"Look, Linen's East Coast Studio is really popular!"
Natasha smiled as she sat in the car, watching the long line of people outside the studio.
Hearing her comment, Steve glanced at the crowd and whispered, "As far as I remember, the last time I saw queues this long was during the conscription drive seventy years ago."
"In order to become a soldier, I went to recruitment offices in several different cities."
"If Dr. Erskine hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be who I am today."
Steve turned his head toward Natasha. "So… where exactly are you taking me today?"
"To deal with two traitors. Nick Fury originally wanted me to clean them up."
"But since you've been idle these past few days after joining S.H.I.E.L.D., I figured I'd drag you along."
"So? Legendary hero, symbol of America—are you ready for a fight?"
Hearing Natasha use the media's recent nickname for him, Steve chuckled and shook his head.
"I could fight all day now."
As the two continued chatting, a familiar digital voice echoed in their ears:
[The video has been refreshed. Please enter your viewing room within five minutes.]
Hearing the notification, they exchanged a quick look and drove into a small alley.
Queens – Viewing Room
"Another video about the future?"
Wanda immediately found the best seat and sat down.
Ever since she watched Linen's previous video, she wanted to rush to New York to find him.
But since Linen hadn't unlocked the spoiler-system feature yet, he wouldn't recognize her.
So Wanda could only suppress the urge.
Not to mention… she couldn't exactly tell Pietro, "I'm going to find my future brother-in-law."
If she really said that, Pietro would definitely think she'd lost her mind.
Even though Pietro was born a few minutes earlier, Wanda still considered him her younger brother in her heart.
Another Theater – Nick Fury
Nick Fury sat down with a serious expression.
During his recent secret investigation, he had realized the situation in S.H.I.E.L.D. was far worse than he ever imagined.
Originally, he thought Hydra had only infiltrated a few low-level agents.
But after learning from the future video that Sitwell and Rumlow were Hydra…
He had Hill and Coulson investigate discreetly.
The results made his head spin—
Even the list of suspicious individuals alone was staggering.
And that was only the first batch.
Who would've thought that the people he trusted most—agents who always stood ready to die for their missions—were Hydra members too?
Damn it.
Hydra truly treated S.H.I.E.L.D. as their personal breeding ground.
And Sitwell and Rumlow definitely weren't acting alone.
Heh. S.H.I.E.L.D.? Might as well rename it "Hydra Headquarters" at this point…
Taking a deep breath, Nick Fury looked up at the screen.
He hoped this future video contained at least some good news.
The Video Begins
The screen lit up, showing Nick Fury driving a black Chevrolet through Washington, D.C.
Seeing himself on screen, Fury sat up straighter.
Looks like today's video is about me…
Nick stopped at a red light. A police car pulled up beside him.
The officer in sunglasses studied him closely.
Nick narrowed his eye. "What? You want to check my ID?"
Assuming it was racism, he spoke coldly.
The officer simply confirmed his identity… and the patrol car drove away.
Nick cursed under his breath and reached for the wheel—
—BAM!
A vehicle slammed into him from behind.
The sudden impact threw his head into the steering wheel.
Before he could react, other surrounding cars also rammed into him.
This wasn't an accident.
This was a planned attack.
That patrolman wasn't racist—
He was confirming Fury's identity.
Realizing this, Fury immediately raised the bulletproof windows and tried to escape.
But a car blocked him from the front.
Dozens of armed men aimed submachine guns at his vehicle and opened fire.
In the Theater
Nick Fury's expression darkened.
This had Hydra written all over it.
Either Hydra discovered he was secretly investigating them…
Or they believed they already had enough power to seize the world—and wanted Fury dead so they could take over S.H.I.E.L.D.
Either way…
This was the worst possible scenario.
Fury clenched his fists and stared at the screen, determined not to miss a single detail.
Another Theater – Tony
"…Black braised egg… Nick Fury is actually getting assassinated?"
Tony Stark frowned as he watched the elite strike team shoot at Fury's car.
Seeing Fury's car's A.I. awkwardly state the obvious, Tony rolled his eyes.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial intelligence really was artificially stupid.
Thank god he had JARVIS.
On screen, Fury's car windows began to crack.
He quickly activated the internal machine gun and sprayed bullets through the broken glass, killing several attackers before speeding away.
Natasha and Steve breathed a sigh of relief.
Fury's death—or survival—would drastically affect the fate of S.H.I.E.L.D.
But Natasha suddenly remembered the previous future video where her future self told Linen that she and Linen led people to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.
Could it be because of this incident…?
Before they could think further—
The scene shifted.
Nick Fury was lying on a hospital bed—
with no signs of life.
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