"S.H.I.E.L.D. has changed, you said so yourself!"
"Hydra grew under your nose, and no one noticed!"
Captain America stared at Nick Fury, saying with a serious expression.
"Why did we meet in a cave? Because I noticed it." Nick Fury argued.
"How many people sacrificed their lives in vain before you?" Captain America asked, looking pointedly at Nick Fury.
This question hit the nail on the head, and Nick Fury was immediately speechless, unable to offer any rebuttal. He even averted his gaze, not daring to meet Captain America's eyes.
He was clearly feeling very guilty.
"I didn't know about Barnes," Nick Fury said weakly to Captain America a few seconds later.
"Even if you did, would you have told me?" Captain America shot back another sharp question, silencing Nick Fury once more.
Everyone knew that Nick Fury wouldn't have told Captain America.
"Are you still planning to manage things separately? S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra are all the same, not one will remain!" Captain America then said firmly to Nick Fury.
"He's right!" Agent Hill immediately echoed Captain America, speaking to Nick Fury.
Nick Fury looked at the others present, only to find that Black Widow, Sam, and the rest all agreed with Captain America's proposal.
"Alright!" Nick Fury finally compromised. He said to Captain America, "Now we'll follow your orders, Captain."
In that incredibly crude cave, just a few people decided the fate of the world's largest intelligence agency.
This also aligned to a certain extent with everyone's previous guesses.
Captain America indeed intended to destroy Hydra in one fell swoop because it had grown to a certain extent.
Of course, Captain America's actions were also inextricably linked to the values he retained from his World War II veteran days.
But no matter what, Hydra's growth was a significant reason.
The scene then switched.
In the plaza in front of the Triskelion, a group of people in suits, surrounded by others, were walking towards the entrance of the Triskelion.
Alexander Pierce's figure was clearly among them. From the looks of it, Pierce was personally coming out to greet that group of people.
The high status of that group of people was evident.
"It's them!"
The others didn't recognize who those people were, but Nick Fury recognized them at a glance: they were all members of the World Security Council.
In terms of authority, they were even above Pierce.
"Did you have a pleasant flight?"
Pierce led the way for everyone, making small talk.
"Not bad!" A blonde woman in a light blue business dress replied casually, "But the road from the airport to here wasn't great."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. can't control everything." Pierce shrugged.
"Including Captain America." Another bald man in a suit added.
This statement also confirmed everyone's previous speculation; it was clear that at this point in time, Captain America was still a wanted man.
At this point, Pierce had led everyone to the entrance of the Triskelion. Special agents were already waiting there and handed Pierce a box.
Inside the box were some exquisitely designed badges.
"These devices are biometrically controlled and will allow you to move freely here." Pierce explained as he distributed the badges to the council members.
The council members didn't think much of it and put on their badges, following Pierce into the Triskelion.
The scene then switched again.
In the top-floor office, Pierce and the four council members were toasting and chatting merrily.
But suddenly, a voice came over the Triskelion's broadcast system—Captain America's voice.
"Attention, all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me these past few days, and some of you have even been ordered to apprehend me, but now, you need to know the truth!"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has changed; it's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their head, and so are the STRIKE team and Project Insight team."
As Captain America spoke these words, the council members in the office couldn't help but look at Pierce.
Pierce, however, remained calm and unhurried, simply pulling out his phone and tapping it a few times, clearly contacting someone.
"I don't know who else, but they are definitely in this building, perhaps standing right next to you!"
"They are about to succeed, to gain absolute control. They assassinated Nick Fury, but things won't end there!"
...It must be said, Captain America's "long speech" was quite inflammatory, also benefiting from his long-standing status in the hearts of the American public.
The council members in the office believed Captain America's words with almost no hesitation.
"You arrogant bastard!" The bald man in the suit immediately cursed at Pierce.
Just then, a team of STRIKE agents entered the office. A curly-haired man in a suit immediately ordered the STRIKE agents: "Arrest him!"
But a STRIKE agent immediately pulled out a gun and pointed it at the curly-haired man in the suit.
Just as Captain America said, the entire STRIKE team was already Hydra's.
Thus, even though his true colors were unexpectedly exposed by Captain America, Pierce still managed to control the situation immediately.
"Let me ask you a question. If terrorists attack South Asia tomorrow," Pierce said, picking up two glasses of wine and walking over to the curly-haired man in the suit.
He handed one of the glasses to the curly-haired man.
"And you know they'll drag your daughter into a football stadium and execute her, but all you have to do is press a switch to stop it all, would you press it?" Pierce asked meaningfully.
Using this example to analogize Project Insight, one can only say that Hydra's reasoning was quite arbitrary.
"Not if it's your switch." The curly-haired man immediately threw the wine glass in his hand.
Seeing this, Pierce immediately took a gun from a STRIKE agent, intending to shoot the curly-haired man.
But at that very moment, the fifty-to-sixty-year-old blonde woman suddenly kicked the curly-haired man aside.
Then, moving as agile as the wind, she swiftly rushed to Pierce, knocking him back with a punch.
Bang, bang, bang!
She then quickly and effortlessly, with a fluid and dazzling series of moves, took down all the STRIKE agents present.
She even seized a gun and pointed it at Pierce.
The situation was instantly reversed!
"Who is this old lady? She's too fierce!"
Tony Stark couldn't help but exclaim. That old lady was so old, yet her combat power was still off the charts. It was a bit too exaggerated.
People a generation younger than her weren't that powerful.
Nick Fury was also a bit bewildered. He had always thought these council members were just politicians who sat in offices and talked big, nothing more.
He never expected there to be such a formidable presence among them.
"Excuse me, did I spoil your fun?"
The blonde old lady held the gun in one hand, pointing it at Pierce, and with the other hand, she wiped her face, taking off a mask.
Another face was revealed to everyone.
It was Black Widow!
Everyone present suddenly realized. No wonder that old lady was so powerful; it turned out to be Black Widow in disguise.
It must be said, Black Widow's disguise skills were truly divine. When she was disguised as the old lady, not a single flaw could be seen.
Every detail, including walking, talking, and everything else, was seamless and flawless.
This definitely couldn't be achieved just by wearing a mask. If it were Captain America, even with a mask, he would probably be exposed very quickly.
After gaining control of the situation, Black Widow handed the weapon to another council member, instructing them to control the scene. She herself walked to a computer and quickly performed a series of operations.
Clearly, she was destroying S.H.I.E.L.D.
Everyone present was very curious about how she would destroy it.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was a massive global system. Could such a thing be done by simply typing a few keys in the Triskelion?
"What are you doing?" The bald man in the suit couldn't help but ask.
"She's disabling the security protocols and sending all classified information to the network." Pierce, however, saw through what Black Widow was doing and spoke up.
So that's it!
Everyone present suddenly understood.
So Black Widow was using this method to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.
As an intelligence agency, if all its secrets were revealed to the world, what kind of intelligence agency would it still be?
Not to mention, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra to a devastating degree.
There was no other way but to disband.
"Including all of Hydra's secrets!" Black Widow said without looking up, continuing her operations.
"And S.H.I.E.L.D.'s too!" Pierce interjected firmly, "If you do this, your past won't be hidden. Are you ready for the world to see your true self?"
"What about you?" Black Widow calmly retorted, still systematically carrying out her operations.
But soon, large red letters appeared on the screen, along with a warning message.
"Encryption disabled. It requires an executive order." Pierce shrugged, full of confidence, "It needs two Level A members present."
As far as he knew, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s only Level A member was dead, and the other Level A members were all Hydra. The situation was still under control.
"Don't worry, your partner is here!" Black Widow, however, said.
Just then, a helicopter flew in, and a person in a black trench coat appeared in the office. It was none other than the supposedly deceased Nick Fury!
Now both Level A members were present.
Black Widow successfully disabled the security protocols and sent all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data to the internet.
"It's done, it went viral instantly!" Black Widow glanced at her phone and said to Nick Fury.
But just then, a sudden change occurred.
Pierce suddenly pulled out his phone and pressed it twice. The badges of the other council members immediately began to emit intense heat, melting through their chests.
"Drop the gun if you don't want a two-inch hole in your chest." Pierce threatened, holding his phone.
The situation was reversed once again.
It must be said, Pierce was no simple character either.
Given that Black Widow's life was threatened, Nick Fury and Black Widow had no choice but to compromise, dropping their guns.
Pierce began to take control of the situation.
But Black Widow was not to be outdone. She quietly pulled out a "small disc," which everyone was familiar with, as it could emit electricity.
Black Widow had used it against enemies many times, but this time, Black Widow used it on herself. She squeezed it hard.
A jolt of electricity coursed through her body, knocking her to the ground.
But precisely because of this, the powerful electrical shock also caused her badge's control program to restart, temporarily making Pierce lose control.
Bang, bang!
Nick Fury seized this critical moment, picked up a gun, and fired, knocking Pierce to the ground.
The scene ended there.
"So, that's how S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed." Nick Fury sighed, feeling quite emotional.
As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had dedicated his entire life to its cause, only to find himself having to make the difficult decision to destroy it in the end.
Now, the same problem lay before him: facing the ever-growing Hydra, what could he do?
Could it be that he could only disband S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Nick Fury was unwilling!
But besides the mutually destructive method shown in the future, Nick Fury couldn't think of any other better solution at the moment.
"Nick Fury, perhaps my future proposal is something you could consider." Captain America said to Nick Fury with a serious expression after a moment of contemplation.
"Captain, I will absolutely not consider it. It's not that dire yet!" Nick Fury flatly refused.
In the video, there was no other option; Project Insight had begun, and if they didn't act, hundreds of thousands of people would die.
But now?
It was far from that critical point.
"Then tell me, how do we solve the Hydra problem?" Captain America's sharp gaze fixed on Nick Fury's face as he asked in a deep voice.
Nick Fury was immediately speechless.
Given the current extent of Hydra's infiltration into S.H.I.E.L.D., even he couldn't think of any effective solution at the moment.
"Simple!" Tony Stark suddenly spoke up, "Hydra sends moles into S.H.I.E.L.D., right? Why don't we use the same method? We'll infiltrate them back!"
"Imagine, one day Pierce thinks he's succeeded, that Hydra's moles have fully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Then suddenly he discovers that all the Hydras he developed were actually S.H.I.E.L.D. moles!"
"How exciting would that scene be?"