Sharon Carter looked at Nick Fury suspiciously.
"What about Hawkeye, Hill, and Coulson? You vanished for two days. So you weren't taken out by Hydra after all?"
She began to suspect that the four people before her had some connection to Hydra.
Otherwise, everything was far too much of a coincidence.
Crossbones Rumlow stepped forward as well. "Director Fury, you disappeared at such a critical moment, then suddenly showed up on the Helicarrier. You owe us an explanation."
He drew his gun and assumed a guarded stance. "Otherwise, it'll be hard not to suspect that you're connected to Hydra!"
"You're right." Nick Fury raised a brow and nodded. "I do need to explain myself."
Even with more than a dozen guns pointed at him, his expression did not change. He calmly pulled over a chair and sat down, legs spread, facing the crowd's accusing stares with cold composure.
"You want the truth, then I'll tell you the truth."
"For the past two days, news about Hydra has been spreading wildly among the upper echelons of every country."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s full mobilization this time was also meant to eliminate Hydra."
"But what if S.H.I.E.L.D. itself is full of Hydra agents?"
"I'm telling you, who knows how many Hydra agents are hiding right here, among us."
Nick Fury tilted his head back and swept his gaze over everyone present through his nostrils.
He thought everyone here was suspicious and discreetly shot Hawkeye a look from the side.
"That's all nonsense, alarmist bullshit!" Rumlow clicked his gun into firing position. "A man who vanished at a critical moment comes back and starts driving a wedge between us? Nick Fury, when did you become Hydra!?"
A few genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had begun to waver after Nick Fury's words—
were thrown into confusion again after