Chapter 51: How Could This Be Called Extortion?

“This is impossible!” Fury’s single eye widened, and he flatly refused.
What kind of joke was this?
Captain America’s shield—was that something to simply give away? And this kid actually dared to set his sights on it?
“After all, Captain America has long since been gone. For years now, that shield has just been gathering dust in your S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse. If you give it to me, at least it’ll be put to good use, right?” Luke pressed his case.
In his heart he thought, Captain America hasn’t reappeared yet; isn’t this the perfect time to swoop in and snatch it? Once Cap is discovered beneath the Arctic ice and wakes up, trying to get hold of the shield would be a nightmare.
Of course, that depended on whether Fury would actually give it to him.
Luke knew the chances were slim.
“I don’t know how you found out where that shield is. But even so,” Fury’s face darkened, his tone brooking no argument, “that shield is Captain Rogers’ legacy. It means a great deal to S.H.I.E.L.D., to the U.S. government, even to world peace itself. Forget about it.”
Luke shrugged and didn’t push further.
Truthfully, he had only asked on a whim—he knew there was no way Fury would hand over Cap’s shield. But it didn’t hurt to try; who knew, maybe Fury would have a moment of madness and actually give it to him?
“Well then, adamantium it is.” Luke’s smile was as bright as ever.
That’s right, his true target was adamantium.
Asking for the shield was just a bargaining tactic. First, throw out an offer the other side could never accept, then negotiate from there.
Originally, he hadn’t planned to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. so soon. But since things had come to this, it would be a waste not to take advantage.
If he could use adamantium to forge the skeleton and external armor of the G-0 War Lord, its combat power would soar!
According to Luke’s knowledge, adamantium was the hardest metal known on Earth in the Marvel universe. Years ago, the U.S. military had accidentally synthesized it by mixing alien meteorite material with a carbon alloy.
Adamantium’s most remarkable property was that once cast and cooled, it could not be melted—not even at 500,000 degrees Celsius.
Once formed, it would never deform.
Truly indestructible!
Even someone as strong as the Hulk, or Thor wielding Mjolnir, could not break an object made of adamantium. They couldn’t even leave a scratch.
How did Luke know S.H.I.E.L.D. had adamantium? Need it be said? Everyone who’s seen the movies knows.
The chemical structure of adamantium had always been a top secret of the U.S. government. Thus, most of the existing adamantium was in the hands of the military and its allies.
Fury was getting a headache.
Why did this kid always want such rare, difficult materials?
Still, given that Luke was building a suit of armor, Fury could understand his intentions.
“Don’t say it’s impossible. I know the military has a good deal of adamantium left. With S.H.I.E.L.D.’s capabilities, it shouldn’t be hard for you to get some, right? Maybe you’ve even got a stockpile. Letting it sit there is a waste—why not just give it to me?” Luke said with a grin.

Fury snorted without replying.
It wasn’t difficult; S.H.I.E.L.D. had an annual quota, and each year he could get a certain amount of adamantium from the military. But it was extremely precious.
He usually treated it like a treasure. To hand it over now—he couldn’t help but feel reluctant.
But he was also keen to recruit Luke.
Fury thought Black Widow was right: this kid was sharp.
The old “lure with a piece of candy” trick clearly wouldn’t work on him.
Fortunately, Fury had already made up his mind.
He knew: if you can’t bear to part with the child, you’ll never catch the wolf.
He was determined to recruit this super-genius child. Luke was even more valuable in his eyes than Tony. Precisely because Luke was only seven, his potential for growth was limitless.
Admittedly, the kid’s moral education seemed somewhat lacking at present…
Fury chalked that up to Luke’s orphaned childhood a year ago.
But he believed, as long as he personally mentored the boy, one day Luke could work for S.H.I.E.L.D.… maybe even take his own place.
Then he could retire without worry.
Fury was quite pleased with his daydreams.
So he spoke. Under the slightly astonished gazes of Black Widow and the others, he looked at Luke and said, “It’s not impossible to give you adamantium. How much do you want?”
But Luke’s next words nearly made Fury choke.
Luke opened his mouth and declared, “I want a ton!”
“A—a ton?” Fury’s eye popped, his mouth agape. “What do you think this is? Why not just ask for ten tons?”
Luke nodded immediately. “Ten tons works too.”
“….”
Fury was at his wit’s end.
He had to explain to Luke just how complex the process of synthesizing adamantium was, how precious it was, its value on the black market, and so on.
He assumed Luke had only asked for such an outrageous amount because he didn’t know any better.
But Luke was deliberately creating a psychological gap, hoping to squeeze more adamantium out from between Fury’s fingers. A ton was, of course, just a smokescreen.
“Fine, then I’ll settle for a hundred kilograms. Not a bit less.” Luke took a step back.
“How much?! A hundred kilograms? That’s extortion!” Fury shouted.
The number was still far beyond what he’d expected.

Luke scratched his ear. That sounded awfully familiar—hadn’t Tony said something similar not long ago?
Luke folded his arms, putting on an air of righteousness. “That’s right, this is… uh, how can this be called extortion?!”
His tone made a one-eighty: “Extortion happens between businessmen. Like Tony—that kind of profiteer. But we’re all civilized people here. How can we use a word like extortion? Fury, you’re being uncouth. I told you, this is compensation! S.H.I.E.L.D. is paying me for my emotional distress!”
Luke insisted this was compensation, not extortion.
Though in his heart, he thought, yes, this is compen(extor)sation(tion)!
Fury? What’s that supposed to mean?
Over the past couple days, he’d heard more than a few people mention the term. Was it some new internet meme?
Baffled, Fury felt out of the loop.
But he didn’t dwell on it; all he could think about was Luke’s unreasonable demand.
In the end, he sighed.
Fine—adamantium it would be. He’d give it to the kid. As long as Luke was willing to join the Avengers Initiative, it wouldn’t be a waste.
“I can give you adamantium, but I’ll have to cut the amount. A hundred kilograms is absolutely impossible. I don’t even have that much myself,” Fury said seriously.
True, pure adamantium was so rare, even S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t have much in reserve.
Secondary adamantium, on the other hand, was another story.
Yes, Fury planned to pass off the inferior stuff as the real deal.
He figured Luke had somehow learned S.H.I.E.L.D. could get adamantium, but a layman probably couldn’t tell the difference between the two alloys.
Seeing Fury agree, Luke’s face lit up. “Please, come in, Director Fury. Let’s sit and talk inside.”
Fury shot him a glare.
Did his attitude really change this fast?
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were “deeply grateful” that Luke was finally letting them in. They’d been standing outside in the blazing sun ever since getting out of the car. The weather was almost too good today.
As they walked, Fury leaned toward Black Widow and asked in a low voice, “Is this kid always this infuriating?”
Black Widow stifled a laugh. “You can’t even imagine, Boss.”
None of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team entering the warehouse had any idea that a crisis awaited them inside.
After sleeping for more than half a month, Lotus suddenly opened his eyes in the fish tank, awake at last.