Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 971 Conservation of Quality (First Update)

The fact that Agent Coulson led S.H.I.E.L.D. to fully align with Congress wasn't entirely unexpected. At least, this intelligence didn't cause any blood pressure spikes among the Immortal City's intelligence leadership, even though many of them were former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They fully understood Agent Coulson's actions—ever since the Hydra rebellion, Agent Coulson's goal had been to restore S.H.I.E.L.D.'s former glory and directly connect with the World Security Council. However, the reality was that S.H.I.E.L.D. had lost most of its facilities, personnel, political resources, and most importantly, trust.

Those who oppose Hydra believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. was and still is a puppet of Hydra; those who are Hydra themselves know a little about the inside story and believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. was and still is Nick Fury's hand; those who are indifferent are not surprised by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current situation. Ever since most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funding was approved by the US Congress, S.H.I.E.L.D., nominally a United Nations organization, has actually become a dog of the US Congress. Only someone like Nick Fury can use Congressional funding to maneuver between the military and the sixteen US intelligence agencies to do what he wants.

Agent Coulson simply couldn't do it, not even with the vibranium box Nick Fury left him.

The box contained all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s past files. The reason Nick Fury was always able to get the budget he wanted was because he had dirt on numerous officials in the House of Representatives, senators, the Supreme Court, and their children. Drug use, murder, incest, child molestation, bribery, foreign collusion, abuse of power, human trafficking, organ trafficking… the list goes on. Nick Fury only needed to select his targets, then release a few news items to the media during elections, and these people would become incredibly compliant, at least when it came to budgeting.

As for the retaliation that followed, Nick Fury didn't care at all; a senator with a criminal record was just a disposable item.

After the Hydra rebellion, Congress relentlessly pursued the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D., partly because some wanted to retrieve the small black box. However, Coulson couldn't even maintain nominal neutrality, appointing a congressional-appointed military officer as director and even sending the box away – this was what infuriated Nick Fury the most. He constantly monitored the box's location to pinpoint Agent Coulson's location. When the location was traced to Washington and Agent Coulson wasn't there, Nick Fury knew Coulson had revealed his trump card. If he could, he would have loved to use his own men to steal the box back, but he had nothing left. He recalled Salomon's assessment of Agent Coulson; even after the book theft, Salomon's opinion of Coulson remained unchanged: "He's a good man, and always a stupidly good man."

This is a really bad assessment, especially for the profession of intelligence agent.

Nick Fury imagined what Salomon would do in that situation.

The likely scenario involves fabricating damaging information, releasing it in small batches on social media, infiltrating the target's residence armed with weapons, killing all bodyguards, then having a heart-to-heart talk with the target, offering benefits, and deciding whether to keep the enemy or the friend the next day. While these tactics have a strong Mafia feel, they are almost always effective against American politicians. For rampant crime, more direct methods are more effective. For these people, ethics, morality, and family relationships are unimportant; money and the social status earned through a lifetime of hard work are paramount. When these precious things face destruction, politicians will undoubtedly grovel before them—in fact, the Immortal City has already done so, though the congressmen are groveling before Gideon Malik, who is an agent of Salomon. The fact that Stephanie Malik can even become Salomon's right-hand woman speaks volumes.

Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. has lost control and is powerless to deal with this increasingly dangerous world, Nick Fury established S.W.O.R.D. However, this organization was completely wiped out by Salomon. All Skrull employees were imprisoned in dungeons, and human employees, after screening, were either willing to submit or became low-level intelligence officers, or unwilling to work as laborers in the plasma reactors. The raid on the Immortal City completely thwarted Nick Fury's plans, leaving him no choice but to continue following Salomon's methods—for example, in this mission, Nick Fury had no idea what Salomon had ordered the Royal Guard to search for, or how many civilian casualties he was estimating. He hated being kept in the dark, but he had to continue following orders and directing the Royal Guard intelligence officers.

He first signaled to Constantine that he had something to say. "The call logs of Wanda Maximov, Daisy Jensen, and Robbie Reyes at Southridge Jail have been sent to your data terminal."

“Very good,” Constantine said. Satellite surveillance showed that Mike and Fitz had returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base to investigate the victims of the “Evil Within” incident. The two spent an hour and a half at the base—they greeted the quartermaster and logistics department, told them they had damaged a Quinjet, and then Fitz received a scolding. Constantine had a clear view of their actions through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal surveillance—the two left the base, boarded a plane, and set their destination as Dr. Radcliffe's residence, intending to visit Melinda May first.

He blinked and opened the file, beginning to browse the video.

"How is my baby?"

"You mean, our baby?" Robbie Reyes smiled broadly. "We changed the fan belt; she's been overheating lately. Don't worry."

"How is your brother?"

"He's fine."

"It's nice to meet you, Robert," Elias Morrow said in Spanish. In Los Angeles, Spanish is a compulsory subject. "But it's not Christmas, and it's not my birthday."

"Can't I just visit my uncle on a whim?"

"Come on, Robbie, I don't expect you to forgive that," Elias Morrow said calmly, holding the microphone through the bulletproof glass. "After all, those gangs were after me, not you and Gabe."

Robbie sighed. His first encounter with the Spirit of Vengeance was while hunting down the gangsters who had put Gabe in a wheelchair. Those gangsters wanted Elias Morrow dead, but by then the Dodge had already been given to Robbie, and the gangsters assumed the person in the car was Elias Morrow. "I want answers."

Elias Moro could not refuse.

“This woman, your former colleague, she’s been killing people everywhere.” Robbie Reyes pulled out a photograph. “But it’s not that simple. I just want to understand what’s going on. All I know is what you told me: you beat up your boss, and he deserved it. Why?”

"Dr. Lucy Ball, Joseph's wife." Elias Morrow sighed, pointing to the person in the photograph through the glass. Joseph was the man Elias Morrow had almost killed.

"What did they do?"

"Something insane." Elias Morrow's voice turned somber. "They're the project leaders of a private think tank."

"An energy laboratory?"

“That’s right, new technology development. They wanted to find an engineer to build their design, and they said they had high hopes for me,” Elias Morrow said. “But actually, they just wanted someone who wouldn’t ask too many questions.”

"What did you build?"

"A particle generator... by their design, it's basically a machine that can create something out of nothing and break the law of conservation of mass," he said. "I don't know the principle, but I know that machine is wrong."

Wanda Maximov patted Robbie Reyes on the shoulder, gesturing for him to hand her the microphone. "Mr. Elias Morrow, I'd like to talk to you about this machine, and everything you saw there."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)