In the basement of a farm on the outskirts of Washington lay one of HYDRA's secret bases.
From the underground passage leading outside came the sound of hurried footsteps.
A group of men in sharp suits, their expressions stern, rushed in.
At their head was Alexander Pierce—Chairman of the World Security Council and former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Standing in the basement were more than a dozen tall, expressionless men.
In the center sat an ordinary wooden chair. Seated on it was Bucky, the man who had clashed with Qin Xiao not long ago.
"Come," Alexander Pierce said as he leaned casually against a table."Soldier, tell me about the opponent you encountered during this mission."
"Yes, sir," Bucky replied flatly.
"I was ordered to retrieve Celesto's payments for the previous quarter. However, Celesto's estate was attacked by a flying man in iron armor, and by an Oriental man of immense strength who was impervious to bullets."
"That would be Tony Stark and the Chinese man named Qin Xiao—the two who were all over the news recently," a bald man whispered beside Pierce.
Pierce waved his hand to indicate he already knew, then motioned for Bucky to continue.
"I attempted to evacuate Celesto through a secret tunnel, but the Oriental man pursued us. I was no match for him. I used a flashbang to incapacitate him, planted a small timed explosive on Celesto's body to draw enemy attention, and escaped through an alternate tunnel."
Bucky recited the report word for word, his voice mechanical.
"Well done, soldier," Pierce said coolly.
He then turned to the bald man.
"Last night, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s covert team in Mexico surrounded Celesto's estate. By the time they arrived, the drugs and weapons had already been destroyed. Their role was simply to clean up the scene."
"However, there is no record of this operation within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal system. Nick Fury doesn't even realize he's been compromised—he believes those mysterious forces are still under his control."
"Yesterday, five hundred million dollars was transferred out of one of Celesto's Swiss accounts. Hah! Tony Stark and that mysterious Chinese boy… It seems Fury's so-called 'superpower initiative' has officially begun."
The bald man adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
"Do we need to intervene? Barnes is no match for him. That Oriental boy looks particularly troublesome."
"No need," Pierce said with a confident smile.
"Nick Fury wants to assemble a secret team, but he exposed it over a trivial amount of money. Clever—but an exposed team poses no threat to us. What matters now is uncovering their intentions and accelerating our own plans. I want Dr. Zola to complete the Zola Algorithm as soon as possible."
The bald man nodded repeatedly.
Pierce patted his shoulder and added, "Also, if we support another Mexican drug lord, our bases in Eastern Europe will gain the backing of these major cartels."
…
As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury was naturally aware of the Winter Soldier.
In fact, the existence of an organization capable of creating a super killing machine like him had long been Fury's worst nightmare.
The Winter Soldier was like a ghost. Over the past fifty years, he had carried out countless assassinations and kidnappings, yet no one had ever managed to trace him.
That fact alone deeply unsettled Fury.
Even if he were beaten to death, he would never have imagined that the organization behind it was HYDRA—S.H.I.E.L.D.'s old nemesis—parasitizing the agency from within, even lurking right beside him.
The Avengers Initiative, his proudest achievement, was now completely exposed to the enemy's gaze.
For someone like Nick Fury, anything beyond his control invited far darker speculation.
What kind of world-ending conspiracy were they plotting?How many super soldiers and killing machines like the Winter Soldier did they possess?
Not to mention the fact that, to his knowledge, more than a dozen top-tier scientists across the world had vanished over the years—taken by the Winter Soldier.
Each of them was a leading genius in their field. If they were being used to create weapons capable of threatening the world…
Unfortunately, the Winter Soldier's latest appearance had once again been fleeting. Fury had followed the trail surrounding Celesto for months, yet uncovered nothing.
The more Fury thought about it, the angrier he became. His right hand tapped the desk unconsciously.
Bzzz—
His phone vibrated on the tabletop.
Caller ID: Coulson.
"This had better not be bad news," Fury muttered.
Coulson had recently been tasked with assisting the formation of the Avengers Initiative.
Aside from Hawkeye and Black Widow, Dr. Banner was manageable—as long as he didn't transform, he was a decent guy.
But Tony Stark and Qin Xiao were constant headaches.
Even something as simple as having dinner at Stark's place could trigger Banner's transformation and nearly level the Los Angeles branch.
Just seeing Coulson calling was enough to give Fury a headache.
"Boss, you know how before we went to Mexico, we captured three drug traffickers, right?" Coulson began cautiously.
His roundabout tone made Fury's eyelid twitch. A bad feeling crept in.
"For God's sake, Agent Coulson, get to the point!" Fury snapped."Why do you sound more and more like Qin Xiao and Stark these days?!"
"Right—sorry, sir. I organized the files this morning and extracted information on the other two traffickers, but now the files are missing. Worst of all, I can't get in touch with Qin Xiao."
"Damn it!"
The pen holder on Fury's desk shattered against the wall.
Coulson heard the crash through the receiver, followed by heavy breathing.
Knowing his boss was on the brink of exploding, Coulson held his breath and stayed silent.
Nearly half a minute passed.
At last, Fury's exhausted voice came through.
"How long have the files been missing?"
"Well… I left them on my desk at noon. I stepped out for a bit, and when I came back, they were gone," Coulson said hesitantly.
Fury stared out the window. The weather was clear—a bright full moon hung in the sky.
He sighed helplessly, rubbing his throbbing temples, and spoke into the phone.
"Contact the DEA. They must have informants embedded with the other two traffickers. See what you can learn."
"And if that kid's identity has been exposed—erase every trace of it."
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