Chapter 109: Come on, Expose Yourself...

Somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Colson stepped into a small car.

“Skye, have you found the information we need?”

He glanced at the girl operating the computer beside him.

After knocking him out, Bakey had vanished.

She was one of the friends he had met while en route to Eastern Europe.

He was well aware of the identity of the girl before him.

Skye—an operative within the Rising Tide organization he had researched extensively.

The Rising Tide was an underground civilian group formed by hackers. Colson admired Skye’s computer skills and intended to use her to monitor S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence.

Skye, in turn, sought to use Colson’s resources to locate her family, leading to their temporary collaboration.

“I’m working on it, Mr. Colson.”

Without looking up, Skye continued manipulating the mouse at the computer, diving into the dark web. She opened an anonymous site and began searching.

This site was a relay station developed by the Rising Tide to bypass government surveillance. Only registered members of the organization could access it, allowing them to uncover all hidden and significant information.

After inputting the member password, she entered the encrypted site and began probing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence.

Before long, she discovered video files of Hill and Nick Fury, along with several lists.

“Mr. Colson, it seems I’ve found the information you requested.”

Soon, the related S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence was retrieved, accompanied by videos and Fury’s iconic profile picture.

The video Fury released had decent compositing and subtitles, with well-crafted hyperlinks and concealed IP addresses. Yet, to Skye, a top-tier hacker, it still felt rather crude. The message conveyed left Colson speechless.

In the video, Fury personally announced—or rather, declared while Hill was still processing matters—that S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded. As the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he revealed all information concerning its members online.

Before Hill could act, Fury had exposed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence himself.

Colson was baffled.

He couldn’t fathom Fury acting so recklessly.

Clearly, there was an ulterior motive.

Perhaps, in Fury’s eyes, everyone but himself within S.H.I.E.L.D. had become untrustworthy. Since they were no longer allies, he felt no hesitation in exposing them.

Moreover, by revealing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s members, Fury could create trouble for Hill and divert public attention.

One had to admit, Fury’s move to undermine the foundation was quite clever.

“Sir, what now? Without S.H.I.E.L.D., how do you intend to find the information I need?”

Skye’s cooperation hinged on locating her family.

“I don’t understand why everything changed so suddenly. It’s strange for such a large organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. to dissolve like this. But can you trace the link and IP address?”

What was Fury’s true motive? If all S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence was scattered across the internet, what purpose did he serve?

Still, Colson had a suspicion.

If S.H.I.E.L.D.’s exposure made the public aware of the organization and its ties to Hydra, would it shift their focus?

With the real S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, public scrutiny would likely turn to Hill.

After all, she was also a veteran of the organization.

Might there be other motives as well?

“What should we do now, Mr. Colson?”

Skye looked at him, all her attention still on finding her parents. She had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. hoping to leverage its power.

“Skye, can you track the IP address from which the video was uploaded?”

Colson pointed at Fury’s image and asked again.

He wanted to pinpoint Fury’s location.

However, after exposing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secrets, Fury would surely go into hiding, adopting new identities. As a seasoned agent, he had numerous covert contacts and safe houses. If he wished to remain hidden, ordinary people could not find him.

Thus, Skye had virtually no chance of locating Fury unless he revealed himself again.

“Skye, I promised you, but first, I need your help with something.”

Colson pondered for a moment. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded, many agents operated worldwide in small teams. He wanted to assemble his own team to carry out covert missions.

With Skye’s skills, he could efficiently track and conceal information about himself and others.

Skye thought it over, then nodded.

Her abilities alone were limited; having assistance would naturally be beneficial.

...

...

Having suppressed and dissolved S.H.I.E.L.D. and using Hill to control key institutions and forces, Roald shifted his focus back to the Infinity Stones.

It was known that there were six Infinity Stones in total. In all previous events, Roald had acquired two: the Space Stone and the Mind Stone, both firmly in his possession.

The next targets were the Reality Stone, which appeared in Thor’s solo film “Thor: The Dark World,” and the Time Stone, featured in Doctor Strange’s story.

“Initial Evolution”

Strange was someone Roald preferred not to provoke at the moment, but the Reality Stone was something he desperately desired.

Compared to the Power Stone seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Soul Stone that only appeared in “Avengers: Infinity War,” which was far from his reach, currently only the Reality and Time Stones were obtainable—and Roald could faintly sense their presence.

Each of the six Infinity Stones possessed formidable powers, and gathering them all to forge the Infinity Gauntlet would create an entity capable of wiping out half the universe with a mere snap.

Setting aside the absurdity of needing a snap to annihilate life, it would certainly claim countless souls.

Just thinking about it was thrilling.

Sending Pisinda Gosa to London to manipulate Jane Foster was all for the Reality Stone.

Also known as the Aether Particle, the Reality Stone was said to have the power to turn perceptions into reality. Its bearer could effortlessly realize any dream.

Its capabilities were so exaggerated that even Newton himself would be kicked out of his coffin, soaring into the sky with one foot stepping on the other. Neither scientific laws nor natural principles mattered in the face of the Reality Stone’s power, as it could be altered at will.

Moreover, the Reality Stone didn’t merely create illusions indistinguishable from reality; if the user wished, illusions could become real.

If Roald could use the Reality Stone to bring Kel’Thuzad’s imagined Naxxramas fortress into reality and employ the Space Stone to teleport, acquiring the remaining two stones would be much less difficult.

However, careful planning was essential because the storyline surrounding the Reality Stone might attract the Asgardians and could awaken the ancient undead king who had been slumbering in the universe for untold ages... no, it might actually stir the dormant Dark Elves.

Still, Roald had long since laid out his chess pieces.