Thrown Into the Deep End

After seeing Hulk off, Heisenberg took a shower.

The dust on Mars was too heavy. Even with his Biological Field, he had inevitably gotten covered in quite a bit of grime.

After soaking for a while and enjoying a massage from the maidservants, Heisenberg leisurely lay back on the roof, sunbathing as he slept.

Don't ask why he did not sleep inside.

If you were a Kryptonian, you would seize every second you could to soak up the sun too!

At the Three-Winged Building, nearly twelve hundred young S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy cadets and over three hundred surviving full agents were repairing the building together.

It was not that they did not want to hire a construction crew. S.H.I.E.L.D. simply had far too many secrets, and no one dared let outsiders casually enter this utterly ruined building.

Meanwhile, in the underground command center beneath the Three-Winged Building—the temporary command post established by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York Branch—

Steve Rogers listened to Coulson's report with a completely bewildered expression.

"Captain Rogers!"

The report began with those words.

"We are currently isolated and without support. The Americas have fallen completely into chaos, and the federal government cannot provide us with assistance.

"After the war barely came to an end, the federal government began a new round of presidential elections.

"Director Fury... died a hero's death. Commander Hill has vanished without a trace, and many of our plans have become impossible to carry out.

"Tahiti, Pegasus, the Helicarrier—projects requiring direct authorization from the Director and Commander have nearly lost all possibility of continuing operations. We must reclaim those projects and reconsider whether to keep investing in them.

"But more importantly, during this incident, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents across the Americas suffered catastrophic losses. The Washington headquarters and New York Branch alone saw over twelve thousand agents defect, over seven thousand of our agents killed, and over eighteen hundred cadets dead.

"We simply cannot spare the manpower to recover all those projects.

"And most troubling of all, the Chinese Representative, one of the United Nations' five permanent members, has filed a lawsuit against us. In light of Hydra hiding within S.H.I.E.L.D., they have demanded that S.H.I.E.L.D. be dissolved!"

The moment Coulson finished speaking, Captain America lowered his head in displeasure. When he raised it again, his expression had become exceptionally grim.

It was as though he had recalled something deeply painful.

His hands on the table slowly tightened as he said fiercely,

"Seventy years ago, I nearly gave my life to foil Hydra's scheme!

"I thought I had died, but instead, I slept for seventy years.

"And less than half a year after waking up, I discovered that the Hydra I had crushed had been beside me all along, watching me like I was some clown and laughing at me!"

Captain America shot Coulson a glare.

"So perhaps dissolving the S.H.I.E.L.D. that has become this way would be a good thing!"

"Captain Rogers!!!"

Seeing that Captain America was considering disbanding S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson hurriedly pulled out every persuasive trick he had.

"You cannot use the harm Hydra caused us to deny S.H.I.E.L.D.'s contributions over the past seventy years.

"More importantly, this is the organization that Ms. Peggy and you founded yourselves. S.H.I.E.L.D. is Ms. Peggy's final hope!

"As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I am ashamed of what S.H.I.E.L.D. has become. But no matter what, please think of the agents like me who remain steadfast at their posts, and think of Ms. Peggy, who cannot bear to let go in that nursing home, Captain Rogers!!!"

Coulson's words struck like thunder, and Rogers immediately began to hesitate.

Honestly, he truly wanted to dissolve S.H.I.E.L.D.

After all, he had no idea how to deal with the mess S.H.I.E.L.D. had left behind.

He had always been nothing more than a soldier, at most the commander of a special operations squad.

He had no experience managing more than a hundred thousand agents from top to bottom, and he probably did not have the ability either.

Not to mention all those chaotic miscellaneous affairs—he had only been awake for less than half a year. He did not even understand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basic operations, so what could he possibly use to manage all that damned mess?

Besides, even Rogers himself did not know how many Hydra members might still be hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Could they truly be sure Hydra had mobilized every last person in this battle? If Hydra was still lurking inside the current S.H.I.E.L.D. system, then every bit of effort he put in would be serving the enemy.

But regardless, Coulson had said one thing that was right, and it pierced deeply into Rogers's heart.

That was...

This was Peggy's S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Rogers turned around and stood with his back to Coulson, Barton, and the others as he thought.

He had already made his decision. No matter what, he would do everything he could to preserve the foundation Peggy treasured most.

But did Steve Rogers have that ability?

He could certainly fight all day long, but he was merely an executor. Did he have the talent to be a manager?

How Rogers wished someone would step forward and take on the role of director for him. Then he would only need to keep fighting.

That was what he was good at.

But there was a problem.

In the current ruins of S.H.I.E.L.D., no one commanded more respect than Rogers.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was in desperate need of rebuilding internally, while enemies surrounded it outside. Agents and cadets alike desperately needed a leader they could trust and draw courage from.

Perhaps if Nick were still alive, he would barely qualify.

Even though Hydra had remained hidden beneath his command until now, that was a mistake he could never make up for.

But regardless, his nearly twenty years at the helm of S.H.I.E.L.D. would have made his former subordinates trust him.

Unfortunately, Nick was dead...

It would have been fine if his body had at least been left behind. Coulson had participated in the Tahiti Project; he had the ability to revive his Director.

But Nick had not even left behind a corpse. Even now, no one had found him in the ruins caused by Hulk!

Other than Nick...

Commander Hill was also qualified.

Having served as Nick Fury's deputy for years, Hill had personally participated in around eighty percent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified projects. She understood every secret of the department, from top to bottom.

Moreover, senior agents like Coulson knew very well that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strongest remaining asset was that Helicarrier.

Hill was the Helicarrier's commander.

But Hill had disappeared after Nick died.

She had truly vanished without a trace!

What about the other senior agents besides Nick and Hill?

At present, Hill was the only Level 9 agent.

Almost every Level 8 agent had been too closely associated with John Garrett. Aside from the Level 8 agents still resisting Hydra at other branches, all the rest were undergoing political reviews.

Even if they passed those reviews, John Garrett's betrayal ensured that the other Level 8 agents could not take the director's position.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current Level 8 agents were the directors of its various other branches.

The agents had already developed a shadow over people in those positions.

As for the Level 7 agents below them...

Rather than being a fixed rank, this agent level was more like a floating designation.

As the representative Level 7 agent, Natasha could obtain the authority of a Level 10 agent at any time, because at certain special moments, she had to handle classified matters that lower-ranking agents could not manage.

But what did high authority matter? No one would accept a Black Widow who had defected from the Red Room and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as director.

At least, no one could accept that right now.

Especially with Hydra having just betrayed them, no one would obey any order she gave. Who knew whether she was a Red Room infiltrator?

And Barton, Melinda, Coulson...

Those people...

Their seniority might have been enough, but their prestige was far from sufficient.

If there had been no Captain America, perhaps they could have picked the best of a bad bunch and handed the director's position to one of them.

But everyone clearly had a better choice...

Rogers could only be thrown into the deep end and take the director's seat!

"Coulson!"

Having thought it through, Rogers gave his orders without hesitation.

"Lead all S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy cadets in continuing to gather and organize every piece of information inside the Three-Winged Building.

"Agent Barton, go to Texas and find Agent Natasha. Bring Thor's girlfriend back to New York and keep her under protection. At this critical time, we cannot rule out Hydra using Thor's girlfriend as an opening to create conflict between us and Asgard.

"Agent Melinda, take two teams and search for and apprehend John Garrett, Alexander Pierce, and the other key Hydra members.

"I will meet with the members of the World Security Council and guarantee the current S.H.I.E.L.D. in the name of Captain America. I will strive to convince them to revoke their decision to divide and dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D.

"However, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been almost entirely hollowed out by Hydra. Even if we manage to retain our current structure, we must prepare to climb back up from the ruins.

"When I was on the battlefield, I often told my comrades this.

"We must press forward, friends, because we have reasons we must win!"

"Yes!"

Everyone answered in unison, then departed and swiftly threw themselves into their work.

But just as Captain America was preparing to start a video conference and discuss Hydra's primary responsible parties with members of the U.S. Department of Defense, Coulson, who had left and returned, interrupted his plan.

Coulson strode back into the command room and said to Rogers with both excitement and unease,

"Captain Rogers, that person has sent Bruce Banner back. If possible, we will have another absolute powerhouse against Hydra!"

Three hours later.

After experiencing the sort of political wrangling he never wanted to go through again for the rest of his life, Rogers took some time to visit Bruce Banner's hospital room.

But what he saw was still an unconscious Banner, surrounded by a large group of helpless doctors.

"What's going on? Is Banner's condition serious?"

Rogers asked quietly as he followed the path the doctors made for him and came to Banner's side.

Looking at Banner lying naked before him, with only a white cloth covering his waist, Rogers gave him a brief examination.

After a moment, he asked in confusion,

"There don't seem to be any external injuries. Banner has lost quite a bit of weight, but surely that should not leave all of you helpless?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the doctors looked at one another.

After exchanging glances for a long time, a middle-aged man with a relatively thick skin finally stepped forward.

He said to Rogers somewhat awkwardly,

"Banner is merely malnourished. His battle with that person likely consumed too much of his physical strength."

"If it is only malnutrition, why not give him an IV? Has the situation become so bad that you have even begun running short on medicine and supplements?"

Rogers asked curiously. His words made the doctors lower their heads in shame.

After a moment, the middle-aged doctor continued.

"We... have never dealt with Hulk before. Most of us were only assistants in the past, and we truly cannot be sure whether poking him with a needle might cause the monster inside him to reappear!"

"This...?!!"

Rogers was instantly rendered speechless.

Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, so I'll save the New Year greetings for tomorrow. Today, let me share some rare joy with everyone.

I took my uncle's child—my little cousin—to the riverside to set off firecrackers all evening. Haha, it feels like every year at this time, as long as I play with some firecrackers, I can find my younger self again. I'm in such a great mood!

I hope everyone gets out of the house too, finds an open space, lights all kinds of firecracker fuses, listens to the sound of gunpowder burning that you used to love most, enjoys the nervous thrill of throwing the firecrackers, and finally receives a whole year of prosperity amid the loud explosions!