Chapter 2983: Leisure Time (17)

Pamela manipulated the plants as Tim explained the current situation to her in more detail.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Hydra maintain a very delicate balance. On the surface, it seems that the FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. are both obligated to fight against Hydra, and these two good organizations should stand together to combat evil."

"But the reality is not so simple. The FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. are in serious competition for funding because their functions overlap. For cases that fall between superpower-related and non-superpower issues, there are too many gray areas to argue over."

"This leads to neither party being able to come down too hard on Hydra, nor can they afford not to act."

"They can't come down hard because if there are no rats in one's own territory, the cat's purpose isn't shown, and they can't not act because if the rats become a plague and climb onto the dining table, it shows the cat is useless."

"Both parties nibble at the edges—on one hand, they foster their own threats to justify their existence, and on the other, they make token efforts to accrue achievements. Whoever is more clever in controlling the limited Hydra resources to show more merit, gets more funding."

"Previously, some actions by the FBI cost S.H.I.E.L.D. funding. To recover its position, S.H.I.E.L.D. colluded with Hydra to first expel the FBI, which could also act against Hydra, from Los Angeles. Then, they caused a commotion in Los Angeles and had S.H.I.E.L.D. clean up afterward."

"The West Coast is FBI territory. This not only caused the FBI to lose face but also highlighted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s achievements."

"Not to mention, taking advantage of the FBI's defenses and causing a ruckus at a Congress member's gathering could drive a wedge between them and make the FBI lose face in Congress."

"Since time immemorial, partisan struggles have been thus: either the east wind prevails over the west wind or vice versa. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prowess lies in their closer ties with Hydra; when necessary, it's no longer about fostering a threat for leverage, but using Hydra to strike the FBI with heavy blows."

"But does that mean S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra have a perfect, mutually trusting relationship? Obviously not—it's impossible for two individuals, much less two organizations, to be completely aligned in their interests."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra's interests align only in that S.H.I.E.L.D. relies on Hydra for funding, while Hydra relies on S.H.I.E.L.D. to conceal themselves and seek profits through evil deeds under their protection."

"Currently, S.H.I.E.L.D. needs Hydra, so they maintain a somewhat peaceful cooperation. However, once Hydra no longer has value, S.H.I.E.L.D. will look to suppress Hydra to prevent them from becoming a plague and showing their own inefficacy."

"In Shiller's original plan, he intended to entangle the FBI's main forces at the border, which would inevitably require deploying personnel and agents to battle. This is also what S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to see."

"On one hand, this benefits the mentioned funding campaign, and on the other, it allows weakening Hydra's strength. It's killing two birds with one stone."

Tim said this, then looked at Pamela and said, "But if we interfere, using superpowers to seal off the mountain, on one hand, it would make the FBI see no hope of victory, knowing the difficulty they would retreat, unable to keep their main forces here."

"On the other hand, if the FBI and Hydra can't fight, Hydra won't expend their manpower, so afterward, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't be able to give any more to Hydra. Otherwise, they risk becoming the tail that wags the dog, and they may even take action to suppress Hydra to prevent them from causing trouble."

"This would shatter the mutual interest coalition between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. Regardless of whether Shiller truly belongs to Hydra or is just undercover, individual will does not change in struggles over fundamental interests."

"Nick would not insist on cooperating with Hydra because of Shiller's existence, nor would Shiller defy common sense and continue to follow S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders because of Nick."

"Conversely, whether they genuinely consider the interests of their organizations or merely pretend to, they at least have to put on a show of a partnership breakdown and blame the other party for breach of faith."

"To restrain Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. might choose to join forces with the FBI. However, in this triangular relationship, if the two good powers ally, then they might become too strong and the balance could be broken in an instant."

"If Hydra has to face the pursuit of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the FBI alone, it's almost tantamount to being enemies with the entire American enforcement system, which is a very unfavorable situation for them."

"For survival, Hydra's only choice would be to cooperate with the FBI."

"At this time, Hydra's method of joining with the FBI to suppress S.H.I.E.L.D. is laid out before them: cause a superpower assassination at the Love Farm gathering. The congress members can then take advantage in Congress to accuse S.H.I.E.L.D. of negligence."

"And who is the closest superpower user? Pamela."

Pamela blinked. She actually understood because the logic was coherent and not that complicated.

In a triangle relationship, either one is close with two, two is close with three, or one is close with three—there are only these three scenarios, which leave an individual with just two choices.

If one and two fall out, one's only choice is three. Having chosen three, one must confront two, and what can be leveraged is precisely the biggest difference between three and two, which is whether or not they can handle superpower users.

Superpower users causing chaos doesn't concern the FBI, but S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot escape blame, making it the best way to suppress S.H.I.E.L.D.

Superpower users far away or just around the corner—it is Pamela.

This is the most basic element in factional struggles: using multi-sided checks and balances to create capital for oneself.

In partisan conflicts, the most important aspect is to understand the fundamental interests of each group. From there, one can infer their next move and then predict the other groups' responses to that move.

To some extent, the further one's predictions, the lower the accuracy. But if one can indeed predict accurately, it can create an impression of prophetic insight, like that of a great Seer.

Intelligent people can usually think five to six steps ahead, so Tim only thinking two steps ahead this time wasn't that amazing.

But Pamela still found it quite troublesome.

It was as if her brain lacked the hardware to think about such problems, this knowledge just didn't stick!

Pamela wasn't stupid either; Tim had explained it so clearly that, after following his train of thought, she too found no issues with the relationship between the three organizations, at least not logically.

She felt that even though Tim said that they would slip up sooner or later, the kid was clearly holding his breath, waiting to see who would make him slip up. More precisely, he wanted to see someone else slip up.

Although she didn't think that someone was Shiller, Tim obviously wasn't content with being at the bottom. With four powers present, if he couldn't be the boss, couldn't he at least be second or third?

As she pondered, Pamela had already completed the plants' blockade of the cliff. Now, the entire perimeter of the mountaintop was woven into layers of a vast net, and towering trees like pines had turned into tree warriors.

Just as Tim had predicted, lights began to flicker continuously on the beach and at the foot of the mountain; those were clearly the lights of standard-issue flashlights. Vague shadows moved between the trees, and the sound of footsteps rustled through the woods.

From the second floor, Tim could see more clearly; people were landing on the beach, and others were approaching from the path below. From their movements and equipment's silhouette, he could tell that it was the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A tall figure was crouching behind the dense shrubs. He had just moved forward two steps when a hand grabbed his arm.

"Are you inexperienced with jungle combat?" Steve's blue eyes were also very clear in the night. Unlike Batman's blue eyes, his were lighter. When he turned to look around, they shone like beacons in the dark.

Jason shook his head and said, "I'd say I'm only good at street fighting."

"Well, that's not surprising, but don't go out there now. There's something off about the shadows of the trees ahead. See that mound... Yes, over there, don't you think the shape of the roots is a bit strange?"

Jason looked left and right but couldn't see anything remarkable. He indeed lacked such experiences. He was good at street brawls, but formal combat was another story.

"In the jungle, we use the direction of plant growth to determine the direction from which the sunlight comes. It's usually more obvious in herbaceous plants, but if the canopy is too dense and there's no distinction between day and night below, then we have to observe the trees."

"Moreover, sometimes the shape of tree roots can indicate the distribution of underground water systems. I once found drinkable fresh water in a tropical rainforest in South America by observing the direction in which the roots extended."

"The posture of that tree's roots on the mound is just wrong. We saw them when we came up; the exposure of the land there is caused by the high brine in the freshwater near the sea, leading to soil salinization and erosion. Theoretically, exposed roots are not surprising."

"But since it has become a mound, with half of the root system exposed, to maintain its balance, the other half of the roots should dig more firmly into the ground to hold onto the tilting trunk, though it would still be somewhat slanted."

"The posture of this tree doesn't look like it's been growing on this mound for a long time. Its exposed roots are too fresh, and they haven't developed more robust structures due to the changing mound. Theoretically, if the roots are in that state, the tree should have fallen by now, but it hasn't, which suggests there might be external support."

Jason took a closer look and didn't see any man-made supports, but as he was staring at the tree, it took off running.

Jason's eyes widened in shock, then he turned to look at Steve, who also looked astounded. Steve said, "What I meant to say was, some people put camouflage over explosives..."

Before they could recover from their shock, the pine trees in front of them uprooted themselves and ran, waving their massive branches, charging toward the faint flashlight beams.

Steve drew a sharp breath and shouted, "Get back, get back!!"

Screams of team members tumbling down the slope soon followed; Steve pulled Jason as they ran downhill, with Jason not forgetting to hoist a wounded comrade along.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a must-pass route for the assassins?! Damn it, have terrorists started turning pine trees too nowadays???"

Jason heard someone cursing, and Steve's face looked rather grim. Raising his Shield, he covered the retreat of the injured agents, while Jason acted as a porter, hoisting up several people, and the group embarrassingly fled to the foot of the mountain.

"Boss, there's misinformation. Wasn't it supposed to be a Hydra Assassin? What's with these tree spirits? I just got whipped by vines."

"Something wrapped around my leg too; I thought it was a snake, but when I looked down, it turned out to have leaves!"

"I was almost drowned in a tree hollow! What the hell is going on?!"

The young team members complained, and Steve waved them down, signaling them to stay calm.

Before long, rows upon rows of cars appeared on the nearby highway—the main forces of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had arrived.

The leading agent glanced at the bowed heads of his wounded men, then looked up at the aggressive tree spirits and, with a wave of his hand, the main forces of the Federal Bureau of Investigation left.