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Chapter 172 - Chapter 172: The Snake’s Trap

"Then I'll trouble you."

Aetheris shook hands once again with the white policeman. After all, a little courtesy never hurt anyone.

The officer was flattered and, almost shyly, made a small request—he asked if he could take a picture with Aetheris.

Naturally, Aetheris agreed, and so Nova helped snap a photo of the two of them. In the picture, the officer was making a peace sign, looking rather trendy.

After tidying up the scene, Aetheris let out a sigh and redialed Cyclops. There was no helping it—this place had already become a police blockade zone, no longer suitable as a meeting point, unless Aetheris wanted to stage a performance with Cyclops in front of the New York onlookers.

"What? Someone tried to assassinate you?" Cyclops was stunned by Aetheris's account. The timing was far too coincidental. That very morning, Aetheris had called to say they'd meet in Central Park, and not long after, assassins were already lying in wait there.

If Cyclops hadn't been certain of his own loyalty, he might have suspected himself of being a traitor.

Aetheris, however, wasn't worried. Cyclops's loyalty and firm stance toward S.H.I.E.L.D. were beyond doubt. In the Marvel world, his integrity was second to none. Aside from his ruthless methods, lack of warmth toward subordinates, petty-mindedness, unattractive appearance, and his less-than-charming way of speaking, he was still considered a positive figure.

They agreed on a new meeting place, and Aetheris reluctantly walked over to Nova, apologizing softly,

"Nova, I promised to take you out to relax today. Who could have known something like this would happen? I'm really sorry."

Nova quickly pressed her small hand against his lips and shook her head.

"How could I ever blame you? All this time, you've been the one shielding us from the wind and rain. It's only today that I realized just how dangerous your life is. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry. I even used to complain about you with Sister Pepper."

Her words cut off abruptly as she realized she had let something slip. Aetheris had been touched at first, but the more he listened, the stranger it sounded.

So the women sat around gossiping about him?

Seeing the dangerous glint in Aetheris's eyes, Nova turned and bolted, calling out as she ran,

"I'll head back to the company first. Happy will drive me."

Aetheris waved her off, and his gear unfolded. The Mark V suit quickly deployed. With improvements from Ethan and Spider-Man, the donning speed was now under ten seconds.

Ten minutes later, Aetheris arrived at the meeting point: a barren hilltop, littered with gravel and overgrown with weeds.

He curled his lip and said,

"Couldn't you pick a spot with somewhere to sit? Out here in the wilderness, just the two of us… if someone saw us, they might get the wrong idea."

Cyclops ignored his choice of words and replied,

"I just didn't want anyone listening in. You taught me a lesson today. I didn't believe you when you said there was a mole, but now I do."

This time, Fury was speaking the truth. Aetheris had previously warned him that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., but Fury thought he was exaggerating. After all, every agent went through strict vetting before joining—political, personal, and background checks. Any flaw meant instant rejection.

S.H.I.E.L.D. dealt with the highest-level secrets, matters tied to Earth's very survival. Fury never imagined their phone calls could be tapped, and worse, the breach had come from his own side.

He didn't even dare to think about whether his past operations had also been compromised. If that was true, some of his plans would need to change immediately.

Aetheris deactivated his armor, revealing a black wristwatch. He tapped on its virtual screen a few times. Fury couldn't make sense of it and asked,

"What's that?"

Aetheris replied,

"A signal jammer. It blocks all signal detection within fifty meters. You're the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.—don't tell me you lack such basic counter-surveillance awareness?"

Cyclops gave an awkward smile. As a professional agent, it stung to be looked down on by an outsider, but Aetheris's words were logical. He really had been too careless.

But wasn't Hydra already destroyed by Captain America? Even Johann Schmidt, Hydra's head, had been sent away by the Tesseract. How could remnants of Hydra still exist?

Could it really be as their motto claimed—cut off one head, and two more shall take its place?

Cyclops rubbed his nose in embarrassment and said,

"Hey, Shi Dake, if you've got any more secrets I don't know, just spill them. I think you've already proven yourself worthy of the Avengers. On behalf of the team, I officially accept you as the first new member."

Aetheris shook his head and said,

"Not to be harsh, old Nick, but you've been doing a lousy job running S.H.I.E.L.D. The world's most secretive, top-level agency gets infiltrated, and you don't even notice. I honestly don't know how you've kept your director's seat this long. Aren't you afraid someone might slit your throat while you're asleep?"

Fury's face darkened further, his skin shining like oil. Old Nick? My name's Nick Fury. Call me Nick, or even Fury, but "old Nick" makes me sound ancient.

Still, Aetheris's words hit hard. As director, he truly had been negligent, at the very least lax in discipline and poor in management. But it wasn't entirely his fault.

As the saying goes, it's not that our army is incompetent, but that the enemy is too cunning.

Who would've thought a World War II-era organization could resurface today? No wonder background checks failed. How do you screen Hydra's children? The youngest from WWII would already be long dead, and the surviving veterans could easily and quietly recruit new members without anyone noticing.

If you stopped a random person on the street, they probably wouldn't even know what Hydra was. Humans are too forgetful, never learning from past mistakes, never heeding the lessons of history.

History repeats itself endlessly, precisely because humanity keeps stumbling into the same traps.

Seeing Fury frowning in thought, Aetheris knew he was confused and out of his depth. After all, Fury was only in his forties. Hydra, to him, was a distant shadow. Expecting someone who had never witnessed Hydra's true threat to unravel it was a tall order.

Aetheris said,

"Here's a reminder. You already have a living World War II relic at hand, don't you? If you want to know more about Hydra, ask him."

(End of Chapter)

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