At 6:30 AM, Nick Fury sat in his office at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the Triskelion, and received a communication via an encrypted line.
Even within S.H.I.E.L.D., very few people had the clearance to contact Director Fury directly. This time, the communication was from Agent Phil Coulson.
Speaking of Agent Coulson, he was truly the model worker of the first phase of the MCU films. Having debuted in the pioneering work Iron Man 1, his figure subsequently made guest appearances in the sets of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and even The Avengers. His high frequency of early appearances once made people suspect if S.H.I.E.L.D. only had this one field errand runner.
Moreover, this person had extremely strong professional capabilities covering an extremely wide range, including but not limited to selling Captain America merchandise, delivering packages to Iron Man, acting as security for Mjolnir, and serving as HR to trick people onto the pirate ship during the Avengers assembly...
After Coulson had his heart dug out by Loki in The Avengers 1, one would have thought this generation's model worker could finally rest in peace. Who knew that capitalist exploiter Nick Fury wouldn't even approve leave for someone about to enter the grave?
In the derivative series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury forcefully used alien black technology to drag the deceased Coulson back from the underworld to continue working overtime, continuing to write Coulson's hardcore working career where he had to return to the office on time to make coffee regardless of being shot, falling from heights, or being stabbed.
It got to the point where the positive energy radiating from that honest smiling face in the later stages simply seemed to say, "Look, brothers, 996 for the bureau really can extend your life"...
Receiving a message from Coulson at such an early hour, Fury keenly sniffed a scent of trouble.
Fury connected the call: "Coulson?"
"Director Fury, something big has happened." Coulson on the other end of the line looked serious. "Agent Sitwell, a Level 6 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, is dead... murdered."
But contrary to Coulson's expectations, Director Fury didn't show any expression of surprise.
Fury said crisply, "Come to my office."
...
Not long after, Phil Coulson arrived at Director Fury's office.
As soon as Coulson closed the door, Fury spoke.
"Tell me the specific situation," Fury said.
"Just this morning, Sitwell was found dead in his own home," Coulson said with a solemn expression. "Our people have sealed off the scene and conducted some preliminary investigations this morning. But a more specific report will have to wait for further..."
Fury interrupted: "Get straight to the point."
"Okay... preliminary investigation results indicate a close-range gunshot, one shot kill. It's speculated that the shooter was in Agent Sitwell's living room at the time."
Coulson thought for a moment and said.
"Our people are currently using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s AI to quickly screen and investigate nearby surveillance. No anomalies were found near Agent Sitwell's residence. All conventional alarms and sensors near S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' residences were not triggered either..."
Fury nodded: "An experienced veteran."
"Yes... but not without harvest," Coulson said. "Although the investigation near the residence yielded nothing, a resident one street away installed a private surveillance camera at their door.
We also retrieved the footage from that camera. Although it was only for a very short moment, that camera did capture an image of the suspected killer."
Hearing this, Fury's single eye seemed to open slightly wider, and he sat up straight.
"Show me."
Hearing this, Coulson said no more and played the recording prepared before coming here through the office projection system.
The image from the surveillance seemed immersed in an ink-blue tone. As if only in that 0.1 second, a faint red light spot flashed past the street corner—that was the tail light of a motorcycle captured as an afterimage by the camera at high speed, like the scarlet pupils of a beast in the dark.
This instant image was frozen and had been repaired by technicians using AI tools. Although still blurry, the figure could barely be identified.
Straddling the motorcycle was a tall male with messy black hair, wearing a mask and goggles on his face. However, it was vaguely visible that among the hands gripping the motorcycle, one hand was a silver-white mechanical arm.
That highly recognizable arm confirmed this person's identity.
"The Winter Soldier," Fury said in a deep voice.
S.H.I.E.L.D. files had long recorded this person. He was a super assassin, a ghost active for half a century who had assassinated many high-profile targets.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agent, Black Widow, even had a brief encounter with this person during a mission. In that operation, Natasha was shot through the abdomen, leaving a bullet scar to this day, which she jokingly said meant she "had to say bye-bye to bikinis from then on."
Fury fell into contemplation.
On the surface, Hydra had been destroyed after World War II, but as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had long sensed that things might not be that simple.
Although Fury probably couldn't imagine that the mess under his command had developed to the point of being a "Hydra Official Designated Talent Incubation Base," he had somewhat realized that Hydra's shadow still existed in the world today.
In fact, although this Winter Soldier's whereabouts were erratic and his origins uncertain, S.H.I.E.L.D. had long suspected that this guy was also a Hydra hitman.
So Sitwell was killed by Hydra?
"You go out first," Fury said.
"Yes."
Coulson nodded respectfully and exited the room.
After he left, Fury leaned back in his chair for a moment, then suddenly said: "Top Secret Mode."
The room's system accepted his command, and the lights dimmed immediately. The door was locked, the windows sealed, leaving only the ghostly blue light of the holographic image on the desk in front of Fury in the dark room.
Fury swiped his hand in the air twice, playing a recording.
The protagonist of the recording was Agent Sitwell, who was murdered earlier today.
Just in the early hours of the morning, this recording was sent to Fury, the source being Sitwell's internal S.H.I.E.L.D. email.
In the recording, Sitwell looked anxious and nervous, his face pale.
"I don't know who else I can send this to. I don't know what to do anymore. But having reached this step, if anyone can still save me, it's only you, Director Fury."
In the footage, Agent Sitwell took a deep breath.
"What I'm about to say might sound ridiculous. But there is a hidden compartment in the ceiling of my bathroom at home containing an encrypted phone. The evidence stored inside is enough to prove that what I'm about to tell you is true."
He took several deep breaths again, as if mustering enough courage to speak the following words.
"Hydra is still alive."
...
At the same time, Stark Residence.
Having taken a comfortable hot bath, Tony Stark, wearing a bathrobe, went down the stairs to his laboratory while drying his wet hair.
The laboratory door unlocked, and Tony pushed it open to enter.
Just as he walked in, he saw a figure standing abruptly in the center of his laboratory.
Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, was standing in his laboratory, his mechanical arm raising a gun, the dark muzzle pointing right at Tony's forehead.