Remnants of the Old Times

"The Red Queen, how many waves of invasions did you stop this time?"

"Report to the boss, there have been a total of 6 waves of attempts to hack into the database in the last month. All have been successfully blocked."

Since the rise of Vought Company, the formulas for the special stomach medications and beauty serums have drawn the attention of many.

Although the ingredients are public, replicating the formula has proven impossible.

As a result, those interested can only target Kyle directly, hoping to breach the database to steal the formula and experimental data.

However, with the Red Queen in charge of cyber security, no one has been able to penetrate the system. In the online world, the Red Queen reigns supreme, effectively an untouchable god.

"It's interesting… any news from S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Kyle chuckled, intrigued by the six attempts—he had a strong suspicion about the parties behind them.

What truly piqued his interest was the one group that tried to infiltrate the Vought Company's database about a month ago. They likely discovered that Kyle had chartered a flight to New Mexico that day. His two ace agents had been missing for an extended period without any updates.

However, they couldn't act directly, as they lacked hard evidence, and with the growing influence of Vought Corporation, taking action would be politically risky.

"Boss, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still investigating the fake intel you provided last time, but they haven't responded yet."

The Red Queen paused for a moment before replying.

She had just entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. database and reviewed their latest plans.

Why had she been able to breach S.H.I.E.L.D. so easily? It was thanks to the previous hack, where she had prepared a virtual archive for them to review. At the same time, she had implanted a backdoor through the temporary network channel they established.

In essence, it was like having a traitor on the inside—whenever she wanted, the Red Queen could access and manipulate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records.

To further confuse them, she had crafted a fake file and placed it in their database.

This file was intended to divert Nick Fury's suspicions about Kyle and Vought.

"Very good. Keep misdirecting them like this. The longer it takes, the better."

Kyle glanced at his phone, checking the date. He couldn't afford to be disturbed now—his plans were on track.

After two months of preparation, he had found ten promising candidates suitable for lens implantation.

In two days, these ten individuals would undergo crystal implantation to gain superpowers.

"Understood, boss. But S.H.I.E.L.D. has already discovered the virtual address we used. Should we intervene now?"

S.H.I.E.L.D. was no slouch. The Red Queen's fake virtual address, which had been randomly generated using big data, was about to be exposed. If S.H.I.E.L.D. realized that it was a fabrication, it would immediately raise suspicions about Vought Company.

This was especially problematic given the timing of the hack, just after S.H.I.E.L.D. had launched an assault on Vought.

"Go ahead. Forge a few photos of Natasha and Barton being tortured in a confinement room. Send them to S.H.I.E.L.D. along with some mocking commentary."

Kyle suddenly had a brilliant idea. He recalled how Natasha had been captured and tortured back in the day—those photos would be highly convincing.

If Nick Fury saw his top agents being abused like that, it would enrage him.

Moreover, Natasha, now Kyle's private secretary, rarely appeared in public, and her identity was well protected by the Red Queen. S.H.I.E.L.D. had no real idea what she looked like anymore.

"Yes, boss."

With that, the Red Queen dissipated her holographic projection and began executing Kyle's orders.

By now, the entire manor had been transformed into a high-tech facility, with the Red Queen's holographic interface accessible in every corner.

…

S.H.I.E.L.D. Trident Building.

Nick Fury was already in his office early in the morning, staring at two nearly identical photos in his hands, his brow furrowed in concentration.

His instincts told him something was off about this operation, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

The disappearance of Natasha and Barton during their mission continued to gnaw at him.

"What's wrong?"

He looked closely at the photos. Everything seemed perfect—perhaps too perfect. His heightened intuition buzzed with suspicion, but no matter how much he scrutinized the images, nothing stood out.

"Wait… perfect?" Nick Fury slapped the table, a spark of realization hitting him. It was all too perfect.

Every time a problem arose, they had managed to retrieve the right clues just in time. Something didn't add up.

"Nick, there's something you need to see—urgent!"

Hill burst into the office, grabbing Fury's sleeve and pulling him toward the door with a serious expression.

"What's going on? This frantic energy isn't like you, Hill."

Nick Fury was surprised—Hill was usually as composed as an iceberg. What could possibly have shaken her so much?

When they reached the scene, Fury's calm demeanor faltered for a moment, a flicker of anger crossing his face. But just as quickly, he regained his composure—controlling emotions was a requirement for every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

"When did this happen?" Fury asked coldly as he stared at the screen in front of him.

The screen displayed large red exclamation marks and indecent photos of Natasha and Barton in compromising positions, showing their disheveled appearances after being thrown into a confinement room.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. people at this level?" Fury muttered, his voice icy. "Our organization has already provided the answer, but you still haven't noticed it at all."

"It really deserves to be the organization with the worst temper and least effective ability. Even Hydra is more competent than you."

A mocking message flashed across the screen:

"Right now, we are issuing a gauntlet to you. As long as the seven puzzles are solved, we will join your entire organization under your command."

"Every other month, a puzzle will be automatically issued. Solve it in advance, and you may receive it earlier."

"Remnants from the old times—K."

The message lingered on the screen long enough for everyone to read it before slowly fading away.

The Red Queen had successfully executed a masterstroke, mocking S.H.I.E.L.D.'s incompetence. The photos of Natasha and Barton had been edited with sophisticated Photoshop techniques and were swapped with publicly available images, rendering them entirely unrecognizable to anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D.

After all, no one there had seen the real faces of Natasha or Barton in a long time.

Happy Val to all readers..... Enjoy the moment of love