Revelations

After hearing Peggy's words, Pierce was in shock - unable to believe he had been exposed.

"What do you mean, Peggy... I don't understand."

Even in panic, Pierce continued to try to deny it.

"Yes, you understand, Pierce."

Next door, Nick Fury, said exuding coldness in his words, if looks could kill, Fury's only eye, would have killed Pierce a good number of times.

When Coulson reported everything he had heard at the hospital, Nick Fury really wanted to find a weapon, and go after Pierce.

Unbeknownst to him, S.H.I.E.L.D. was completely compromised - this was simply the greatest humiliation for him!

"When did you join Hydra?"

After hearing the name Hydra, Pierce also understood that things could no longer be remedied.

"Forever Madam."

So he didn't fight much: "From the beginning, I was Hydra."

"I don't know what happened to you, but..."

His expression slowly changed from the original panic to indifference, and the originally dignified general secretary seemed to become a completely different person.

"Now there's no point hiding it."

He whispered to Peggy.

The other party discovered his identity, but what could they do, the playing field was theirs?

Most S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were Hydra, it would be impossible for Nick Fury and Peggy Carter to escape from there alive.

Then Pierce also took out a small device and pressed directly.

"There will be an accidental fire today, Mrs. Carter and Director Nick Fury will unfortunately not be able to escape... Truly a shame."

After pressing the button, Pierce said coldly.

But...

"If you're waiting for reinforcements, then I guess you don't have to wait any longer - they're being neutralized right now by Captain America."

There was a sudden sound, which made Pierce's heart go cold, and then he immediately turned his head to look.

It was not known when, but there was a person at the office door, watching the scene unfold.

"Asher Oaks..."

Pierce called the man's name, word for word.

And at this point, he knew - One mistake cost him everything he built, not only him but all of Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D, had been exposed.

"How did you do it?"

But he didn't understand how the other party connected the soldier's attack to Hydra or how he discovered all the sleeping Hydra agents - because in all of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra members represented the overwhelming majority!

"It's simple."

Peggy, said coldly: "Including the ninth-level agents, everyone needs to undergo in-depth identity verification, information evaluation and regular psychological tests, to see if they have not been compromised, knowing what to look for, it was not that difficult to find the traces ." "

"All projects that had his finger on Pierce have now been discontinued, we have begun screening from the lowest positions, to eradicate every trace of Hydra."

"The Three Helicarrieres... Your precious Project Insight, all Pierce has fallen to the ground!"

What is boldness? That's bold - Peggy's action now is basically no different than disbanding the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. and start from scratch.

If it were Nick Fury, such a decision would only happen if there was no hope left, which would essentially give Hydra time to hide again and completely undermine S.H.I.E.L.D's power - because that guarantees that the Council wouldn't be compromised again and even if it weren't In this case they could no longer trust him after an incident of this proportion.

In the current situation, the best course of action would be a total purge, and as co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., and war hero, Peggy Carter had a lot of influence in all spheres of government, even in retirement.

Her words carried weight, so much so that even the military or the Security Council would not have many objections - and at this point it was crucial to act with speed, and guarantee zero chance of escape, for the exposed Hydra agents.

"What about you? Have you finally joined S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"No, no, no, don't get me wrong - I'm not interested in Fury business or S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything like that, your agents were all taken care of by Cap and Iron Man."

Asher denied the question: "I just came to take a look, and tell you... There are people you shouldn't mess with or the consequences wouldn't be something you could handle."

"Is it really because of the assassination attempt?"

Pierce smiled bitterly - he didn't expect that his only mistake in so many years would ruin all of the organization's plans.

But in the next moment, the wry smile at the corner of his mouth instantly turned cold.

Then he threw his head up and shouted, "Hail Hydra!" "

While shouting these words, Pierce pulled the tie on his chest.

And then....

"Boom!"

With an explosion, everything around Pierce exploded into smithereens.

Of course, Asher would never be hurt by this level of explosion, but something seemed wrong.

"He committed suicide so decisively?"

No speech, no promises that he would be avenged, no fight... Pierce didn't even try to maximize the damage from the explosion.

Asher did not doubt the madness of a Hydra leader, but he still felt something strange.

"Miss Peggy, Director Fury - Dr. Selvig has been captured by Hydra, he and the Tesseract have been transferred to some unknown location!"

Soon, the words of Coulson, who had just arrived, clarified the feeling of confusion that Asher felt earlier.

The Tesseract!

As soon as he heard that name, Asher knew it immediately.

"Tesseract?"

Without the need for Nick Fury to explain, Peggy stood up the moment she heard the name.

"Nick Fury!"

Almost screaming, she looked at Fury, "I remember saying never to try to turn that thing into a weapon - it would be better if it stayed at the bottom of the sea!"

As someone who witnessed the consequences generated by the cube's power during World War II, Peggy knew well that it was a power that humans should not touch.

The cube was undoubtedly powerful but very volatile - pursuing uncontrollable power would only lead humanity to self-destruction.

So later, when Steve disappeared and the cube was recovered, Peggy and Howard took it upon themselves to keep it hidden and safe.

They also banned any weapons research programs utilizing the artifact's energy, except Howard himself, who based his reactor on the Tesseract.

"Times are different, Peggy..."

"The Council and I agree that the speed of human development is no longer sufficient for our survival... That is why we turned to the Tesseract."

Nick Fury showed a trace of bitterness at this moment: "In the hands of powerful alien civilizations and super-powered individuals, without corresponding strength, we simply have no right to live freely..."

When Nick Fury said this, he couldn't help but look at Asher, who was still in the doorway - Asher didn't get angry, because he knew, that almost everything, if not everything, that Fury said, was related to him in some way.

The biggest cause perhaps, is the deterrence force he displayed, along with the invasion of the Frost Giants and the arrival of the Asgardians, all of which boosted the sense of crisis on the part of the Security Council, and as they say, a cornered animal flees or seeks means of defending themselves, fleeing in this case was not an option.

"Coulson, can you find out where the Tesseract was taken?"

"...There's no way to find out, Miss Peggy - our intelligence system has been so corroded by Hydra, and almost all the information we have access to has been tampered with, we can't even determine when the cube was taken."

Coulson said solemnly.

At this point, things fell into a dead end.

"Shit, they must have taken the Cube back to his main base..."

Nick Fury slammed the table hard, almost making his hands bleed.

Because he knew that Hydra's headquarters must be very well hidden, with Pierce dead, it was basically impossible to find it now...

"I know where their main base is..."

"... What? "

Seeing Asher leaning against the door, talking casually, Nick Fury and Peggy were very confused.

"Sokovia."

Asher said very casually: "Their main base is in Sokovia."