"Officer, Osborn has turned New York into their backyard. Don't we need to investigate?"
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury was reporting to his superior.
In his view, the Osborn Group had reached the point where infiltration and surveillance were necessary. After he submitted his report, the higher-ups were initially inclined to investigate, but for some reason, they suddenly changed their minds.
"The Osborn Group's actions currently appear to be entirely within the scope of the law. Rash action carries a high risk of exposure."
"Is that so? Is the National Guard stationed in the city also within the scope of the law?"
"States have a considerable degree of autonomy. Do I need to remind you of that?"
"Isn't that exactly the reason for us to initiate the targeting plan? They control the executive and legislative branches in New York, and as for the judiciary, that popular blind lawyer recently—he is also one of Osborn's people!"
Alexander Pierce, the superior Nick was speaking to, fell silent after hearing this.
"Now they even have that thing called ctOS; they are monitoring everyone! We need to monitor Osborn."
Nick stood up, bracing his hands on the table, his eyes locked onto the person on the screen.
After a while, Alexander slowly said:
"This is why I don't want you to rashly conduct covert operations. That system greatly increases the possibility of our Agents being exposed. We cannot have a direct conflict with Osborn."
"How is the situation with the undercover Agents?"
Hearing this, Nick was silent for a moment.
"The situation has improved, but the latest reports indicate an increased risk of defection."
"How curious." Alexander sighed, though it was unclear what he was sighing about. He then turned the conversation back to Osborn. "After the last contact, it seemed he didn't have much hostility towards us. Let's stick to friendly contact for now."
The conversation ended, leaving Nick sitting alone in the office.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had made contact with Harry twice. The first time was when Natasha contacted Harry in Hells Kitchen, but he seemed to show annoyance towards Natasha.
The second time was when Agent Coulson contacted Harry at the Stark charity banquet, but the result was not ideal—he even mentioned S.H.I.E.L.D.'s underground Base in New York.
Afterward, the agency planned to move the New York underground Base to Chicago, but Chicago was also stirred up by Harry, and it had now become a loyal supporter of the Osborn Family.
It now seemed impossible to operate secretly in New York. In fact, as Osborn's power grew stronger, future operations on the U.S. East Coast might require Osborn's consent.
It was time for him, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., to step forward and make contact with Osborn.
ctOS had been operating in Manhattan for several weeks with great feedback, which accelerated the efficiency of the system's rollout in New York.
Lening was also working hard to learn from ctOS how to process data.
"Hmm, now I want to find a man who is blind in one eye, balding, and dressed properly."
Lening quickly transmitted surveillance footage of subjects matching the description to Harry as requested.
Although Harry felt that this description should only fit William Rollins in all of New York, there were actually a few people who looked like this, some of whom were young people in cosplay.
"Very well, now I want, hmm, a black man, wearing an eye patch over his left eye, wearing a black leather coat, bald. There shouldn't be any other targets this time, right?"
Soon, Harry received surveillance of the target: Nick Fury.
To his surprise, this one-eyed man was walking toward the entrance of Osborn Tower.
"Hurley, are you there? Did a one-eyed black man make an appointment to see me today?" Harry called the internal line.
"A one-eyed black man? No, I haven't seen anyone like that."
"Is that so? Well, when he arrives in a moment, just let him come up to see me."
"What? I mean, how do you know someone like that is coming to see you?"
"I saw him." Harry hung up the phone.
A few minutes later, Nick Fury, led by Hurley, arrived in front of Harry.
"Harry, the, um, one-eyed black man you mentioned. I'll go back to work now?"
Hurley's gaze kept darting between Nick and Harry, and finally, at Harry's signal, she went back to work.
Nick Fury quite naturally poured himself a cup of coffee from the beverage machine by the door and then sat on the sofa.
"I really like that snack machine. It was a project from my middle school days. Coke, coffee, tea, alcohol, and some other things—whatever you want, it's all there. Tony came by once; he likes cheeseburgers."
Harry also poured a cup of tea from the snack machine.
Nick looked at the tea in Harry's hand: "Ripe Pu'er tea, produced in East Country. I've always felt that this beverage isn't very popular among young people."
Harry shrugged: "I like Chinese culture, as you should know."
This was clearly the first time the two had met, but they acted as if they were very familiar with each other—like old friends who had known each other for years.
Nick took a sip of coffee but watched Harry without saying a word.
Harry felt that this King of Agents must be here for a showdown, but he wasn't in a hurry. If he liked to speak in riddles, Harry would play along.
"You've known about us for a long time."
"Well, that depends on how you define 'know'." Harry was in no rush. "If you mean your names and the underground Base in New York, then yes, I do know about you."
"But if by 'know' you mean planting Agents inside others and secretly monitoring them like you do, then no, I don't. Osborn has no Agents."
Harry was being conservative; in fact, he knew everything, but exposing too much right now didn't have much meaning. Even if he told Nick right now: "There is HYDRA inside your organization," and Nick went to investigate, then what?
In the plot, if not for the superhero buffs of Captain America and Black Widow, Nick would have had zero chance of turning things around.
Harry would not conflict with them now; everything had to wait until after the Battle of New York.
Howard established the Strategic Scientific Reserve after World War II, which was the predecessor to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Norman Osborn would become a completely different President after the Battle of New York—and naturally, he would have his own "bureau".
With these words, Harry wanted to convey two meanings: I am annoyed with you because you are secretly monitoring me, but the fact that I haven't exposed what you are doing is me giving you face, so don't push too hard.
And these two meanings were indeed conveyed to Nick. At the same time, he reached another conclusion: Osborn did not know as much about S.H.I.E.L.D. as he had imagined.
Although this was also what Harry wanted him to believe.
Whether it was S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA, dealing with them now would do more harm than good; non-interference was best.
Nick shifted his body like an old man who had been sitting for too long, and then produced a document from out of nowhere.
"I understand what you mean, Mr. Osborn. We can be friends."
As expected, Nick was here to extend an olive branch.
Harry took the file, relieved it wasn't a "List of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Stationed at Osborn."
That would have been a massive loss.
"Cross-species genetics research, Top Secret, S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Harry looked at Nick again. The bald man said nothing, only signaling for Harry to open it and take a look.
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