First, Tony Stark was rescued from the cave and then furiously took down Stan.
Then, he appeared in the Arctic Ocean during a sensitive period, plus this current situation.
Nick Fury felt that the matter was definitely happening, it was pretty much confirmed.
Tony Stark must have seen in the diary that HYDRA killed his parents, which is why he furiously acted against HYDRA.
This motive is far more reasonable than Stern trying to seize Tony Stark's armor.
"Yes, Officer, I was as surprised as you were at the time."
"Stark actually attacked a senator, and with such a heavy hand, right away."
"Just because Stern wanted his armor? That doesn't fit Stark's personality."
Coulson's voice rang out, expressing agreement with Nick Fury's question, but also showing confusion.
This further corroborated Nick Fury's guess.
However, it was not easy to explain this matter to Coulson, so Nick Fury did not say much.
He just let out a meaningful sigh: "HYDRA? Stark has really opened our eyes!"
"Who says he hasn't?"
Coulson deeply agreed with this.
He, like everyone else, thought HYDRA no longer existed.
"Officer, what do you plan to do?"
Coulson then looked at Nick Fury sternly and asked.
"Stark has done so much for us; we cannot waste Stark's intentions."
Nick Fury said meaningfully.
What followed was unquestionable.
Nick Fury began to meticulously plan the arrest operation against Senator Stern.
Considering the background of HYDRA's infiltration, Nick Fury also made a series of other detailed preparations.
Before the formal arrest, he used his connections and resources outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. to set up a large net.
Once the formal arrest began, all relevant reactions from various parties would be fully observed by Nick Fury.
At that time, who would warn Stern in advance, who would cover for Stern, and who would try to erase some key traces of Stern.
Nick Fury would keep a tight grip on all of it!
For Nick Fury, Stern was a pebble in his hand, and he wanted to use this pebble to stir up some ripples.
The calm Water surface was undisturbed, and Nick Fury could not see through it.
But if ripples appeared, it would be different, wouldn't it?
"Coulson, begin the operation!"
"I am authorizing you now to immediately carry out the arrest operation against Stern!"
By the time all the preparations were almost complete, it was already two weeks later.
Nick Fury no longer hesitated and immediately issued this order to Coulson.
"Yes, Officer!"
Upon receiving Nick Fury's order, Coulson immediately set off with a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. elites.
Of course, at least half of them were still HYDRA Senior Undercover Agents.
The news that Nick Fury was going to arrest Senator Stern was also relayed to Pierce by those Senior Undercover Agents at the first opportunity.
"What?"
"Nick Fury is going to arrest Stern?"
Pierce, in his top-floor office, expressed extreme surprise at this.
This was too sudden, wasn't it?
What was wrong with Nick Fury's head? Why would he suddenly move against a figure of a senator's caliber?
Did that useless Stern reveal something?
Pierce fell into deep thought, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't make sense of it.
"Quickly inform that useless person that he is being targeted by Nick Fury!"
"Also, deal with all the necessary traces at the fastest speed, lest Nick Fury discover them!"
Now was not the time to dwell on these things; Pierce quickly issued this order to the Senior Undercover Agent beside him.
What Alexander Pierce didn't know, however, was that his actions played right into Nick Fury's hands.
After all, as early as when Nick Fury issued the arrest order, Stern was already under Nick Fury's 360-degree, no-dead-angle surveillance.
Someone informing Stern, Stern quickly dealing with related loose ends, and a series of other actions all failed to escape Nick Fury's eyes!
This silent contest thus began.
And with Nick Fury's cunning, having the upper hand, the outcome of this contest was without any suspense.
Despite receiving the news in advance, Stern still couldn't escape and was successfully arrested by Coulson.
Not only that.
Nick Fury also obtained more intelligence through the large net he had set up long ago, thanks to this arrest.
Nick Fury caught many traces of the small actions Pierce had ordered HYDRA to carry out!
Listening to the feedback from his private channels outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury expressed great satisfaction.
At the same time, he was truly shocked!
Because since he issued the arrest order to Coulson, the speed and intensity of the mysterious force behind Stern's operations had reached an exaggerated level.
This clearly reflected that HYDRA had indeed infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. to an insane degree.
The diary, it truly did not deceive me!
However, Nick Fury also believed that through his meticulous planning this time, he would definitely be able to unearth many related things.
Nick Fury was full of vigor and ready for a big operation.
Nick Fury had already had his private channels analyze the traces caught during this arrest operation.
And the next thing Nick Fury had to do was to properly interrogate Stern!
Nick Fury believed that with his methods, personally overseeing this interrogation, he would still be able to extract a lot of information.
"What, Stern was arrested?"
"That useless person, wasn't he warned in advance!"
Compared to Nick Fury's high spirits, Alexander Pierce in the top-floor building was truly exasperated.
He hadn't expected Stern to be so useless, simply good-for-nothing.
He was notified almost immediately after Coulson received the order, and he still got caught?
How did HYDRA recruit such a useless person!
But now was not the time to curse Stern.
After venting, Pierce immediately issued one order after another to the Senior Undercover Agent in front of him.
As Nick Fury's superior, Pierce understood Nick Fury very well.
That guy was definitely the best Agent he had ever seen.
With Stern falling into this man's hands, Nick Fury would surely unearth many secrets.
So Pierce had to prepare early.
Pierce was even well aware that HYDRA would have to make great sacrifices this time, giving up a considerable portion of its strength and resources.
Otherwise, Nick Fury would not give up.
That's right, to preserve the overall situation, HYDRA might have to make a painful sacrifice!
As soon as he thought of this, Pierce couldn't help but feel a headache, all because of that damned Stern!
What couldn't he do well, why did he have to be targeted by Nick Fury?
No!
It should be said, why did Nick Fury suddenly target Stern?
This question was also one that Pierce highly focused on, even the core issue.
Because Pierce specifically investigated, Stern had not actually done anything out of line!
So why would he be targeted by Nick Fury?
"Officer, it's Tony Stark!"
After some investigation, Pierce actually received such a surprising answer.
"Stark?"
Pierce raised an eyebrow at the Senior Undercover Agent beside him.
"Yes, Officer, Stark secretly investigated Stern after the hearing and found some key evidence."
"Then Stark handed that key evidence over to Coulson."
So why would Stark secretly investigate Stern after the hearing?
Pierce and his Senior Undercover Agent both came to the same conclusion simultaneously:
Because Stern tried to seize Stark's armor.
So Stark immediately retaliated with something sinister!
What the hell.
It's hard to tell, but that Playboy's heart is actually so dark.
Wasn't it just about his armor?
You actually tried to ruin someone's life?
Pierce was only somewhat surprised by Tony Stark's behavior, but he didn't think much of it, nor did he suspect anything further.
After all, they didn't have a God's perspective; it was impossible for them to know that the Playboy already knew about HYDRA's existence.
They could only interpret it as Tony Stark having a darker heart.
And for someone like Pierce, he had seen many people with dark hearts.
In fact, Stark's level of dark-heartedness wouldn't even rank, seriously.
So Pierce didn't think much more of it, and even couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
It was good that Nick Fury hadn't discovered anything; otherwise, things would have been truly troublesome.
So Pierce temporarily put his mind at ease.
He began to brace himself, specifically to deal with the potential troubles Stern might cause next.
This silent, long-distance contest between Pierce and Nick Fury thus began.
And both Pierce and Nick Fury were top-tier Agents, super spy chiefs.
The contest between them was thrilling.
It lasted for nearly a month, ending only when Nick Fury unearthed a lot of HYDRA intelligence and "drained" Stern.
However, due to Pierce's advance planning and proactive self-sacrifice, although Nick Fury took a huge bite out of HYDRA.
It ultimately didn't cause irreparable damage.
Of course, it was enough to make Pierce's heart ache.
Nick Fury's move indeed caused HYDRA heavy losses!
But fortunately, everything was over!
That's right, it was temporarily over.
Within this month, Nick Fury went all out; what could be dug up had pretty much been dug up, and no more could be obtained.
But even so.
What was unearthed from just one Stern was enough to make Nick Fury feel shocked.
"I never thought you were all HYDRA members!"
Looking at the more than thirty people on the computer screen, Nick Fury's single eye gleamed, and his face looked grim and severe.
Among these thirty-plus people, several were high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.
Some were even Coulson's trusted subordinates!
One must know, this was only what was unearthed by using Stern as a breakthrough, and there were already so many.
What if they continued to dig deeper?
Nick Fury simply couldn't imagine.
By now, Nick Fury had basically no doubts about the infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. as recorded in the diary.
S.H.I.E.L.D., it really has become Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D.!
His directorship truly was a failure.
However, after a slight sigh, Nick Fury began to fall into deep thought again.
How should these Senior Undercover Agents he found be dealt with?
Clean them out?
Or keep them for now?
Considering the current level of infiltration in S.H.I.E.L.D., cleaning out these Senior Undercover Agents would actually not be very useful.
After all, it would likely only be cleaning out the tip of the iceberg and wouldn't substantially change anything.
Instead, it would alert the enemy, making the hidden HYDRA even more cautious and careful.
So Nick Fury quickly made a judgment: keeping these Senior Undercover Agents was far more useful than cleaning them out.
Nick Fury wanted to use these HYDRA Senior Undercover Agents as an opportunity to unearth more things.
So how could this be achieved?
With S.H.I.E.L.D. full of HYDRA Senior Undercover Agents, how could he keep an eye on the HYDRA Senior Undercover Agents at all times, without them noticing, without alerting any of them?
Even for Nick Fury, this was quite a headache.
Unless... he used a top-secret trump card in Nick Fury's hand!
"It seems it's been a while since I had coffee with Talos."
After a brief thought, Nick Fury made a decision.
He picked up his imposing black trench coat and left his office with a profound air.
"Talos, come out for a cup of coffee. It's my treat this time."
Walking towards the door, Nick Fury made a call.
And in about forty minutes.
Nick Fury's figure appeared in a seemingly inconspicuous coffee shop.
Across from him, there was also a person who looked to be in their forties or fifties, with dark blonde hair.
This person was none other than Nick Fury's Skrulls ally, Talos.
"Don't like the taste here? I remember you do like cappuccino."
Nick Fury casually sipped the coffee in his cup while chatting idly with Talos.
"Alright, cut the act, we both know you're not here to have coffee with me."
"And you only come to me in one situation, that is when you want me to impersonate someone."
"Tell me, who is it this time."
Talos rolled his White eye; he had seen through Nick Fury long ago, alright.
"That's why I like dealing with you Skrulls; you're simple and direct, no need for meaningless pleasantries."
Nick Fury stopped wasting words and took out some documents to hand to Talos.
Inside, it was precisely a HYDRA Senior Undercover Agent that Nick Fury had found!
That's right.
This was Nick Fury's idea for dealing with HYDRA, fighting Fire with Fire!
You infiltrated my S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'll re-infiltrate your HYDRA!