095. Ready to activate the card

The follow-up to the Abomination incident was taken over by S.H.I.E.L.D. Su Ye had no objections to this; he had never intended to kill the creature, nor did he ever entertain the idea of bringing the uncontrollable brute home as a pet.

Though Abomination was ugly, he was not the same as pure villains like Green Goblin or Bullseye. He wasn’t the sort who refused discipline or existed solely to wreak havoc. In the “Shang-Chi” film, he appeared fighting alongside Wong in Macau, and in the “She-Hulk” series, he returned, even gaining the ability to switch between his original form and Abomination. Keeping him around might add some entertainment, especially since, judging from the trailer, “She-Hulk” seemed to lean towards comedy.

Of course, the main reason was that Su Ye’s mindset had shifted. He was no longer the newly empowered superhero who saw the world in stark black and white, caring only about good and evil, ignoring right and wrong. America, so free, surely has the tolerance to accommodate a handful—dozens, even—of rampaging villains. That is the true meaning of democracy, isn’t it?

So Su Ye’s intervention had two purposes: first, to plant the flag for the Red Shield branch; second, simply to get involved and have a bout with Abomination. After all, with his system, participating in plot events came with benefits.

Su Ye could afford to ignore Abomination, but General Ross could not. Abomination was transformed from one of Ross’s own soldiers, albeit a complicated figure—a Russian-born, British officer leased to America. Ultimately, he was under Ross’s command, so Ross believed he had every legitimate reason to take Abomination back.

S.H.I.E.L.D., on the other hand, felt that Ross’s men had displayed the military’s incompetence when faced with a super-criminal, leaving everyone thoroughly disappointed. In contrast, S.H.I.E.L.D.—the special agency dedicated to strange events—dispatched just a branch leader, who subdued Abomination with ease. The difference in strength was clear.

It wasn’t that S.H.I.E.L.D. had to compete with the military, but with the creation of the superhero team imminent, Phil Coulson felt he had to secure more leverage for the Director. Despite Abomination’s earlier rampage, with the right guidance, he might well become a qualified member of the superhero group.

Because of the different developments from the cinematic universe, Coulson’s attitude was no longer like in the Marvel short films, where he tried to block Abomination from joining the Avengers. Even if Abomination wasn’t to be an Avenger but simply imprisoned, Coulson believed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cells were the proper place—they were, after all, designed for this purpose.

To this end, he even went so far as to pull rank, temporarily naming Su Ye the branch leader. Of course, anyone who believed this title was a fool.

General Ross watched Su Ye’s departing figure, sinking into deep thought.

The Chevrolet once again rolled through the midnight streets of New York, heading towards Su Ye’s home in Queens.

It was already late. Su Ye gave up on visiting the Muse Bar, instead deciding to return home and await the system’s midnight gift.

After tonight’s battle with Abomination, the system should generate a high-level event-trigger card as a reward. What card it would be, Su Ye did not know, but he was full of anticipation.

After the fight with the Destroyer, Su Ye had received another [Girlfriend Card (Green Star)], just like the one awarded for completing the “Mafia Overthrow” event. By rights, defeating the Destroyer should have been far more difficult than wiping out the Mafia, yet the reward was the same.

Su Ye guessed it might be because he used the Arc Reactor bomb—a shortcut in the system’s eyes—thus lowering the reward grade. Otherwise, it would have been at least a Blue Star Card.

Now, Su Ye held two Green Star Cards. Besides those, he had an [Upgrade Card], a [Duplicate Card], and a pile of regular green and white cards.

It had been over two months since Su Ye first drew Gwen as his girlfriend and gained Spider-Man’s abilities. The white cards he had accumulated could now be synthesized into green cards, and their number had once again exceeded ten.

Yet Su Ye had not attempted another ten-draw, preferring to wait until he had ten blue cards before making a batch draw. That way, he would be guaranteed at least one blue card girlfriend, and with the Upgrade Card, she could become a purple card girlfriend—something he eagerly anticipated.

As for the miracle of pulling something extraordinary in a single draw, Su Ye had long abandoned such naïveté. Guaranteed rewards were good enough—stable, reliable, immune to drought or flood.

Back home, it was nearly midnight. After Sharon Carter parked the car, she considered whether, with the long night ahead, she should offer her boss a massage or foot rub. After all, he’d spent the evening fighting and must be tired, needing to relax. As a secretary, she wanted to proactively ease his burdens.

But Su Ye seemed entirely uninterested in interacting with Sharon Carter; he waved her off, got out, and headed straight to his room on the second floor.

If she didn’t know Su Ye had two upright girlfriends, Sharon Carter might have suspected he was gay.

But knowing he had two girlfriends, so closely bonded, for the first time Sharon lost confidence in her own body.

“Is it my figure? Am I not attractive enough? No, it’s not that I’m not good enough—just not bold or proactive enough!”

Thinking of her investigation into Su Ye’s second girlfriend, Mai Shiranui, Sharon Carter suddenly found her answer.

“Maybe I need a uniform!”

On the second floor, Su Ye hurried to his room—not because he failed to notice Sharon Carter’s advances, but because sleep was not his goal.

His aim was to turn Sharon Carter into a true ally, then use her as a stepping stone to expand the Red Shield branch. To achieve this, he couldn’t appear too eager with her, since she might have the same motive, looking to beautify him...

At times like this, it was like a contest between armies: whoever grew impatient first lost.

Back in his room, Su Ye quickly washed up, lay on his bed, and waited. Soon, the clock struck midnight, and the system’s prompt sounded as expected.

[Ding! Event ‘Subdue Abomination’ completed. Reward: ‘Girlfriend Card (Green Star)’ received.]

(Note: Star cards have a higher chance of yielding high-quality cards.)

As expected, it was another Green Star Card. Was the system getting stingy lately? Not even a Blue Star Card.

He muttered to himself, but deftly combined the three Green Star Cards into a Blue Star Card.

Then his gaze lingered on the [Upgrade Card] and [Duplicate Card].

Should he use them now?