The boss likes to give customers some surprises because this is purely natural plant essence. No matter how you use it, it won't be harmful."
"Well, that's a big surprise indeed."
Coulson took out his credit card and hesitated for a moment, but then extended another finger.
"Another bottle, please."
After all, it was during a mission, and all expenses related to the mission could be reimbursed. Only a fool would refuse!
"Sure thing!"
Antonio took out another bottle of restorative potion and put it together with the previous one in an exquisite little box. He also placed a small card inside, sealed the box, and placed it on the counter, pushing it towards Coulson.
"A fair price of 10,000 dollars. The instructions are on the card. Looking forward to you discovering new effects!"
"..."
Coulson twitched his mouth. If he handed in one bottle and conducted a personal human experiment with the other, he wouldn't be able to get reimbursed.
"By the way, is Dr. Woods here? I really want to meet him in person."
In fact, Nick Fury had given Coulson permission for a face-to-face assessment of Oaks, and if it passed, he could reveal his identity to obtain... detailed information about the cat.
But if Oaks was not present, there was nothing they could do. They could only look at the cat for now.
"Oh, Mr. Oaks went to the Amazon rainforest for a field investigation three days ago. He probably won't be back for another week."
Antonio quickly swiped the card, pushed the POS machine in front of Coulson, and while Coulson entered the password, he raised an eyebrow.
"The Amazon? Ah, the samples Dr. Woods posted on the forum last time had caught the interest of many botanists."
Coulson never expected they would have to go so far. Their investigation indicated that Oaks hadn't even left his house in the past few days.
"Are you also a botanist?"
Antonio respectfully asked. He was just a graduate student, while the other person might be a well-known scientist.
"Heh, I heard it from a friend."
Coulson glanced at Melinda, who seemed to have succeeded, and smiled slightly.
"It seems Melinda really likes your cat. Can I go and see her?"
"Of course, Goose is very well-behaved and exceptionally intelligent. She's a lovely girl."
Seeing Coulson casually walk towards the rest area, Antonio felt a bit guilty as he touched the spot on his face where Goose had scratched him earlier. He quickly went to prepare Oaks's special coffee.
In the rest area, Melinda was playing with Goose, and the scene of the two of them, one human and one cat, looked harmonious.
"Melinda, where did you get the cat teaser?"
Coulson noticed something in Melinda's left hand and smirked. What was so special about this cat?
"It was just on the sofa. For unknown targets like this, it's safer to use props, right?"
He discreetly showed Melinda the miniature camera device in his right hand.
"Did Director Fury only ask us to observe? Nothing else?"
"That's right."
Coulson held the small box containing the restorative potion in his left hand and glanced at Antonio, who was preparing coffee. He sat down on the sofa and casually brushed the bottom edge of the sofa with his right hand, whispering:
"It seems Dr. Oaks Woods isn't as simple as described in the files."
"Did you find something?"
Melinda didn't stop what she was doing with her hands, but furrowed her eyebrows slightly. She noticed that when she mentioned "Director Fury" just now, the orange cat in front of her seemed to pause for a moment.
Maybe she was mistaken?
But the camera wouldn't be mistaken. She would check it later.
She didn't have the intention to repeat herself because Antonio was already approaching with two cups of coffee.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the special coffee prepared by the boss, exclusively for customers who purchase the restorative potion~"
The peculiar aroma caught the attention of both Coulson and Melinda as their gaze shifted towards the coffee.
"Is the coffee for sale?"
Coulson's eyes lit up after taking a sip. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s coffee couldn't compare to this...
After looking at Goose, he reached the same conclusion as Tony.
"It's not for sale, but if you like it, we have a complimentary 100-gram package."
"Thank you so much."
Coulson smiled, but Melinda wasn't as fascinated with coffee as Coulson.
"Dr. Woods is indeed talented, and they say that people who raise cats are very compassionate."
"Yes, Mr. Oaks is very compassionate. If it weren't for him saving me, I probably wouldn't have found a place to live now."
Antonio chuckled self-deprecatingly as he revealed his past struggle to find housing when he first arrived. Perhaps he felt a sense of familiarity with them? He couldn't help himself.
"I probably don't know why, after all these years, shadows still lurk beneath this bright surface."
"..."
Coulson looked puzzled.
"What did he say?"
"He agrees with me. The guys at the New York Police Department should all resign."
Melinda couldn't help but laugh. This student employee turned out to be quite interesting.
"Meow~ "
"There's something delicious upstairs! On the table in the brother's room!"
Antonio wiped his forehead, as he saw that Melinda seemed to be enjoying the conversation and was no longer satisfied with the cat teaser. She was planning to go straight for it.
But that wasn't the point. The point was that he noticed Goose seemed a bit impatient...
Although he wondered why Goose's attitude was different today, he had witnessed Goose's power before, so he quickly diverted her attention.
"Meow~"
Goose glanced at Antonio, yawned, and gracefully walked towards the stairs.
Antonio secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he realized that his supposedly flawless acting was no different from writing "I have a problem" directly on his face when facing two Level 7 agents.
Their eyes were capable of analyzing information frame by frame.
After exchanging a glance, Melinda nodded slightly, and Coulson finished the remaining coffee in one gulp, stood up, and extended his hand.
"We should also leave. Although it's regrettable that we didn't meet Dr. Woods, you've been an excellent store employee, and the coffee is great."
"Ah, thank you."
Antonio stood up and shook hands with Coulson.
"Please wait a moment. I'll get the coffee beans."
Coulson bid farewell to Antonio with the small box containing the restorative potion and the small bag of coffee beans, and left with Melinda.
"Mel, it seems the mission isn't over yet. The key is in one week."
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