The Enigmatic Hydra

After the battle ended, everything that followed became much easier.

First, they thoroughly purged the exposed Hydra agents, then slowly brought the remaining two Helicarriers down.

The people on the ground were already cheering, ready to welcome the heroes of this battle.

Nick Fury's prestige had undoubtedly risen once more.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. employees who had survived the disaster might still have hidden Hydra members among them, but they no longer posed much of a threat.

They could be rooted out slowly later.

Even Captain America, Black Widow, Kate, Falcon, and the others came down from the Helicarrier looking relieved.

Only Nick Fury and Hill wore grim expressions.

The two stood at the Helicarrier's exit without coming down, looking down at the crowd from above.

"Colleagues, the war is not over!" Nick Fury shouted.

"Where did Pierce go? Does anyone know?"

"Where are Elite Squads Seven, Thirteen, and Eighteen? Does anyone know?"

"Has anyone seen the Winter Soldier who attacked me?"

Anyone absent at this time could basically be confirmed as Hydra.

Yet some people still held out hope, wondering whether Pierce and the other Hydra members had simply fled in advance.

Nick Fury continued, "We won this battle far too easily. That isn't normal."

If Nick Fury himself had not been the one speaking, the agents below would have started cursing.

So many people had died, and he still called it easy?

However, once they considered that they had not even caught Pierce, Hydra's leader, they understood that this war was not so simple.

Everyone had assumed the Helicarriers were the strategic ground both sides had to fight for. Nick Fury had spared no effort, throwing every force he could mobilize into the attack.

Yet Pierce had vanished with the Winter Soldier and most of his main forces.

Black Widow,