Forcing a Duck onto a Perch

After sending off the Hulk, Heisenberg took a shower.

The dust on Mars was too heavy; even with his Biological Field, he'd inevitably picked up quite a bit of grime.

After soaking for a good while and enjoying a massage from the attendants, Heisenberg lounged back on the rooftop, sunbathing and sleeping at the same time.

Don't ask him why he didn't sleep indoors.

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

At the Three-Winged Building, nearly twelve hundred young S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees and over three hundred surviving official agents were working together to repair the structure.

It wasn't that they didn't want to hire a construction crew; it was that S.H.I.E.L.D. held too many secrets, and no one dared let outsiders casually walk into that wreck of a building.

In the Three-Winged underground command center—the temporary command post set up by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York Branch—

Steve Rogers sat there, utterly bewildered, listening to Coulson's report.

"Captain Rogers!"

The report had started with those very words.

"We're completely isolated right now. The Americas have fallen into chaos, and the Federation can't offer us any help.

Because the war barely ended, the Federation has already kicked off a new presidential campaign.

Director Fury... made the ultimate sacrifice, and Commander Hill is missing without a trace. Many of our plans have ground to a halt.

Projects like Tahiti, Pegasus, and the Helicarrier—ones requiring direct authorization from the Director or Commander—have nearly lost all operational viability. We have to pull those projects and reassess whether to continue investing in them.

But the key issue is that in this incident, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on American soil suffered devastating losses. Just between the Washington headquarters and the New York Branch, over twelve thousand agents defected, over seven thousand of our agents died, and over eighteen hundred trainees were killed.

We simply don't have the manpower to recover multiple projects.

And to make matters worse, the Chinese Representative, as a permanent member of the United Nations, has filed a lawsuit against us. Citing the fact that Hydra was hiding within S.H.I.E.L.D., they've demanded the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

As soon as the words landed, Captain America immediately frowned in displeasure. When he looked up again, his expression was grim.

It was as if he'd been reminded of something painful.

He pressed his hands against the table, gradually applying more force, and spoke harshly.

"Seventy years ago, I nearly gave my life to crush Hydra's schemes!

I thought I was dead, but I ended up sleeping for seventy years.

Then, less than six months after I woke up, I found out that the Hydra I'd defeated had been right beside me all along, and I'd been like a clown for them to laugh at!"

Captain America shot Coulson a glare.

"So, if S.H.I.E.L.D. has become what it is now, disbanding it might be a good thing!"

"Captain Rogers!!!"

Seeing that Captain America was leaning toward dissolving S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson quickly pulled out his trump card to persuade him.

"You can't deny S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nearly seventy years of dedication just because of the damage Hydra inflicted on us.

Besides, this is an organization founded by Ms. Peggy and you yourself. S.H.I.E.L.D. is Ms. Peggy's last hope!

As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I'm ashamed of the state S.H.I.E.L.D. is in now, but I beg you—no matter what—think of the agents like me who've held the line, think of Ms. Peggy in the nursing home who can't bear to let go, Captain Rogers!!!"

Coulson's words struck like thunder, and Rogers immediately hesitated.

Honestly, he really did want to disband S.H.I.E.L.D.

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

He'd always been just a soldier, at best the commander of a special operations unit.

He had no experience managing over a hundred thousand agents, and he probably didn't have the skill for it.

Besides, forget the chaotic trivialities—he'd only been awake for less than six months. He didn't even understand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basic operations. What could he possibly use to manage all that nonsense?

And on top of that, even he couldn't be sure how many Hydra operatives were still lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Could he really confirm that Hydra had committed all its forces in this battle? If there were still Hydra agents embedded in the current S.H.I.E.L.D. system, then every effort he made would just be serving the enemy.

But no matter what, Coulson had said one thing that was absolutely right, and it cut deep into Rogers' heart.

That was...

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

Rogers turned around, facing away from Coulson, Barton, and the others, lost in thought.

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

But did Steve Rogers have the ability to do that?

He could fight all day, sure, but he was an executor. Did he have the talent to be an administrator?

Rogers wished someone would step up and take on the role of Director for him. Then he could just keep fighting.

That was his strength.

But here was the problem.

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

S.H.I.E.L.D. was a wreck inside, surrounded by enemies outside. Agents and trainees alike urgently needed a leader they could trust and feel inspired by.

If Nick were still alive, he might barely qualify.

Even though Hydra had hidden under his command all this time—an unforgivable oversight on his part.

Still, his nearly two decades of running S.H.I.E.L.D. would have earned him the loyalty of his former subordinates.

But Nick was dead...

Even if his body had been left behind, Coulson had been part of the Tahiti Project—he could have revived the Director.

But Nick didn't even leave a corpse. To this day, no one had found him in the rubble the Hulk had created!

Aside from Nick...

Commander Hill also had the qualifications.

As Nick Fury's deputy for years, Hill had personally been involved in roughly eighty percent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s covert operations. She knew every secret the organization held, top to bottom.

And Coulson and the other senior agents knew full well that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strongest asset right now was that Helicarrier.

Hill was the Helicarrier's commander.

But Hill had vanished after Nick's death.

Completely disappeared without a trace!

What about the other senior agents besides Nick and Hill?

There was only one Level 9 agent left: Hill.

Almost every Level 8 agent had been too close to John Garrett. Except for those still fighting Hydra in other divisions, everyone else was undergoing security clearance reviews.

Even if they passed, John Garrett's betrayal meant no other Level 8 agent could take the Director's seat.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current Level 8 agents were just the branch heads of other divisions.

Agents had developed a phobia of that position.

As for Level 7 agents and below...

That rank was more of a fluid designation than a fixed level.

Take Natasha, a representative Level 7 agent—she could access Level 10 clearance at any time, because she had to handle certain classified matters that lower-level agents couldn't touch.

But what good was high clearance? No one would accept a Black Widow who betrayed the Red Room to join S.H.I.E.L.D. as Director.

At least not right now.

Especially with Hydra's betrayal so fresh, no one would follow any order she gave. Who knew if she was a Red Room plant?

And Barton, Melinda, Coulson...

These people...

They might have the experience, but they lacked the authority.

Without Captain America, they might have picked the best of a bad lot and handed the Director's position to one of them.

But everyone clearly had a better option...

Rogers had to be shoved into the role, whether he liked it or not!

"Coulson!"

Having made up his mind, Rogers gave orders without hesitation.

"Lead all S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy trainees and continue collecting and organizing all data inside the Three-Winged Building.

Agent Barton, go to Texas and find Agent Natasha. Bring Thor's girlfriend back to New York for protection. At this critical moment, Hydra might use her as a leverage point to create conflict between us and Asgard.

Agent Melinda, take two squads to search for and apprehend John Garrett, Alexander Pierce, and other key Hydra members.

I'll meet with the World Security Council members. As Captain America, I'll vouch for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current state and try to convince them to cancel their decision to dismantle and downsize us.

But Hydra has hollowed out S.H.I.E.L.D. almost completely. Even if we manage to keep our current structure, we have to be ready to rebuild from the ashes.

Back on the battlefield, I used to tell my comrades something.

We have to push forward, friends, because we have every reason to win!"

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone answered in unison, then dispersed, diving into their work.

But just as Captain America was about to start a video conference with the U.S. Department of Defense to discuss primary responsibility for the Hydra incident, Coulson returned and interrupted his plans.

Coulson strode back into the command room, both excited and a little nervous, and said to Rogers.

"Captain Rogers, that person brought Bruce Banner back. If we can use him, we'll have a major asset to fight Hydra!"

Three hours later.

After enduring the kind of political wrangling he never wanted to experience again, Rogers found time to visit Bruce Banner's hospital room.

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

"What's the situation? Is Banner's problem serious?"

Rogers asked quietly, as he made his way through the path the doctors cleared for him to reach Banner's side.

Looking at Banner, who was completely naked except for a white cloth covering his waist, Rogers gave him a quick once-over.

After a moment, he asked in confusion.

"There's no visible external injury. Banner's thinner than before, but that shouldn't leave you all at a loss, should it?"

As his words fell, the doctors exchanged glances.

Their eyes communicated for a long time before a thicker-skinned middle-aged man stepped forward.

He spoke to Rogers with some embarrassment.

"Banner's just malnourished. It's probably from the fight with that person—he used up too much energy."

"Just malnourished? Then why aren't you giving him an IV? Is the situation so bad that you're running out of medicine and supplements?"

Rogers asked curiously, and his words made the doctors hang their heads in shame.

After a moment, the middle-aged doctor continued.

"We... we've never dealt with the Hulk before. Most of us were just assistants up to now. We're really not sure if poking him with a needle would make the monster inside him come back out!"

"This...?!!"

Rogers was left speechless.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so I'll save the New Year's greetings for then. Today, let me share a rare bit of joy with everyone.

I took my uncle's kid—my little buddy—to the riverbank to set off firecrackers all evening. Haha, it seems like every year at this time, as long as I pick up some firecrackers and play around, I can find the younger version of myself again. I'm in a great mood.

I hope everyone else steps outside too, finds an open space, lights the fuses of all kinds of firecrackers, listens to the sound of gunpowder burning—the sound you used to love most—enjoys the thrill and excitement of tossing them out, and finally, in the loud bang, reaps a whole year of blazing good fortune ahead!