At that moment, when he saw the man who had arrived, Killian knew the main figure had finally shown up.
"I didn't expect to be this popular. So many important American officials have come."
"Hello, Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You must be Mr. Killian. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Looking at the group before him, Nick Fury walked toward them as he spoke. After finishing, he stopped in front of Killian and extended his right hand with a smile.
But in the very next moment, two tall figures stepped between them.
At that instant, Fury felt as though the two men standing before him were cold-blooded machines. Even while blocking his path, their eyes showed not the slightest emotional fluctuation.
He even had the feeling that if Killian wanted them to kill him, they really would strike on the spot without hesitation.
For a moment, Fury's curiosity toward the methods used by the young technology company CEO in front of him deepened considerably.
It was not that Fury had never seen this kind of training before. He had even personally cultivated operatives like that in the past.
But he had abandoned the idea in the end.
Human weapons that only knew how to obey orders would never compare to agents with emotions and independent judgment.
What intrigued him was that the CEO of a small technology company that had only risen over the past few years also possessed this sort of training method. A trace of amusement appeared on Fury's face.
As for the two bodyguards blocking him, Fury simply smiled at them.
He knew this was just the hot-blooded young CEO's retaliation for having someone sent to investigate him earlier.
But for Fury, that did not matter at all.
In fact, if the problem could really be solved this simply, then let alone two men blocking him, even if Killian brought out an entire crowd to stop him, he would still have no complaints and would greet them with a smile.
"Alright, you two can stand down now."
"My apologies. My people reacted a little too strongly. After all, something like this happened right inside the company."
After dismissing the two subordinates, Killian stepped forward with the same smile and spoke to Fury.
"Heh, understandable. But these are, after all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s responsibilities. We have the authority to monitor major organizations around the world. Sorry for the disturbance."
After hearing Killian's words, Fury responded with an equally polite smile.
"Is that so? Then how is it that I've never heard of the World Security Council recognizing such an organization?"
At that moment, Ross's voice rang out at just the right time.
"..."
"Those are all highly classified matters. Perhaps General Ross simply hasn't reached the necessary clearance level yet."
After glancing at the unconscious Natasha in the distance, Fury calmly replied to Ross.
The two of them were hardly strangers by now. But meeting again under these circumstances was still rather unexpected.
"Mr. Nick Fury, I believe it is necessary to make one thing clear. No organization of any kind has the authority, on American soil, to bypass authorization from the U.S. government and conduct unlawful investigations into any domestic company."
"And Pioneer Technology is not merely a high-tech corporation. It is also a military partner engaged in major strategic research projects being tested beneath this very base. What you've done already amounts to attempted theft of state secrets and a severe violation of the American Enterprise Protection Act, the Civil Rights Protection Act, and... in summary, this is outright espionage."
At that moment, the U.S. Secretary of State stepped forward, looked straight at Fury, and spoke in a stern and righteous tone.
At that moment, he looked every bit like a just and magnificent chief judge presiding over a court.
"..."
Hearing the man's speech, Fury was speechless for a moment.
His side was clearly in the wrong here.
If Natasha had not been caught, he would not even have bothered responding to any of them.
But...
"Let's stop wasting time on meaningless words. Tell me plainly, what exactly do you want?"
Having thought that far, Fury finally laid his cards on the table.
He could already tell that in order to deal with him, Killian had practically gathered half the senior ranks of the American government onto his side.
If they kept talking, the more Fury said, the more mistakes he would make.
It was better to get straight to the point.
Besides, he still had far too many things to handle and had no intention of wasting much more time here.
After hearing Fury's words, both Killian and Ross signaled to the others around them to leave, ensuring no unnecessary personnel remained at the scene.
"First, regarding this incident, I need your side to give a guarantee. From this point forward, S.H.I.E.L.D. may not investigate Pioneer Technology or any of its subsidiaries for any reason."
Killian was the first to speak.
Then, after seeing Fury remain silent, he continued.
"And if anyone similar infiltrates us again in the future, then unless their identity is clearly established otherwise, it will be treated as an operation conducted by your agency."
"Impossible. What do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. is? A nanny? If we agree not to investigate you anymore, then we won't investigate you anymore. But that last condition is impossible."
The moment Killian added that supplementary clause, Fury rejected it on the spot.
It was a joke.
Did it even matter whether he formally admitted the first part or not?
If something happened again later, he would just need to send operatives without recognizable identities or markings.
But if he agreed to Killian's second demand, then S.H.I.E.L.D. would not only be forbidden from watching them in the future, it would effectively be forced to act like their babysitter too.
There was no way he could agree to a condition like that, especially in front of so many top American officials.
"Heh, Director Fury, you also need to understand how hard life is for small companies like ours. After all, when we've worked so hard to develop certain technologies, if we don't deal properly with problems like this..."
"Wouldn't that basically mean we're encouraging other companies to come steal our confidential materials?"
"Not to mention, even if I could endure it, what about the U.S. government? This is the free and democratic United States, after all. If the American people were to learn that on their own soil, there exists an organization so high above the law that it can trample over legal protections at will, then swoop in the moment someone produces meaningful research results and simply take them away..."
"I wonder how many patriotic citizens' hearts that would break."
After hearing Fury's response, Killian answered with a helpless expression.
Honestly, if S.H.I.E.L.D. insisted on refusing a reasonable compromise, then at worst he would just expose their true face to the world.
He could even give them an early little surprise by leaking the sort of thing they would later try to pull with Project Insight.
At that point, the worst case was that he packed up and moved to another country.
He did not believe that, with all the technology he possessed, there would be any shortage of nations willing to welcome him if he chose to defect.
(End of Chapter)
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