"Who else participated in this mission?" Captain America pressed on.
Before Nick Fury could answer, Wolverine threw out another question:
"Secret War? I don't have a single memory of this in my head! What did you do to us?"
In truth, Nick Fury didn't even need to answer; their lost memories already explained the situation, but Wolverine still wanted to hear how Nick Fury would respond.
If his answer was unsatisfactory, Wolverine would drive his claws straight into Nick Fury's head, even if Batman tried to stop him.
On the side, Ms. Lucia sneered endlessly. She wanted to see how this situation would be resolved today.
Nick Fury glanced at Batman once more. Knowing Batman would speak anyway if he kept quiet, he decided to say it himself:
"Just you, Captain America, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Quake."
"Two years ago, Captain America was recovered from the Arctic glaciers. Over the next few months, I paid each of you a visit... asking for a favor."
A flash of rage crossed Wolverine's face, clearly displeased that Nick Fury hadn't answered his question.
Just as he was about to blow up, Batman spoke in a low voice:
"Logan, let him speak."
Wolverine glared bitterly at Batman. However, both of them knew that this furious glare wasn't meant for Batman, but for Nick Fury.
"Fine!" Wolverine growled from the back of his throat. Angry as he was, he chose to comply with Batman's arrangement.
"It all started when I gathered a series of intel indicating that an organization in Latveria was using high-tech weapons to arm criminals."
With Batman's hand pinned on his shoulder, Nick Fury couldn't move even if he wanted to:
"And the leader of that organization was none other than the temporary regent who took over after the King of Latveria went missing—Ms. Lucia von Bardas."
The reporter, Eddie Brock, raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the story to have another turn:
"And then? You assembled a team to overthrow Ms. Lucia's regime? What about the tragedy that killed over a thousand people?"
Eddie Brock truly lived up to his status as a reporter, refusing to let go of the tragedy.
Nick Fury fell silent.
Just as Eddie Brock was about to urge him further, Batman spoke in a deep, low voice:
"Nick Fury reported to the President of the United States that Ms. Lucia was using high-tech weapons to arm criminals, forming a terrorist organization, and posing a threat to other nations."
Batman knew that certain things were hard for Nick Fury to say objectively, but it didn't matter—Batman already understood the complete picture of the entire affair:
"The President held a secret meeting, and the final decision was to ignore the matter entirely."
"So Nick Fury, your thought at the time was that you knew better than anyone that the government wouldn't make any decisions on this."
"You believed the President wanted you to handle this matter in secret."
"Because it was top secret, you couldn't even mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D. in full force. Not only was your position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. at stake, but it was also because that was, fundamentally, a war."
Loki hid behind the police officers, sitting on a stone with his chin resting on his hand, listening with great relish.
"No mistake—a war." Nick Fury did not deny Batman's words. "In truth, that operation didn't receive support from anyone, because it was an act of terrorism."
"But the issue was, if I didn't use my own agents, then it wouldn't count as a terrorist act, but rather a secret war—a heroic deed performed by superheroes."
Captain America gripped the inner handle of his round shield tight, unable to hold himself back any longer.
He stepped forward with long strides, clenched his fist, and slammed it viciously toward Nick Fury's face.
BANG!
Under the heavy blow, Nick Fury's head jerked back uncontrollably, yet he failed to fall over. One of Batman's hands held him firmly in place like a hydraulic press.
"Continue!" After landing the punch, Captain America grabbed Nick Fury by the collar, trying to hoist him up.
However, with Batman present, Captain America couldn't manage it, so he had no choice but to let go.
"My original intention was to deter everyone by overthrowing Lucia's regime and assassinating her, but she..."
As Nick Fury spoke, he pointed at Quake, who was lying sideways on the ground. She had completely fainted and wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
"Heh." Black Widow let out a cold laugh. She knew Nick Fury better than anyone.
From Nick Fury's tone, he intended to pin the blame on Quake, sacrificing an agent to maintain S.H.I.E.L.D.'s public credibility.
"But an accident occurred with her," Nick Fury said. "Before we could even officially begin the mission to assassinate Ms. Lucia, she launched a frantic attack against the castle that none of us had anticipated."
"Heh!" Black Widow sneered repeatedly. It was just as she had thought.
"No. The order you gave was for Quake to level the place directly," Batman revealed Nick Fury's lie in a deep voice.
"You believed that mere assassination wouldn't instill enough fear of superheroes in supervillains and terrorist organizations, so you decided to give them a lesson."
"Then what was the purpose of bringing us along?" Daredevil finally couldn't help but ask.
He was glad he hadn't truly participated in that massacre, but the invasion of Hydra and supervillains today—brought about by that very massacre—had forced him to take many lives with his own hands.
No matter how one looked at it, there seemed to be no optimal solution, which was precisely the source of Daredevil's inner confusion.
"Because you are not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and you were not under my control. I needed to intimidate you as well," Nick Fury gritted his teeth and said.
"And what about our memories?! What the hell happened to our memories?!" Wolverine roared.
"Your reaction at the time exceeded my expectations. If I hadn't erased your memories of the Secret War, I was worried you would take extreme actions that were the complete opposite of being intimidated," Nick Fury said as if it were only natural.
"Nick Fury..." Wolverine nearly ground his steel teeth to dust. "Aside from mutants, no one fucking knows what I've been through better than you!"
"And yet you treat me like this? You scanned all the memories from my brain and then deleted a part of them?!"
Nick Fury looked at Wolverine:
"Yes, Logan. There were things I had to do."
"Fuck you!" Wolverine let out a enraged roar as six claws extended with a sharp SNIKT! Like an injured solitary wolf, he lunged violently in front of Nick Fury.
SQUELCH!
Without any resistance, the claws plunged viciously into Nick Fury's chest. Wolverine then ripped downward with force, tearing Nick Fury's thoracic cavity almost completely in half!
Batman still kept his hand on Nick Fury's shoulder, making no move whatsoever to stop Wolverine, remaining expressionless like a statue.
"Old Bat?!" Venom Robin's heart skipped a beat as he abruptly jerked his head up to look at Batman.
Batman was... actually helping commit a murder?!
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