A certain American comic book's secondary profession master

Chapter 15 Frank's Revenge
The news that Li Wei saw was indeed the commotion caused by Frank.

Although only a few days have passed, as the pinnacle of individual combat skills among normal humans on Earth, he is not only proficient in various combat techniques, but also very familiar with various special agent skills.

Furthermore, Li Wei had previously indicated the direction of the investigation and the suspects, as well as providing various drugs and props.

In this situation, if Frank couldn't achieve some results in a short period of time, it would be too much of a disgrace to the Punisher's reputation.

The commotion in the news was caused by Frank dealing with Homeland Security agent Carson.

However, Carson wasn't the first.

Frank's comrade-in-arms, Billy, was the real one.

Because among the three people Levi mentioned, Billy's status was the lowest; after retiring from the army, he was merely a knife in Rollins's hand.

Therefore, he is also the easiest to investigate.

After a brief investigation, Frank quickly discovered some unusual things about Billy.

For example, a life of extravagance and decadence, and huge sums of money in the family with unknown origins.

Frank did not hesitate and immediately prepared to take action against him.

Although Billy was Frank's former comrade-in-arms and friend, and was also an elite soldier only slightly inferior to Frank, Frank easily subdued Billy by taking advantage of his unpreparedness.

After interrogation, Billy quickly confessed—although he was an elite soldier like Frank, Billy was clearly not a man of strong will—otherwise, he would not have been recruited by Rollins and would not have betrayed Frank.

It was also from Billy that Frank learned the real reason Rollins wanted to silence him.

Although Kandahar's actions were illegal, they were not actually fatal to Rollins.

The real reason is that Rollins, as a senior CIA official, has been using military and CIA channels to sell flour.

Actually, selling flour is nothing special for the CIA.

Since its inception, the CIA has had a tradition of raising funds by selling flour and weapons.

Otherwise, with the limited funding allocated by Congress, the CIA could never have become the world's leading intelligence agency.

Why is the CIA considered the world's leading intelligence agency on the surface?

Of course, it's because this is the Marvel Universe.

With S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra leading the way, the CIA naturally has to take a backseat.

So for the CIA, selling flour and weapons isn't really a big mistake.

But the premise is that the money you make from selling flour and weapons is mainly used as CIA funding.

Of course, during this process, those involved can also pocket some money under various pretexts, but the bulk of it must be handed over.

So under normal circumstances, even if someone makes a mistake during the process, the CIA's higher-ups will help clean up the mess.

Of course, there is another possibility: you may have your own independent channels and only have a cooperative relationship with the CIA—like the pilot Barry Hill in "American Action."

However, Rollins' case is not included.

Rollins used CIA resources entirely.

But he wasn't selling followers to the CIA; he was selling followers to himself.

He pocketed all the profits.

Even within the CIA, such behavior would be considered taboo.

So if this news gets leaked...

Rollins isn't facing any legal issues—in the US, the worst that could happen to him is life imprisonment for selling drugs.

But breaking the CIA's rules can be fatal.

The CIA won't talk to you about the law.

Suicide by being shot dozens of times in the back is a relatively merciful way to die.

Rollins didn't want to go to jail, much less die a violent death.

So he chose to kill him to silence him.

The unauthorized operation in Kandahar was aimed at interrogating and killing an Afghan policeman named Ahmed.

Rollins's stated claim was that the policeman was connected to the resistance.

But in reality, it was this policeman who stumbled upon a U.S. soldier working for Rollins transporting flour.

This matter should have ended here.

However, with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security last year, for some reason, they started investigating this matter.

This is actually quite normal.

The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, a new intelligence agency formed by integrating more than 20 U.S. functions, means that its adversaries are not limited to those countries and forces that pose a threat to the United States.

Similarly, there's the CIA, which used to be the most powerful intelligence agency in the United States.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has the word "homeland" in its name, it is actually a comprehensive intelligence agency that covers both domestic and overseas areas.

Its functions overlap with those of the CIA and FBI in many ways.

You could even say that the Department of Homeland Security is a combination of the CIA and the FBI.

Authority directly superseded these two existing departments.

The FBI is alright with having such a powerful figure above them.

Since the death of Hoover, the founder of the FBI, the FBI's authority has been steadily declining.

Moreover, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was actually based on some of the existing departments of the FBI.

Many FBI departments were even completely spun off and incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security.

Therefore, the FBI readily accepted the addition of this new supervisory department.

But the CIA won't do.

Since its establishment, the CIA has been the only completely independent intelligence agency among all U.S. intelligence agencies, not under the jurisdiction of any government department.

If we must name a governing body, it can only be the White House—which is why the CIA needs to earn its own funding, while other intelligence agencies are backed by powerful departments, and Congress approves their funding very readily.

For example, the FBI, although its power is not what it used to be, is backed by the Department of Justice, and although its annual budget is not very large, it is stable.

The newly established Department of Homeland Security is even more impressive, with an annual budget of over $60 billion (2013).

And what about the CIA's funding?

It all depends on the mood of the incumbent president.

If the president is in a good mood and willing to advocate for the CIA, then the CIA's funding during his term may be very high, possibly reaching tens of billions of dollars.

If the president has a poor impression of the CIA, then his funding during his term may be cut by most of it, perhaps only a few billion dollars.

Regardless of the amount of funding, independent departments will certainly have more autonomy than departments under their jurisdiction.

Nobody likes having a powerful father figure above them, especially one that suddenly appears.

Therefore, the CIA was not very enthusiastic about the newly established Department of Homeland Security.

Although the White House requested the CIA to provide intelligence support to the Department of Homeland Security.

However, to date, the CIA has only provided some outdated or worthless intelligence.

There wasn't a single piece of truly valuable intelligence.

The Department of Homeland Security, which was enjoying a period of great success, was naturally unhappy about this.

Therefore, while fulfilling his duties normally, he always tries to find opportunities to pick a fight with the CIA.

This time, the investigation led to Rollins, a senior CIA operations director.

They also obtained a crucial piece of evidence—a video file of Ahmed's interrogation at the time.

Even Rollins, the person involved, was unaware of the existence of this video.

However, it must be said that Rollins, as an important villain in the Punisher series, has a bit of luck to him.

The Department of Homeland Security was formed by merging more than twenty functional departments of the former U.S. government.

Although it has undergone relatively strict screening, it cannot change the fact that its personnel are quite complex.

For example, Carson Wolf.

He was originally a Coast Guard member and had been working with Rollins for a long time.

After the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard was also placed under its jurisdiction.

Carson's job was subsequently changed, and he became a Homeland Security agent.

And he became one of the investigators in this investigation of Rollins.

As a result, Carson stopped the video.

As a result, an intelligence analyst who knew the contents of the video was also "punished".

However, the video was blocked.

However, some information still points to Rollins, Frank, and Billy, the three people who participated in Operation Kandahar.

Because the action team that participated in that operation was ambushed by the resistance on their way back due to Rollins' deliberate leak, all members except Frank and Billy were killed.

For this reason, after returning from that mission, if Billy hadn't stopped him, Frank would have almost killed Rollins because of the death of his teammate.

It was this incident that made Rollins hate Frank.

Afterwards, he bribed Billy, Frank's close ally, to spy on Frank—it was Billy who leaked the news to Rollins that Frank and his family would be having a picnic in the park that day.

This time, after learning that he was being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Rollins immediately discussed with Carson and Billy and devised a plan to silence Frank.

Not only did they disguise the operation as a gang execution, but they also directed all the leads uncovered by the Department of Homeland Security to Frank.

In other words, they not only wanted to silence him, but also wanted to pin the blame on Frank.

They had planned everything, but they hadn't anticipated that Frank would survive after falling into the sea.

And then they encountered Li Wei, a person with extraordinary abilities.

It must be said that, as secret agents, Rollins and his two accomplices' plan was actually quite meticulous.

In the original timeline, even Frank was kept in the dark for many years before he discovered clues with the help of others and finally took his revenge.

But it is different now.

Levi gave the name directly, so Frank didn't have to spend much effort looking for clues.

In just a few days, Billy and Carson were both taken care of.

Only Rollins remains; Frank has yet to track him down.

As the CIA's operations director, Rollins was highly vigilant.

Billy suddenly went missing, and when he killed Carson, the commotion was a bit too much.

Rollins immediately sensed the danger, so he went into hiding and began to investigate the killer in reverse—at this point, he had not yet suspected Frank, the dead man.

Frank acted decisively and discreetly, so the news that he was not dead did not leak out.

So he patiently waited for his opportunity.

However, neither Rollins nor Frank expected this.

Some people acted even faster than them.

Hell's Kitchen.

One of the most diverse and chaotic neighborhoods in Manhattan.

But this is also the best place to hide.

So Frank wanted to hide his tracks.

They chose to stay here during their revenge.

That afternoon, Frank had just bought some food and was preparing to return to the apartment where he was hiding.

We haven't even gotten close to the apartment building yet.

He realized something was wrong.

Around the apartment building, some unfamiliar figures appeared.

Has he been discovered?
Frank narrowed his eyes.

However, he did not choose to flee.

Instead, he chose to return to his apartment as if nothing had happened—not only because he was skilled and daring, but also because the potions Li Wei had given him were still in the apartment, and he had to retrieve them.

What he didn't expect was that the person monitoring him would be so bold.

Not only did they surround the building.

They didn't even bother with the most basic cover-up.

When he arrived at his floor, he found that all the residents on the floor had been evacuated.

The door to his own room was wide open.

When did the CIA become so reckless?
But that’s not right either.

If it really is to deal with him.

So why weren't there even a single sniper positioned on the surrounding high ground?

Frank, a top-notch soldier and agent, is extremely sensitive to danger, but he is certain that there is absolutely no sniper around.

This is obviously unreasonable.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Frank, still unable to figure it out, picked up his things and headed straight for his room.

There are people inside.

Frank sensed it even before he entered the room.

However, he did not sense any danger.

This feeling is so strange.

When Frank entered the room, he saw a one-eyed, bald man in a trench coat sitting at the dining table in his apartment.

On the dining table were some bottles and jars, the very medicines, bandages, and bombs that Li Wei had given him.

“…Nick Fury? It’s you?” Frank asked, his expression unchanged, his pupils slightly contracting.

Although he had already learned of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence from Levi.

But I didn't expect to be able to get in touch with it so quickly.

And the person who came to the door was none other than Nick Fury, the director.

"Who else did you think it was? William Rollins?" Nick Fury said casually. "By the way, which Gypsy did you get these little gadgets from? Aren't you afraid of killing someone with them?"

"Heh, so this is the quality of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Rummaging through their master's belongings when they're not around?" Frank scoffed and retorted.

"...How do you know about S.H.I.E.L.D." Frank's words instantly turned Nick Fury, who had seemed nonchalant, into a serious person.

His purpose in coming here was actually to recruit Frank.

After all, Frank had made quite a stir.

This situation did not occur in the original timeline of the Punisher storyline because the Avengers had already been formed by then.

Therefore, for S.H.I.E.L.D. at that time, Frank's role as a purely human vanguard was already negligible.

But it's different now.

Let alone the Avengers.

At this time, even Black Widow hadn't joined S.H.I.E.L.D. yet.

Hawkeye is just a newbie.

Therefore, during this period, human elites like Frank were still very valuable to S.H.I.E.L.D.

(End of this chapter)