Chapter 122: Hit His Mother

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Just as the Ancient One found Strange, the new Sorcerer Supreme, and then retired after completing her mission, Odin probably wanted to retire as well.

If Roald’s expectations were correct, Asgard might now be facing a new upheaval.

Hela might be about to appear.

To the outside world—or at least to New York—it seemed that peace had returned once again.

At the New York Sanctum, Strange had completely inherited everything left by the Sorcerer Supreme and become the undisputed leader of the order of mystics. Wong had become his assistant. The two of them remained in the New York Sanctum most of the time, guarding both the Sanctum and the Eye of Agamotto.

Strange increasingly felt that the moment of danger was drawing near.

Yet many sorcerers had recently begun hearing faint whispers. These maddening murmurs were growing clearer and clearer, disturbing them so badly that they could not sleep at night or study magic in peace. Some had even begun to suffer mental instability.

Beneath the world’s peaceful facade, powerful undercurrents were churning in secret. Many people had begun contemplating how to stir up trouble.

Nick Fury was one of them.

He had finally experienced the thrill—and the joy—of manipulating events from the shadows.

After dissolving S.H.I.E.L.D. in his former capacity as its director, he secretly recruited new personnel and prepared to set events in motion once more. Hill was doing the same. After establishing a new organization, she seemed to vanish into thin air, hiding behind the scenes while using the power of the government and official institutions to advance her own agenda.

At the same time, she revealed information about Nick Fury to the American military, preparing to make use of its power.

The operation was personally directed by Ross and Grommash.

After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. had originally been founded under America’s leadership. In the beginning, it had even been created by the United States to monitor other countries. But as international circumstances changed, S.H.I.E.L.D. became an international organization under the authority of the Security Council. Officially, it was no longer an American organization.

I Have a Book of Ghosts and Gods

Later, because of Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. developed even further beyond America’s control. By Nick Fury’s generation, it had become completely at odds with both the American government and the American military.

The American government and military exchanged spies with S.H.I.E.L.D., but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s agents were considerably more capable. Hydra’s members were far more responsible than federal agents!

Thus, S.H.I.E.L.D. had always kept America under its thumb. The American government had long hated this organization, which it had founded, which operated on its own soil, and to which it contributed the most funding—yet which stubbornly refused to obey its orders.

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Moreover, after Nick Fury had astonishingly announced the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. and uploaded the complete list of its Hydra agents to the internet, the American government became even more furious.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had been created by the United States, yet it no longer worked for America. Nick Fury’s unilateral announcement that the organization had been dissolved amounted to a savage blow straight to the face of the authorities.

Although Nick Fury had disappeared, many things remained behind within S.H.I.E.L.D., particularly a number of extremely important pieces of information.

Some of these records and intelligence might have been deliberately left behind by Nick Fury to conceal his true objectives. In particular, he had exposed information concerning Hydra and the Apocalypse organization.

Whether they belonged to the military, the government, or any other department, anyone suspected of having ties to Hydra had been exposed by Nick Fury.

Nick Fury’s self-destruction and scorched-earth strategy might have been driven by resentment. He felt that he had been deceived, but he also possessed his own convictions and principles. At the same time, he intended to hide in the shadows and clash with Hill once more.

For that reason, Nick Fury had deliberately released a great deal of information that was partly true and partly false.

Hill, meanwhile, also released a piece of intelligence and began discussing strategies for dealing with Nick Fury.

Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, and the Security Council held a joint hearing.

“We must capture that traitor, Nick Fury!”

“Capture them? Where are they? We don’t even know where they are. Are you certain you want to proceed?”

“How could we not know where they are? We have satellites covering the entire globe. Didn’t you say we had already located their trail? I suggest we arrest them immediately.”

“And there’s someone named Coulson!”

“Right. Rogers as well. If we capture those two, won’t that be enough? We can definitely get a great deal of information out of them!”

“Idiot! Rogers belongs to our military. Giving you Coulson is already the greatest concession we’re willing to make. Rogers must remain under military jurisdiction.”

“If we arrest those two, Nick Fury will realize that we’ve found them. He’ll disappear again. Where will we look for him then?”

“That is precisely why we are sitting here holding this meeting today, idiot!”

“You’re the idiot! Your whole family is full of idiots! I call it caution. If we let Nick Fury escape again, where are we supposed to look for him next time?”

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“He’s only one Nick Fury. Is he really more formidable than our super-soldiers?”

“Then why do you think we’re holding this meeting? Idiot!”

The generals and congressmen argued furiously over how to capture and deal with Nick Fury. Every agency wanted the credit, and they quarreled until they were driven to distraction.

Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had constantly been at odds with the American military and government, it had at least been highly competent. Whenever a troublesome matter arose, handing it over to S.H.I.E.L.D. usually meant that the problem would be solved—or that S.H.I.E.L.D. would take the blame. With them standing at the front, many people could sit back and do nothing.

They had pressured S.H.I.E.L.D. so relentlessly merely to force it back into its former role—to make it obey the American government once more. Instead, Nick Fury had dissolved S.H.I.E.L.D. outright. They had gained none of the benefits they wanted, and Nick Fury had left them with an enormous mess.

The fact that he had remained hidden for so long made it clear that the bald man was extraordinarily cunning. He might even have safe houses scattered across the entire globe. Once he vanished, there was no telling where he might hide.

“Stop arguing!”

Hill rose amid the uproar.

“There is one thing we can confirm. At present, we have information concerning their whereabouts. Whatever he intends to do next, constant surveillance is essential. I will assign each of you your missions and targets.”

“Against someone like Nick Fury, we must proceed with caution. If we intend to capture him, we cannot give him any opportunity to resist.”

Hill’s words brought the arguments to an end.

One week later,

The military, Congress, and the Supreme Federal Court each dispatched their most capable agents in three separate directions.

One team headed toward Eastern Europe, another toward South America, while Grommash personally led the military to Antarctica to establish a perimeter.

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