Plan (Third Update)

Ninety percent of the world's people probably never noticed, but over the past two months, a quiet upheaval had already taken place. A war had erupted silently, like a spring thunderstorm—swift to break and swift to end, fading away before most even realized it had happened.

People didn't notice, but that didn't mean the impact wasn't real. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra—one in the light, one in the shadows, two colossal entities that had practically woven themselves through the entire world (or you could see them as two sides of the same coin)—both bowed out of the historical stage at the end of that fierce battle.

Hydra was thoroughly crushed, its Leaders nearly wiped out. Perhaps one or two of the upper echelon were still on the run, but the power they had at their disposal was largely broken. Even if they somehow managed to regroup, they were spent arrows, unlikely to ever reclaim their former glory.

And S.H.I.E.L.D., while playing a crucial role in rooting out Hydra, had also been forced to expose the fact that it had coexisted with Hydra as two sides of the same coin for decades. That revelation hit like a bombshell, drawing a storm of accusations and condemnation from nations around the world. On top of that, many countries and departments had long resented the special privileges S.H.I.E.L.D. enjoyed, and with pressure from multiple forces, this super spy agency finally had to face its dissolution.

At least, that was how it looked on the surface.

To the international community, S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer existed. Its commander, Nick Fury, was stripped of all authority. Deputy Commander Maria Hill simply sent her resume to the famous Stark Group, and within a week, she had transformed into an employee under Tony Stark.

But to another group of people, this was far from over.

As his last act before stepping down, Nick Fury found Agent Phil Coulson and solemnly handed over the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. commander to this loyal agent. Under the leadership of the new director, Phil Coulson, a group of agents who chose to uphold their beliefs and fight to the last for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founding purpose regrouped. A new S.H.I.E.L.D. was reborn from the ashes. Perhaps it no longer had its past privileges, resources, or technology, and it might not even be recognized as an official agency by international governments. But at least it inherited the name of S.H.I.E.L.D. and would continue to serve as a shield.

Incidentally, when Fury handed over the director's position, he also gave Coulson a mobile device called the "Toolbox." It contained classified information he had left for the new director, including most of the top-level secrets in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database.

But only up to Level 10 clearance. The things Fury had classified as beyond Level 10, known only to him, were not included. For example, the unknown figure codenamed "Black Knight"—Fury had listed him as number one on the "Highest Threat List" in the Toolbox, but gave no explanation of his identity or origin.

And the Black Knight himself, the one who had single-handedly caused the collapse of these two organizations and shaken the global order, was now sitting in his private lab, his body surrounded by a four-meter-diameter holographic 3D map.

A soft ding sounded, and Elizabeth walked down into the lab, carrying a perfectly pressed black suit in her hand.

"Your clothes have been dry-cleaned," she said. "This one is for you to change into."

"Thanks, could you hang it on the rack for me?"

Elizabeth hung the suit on the rack in the corner for him. As she passed by the armor display case, she couldn't help but glance at it and noticed the black armor standing inside bore scars that exposed its circuitry.

"Been through a tough fight, sir?" she asked casually.

"Not really, I wouldn't call it a tough fight." Michael paused, then added, almost to himself, "But I did run into two interesting enhanced individuals. Especially one of them—I'm not sure how, but she seemed able to wield the power of Chaos Magic. Her magical energy was bottomless, and her potential was quite astonishing."

"She?" Elizabeth caught the pronoun.

"Yeah, a cute red-haired girl. You should meet her." Michael shrugged. He pointed to a stack of thick, ancient black-covered books piled on the table nearby and said, "I went through my collection to find some information on Chaos Magic, but unfortunately, I got very little out of it. Still, it made me even more interested in that girl who can harness that power."

Elizabeth knew that when her boss said "interested," he meant purely out of curiosity about unknown abilities and knowledge—nothing else.

Given her position and status, Elizabeth had never dared to express it, but deep down, while she genuinely admired and respected this truly super-genius boss, she also felt he was—though it might be disrespectful to say so about her boss—as dense as a block of wood in some ways.

"But Strucker's threat has been dealt with too. I personally confirmed that arrogant German took his last breath." Michael shifted the topic. "Baron Strucker was the most powerful and ambitious Leader in Hydra at this stage, but that's where it ends."

"So you've truly succeeded in eliminating this organization."

Michael shook his head.

"Just cut off most of the Leaders," he said. "But 'eliminate' is too soon. Look here."

He swiped his hand upward, flipping the horizontal holographic map to a vertical position. He pulled out a remote and pressed a button, and large swaths of red immediately covered about 80% of the map.

Elizabeth asked, "What's this?"

"The distribution of Hydra remnants across the globe," Michael said. "I had Sherry organize it for me."

Elizabeth was a bit surprised. "So they're still spread all over the world?"

"That's because Hydra is that kind of organization," Michael explained flatly. "This world has been infiltrated to the bone by them. Every country, every organization has their shadow. What we did was cut off the heads and destroy the main force, but we didn't pull out the organization's roots.

To truly eradicate everything about them is nearly impossible. I'd even say that even Hydra's highest leadership probably doesn't know the full picture of the organization they manage."

Michael sat down in his chair and said, "'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place'—that saying isn't without basis. It's just that this time, the wound they've suffered is relatively severe, so it might take them longer to recover. But eventually, they'll grow new heads and come back."

"So that means they can never be destroyed?"

"Maybe that's true, but I never intended to destroy them from the start." Michael clasped his hands in front of him, a sharp light flickering in his blue eyes.

"Before they can grow new heads, I'll take that place for myself."