"Please answer the question: Among the following characters, who personally destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. within the Triskelion building?"
"A. Captain America Steve Rogers"
"B. Black Widow Natasha Romanoff"
"C. Alexander Pierce"
"D. Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes"
"Friendly reminder: Correct answer will receive one Force Awakening Seed as a reward; Incorrect answer will result in a random deduction of one personal attribute, including but not limited to knowledge, experience, skills, possessions, etc..."
Before long, a new question appeared, drawing everyone's attention back.
Everyone scanned the big screen, and the atmosphere on site immediately became solemn.
It must be said that this question was also "explosive" enough, revealing a cruel and shocking truth: S.H.I.E.L.D. would be destroyed in the future!
This made everyone present somewhat disbelieving.
What kind of organization was S.H.I.E.L.D.?
It was currently the largest intelligence agency in America, directly accountable to the World Security Council, far surpassing intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI in terms of scale, organization, and authority in every aspect.
It had branches, offices, and secret bases in various cities across the United States, forming an incredibly solid network.
Not only that, S.H.I.E.L.D. also had branches in many other countries outside of the United States, making it an extremely colossal entity.
No intelligence agency in the world could compare to it.
Such an organization, in the future, would actually be destroyed?
Are you kidding me?
Everyone felt it was so unreal.
Although this future was revealed through the quiz system, everyone found it a bit hard to accept for a while.
Especially Nick Fury, the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D., felt his brain somewhat frozen, wondering if he had misread it.
My S.H.I.E.L.D. will actually be destroyed by someone in the future?
This is ridiculous, right?
Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America were all stimulated by this.
Captain America was still alright; he didn't have a deep sense of belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D. at the moment, merely cooperating with them to deal with Hydra.
He wasn't so unable to accept it.
But Black Widow and Hawkeye were truly speechless; they were both veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s significance to them was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. being destroyed by someone, I must say, that's something I completely didn't anticipate," Tony Stark also showed surprise, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"However..." Tony Stark's tone then shifted, "Considering the cruelty of the future, with billions of people killed, S.H.I.E.L.D. being destroyed isn't something unacceptable."
"Nothing in the world can last forever; what matters is how much value it provides during its existence."
Nick Fury quickly returned to normal, his expression unchanged. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is the same, so if S.H.I.E.L.D. is truly destroyed in the future, I will accept it!"
"Moreover, this hasn't happened yet, so everyone, let's start answering the question!"
Everyone present wasn't a child; in fact, without Nick Fury saying more, they had already adjusted their mindsets.
They refocused their attention on the quiz.
"Destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.? For an intelligence agency of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s magnitude, destroying it is no easy feat," Black Widow said with a serious expression, addressing everyone. "In fact... it's simply impossible."
Black Widow was absolutely not exaggerating.
Destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. is never just about destroying S.H.I.E.L.D.; because S.H.I.E.L.D. is not some civilian armed organization without backing, which can be eliminated easily.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is backed by America and the World Security Council!
If there truly was a mastermind who moved against S.H.I.E.L.D., neither America nor the World Security Council would stand idly by.
Whoever that mastermind is, if they truly destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D., it would mean they possess power beyond America and beyond the World Security Council!
That's simply impossible!
This is without even considering the armed forces that mastermind might possess, only considering it from a political perspective.
To put it another way.
Even if the other party could truly transcend America and the other factors behind S.H.I.E.L.D. and actually move against S.H.I.E.L.D., that would still require an extremely vast armed force.
In today's world, which organization possesses such armed forces?
Black Widow truly couldn't think of any.
Unless it's a national-level force like the military or government, no other agency or organization possesses such power.
So, considering all these factors, it truly seems like an impossible task.
"To destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., I can only think of two possibilities!" Nick Fury mused briefly, then also spoke up.
"First, all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s global branches and bases are taken down by the enemy, all S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel are eliminated, and the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. network is paralyzed, leading to its collapse."
This possibility is the most direct and logical assumption, setting aside all underlying factors and looking at the problem solely from the perspective of "destroying S.H.I.E.L.D."
"That's impossible!" Hawkeye Barton immediately shook his head. "That would mean someone launched a global attack on S.H.I.E.L.D., and there's no organization in the world with that kind of power."
Whether considered from a political or military standpoint, this is impossible.
Nick Fury, Captain America, and everyone else weren't fools; they were all involved parties, well-versed in all the intricacies and details.
There was no need for Hawkeye Barton to explain further; they already knew it was impossible.
Unless... "Unless... it's Hydra!" Hawkeye Barton then heavily uttered these words.
On this point, Hawkeye Barton was on the same page as everyone else.
"We already know that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. to the point of being riddled with holes, and even now, there are more Hydra moles than S.H.I.E.L.D. agents!"
"This is just now; if Hydra is allowed to continue developing like this, no one can imagine the extent to which future Hydra will control S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
"But what's certain is that by then, every S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, every base, every office, will have Hydra personnel!"
"And as long as Hydra's supreme leader gives an order to those moles... what Director Fury said will happen."
"Every S.H.I.E.L.D. base, every branch, will all be taken over by Hydra."
"This is the only possibility."
Hawkeye Barton then spoke eloquently under everyone's gaze, providing a well-reasoned analysis.
No one present refuted this, because from a technical standpoint, this was indeed the only possibility.
"So the answer to this question is Alexander Pierce?" Black Widow raised an eyebrow. "He gave an order in the future, allowing Hydra to seize power and completely control S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"As Hydra's power continues to grow, they will undoubtedly no longer be content with being constrained by S.H.I.E.L.D.; seizing power is indeed a possibility."
Captain America also nodded with a serious expression, agreeing with Black Widow's words.
Living in someone else's rented house is not as satisfying as being the homeowner yourself, is it?
Everyone present exchanged glances and also felt that Alexander Pierce seemed to be the most "competitive" candidate at the moment.
"No, there's another possibility." However, Captain America then moved his expression and put forward a new point of view.
"Has everyone forgotten Project Insight?"
Project Insight!
Everyone present couldn't help but change their expressions. They instantly realized that besides Pierce ordering Hydra moles to seize power, there was indeed another way.
Violent elimination!
"We only know that the Captain will try to stop Project Insight in the future, but we never knew if the Captain succeeded!" Hawkeye Barton said in a deep voice.
"What if..." Hawkeye Barton glanced at everyone, "What if the Captain failed to stop Project Insight, and Hydra really launched that plan, killing all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?"
"Well." After some thought, Black Widow couldn't help but nod. "If it's Project Insight, it seems it could indeed achieve something like destroying S.H.I.E.L.D."
"If we use the method of Project Insight, then both Pierce and the Winter Soldier are possible," Nick Fury said thoughtfully.
"Although Pierce is currently an office worker, he used to be a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."
"Project Insight is a plan to kill hundreds of thousands of people at once, and it's reasonable for him to personally direct it."
"Of course, it's also possible that Pierce is in command behind the scenes, with the Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes in charge of the operation."
"If it's based on the Captain's 'Project Insight hypothesis,' we can't make a judgment."
"So~" Black Widow glanced at Tony Stark, "According to Stark's style, the Winter Soldier cannot be judged, but Pierce has a possibility that fits the question, so for this question, should we still choose Pierce?"
"Romanoff, you really do know me." Tony Stark shrugged, indicating his agreement. "If it were me, I would indeed choose Pierce."
Two hypotheses: one hypothesis couldn't lead to a choice, while the other clearly pointed to Pierce.
So if Tony Stark had to choose, he would definitely choose Pierce.
"But!"
At this point, Tony Stark looked at Nick Fury, "This choice has a prerequisite, which is Nick Fury's hypothesis that 'every S.H.I.E.L.D. base was destroyed by the enemy.'"
"But Nick Fury said he thought of two possibilities, so what about the second possibility, Nick Fury?"
"The second possibility is that someone used some means to make the World Security Council voluntarily disband S.H.I.E.L.D.!" Nick Fury said emphatically, meeting everyone's gaze.
This was indeed a theoretically effective method.
"Theoretically, there is indeed such a possibility, but when combined with reality, it seems less likely."
"It sounds as incredible as someone making America voluntarily disband the FBI."
Black Widow glanced at everyone, speaking with a surprised and questioning tone.
"Who knows what happened in the future? Maybe the world underwent massive changes, the international landscape was turbulent, and the world no longer needed S.H.I.E.L.D.... We have no way of knowing now."
Nick Fury shrugged.
Everyone present was speechless for a moment. If that were the case, there would be no way to analyze it, right?
The future held infinite possibilities, and they hadn't even grasped a single fragment, so they had no starting point for any analysis.
"Everyone, although our analysis has temporarily reached a stalemate, I think this doesn't prevent us from making a judgment."
"The Captain and I are both S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel; it's impossible for us to do something like destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., so I think we can rule ourselves out."
"The one who wants to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. must be from Hydra, so we just need to choose between Pierce and the Winter Soldier."
At this point, Black Widow shrugged, "So, the final answer to this question is still Pierce."
Everyone looked at each other; no one had a better way to filter the options.
It seemed that for now, Pierce was indeed the option with the highest "chance of winning."
"Wait a minute!"
But at this crucial moment, Tony Stark remembered something.
He suddenly looked up, "I think we've misunderstood something, or rather, we need to clarify something before answering the question. Didn't any of you think of this? Am I the only one who thought of this?"
"Stark, don't tease us," Nick Fury urged from the side.
"Nick Fury, can you define what it means to 'destroy' S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Tony Stark asked, his eyes gleaming.
Normally, no one would think about this question; it's a natural and logical concept. But now that Tony Stark singled it out for analysis, it truly made everyone pause.
Yes, what exactly constitutes destruction?
"S.H.I.E.L.D. was completely taken over by Hydra, and even all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who weren't Hydra were killed. Does that count as destruction?" Tony Stark asked again, heavily.
Without waiting for anyone to say anything, Tony Stark provided the answer himself, "No! Legally speaking, from an objective, materialistic perspective, no matter who operates S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. is still S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
"Even if Hydra completely controlled S.H.I.E.L.D., as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't disbanded, it would still be S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
"Let me tell you what destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. means: it's Nick Fury's second hypothesis, that S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded! It disappeared!"
"That's what you call destruction!"