At this moment, most of the Avengers were gathered on the island, completely unaware of the fierce struggle within S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America was protecting Nick, who had been shot, his expression exceptionally grave. He had originally infiltrated to find the control center in the plan to swap the modified USB and sabotage the Project Insight. He didn't expect to encounter Nick being assassinated within the agency. For a Director of a department directly under the President to be assassinated inside the agency, Captain America instantly realized there might be unstable elements within S.H.I.E.L.D., though he didn't dare think toward Hydra yet.
"Who exactly is our enemy, Nick?"
Looking at Nick, whose arm had been shot and was bleeding incessantly, Captain America tore a large strip of cloth from the other man's black trench coat to bandage him. He felt that Nick was hiding something from him, something very important. Captain America looked closely into Nick's one large eye and questioned him.
"The enemy comes from within, Captain. And you'll know soon enough; it's our old rival."
Clutching his chest, Nick spoke somewhat breathlessly. He hadn't just been shot once; he had taken at least five or six hits, but they were all blocked by his body armor. However, one shot hit his chest, and now he was a bit out of breath from the bullet's Impact. He felt his ribs must be broken; otherwise, it wouldn't hurt just to breathe. Struggling to explain things simply to Captain America, Nick took out a Healing Potion purchased from Artoria's company from his trench coat and used it on himself.
"Hydra? Weren't they defeated? How could they infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
With Nick's words, the Captain understood everything and connected the events. The person who attacked him before, after being defeated, had that familiar suicide style, leaving no survivors. Such an extreme way of doing things—he should have thought of it sooner. Wasn't this their old rival, Hydra? But thinking of it was one thing; Carter wouldn't lie to him. Hydra should have indeed failed. But the ones appearing here were also Hydra. Could it be the ghosts of Hydra coming for their lives?
"Now is not the time for this, Captain."
They had already dodged most of the people. Currently, there wasn't a single person in S.H.I.E.L.D. who could be trusted. Nick had sent the few people he trusted most away using 'Artoria's invitation.' At this time, the only one he could fight alongside was the Captain. In the current S.H.I.E.L.D., he couldn't trust anyone. Nick pulled out his pistol with a cold expression; as long as he saw someone, he would kill them. He would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let any suspicious element go.
"Is your body still okay?"
Taking out his shield, the Captain looked at the blood on Nick's arm, wondering what Nick had injected himself with. The bleeding had stopped so quickly. The Captain asked if Nick still had the ability to move; if so, they would break out together. If not, he would have to find another way.
"There's no problem now. That girl Artoria has certainly come up with some good stuff."
Moving his injured arm slightly, there was no pain at all. Taking off the cloth strip, the dark skin showed no blood flowing out; it seemed to have finished healing with no scars left. Praising his old friend's daughter, Nick was glad S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken this matter seriously from the start, purchasing large quantities of this potion and competing with the Military for 80% of the products on Artoria's company's production line, with the other 20% for civilian use. He had just used one from his hand, and he still had nine left. It was truly a good thing for ensuring life safety.
"Is there any way to get out quickly? The longer we stay, the greater the chance of being discovered."
Looking at the now-recovered Nick, the Captain inquired. In S.H.I.E.L.D., he was only familiar with the way to the cafeteria, the training grounds, and the exits. Other places were too complex. The map Sharon gave the Captain only pointed to the console. The true full layout of S.H.I.E.L.D. was only known to Level 10 Special Agents, so he asked Nick if there were any secret passages.
"Let's go."
Without further nonsense, Nick led the way for the Captain, moving in one direction. Within this S.H.I.E.L.D. labyrinth, they began a game of hide and seek with Hydra. The two were highly alert, avoiding everyone and moving toward safety. Nick was indeed a shrewd spymaster; he had silently left a secret passage under everyone's noses that even the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce, likely didn't know existed. At this moment, Pierce couldn't worry about that; he was looking at his subordinates with some anger.
"After preparing for so long, you still managed to let him escape. You really disappoint me."
He had wanted to kill Nick silently while the other S.H.I.E.L.D. members were away. The timing and plan were great, but he didn't expect the target to escape. This was not a good thing. If he couldn't kill the man this time, their true identities might be exposed to the world, which was something he absolutely could not allow.
"Do you know the current location of those Avengers?"
Ordering his subordinates to continue searching for Nick's trail and to kill him if possible, Pierce suddenly had an idea. He sat back in his seat and asked his assistant. This was a good opportunity. If they were all together, how wonderful it would be to launch an Intercontinental Missile to eliminate these threats. Things wouldn't be so troublesome in the future.
"Based on the computers of S.H.I.E.L.D. internal members, we found this."
The assistant understood his meaning. He pulled up the emails Natasha and Barton had received, printed them on a piece of paper, and placed it before Pierce. Looking at the address shown, a look of surprise appeared on Pierce's face. If this one strike truly made those guys disappear, then there would be fewer obstacles for Hydra to rule the world. If Tony died as well, they could find a few puppets to swallow Stark Industries, which could cover the expenses of a small country.
The most covetable thing was still those suits full of violent aesthetics. Seeing those incredibly powerful suits being used by that playboy to show off, even wearing them to dance, made him feel heartache. But now that he had started, he wouldn't stop. Since Tony couldn't serve him, then he should die! Once they got his suits, they might be able to replicate them in the future.
"Set the target and launch three Intercontinental Missiles. I want this island to disappear from the world, along with everyone on it. Send our people to the nearby waters; once any Avenger is spotted, kill them on the spot."
Unable to control his ambition any longer, Pierce began to mobilize all the Hydra members within S.H.I.E.L.D. Those unfortunate neutrals or those who didn't belong to Hydra were all dealt with on the spot. Hydra was finally no longer dormant; it began to show its fangs to the world, asserting its presence.
"I feel like something big is about to happen."
With a pleasant barbecue, a beautiful beach, and sexy bikinis, Artoria crushed all the women present. Her pair of breasts, comparable to two watermelons, were accentuated by her swimsuit, making the men restless and causing a series of cries as they were pinched at the waist by their female companions. Most annoying was that such large breasts didn't sag, and despite eating so much, Artoria didn't have a bit of extra fat, making all the women very jealous. Hope and Susan were also very beautiful, but unfortunately, they were somewhat inconspicuous under Artoria's radiance. The women huddled around Artoria, giving the men no chance at all. Plus, with the presence of the sister-protecting demon Tony, no man could get near Artoria.
Play was play, and fun was fun. After the pleasant beach dinner ended, Artoria returned to her room and lay on her bed, unable to fall asleep no matter what, despite her usual habit of falling asleep as soon as she hit the bed. At this moment, the ahoge on her head was twitching energetically, sensing that something big was about to happen. Artoria's feeling was not wrong; three missiles, like shooting stars, were flying rapidly from the sky toward the island at high speed.
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