The Marvelous Dragon Balls

"I thought that I should not be concerned with your s.h.i.+ELD; I thought your nosiness should be tolerable…." Saint paused a little, and then changed his tone saying: "But I was wrong. It turned out, I cannot live with this. Starting tomorrow morning, I don"t want to have any agents around my place. If you need me with something, come to the store through the front-door, and when matters are dealt with, beat it!"

"Your request is not out of discussion." Not reacting to Saint"s "orders", Fury nodded. But then, he also changed his tone: "However, we"re not just concerned with you for anything personal; we"re just following our regulations. What makes you think that we would make an exception for you without something to motivate us?"

Saint shrugged and answered: Go ahead then; lay your terms. However, be warned; if you ask for too much, don"t blame me if I overreact!"

"Don"t worry about that; it won"t be much of an effort on your side." Fury held the edge if his desk, and leaned forward to Saint staring at him with his one eye: "Saint Lee, before anything, I must ask; how far could your Ki Sense reach?"

"In normal conditions, I can scan a circle with the radius of about 19 kilometers. In a special state, my range doubles."

Saint sounded like he"s bragging, but in fact, he was hiding a much more advanced technique. If he was familiar with a certain individual"s Ki signature, he should in theory find them even when further away, which acted as a basis for Instant Transmission.  While Saint couldn"t perform that technique for now, he had Goku"s knowledge that a.s.sisted him in going beyond his normal Ki Sense Range.

"So, your maximum range is a circle of a 38 Kilometers Radius…" Nick Fury hid his shock, and then picked a high-resolution photo from his desk, pointing to a blond man on it and saying: "And I"m guessing, this is what you mean by "special state"?"

"Indeed! That is my explosive state!" Instead of acting secretive, Saint continued making up his own lore for Fury and s.h.i.+ELD. He extanded his palm, and dazzling blue "flame" wrapped his hand: "Under normal conditions, this is what my Ki looks like. When I"m in my explosive state, my Ki will not only turn golden, it would also change my appearance. More importantly, it will become more explosive, and whatever skill I use would be twice as powerful."

"I see." After taking the time to let this "important information" settle, Fury finally said his condition: "We want you to go to Afghanistan, and use your Ki Sense to find us locate someone."

Saint smiled and said: "The missing Tony Stark?"

"Not bad!" Fury nodded, not surprised that Saint would make this conclusion. Then he added: "If you are willing to help us with this, I can promise that your demand will be met."

"He has been missing for a few days. While he would make for a greatly valuable hostage, but until now, there is no news from any kidnappers. Do you really think he"s still alive?" To make things natural, Saint asked this obvious question.

"That"s for you to tell us. Whether he"s dead or alive, as long as you help us, we will agree to your condition." Fury did not want to argue.

Hearing that, Saint did not know how to answer. To stall for thinking time he smirked and said: "So you"re risking a lot for a man who might be just a corpse. Well, he is the king of arm manufacturing, so I guess to the US government and to you guys, he"s that important. I guess s.h.i.+ELD"s weapons come from Stark as well?"

"It"s not what you think. His late father, Howard Stark, was actually one of the founders of s.h.i.+ELD. We"re doing this out of respect."

Saint"s smirk faded, and then he once again confirmed: "So, as long as I agree to go look for him, you"ll immediately pull back your surveillance, no matter what happens?"

Nick Fury nodded without hesitation: "It takes effect immediately. When you leave this building and return home, you won"t find any of our agents."

"Then yes, I agree!" Saint nodded, and then he suddenly raised his hand saying: "But only if we go half a month from now. Only then can I leave to Afghanistan."

Fury frowned slightly, and he asked rapidly: "Why?"

"My restaurant has just been closed for twenty-one days. Now it has only been opened for four days. How can I afford to close it again? I need at least half a month to satisfy the costumers and give them a sense of consistency."

Fury never expected such a casual reason, and said with some anger: "We can arrange to bring a replacement chef for you, and you would not have to close the restaurant."

"No, no." Saint shook his head: "My customers are mainly attracted by my "Kung Fu Barbecue", and no one but me has this skill."

"That"s not a problem. There are already several restaurants in Manhattan that have started imitating you. If the chef uses induction cookers disguised as plates, he could easily fake it."

"What? I would never, ever, EVER, deceive my customers!"

Fury understood that Saint was just looking for an excuse. Knowing that he would not give in, and after some thought, he asked: "So, if our troops in Afghanistan were to find Tony Stark before you go, then what?"

"You"re dreaming!" Saint thought, as he remembered the timeline of the movie. Then, he shrugged and said smiling: "Then, I"ll owe you one!"

Fury smiled, and took that as a promise, saying without hesitation

"Good! In half a month, we"ll go!"

"It"s been a pleasure negotiating with you!" Saint extended his arm to shake hands with Fury.

There were two reasons why he had to take an extra half a month before going; he wasn"t yet familiar with his Saiyan Full Power: 20% transformation"s effects and consequences.  More importantly, he was afraid that he was to go too early, he would rob the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark from adding "Superhero" to his resume…

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