Chapter 100: Chapter 94
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As Tony Stark emerged from a cave rescue, he swiftly took down Stane with a thunderous attack.
Then, during a sensitive period, he appeared in the Arctic, followed by the current situation.
Nick Fury felt that things must be connected and could no longer be ignored.
Tony Stark must have seen in his father's diary that HYDRA was responsible for killing his parents. That would explain his aggressive move against HYDRA.
This motive made much more sense than Stern trying to steal Stark's armor.
"Yes, Director, I was just as surprised as you were,"
"Stark actually struck a Senator, and he struck so ruthlessly."
"Just because Stern wanted his armor? This does not align with Stark's character."
Coulson's voice affirmed Fury's conjectures, expressing both agreement and perplexity.
This further validated Nick Fury's suspicions.
However, such matters were not something that could be easily explained to Coulson, so Fury did not elaborate.
Instead, he expressed his lament with gravity: "HYDRA? Stark has certainly opened our eyes!"
"Isn't that the truth?"
Coulson deeply agreed.
He, like everyone else, didn't believe that HYDRA still existed.
"Director, what are you planning to do?"
Coulson promptly looked at Nick Fury, seeking direction.
"Stark has done this much for us; we can't let his efforts go to waste," Fury said with profound meaning.
What followed was without question.
Nick Fury began meticulously planning the capture of Senator Stern.
Considering HYDRA's infiltration background, he also prepared a series of detailed provisions.
Before officially executing the capture, Fury leveraged his connections and resources outside of SHIELD, casting a wide net.
Once the official capture commenced, all related reactions would fall squarely into Nick Fury's view.
Who would tip Stern off in advance, who would cover for him, and who would attempt to erase key evidence connected to Stern?
Fury would hold these strings tight in his hand!
For Fury, Stern was just a pebble to create ripples in still waters that were otherwise inscrutable.
With ripples, the picture became different, didn't it?
"Coulson, commence operation!"
"I now authorize you to arrest Stern immediately!"
Two weeks after all the preparations were in place, Fury, without any hesitation, gave Coulson the command.
"Yes, Director!"
Receiving Fury's order, Coulson immediately set out with a squad of elite SHIELD agents, at least half of whom were undercover HYDRA operatives.
The news of Fury's intent to capture Senator Stern was relayed to Pierce by these undercover agents at the first opportunity.
"What?"
"Fury is capturing Stern?"
Pierce, in his office, was extremely surprised.
Wasn't this too sudden?
What got into Fury to act so unexpectedly against a Senator?
Did Stern, the incompetent, slip up some crucial evidence?
Lost in thought, Pierce couldn't fathom the reason.
"Quickly inform that incompetent man; Fury is onto him!"
"Take care of any trace evidence with utmost urgency before Fury uncovers it!"
Now wasn't the time to dwell on these matters, and Pierce swiftly issued orders to his senior undercover agents.
Unbeknownst to Alexander Pierce, his actions played right into Nick Fury's hands.
In fact, as soon as Fury issued the arrest order, Stern was under 360-degree surveillance by Fury without a blind spot.
Any attempts to tip off Stern or cover up evidence didn't escape Fury's watchful eye.
This silent contest had begun.
And with Fury's tact, taking advantage of the unsuspecting, the outcome was decidedly predictable.
Despite being forewarned, Stern could not escape and was successfully captured by Coulson.
Moreover, Fury gathered more intelligence through the net he had cast in advance.
The maneuvers conducted by HYDRA on Pierce's orders left many traces that Fury seized!
Listening to the feedback from his personal channels outside of SHIELD, Fury was quite pleased, yet also profoundly alarmed.
After he had ordered Stern's capture, the rapid and robust movements of the mysterious force behind Stern reached an excessive scale.
This clearly exhibited the insane depth of HYDRA's infiltration within SHIELD.
The diary, indeed, had not deceived him!
Fury was now fueled with determination, ready for action, and had instructed his private channels to analyze the evidence uncovered during the operation.
Next, Fury was set to personally interrogate Stern!
He believed that under his supervision, the interrogation would yield plenty of information.
"What, Stern has been captured?"
"That incompetent, wasn't he warned in advance!?"
In contrast to Fury's vigor, Alexander Pierce in the top-floor office was truly frustrated.
He could not fathom how Stern could be so useless, so utterly incapable.
He had been notified as soon as Coulson had received the order, yet he still got captured?
How did HYDRA ever recruit such a failure!
Now wasn't the time to curse Stern.
After venting his anger, Pierce quickly issued a barrage of orders to his high-ranking undercover agents.
As Fury's superior, Pierce knew him very well.
Fury was among the best agents he had ever seen.
With Stern in his hands, Fury would undoubtedly uncover many secrets.
Therefore, Pierce had to be prepared in advance.
He was also aware that HYDRA would now have to make significant sacrifices and abandon a considerable portion of their power and resources.Otherwise, Nick Fury wouldn't let it rest.
That's right, to preserve the overall situation, HYDRA might have to sacrifice its own for the greater good!
Just thinking about it gives Pierce a headache, all thanks to that damned Stern! Why on earth did Fury have to focus on Stern?
No, that's not right!
The question that really concerns Pierce, the core issue, is: Why did Fury suddenly take interest in Stern?
Pierce had looked into it and found that Stern hadn't really done anything outrageous!
So why was he targeted by Fury?
"Sir, it's Tony Stark!"
After some investigation, Pierce shockingly came to this conclusion.
"Stark?"
Pierce raised an eyebrow at his senior undercover agent.
"Yes, sir, it was Stark. He conducted a secret investigation into Stern after the hearing and uncovered some critical evidence."
"Then Stark handed that evidence over to Coulson."
But why would Stark secretly investigate Stern right after the hearing?
Pierce and his senior undercover agent both came to the same speculation:
It was because Stern tried to seize Stark's armor.
So Stark turned around and dealt with him in a rather dark way!
Damn.
It was unexpected, that Iron Man could be so ruthless.
Just because someone coveted your armor, you went to the extent of completely crushing them?
Pierce was just surprised by Tony Stark's action and didn't give it much thought or suspicion.
After all, they didn't have an omniscient viewpoint and couldn't possibly know that Iron Man had long been aware of HYDRA's existence.
One could only assume that Tony Stark had a rather ruthless streak.
And for someone like Pierce, he had seen many cold-hearted individuals—Stark's level of ruthlessness was nothing special.
So Pierce didn't dwell on it—rather, he even breathed a sigh of relief.
It was good that Fury hadn't discovered anything; otherwise, things would have been really troublesome.
Thus, Pierce felt temporarily relieved.
He began to prepare himself to deal with any troubles that Stern might cause in the future.
This silent struggle between Pierce and Nick Fury was unfolding.
Both men were top agents and spy masters, and their confrontation was intense.
It lasted nearly a month, ending when Fury obtained a lot of information on HYDRA, effectively "squeezing Stern dry."
However, due to Pierce's early planning and decision to sacrifice some assets, although Fury took a big bite out of HYDRA, he didn't deal a fatal blow.
Of course, it was enough to hurt Pierce.
Fury's move indeed caused heavy losses to HYDRA!
But at least it was over—for now.
Yes, it was temporarily over.
In the past month, Fury had been all-out, and he had dug up as much as he could. He couldn't get any more.
Nonetheless, the information obtained from Stern alone was shocking.
"Who would have thought that all of you were HYDRA agents!"
Looking at the thirty-plus people on the computer screen, Fury's one-eyed glare was intense, his face stern and grim.
Among these thirty-plus people were several high-level agents of SHIELD.
Some of them were even Coulson's trusted agents!
Remember, these were just the few identified by using Stern as a starting point, and there were already this many.
What else might be uncovered if the investigation goes deeper?
The thought was almost unimaginable.
By now, Fury had little doubt about the infiltration of SHIELD described in his notebook.
SHIELD had indeed become compromised!
His leadership had truly been a failure.
However, after a brief moment of reflection, Nick Fury fell into deep thought once more.
What to do with these discovered undercover agents?
Eliminate them?
Or keep them for now?
Considering SHIELD's current level of infiltration, getting rid of these moles wouldn't make much of a difference.
It could very likely be just scratching the surface and not change anything substantially.
Instead, it might alert HYDRA, making them even more cautious and discreet.
So Fury quickly decided: these undercover agents were far more useful left in place than eliminated.
He planned to use these HYDRA agents as an opportunity to dig out even more.
Just how to accomplish this?
In a SHIELD riddled with HYDRA moles, how could one monitor them incessantly without alerting any of them?
Even for Fury, this was a headache.
Unless... he used a secret ace up his sleeve!
"It seems I haven't had coffee with Talos for some time."
After a brief contemplation, Fury made a decision.
He picked up his stylish black coat and left his office with an air of mystery.
"Talos, come out for a coffee; I'm buying."
As Fury walked toward the door, he made a phone call.
About forty minutes later, Fury appeared in an inconspicuous café.
Across from him sat a man in his forties or fifties with dark blonde hair.
This man was none other than Fury's Skrull ally, Talos.
"Don't like the taste here? I remember you're quite fond of cappuccinos."
Fury casually sipped his coffee, making small talk with Talos.
"Come on, drop the act; we both know you're not here for coffee."
"The only reason you come to me is when you want me to impersonate someone."
"So, who is it this time?"
Talos rolled his eyes; he had long seen through Fury's intentions.
"That's why I like dealing with you Skrulls, you're straightforward, no need for meaningless pleasantries."
Fury got straight to the point, handing over some files to Talos.
Inside, there was detailed information on a high-level HYDRA undercover agent that Fury had identified.
Yes.
This was the strategy Fury had conceived to combat HYDRA: fight fire with fire!
You infiltrate SHIELD? I'll infiltrate HYDRA right back!
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