Across the Ocean

Coulson gave a brief operation report, recounting to Nick Fury the entire sequence of events from the moment George Carl entered the bar, to the moment a field agent was punched down by a SHOCKER fighter, his muscles spasming as he held onto the trigger, resulting in a Nick accidentally wounding Fury.

By this time, Coulson's injury had been mostly treated, and the two walked and talked, trying to avoid other people as much as possible.

Wei Xiuming once explained the organizational structure of SHOCKER to Black Eggplant. From top to bottom, it consists of the mysterious SHOCKER Great Leader, three senior officers, the monsters who are the main fighting force, and the cannon fodder-level bio-engineered SHOCKER combatants.

However, this was practically cannon fodder, easily eliminating several times the number of enemies. Moreover, they were field agents carefully trained by S.H.I.E.L.D.. and had undergone life-and-death trials. Nick Fury raised SHOCKER's threat assessment by one level, skipping over all underground organizations, large and small, and placing them on par with Hydra.

Nick Fury understood the SHOCKER threat theory that Wei Xiuming had been advocating. He hadn't taken alien creatures like the Worms seriously, but once SHOCKER was involved, even with just the Silk, he became a completely different person.

The fact that SHOCKER has mastered and popularized human enhancement technology certainly warrants extreme attention.

During World War II, the Super Soldier program, spearheaded by Dr. Erskine, was initially designed not just to create a Captain America, but to build an army of "Super Soldier" to end the war with overwhelming superiority.

Imagine a team entirely composed of Captain America. In an era before advanced technology was so readily available, they would have been virtually invincible. They would have stormed into Berlin, dragged Mustache out of his basement, given him a sound beating, and planted the United States flag atop the Reichstag building.

Unfortunately, Dr. Erskine was assassinated by Hydra agents. The sample of the drug was deliberately destroyed by the Hydra agents before they were captured, and the formula was lost. The current formula of the drug is derived from the blood sample left by Captain America through reverse engineering.

Even now, an army composed of Super Soldier is still very threatening. Compared to Mutant with their diverse and varied abilities, SHOCKER combatants with identical abilities are even more terrifying. None of them are necessary; these bio-engineered humans can be used as expendable resources. As long as logistics keep up, they can be produced in an endless stream like an assembly line.

Unless you use devastating weapons without considering the consequences...

And this is only the lowest level of the SHOCKER organization; what about the higher-level monsters? What level of power do they possess?

In particular, Doctor Death, as Wei Xiuming introduced, was the only technician among the three executives of SHOCKER. Yet, this civilian employee took a direct hit from White Noise Wave Cannon without injury and single-handedly dealt with the rapid response team, which was heavily armed.

Could it be that the SHOCKER executives came from the M78 Nebula? Their civilian staff are all incredibly powerful, such as the Space Sword Saint Hikari and the fastest and strongest planetary civilization observer.

Most importantly, Doctor Death also possesses the technology to transform ordinary people into Mutant, which he sells as commodities to ordinary people for a mere $50,000, demonstrating how low the cost is.

Nick Fury felt that the current peaceful environment was under unprecedented threat, and if he had hair, it would definitely be falling out in clumps—well, the hair growth tonic and scar removal products that Wei Xiuming promised were still nowhere to be seen.

He had already privately built up the framework of Conglomerate B, with initial funding and product launches, so that it could be self-sufficient and wouldn't need his financial support anymore. Next, he would contact various forces that were at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D.. and recruit those ruthless characters who hadn't yet made a name for themselves.

After adjusting his mindset, Nick Fury said, "Is there anything else to add?"

"These are banknotes that Doctor Death handled; his fingerprints are still on them." Coulson took the evidence bag containing cash from his shirt pocket. "Before the attack, Rumlow was captured by Doctor Death and interrogated about our situation and the origin of the Static Expander, claiming it was an unfinished research project. Rumlow also claimed to be a member of Hydra before the attack."

Upon receiving the evidence bag, Nick Fury expressed his admiration for Rumlow's quick thinking—he still remembered Wei Xiuming's private praise of this rapid reaction G.I. Joe captain, claiming that he was still active in his own time.

Furthermore, the long speech Wei Xiuming gave when he first met Rumlow about his human modification plan clearly belonged to Rumlow.

"You'll have two weeks of paid leave to rest and relax," Nick Fury said. "After your leave, your work will be very tough. The mysterious organization SHOCKER has revealed a glimpse of its secrets, and your mission is to uncover the true nature of this iceberg."

"Understood, sir."

On the way back, Nick Fury, sitting in the back seat of the car, stared blankly at the banknote in his hand. His intuition and his long experience as a secret agent told him that something was wrong.

Aside from the brutal final battle, Doctor Death's actions were completely illogical, like a middle school student writing a fantasy novel with themselves as the protagonist—childish and illogical.

The whole affair, aside from granting George Carl, a street thug, supernatural powers, showcasing some of SHOCKER's abilities, and causing S.H.I.E.L.D.. to lose a number of personnel, yielded no benefit to either side.

Unable to figure out the problem, Nick Fury took out his phone and called Wei Xiuming.

Half a minute later, Wei Xiuming finally answered the phone, then said very irritably, "God, I should have silenced my phone when I was hiding behind cover to avoid being spotted by the enemy!"

Although he was speaking of self-reproach, Nick Fury understood that Wei Xiuming was mocking him for not checking the time on the phone.

Before Black Eggplant could speak, Wei Xiuming continued, "Director Fury, why did you think of calling me so late at night?"

Night? Black Eggplant looked out the car window at the sky. It was still daytime—it was nighttime on the other side of the ocean, no doubt.

"We've discovered... no, S.H.I.E.L.D.. agents have made contact with Doctor Death." Nick Fury adjusted his wording. "What information do you have to share about this?"

"The communication channel is encrypted, very good." Wei Xiuming's voice became serious. "What invention of Doctor Death has been leaked? Besides research, invention, and human modification, his favorite thing to do is sell ordinary goods to ordinary people, encouraging them to obtain money through illegal means to purchase subsequent products, thereby attracting the attention of official forces to hunt down users, and in the process, analyzing the various data of the new research results in practical applications."

"Free test subjects, and the return on investment—where else can you find such a good deal?"