Ever since Stern's failure at the hearing, Pierce had become very interested in Whiplash's technology.
He'd even made the necessary preparations and arrangements, just waiting to get the relevant technology from Ivan Vanko to make a big move! To give HYDRA, this giant dragon hidden in the shadows, powerful wings!
Everything had been progressing smoothly. Pierce's undercover agent had been monitoring Ivan Vanko from beginning to end, and there were no problems.
But who would have thought...
After Nick Fury captured Ivan Vanko, he suddenly deployed a secret force to isolate him.
Even with the vast resources Pierce controlled within S.H.I.E.L.D., he couldn't find out where Ivan Vanko was!
So, yes.
Now, Pierce couldn't even get his hands on Ivan Vanko's technology, let alone know where Ivan Vanko was being held.
Considering HYDRA's current level of infiltration within S.H.I.E.L.D., there was only one reason for this:
Nick Fury hadn't used regular S.H.I.E.L.D. resources at all.
Instead, he'd deployed the secret forces under his own control.
That was why not a single whisper of information had leaked out.
There was nothing to dwell on. The only question was, why would Nick Fury do this?
Just because he'd learned from Stern that HYDRA still existed, and knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. had some HYDRA moles?
Even so, there was no need to completely avoid using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power, right?
This reaction seemed a bit excessive, no matter how you looked at it.
Even for Nick Fury's suspicious nature, it still seemed a bit over the top.
Unless, Nick Fury had already realized that HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone beyond the usual penetration of other intelligence agencies.
It's reached an abnormal level of infiltration!
So, is it true?
Did Nick Fury really learn more about HYDRA's secrets from Stern?
The reason there haven't been any major moves, only small-scale antics, was just playacting?
Playacting for himself, and for the other HYDRA moles that Nick Fury believes exist?
To lull everyone into a false sense of security?
Alexander Pierce couldn't know for sure.
But regardless, this matter had already raised Pierce's high alert.
If it was just Nick Fury being overly cautious, that would be fine.
But if Nick Fury had truly sensed something, then Pierce would have to take certain measures.
"Yes, sir."
The senior HYDRA mole across from Pierce spoke, "Besides that Hammer, Nick Fury also ordered Coulson to monitor two people."
Slap!
With that, the other person placed the files of Jane Foster and Daisy in front of Pierce.
Pierce glanced over them.
One was an astrophysicist, and the other was her assistant.
Both were quite accomplished in their respective fields, but that was all.
Pierce, for his part, couldn't see anything about them that would warrant Nick Fury's attention.
Of course, Pierce understood.
Since Nick Fury was having them watched, these two were definitely not ordinary people.
"Monitor them comprehensively. Nick must have a reason for his actions."
Pierce issued this order to the senior operative in front of him.
"Understood!"
The operative responded immediately.
"Also, find out as quickly as possible where Nick Fury is hiding Ivan Vanko."
"The Arc Reactor technology is also very important to us."
"In addition, analyze Rogers' blood sample as soon as possible. I will allocate various resources to assist!"
After a pause, Pierce issued a series of important orders.
"Understood, sir!"
"Also, keep an eye on Nick Fury. I want to know how much he knows about HYDRA."
As the senior operative was about to leave, Pierce added another serious instruction.
And that was that.
A new round of covert maneuvering began between Alexander Pierce and Nick Fury, the heads of the two agencies.
For Alexander Pierce,
his goal was to find out where Ivan Vanko was as quickly as possible without alerting Nick Fury, and also to probe Nick Fury's background.
To see just how much of HYDRA's secrets the other man knew.
As for the bald-headed director, his main focus was how to safely acquire Ivan Vanko's technology while keeping HYDRA out of the loop!
And, at the same time, avoid alerting anyone.
The two had opposing goals from the start.
Therefore, the confrontation between them was silent on the surface, but in reality, undercurrents were surging.
If it were made into a spy drama, it would definitely be very exciting.
However, because both Pierce and Nick Fury were restrained enough, and cautious enough,
this non-combative conflict lasted for a month and a half, and basically remained in a stalemate.
Although Pierce hadn't found out exactly where Ivan Vanko was, he had grasped some definite clues.
If given more time, Pierce believed he would be able to quietly obtain Ivan Vanko's technology.
As for Nick Fury?
Although the Director had successfully acquired Whiplash's technology and even secretly tasked scientists with further improvements and development, he didn't dare to actually start assembling a Whiplash special operations team.
Because during this period of one and a half months, Nick Fury had already keenly sensed that a hidden force was watching him!
Although the other side was very cautious and hadn't revealed any obvious flaws or leads, it would be difficult for ordinary agents to detect anything.
But who was the Director?
A king among agents! And he had already known about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s infiltration, so he had already raised his vigilance to the maximum.
Naturally, he was able to catch something.
It seemed the diary was absolutely correct; HYDRA's infiltration had truly reached an alarming degree.
Even Nick Fury was almost certain of it.
There were probably some top-tier agents within S.H.I.E.L.D., the kind of agents at level eight or nine, who were also HYDRA's moles!
Otherwise, they couldn't possibly wield such a vast amount of power.
"Nick has indeed sensed something!"
Alexander Pierce was equally certain of this.
After all, this old man was, like Nick Fury, a king of agents.
Even if Nick Fury disguised and concealed himself well, he couldn't possibly avoid revealing even a hint of a flaw.
It could be said that after this exchange, Pierce and Nick Fury had gained a deeper "understanding" of each other.
This round of the confrontation was, for the time being, a draw between Pierce and Nick Fury, fought from a distance.
No one truly won.
However, on another battlefield, it must be said that Stern had pulled off a beautiful comeback.
Stark's luxurious villa.
Tony Stark and Black Widow stood side by side.
Both of them had their eyes wide, staring intently at several projections in front of them.
Beep beep beep!
Before them, some code and data that others couldn't understand were flashing rapidly, dazzling the eye.
This process lasted for thirty or forty seconds before a brand new interface suddenly popped up.
All the original code and data disappeared, replaced by some relevant information and data.
Tony Stark and Black Widow's spirits both lifted.
"Sir, the decryption is successful!"
Jarvis's notification also sounded at the same time.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Under Jarvis's control.
The massive amounts of information and data were projected before Tony Stark and Black Widow, like scattered flower petals.
Looking around, it was dense everywhere.
"You succeeded."
"It seems the director's decision to cooperate with you was the right one."
Black Widow glanced at the surrounding data and couldn't help but exclaim.
"Of course."
Tony Stark didn't know the meaning of modesty, and naturally accepted Black Widow's praise.
"Jarvis, filter out the information related to the Winter Soldier."
Shhh! With this order from the playboy, Jarvis quickly hid the massive amount of intelligence data.
Only some key intelligence about the Winter Soldier remained.
That's right, there had been a breakthrough in the investigation of the Winter Soldier.
Given that the Winter Soldier hadn't left many traces, the individual investigations of Nick Fury and Tony Stark weren't very efficient.
But when the two officially joined forces, it meant the strongest intelligence reconnaissance and the strongest technological means combined, completely producing an effect greater than one plus one equals two.
During this month and a half.
Both sides truly achieved intelligence and operational complementarity, and the progress was very rapid.
And finally, there was a major breakthrough.
Beep!
With a light tap on the several projections, the top-secret file opened.
Tony Stark and Black Widow began to browse it quickly.
One by one, their expressions became extremely serious.
"So the Winter Soldier is really Bucky Barnes from the Howling Commandos!"
"He didn't die after falling off the train in the snowy mountains. Instead, he fell into the hands of HYDRA and was transformed into a super soldier!"
It had to be said, this news was incredibly heavy.
So much so that even Black Widow, a seasoned agent, couldn't help but show a look of surprise.
"It's really you, Bucky Barnes!"
Tony Stark stared intently at the information in front of him, a hint of killing intent creeping into his voice.
Back when he saw that Captain America hadn't died seventy years ago, the playboy had boldly speculated that the Winter Soldier might be Bucky Barnes.
After all, the two looked exactly alike.
But even so, when he actually investigated this matter and confirmed it, Tony Stark was still caught off guard.
The Winter Soldier was really Bucky Barnes!
But soon, a look of unwavering coldness and sharpness appeared on Tony Stark's face.
What about Bucky Barnes?
The playboy didn't care about any of that.
This guy killed his parents, so he had to die!
"Stark, what are you thinking?"
Black Widow's senses were still very sharp. She noticed the playboy's change in mood and gave him a meaningful look.
"I'm thinking about what to eat for dinner. It's a troublesome question, isn't it?"
Tony Stark spoke off the cuff, clearly evading Black Widow.
Black Widow naturally knew this, but didn't say much.
Just a meaningful reminder to the playboy: "You should think about this kind of headache, don't you think?"
"I've already thought about it."
Tony Stark replied with equal meaning.
"Give me a copy of the data, I'm taking it back to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Black Widow didn't dwell on the topic any longer, and spoke to Tony Stark in a serious manner.
"Jarvis."
"It's already done, sir!"
Jarvis quickly copied all the relevant data onto a hard drive, and Tony Stark handed the hard drive to Black Widow.
Black Widow, naturally, had nothing to say. After taking the hard drive, she quickly left the Playboy mansion.
She rushed back to S.H.I.E.L.D. as quickly as possible.
"Jarvis, have you cracked the IP address?"
After Black Widow left, Tony Stark seemed to have changed into a different person, radiating a chilling aura.
His voice sounded even colder.
"Sir, it's already done."
Whoosh!
A corresponding map coordinate was projected in front of Tony Stark.
The playboy scanned it with a blank expression and immediately gave Jarvis a command.
"Prepare the Destroyer armor."
"As you wish, sir!"
Clank! Clank! Mechanical arms extended rapidly, swarming around Tony Stark, busily working.
In just a few moments, Tony Stark was encased within a thick metal shell.
Destroyer online.
"Jarvis, what are you waiting for?"
Whoosh! The cool Destroyer armor shot out of the luxurious villa, soaring into the vast sky and disappearing from sight.
With a clear target, it flew and flew towards the southeast.
Swiftly covering a distance of nineteen kilometers, I plunged deep into a forest.
"Sir, there's a secret base ahead, perfectly matching our coordinates!"
After venturing another seven or eight kilometers into the woods, Jarvis detected an extremely concealed base.
That's right.
It was HYDRA's secret base, where the Winter Soldier was frozen.
"Full speed ahead!"
The playboy's spirits soared, and he immediately issued this order to Jarvis.
The Destroyer armor blazed a long trail of fire in the sky, advancing with unparalleled dominance.
Finally, in an incredibly cool pose, it smashed down outside the base.
"Iron Man!"
"No, it's the Destroyer!"
"How did he get here!"
The HYDRA agents on guard outside the base were immediately alerted.
Their expressions all changed in unison, and they immediately raised their weapons and charged towards the Iron Man.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)