Chapter 84: Crisis in the Council
Washington, D.C., S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury stood in front of the office's enormous floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought.
He had just returned from a video conference with the World Security Council.
The appearance of the Asgardians had an impact that extended beyond New Mexico and even the United States.
As the supervisory body of S.H.I.E.L.D., the World Security Council naturally received the full details of the situation as it unfolded.
Regardless of whether the Asgardians were extraterrestrials as they claimed, or divine beings from Earth mythology, they had materialized on Earth and caused a major incident.
Conventional Earth weapons were useless against them.
That's why Nick Fury wanted to study weapons using the remnants of the Destroyer armor.
In fact, he was quite satisfied with how he handled Oaks.
That kid was indeed the mediator he envisioned for the future Avengers.
Oaks knew very well that both Banner and Tony would never agree to his plan of creating stronger weapons.
But Oaks understood the necessity of it. However, he couldn't risk the possibility of S.H.I.E.L.D. using Banner's research results for something he wouldn't approve of, which could lead to resistance from Banner.
So Oaks directly brought up the matter and excluded Banner from it, stating that they would return to the company to work while S.H.I.E.L.D. could do whatever they pleased.
This successfully removed Banner from being involved in the on-site research in New Mexico.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be appropriate for S.H.I.E.L.D. to completely ignore a top scientist like Banner and selfishly hide the Destroyer for research purposes.
"Knock, knock~ Creak~"
Two very perfunctory knocks were heard, and the office door opened.
Nick Fury furrowed his brow and turned to look—who was the idiot who entered without permission...
Then his brow relaxed.
The person who came in was indeed qualified to do so.
"Hey, buddy, all done?"
He turned around with a smile and walked up, embracing the newcomer warmly, while casting a glance outside with his one eye.
"Everything settled?"
"Of course, but this time, things turned out to be beyond my expectations."
The newcomer laughed until his face almost wrinkled, looking satisfied as he glanced up and down at Nick Fury.
"Truly worthy of being the person I have my eye on. You've done a great job... Now, those guys won't constantly nag me about budgets and authority issues."
Alexander Pierce, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and now the liaison officer between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council, as well as the Secretary-General of the Council.
As someone who had once declined the Nobel Peace Prize and had discovered and promoted the current Director Nick Fury, he possessed the same Level 10 clearance as Fury.
It was also because of his dedicated dealings with the World Security Council that S.H.I.E.L.D. gradually gained a larger budget and more authority over the years.
Of course, as the top leader of Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nest, even among all Hydra branches worldwide, Pierce was a heavyweight figure, an influential leader within the organization.
In recent years, as Hydra needed more and more resources to grow, Pierce had to do his best to expand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence.
But as the saying goes, "A hunter without a target is nothing."
Compared to the increasingly large scale of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations, the security threats in the world seemed... insufficient.
In recent years, Pierce had been using his exceptional political experience and keen sense to navigate near the oversight of the Council, desperately trying to gain some benefits.
In Nick Fury's eyes, he saw that his former leader was striving to prevent the bureaucratic constraints that his leadership at S.H.I.E.L.D. might face, and for that, he was grateful to Pierce.
Truly worthy of being a comrade who made outstanding contributions to world security.
However, despite Pierce's eloquence, he was gradually starting to feel the pressure from the Council—
Especially with the significant advancements in information technology in recent years, the channels and speed at which the public received information had undergone earth-shaking changes. Many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions had caused panic and even hostility among the public, as well as numerous follow-up issues.
This also led to many governments, which were usually responsible for covering S.H.I.E.L.D.'s backside, expressing increasingly significant opinions about S.H.I.E.L.D.—
And the Council clearly couldn't ignore this situation.
This was also one of the official justifications for repeatedly rejecting Nick Fury's "Avengers Initiative."
But this time, it was different.
"Based on our investigation of the battlefield on the outskirts of Puente Antiguo, the Council now fully understands how much of a threat just one Thor poses to world security."
Nick Fury motioned for Pierce to sit down and prepared to pour him a cup of coffee. After a moment's thought, he went to his desk, took out a small box, and returned to replace the coffee beans in the coffee machine.
"Oh! It smells great... you have something like this?"
Pierce raised an eyebrow. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agent coffee was already considered top-notch, considering they were just civil servants...
But this coffee was far superior to any top-grade brand he had tasted!
"Something from an interesting kid."
Nick Fury shrugged, and Pierce's face showed an understanding expression.
"Environmental consultant? Compared to the popular drink 'Oak acorn' among the younger generation, this coffee suits us better at our age."
"Sounds like I'm getting old."
Nick Fury took a sip of coffee, satisfied, and clenched his teeth a bit—it was a gift from the "deal"...
He didn't want these awkward emotions to affect his train of thought for now, so he put down the coffee.
"The Crown Prince of Asgard clearly shook up the stubborn members of the Council."
"Well, according to them, Earth, or Midgard, is still one of their vassal states."
Pierce sighed and shook his head.
"Although for some unknown reasons, it seems that Asgard hasn't reiterated their 'sovereignty' over the nations on Earth, what changes will the return of the Crown Prince of Asgard bring to their attitude towards Earth?
If the legendary All-Father, King Odin, has a sudden realization and remembers that he has a large piece of 'territory' he hasn't paid attention to for a long time, will he suddenly consider reasserting his sovereignty?
At that time, Earth will absolutely not accept it, and that is something the Council will never allow—
But without the guarantee of military force, Earth doesn't even have the qualification to refuse."
"So they finally approved the 'Avengers Initiative.'"
Nick Fury sneered.
"These guys were worried about giving S.H.I.E.L.D. more power before... Turns out I wasn't just being paranoid."
"Yes, so the 'Project Pegasus' can also be restarted."
Pierce put on a serious expression.
"I suggest going directly to the weaponization phase—we currently need powerful weapons that can effectively deter potential enemies. Compared to analyzing completely unfamiliar remnants of the Destroyer, Project Pegasus, with its preliminary research data, can clearly produce results more quickly."
"..."
Nick Fury remained silent for a while, looking at his former superior's serious gaze. Finally, he nodded slowly.
"Good!"
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