Crossbones watched as Yasuo and Carter entered the elevator and left. His whole body was drenched in sweat, but he didn’t care about the new recruits still groaning in pain around him, nor his own injuries. Like a madman, he rushed towards the stairwell.
In his office, Alexander Pierce was contemplating. Sharon Carter, that troublesome and lucky woman, had successfully returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. He still didn’t know what important documents she had taken from Sokovia or how much they would affect his plans.
He cursed Strucker and Madame Hydra—two remnants from the last century—while thinking of a countermeasure.
“Bang!”
With a loud noise, the door was forcefully pushed open, and Crossbones, with his bleeding arm, barged into Alexander Pierce’s office.
“Oh, you damn fool, what are you trying to do!” Alexander Pierce cursed at Crossbones.
Hearing the scolding, Crossbones finally calmed down a little. He turned around to close the door, but Alexander Pierce’s scolding came again.
“Good God, you idiot, don’t close the door! Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., I have no connection with you, the captain of the response team! Not only did you barge into my office today, but you also closed the door. What if someone sees?!” Alexander Pierce was truly frustrated with Crossbones. While he had excellent combat command skills, his recent behavior had been a huge disappointment.
“Have you forgotten the internal communication protocols? If there’s an issue, report it to Sitwell. He’ll pass it on to me at the appropriate time. Now get out!” The word “out” was practically shouted with all of Alexander Pierce’s strength. He made sure that everyone on the floor could hear it.
As long as Crossbones obediently left now, Alexander Pierce believed there wouldn’t be any big problems within S.H.I.E.L.D. It could just be dismissed as a minor incident of a reckless response team member entering the wrong office. A small matter!
But Crossbones did not act as Alexander Pierce hoped. Instead, he stepped closer and said something that even made Pierce feel frightened.
“Red Skull has returned. Hail Hydra!” As a mid-level Hydra operative, Crossbones fully understood what Red Skull represented within Hydra. He just never expected to hear these words from Yasuo’s mouth.
“Who told you that?” Alexander Pierce no longer cared about anything else and immediately questioned Crossbones about where he had heard that phrase.
“Yasuo, the Red-clad Psycho, the Red Devil. He just stormed into S.H.I.E.L.D., attacked me for no reason, and then said those words to me in lip-reading before leaving,” Crossbones immediately explained everything.
Alexander Pierce tapped his desk three times. “What was Yasuo’s purpose in saying that to Crossbones? He must have figured out Crossbones’ identity, but how did he know?”
If Yasuo were a Hydra member, everything would make sense. But he had also attacked Sokovia’s base. Or did he discover something in Sokovia? Is he here to report to Nick Fury? Alexander Pierce ran through countless possibilities but couldn’t find a reasonable explanation.
Several orders were issued in quick succession. No matter what, he was now facing exposure, and he had to prepare for everything, including being ready to counter Nick Fury at any moment.
Time passed minute by minute. Yasuo’s entry into S.H.I.E.L.D. was like a stone sinking into the sea, leaving Alexander Pierce anxiously waiting. Directly exposing his identity wasn’t the scariest part; at worst, it would lead to an all-out war. Although his preparations weren’t completely ready, this waiting felt like the walk to the execution grounds.
Yasuo followed his girlfriend Carter as they left the first floor of S.H.I.E.L.D. and entered the elevator. Seeing the surprised and disbelieving looks on the faces around him, Yasuo felt a sense of mischievous glee, as if his prank had succeeded. However, seeing Crossbones look at him, Yasuo felt a bit dissatisfied for not being able to finish him off.
An idea suddenly popped into Yasuo’s mind, and on impulse, he mouthed the words “Red Skull has returned. Hail Hydra” to Crossbones! Yasuo simply wanted to stir up some trouble within Hydra. After all, Alexander Pierce didn’t seem like someone willing to give up power easily. If Red Skull truly returned, the first to fight him might just be the various factions within Hydra itself. Having been an emperor for so long, who would want another supreme ruler above them?
“So, tell me, why did you come to S.H.I.E.L.D. to find Melinda?” Sharon Carter didn’t believe Yasuo would come all the way to S.H.I.E.L.D. just to show off.
“I’m here to collect money. S.H.I.E.L.D. owes me several thousand dollars, and I wanted to take you out for a nice dinner tonight!” Yasuo said sweetly to Sharon Carter.
“S.H.I.E.L.D. owes you money? What does finding Melinda have to do with that? She’s good at internal affairs, but she doesn’t handle finances!” Sharon Carter, hearing that S.H.I.E.L.D. owed her man money, thought, doesn’t that mean they owe her money too? That wouldn’t do. As a world-class organization, not paying wages was a bad sign.
The elevator arrived at its destination. Yasuo thought his girlfriend was taking him to collect the money, but instead, she led him directly to an office door, knocked, and entered.
Yasuo saw a Black man with a shiny, bald head—indeed, he looked just like a braised egg. The iconic eyepatch, all the clues came together, and the truth was obvious. This was the unlucky Nick Fury.
“Yasuo, I didn’t expect our first meeting to be under such circumstances. You even dared to break into S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you really think you can do whatever you want just because you have Agent Carter by your side?” Nick Fury sat behind his desk, planning to give Yasuo a stern warning.
“Do whatever I want? Are you trying to play a word game with me? Also, I’ve only ever heard that money allows you to do whatever you want, not that having a girlfriend does!” Yasuo, hearing the sarcasm in Nick Fury’s words, immediately fired back without hesitation!
“Your attitude is really awful, just like most young people these days. You’re nothing like what Coulson reported to me!” Nick Fury wanted to ask Coulson, is this really the low-key, ordinary guy you described? If breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D. and talking back to him was considered low-key and ordinary, then wouldn’t that make terrorists the good guys?
“My friendliness depends on who I’m dealing with. For a scoundrel who doesn’t repay debts, I won’t be showing any kindness.” Yasuo believed that if Nick Fury’s face weren’t already dark enough, with his ability to verbally counter four people at once, he’d only have one word left to say: “Ha!”
Sharon Carter didn’t expect her boyfriend to be so aggravating with his words. After closely observing, she was certain Nick Fury’s face had darkened even further.
“Don’t think S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t deal with you. You should know this is S.H.I.E.L.D., and I can lock you up for a hundred years anytime I want!” Unable to outtalk Yasuo, Nick Fury resorted to threats. These young people really were hard to manage nowadays.
“Lock me up for a hundred years, but make sure you repay the money you owe me first!” Yasuo kept pressing the issue of the money, relentlessly attacking Nick Fury. Say whatever you want, just repay the money.
“Stop talking nonsense! We are S.H.I.E.L.D., a world-class organization. Our annual budget is beyond your imagination. You think we owe you money? Ridiculous! If you keep making trouble, I’ll kick you out!” Nick Fury couldn’t stand Yasuo’s verbal assault any longer and was getting angry!
At this point, Sharon Carter couldn’t stand their conversation anymore. If she didn’t step in, she believed the conversation about repaying money would continue indefinitely.
“Ahem, Director, maybe we should get to the point. And by the way, S.H.I.E.L.D. does owe Yasuo a sum of money for his services. I’ll take care of it later!” Sharon Carter, whether intentionally or not, made sure to remind Nick Fury of the debt owed to Yasuo.
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