Bab 130: Meeting
The World Security Council.
This organization, founded under the leadership of several Western powers, has indeed maintained some regional stability to a certain extent.
However, it remains a coalition bound by regional interests.
That's also why, in the movie, Nick Fury followed Captain America's advice.
While eliminating Hydra, they also disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D.
Furthermore, they handed over the massive intelligence network of S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Agent Hill, to the Avengers.
Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. was later reformed, it was almost entirely detached from Earth's political factors.
Of course, that's all later on. But ever since Nick Fury took over S.H.I.E.L.D., no matter how serious the security issue was, the members of the World Security Council, who hold high positions in various countries, always met via remote projection.
Except this time.
This time, all six permanent members and twelve deputies of the World Security Council were present.
Along with Alexander Pierce, the chairman, and the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a full assembly of twenty people, all nearly at the pinnacle of power, gathered in person for this rare meeting.
And the topic of this meeting was not about combating drug dealers or terrorists on a global scale.
It was about the public killing incident by Blake in France.
Of course, that was just a catalyst; the core issue was the rise of the Avengers.
Whether it was incorporating the highly potential intelligence organization, the Red Room, or their multiple cross-border actions against terrorists, these actions all violated the hidden interests of certain countries and politicians.
"We must accelerate the weapon development process using the Tesseract. The security and stability of the world depend on the countries and people in this room, not on Captain America and his group of so-called heroes in strange outfits."
"I have a document here that details how, over the past six months, this so-called Avengers, an unofficial organization, repeatedly ignored sovereign borders to strike terrorists in various countries as they pleased."
"Especially that man, Blake. Not only did he publicly use his superpowers to threaten an entire Senate, but he also committed murder in front of everyone at an auction in the Grand Palais in Paris. For God's sake, I've been harassed to death by those Japanese officials lately!"
Several council members, furious and unstoppable, listed at length the Avengers' transgressions, especially those of Blake, describing them as lawless and out of control.
Nick Fury, however, sat there watching coldly.
Although he didn't entirely agree with some of Blake's actions, he held even greater disdain for these so-called council members, who supposedly worked for world security.
Their dirty minds only cared about public support and their own interests and power.
The more they discussed, the more agitated they became. They absolutely could not tolerate an uncontrolled, independently financed, high-level military organization.
In the end, everyone turned their eyes toward Nick Fury.
"One month, Director Fury. We'll give you one more month. The weapons developed using the Tesseract must reach mass production, to be prioritized for equipping special forces in each country represented here."
"Ladies and gentlemen, I understand your concerns. However, with all due respect, whether it's Blake, Captain Rogers, or Tony Stark, while their actions have crossed boundaries, they have, in a certain sense, worked to maintain world peace, haven't they?"
In fact, some progress had already been made in Tesseract weapon development, but Nick Fury had no intention of handing this technology over to them.
"Director Fury, may I remind you to remember your role? They are, in essence, a group of criminals trampling on the law. Their actions are not sanctioned by any country and are disrupting the world order. I hope you remember that well, and don't forget our deadline—one month!"
One of the council members cast a deep look at Nick Fury.
Everyone in the room was astute enough to know; there was no way S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have some of their own people embedded within it.
During the Battle of New York, they bypassed Nick Fury and directly ordered a nuclear strike on Manhattan, showing that they definitely have ways to counter Nick Fury.
In California, at the former Project Pegasus Research Facility, now a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Dr. Erik Selvig, recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. by Nick Fury, was conducting various data tests on something that looked like a large Arc Reactor.
And at the center of that Arc Reactor-like device was the Cosmic Cube, perfectly square.
This indicated that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s development of the Cosmic Cube was still focused on energy extraction. Weapons created in this way would only be slightly more powerful than traditional gunpowder-based weapons.
The ammunition became pure energy-based, allowing for adjustable power levels in individual weapons.
It was indeed much more advanced, but limited by the material of the weapons and output power, there hadn't been any real-time progress in terms of power.
Nick Fury had endured a lot of pressure in today's meeting, so the first thing he said upon entering was:
"Dr. Selvig, we need to proceed to the third phase of development as soon as possible. We're out of time, and the people upstairs are eager to turn this into a weapon that can counter Iron Man."
Dr. Erik Selvig was slightly stunned upon hearing this. "I must remind you that the energy contained in this thing is beyond your imagination. Rushing into advanced development without proper safeguards could lead to a disaster!"
"Then improve your safeguards, Doctor. Trust me, if we don't hurry, those stupid fools upstairs will undoubtedly assemble their own team to develop the weapon, and *that* would truly lead to disaster!"
Nick Fury had his own considerations. Not to mention the Captain Marvel and alien incident back in 1995.
Even during Thor's last arrival, both the big guy wielding a hammer and the fire-spitting robot possessed the power to destroy cities.
As an Earthling, he wouldn't place his hope for protection on that ridiculous Asgard.
Howard Stark once said something that Nick Fury strongly agreed with:
"Peace is kept by the person with the biggest stick."
Earth needed to have its own big stick to deter those advanced alien civilizations out in the universe.
Nick Fury's words left Dr. Erik Selvig in deep thought.
After a long pause, he finally spoke slowly.
"I can intensify the development, but it has to be done step-by-step. We can increase the risk, but it still has to be within controllable limits, right?"
Nick Fury nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Dr. Erik Selvig then continued to bury himself in his work.
However, he had barely started when an ear-piercing alarm sounded from all the instruments.
The energy levels of the Cosmic Cube were climbing rapidly.
"Doctor, is this what you call step-by-step?"
Although not a scientist, Nick Fury understood the values on the computer screen. The energy fluctuations of the Cosmic Cube had spiked nearly twentyfold compared to just a moment ago.
This could hardly be called step-by-step.
"I haven't even started yet?"
Selvig looked up, bewildered.
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