"Sir, all the data is encrypted, and the encryption method is very sophisticated. It will take some time to crack, probably three days."
Soon, Nick Fury received feedback.
"Then stop talking nonsense and get to cracking it. I'm only giving you one day!"
"Also, report any discoveries directly to me. Don't reveal them to anyone!"
"Understood, sir!"
After ending the call, Nick Fury contacted Tony Stark again, asking about the progress of the surveillance drone's development.
He also met with Captain America to briefly discuss the subsequent excavation of Hydra. x
He also kept a close eye on Black Widow's movements.
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, a day quietly passed.
"Sir, it's not good!"
Early the next morning, Black Widow brought very bad news: "Those five Hydra guys are dead."
Nick Fury's face changed. His already bald head became even darker. "What happened?"
"Poisoned." Black Widow's expression was also extremely serious. "Someone poisoned their food."
"Did you find out who did it?"
"We found out. It was the agent responsible for their food. That agent has been confirmed dead in a car accident," Black Widow replied in a deep voice.
It was clear that the other party's series of actions were not only swift but also seamless.
Both Nick Fury and Black Widow knew that they could no longer find any more information.
The atmosphere in the office became unusually heavy and oppressive for a time.
Nick Fury subconsciously looked up and around. "How many of their people are in this building? Who can I trust now?"
Nick Fury truly felt a sense of dread.
A deep sense of powerlessness.
To prevent Hydra's claws from reaching in, he didn't even dare to use SHIELD's resources, but instead found another secret base.
The personnel he used were all carefully selected, only those he was sure were his confidants.
Yet, even under these circumstances, Hydra moles still infiltrated!
Hydra's penetration of SHIELD had reached such a deranged level!
At this moment, Nick Fury suddenly understood why, as foreshadowed in the video, he faked his death and told Captain America not to trust anyone.
Nick Fury now had that feeling—not daring to trust anyone!
If it weren't for the Q&A system, he could be sure that Captain America, Black Widow, and Agent Hill were trustworthy. Otherwise, Nick Fury wouldn't even know what to do.
"Not good!"
Immediately after, Nick Fury realized something.
Since Hydra had infiltrated to this extent, what about his confidant in the technical department?
Nick Fury immediately started dialing the internal phone to ask that confidant about cracking the data.
But then he found that he could no longer reach that confidant.
After inquiring with the logistics department, he found that the confidant had also died.
Along with the data he sent for analysis, it all disappeared without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Nick Fury couldn't help but gasp.
Although he was the director of SHIELD, the entire organization was already controlled by an invisible hand, completely isolating Nick Fury.
Is this SHIELD still my SHIELD?
Nick Fury couldn't help but ponder.
"What about the Winter Soldier?"
After a long while, Nick Fury finally looked up and asked Black Widow in a deep voice.
"He was held in a separate system from those five Hydra people, personally overseen by Captain America. He's fine," Black Widow shook her head.
This made Nick Fury breathe a sigh of relief.
Although most of the achievements were destroyed by Hydra, at least it wasn't all for naught; the Winter Soldier was still alive!
"Romanoff, transfer the Winter Soldier immediately. Don't reveal it to anyone except you and Captain Rogers!"
"I will secretly recruit a new group of people. All SHIELD personnel are no longer trustworthy!"
"Romanoff, we are at the most critical stage of the battle. Be careful!"
"Understood, sir!"
Black Widow nodded with a serious expression, then withdrew.
Because Hydra's actions were too swift, catching Nick Fury off guard, the raid on the Hydra base did not yield much gain this time.
Or rather, the only gain was the Winter Soldier.
Besides that, there were some badly burned paper documents, and indeed some information was obtained, but it was all information that wasn't too important.
Nick Fury began to become low-key and cautious.
But this was only on the surface.
Underneath, Nick Fury, along with Captain America, Black Widow, Coulson, Hill—the few people he could trust—and Tony Stark, had countless communications and discussions.
They were quietly making a series of arrangements.
As for Thor, he basically spent all his time at SHIELD, constantly trying to communicate with his hammer and trying to pick it up.
However,
Several days passed, and he still had no success. Instead, he became depressed.
"Why, Father, why are you doing this to me?"
Thor sat on the ground in despair, looking up at the ceiling and muttering dejectedly.
"Brother!"
But suddenly, a very familiar voice sounded in Thor's ear.
Thor looked up and saw that the person was none other than his brother, Loki.
"Loki, why are you here?" Thor stood up abruptly, a hint of surprise on his face.
"I need to see you," Loki said to Thor with a serious expression.
"Did something happen? Oh, right, how are things in Jotunheim?" Thor immediately looked at Loki and asked seriously.
"Father is dead." Loki said to Thor, his face filled with grief and solemnity.
"What?" Thor was stunned, then became a little angry. "Enough, Loki. There's a limit to your jokes. How can you speak ill of our father like that?"
"Do you think I'm joking? Would I joke about something like this?" Loki repeated seriously. "It's true, Father is dead."
"Loki, cut it out!" Thor said decisively. "I know Father isn't dead at all, so don't lie to me! I'm not as easily fooled by you as I used to be!"
Loki: "..."
Loki was a bit stunned.
What happened?
Was this still his brother, who was all muscle in his head and always fell for his tricks?
How did he become so smart this time?
Did Thor accidentally get hit by a meteor during his exile by Father, and thus became enlightened?
"That's truly impressive, Brother!"
Seeing his deception fail, Loki stopped pretending. Like a change of face, he revealed a cunning smile.
"It seems that exile wasn't a bad thing for you, but a good thing!" Loki said with a mixture of sarcasm and emotion. "I suddenly understand Father's meaning."
"Loki, take me back to Asgard. I will explain everything to Father! I also want to have a good talk with you!" Thor said to Loki with a serious expression.
"Exiling you was Father's decree. I'm sorry, brother, I cannot take you back!"
"Seeing you grow in Midgard, I'm truly happy for you."
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you, because of Father's disappointment in you, the burden of the throne has now fallen on my shoulders."
Loki said to Thor with a hint of triumph on his face.
It was like a younger brother, long overshadowed by his older brother's halo, had finally done something that made his brother look at him with new eyes.
It was a genuine, deep-seated need for recognition, a display of pride.
Thor already knew about Loki's ambition for the throne through the Q&A system, so he wasn't surprised. He even felt a little pity for Loki and a touch of shame for himself.
Because Thor knew that what Loki wanted wasn't the throne, but to be on equal footing with him, nothing more.
"Loki, you can have the throne." Thor said to Loki from the bottom of his heart, "I've been reflecting these past few days of exile. Perhaps Father and I both neglected you a bit before..."
"Stop your feigned sympathy!" But Loki angrily interrupted Thor. "Take it? You don't want it, so you're giving it to me?"
"No, Loki, that's not what I meant..."
"The throne should have been mine! I am more qualified than you! But you and Father don't understand this! It's okay, I will make you understand!"
"Goodbye, Brother!"
After saying these words to Thor, Loki's body disappeared like a phantom.
"No, Loki, wait!" Thor called out anxiously. x
However, Loki completely ignored Thor and walked away gracefully, leaving no trace.
Looking at the empty space before him, Thor felt utterly frustrated.
But now, there was nothing he could do.
Or rather, besides picking up his hammer soon and returning to Asgard, there was nothing else he could do.
Asgard, within a dimly lit hall.
A group of individuals began to grow restless.
A burly, bearded man in armor, looking quite stout, was frantically gnawing on a chicken leg.
But by his appearance, it was clear he was merely using the frantic eating as a means of venting.
"Our best friend is banished, Loki has ascended the throne, and you can still eat!" Another short-haired armored man couldn't help but scold the bearded man.
"Four wild boars, six pheasants, half a cow, two barrels of mead—it's utterly disgraceful! Don't you care at all?"
The short-haired man angrily slapped the chicken leg out of the bearded man's hand.
"Don't think I'm indifferent just because I have a big appetite!" The bearded man also got angry, and the two began to argue.
"You two, that's enough!"
"Stop arguing!"
A woman and a man with a braid pulled the two apart.
"We all know we must do something!" Then, the woman scanned the group and said in a deep voice.
"We must go! We must find Thor!" The braided man was silent for a moment, then said decisively.
These people were none other than Thor's most loyal comrades and partners: the Warriors Three and the Shieldmaiden Sif.
"This is treason!"
"To hell with treason, this is suicide!"
"If it were us, Thor would do the same thing!"
"Quiet, Heimdall might be watching us!"
The group began to discuss.
Rumble!
However, at this moment, the golden gate opened, and an Asgardian guard came before them. "Heimdall wishes to see you!"
The four, with a hint of trepidation, came to the Rainbow Bridge, before Heimdall.
"What you are about to do includes defying the King's decree, treason, and abandoning your warrior's oath. Even so, do you still wish to bring Thor back?"
Heimdall's gaze was like lightning, looking down at them from above, and he asked in a deep voice.
"Yes!" Sif said, gritting her teeth.
"Very well!"
Heimdall, however, nodded.
"Then will you help us?" Sif was delighted and immediately asked.
"I am bound to serve the king and should not open the Rainbow Bridge for you!" Heimdall coldly dropped these words and strode away.
However, after Heimdall left, the Rainbow Bridge was activated. It turned out he had already arranged everything in advance.
Whoosh!
Dazzling light flashed, and Sif and the other four quickly disappeared, vanishing without a trace.
And all of this was clearly seen by Loki from the royal city, making his face turn as dark as water.
What was he lacking compared to Thor?
Why did Father, Mother, and everyone in Asgard favor Thor so much, yet resist him?
Loki was utterly enraged.
He then went to the Asgardian vault, released the Destroyer, and gave it a command: "Ensure my brother never returns! Destroy everything!"
SHIELD.
Nick Fury's office.
"You mean Loki just came to see you?"
Nick Fury looked at Thor, who was sitting opposite him, and said with a bit of surprise and a hint of caution, "What was Loki's purpose?"
"I'm not very clear. He told me he's now the King of Asgard, and then he left," Thor truthfully told Nick Fury.
"He came all the way down just to tell you this, and then did nothing else and left?" Nick Fury was a little surprised.
"Yes." Thor thought for a moment and nodded.
He didn't mention Loki's deception about Odin's death. Such a matter felt like a family secret, not good to spread.
"It seems Loki just wanted to feel important in front of you. He really is a child who desperately lacks love." Nick Fury then shook his head and chuckled.
Since Loki had left, he didn't dwell on the matter too much.
As the two were talking, Nick Fury's phone rang. It was Coulson calling, and Nick Fury didn't hesitate to answer directly.
"Sir, an hour ago, we detected a sudden surge of immense energy, which then quickly vanished!"
Coulson's voice immediately came through the receiver.