Capítulo 596: Chapter 400: Everything's Toxic Except Snakes (Part 1)_1

If America developed a severe disease after World War II, it would be an allergy, many allergies to be precise, but the most severe one is the KGB allergy.

As one of the world's most powerful spy agencies, the KGB had an incredibly successful record. So much so, that both America and Europe still wince at the mention of the Soviet Union till this day.

For instance, in those days if you wanted to attack your political rival or frame him for a crime, your best choice would be to report his tax issues, because it was a given that there would always be something problematic once you started to dig.

But if you truly wanted him dead, not just biologically, but also socially, then you had to say he was a KGB.

Things got interesting when Shiller had Loki, with Thor's hammer, chase Lady Hydra all over the world, until she finally ended up in the hands of the KGB.

If anyone in the world would be happy to broadcast America's blunders to the world, it would be the KGB. Similarly, if anyone had the ability to make sure the world knew about America's blunders, it would still be the KGB.

Some might think that the foolishness referred to here is America's years of turning a blind eye to Hydra's expansion. But actually, it pertains to Hydra's infiltration into America and KGB's infiltration into Hydra.

The stupidest part about this isn't the fact that America didn't discover the KGB's infiltration into Hydra, but that Hydra, being made up of Americans, helped one KGB agent turn over the entire financial system of America.

Hydra's atrocities, infiltrations, secret bases, violations of experimental regulations within the US aren't important. What matters is that they helped the KGB.

More significantly, they ended up being caught by the KGB, who then exposed everything to the world.

If every country in the world became a human being capable of expressing their emotions, then right now, the laughter from the Far East would be deafening,

In the dimly lit corridors of the S.H.I.E.L.D underground base, Nick and the agents behind him walked through the long hallway to an office door. Upon opening the door, they saw Natasha's figure inside.

Nick signaled the agents behind him to leave. After closing the door, he sighed and said: "I assume you're already aware of how tense the situation is right now."

Natasha didn't show any signs of stress, she just nodded and said: "After I made my choice, I knew that no country or organization in this world will ever trust me again."

"It hasn't reached that serious stage yet," Nick responded, hands on his hips, and sighed. Natasha crossed her arms, stared at him, moved her neck, and said, "I am under investigation now, so we are not technically superior and subordinate anymore."

"Nick, tell me, there's no way you did not know how many Hydras are there in SHIELD."

"Of course I know." Nick gave a very definite answer. "But they're diligent."

Nick seemed to have been holding back for a long time. He said helplessly: "They believe that their records are closely guarded, but many were exposed during the recruitment process."

"Then why did you still take them in?"

"Should I hire local idlers who only work 8 hours per day, demand weekends off, the most expensive medical insurance, and even claim for a scratched rearview mirror from the finance department?"

Seeing Natasha's slightly contemptuous expression, Nick extended his hand and said: "I know this may sound ruthless, Natasha, but we're S.H.I.E.L.D., a special agent organization. Have you ever seen a special agent who gets a weekend off?"

Natasha remained silent, with pursed lips. Nick slowly nodded and said: "To be honest, I don't care whether they are NAZIs or KGB, as long as they can work."

"That sounds like something an anarchist would say."

Nick sighed: "All heads of special agent organizations around the world inevitably become anarchists."

"Do you think the CIA doesn't know how many spies are in their organization? Their Russian translator at the headquarters returns to Moscow 12 times a year, once a month for debriefings, but they still approve his leaves."

"Because if they didn't hire him, other Russian translators would charge thousands of dollars per hour. Moreover, you wouldn't know if he'd be sitting in the KGB's office laughing at your stinginess the day after you paid him a thousand dollars per hour."

Nick sat down on the office chair and said: "Many perceive spy work as daily puzzle solving, but it's not like this."

He continued, "To know where someone comes from and what they do is clear to everyone. If you want to get intelligence information from me, you need to bear the risk that the information is something I have deliberately prepared. It's only fair,"

"Only when the opponent takes their turn, can I know how many moves I should make. If we don't infiltrate each other, what's the point of our existence? Where do we get our funds if there are no enemies?"

"All the intelligence work in the world is basically shooting at non-existential targets, do you understand, Natasha?"

Nick gestured and said: "You send spies to me, because you send spies to me, so I have to send spies to you, because I send spies to you, you have to send spies to me, and that's how we have over seventeen thousand agents in S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Whenever something happens, we can take some exposed moves and return them, or we can use this excuse to take care of some difficult people when nothing happens."

Arresting Hydra agents and deporting KGB agents have become seasonal activities. This can prove that I have not been taking the money without doing anything this quarter."

Natasha walked over to him, leaned against the wall, and asked: "Then why are you thoroughly investigating Hydra now? Isn't keeping them to work for you a good idea?"

"The problem is that, for some inexplicable reason, the KGB decided to spill the beans." Resting his head in his hand, Nick said: "The people on Capitol Hill don't care whether Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., they care whether the KGB has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., or even worse."

"Isn't it obvious? The IRS, Department of Finance, and Capitol Hill have all been infiltrated like a sieve. Instead of looking at their own issues, why are they pointing fingers at you?"

Nick sighed again, the wrinkles on his dark face deepening, "We can't do anything about the KGB, but we can take care of Hydra."

"I want to leave this case to the CIA, but they want to dump it onto me."

Natasha furrowed her brows, looking at Nick, "Haven't you ever complained about the CIA? That's impossible, aren't they always giving you a hard time?"

"That high-ranking Hydra officer, chased all around the world, has been sighted in every country. Our reputation is in shambles."

"The old fogies on Capitol Hill claim that it's because of S.H.I.E.L.D. inefficiencies that we're in this situation, so we must take responsibility and fix things."

"In other words, they're putting the blame on us."

"But..." Nick suddenly changed his tone, "Pierce came to see me. We made a deal."

Natasha's eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes wide at Nick and said: "Wait, isn't he Hydra? And wasn't he laying low because Stark is after him? You're openly collaborating with Hydra?"

"Every single moment I've been Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I've been openly working with Hydra."

Left without words, Natasha watched Nick tap his finger on the table, "Don't you get it? They want to wipe out Hydra? Bullshit!"

"Their goal is to control S.H.I.E.L.D., some of the Hydra agents within our organization have been moved, leading to a shortage of manpower. My recent recruitment efforts probably agitated them, the balance they had in mind has again come to the forefront."

"Balance. Balance. They keep bringing it up. Whether I willingly give away some Hydra agents to manage the pressure, or actively chase after Hydra's tail, they all contribute to weakening S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cohesion."

Nick emphasized his point, "You have to admit, regardless of their affiliation, even if they're with Hydra or the KGB, or are truly SHIELD Agents, S.H.I.E.L.D. can function normally and quite efficiently."

"They're forcing me to break this healthy ecosystem of S.H.I.E.L.D., divide and conquer us."

Natasha rested her slender finger against her brow, "Listen to your own words…"

"A 'healthy' S.H.I.E.L.D. full of KGB and Hydra agents, Congress wants to divide you, Hydra, and the KGB...and you are desperately trying to unite suspected KGB agents from Hydra to dissolve the situation…"

"Nick, do you realise how this sounds? If I was indeed a KGB agent, I would be dialling Moscow right now, asking if you're one of their own long-term infiltrators. Don't you find that a bit…"

When she finished, Natasha bowed her head, chuckling, "Why couldn't I be KGB? Defecting you would at least earn me a medal."

Nick shrugged, and then shrugged again, "I'm black, we don't have severe allergies like you guys do. The only thing I'm allergic to is lack of funds."

"Alright, I take back my words. As far as I know, KGB spies who can infiltrate at your level often don't accept money, they work for ideology."

"They're believers, but the age of ideology is over." Nick took out a packet of cigarettes from his coat pocket. He lit one, took a puff, squinted, and said,

"I'll clear Pierce's name, help him escape Stark's reach, and get him back to his previous post at the World Security Council to negotiate on our behalf."

"In return, he'll provide me with a batch of Hydra agents to clear my dues."

"He's supplying you with Hydra agents? Isn't he from Hydra himself? Is he betraying his own organization for you?"

"No way." Nick offered Natasha a cigarette. After she lit one up and began to smoke, he answered, "Like I said, Hydra has many different factions. Pierce isn't betraying his own faction, and it's beneficial for him to hit his opponents while he's at it."

Natasha took a deep breath and exhaled, "Just like you said, the era of ideology has passed. Now it's a time for negotiations. Why did you want to see me then?"

"If I said I believed you were from KGB and wanted to extract information, would you believe me?"

"I might believe you more if you said you wanted to hit on me."

"Oh, come on, I'm not Hawkeye." Nick flicked the ash off his cigarette, "Catching a few Hydra agents to appease them isn't solving the root of the problem. I want the KGB to give the dime-a-dozens in Congress something to do."

Natasha's fingers stiffened for a moment, she said looking at Nick, "You're not considering having me negotiate with the KGB, are you?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do speak Russian, right?" Nick looked at the female agent as he pinched his cigarette. Seeing Natasha's somewhat stiff expression, Nick matter-of-factly said, "Don't expect me to dig up a Russian translator who charges thousands of dollars per hour. You're merely under investigation, not getting laid off."

"As long as you're holding onto this job and receiving a salary, you need to do the work. So, Mrs. Romanoff, get back to your labor."

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