In the spacious and bright office of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce threw a stack of newspapers on the table with a little anger, and he heard a knock on the door, and turned his head to see Nick Fury standing outside the door.

"Come in." Pierce let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong? Managing director. Nick asked.

"Did you watch the news this morning?" Pierce walked behind his desk and sat down, tapped the table with his index finger and said, "Iron Man's appearance caused a great sensation, and people are speculating about his true identity, but is it still worth guessing?" ”

Nick immediately understood what Pierce meant, saying, "I think it's Tony Stark putting pressure on us, we're not ready to let the news of Hydra's resurgence out, and if Iron Man announces it first, it will be difficult for us to control public opinion." ”

"That would be a big stain on my career." Pierce's face was gloomy, and he looked straight ahead and said: "The United Nations has suspended my entry, they want to know who the mysterious enemy that S.H.I.E.L.D. is dealing with in Eastern Europe, and Stark has made such a big disturbance in the country, internal and external troubles." ”

Pierce looked up at Nick and asked, "Is there anything new about that Rodriguez's interrogation?" ”

Nick nodded at him and said, "I was about to talk about this, on the way to transfer him, the laboratory department has scanned his physical condition and found nothing abnormal, but during the interrogation, we found that he is probably not an ordinary person." ”

"He's certainly not an ordinary person!" Pierce raised his voice, unhappy with Nick's nonsense, he stared into Nick's eyes and said, "He's even important enough for the military and the FBI to erase all traces of his existence, he definitely has a shocking secret, and Hydra got him first." ”

"I'm sorry, Director." Nick lowered his head and said, "I mean, it's been seven days since we arrested him and interrogated him, during which time he hasn't eaten anything and hasn't eaten a single drip, but he's fine, and fatigue doesn't do anything for him." ”

Pierce's brow twisted into twist, and he said, "You mean he could be a transhuman, like Captain America?" ”

"It's highly likely that we have estimated his age, and that he was a child at a time when the military was obsessed with experimenting with human-transforming people, which would explain why we can't find any information about him in all databases, and he may have died socially."

Pierce sighed, turned his head away, patted his hands on the armrests of his office chair and said, "Stark wants us to take him to court, but it can't be done, he's going to get all these things out of his head, and then the military and the FBI will get us in trouble." ”

"We're always wiping their butts." Nick shook his head and said, "Ninety percent of the transants who make a mess in the Federation are the product of military experiments. ”

"The point is that he's still a hydra." Pierce grabbed the handrail and said, "The day he stands in court, the news of Hydra's demise will spread throughout the world, and S.H.I.E.L.D. will be the biggest laughing stock, and I can't tolerate my late childhood, Nick." ”

"Of course, Director, your contribution to the world is obvious to all, but it would be another matter if he could give us enough clues that we could wipe out that Hydra in Eastern Europe."

Pierce waved his hand at Nick and said, "Go ahead, go tell him I'll talk to him alone in three hours, and that will be his last chance." ”

Pierce's final note was full of murderous intent, but he didn't see a cold light on Nick's face as he turned past.

In Stark's office, the secretary poured a cup of tea for Coulson and left, Stark, who walked into the laboratory, looked Coulson in a suit up and down, and sighed, "I didn't expect you to look like an agent, James Bond?" ”

Coulson smiled helplessly and said, "I thought you would call me a slimy spirit and a slug, Mr. Stark." ”

"I was about to say that." Stark rolled his eyes imperceptibly, sat down opposite Coulson in his suit and said, "What did you come to me this time to say?" And you want me to give you a few days so that you can speak softly to that Hydra and get some information to make up for your mistakes? There's no time, man, there's a limit to my tolerance. ”

"That's not the case this time." Coulson smiled at Stark and said, "Of course it has something to do with it, but I'm not here for Director Pierce this time. ”

Stark frowned slightly, Coulson rubbed his hands, propped his forearms on his knees, leaned forward and looked at Stark seriously and asked, "Mr. Stark, do you know who the next director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is?" ”

Stark lowered his eyes and snorted, "I'm not interested in your in-house struggles, I just want someone to do the work, and do it better." ”

"Nick Fury will be the next director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who had already started the handover a month ago, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attack on Hydra in other countries prevented Director Pierce from being promoted to the UN security service."

Stark leaned back and made a gesture of surprise and said, "You mean to tell me not to get in trouble and send Pierce away so that your head can become the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" ”

"It's good too, isn't it? Once Nick Fury becomes the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Hydra can get the punishment he deserves right away. Coulson stretched out a finger and said, "In order to prevent himself from losing his old age, Director Pierce will definitely interrogate Hydra until he gets some results to account for the public and the United Nations." ”

"But Nick Fury doesn't have that concern, he doesn't need this Hydra intelligence, he can do his job, and he will do it better than Director Pierce."

Coulson looked at Stark and said, "Nick Fury has always preferred a fair trial, and once he gets the position of head of S.H.I.E.L.D., we will put all Hydras in court." ”

Stark admits that he was moved.

Pierce may jump over the wall for his own future, but as soon as he's gone, Nick will take Schiller to court and face legal trial than falling into the hands of a smuggler like Pierce.

But at this time, Stark suddenly realized that something was wrong, and Pierce was worried that the resurgence of Hydra might make his old life unsafe, so he didn't need to announce that Schiller was a Hydra from the beginning, just that he was an ordinary terrorist, and the matter would be over.

But isn't it a contradiction that he first told Stark Schiller that he was a Hydra, and then made a big deal about it in Eastern Europe, and now he began to say that the world knew that Hydra was not destroyed might make him die in the future?

He could have pretended not to know anything, went to the United Nations on time, and after leaving office, no matter what the flood was, the pot of Hydra's resurgence could have been thrown to Nick.

Stark felt his head hurt again, and he instinctively thought that there might be a result of the game between Pierce and Nick, so what did Coulson mean by coming to him now?

Coulson took a sip of water, looked up at Stark again, and said, "Mr. Stark, we don't talk secretly, when you were in Afghanistan, Nick Fury had already determined your whereabouts, and when he was about to send someone to rescue, Director Pierce took the first step. ”

The amount of information in this passage made Stark's brain start running at high speed, and he knew that if nothing else, Nick was already in power at that time, and Pierce was already planning to be promoted to the United Nations and leave.

If Nick had already found out about his whereabouts by that time, did he find something else that made Pierce dare to reveal Schiller's identity in a hurry to clear up his relationship?

The more Stark thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible, and although it seemed to him that Pierce's disguise was seamless, it was not impossible for Nick, as someone who could get close to Pierce, to perceive something.

In this way, Pierce's series of actions can be explained, and Nick may have started to investigate when Stark announced his disappearance, and found some clues to Pierce's plan.

Pierce found out that he was likely to be exposed, and immediately took over his work, and then through the monitoring of Schiller, he got the specific location of Stark, rushed there as quickly as possible, and announced the results of Nick's investigation to everyone, to prove that he was rigorous and righteous.

Although Stark is not very proficient in this kind of struggle, he has seen some of them, and generally speaking, after the first leader makes a mistake, as long as he takes out a thunderous attitude to publicly punish the second in command who is responsible for the execution, the matter is easy to be lightly exposed, which is the legendary "self-punishment three cups".

In order to prevent Nick from following the clues to find him, Pierce hurriedly flew to Afghanistan and put all the blame on Schiller's head to end the case, which is an emergency way to deal with the crisis.

But after that, it naturally brought more trouble, with Nick watching, Pierce had to punch the group of Eastern European hydras that Nick found out, otherwise there was still no way to clear his suspicions, but once this happened, the matter would definitely be interrogated by the United Nations, and there would be trouble on his way to promotion.

The more Stark thought about it, the more he felt that the whole thing was connected, and it was very likely that Nick had carefully set a trap for Pierce to be embarrassed on both sides, Pierce would be easily uprooted by Nick if he didn't move, and Pierce would have to affect his career if he wanted to get rid of the relationship.

Stark suddenly realized, how could he be the only smart person in this world? Nick Fury may have sensed that Pierce was wrong.

Stark vaguely remembered that he had heard his father Howard mention the name Nick Fury, but only said that he was a good fighter, but since he had survived from World War II, he was definitely more shrewd than he thought.

Thinking of this, Stark breathed a sigh of relief, a big stone that had been pressing on his heart was finally put down, fighting alone, facing the Demon King and cooperating with another smart teammate was a completely different state of pressure.

But Coulson's next words lifted his heart again.

"Director Pierce, in order to reverse his unfavorable promotion, now wants to wipe out the Hydra in Eastern Europe, and Nick Fury is under his orders to interrogate the only Hydra we have caught."

"But he's very tight-mouthed, and several agents have taken turns interrogating him for a week, and he hasn't gotten any useful information, but you can rest assured that Director Pierce won't let him continue to keep his mouth shut."

Coulson stood up and said, "Mr. Iron Man, you will definitely want to see the murderer of this murder stand in court and face justice, and you must give Director Pierce a little other hope to ensure that he still has his life in the courtroom." ”

"For example?"

"For example, Iron Man is willing to help S.H.I.E.L.D. solve the troubles caused by Hydra and give Director Pierce the results he wants to appease the public."

(End of chapter)