Slapping S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Face

"Director, we've found the source of the seismic activity. It's just like a few days ago—it's above the surface!"

Nick Fury's expression changed.

"What's the situation with Skye?"

"Director, Experiment 87 is still in the isolation room. She hasn't made any unusual movements. It wasn't her!"

"Find the exact location of the seismic source immediately. It should be close by. Once you find it, dispatch a Strike Team at once and have them fully armed!"

Very quickly, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents found the exact location of the seismic source. Two armed off-road vehicles then sped out, with the Strike Team agents inside fully armed and even equipped with heavy weapons of large caliber.

Just as they drove onto a small bridge, the bridge suddenly collapsed. The vehicles and their occupants tumbled into the river below. No one died, but every Strike Team member in the vehicles suffered injuries of varying severity.

Fury happened to see the scene through the monitoring system spread throughout the Academy.

"Send more people over. The enemy is a superpowered individual. Have everyone enter combat readiness."

Another Strike Team drove out, this time taking a different route. But they had not gone far when a powerful tremor struck, flipping the vehicle over.

After this happened twice in a row, Fury finally realized that these were attacks by the enemy.

"Strange, how did he know the Strike Team's routes? Fuck~~ It's the monitoring signal! Take back control of the monitoring signal immediately. If that doesn't work, cut it off!"

Outside S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, Red Queen's voice came through Wang Khan's wireless earpiece.

"Guardian, S.H.I.E.L.D. has discovered that the monitoring signal was hacked. They're fighting me for control now. I estimate that once they fail, they'll physically cut the monitoring power supply. At that point, there'll be nothing I can do either."

"It doesn't matter. We didn't come here to start a war in the first place. Tell me where their garages are."

"Three kilometers in the twelve o'clock direction, five kilometers underground in the nine o'clock direction, and seven and a half kilometers in the three o'clock direction."

The power of the Shockwave in Wang Khan's hands intensified. The earth trembled violently beneath his palms. Then, using the ground as a conductor, two Shockwaves rapidly surged toward the twelve and nine o'clock directions.

"Rumble—"

The sound of collapsing buildings rang out. Two garages had been shaken apart, leaving only the farthest garage in the three o'clock direction.

"Director, two of our garages have been destroyed. The entrances have collapsed, so none of the vehicles can get out."

Fury immediately understood the enemy's intentions.

"Get all the vehicles in Garage 3 out immediately. Spread out and advance toward the source of the seismic activity. Capture that son of a bitch!"

Fury was burning with rage, the veins on his forehead bulging.

Meanwhile, Wang Khan no longer crouched. He rose directly to his feet, raised his right arm high above his head, tightened the muscles in his arm, and slammed it toward the three o'clock direction with a roar.

"Crack!"

A sound like shattering glass rang out in the air. The invisible Shockwave then churned the air, forming a visible wave of force that rapidly blasted toward the three o'clock direction.

Fire and lightning blazed in its wake. Like a dragon of wind sweeping across the land, it destroyed everything in its path.

A heavy truck transporting supplies happened to be blocking the road. When the Shockwave struck, the truck was torn in half. Its cab was flung away and crashed heavily into a distant building, collapsing more than a hundred square meters of structure.

The tremendous tremor and deafening roar gave Nick Fury a bad feeling. Sure enough, that feeling was soon confirmed.

"Director, Garage 3 has also been destroyed. A large section of buildings collapsed along with it. The Strike Team can only run there now."

"Fuck~~~ Then have them run! We absolutely cannot let that bastard escape."

Though he said that, Fury understood in his heart that after destroying the garages and crippling S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mobility, the enemy would definitely withdraw immediately. By the time the Strike Team arrived on foot, the man would probably have vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, Red Queen was also reporting the situation.

"All three garages have been destroyed, but the monitoring signal has also been cut off. S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel should be coming on foot. Guardian, you have to leave."

"Did you get what we came for?"

Wang Khan shook his numb, aching arm. His right hand, the one he had just punched with, was trembling uncontrollably, as if it had gone limp after a severe muscle strain.

"I'm stealing the data now. There's too much of it, so I probably can't copy everything."

"Prioritize the important targets. Take as much of the rest as you can."

Wang Khan did not linger. He turned and charged into the darkness on foot, giving S.H.I.E.L.D. no chance to record his license plate.

At that moment, inside S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, Nick Fury received another piece of bad news.

"Director, the Academy's intranet server has been breached. A large number of confidential documents have been copied. We've fallen into a trap!"

"Cut the server's power immediately. Disconnect the backup power too."

Fury reacted extremely quickly. This time, he did not even have his subordinates fight for control. He knew very well that in terms of network capabilities, the enemy was clearly a level above S.H.I.E.L.D.

Although a hacker's intrusion might seem advanced and impressive, there was one extremely simple way to defend against it: pull the plug.

Once the power was gone, even the most sophisticated hacking techniques were useless. Fury therefore decisively ordered them to pull the plug, using the clumsiest yet most effective method to defend against the enemy.

Very soon, the server's power was disconnected. At the same time, the Strike Team members who had run there on foot reported back that, as expected, the enemy had already escaped. But Fury now knew what the enemy's objective had been, so he was not surprised.

"Were the losses on the server side severe?"

"Very severe. We still need to tally exactly how many files were stolen, but our conservative estimate is thirty percent. The Academy's servers stored a great deal of core technology, including technology already in use and much that was still under development. As long as new achievements in these fields are announced to the outside world, we'll be able to identify the culprit."

Fury shook his head.

"He probably won't sell them as merchandise. Coulson, take some people over and see what clues you can find. This time, the enemy attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. directly. We have to respond."

"Understood, Director."

Coulson immediately sent people over, but Fury felt extremely weary inside. Ever since becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had never desired assistance from superhuman forces as desperately as he did now.

The helplessness of his elite agents before superhuman power left him deeply disappointed.

"Looks like the Avengers Initiative will have to be brought forward."

Wang Khan withdrew safely. Without the support of mobility forces, Wang Khan, who possessed Super Speed and immense stamina, could run at full speed far beyond the ability of those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to catch him.

Moreover, he had Red Queen's assistance. She had hacked the surveillance cameras on several nearby streets, so he had no fear of being recorded.

Once he had retreated to a safe distance and blended into the crowd, finding him would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Red Queen, did you get the target files?"

"I got them. But, Guardian, why did you go to so much trouble for only the Quinjet's Vertical Takeoff and Landing Technology and Stealth Technology? These two technologies are ahead of the world, but compared with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other technologies, their value doesn't seem very high."

Wang Khan smiled.

"You don't understand. The Quinjet is an extremely important means of transportation. Once I have one, I'll be able to travel anywhere in the world without hindrance. The good things in this world aren't all in the United States."

Please recommend and add this novel to your collections. The contract has been mailed, and I estimate the status will be changed in a couple of days. Everyone can read with confidence.