Chapter 103 Exorbitant Bill
Nick Fury's holographic projection stared coldly across the battlefield medical pod.
Meanwhile—
Lynn didn't even raise his head.
His hands moved steadily and precisely while securing the civilian patient's leg bandages.
"I already explained it."
"The full-frequency overclocking radiation shield was activated."
"When the Leviathan main cannon fired…"
He tightened the final knot calmly.
"…external radiation levels exceeded acceptable biological tolerance."
"I had no intention of being vaporized alongside the operating room."
"With shielding fully activated, all outgoing signals became blocked."
"Vital-sign transmission included."
"Perfectly normal."
Fury's expression remained unreadable.
"The timing of your shield activation…"
His tone slowed deliberately.
"…coincided exactly with the appearance of the masked individual."
Only then did Lynn finally look upward.
Gold-rimmed glasses reflected faint battlefield light.
"Director."
His voice flattened slightly.
"Are you suggesting a one-hundred-seventy-pound physician and a two-meter-tall monster weighing over four hundred pounds are secretly the same person?"
A pause.
"Perhaps your biological-analysis department requires restructuring."
Silence.
Because this remained Fury's greatest logical obstacle.
Everyone who witnessed the masked figure agreed on one thing:
That thing was enormous.
At least 1.95 meters tall.
Massive musculature.
Overwhelming physical density.
Meanwhile—
Doctor Lynn appeared refined and slender.
1.83 meters.
Lean frame.
Barely above ordinary athletic weight.
The discrepancy between both bodies felt absurd.
Unless…
Fury's single eye narrowed slightly.
He already knew Lynn possessed inhuman capabilities.
Punching Hulk across Manhattan proved that much.
But physically closing the Tesseract wormhole barehanded?
That crossed beyond mutation.
Beyond enhancement.
Into something approaching divinity.
Fury still lacked certainty.
Which meant he needed more evidence.
"Second question."
He changed direction immediately.
"After the masked individual jumped from Stark Tower…"
"The final confirmed trajectory placed him near your medical pod."
"Did you observe anything unusual?"
"Director."
Lynn handed the completed civilian case toward a nearby medic.
"I already answered Captain Rogers earlier."
"I remained inside this medical pod continuously treating casualties."
"Nothing unusual appeared."
Then he calmly retrieved a tablet from beneath the operating console.
"If doubts remain…"
He adjusted the glasses lightly.
"…you may request Stark Industries perform a complete energy-log audit."
"Or have JARVIS conduct full-spectrum shielding verification."
"Data remains objective."
Fury stayed silent again.
Because Lynn was correct.
And that itself created the problem.
Someone possessing Lynn's intelligence—
If guilty—
Would never leave imperfect evidence behind.
Any data retrieved now would likely support the explanation flawlessly.
Pushing further risked exposing his own uncertainty instead.
So Fury temporarily abandoned the subject.
Unfortunately—
Something even worse immediately followed.
Lynn activated the tablet calmly.
A densely packed spreadsheet illuminated the screen.
"Very well, Director."
"Now we discuss actual business."
Fury glanced downward casually.
Then froze.
"What the hell is this?"
"One item at a time."
Lynn scrolled calmly through the invoice.
"Emergency thoracic surgery performed on Captain America."
"Procedures included:
Open-chest surgery.
Pulmonary repair.
Fracture repositioning.
Internal bleeding management."
"Mr. Stark verbally confirmed a twenty-million-dollar treatment fee before surgery."
"Audio records available if necessary."
Fury's temple twitched visibly.
"Next."
"Optic-nerve reconstruction performed on Hawkeye."
"Fourteen alien fragments extracted."
"Micron-level retinal surgery."
"Advanced regenerative therapy applied."
"Forty-million-dollar emergency agreement previously approved."
"Payment already received."
Fury's expression darkened further.
"The above entries are completed contracts."
Lynn continued calmly.
"The following charges are newly added."
His tone became even flatter.
"Continuous battlefield emergency-service surcharge."
"Per our prior verbal agreement…"
"…war-zone treatment rates increased tenfold."
"I remained operational for more than three continuous hours inside Manhattan's highest-density Chitauri fire zone."
"During said operation…"
A slight pause.
"…a Leviathan main cannon nearly erased my workplace entirely."
Fury's voice became dangerous.
"So?"
Lynn looked directly into the holographic eye.
"One billion dollars."
Complete silence.
Then—
Tony Stark's heavily amused voice entered through the communication channel.
"Oh, beautiful."
"I absolutely knew this was coming."
Fury closed his eye slowly for one second.
When he spoke again—
His voice sounded lower than before.
"Dr. Lynn."
"Half of New York is destroyed."
"Thousands are dead."
"The World Security Council barely possesses enough remaining funding for debris removal."
"And you're demanding one billion dollars?"
"You may refuse payment."
Lynn answered casually.
"However…"
"The next time one of your heroes arrives with catastrophic trauma…"
"I may unfortunately be unavailable."
"Perhaps on vacation."
"Phone switched off."
Fury's expression hardened instantly.
"You're threatening me."
"No."
Lynn interrupted smoothly.
"Equivalent exchange."
"Director…"
He folded his hands calmly.
"…surely you understand the meaning of those words better than most people alive."
"How much is a guaranteed survival rate worth?"
"How much would you pay for certainty that your heroes will not die after entering my operating room?"
"Is one billion truly excessive?"
A crashing sound erupted from Fury's side of the communication.
Likely another destroyed chair.
Silence followed for nearly ten full seconds.
Finally—
Fury spoke through clenched teeth.
"…Payment from the Avengers emergency operations fund."
"Three installments."
"One installment."
Lynn answered immediately.
"Within three days."
"Impossible."
"Two installments."
"One month maximum."
Lynn took another sip of coffee.
Then nodded once.
"Accepted."
The tablet screen darkened afterward.
Nearby—
Black Widow remained silent the entire time.
But her eyes carried something difficult to describe.
Admiration.
Caution.
Disbelief.
This man had just survived an alien invasion.
Yet instead of fear, relief, or emotional exhaustion—
His first instinct involved invoicing the world's greatest intelligence organization.
What kind of existence behaved like this?
…
Night descended gradually across post-war Manhattan.
The orange glow above the city no longer came from sunset.
Half of New York still burned.
Ambulance sirens echoed endlessly between ruined streets.
Military helicopters circled continuously overhead.
Several hours later—
Lynn finally returned to Miracle Clinic.
The clinic exterior looked heavily damaged.
Dozens of impact craters scarred the outer walls from stray Chitauri plasma fire.
The blast-resistant security shutters carried multiple blackened laser-burn marks.
But structurally—
The building remained intact.
Using alien reinforcement materials acquired earlier from Lex Luthor's facilities had proven extremely worthwhile.
Lynn locked every ground-level entrance personally.
Then descended toward the underground levels.
One alloy door.
Second alloy door.
Third alloy door.
Each sealed shut heavily behind him.
Until finally—
All outside sound disappeared completely.
The underground chamber entered perfect silence.
Lynn removed the white coat calmly and hung it beside the workstation.
Then sat slowly at the center of the blast chamber.
And closed his eyes.
Right on schedule—
The system notification echoed inside his consciousness.
[Ding! Epic Mission "Demonstrate the Power of Miracles" Completed!]
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