Two Living Ancestors of My Own Making

"Yes, a woman. And she was classmates with Loren Morgan. I heard they were quite close."

Coulson nodded and relayed all the intelligence he had uncovered to Nick Fury.

"Teenage romance? Were they a couple?"

"I haven't heard anything like that. But they're both at that age where feelings start to stir, so it wouldn't be impossible for them to develop a fondness for each other."

"Heh. Other kids their age were still playing in the mud, while these two became Batman and Spider-Man. What, were they throwing some kind of wild party?"

"Sir, I think Gwen Stacy would be an excellent point of entry. If we can win Gwen over and use her status as Loren's classmate to get close to him, we may be able to recruit Loren successfully. Young men and women still take love rather seriously, after all."

"Mm. Proceed according to your plan for now. It would naturally be best if you succeed. But even if you fail, at the very least, bring Spider-Man into the fold."

"Understood." Coulson nodded, then continued, "By the way, while investigating Gwen Stacy, I discovered some unexpected intelligence."

"What intelligence?"

"It's like this. About two months ago, the head of the Morgan Family was shot dead in the street by two gunmen. The incident caused quite a stir at the time. I believe you know about it as well."

"Mm. The Morgan family head's unexpected death was a major incident. Even the President was alarmed and specifically formed an investigative team to pursue the matter. If I remember correctly, Pierce was in charge of the investigation."

"Yes. At the Morgan family head's funeral, Minister Pierce personally accepted the President's order."

"He accepted the order, that's true, but there seemed to have been no breakthroughs afterward. They never found the two killers."

"Sir, that was what I thought at first as well. I assumed Pierce's men were incompetent and had failed to find the killers.

But after further investigation, I discovered that this matter was not as simple as we thought. Sir, do you remember what happened at the funeral?"

"What happened at the funeral? I've forgotten some of it. I only remember that many people attended. It seemed like political figures from every field were gathered there."

"Yes. Our country's political figures all attended the funeral, including you. There were more than fifty in total."

"What does that have to do with the unexpected intelligence you mentioned?"

"It does, and it's extremely important!"

"According to our investigation, many people attended the funeral.

But the Morgan family head's biological older sister, Maeve Morgan, was the only one who did not attend. That was highly unreasonable.

So I specifically looked into it. I later discovered that several years ago, Maeve Morgan had fallen out with the Morgan family head over the issue of family inheritance.

Afterward, she left the Morgan Family and vanished without a trace.

However, on the night the Morgan family head was shot, we found evidence of her presence in surveillance footage from nearby streets."

"An older sister who had been absent for years, and the last time she appeared was on the night her younger brother died?

Heh, what deep sibling affection. So the Morgan family head's death may very well have been the work of his own sister?"

"We can only say that possibility cannot be ruled out."

"Wait. Since surveillance cameras on nearby streets captured Maeve, why didn't Pierce mention this when he investigated the matter?"

"Sir, that was what puzzled me as well. So over the past month, I conducted an in-depth investigation centered on Maeve and Minister Pierce, and then I found these."

As he spoke, Coulson handed a file folder to Nick Fury.

With a trace of curiosity, Nick Fury opened the file.

His expression changed dramatically at once.

Because the file contained photographs of Maeve and Pierce meeting in secret, as well as records of Maeve Morgan's whereabouts over the past several years.

And on the last page of the file was a distinctive symbol: a skull with six tentacles resembling octopus legs.

Ordinary people might not have understood what that symbol represented.

But as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., how could Nick Fury possibly fail to recognize it?

"This is... Hydra!!!"

Nick Fury's eyes widened, disbelief filling his gaze.

As far as he knew, Hydra had completely disappeared from the world after the end of World War II.

Yet the scene before him told him that the truth was not as he had imagined.

Not only had Hydra not disappeared, it had very likely infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.

Because judging from the intelligence Coulson had gathered, his old friend Pierce and Maeve Morgan were very likely among Hydra's leaders.

"Who else have you shown this file to?" Nick Fury looked at Coulson gravely.

"Sir, you are currently the only one."

"Good. Destroy this information immediately. Treat it as though nothing happened."

"Sir, why?"

"Because if your investigation is accurate, then S.H.I.E.L.D. may already have been infiltrated.

Therefore, if spies discover that we know Hydra still exists in this world, we'll alert the enemy.

It will become even harder to root them out afterward, so for now, we need to remain still and adapt to any change."

"Understood!" After hearing Nick Fury's explanation, Coulson did not hesitate for even a moment before immediately burning the file with a lighter.

Nick Fury abruptly changed the subject. "So Loren Morgan knew Pierce was with Hydra before we did?"

"Based on the fact that he managed to uncover Pierce as the mastermind behind his father's murder, that is highly likely."

"That kid really is full of surprises. It seems everything we thought we knew about him was wrong."

"It wasn't entirely wrong. Before his parents died, he truly did behave like a spoiled young playboy. But after their deaths, he seemed to become a completely different person. Not only did he personally capture the two men who murdered his father, he even uprooted the forces behind them."

"A notorious playboy suddenly became decisive and ruthless. Either the kid was pretending to be weak all along, or someone is backing him."

"The possibility of him pretending to be weak is low. He is the first in line to inherit the Morgan Family, so there was no need for him to do that. Therefore, the latter is more likely.

And according to the recollections of several officers who were at the scene back then, there was a silver-haired woman beside Loren at the time.

Based on our comparison, that silver-haired woman was the same woman who appeared at the World Security Council Headquarters a month ago."

"You mean this silver-haired woman was planted beside Loren Morgan by some organization?"

"That is highly likely, but whether that is truly the case will depend on Natasha's investigation."

"Mm. Whether this kid is a mule or a horse, we'll know once we bring him out for a run. By the way, Pierce is already dead. What about Maeve Morgan?"

"Not long after Kingpin, the underworld emperor, died, Maeve went to Morgan Manor. But after that, she never came out of the manor again."

"You mean she was imprisoned in Morgan Manor? Or... she's dead?!"

"That remains unknown for now. But considering the silver-haired woman's ruthless methods, Maeve is probably doomed."

"If that's true, then the Morgan Family is truly a complete mess. The older sister killed her younger brother, and the nephew killed his aunt. What a crazy family."

"These wealthy families always have some peculiar tastes."

"Heh, that's true."

Naturally, Loren knew nothing about Nick Fury and Coulson's secret conversation.

And he had no mood to know about it right now, because his head was already killing him.

"Washing Boss's clothes is something I, his butler, should do. Sister 2B, you are not allowed to steal it from me."

"Then warming Boss's bed is something I, his personal assistant, should do. Little Sister Tifa, why are you trying to steal that?"

"No, you are only his personal assistant in name. Your actual duty is to protect Boss's safety, so you only need to handle security. All these domestic duties should be handled by me."

"What you said is wrong too. Before you came into existence, I did all these jobs. You are the butler, and a butler is responsible for running the manor, not domestic duties."

"You're wrong!"

"You're the one who's wrong!"

"Then let's ask Boss together and let him decide."

"..." Loren.

Watching Tifa and 2B argue like two children before coming to him to settle the dispute, Loren's head grew even bigger.

Right now, all he wanted to do was call for help!

But just then, Alice's voice rang out through the hall.

"Warning. Someone has been detected infiltrating the manor!"

The moment they heard Alice's warning, 2B and Tifa immediately perked up, and killing intent appeared on both their faces.

"An enemy has invaded. Little Sister Tifa, you can't steal this one. This is security work, and it falls under my responsibility."

As she spoke, 2B quickly rushed toward the outside of the manor.

Tifa did not remain idle either and immediately followed after her.

"Protecting the manor is also a duty I must fulfill as its butler. Sister 2B, wait for me. Let's go together!"

"No, if both of you are going, then who's going to protect me?"

"Unbelievable. I've made myself two living ancestors!"