Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Natasha could guess some of Fury's thoughts, but it was never pleasant to have her life in someone else's hands.

Without offering any further rebuttal to Coulson's explanation, Natasha closed the car window and reached out to operate the vehicle's onboard computer.

"Who's our next target? Hopefully, he's the one we're looking for."

"I hope so. As long as it's not one of those scammers."

In the past few days, not only Natasha and Coulson have been searching, but Fury has also sent out more agents to find people with special abilities.

The thorough investigation only uncovered a bunch of fraudsters posing as prophets and fortune tellers.

Some of these people even have degrees in statistics and psychology, and are skilled in rhetoric; some agents, after being deceived, even came to believe it wholeheartedly.

In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret base, Fury touched the scratches from Goose's claws and wondered if there was something wrong with the education at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, and if well-trained agents could be deceived.

They told Dam Dugan, the current dean of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, about the matter, and the two reached a consensus in a harmonious atmosphere to strengthen anti-fraud education for existing students.

The other agents were recalled by Fury to return to their classes, leaving only Natasha and Coulson outside to continue the investigation.

"Turn left ahead, we're almost there. Our next target is an exorcism agency located here," Natasha said, guiding Coulson on her tablet.

"It's that exorcist again, the same old tricks."

"No, Coulson is a bit different."

Natasha outlined and selected a portion of the content, then projected it onto the glass in front of Coulson on the tablet, allowing Coulson to see what she had outlined.

"This guy never actively seeks out work, and he pays for everything in cash. According to the filtered intelligence, he hits a Powerball once a week?"

Coulson read the message on the glass, and this unusual probability told him that they had found the right person.

Powerball is one of Ami's most popular lottery formats, with draws twice a week. The game involves selecting 5 white balls from 69 white balls and 1 red ball from 26 red balls. If you match all 6 numbers, you win the jackpot.

The other numbers correspond to different small prizes, and now this guy is actually winning a small prize of varying amounts every week.

"Small Powerball prizes do not require personal information; you can simply redeem them at any of the sales points with your ticket."

Natasha showed Coulson a portion of the video in split-screen, showing their target redeeming Powerballs at different locations each week.

"If S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't given us new algorithmic permissions that allow us to analyze all of the target's actions, we would never have found any clues about this guy."

Coulson was excited. After so many days of operation, besides reducing the number of scammers in New York City, they had finally found the person they needed.

Coulson stopped the car, and the two of them leaned against the roadside to analyze the filtered information. Now that they had found their target, it was best not to alert them.

"But why did he buy two tickets?"

Coulson quickly discovered the guy's odd behavior: he would buy one at the retail store first, then print out another one, usually tearing up and throwing away the first one.

"I don't know, but today is Wednesday, so we can see what he lost?"

“I’ll request a tactical squad from Fury right away.”

Not long after, with the help of surveillance footage, Coulson located his target. A blond man in a black robe walked straight out of the office and got into a taxi.

"It seems he's about to make a move. Where are the retail stores he hasn't visited recently? According to his records, he won't make two purchases from the same store in the last two months."

Natasha quickly identified the target's likely destination and shared the location with the rest of the team.

"Now all we need to do is wait."

Coulson took a taxi to the other side of New York City, bought a pack of cigarettes and two Powerballs at a convenience store, and as usual, tore the first one up and threw it in the trash can outside the store.

Coulson gave the order to wait for the target to leave again in a taxi.

A completely black van pulled up in front of the convenience store. A fully armed soldier got out and, with lightning speed, grabbed the entire trash can and snatched it back into the van.

The cashier at the door stared in disbelief at this scene, adding another strange tale to New York's history: if you don't take out your trash on Wednesdays, a black van will steal it.

In an abandoned apartment just one street away from the firm, a group of fully armed men stared at a pile of trash in front of them.

Slowly separating the useless trash, Natasha used tweezers to piece together the torn lottery ticket, taped it shut, and put it into the evidence bag.

A group of people waited in this cramped apartment for today's Powerball draw.

"Today's winning numbers are x/x/x/x/x/x/. Only one lucky winner will win this six-digit number, and that lucky winner will take home a grand prize of two hundred million US dollars."

The lottery results broadcast on the tablet were revealed today. Natasha looked at the lottery ticket in her hand and said, somewhat stammering, "Coulson, this is the winning ticket for the two hundred million."

Two hundred million US dollars were torn up and thrown in the trash, not to mention how much had been torn up in the past.

"Why doesn't the lottery company report this? There have been so many cases of first prizes going unclaimed for so many years."

“Natasha, as long as no one claims the prize, the winnings will remain in the hands of the betting syndicate, and they're happy to see this happen. After all, nobody thinks they have too little money. Except for this target.”

Coulson understood the covert manipulation by the various conglomerates and explained it to Natasha in the simplest terms, but new suspicions arose.

"How did he end up forfeiting the first prize after buying it? Why didn't he just buy the numbers he wanted directly?"

Completely baffled, Coulson scratched his head, even accidentally pulling out a few precious strands of hair, which pained him deeply.

“Maybe this isn’t something he can control?” Natasha said, pointing to the footage on the monitor.

----------------------------

Happy Lantern Festival everyone! I'm adding an extra chapter today to celebrate the holiday. My collection count has been very stable these past few days, without any fluctuations, and is steadily declining. I guess I won't be featured next time (crying) /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~. I glanced at it, and when I wrote about Dark Souls characters, the collection count was high, but the comments were few. When I wrote about American comics, the comments were high, but the collection count was low. I'm at a loss.

I will try my best to balance the relationships and appearances of the characters. Actually, the book is still in its early stages, and not all the main characters and relationships have appeared yet, so please stay tuned.

Wishing all readers a happy Lantern Festival, may you be at peace, and may the flowers bloom and the moon be full.

## Chapter 49: Constantine

Regarding the strangeness of the target, Natasha pointed to the video footage on the surveillance camera and shared her opinion.

“Look, he bought the first one first. The purchase was very quick, and the clerk only had two steps. Then he held the first one and read something aloud before the clerk printed out the second one based on what he said.”

“Sir, those are machine selection and self-selection,” a member of the special forces team standing next to Natasha, who was unaware of the procedures, added.

Coulson added to the explanation given to the special forces members: "Random purchases and deliberate purchases, that's about it, Natasha."

"In other words, he knew he could win easily, but chose to lower the prize amount in order to avoid attracting attention!"

Having determined the target's unique characteristics, everyone immediately began the contact plan, following Coulson's instructions.

Natasha knocked on the door of the exorcism agency, but no one responded. She tried pulling the doorknob and opened it easily.

Pushing open the door, you're immediately greeted by a desk. A man in a black half-length robe is lying on the desk with his feet propped up, half-reclined in his chair, fast asleep.

He even wore earmuffs to improve his sleep quality, rendering Natasha's knocking on the door futile.

"Sir, sir." Natasha banged on the table, trying to wake the man, but there was no response.

He walked over, reached out and removed the man's earmuffs, only to find a pair of in-ear headphones underneath.

Natasha threw down the earmuffs and nudged the sleeping man helplessly.

The man finally woke up with Natasha's encouragement. Before he even opened his eyes, he started selling.

"Fortune telling, I charge 5,000; marriage prediction, 5,000; finding lost items, I charge according to the price; exorcism, I charge according to the degree of danger. I dare not do anything too dangerous, I suggest you find someone else."

"Sir, could you please open your eyes and speak?"

Upon hearing Natasha's words, the man opened his eyes, his pupils gleaming with a deep blue light that contrasted strangely yet harmoniously with his blond hair.

It was only then that Natasha noticed that the entire person and the firm possessed a strange beauty.

For example, the person's clothes are a modern black short robe, yet they have antique floral cuffs and a silk collar. Instead of the usual zipper design, they are closed with silver clasps. The entire garment, from the collar to the hem, is trimmed with dark gold.

The room contained only a table, the chair he was sitting in, and various cigarette boxes; it was hard to imagine how this person could survive in that house.

"Miss, I'm not taking your job. You can leave now."

The man glanced at Natasha, said those words, and then closed his eyes again.

"Sir, I really need help."

Natasha put on a pitiful look, and even burst into tears.

"I'm at my wit's end. That demon is threatening to take away my lifespan and soul. I've been looking for an exorcist. Please help me."

Natasha collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She tossed her handbag aside; the hidden camera inside was recording the interior of the room.

"Since this is a voluntary transaction, there's nothing I can do until it's completed. I suggest you finish the transaction first, and then we can discuss other issues."

The man, with his eyes closed, found a flattened pack of cigarettes under himself, took one out, and put it in his mouth to smoke. No one noticed how the cigarette was lit.

Upon hearing the man's words, Natasha immediately stopped crying, stood up, and then a group of fully armed people walked in from the door behind her.

"Special Agent Fulbler, I need your immediate cooperation in our operation."

Hearing Natasha's words, he remained unmoved even with several guns pointed at him. He finished his cigarette and said, "Stop pretending. There is no field agent as beautiful as you in Forborough. You are more convincing than the CIA."

As soon as the man finished speaking, Coulson walked in from outside the door.

"Are you all making deals with the devil in droves?"

Upon seeing Coulson, the man said something that shocked Natasha and Coulson. Coulson immediately reacted and stepped forward, saying to the man, "Sir, we need your help now to eliminate this threat."

The man didn't explain further and continued smoking, but judging from his smoking style, he smoked a third of a cigarette in one go.

"We don't know your name yet, but we really need the help of a professional like you."

Coulson tried to strike up a conversation with the man to extract more useful information.

"You can call me Constantine."

“Constantine, is there anything else?” Coulson wanted to know his full name so he could investigate within S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems.

“It would be foolish to reveal your full name to others, especially when there are two idiots in front of you who have made deals with the devil.”

Constantine mocked Natasha and Coulson without any restraint, even flicking his cigarette butt at Coulson.

“Mr. Constantine, we have come with genuine sincerity and need to learn some information that we do not yet know.” Coulson used his expertise to try to build rapport with Constantine.

"Sincerity, haha."

After glancing around and counting the gun barrels in the room, Constantine disdainfully propped his legs up on the desk, pulled a silver flask from his breast pocket, and took a sip.

Coulson understood the situation and realized that it was inappropriate to discuss cooperation with a gun pointed at someone, so he waved for the others to leave, leaving only himself and Natasha.

“Mr. Constantine, I encountered a giant monster with a treasure chest on its head. He calls himself the Greedy One, and we were forced to make a deal with him…”

Coulson recounted his ordeal, but concealed the details of the subsequent transaction.

“We really don’t know what to do. What if he keeps bothering us after we complete the deal?” Coulson expressed his concerns and asked the man in front of him.