While Baron Strucker's side was making thorough preparations for their next capture attempt.
[S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters].
Level 9 Agent Maria Hill walked into the director's office.
She reported to the one-eyed Mute Man standing by the window, deep in thought:
"Director, our people came across a video online by chance. I think you'll find its contents very interesting..."
Then, using a voice command, she projected the video from her wireless device onto the big screen.
"Are you sure this isn't one of those short films people watch to kill time?"
After taking a quick look at the video, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury asked, his expression dark.
Maria Hill gave a slight shake of her head.
Then she paused the video on a particular frame.
Pointing at the exoskeleton armor one of the soldiers was wearing and the Energy Blaster in his hand, she said:
"Director, don't you think that equipment looks familiar?"
"Hm?!"
Hearing that, Nick Fury widened his one eye and examined the footage closely.
Then he slammed a hand on the desk and cursed furiously:
"Motherf—... That Chitauri equipment must've leaked out from that bastard Tony Stark's hands."
As everyone knew, after the Battle of New York, Stark Industries and the Federal Government had established a special department: the Damage Control Department, or the Department of Damage Control for short.
It was responsible for overseeing the collection and storage of alien and other foreign materials.
So there was no doubt about it: Tony Stark was to blame...
"Send someone to the Department of Damage Control to audit their inventory. Find out exactly where the missing Chitauri equipment went. I want to know who's using it—an individual or an organization!"
Nick Fury thought it over, then added:
"Also, run a big-data analysis of the people and terrain in the video. Pinpoint the exact location of the battle, then have someone secretly gather every bit of information on that metahuman!"
Now that the video's authenticity had been confirmed, he had no choice but to take it seriously.
As for the metahuman in the video, whose abilities looked somewhat like Carol Danvers's, whether he should recruit her or keep her under surveillance would depend on whether she was willing to cooperate with him.
Compared with ordinary recruitment methods,
Nick Fury preferred to start with a target's "weaknesses," combining threats and favors to bully and tempt them into falling in line!
Whether it was Iron Man, Tony Stark,
Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff,
or any of the other members of the Avengers,
almost all of them had been brought together through methods like his.
At least so far, Nick Fury's dirty tricks had never failed!!
But if she refused to submit to his control and wanted to be a "free agent"...
Then, well, he was sorry.
Nick Fury wouldn't mind arranging a private cell for her in the highest-security prison, the Raft, where she could spend the rest of her life!
Nick Fury's thinking was simple, but stubborn.
Those who followed him prospered; those who opposed him perished!!!
Anyone or any organization he couldn't keep under his watch was automatically considered a threat and an enemy.
And Earth... had no need for unlicensed superheroes to protect it!!!
Like those metahuman bastards created by the Vought Group.
"Understood."
Maria Hill hesitated, then asked, "What should we do about the video?"
"Obviously, ban it across the entire internet."
Nick Fury's face darkened as he reprimanded her without mercy. "Do I really have to explain something this simple to you?"
[Sokovia].
"Damn it, the video I uploaded a few hours ago suddenly got banned everywhere, and my account was permanently suspended too!!"
Pietro fiddled with his phone and shouted indignantly:
"And none of those platforms even gave a reasonable explanation. Is this what they call freedom of speech?"
"Carl, do you think it'd work better if we just livestreamed next time?"
"It won't help."
Carl shook his head, his expression calm. "If Hydra has already caught on, then even a livestream will get taken down and the account banned."
"If that ends with all of Sokovia losing internet access, it'll do us more harm than good!!"
Carl had expected the video to be taken down.
After all, Hydra's intelligence network was even better than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s, despite the latter claiming it could monitor the whole world.
Still, uploading the video had been a bold experiment.
He wanted to see whether the video could generate more discussion and influence, letting him rake in more Prestige Points!!
Since he was destined to take a high-profile approach in the future,
he naturally wasn't afraid of showing his face in public.
And if this approach really worked,
then all he'd have to do in the future was flex his muscles now and then and remind people he existed, and Prestige Points would keep pouring in.
Raising the Warp's Dimension Strength to Level 3 or higher within three months wouldn't be difficult anymore!
And things had gone exactly as he'd expected.
Not long after he uploaded the video, the system began adding Prestige Points in small increments.
The total had even reached [5217].
It was going well. He was one step closer to raising his Dimension Strength to Lv2!!
Besides,
Carl also hoped the video would disrupt Hydra's attack plans,
cutting their preparation time as much as possible.
That way, he could reap another big harvest of easy targets!!!
"Huh?"
Pietro's eyes went wide as he exclaimed in disbelief, "They can really cut off the internet for an entire country?"
Carl just smiled without explaining further.
Why wouldn't they be able to?
Of the world's 13 Root Servers, at least 10 were in the hands of the Americans.
Cutting off your internet would be a piece of cake!
Back during the 2003 Iraq War,
the Americans had used the Root Servers to cut off Iraq's internet completely.
That gave them an overwhelming advantage right from the start of the war!!
But this incident had given Carl an idea.
If he wanted to have a voice online in the future and rake in more Prestige Points,
he would have to establish a large news and media company of his own.
As for where to set it up... New York was the obvious first choice!!!
After all, it was the center of the entire Marvel Universe...
Even Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't dare cut off its internet, right?
Of course, all of this depended on Carl managing to hold his ground through Hydra's next attack.
Suddenly,
an extremely audacious idea flashed through Carl's mind...
Seize control of Sokovia.
Become its ruler from behind the scenes!!!
Before you continue