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"Maximoff, did you eliminate Steve and the others?"
Tony and Steve had just returned to Skull Island when Baron Strucker called Wanda via her communication station. Today's events weren't really Strucker's concern—he just wanted to test the siblings' combat capabilities, deliberately choosing Captain Steve as their opponent. As a side benefit, it also helped Hydra get rid of that pesky Captain.
"Mr. Strucker, I'm sorry we let them escape. Iron Man arrived later, and to avoid unnecessary complications, we decided to withdraw temporarily," Wanda said over the call. There was a brief pause, but despite her words, her expression didn't show any real concern over the mission's failure.
Although Hydra had attempted to brainwash Wanda and Pietro using the Mind Stone after discovering they were the only successful cases, the process didn't really work. Their powers originated from the Mind Stone itself, making them resistant to such control.
The reason they now served Hydra was partly gratitude for the powers they'd received, and partly because they still didn't fully understand the nature of the people they were helping.
At the time, the Avengers were seen abroad as saviors and law enforcers in New York. But to Wanda and Pietro, anyone allied with Tony Stark was evil. Influenced by multiple factors, they chose to attack Steve and his team.
However, Wanda kept one thing hidden: their retreat wasn't because Tony and Steve had defeated them. It was because she saw, through Tony, the means to destroy the Avengers and the potential to drag Tony himself into ruin.
They hated Tony, Wanda, Pietro, and all Avengers members. So if the Avengers could be eliminated, Wanda and Pietro would have been glad to do so.
"Since the mission failed, you should come back first."
Hearing the information she wanted, Wanda couldn't help but smile.
While Wanda spoke to Baron Strucker, a SHIELD agent secretly dialed a garbled number.
"Fury, SHIELD has been destroyed, and your three space carriers have been submerged."
"Cough… do you know who did this?" Although Nick Fury had narrowly survived the call and faked his death to evade all surveillance, his health was evidently fragile.
"I have no solid leads, but I think you should know who did it. After all, it seems only one person in the world could accomplish this in such a short time."
"Cough… I heard SHIELD sent people to bomb Skull Island this morning. Those guys really aren't afraid to die."
"Although there's no proof, the people who died inside SHIELD today appear to be those we previously suspected of being Hydra. I really don't know how he identified them." The agent thought of the corpses being carried out—their bodies were incinerated as if by some laser-like weapon.
"Let's not talk about this anymore, cough… where are Steve and Natasha now? I want to see them."
"Understood. If they return, I'll bring them to you."
"Alright, we'll leave it at that for now. We'll be in touch, cough…"
"Okay, take care of yourself."
After hanging up, the agent glanced at his phone and then at the ruined SHIELD Triskelion base beside him.
In fact, after being attacked, Nick Fury already knew the identity of the assailant. From their actions, he also suspected Hydra might launch a final full-scale assault.
Because he didn't know whom inside SHIELD he could trust, Fury immediately considered seeking foreign aid—and the only viable option was Clark.
After all, Fury wouldn't think of Hydra. Among those capable of directly defeating Hydra, Clark was basically the only one who met all the requirements.
So after Steve was attacked, Fury went to him immediately and handed over the most crucial clues. Fury believed that if anything happened to him, Steve would not be able to recover on his own.
Outside of SHIELD, the only external help Steve could call upon was Clark.
Fury had a rough idea of what was on the USB. He figured that if Hydra knew Skull Island held such a valuable item, and Superman was about to obtain it, they might try to destroy the USB first.
After visiting Skull Island once, Fury was convinced Hydra couldn't destroy it. And if they did act against the island, the next thing they would face was Superman's wrath.
Although Fury didn't know Clark's current strength, he was confident Clark could handle the Hydra threat that would soon appear.
In the end, Fury was wrong. He hadn't expected Clark to bypass waiting for Hydra to reveal themselves and instead storm the SHIELD base, killing all suspected Hydra members inside.
With all suspected Hydra members eliminated, Fury realized SHIELD now needed a leader—someone who could, through personal charisma alone, take control of SHIELD from the remaining Hydra operatives.
As for himself, as someone presumed dead, Fury decided it was best not to appear publicly. He could monitor SHIELD operations from elsewhere and identify the internal traitors.
Fury concluded that Steve was the most suitable candidate.
After receiving updates from SHIELD HQ, Fury instructed the agent to bring Steve to him after their encounter because he had much to discuss.
"Clark, we found them. The siblings are currently in Sokovia."