"Dr. Foster? Thor is going back? Alright, I will coordinate with the International Court, please thank Thor for his help in this incident on my behalf—Earth will always welcome him."
Thor seemed unable to stay any longer; after all, he had come to Earth with a mission this time.
As for Malekith, that matter was easy to resolve. Delaying the verdict was just to hope that Thor could learn more about Earth and cultivate some cross-species feelings.
Thor wanted to take him away, and Earthlings didn't really dare to stop him. In a sense, Earth could only be considered a vassal state of Asgard—Earthlings had only recently discovered this fact, which showed the gap in strength between the two.
Consequently, as soon as Agent Coulson woke up, he saw Harry chatting happily with members of the International Court, which left him a bit dazed.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Chairman." Harry hung up the call and said to Agent Coulson, "We meet again, Agent Coulson. How are you feeling?"
Skye, Fitz, and Simmons were watching Agent Coulson's reaction nervously from the side.
They now knew what had been injected into Agent Coulson, and what changes might occur.
Even with the support of Osborn technology, and theoretically having removed the influence of the Kree blood to the greatest extent, the group still couldn't set their minds at ease.
"Very well." Agent Coulson seemed to be waking from a long dream, and then slowly recalled the events before he fell unconscious.
Soon, he forced himself to remain calm and said:
"I assume that since you are still standing here, it means you have avoided... my god, HYDRA? They are inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Obviously, Agent Coulson's mind was still very confused.
Fitz and Simmons were chattering away, telling Agent Coulson what had happened after his disappearance, while only Skye remained silent.
Although she was relieved that Agent Coulson had woken up and appeared to have no side effects, the files Harry gave her made it impossible for her to be happy.
She was actually a "special object" 084 recorded by S.H.I.E.L.D. Not only that, but because of her, many people had died. The reason she had been wandering between different families for so many years was actually due to something like feudal superstition.
And these things had really killed people; it was S.H.I.E.L.D. that had been protecting her all along.
"Wherever this girl goes, death follows." This was the summary from the Agents in the file.
While Agent Coulson was digesting the information, Harry took the initiative to speak to Skye:
"What's wrong, feeling uneasy about being a mysterious containment object?" Harry was in a good mood now and was quite willing to play the role of a sympathetic boss.
Skye glanced at Harry: "Believe me, if you knew that you were like an 'extraterrestrial bacteria' that killed anyone who touched you, you would be like this too."
Harry nodded with deep feeling. In the original work, Skye's background was truly quite miserable. Her mother became a calculating racist after being tortured by HYDRA, thinking of exterminating humanity to leave only the Inhumans.
Her father rescued his wife, but was driven mad by the process and his wife's changes.
In the end, her mother wanted to kill her, and her father killed her mother to protect her—
All in all, it was definitely not a happy comedy family movie.
And Harry's father, Norman, was also originally going to embark on a path of no return, so he felt quite empathetic.
So he patted Skye on the shoulder: "The road ahead is long and arduous, Skye."
Skye was confused now: she was a bit lost, but what was this boss sighing about?
It was as if a hero destined to save the World in a story had met a prophet, and the prophet patted her on the shoulder and said profoundly: The road ahead is long and arduous, hero.
However, regardless of anything else, they were gathered together now for the sake of Agent Coulson.
This Agent had understood most of the situation after the explanation from the two young Agents, but to be honest, he was still a bit confused, though fortunately, the World hadn't been destroyed yet.
Harry shook his hand. This Agent had excellent expression management; even with his home gone, he could still smile so professionally.
"To be honest, you really are a great Agent. I thought you would dwell on the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone for a long time," Harry said bluntly.
"I am struggling, but I can't show it, can I? It's more surprising that you didn't arrest us—Fury is still alive, right?" Agent Coulson said.
Under the leadership of Hammer, the whole World was hunting down HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. To be honest, given the current situation, Harry could completely arrest all S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents indiscriminately.
But he didn't, which meant he knew many things—for example, that Fury was definitely not HYDRA, and not everyone inside S.H.I.E.L.D. was HYDRA.
It's just that he was wrong about one point; Harry wasn't helping them because he wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to continue to exist.
"Smart. He is indeed still alive, but there will be no S.H.I.E.L.D. in the future, Agent."
"What do you mean?" Agent Coulson's expression didn't change, he only showed confusion.
Harry operated the console, and now he pulled up Fury's communication screen.
Seeing this black egg again made Agent Coulson feel very relieved, but what he said was not so easy to accept.
"Glad to see you, Agent Coulson. What I'm about to say might be hard for you to accept, but I hope you can join Hammer."
"Understood, although this does make me feel a bit abrupt," Agent Coulson shrugged.
Everyone looked at him with some disbelief, only Harry gave Fury a wink.
This was the reason he wanted Fury to agree to the reorganization.
Fury continued: "This time it's different, Agent Coulson. I want you to truly join Hammer—there is no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, or rather, it never existed at all."
Agent Coulson was stunned; he could tell that Fury was serious.
But the words "never existed at all" made it impossible for him to accept—he started to laugh.
He paced back and forth while laughing, but it was obvious that this wasn't because the matter was funny, but out of anger:
"What are you talking about? S.H.I.E.L.D. exists. We can't just give up because HYDRA defeated us once. We are S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, protecting normal human society from being affected—this is our mission!
If S.H.I.E.L.D. never existed, then what is the meaning of all the things we've done? Are we just 'Agents of nothing'? Those Agents who died, and their sacrifices, their work—"
"Listen to me! Agent!" Fury loudly interrupted Agent Coulson's somewhat out-of-control speech.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. never existed at all. It was a product established after World War II when HYDRA infiltrated the U.S. SSR and then carried out a series of political maneuvers!
But our spirit, the philosophy of protecting humanity, our efforts—these have all existed, and furthermore, they need to be passed on!"
Fury's words calmed Agent Coulson down a little.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was established on the foundation of the SSR. Although HYDRA usurped the nest and used the SSR's base to establish S.H.I.E.L.D., the people attracted by this philosophy, and what they had done, had indeed existed.
Although it certainly wasn't very people-friendly, that's for sure.
"This is also why you need to join Hammer—Osborn, I'll leave the rest to you."
Fury cut the communication; he believed Agent Coulson could pull through.
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