Rings Cannot Be Worn Casually (Revised)

Director Nick Fury was not at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters today. Instead, he sat alone in a small seaside café, leisurely sipping coffee. Though he forced himself to appear to enjoy the view outside the window, anyone could see from his furrowed brow that his mood was far from good.

This little shop was a safe house he had prepared years ago when he was still an agent. He had thought he would never need to use this place again!

Yet here he was, finally making use of it. Nick Fury was waiting for someone. Perhaps only here could he have a conversation he could trust. Unfortunately, after today, this place would probably no longer be safe either.

How ironic. Hey! If he told anyone, they probably wouldn't believe it! The director of S.H.I.E.L.D., an organization sworn to protect Earth's security, was actually worried about finding a safe place to talk?

Just as Nick Fury was growing impatient, a woman pushed open the café door and walked in. She was sharp and capable, wearing a form-fitting combat suit, with short hair. This was the person Nick Fury had been waiting for today—Maria Hill, a Level 9 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!

In Director Fury's eyes, Hill's abilities were beyond doubt. Whether in combat skills, command, or coordination, she was top-notch. Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached Level 9 at such a young age.

Though Hill sometimes questioned his decisions and didn't blindly follow his orders—strictly speaking, she wasn't his absolute loyalist—Nick Fury, looking across all of S.H.I.E.L.D., found that she might be the only one capable of helping him solve this mess.

He had considered Coulson or Melinda, but one, their clearance wasn't high enough, and two, their abilities were too narrow. They probably couldn't handle it... So in the end, he realized Maria Hill was his only choice!

"Director, what do you need me for?" Hill cautiously scanned the café, and only after finding nothing unusual did she walk to Nick Fury's table and stop. She knew that if the director had called her here, it must be for some covert mission.

"You're finally here! Sit down first. Don't worry, this place is still safe for now. No one will eavesdrop on us." Nick Fury waved his hand, signaling Hill to sit across from him.

Seeing Hill sit upright across from him, Nick Fury pushed aside the coffee in front of him, placed his hands on the table, interlaced his fingers, and fixed his single eye on Hill. He didn't know what he was thinking, but after a long pause, he took a deep breath and spoke again.

"Hill, can I trust you?"

"Give the order, Director." Hill gave no direct answer.

Since he had called her here, there must be a critical task to assign privately. As long as it didn't conflict with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s principles, she would spare no effort to complete it!

"Good!" Nick Fury nodded, then pulled a uniquely styled diamond ring from his pocket. He placed it on the table and slowly slid it toward Hill.

"Director? What does this mean!" Hill was startled. She stood up in panic, then, after the shock passed, her eyes sharpened, and she stared coldly at Nick Fury.

What did he mean? Calling her to this little café and then giving her a diamond ring? Was he proposing? Was he joking? When had she ever shown any interest in him? How could she possibly like this, uh, this one-eyed Black Charcoal Head?!

"Sit down, Hill... This isn't what you think it is!"

Seeing her reaction, Director Nick Fury was stunned for a moment before he realized what had happened.

Hill must have misunderstood. His face actually reddened slightly—how embarrassing! If Hill had accepted his misunderstanding, that would have been a real disaster. But thankfully! Thankfully!

"Then what are you doing?" Hill sat back down, frowning at the ring on the table. You suddenly call someone here, don't explain anything, and just hand over a diamond ring—any woman would misunderstand! How low is your emotional intelligence?

"It's like this..."

Nick Fury recalled the deal Annie had made with him. After Annie used her mind-reading ability to uncover the secrets deep inside Pierce's heart, she packed the information and used magic to transmit it all into Nick Fury's mind.

In that instant, Nick Fury became Pierce. In less than an hour, he rapidly skimmed through Pierce's entire life, like watching a blur of images. He learned everything Pierce had encountered, knew his secrets, and discovered his true identity—a name Nick Fury didn't want to recall: Hydra!!!

At first, Nick Fury didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe that Pierce was actually a high-ranking member of Hydra. Even more, he couldn't believe that the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. had been so thoroughly corrupted by Hydra.

But after thinking it over, he let it go.

That alien little girl, Annie, had probably never even heard the word "Hydra" before meeting Pierce, right? And those real images—they couldn't be faked, could they? Because many of them were secret conversations between him and former Director Pierce from before Fury became director. Back then, little Annie was probably just a cell! She couldn't have fabricated those. So, this might actually be true!

"Hydra? How is that possible? Weren't they wiped out long ago?" Hill certainly knew what Hydra was, and what that name meant! So her expression turned serious. She finally understood why the director had secretly called her here. Because S.H.I.E.L.D. could no longer even be called S.H.I.E.L.D.!

"This ring was made for me by Annie. Hmm, a strange magical item. There are only two. I'm giving you one now. It can determine within a ten-meter radius whether someone belongs to Hydra! If they do, it emits a faint, multicolored glow, just like real diamond reflections! If not, it shows nothing!"

Nick Fury was quite satisfied with this simple, practical identification tool. Though it could only identify Hydra members, not people from other organizations, that was enough! And the method was very subtle—after all, who would suspect a diamond ring on someone's hand? Isn't it normal for a diamond ring to reflect multicolored light?

This magic was really useful. He kept wondering if he should have Coulson and the others trick little Annie into training a few mages for S.H.I.E.L.D. or writing some spellbooks.

Tsk! That idea probably wouldn't be easy to pull off. Annie was too slippery. Without enough tempting benefits, she probably wouldn't give in easily.

He wondered what else she liked besides aircraft. He'd have to get Coulson and the others to ask her properly when they had time. S.H.I.E.L.D. had vast resources—there must be something else she liked, right?

"You're saying this ring can identify Hydra members?" Hill picked up the ring skeptically and held it up to the sunlight.

What amazed her was that even in this light, it didn't refract a single trace of multicolored light! What material was it made of? Even glass would reflect beautiful multicolored light in the sun! This thing was indeed something magical!

"Since it can identify Hydra, why don't you take immediate, decisive action and wipe them out in one go?" Hill felt that since this tool was so useful, why wait? Just mobilize forces and eliminate those damned Hydra members!

"It won't work, Hill... At least half the people at Headquarters are Hydra members! In this situation, how can I act rashly?" Nick Fury shook his head.

He had thought the same at first, but after taking a tour of Headquarters under the guise of an inspection, he completely abandoned the idea.

Because he found that as he wandered through various departments, the multicolored glow from his ring never stopped... What did that mean? It meant Hydra agents were everywhere in S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters! Maybe it would be more fitting to call it Hydra Headquarters now?

And this ring could only identify Hydra members within ten meters! S.H.I.E.L.D. had so many people, with branches all over the world. Was he supposed to identify them one by one?

Even if he had the time, were Hydra members all fools? Would they give him that chance? If he made a move and they caught wind of it, they'd probably rebel immediately!

At that point, S.H.I.E.L.D. would collapse in an instant. He, Nick Fury, would become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest sinner, and possibly even a sinner against all humanity!

"Is that really the case?" Hill couldn't believe it. Half of the comrades she fought and worked with every day were Hydra members?

This dire situation made her tremble. She would rather face an enemy head-on in battle than have to watch for bullets coming from behind! That was truly terrifying! In that case, who could she still trust? She now understood the director's predicament a little.

"Director, give the order! What do you need me to do?" Hill lowered her head and thought, but couldn't come up with a good solution in the moment. However, looking at the ring on her hand, she suddenly understood something... Maybe this thing was the key to breaking the deadlock!

"Good! It seems you understand. Then, tomorrow, I'll transfer you to the New York Branch to take charge. You know what to do, don't you?"

Nick Fury felt that since S.H.I.E.L.D. was now riddled with holes, he might as well send Hill to take over one branch first, slowly purge the Hydra members there, and then use that branch as a base—either striking hard or boiling the frog slowly—to gradually root Hydra out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s body!

"Understood, Director! I know." Hill nodded. With this magical ring in hand, identifying and cleaning up a branch would be almost too easy!

The only thing she needed to watch out for was her methods. Before the director had a complete plan, she had to take over the entire New York Branch without alerting Hydra. That would require careful consideration, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

"Alright, you can go back now! Tomorrow, I'll sign the transfer order." With the matter settled, Nick Fury nodded, took a sip of coffee, and signaled for Hill to leave.

Hill wasted no more words. After slipping the ring onto her ring finger, she walked straight out of the shop. Only once she was outside did it hit her—hadn't she just seen an identical ring on the Director's hand? After all, the two rings had such a unique design that anyone else would probably recognize them as a matching pair at a glance.

So, if she, an unmarried woman, also wore a ring identical to his, what would others in S.H.I.E.L.D. think when they saw it? Agent Hill had hooked up with Director Black Charcoal Head? The two had already secretly eloped?

Oh! God! That was way scarier than Hydra!

Hill yanked the ring off her finger in a flash, momentarily at a loss. Why did it have to be made in the shape of a ring? That Black Charcoal Head must have done it on purpose, right? No way! She absolutely would not wear a ring identical to his. She'd find a jewelry store first and have them coat it with something different. In any case, she was not going to wear the same style of ring as Black Charcoal Head—no way!