A certain American comic book's secondary profession master

Chapter 74 SHIELD’s reaction

"Agent Coulson, why are you in such a hurry to see me? Is our Iron Man up to something again?" Nick Fury asked Phil Coulson on the other end of a video call inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
“No, sir, I’ve discovered another very important piece of intelligence that I need to report to you. Please take a look at this first!” Phil Coulson nodded solemnly and then sent over a video report.

The moment Nick Fury turned on the video, his eyes widened, his gaze fixed on the woman speaking at the press conference and the name "Peggy Carter" on the screen.

"This Peggy Carter? Is this the Peggy Carter we know?" After the video finished playing, Nick Fury asked Coulson with an incredulous look. Although they were both directors of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury's era and Peggy Carter's era were quite far apart, with many different directors in between.

Therefore, Nick Fury and Peggy Carter did not have much contact.

Therefore, I'm really not sure.

“It’s hard to believe, but I think that’s her!” Coulson said, pulling out the official “Captain America” commemorative card from his pocket—the one featuring Peggy Carter from the Howling Commandos.

The image above shows Peggy Carter, dressed in military uniform, looking dashing and heroic during World War II.

In Avengers, Nick Fury's card set that provoked Captain America wasn't just acting; Coulson genuinely had this hobby.

After all, in the Marvel universe, Captain America has been a "global icon" since World War II.

Not only Phil Coulson, but even the Punisher, who is usually cold-faced and acts rather cruelly, had Captain America as his idol when he was young.

A retired Nick Fury director suddenly regains his youth and appears in New York as a business CEO?
Upon receiving confirmation from Phil Coulson, countless thoughts flashed through Nick Fury's mind before he asked, "What has the Carter Group been doing in New York? Just acquiring a piece of land and preparing to develop it with the government, nothing else?"

“There are indeed some other things. In the period following the Carter Group’s announcement of its intention to acquire that land, several criminal organizations on that plot of land suffered almost devastating blows. I think this may be related to the Carter Group. Obviously, our senior is determined to get that land. Moreover, according to our agents’ in-depth investigation, we have discovered something very interesting!” Coulson said.

"Oh? What is it?" Nick Fury asked, showing interest.

“Those gangs that suffered devastating blows were actually all controlled by an organization called the Hand. So I checked the department’s intelligence on this organization and found that, according to the department’s records, it should just be an ordinary transnational criminal organization,” Coulson said.

"Oh? Is there a problem with this record?" Nick Fury frowned upon hearing this. He didn't recognize the name "Hands" because for the usually aloof S.H.I.E.L.D., such ordinary criminal organizations were not their 'catch'.

They don't even care about ordinary terrorist attacks—like the attack and kidnapping of Tony Stark in the original storyline. If Tony weren't the son of Howard, the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't have paid much attention to him.

Moreover, even if they paid attention to it from the beginning, they obviously didn't care much about it.

Otherwise, with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network, would it be inferior to the military's?

Why wait until Tony is safe and back in the US before coming to their door?
—The reason why S.H.I.E.L.D. paid so much attention to Tony later on was largely because he had taken on the new identity of Iron Man.

In fact, most of the time, S.H.I.E.L.D. is more concerned about supernatural events around the world that could pose an uncertain threat to global stability—that is, those things that S.H.I.E.L.D. has marked as 084.

Therefore, the Hand, an organization that appears to be just an ordinary criminal group, doesn't really catch Nick Fury's eye.

“Of course, sir. Normally, criminal organizations like this should expand wherever there’s money to be made,” Coulson said.

“So they showed up in New York, didn’t they?” Nick Fury didn’t realize that Coulson’s statement was wrong.

“Normally that’s true, but our investigation revealed that besides New York, the main areas of activity for this organization called the Hand weren’t the prosperous places we imagined, but rather some remote and even barren areas, where no special resources were found. Furthermore, according to the records, this organization first appeared in New York about ten years ago. And in those ten years, they merely remained entrenched in Hell’s Kitchen, controlling only a few small local gangs, without any signs of expansion—more importantly, for the past ten years, this organization has been using various means to hinder the government’s development of that area.” Coulson shook his head and then reported his findings to Nick Fury.

"You mean, the Hand's main areas of operation have historically been underdeveloped regions, in New York, and even in the United States, only Hell's Kitchen?" Hearing this, Nick Fury naturally understood the problem. "And they've even hindered government development there?"

What criminal gang would go out into the deep mountains and forests all the time?
Well, not entirely.

There are two types of criminal organizations that still prefer to operate in remote mountainous areas.

One type is poachers, and the other is tomb raiders.

However, it is clear that, according to Coulson's description of the opposing team, neither of them is a good fit.

And they've only focused on one place, Hell's Kitchen, for the past ten years? Normally, that wouldn't be a big problem.

After all, such chaotic places are indeed more suitable for hiding criminal activities.

But something's not right that this area has been hindered from development for the past decade.

Ultimately, the main purpose of criminal groups is to make money.

Real estate redevelopment is a highly profitable project favored by many criminal groups.

As for losing their original territory? That's not a problem for a normal criminal group; they can just move to another place and continue.

There's absolutely no need to fight to the death.

Therefore, the Hand's actions, which hinder development, are completely unreasonable.

Not to mention that this is an outside force.

Therefore, the Hand's actions must be for some other reason.

“Yes, sir. I think we’ve underestimated this organization all along. The secrets it hides are much deeper than we imagined. I suspect that Ms. Carter’s sudden appearance in New York targeting this organization is probably because she discovered some secrets about it, and these secrets are hidden in Hell’s Kitchen… or even…” Coulson said.

“Even the secret to Ms. Carter’s rejuvenation lies here! Right?” Nick Fury picked up where Coulson left off.

“Yes, sir!” Coulson nodded.

“I understand. You continue to monitor the situation closely, and I will arrange for a thorough investigation of this organization as soon as possible!” Nick Fury nodded.

After hanging up, Nick Fury called Alexander Pierce's secretary upstairs to confirm that the other party was in the office before going upstairs.

The original director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has reappeared in a youthful state. Such a big matter cannot be decided by the current director alone.

(End of this chapter)