Natasha's expression was natural, but inwardly she was cursing Hawk, did he really think he could just order her around?
If she weren't still looking forward to the next Smith squat...
But Hawk's actions were indeed faster than she had expected; clearly, he was also targeting the Foot Clan, or rather, the deeper things behind the Foot Clan.
Fury turned around, his single eye sweeping over the core commanders and senior agents behind him, including Hill, Natasha, Coulson, and several other senior agents qualified for this mission.
"This investigation," his voice was low, "requires absolute secrecy and the highest efficiency. Personnel..."
He paused, his gaze sharply scrutinizing everyone present.
Hill was an excellent executor, but her workload was already saturated;
The other senior agents either had their own missions or were lingering on Fury's "suspicious list."
Fury's gaze finally settled on Natasha.
She was exceptionally capable, with a complex background, but completely under his control.
Although her performance in the Hawk incident was unsatisfactory, at this moment she seemed to be one of the cleanest and most immediately available candidates.
Natasha felt Fury's gaze, her thoughts racing.
Delay the investigation, and she must lead it herself to control the pace.
Completely blocking a full scan by a network of "Looking Glass" caliber was almost impossible, but controlling the "personnel" and "pace" of the investigation... there was still room.
She didn't speak immediately, but subtly took half a step forward, her gaze falling on the data stream of core Foot Clan members scrolling across the main screen.
A plan instantly formed.
A few seconds later, she let out a very slight, uncertain gasp.
The sound was particularly abrupt in the silent analysis room.
Fury's gaze swept over.
"Romanoff?"
Natasha seemed to hesitate, her brow slightly furrowed, pointing to a name rapidly flashing across the screen: "Director, this person... 'Razor' Carlos Montoya. A tech broker for the Foot Clan's Chicago branch."
Fury looked at the inconspicuous South American man's file: "What about him? Records show he's just a middleman."
"His file is very 'clean,' consistent with a low-level tech dealer." Natasha's tone was professionally cautious. "But last year, when I was dealing with the 'Nightingale' smuggling network in Budapest, I intercepted an encrypted communication from him. The sender used a ghost protocol with seven layers of jumps, and the recipient ID was completely wiped, but one of the anomalous jump points used an encrypted shell... its underlying code characteristics had a very high similarity to an unused experimental encryption module I found in a backup server log at Lane Technologies three years ago, when I was tracking 'Viper' in Brazil."
As Natasha spoke, she brought up the action records from that time and showed them to Fury.
"Lane?!" Fury's brow furrowed.
That name alone was enough to trigger his sensitive nerves, especially at a time involving alien high-tech and potential leaks!
"Similarity doesn't mean direct correlation, Director." Natasha immediately added, appearing calm and objective. "It might just be something Lane Technologies borrowed and modified from an open-source project in its early days, or it could just be a coincidence. But the problem is—" she changed her tack, pointing to Montoya's name on the screen, "—this encrypted shell appeared on a ghost communication jump point of a low-level broker seemingly unrelated to the Foot Clan's core, and the timing was right around when I intercepted the communication. And Hawk Lane, also known as the Traveler, is well-known for having a vast intelligence network and top resources with the Lane family. If..."
She didn't finish, but the implication was clear: if Hawk or his forces had already, through some extremely covert means, infiltrated or contacted even the outermost members of the Foot Clan, then S.H.I.E.L.D. using a large-scale, high-intensity network scan like "Looking Glass" would be akin to loudly announcing, under the nose of Hawk's potential surveillance network, "Look! S.H.I.E.L.D. has discovered the Foot Clan has alien treasures and is fully pursuing the source!"
Fury's face turned extremely grim. He seemed to see Hawk's slightly roguish yet incredibly shrewd face, hiding in the shadows of some data stream, mockingly watching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions, perhaps even using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation results to get ahead, or... set a trap.
That "annoying Lane kid," he was absolutely capable of it!
Natasha's words precisely linked his deepest fears with the most sensitive operation currently underway.
"Your concern... is very valuable, Romanoff." Fury's voice was like it came from an ice cellar. "Any shadow related to Hawk is enough to raise the risk rating of this investigation."
He was silent for a few seconds, his brain rapidly weighing options.
Having Hill use "Looking Glass" for a full scan would be most efficient, but the commotion would be too great, and the risk uncontrollable.
Others?
Who could guarantee they weren't intricately linked to Hawk or the Lane family?
Who could guarantee they wouldn't falter under the immense temptation of alien technology?
Fury's single eye finally locked onto Natasha, with scrutiny and a hint of forced reliance:
"Plan change. The 'Looking Glass' network will temporarily only be used to support peripheral intelligence and physical clue tracking, stopping direct deep scans of the Foot Clan's core network nodes."
Fury made his decision.
"Natasha Romanoff, you will be responsible for executing an independent infiltration investigation mission. The objective remains the same: trace the Foot Clan's alien technology source. But the mode of operation will be 'Lone Star' mode. You can call upon necessary resources, but all actions must prioritize stealth and counter-surveillance."
The so-called Lone Star mode meant: single reporting line (only to Fury); offline (maximum physical contact, minimizing electronic traces); and low-speed (prioritizing obtaining absolutely reliable intelligence that cannot be detected by third parties).
.