Chapter 76: The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a Rebellious Streak
As an agency directly under the World Security Council, jointly established by the five major hegemons, S.H.I.E.L.D. possesses immense authority.
Especially for other countries beneath the five hegemons, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power is almost above those countries' own law enforcement agencies.
As for within the five hegemons?
That's a digression.
After the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent entered the license plate number into the system for retrieval, relevant information was quickly pulled up one after another.
The owner of the license plate, and the owner's driving information.
In less than a few seconds, Gwen Stacy's photo appeared splendidly on the S.H.I.E.L.D. big screen.
"Send it to Natasha."
"Yes."
"Ding-dong!"
Natasha heard her phone ring and glanced at the photo that had just been sent to her phone.
A sweet smiling photo of Gwen instantly came into view.
"Director, that's her."
"Mm."
Nick Fury nodded indifferently: "Retrieve her social network, and search for any information named Hawke."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent almost simultaneously began the retrieval work as Nick Fury spoke.
But...
Hawke's social media account, none.
Hawke's social photos, none.
Hawke's driving information, also none.
Aside from related text descriptions, there was no other information.
Nick Fury frowned slightly.
"Did we find the wrong person?"
"Probably not."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent quickly turned to Nick Fury: "According to our search through Gwen Stacy's social network, the only contact we found is this Hawke, male, seventeen years old this year, and like Gwen Stacy, he is a twelfth-grade student at Midtown High School in New York. According to the social accounts of other Midtown High School classmates, this Hawke and Gwen Stacy are suspected to be dating."
Nick Fury's voice was low.
"No photo of him?"
"...None."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, fearing his work might not be thorough, re-searched once more before confirming: "Director, this Hawke does not have a social media account online. Logically, since he is seventeen this year, he should have a driver's license, but there are no related records in New York's vehicle management system either."
Good gracious.
What kind of atypical high school student is this?
Nick Fury exclaimed in his heart.
The next second.
He smiled.
"Has Gwen Stacy's information been confirmed?"
"Confirmed. Gwen Stacy, born May 21, 1995. Father George Stacy, New York Police Department..."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent immediately pulled up Gwen Stacy's detailed information.
But before he could finish reporting, he was interrupted.
Nick Fury didn't wait for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to finish speaking and directly ordered.
"Notify the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Command Center, tell them to..."
"Wait a minute!"
Just as Nick Fury was about to order the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. to deploy, Maria Hill, who had been standing by and reacted, quickly interrupted him. She then frowned at Nick Fury, who was giving orders as thoughtlessly as firing a gun: "Director, what are you doing?"
Nick Fury looked at Maria Hill.
"He needs to be controlled."
"We don't even have his information right now."
"So we send people now..."
"No."
"What?"
"I don't agree."
Maria Hill met Nick Fury's single eye, and said in a low voice: "Before we figure out this Hawke's information, I don't agree with such a rash action."
What a joke.
The other party is someone who can kill the Hulk. To rush in directly without careful investigation, what is he trying to do?
Provoke such a powerful enemy for S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Although Hawke killed the Hulk right now.
But...
In Maria Hill's view, this is controllable, if Natasha's report is true.
The other party killed the Hulk for revenge.
Then not killing Natasha and Bruce Banner means the other party has principles.
Having principles is good.
Having principles means having a bottom line, and having a bottom line means the other party might not be in the righteous camp, at the very least they are in the neutral camp.
If they just rush in as Nick Fury said, isn't that clearly asking for trouble and creating a powerful enemy for themselves?
Therefore...
Maria Hill firmly disagreed with Nick Fury's view.
"We should investigate first, and then send Agents to make contact."
"Contact?"
Nick Fury's single eye flickered: "Hill, he killed the Hulk, our Hulk. This is a provocation, and based on this alone, strict control must be implemented!"
Saying that.
Nick Fury looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent again.
"Notify..."
"I said no!"
Maria Hill looked expressionlessly at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had stood up and were facing them, and said in a deep voice: "I am currently the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Commander. Without my order, all actions against Hawke are prohibited."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents looked at each other, then seemed to remember something, and responded in unison.
"Yes."
"Director Fury."
Maria Hill then looked at Nick Fury with a serious expression and said in a deep voice: "Don't forget, your ban has not been lifted by the Security Council. Until the Security Council lifts it, all decisions of S.H.I.E.L.D. need to be made by me."
Yes.
Nick Fury was grounded by the World Security Council.
The reason is simple.
Who told Nick Fury to violate the orders of the World Security Council? Did he really think that violating the will of the five major hegemons would not come at a price?
The Battle of New York in the first half of the year, the decision to launch a nuclear bomb was a joint resolution made by the World Security Council, and it was initially handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D. for execution.
But what was the result?
S.H.I.E.L.D., under the control of the World Security Council, and its Director, took the lead in violating their resolution, and even went so far as to personally shoot down a S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jet.
Good gracious.
The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. shot down a S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jet.
What was he trying to do?
Rebel?
Therefore, even if the final outcome was good, in the eyes of the World Security Council, Nick Fury clearly had a rebellious streak.
How does that saying go?
If loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal.
The Security Council's initial decision was to directly dismiss Nick Fury, kick him out, and make an example of him to warn S.H.I.E.L.D. that S.H.I.E.L.D. belongs to the Security Council, and not the other way around.
However, someone pleaded for him.
Who knew that Nick Fury's old friend, Alexander Pierce, was one of the five Directors of the Security Council?
To prevent Nick Fury from being fired and kicked out, Alexander Pierce had to persuade the other four Directors with great difficulty to change their minds, and finally decided to temporarily suspend all of Nick Fury's operational permits, with Deputy Director and Operations Commander Maria Hill acting as his proxy during this period.
As for when Nick Fury's operational permit would be unsuspended.
Hehe.
One sentence.
It depends on the results!
And so far, the Security Council has not unfrozen Nick Fury's operational permit, so even though Nick Fury is still the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he is currently just a mascot, a mere decoration.
He can still participate in all S.H.I.E.L.D. affairs, he can watch and speak, but he has no authority to make any decisions.
Nick Fury heard Maria Hill's words and also realized it.
Only...
Nick Fury said in a deep voice: "You will let the enemy see our weakness."
Maria Hill frowned slightly. Just as she was about to speak, a surveillance photo suddenly appeared on the large screen.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was also stunned, subconsciously glanced at the source of the information, then his eyes lit up, and he turned to Maria Hill.
"Officer."
"Say..."
Maria Hill turned her head to look, then noticed the surveillance photo appearing on the big screen: "Where did you find this?"
"It was just uploaded to the internet, New York University published the new scholarship students for next year, and Hawke is one of them. Then I put this photo into the system to retrieve it."
"Where is this?"
"Quantico!"
As the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent spoke, his hands moved like dancing, and with the appearance of the first photo, more photos were retrieved.
Photo after photo of Hawke's figure, captured by Quantico town surveillance, were projected onto the big screen.
At the same time.
Natasha, who had remained connected but had been acting as a small transparent during the argument between the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander, now confirmed: "Officer, identity confirmed."
Maria Hill looked at the photo of Hawke wearing a hat, found from the Quantico town surveillance system on the big screen, and frowned slightly.
"When was this?"
"July 5th."
"..."
Maria Hill frowned again upon hearing the date, then seemed to remember something.
If she remembered correctly, something big seemed to have happened in Quantico on that day.
Quantico Military Base was in chaos.
Indeed.
The information was confirmed.
Surveillance showed that on the day Quantico Military Base was in chaos, Hawke's figure appeared in the surveillance, but he was not captured again after the chaos began. The next time he appeared, Hawke's registration information was found in Maryland.
So...
If nothing unexpected, the unrest at Quantico Military Base should be related to Hawke.
Nick Fury, upon receiving this information, then looked at Maria Hill: "A murderer who disregards the Military, provokes them, and killed dozens of soldiers that night, does the Commander still insist on making contact first?"
Maria Hill looked at Nick Fury, expressionless: "If Director Fury disagrees with my decision, you can appeal to the Security Council."
After saying that.
Maria Hill no longer paid attention to Nick Fury and ordered the working Agent.
"Continue."
"Yes."
"..."
Nick Fury, seeing this, his single eye flickered, and he turned and left the Operations Command Center.
The next moment.
Back in his office, Nick Fury took out his phone, found the number of his good friend whom he had called to check on during the Base chaos, and dialed it.
Causing a ruckus at Quantico Military Base.
Brazenly killing a member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers.
This is no longer an ordinary crime.
Must be dealt with severely.
One sentence.
Hawke must be controlled!
Under his supervision!
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