Alexander Pierce had no idea that he was being aggressively poached.
At this moment, he was furious and enraged.
Pierce stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, his face contorted with rage. "Mr. Whitehall, tell me, why did you intercept my men?!"
Daniel Whitehall replied coldly on the other end of the phone, " Alexander Pierce, you broke the contract first!"
"I broke the contract?!" Pierce angrily ripped off his tie, then roared furiously, "Fuck you, Daniel Whitehall! You failed to fulfill my request!"
Daniel Whitehall scoffed, "You asked me to use biotechnology to locate Hawkeye Clint Barton and Nick Fury, and I did..."
"I deserve the agreed-upon Item 84!"
"You did it?!" Pierce was so angry he laughed. He said sarcastically, " The Nick Fury you identified is a fucking stand-in! And Hawkeye Clint Barton, that's a complete fake!"
"How dare you try to fool me with a double and fakes... Mr. Whitehall, you are the first person in the world to dare to play tricks on me like this!"
Daniel Whitehall said coldly, "No, Mr. Pierce, I'm quite certain that Nick Fury is real, Clint Barton is real too!"
Pierce roared furiously, "Then tell me the hell, who is that Nick Fury sitting in the director's office at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters right now?!"
"He's Nick Fury's double!" Whitehall replied confidently.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Pierce cursed repeatedly, his eyes filled with chilling murderous intent. "Give back Item 84, Whitehall!"
"Otherwise, don't blame me for breaking the alliance and starting a full-scale war!"
Whitehall clearly didn't take Pierce's threat seriously, casually remarking, "Whatever."
He hung up the phone immediately.
"Fuck you! Whitehall!"
Pierce was so angry that he threw his phone on the ground, and still not satisfied, he stomped on the poor phone with his feet as if to vent his anger.
A moment later, panting, he ran his fingers through his hair and sat back down in his office chair.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Pierce's face was grim as he said in a cold voice, "Come in!"
A female secretary wearing silver-rimmed glasses pushed open the door and walked in.
She glanced at the wreckage of a cell phone in front of the French windows, then bowed respectfully and said, " Minister Pierce, the Department of Defense just sent an inquiry, asking us to explain who gave the order to launch the cruise missile at the former Lehigh Camp in New Jersey..."
Pierce frowned and waved his hand impatiently. "Give it to Director Fury... Remember, the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. is Nick Fury. I'm just an advisor!"
The female secretary hesitated for a moment, but seeing Pierce's impatient expression, she had no choice but to bow and leave the office.
"Fuck!" Pierce couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
He felt weak in his limbs, and a deep sense of fatigue kept welling up in his aging body.
Pierce clutched his left chest, his heart pounding, and muttered, " Whitehall, you started this..."
As he thought about Daniel Whitehall, who had suddenly regained his youth after being released from prison, a Greed glint flashed in his eyes.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Director's Office.
Nick Fury's face darkened as he looked at the inquiry document that had just arrived from the U.S. Department of Defense.
" Department of Defense inquiry? Abandoned Lehigh Camp in New Jersey was bombed by a S.H.I.E.L.D.. cruise missile?!"
"Fuck you, when did this happen?!"
The female secretary, holding the folder, calmly replied, "About half an hour ago, Director..."
Nick Fury stared sharply at her. "Who ordered the launch of that cruise missile? Why don't I know?!"
The female secretary shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Director, we haven't been able to find out who specifically gave the order..."
Nick Fury narrowed his one eye. Couldn't find anything? Was he deliberately hiding it?
He waved his hand dismissively and said, "I'll handle this. You can go now."
"Yes, Director!" The female secretary bowed and quickly left.
After the secretary left and closed the door, Nick Fury threw the inquiry paper on his desk and slammed his fist on it.
" Alexander Pierce ..."
"Old buddy..."
"What are you hiding...?"
He had just received a confidential report before his secretary arrived: the Lemurian Star freighter had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean due to an engine explosion...
In addition, there's the cruise missile at Lehigh Camp New Jersey...
Nick Fury pulled out his phone, quickly entered a number, but just as he was about to dial, he suddenly hesitated...
His fingers tapped incessantly on the table...
'Da~da~da~da~'
A moment later, he decisively deleted the number and put the phone back in his inner pocket.
" Agent Coulson, Agent May, hopefully you can bring back some useful clues..."
Rooftop of a building in Washington, D.C..
Hawkeye Clint Barton, with Invisibility applied, stood silently on the edge of the rooftop.
A crimson glint appeared in his eyes. His already superhuman vision, enhanced by the Eyes of Crimson, allowed him to clearly see the movements of certain people inside the Triskelion, even from several kilometers away from S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he abruptly looked up at the sky.
A Quinjet sped past high in the clouds.
Hawkeye immediately tapped his Headset: " Xiao Bai, Victoria Hand's Quinjet have arrived, prepare for action!"
White Queen excitedly replied, "Roger that, Commander Clint! I'll shake all of Nick Fury's bitter tea seeds out!"
Bitter... bitter tea seeds?!
Two black lines instantly appeared on Hawkeye's forehead.
When did Xiao Bai start going astray?!
Yelena shouted into the Communication Channel, "That's right! Put all of that one-eyed old bastard's moldy bitter tea seeds out in the sun and let them dry properly!"
Hawkeye:...
Great, the suspect has come forward on his own...
He pursed his lips and made a silent decision:
When we get back, we must tell Laura to keep little Leila away from that crazy girl Yelena!!!
Yelena was unaware that Hawkeye was secretly watching her.
She was now excitedly rubbing her hands together, ready to drag out Nick Fury, that old bastard who had deceived her older sister into working like a slave, and give him a good beating.
However, Hawkeye had anticipated her plan and warned her directly, " Yelena, remember, our target this time is a few Skrulls hidden inside S.H.I.E.L.D.. who haven't been caught yet!"
"Ah~" Yelena's disappointed voice rang out.
Hawkeye rubbed his forehead and said, "Remember! No acting on your own! Otherwise, I'll tell Nat when I get back!"
"Tell Nat ...tell Nat ..." Yelena muttered in dissatisfaction, "You tattletale!"
Hawkeye tapped his Headset, his Eyes of Crimson gazing toward the Triskelion Headquarters.
" The Quinjet has landed. Once Phil Coulson and Nick Fury meet, we'll begin the operation immediately!"
The White Queen cheered, "Yay!"
" Nick Fury Unveiled: 10 Minutes to Go!"
"Ready, set, go!!!"
The solar system, near Jupiter.
A golden-orange streak of light hurtled toward Earth.