"Go ahead, let's hear it."
Blaine remained as calm as ever, seated like a mountain: "The mission."
"Hoo…"
Ward looked fearfully at Blaine in front of him, exhaled deeply, and said while rubbing his knees, "The mission is simple. It's not an assassination. We want you to retrieve an item."
"An item?" Blaine's eyes narrowed slightly. "Keep talking."
"According to reliable intel from our Rand Group, an object suspected to be extraterrestrial has fallen in New Mexico. We hope you can retrieve it. We'll pay you 300 million US dollars!"
Three hundred million!
Just saying those words made Ward's heart tremble.
He didn't own that much of the company.
Three hundred million dollars was already a significant portion of his shares. If not for his father Harold saying he'd cover it, Ward might've been doomed.
New Mexico?
Blaine's gaze turned deep as he thought for a moment.
At this point in the timeline, an extraterrestrial object in New Mexico?
Thor's hammer?
According to the current plot, no one should be able to lift Thor's hammer—it's already locked down by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Blaine gave Ward a surprised glance.
Now he could be sure—this mission wasn't something Ward came up with on his own.
Because Ward had no idea what that extraterrestrial item actually represented.
So who told him to assign this task?
Harold Meachum?
Or… The Hand?
The Hand, a ninja organization deeply entangled with K'un-Lun, was led by five ancient immortals who had lived for hundreds of years. Their influence was enormous. In some major cities, the beggar you saw on the street might actually be a fearless, pain-immune assassin from the Hand.
Not to mention the Hand's "Five Fingers," each possessing unique and terrifying abilities.
Their power was so overwhelming that even Tony couldn't deal with them. He could handle large-scale threats, but when it came to shadowy organizations like this, he was helpless—unless met with the right counterforce, like the Iron Fist, K'un-Lun's gatekeeper born to resist and destroy the Hand.
Blaine said nothing, but thoughts swirled in his mind.
Others might not know, but he knew some of the secrets.
Harold Meachum, Ward's father, had supposedly died over a decade ago—riddled with cancer and no chance of survival. But according to what Blaine remembered from the series, Harold had actually been revived using dragon bones stolen from K'un-Lun by the Hand.
But his revival came with two conditions.
First, he had to become a loyal dog to the Hand and was never to appear in public again—forced to live in a secret penthouse in the GE Building, tightly controlled by the Hand.
Second, Rand Enterprises had to open its doors to Madam Gao, one of the Five Fingers of the Hand, allowing her to distribute her heroin around the world.
Ward did know his father was still alive. He was the only person besides the Hand who could enter the penthouse and come out alive.
But he didn't know the second condition.
As a result, Rand Enterprises was now almost completely infiltrated by the Hand, and he had no idea. He still thought his father just wanted to control him, unaware that it was the Hand who needed him—to be a "public figure."
Including this mission.
The task assigned to Blaine.
It was likely someone else had told Ward to do it.
Either the Hand or Harold Meachum.
Blaine leaned toward the latter.
Harold was ruthless. Trapped in that penthouse for over a decade, under the Hand's complete control, he must've had enough.
He would try anything to escape the Hand's grasp.
This time, he probably got wind of Thor's hammer through the Hand, and upon hearing of Blaine's reputation, wanted to use him to retrieve it—and then break free from the Hand's control?
Blaine felt a tinge of sorrow. Harold was clearly overestimating himself. Thor's hammer wasn't something just anyone could pick up. He was curious to see Harold's expression when faced with such a powerful weapon yet unable to use it.
But all this was just speculation.
The mission might've come from the Hand through Harold to Ward, or Harold might've bypassed them and directly sent Ward.
But either way, it didn't really concern him.
He just needed to complete the mission.
The silence was intense.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Blaine finally spoke: "I'll take the mission."
The mission itself wasn't particularly difficult.
So the three hundred million was an average reward—neither high nor low.
The main issue was how to bring back Thor's hammer.
Blaine wasn't some paragon of virtue. Even Captain America struggled to lift it—he definitely wasn't going to be able to.
He didn't believe he could pick it up.
But he had an idea—something he wanted to test.
Worst case, the mission fails. No big deal. He didn't have any other tasks anyway.
"Hoo…"
Ward let out a breath of relief. Though he acted tough on the surface, he was still very afraid of his father Harold. If this mission failed, he'd definitely face a scolding—and a whipping.
He hated being manipulated by his father.
But he couldn't bring himself to rebel.
Well… unless he was high.
"Mister…"
Just as Ward was about to say something else—
Blaine vanished once more into the shadows, disappearing from where he stood.
Now that the mission target and payment were confirmed, there was no need to stick around. It would only waste time.
*************************************
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