The night passed without incident.
The next day, in Nick's office at S.H.I.E.L.D.
The door suddenly swung open, and Nick's assistant hurried in, his face brimming with delight.
"Director, good news!"
"Tony Stark's villa was attacked, and the imprisoned Hulk took the opportunity to escape."
At those words, Nick, who had been looking down at his paperwork, instantly raised his head. He fixed his assistant with a sharp stare. "Who did it?"
The assistant scratched his head at the question, then shook it hesitantly. "We don't know."
"But according to the reports our intelligence agents sent back, someone was with Hulk when he escaped from the villa."
"That person looked a lot like the symbiote we've recently been working with."
Drake's image immediately flashed through Nick's mind, but he soon shook his head, dismissing the implausible idea.
Drake had been with him all day yesterday. Nick did not believe Drake would have the nerve to destroy Tony's villa after witnessing Tony's power firsthand. It had to be someone else!
With that thought, Nick immediately ordered, "Send word to mobilize all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces in New York City. Turn the city upside down if you have to, but find those two!"
The assistant quickly nodded, but before leaving, he asked curiously, "Director, are you planning to capture them and hand them over to Tony?"
Nick gave him a look, his gaze unreadable, and offered no explanation. The assistant smiled awkwardly, not daring to ask again, then quickly lowered his head and left the office.
After watching him leave, Nick turned his gaze toward the window.
After being threatened by Tony time and time again, how could Nick possibly bear no resentment?
He simply lacked the strength to do anything but endure it.
To strengthen S.H.I.E.L.D., however, he had dispatched large numbers