"New York was really lively now." Shen Fei smiled as he looked at the news on his computer. After borrowing so many high-tech instruments in a row, all involving major arms companies, there was no way to keep the commotion small.
For a time, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the military were all mobilized. High rewards were even offered in hacker circles, promising payment for anyone who provided relevant intelligence.
At the same time, New York's underworld was thrown into chaos. Repeated raids by various forces had improved the city's order considerably.
Shen Fei had anticipated this. He had always held the power of the state in awe. If not for the Sling Ring, he would never have caused such a huge disturbance, because that would have been suicidal. If state power truly wanted to investigate something, it could definitely uncover relevant clues.
But with the Sling Ring, things were different. Unless a mage from Kamar-Taj was among the investigators, no one could possibly suspect him.
And even if mages got involved, Shen Fei was not afraid, because mages had no need for such things.
It was precisely because he had no worries that Shen Fei had acquired everything in one go. No one would suspect that this incident had been carried out by a single person. They would only point to major organizations. After all, with so many items involved and several arms companies under heavy security, ordinary people could never accomplish something on this scale.
In fact, Shen Fei had previously considered whether he should leave behind Hydra's symbol at the scene. While that would not deal Hydra any major blow, it would definitely give them a scare.
In fact, what Shen Fei had done this time had already given Alexander of S.H.I.E.L.D. quite a fright. In his eyes, the only organization capable of doing something like this seemed to be Hydra.
So Alexander hurriedly contacted the leaders of Hydra's other branches, terrified that they were responsible. Hydra was currently in hiding, and if it was exposed, the consequences would be severe.
Alexander knew Nick Fury's abilities very well. S.H.I.E.L.D. had grown so powerful only after Fury took office. If Hydra were exposed now, Fury would definitely pursue his old enemy without mercy.
Therefore, to prevent the word Hydra from appearing before Nick Fury and provoking him, Hydra had secretly eliminated quite a few organizations impersonating Hydra over the years.
Hydra was, after all, an extremely powerful organization. It was perfectly normal for people to impersonate it.
"Director." At Triskelion Headquarters in Washington, Hill and Black Widow entered Fury's office together. As soon as they stepped inside, Hill placed a document before Fury.
"Did you find any clues?" Fury asked as he signed the document.
"Not a single clue." Natasha, her red hair flowing, shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Fury could not help asking again.
"I contacted every informant I have. There were no clues at all," Natasha said again.
"Strange." Fury immediately fell into thought.
To Fury, tracking down the instruments was not important. What he needed to know was who had done this and how they had done it.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency don't have any intelligence either," Hill immediately said when Fury looked at her.
"We mobilized every satellite and traced every vehicle present at the time of the incidents, but still found nothing."
"Now that's interesting. There aren't many organizations in the world capable of doing something like this," Fury said meaningfully.
To Fury, locating the missing instruments was not particularly important. The key was how the other side had pulled it off. Until he figured that out, he would not rest easy.
Hill and Natasha said nothing. They understood Fury's implication, but such things could not be spoken of carelessly. For example, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself could make those instruments disappear without anyone noticing.
So could the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the military, and certain foreign organizations.
"Continue investigating." After pondering for a moment, Fury dismissed Hill and Natasha. Then, alone in his office, he dialed a number.
"What made you decide to contact me?" A virtual avatar appeared on the computer screen behind Fury. It was Alexander Pierce.
"You've heard about what happened recently, right?" Fury said directly.
"Of course. So, did you find any clues?" Alexander immediately nodded. How could he not know? He had urgently contacted the others to confirm it. Once he was certain it had not been done by their own people, he had relaxed.
"Not a single clue was found," Fury said.
"How is that possible?" Alexander looked genuinely shocked. He was not pretending; it was his real reaction.
"That's the truth. So I want to conduct an internal investigation."
"An internal investigation? Is that really necessary? Don't we conduct internal investigations every year?" Fury's words nearly made Alexander jump. "You know how much attention that would draw."
"I know. Not a single clue has been found in this incident so far. I suspect someone inside may be cooperating with them. Otherwise, it would be impossible not to find any clues." Fury trusted Alexander greatly at this point and directly revealed what he was thinking.
"I see. Then an internal review is indeed necessary." Though he desperately did not want to agree, Alexander still put on a highly supportive front.
He had no choice. Alexander knew exactly what kind of person Fury was. If he opposed something so obvious, would that not make him look guilty? Fury was extremely suspicious. Though he usually showed Alexander great respect, he would still become suspicious when the time came.
"An internal review is fine, but we can't make too much noise. Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to explain things on my end. Let's proceed slowly for now," Alexander said, trying to buy himself time.
Hydra was not yet as powerful within S.H.I.E.L.D. as it would become later. If Fury launched a large-scale internal review, Hydra would definitely be exposed.
As for killing Fury, that was even less possible. Without Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. would indeed be much safer for Hydra, but then S.H.I.E.L.D. would have no chance of expanding its authority.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone through several directors, and even Alexander himself had once served as one. Yet under all those people, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority had not expanded. Instead, it had shrunk considerably.
No one liked having another superior hanging over their heads, even if S.H.I.E.L.D. had been established by the United Nations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency under the United States were deeply displeased with S.H.I.E.L.D., because it had taken too much of their authority.
Fury deserved much of the credit for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current scale.
The stronger S.H.I.E.L.D. became, the stronger Hydra became. Killing Fury now would be cutting off Hydra's path to revival.
"Damn it." After hanging up on Fury, Alexander immediately began contacting the others. Since they could not find any clues, then he would give Fury one. They needed to put an end to this matter first.
"This is also for Hydra's glory." Before long, Alexander found a scapegoat among his subordinates: a Level Seven S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. At this point, it was impossible to completely separate the matter from S.H.I.E.L.D. They could only give Fury a scapegoat with enough weight.
And it had to be one of Hydra's people. Alexander had wanted to find another high-ranking agent outside Hydra to take the fall. That way, he might even have been able to recruit a high-ranking agent to his side.
But Fury was not easy to fool. If Alexander chose another scapegoat, he did not have enough dirt on them. If anything went wrong, it would only create more trouble.
But choosing someone from his own faction was easy. Have the person commit suicide, release the incriminating evidence, and everything would be settled.
A senior agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. had colluded with foreign individuals for certain reasons and committed such acts. Fortunately, Hydra had many peripheral organizations, so there was no shortage of candidates.
After Alexander made the arrangements, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents soon happened to discover someone selling the missing high-tech instruments in South Africa. When S.H.I.E.L.D. launched a raid, the enemy resisted desperately and detonated bombs in an attempt to take everyone down with them.
There were quite a few holes in the story, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had many Hydra members. Under their manipulation, those holes were quickly patched up.
Fury had his suspicions, but since everything appeared to follow a logical course, he did not pursue the matter further. S.H.I.E.L.D. had far too many matters to handle and did not have much time to waste on a theft case, even one involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
It could be said that if the theft had not involved Stark Group, and if they had not later failed to find even the slightest trace, S.H.I.E.L.D. would probably have stopped investigating long ago. After all, the case should have fallen under the Federal Bureau of Investigation's jurisdiction.
Even Shen Fei did not know that Alexander had taken the blame for him, sacrificing a senior agent, an operations team, and hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.
Before you continue