S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Eastern Europe Division

Romania, with its four distinct seasons, is located at the northern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Black Sea, and boasts a long history and rich culture.

Despite having once been part of the communist bloc, it has maintained a distance from its former big brother in politics and diplomacy. This ambivalent sense of estrangement led to S.H.I.E.L.D.. establishing its Eastern Europe base in that country.

Compared to the KGB of the Red Empire, the most famous C1A, the shrewd MI6, and the ruthless Mossad, the Securitate (Secur itate) created the biggest security breach in NATO history and are a force to be reckoned with in the intelligence world.

Therefore, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s development here was not smooth sailing or a matter of getting whatever they wanted.

Even though S.H.I.E.L.D.. is nominally affiliated with the United Nations Security Council and has no specific stance, in practice it inevitably leans towards the Western camp and is in opposition to Romania.

It should be noted that the dues of United Nations member states are already stretched thin just to cover the main organization's operations and the activities of peacekeeping forces. Therefore, the expenses of ancillary organizations are mostly raised separately or through public fundraising.

For example, United Nations Children's Fund's public fundraising account is never closed. But for some affiliated organizations, deciding who will donate money, who will take money from whom, and who will not take money from whom is a series of diplomatic power struggles that are difficult for outsiders to see.

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council represent both the Eastern and Western blocs, and S.H.I.E.L.D.., as an affiliated organization, should logically be subordinate to them. However, only the United States, the United Kingdom, and France actually provide funding to maintain its operations, while the other two countries have an ambiguous attitude.

Adhering to the principle of "whoever feeds me is my mother," hoping that S.H.I.E.L.D.. has no stance is no different from the attitude of "wanting the horse to run but not wanting it to eat grass."

However, from the perspective of the other camp, the intelligence units reorganized from the U.S. military. Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), even though they contributed personnel, resources, and funding, were ultimately controlled by white Americans. Who would be happy about that?

Ultimately, the U.S. government's refusal to relinquish control is merely a pretext to use the United Nations as a fig leaf, while simultaneously dragging in two suckers to foot the bill. This is S.H.I.E.L.D..'s true stance.

After losing Hydra as an adversary, it turned out that Hydra had merely gone into hiding.

Given the circumstances, and the fact that they could not disclose the limited information about aliens, S.H.I.E.L.D.. needed an enemy to justify its existence as an intelligence unit, so they set their sights on the Eastern camp.

John Garrett, the head of S. H. I. E. L. D. 'Eastern Europe S.H.I.E.L.D., was lured to Sarajevo in the Balkan Peninsula in 1990 and nearly killed in a bombing attack orchestrated by Mihai Kara, the head of the Securitate.

In that battle, all Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. except John Garrett were killed.

The S.H.I.E.L.D..'s Europe branch dared not send a rescue mission fueled John Garrett's resentment at being abandoned by the organization, leading him to harbor a deep grudge.

How did John Garrett survive? No one knows the details except himself. But it is also a fact that no one but him could have survived on that land in Romania.

In late 1991, the Red Empire collapsed, and Romania quickly aligned itself with the Western world, hoping to join NATO and eventually the Europe Communities, which later became the European Union.

It was also during this period that John Garrett's work in Eastern Europe took a turn for the better. Taking advantage of the geographical location, he sold a steady stream of weapons and equipment left behind by the Red Empire and forgotten by many to the Balkan Peninsula, the powder keg of Europe.

The Yugoslav Wars became the deadliest war in Europe since World War II, and arms dealers, including John Garrett, played a significant role in this.

With both connections and wealth, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this was the most triumphant period of John Garrett's life.

But no ship can sail smoothly forever. An unconfirmed intelligence report has recently caused this veteran of the intelligence world a lot of headaches.

The former Red Guardian of the Red Empire have appeared on his territory!

One major reason why the name Alexei Shostakov isn't as well-known as Captain America Steve Rogers is that the era of the Red Guardian didn't offer him a large enough frontline battlefield to showcase his abilities.

Therefore, the areas where the Red Guardian operate are the covert battlefields where special agents lurk. For this region, where heavy weapons cannot be used...

On a battlefield where troop deployment is delayed, a single super soldier is enough to crush everything.

One can imagine how much of a headache intelligence officers would get upon seeing this name. And that's exactly how John Garrett is feeling right now.

He looked at the intelligence report in his hand and cursed, "That damn Arctic, wasn't he put in jail by Nick Fury's own people? How come he's been released again? Do you know what he's planning?"

Reporting to John Garrett was one of his recruits from within S.H.I.E.L.D..: a fanatical young man Kaminsky.

Unlike the others who were meek and submissive, he spoke with youthful spirit, "He seems to be looking for something. But he's being very careful, never revealing his purpose. Should we go and teach him a lesson?"

"You?" John Garrett looked at the greenhorn with a strange expression. "Kaminsky, I have high hopes for you. But not to this extent. You're going to take on a super soldier? Believe me, he could crush you with one hand."

"Oh, not even a chance? Even super soldiers aren't invincible."

John Garrett shook his head and said, "His only experience of being taken down was orchestrated by his own people, and that was only because he didn't resist. If this Red Guardian were so easy to deal with, he wouldn't be alive today."

"Okay, I was just saying. Fundamentally, we don't have any conflict; we just don't know what his destination is."

"Is this the only thing to report?"

After handing over the eyewitness report on the Red Guardian, Kaminsky, whose hands were now empty, said, "Actually, there's something else. Others think it's unnecessary to tell you, but I feel I should."

"Just say what it is. Don't act like you're tattling."

"Okay. Those twenty-three people we rescued from Russia earlier..."

"What happened? We didn't put them in Cyber Technology, the Death Soldier Project. Did something go wrong with their work?"

"It's not that there's a problem, it's that twelve people have died."

"Twelve people? How did they die?"

Kaminsky counted on his fingers, "Three residential accidents. Two drunk driving incidents. One was shot and killed by thugs in a strip club while he was arguing with a dancer."

"One person was caught in the restaurant fire and was trapped under a collapsing wall during the escape, becoming the only fatality. Two people resisted arrest while speeding, shouting at the police in Russian and threatening them with weapons. Their magazines were emptied, and they were shot dead."

"The last three are quite bizarre. One person slipped on the stairs and hit the back of their head, killing themselves. Another was killed when a dilapidated sign fell from the street and crushed them."

"The last one is the most outrageous. The construction vehicle forgot to retract its boom, which snapped the power line. In an instant, the wildly swinging power line got tangled around my neck."

They hung him up. It's hard to say whether he was electrocuted or hanged. In any case, he definitely died of bad luck.

John Garrett stared, dumbfounded, at the young man he had raised with the care and respect of a son. He said, "You remember everything. Because their deaths were so bizarre, they were unforgettable."

"Murder?"

Kaminsky said, "No, the police investigation afterward, including our own, showed no signs of a third party intervening."

"These unexpected events have been reported in detail by forensic personnel. The surviving Russia expressed some unease and complaints, but the others thought it was nothing serious, which is why they felt it didn't need to be reported to you."

"Do you believe this was an accident?"

Kaminsky said, "What can you do if you don't believe it? These things are possible; they were just unlucky. I just think it's nice to have some fun when you're in a bad mood."