96 Chapter 95

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"Is this one of your SHIELD agents?"

Talos quickly flipped through the dossier and was slightly surprised.

The Skrulls, led by Talos, had been secretly executing many such covert missions for Nick Fury.

They had made significant contributions to Nick Fury's rise through the ranks in SHIELD, eventually ascending to the position of Director.

In those long years, Talos had impersonated countless individuals, but posing as a SHIELD agent was truly rare.

"It seems this is no small matter, right?"

Talos quickly made this judgment.

"This guy is an undercover agent from another secret organization."

"I have reliable information that this secret organization has developed many undercover agents within SHIELD."

"I want you to find out all these undercover agents as much as possible."

Nick Fury spoke earnestly to Talos.

Nevertheless, even for a secret force like Talos, Fury kept some cards close to his chest.

He only told him about "a secret organization" without revealing it was HYDRA.

"I knew it, you just can't let me rest."

Talos couldn't help but complain, but he didn't decline the mission.

For any spy, this task would be quite daunting, but for the Skrulls, who could change their appearance at will, it wasn't particularly challenging.

"Stop indulging in unrealistic fantasies. People like us are destined to be on the move all our lives."

Fury casually echoed, then brought the conversation back to business, "This is just the first step. Get your people ready. Once you've successfully infiltrated their ranks, I need the infiltration to go even deeper."

Considering the extent of HYDRA's infiltration, how could Nick Fury be satisfied with developing just one HYDRA undercover agent?

The more, the better!

Although there were only a few dozen Skrulls on Earth, Fury believed that if utilized properly, they could still play a significant role.

These few dozen Skrulls would be his secret weapon against HYDRA!

Of course.

Fury could never have known that the number of Skrulls on Earth wasn't just a few dozen as he thought, but had already grown to millions!

Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD, was still in the dark about this fact.

"Right..."

After discussing business with Talos, Nick Fury began to talk about some other matters.

He rambled on, which could be summarized in four words: bluffing and pie in the sky.

After all, the "Secret Invasion" had been mentioned in the journal.

Although not described in detail, it was clear it was because he'd been using others to do his dirty work, which led to discontent.

With all the information from the journal verified, Nick Fury naturally took this very seriously.

While handling other matters, he hadn't forgotten to give the Skrulls some benefits, hoping to nip the "Secret Invasion" in the bud.

"Alright, that's it for now. Stay in touch."

After finishing all conversations, Nick Fury greeted Talos and left the café.

Fury's focus in the subsequent period was naturally to support Talos' infiltration efforts.

Technically speaking, Talos could transform into the HYDRA agent at any time, but naturally, it wasn't that simple.

Before "transforming," there were still many preparations to be made.

At the very least, he needed to sufficiently understand the person he was about to impersonate.

This included their personality, habits, experiences, and background.

Otherwise, it was easy to be exposed in front of familiar faces.

Not to mention, the person he was going to mimic was a spy from an intelligence agency: any discrepancy could give him away.

Simply put, even with the Skrulls' abilities, patience was required; they couldn't be too hasty.

Fortunately, both Fury and Talos were experienced in these matters, and everything was steadily progressing.

Once the situation was on the right track, Nick Fury began to divide his attention towards other issues.

What issues?

Ivan Vanko's issues!

"Director, Ivan Vanko has successfully miniaturized the Arc Reactor and created an exoskeleton suit."

"He has been secretly investigating Stark recently, and according to the intelligence and clues we have, he's planning an attack on Stark."

Agent Hill reported the latest intelligence to Nick Fury.

"Just an exoskeleton suit?"

Fury wasn't fully satisfied with this, even feeling somewhat let down.

The journal had mentioned that this man used Stark's technology against him. Fury subconsciously thought that he might have created an Iron Man suit.

But it turned out to be just an exoskeleton suit?

That was a significant downgrade from the Iron Man armor.

"Yes, Director, just an exoskeleton suit."

"From our observations lately, Ivan Vanko doesn't have the technical capability to create an Iron Man suit," Agent Hill stated firmly.

Having been surveilling and investigating Ivan Vanko for several months, Fury trusted Agent Hill's conclusion.

It seemed he'd misunderstood before, or the documentation wasn't clear.

The Stark technology mentioned probably referred to the Arc Reactor, not the complete Iron Man armor.

If that was the case...

"Initiate a capture operation on Ivan Vanko!"

Nick Fury immediately issued this order to Agent Hill.

Even though Vanko hadn't made any move against Stark, Hill had confirmed that he was plotting an attack.

Moreover, since Vanko was an illegal immigrant who had defected from the Soviet Union, Fury didn't feel the need to be courteous.

If it hadn't been for waiting on the technological outcomes from Vanko, Fury would have acted sooner.

"Understood, Director!"

Agent Hill responded swiftly and left hurriedly.

Her "understood" was genuine.

This operation wasn't just a simple capture but a technological plunder.

The Director wouldn't rest until he had Vanko's technology in hand.

Although the exoskeleton suit was considerably less advanced than the Iron Man armor, it was still a technology of significant value.

Fury certainly wasn't going to miss out.

"Nick is starting the capture operation on Ivan Vanko?"

"Good, has he finally lost his patience?"

In the top-level office.

Nick Fury's boss, Pierce, naturally received the message immediately.

However, Pierce decided not to intervene.

For the same reason.

If Hydra intervened too easily, it would reveal that there were more Hydra spies within SHIELD.

Indeed, Senator Stern, that incompetent fool, had already exposed the existence of Hydra, and Fury would definitely have discovered the Hydra sleeper agents within SHIELD.

Considering these factors, Pierce became even more cautious about taking action.

After all, with so many Hydra agents in SHIELD, any action of SHIELD could not proceed without Hydra's involvement.

So he let Nick Fury do as he would.

After all, any success on Fury's end would mean success for Hydra as well, wouldn't it?

Therefore, in the face of this capture operation, not only would Hydra not take any measures, but they would actually be pleased to see it succeed!

Under these circumstances, Agent Hill's capture operation went very, very smoothly.

Under her personal leadership, a group of heavily armed SHIELD agents entered the residence of Ivan Vanko before he could react and surrounded him.

Bang!

Ivan Vanko was woken from his sleep by the dull sound of his door being broken down.

Barely up from the bed, not even having time to get dressed, he was already being pointed at with several gun muzzles.

"Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

"Whoever you're looking for, I'm sure it's not me."

Ivan Vanko was no ordinary man; he remained composed even with so many guns pointed at him.

He raised his hands immediately to avoid being killed by the law enforcement officers of this free country while also trying to negotiate.

Of course, his brain was also racing, trying to figure out what he could have done recently to cause him such big trouble.

But Ivan Vanko couldn't think of anything.

Sure, he had dealt with some illicit arms trading back in the Soviet Union, but after coming to America, he had kept a low profile.

He shouldn't have given them any leverage.

So why was he being targeted by law enforcement?

And who were these people in front of him?

They were neither the FBI nor the CIA, certainly not the police, and they were not any department that Ivan Vanko was aware of.

???

So what on earth was going on?

Ivan Vanko's mind was truly in a mess.

"We have sufficient evidence to prove that you are a spy from the Soviet Union!"

"You're under arrest!"

In the midst of the SHIELD agents' encirclement, Agent Hill arrogantly stepped forward and pronounced sentence on Ivan Vanko.

A spy?

What the hell!

Although he was certainly no saint, he really wasn't a spy!

With a wave of Agent Hill's hand, the SHIELD agents no longer wasted words and immediately proceeded to arrest Ivan Vanko.

"Spy?"

"You've got it all wrong; I'm definitely not a spy!"

"What gives you the right to say that!"

While struggling desperately, Ivan Vanko roared out loud.

"You are a spy sent by the Soviet Union to steal Stark's technology, did you think we wouldn't find out?"

"Take him away!"

Agent Hill icily dropped this statement and no longer wasted words with Ivan Vanko, stepping out briskly.

Me, stealing Stark technology?

Ivan Vanko was so angry he felt like spitting blood. That technology was originally his father's!

It was the Stark family, that family of thieves, who had stolen their technology!

Talk about calling black white.

"I get it, this is a plot!"

"You're from Stark, aren't you?"

"Damn it, that bastard!"

Ivan Vanko continued to roar and accuse.

But unfortunately for Ivan Vanko, besides this impotent rage, there was nothing else he could do.

He was taken to SHIELD's 'little black room' against his will and without any power to resist, facing the grim prospect of "extraction."

"Director, everything has been taken care of."

"Our 'spy' has been detained."

Nick Fury in the office received this message first thing. 

Fury may appear stoic on the outside, but inwardly he felt a surge of excitement; this was good news!

Although Whiplash's technology was not as advanced as Stark's Iron Man suit, Fury valued it highly.

Finally, it was in his hands!

"Understood, I'll take it from here."

With a dismissive wave to Agent Hill, sending her away, Nick Fury then fell into deep thought.

He had to keep Whiplash's technology under his control and out of the hands of Hydra sleeper agents.

Good thing he was well-prepared before capturing Ivan Vanko.

Once Agent Hill left, Nick Fury wasted no time and contacted his personal network outside SHIELD, people who were separate from its ranks.

His intent was to extract all of Ivan Vanko's technology completely and cleanly. 

As Director Fury already had plans, everything was progressing smoothly.

"Director, the Captain is about to wake up!"

After dealing with Vanko, Fury received another message about something that greatly concerned him.

The Captain is waking up?

Fury was aroused by the thought, and without any hesitation, he stood up.

"Watch the Captain closely, I'm on my way."

Fury issued this command to the SHIELD agent on the other end of the line and began to make his way over by car.

But what Nick Fury didn't know was that the American Captain on the hospital bed had slowly opened his eyes while he was still on his way.

The first thing Captain America saw was a room that was very delicate and comfortable, akin to a "single room."

Especially the bed beneath him, so soft that Captain America felt he hadn't rested on something so comfortable in a long time.

It was as if he could sink right down to the floor.

"A curveball bypasses the batter, the Dodgers tie the score four to four."

"Everyone knows that with a swing of his bat, he can finish this game."

Meanwhile, a radio in the room was narrating a baseball game.

???

I'm actually... not dead?

As the Captain got up from the bed, his face showed a hint of confusion.

It seemed his luck was truly great after all, to have been rescued, but how did Peggy and the others find him?

And where was this place?

Captain America began to unconsciously survey the room.

It didn't take long for him to notice something amiss.