New York (Part 1)

"Join S.H.I.E.L.D.? Forget it. I'm afraid that not long after joining, I'd either become Hydra or end up as a corpse." Watching Coulson's departing back, Shen Fei shook his head inwardly.

He knew very well what S.H.I.E.L.D. was like, especially the Operations Division of the so-called S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy that Coulson had invited him to join. That place was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s worst-infested areas.

Among all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s departments, the Strike Teams had the most Hydra members. The number of Agents truly loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. there could be counted on one hand. The only reason there were still loyal Agents in the Operations Division was because Hydra feared that turning the entire division into Hydra personnel would increase the risk of exposure. Otherwise, the whole Strike Team might have been made up of Hydra members.

Compared with the Strike Teams, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other departments were somewhat better.

If Coulson had invited Shen Fei to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Science and Technology Division, Shen Fei might have agreed. For one thing, it had the fewest Hydra members, and under normal circumstances, there was no need to carry out external missions, making it safer.

On the other hand, the people there were the most likely to come into contact with the Tesseract. That was the Space Stone, after all. He was extremely curious about it, and more importantly, Shen Fei wanted to see whether the Op-Op Fruit would work on the Space Stone.

Just look at Captain Marvel and the Scarlet Witch to see how powerful the Infinity Stones were. Both had originally been ordinary people, but under the Stones' power, they instantly became beings comparable to Thor.

"I'm getting ahead of myself." After a moment, Shen Fei cast aside his fantasies about the Infinity Stones. Right now, they were simply far beyond his reach.

"Since they recruited Rebecca into S.H.I.E.L.D., I wonder if they also tried to recruit Jill, Chris, and Leon. If Chris and Leon really joined S.H.I.E.L.D., that would be interesting." Shen Fei could not help smiling at the thought of Chris and Leon entering S.H.I.E.L.D.

If Chris and Leon joined S.H.I.E.L.D., they would definitely enter the Strike Teams. In that case, Alexander Pierce would surely cough up blood.

Chris was a bane to teammates. If he carried out a few more missions in S.H.I.E.L.D., the Strike Teams might be wiped clean. One day, Pierce might look over the casualty report and find that all the dead were his own people. In his panic, he might think Fury had discovered them and started a purge, exposing themselves ahead of schedule.

As for Leon, he was a vehicle killer. Pierce's Helicarriers for Project Insight might explode before even taking off if Leon casually touched one.

"Now that I think about it, it really is possible. Too bad I'm not part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s High Command, or I'd definitely recruit those two."

Boom.

Just as Shen Fei was letting his imagination run wild, a deafening blast startled him. When he turned around, he saw an enormous mushroom cloud rising above the clouds beyond the mountain.

"A nuclear explosion? They really did it without hesitation." The massive mushroom cloud immediately told Shen Fei what it was.

After the tragedy in Raccoon City and the virus-related information had been sent to the higher-ups, the proposal to nuke Raccoon City was quickly approved.

The nuclear explosion alarmed many people. At the temporary base, the rescued survivors looked at the enormous mushroom cloud, and many began to cry. After all, it had been their home for a long time. This sudden disaster had cost everyone here many loved ones.

After getting past their initial panic, the survivors quickly gathered together and began demanding an explanation from the government.

There was clearly something wrong with this incident. Those who had survived had all seen zombies with their own eyes, and many had even watched their relatives turn into zombies.

"An abnormality caused by a nuclear power plant leak." The official explanation came quickly. Upon hearing it, Shen Fei nearly laughed out loud.

Even the earlier nuclear explosion was explained away as being related to the nuclear power plant. Ordinary people naturally would not know that it had been caused by a nuclear weapon launched by the government.

To facilitate its experiments, Umbrella Corporation had built a nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Raccoon City. It had originally been an excellent measure for the city's residents, because electricity was extremely cheap. But now, the nuclear power plant had become the culprit.

Between a city's destruction caused by the Resident Evil virus and one caused by a nuclear power plant leak, the latter was certainly easier for people to accept.

The government would never allow the truth about Raccoon City to be exposed, because the consequences involved were too severe. If things went badly, the government itself might collapse.

The government was not afraid that people would refuse to believe this explanation, because there was precedent: the Chernobyl incident. It seemed that Monsters had appeared during that incident as well.

In the original work, even the president was assassinated when he wanted to reveal the truth about the Raccoon City incident, and it even led to another bioweapon virus leak.

"Rebecca, are you going to join S.H.I.E.L.D.?" When Shen Fei saw Rebecca again, he directly asked. Calling it S.H.I.E.L.D. was not a slip of the tongue. In fact, that name had already been in use for several years as an abbreviation.

The Homeland Strategic Defense, Attack and Logistics Support Agency was its official name, while S.H.I.E.L.D. was its internal name. The official title was simply too long and inconvenient.

Although the Homeland Strategic Defense, Attack and Logistics Support Agency had always planned to rename itself S.H.I.E.L.D., it had never happened for various reasons. After all, it was an organization jointly established by five major powers, and changing its name required all five to agree.

Though it was a minor matter, it was precisely because it was minor that handling it became so troublesome.

"That's right. What about you? Coulson should have spoken to you already, shouldn't he?" Rebecca asked.

"I'm not interested in becoming an agent," Shen Fei said.

"Neither am I," Rebecca replied with a smile.

Rebecca had not wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D. at first, but Coulson's offer had been too good. She had joined STARS to train herself, not because she intended to stay there for long.

As a genius, especially one gifted in biology, Rebecca preferred working in a laboratory.

And when it came to laboratory equipment, no organization on Earth was likely more advanced than S.H.I.E.L.D. More importantly, S.H.I.E.L.D. had ample funding.

For a newly graduated college student like Rebecca, even if she was a genius, joining another research institute would mean spending at least several years climbing the ranks. Seniority was something that existed in every country.

Rebecca in the original work had been more or less like that.

But if she entered S.H.I.E.L.D., she could immediately become one of its core researchers. Naturally, what she would research would be the bioweapon viruses confiscated from Umbrella Corporation.

Moreover, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor had been the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Given all those conditions, Rebecca naturally could not refuse.

If Shen Fei had not known the truth, he might also have fallen for Coulson's generous terms. Coulson had a unique talent for persuading people. There was a reason he could maintain good relationships with the heroes of the Avengers.

In Shen Fei's view, Coulson had actually been the most suitable second Captain America, if he had not died back then.

"Now that I've turned Coulson down, what comes next in life will be a problem." Although everyone from the orphanage had survived Raccoon City's destruction, they would definitely be scattered apart.

The Orphanages in other cities would not be as good as the one Umbrella Corporation had built.

"I should've brought some money with me." Shen Fei looked toward Raccoon City and muttered under his breath. Back then, he had only been focused on surviving. How could he have thought of so much?

Once the temporary base's lockdown was lifted, what had happened in Raccoon City quickly spread across the world. Reporters from all over swarmed in.

While mainstream newspapers and news outlets mourned it as another major accident, some papers also reported the truth about Raccoon City.

However, that truth was soon drowned out by so-called expert commentary and all kinds of rumors.

Rumors such as aliens invading Earth and conducting experiments on Earth spread everywhere.

Afterward, Umbrella Corporation became a defendant before the U.S. Supreme Court. After all, Umbrella Corporation had built that nuclear power plant. Since something had happened, it naturally had to take responsibility.

Of course, that was not Umbrella Corporation's only charge. Many people wanted to use this opportunity to reveal the truth about Raccoon City. They accused Umbrella Corporation of researching bioweapons and causing Raccoon City's destruction.

Umbrella Corporation's stock price instantly fell to rock bottom.

Because all evidence had been swallowed by the nuclear explosion, the survivors of Raccoon City alone could not prove that Umbrella Corporation had researched bioweapons. Coupled with Umbrella Corporation's powerful legal team, the lawsuit accusing it of bioweapons research quickly failed due to insufficient evidence. That case had never been possible to win in the first place, because the government was also covering up the truth.

However, regarding the nuclear power plant incident, Umbrella Corporation admitted that poor management might have caused the current situation and expressed willingness to provide compensation.

Once large sums of money were offered, the overwhelming majority of survivors immediately bowed before the green Franklins. It had to be said that many people were very realistic.

Under such circumstances, even though the remaining few refused to compromise, they could no longer stir up much trouble.

Shen Fei should have been able to receive a large sum as well, enough to see him through the best university until graduation. But to his surprise, an Uncle suddenly appeared, seized Shen Fei's guardianship, and took that money too.

Shen Fei truly knew nothing about this Uncle who had appeared out of nowhere. There was no memory of him at all. Yet the government officials confirmed that he really was Shen Fei's Uncle.

The moment this Uncle appeared, he brought his personal lawyer to Umbrella Corporation. Then the compensation meant for Shen Fei directly doubled. Of course, it seemed that Shen Fei would not get any of it.

"Interesting. Let's see what you're up to." Shen Fei remained silent before this suddenly appearing Uncle, merely watching him quietly, because this so-called Uncle lived in New York.

Raccoon City was located in Colorado. If nothing unexpected happened, Shen Fei could only have lived there. But his Uncle's appearance gave him a chance to go to New York.