Hans Landa held a glass of espresso in his hand, a smile on his face.
On the holographic screen in front of him, a promotional video that was only ninety seconds long was playing on a loop.
"Father".
The film has a warm and rich color palette.
The film opens with Soldier Boy standing in black-and-white historical footage of the Normandy landings, his figure overlapping with that of other young soldiers.
The scene then turns to color, and he appears in the ruins of a devastated city, using his world-famous eagle shield to shield a group of trembling civilians from falling debris.
He is no longer the fierce killing god on the battlefield.
He instructs a young Metahuman on how to precisely control his out-of-control energy to avoid harming innocents.
He lifted a little girl with tear-streaked face from the rickety car and wiped the dust off her face with his rough hands.
The girl stopped crying in his arms and smiled with relief.
Finally, the Soldier Boy's weathered face filled the entire screen. He looked directly at the camera, his gaze stern yet containing a deep emotion.
True strength lies in protection, not destruction.
His voice was deep and powerful.
"I'm Soldier Boy, and I'll be watching you."
The promotional video was simultaneously released on all major media platforms worldwide.
On social media, younger users are amazed by the tough-guy charm of this veteran hero.
"These are real heroes! They're so much better than those who just fly around posing!"
"Oh my god, the way he looks at me... I feel like he's reshaped my DNA!"
"Daddy!!! My daddy!!!"
For the older generation, this film evoked memories of a bygone era.
Countless people left comments in the comment section, sharing the legends about the Soldier Boy on the battlefield that their parents or grandparents had told them.
Nostalgic tears and fresh adoration intertwined, creating a surge of discussion.
Vought's stock price immediately surged.
Miranda Priestly, the queen of fashion, standing behind Hans Landa, also showed an approving expression.
"Perfect narrative construction, Minister. You've packaged a War Machine as a national father."
"No, I simply restored him to his original state."
Hans took a sip of his coffee.
"People revere gods, but they love their fathers even more. Gods bring a sense of distance, while fathers bring a sense of security."
The real highlight is at the end of the promotional video.
A concise and powerful subtitle appeared:
Vought International announced the establishment of the " Vought Hero Behavior Correction Center," with Soldier Boy serving as honorary advisor.
It is dedicated to helping Metahuman exhibit behavioral problems and pose a social risk reintegrate into society.
The question of how to restrain those with powerful but uncontrollable Metahuman has always been a Damocles' sword hanging over the heads of all nations.
Now, Vought International has once again stepped forward to provide a solution.
In an instant, communications from Washington, London, and Berlin flooded the Vought Tower, all with largely the same content.
They all expressed a strong desire to cooperate.
Hans Landa's smile widened.
"When the whole world gets used to buying reins from us, they won't care who created those wild horses that need to be tamed."
S.H.I.E.L.D.., Triskelion.
Nick Fury's office was silent.
The Soldier Boy's "kind" face had just disappeared from the screen.
Fury stared intently at the screen, his fists clenched so tightly under the table that they cracked.
"Fuck you! You bastard!"
He slammed his fist on the table.
Maria Hill, standing to the side, looked grave.
She could understand Fury's anger.
Vought's move to undermine China's defenses was ruthless.
While S.H.I.E.L.D.. is still struggling in the quagmire of internal purges, Vought has already transformed himself into a "saint" maintaining global supernatural order.
"They've turned governments all over the world into their clients."
Hill's voice was low.
"We are losing the initiative, sir."
Fury certainly knew.
Every success Vought makes diminishes the necessity of S.H.I.E.L.D..'s existence.
When Vought becomes the only organization capable of resolving the threat of superhumans, what is S.H.I.E.L.D..?
An outdated and inefficient government agency?
What's the point of him being a bureau chief then?
Have you heard anything from the people you sent out?
Fury suppressed his anger and changed the subject.
Hill's expression grew even more serious.
"No, we only know that the Winter Soldier exists, but we know nothing about his exact location. Our people are searching the world for all abandoned bases connected to Hydra."
Fury closed his eyes, a sense of powerlessness washing over him.
His ongoing internal purge has brought S.H.I.E.L.D.. to a near standstill.
The top assassin he wanted to track down had vanished without a trace, like a ghost.
In contrast, Vought proceeded cautiously, and every move he made hit the sore spots of the times.
With one side gaining at the expense of the other, the future of S.H.I.E.L.D.. looks bleak.
We can't wait any longer.
Fury opened his eyes, a resolute glint in them.
"Notify your people to close the net."
"Close the net? But we haven't found direct evidence of Pierce's crime yet!"
Hill was shocked.
"Touching him now will cause a mutiny within S.H.I.E.L.D..! Those he protected, and those he planted, will all see him as a hero you've persecuted!"
"Then let's create a crime scene for him."
"I want him to believe that we've found the Winter Soldier. I want to force him to take matters into his own hands and protect his greatest asset."
Fury no longer has time to play those evidence-gathering games.
Vought's relentless pressure forced him to end the Civil War in the fastest and most risky way possible.
He no longer cared about the consequences.
Office of the Representative of the World Security Council.
Alexander Pierce also watched the Soldier Boy promotional video.
He wasn't angry; instead, a smile of interest appeared on his face.
"A brilliant public relations strategy."
He was talking to himself.
Pierce sees Vought as no threat, and this publicity is an excellent sign.
He admired the business logic and order-building capabilities demonstrated by Vought International.
A business empire that pursues profit and stable order is far easier to deal with than a Fury full of idealism.
In his vision of a "new world order" controlled by Hydra, companies like Vought would be the perfect partners.
They are responsible for providing the products and maintaining order in the "commodities," while they themselves are responsible for setting the rules.
The internal communicator on the table lit up.
"You saw it?"
Baron Strucker's voice came through.
"Of course, isn't it interesting? Fury is still running around like a headless chicken trying to clean things up, while Vought has already started selling solutions globally."
Will this affect our plans?
"No, this will only help us."
Pierce leaned back in his chair, his tone relaxed.
" Vought has captured the world's attention. Nobody cares about how many agents have died or how many directors have been replaced within S.H.I.E.L.D.. All they care about is when the next Soldier Boy movie will be released."
" Fury's purge cleared the way for us, and Vought's performance provided cover. Strucker, we should award Mr. Morris. Lynn Morris a medal."
Pierce hung up the call, in a good mood.
He looked out the window, as if he could already see the day when S.H.I.E.L.D.. would be completely transformed and "reborn" in his hands.
Vought International.
Tifa placed a newly compiled intelligence report in front of Lynn.
"Boss, as you instructed, the Cheetah is in position."
Lynn nodded slightly after turning his gaze away from the night view outside the window.
"The time is almost right," Lynn said calmly. " Fury's patience is wearing thin; it's time to give him a taste of sweetness."
"Notify Motoko to initiate the ' Breadcrumb ' plan."
At the same time, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s Evidence Analysis Department.
At Fury's request, Barbara Minerva is organizing the old Hydra servers that were seized from Germany.
She yawned and listlessly tapped on the keyboard, categorizing and marking documents one by one.
Soon, Barbara's phone, which was on the table, vibrated.
Motoko Kusanagi's face appeared in the image, nodded to Barbara, and then disappeared.
Barbara perked up, and while processing an encrypted data packet marked "corrupted and worthless," her fingers paused on the keyboard for a fraction of a second.
She didn't attempt to crack it; she simply added a small anomaly marker to the file's underlying tags.
This marker itself is meaningless.
However, it will trigger a top-level keyword scanning algorithm within S.H.I.E.L.D.., set up by Maria Hill.
After doing all this, she threw the data package into the "to be destroyed" folder, stretched, and got up to make coffee.
In Hill's office at S.H.I.E.L.D. at night.
She was staring at a complex network topology diagram, trying to find any Silk related to the " Winter Soldier " from the vast sea of data.
Just as she was about to give up and rub her aching temples to rest for a moment, an inconspicuous notification box suddenly flashed in the corner of the computer screen.
[Keyword matching accuracy: 0.01%]
[Source: Evidence Database - Z-097 - Destroyed Items Queue]
Hill's pupils contracted.
She quickly retrieved the data packet that was about to be destroyed and forcibly stopped the destruction process with the highest privileges.
After more than ten minutes of urgent decoding, a series of blurry coordinates finally appeared before her eyes.
The coordinates point to a no-man's-land in Siberia.
Next to the coordinates, there was only a fragmented entry:
[... refrigeration... facilities...]
Hill rushed out of the office and quickly went to Fury.
"Sir! We've found it!"