Although the nuclear crisis was quietly extinguished by Makima behind the scenes, the fact that New York nearly fell into ruins still left the politicians of the World Security Council in desperate need of a vent.
Without a doubt, Nick Fury became the best punching bag.
On the holographic projection screen, a male councilman slammed the table, roaring with spit flying everywhere.
"Fury! You claim to possess the world's most rigorous intelligence network, so can you explain to me now why so many monsters that aren't in the files at all suddenly appeared on the streets of New York?!"
"Pure white stone statues tens of meters tall! Face monsters with hundreds of hands! There was even a living Angel?!"
"What's next? Is Jesus going to descend on Manhattan to reshape the human world?!"
The councilman became more agitated as he spoke.
"Now Twitter and YouTube are full of high-definition videos taken by citizens, and the Cybersecurity Department can't even delete them fast enough! Your so-called secrecy agreement is now just a piece of waste paper! And your S.H.I.E.L.D. knew nothing about it before this?!"
Fury's one-eyed dark face was now so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.
In fact, there was no need for the councilman to ask; he himself wanted to know where these living ancestors had suddenly sprung from.
Attending as a temporary adjutant, Makima stood quietly in the shadows throughout.
She knew very well that when the boss was being scolded, all she needed to do was remain silent.
It wasn't until the communication was disconnected and the two were walking one after the other in the empty metal corridor of the mothership that Makima finally spoke.
"Director Fury."
She stopped in her tracks.
Fury also turned around, staring at her intently with his remaining eye.
"Dr. Banner and Thor's successive loss of control was indeed beyond everyone's expectations." Makima used her uninjured left hand to gently tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear, her tone calm. "But I still believe your Avengers initiative is a very wonderful plan."
If anyone else had said such things at this critical juncture, Fury would only think they were flattering him.
But the person speaking was Makima...
Fury's brow furrowed. He didn't take the bait, just quietly waiting for her to continue.
"It's just..."
Makima shifted her tone, a barely perceptible glint flashing in her pale green eyes. "They indeed lack some necessary restraints. In case something goes wrong again in the future... I think it's necessary for S.H.I.E.L.D. to retain some countermeasures against the Avengers..."
"What do you think?"
The air in the corridor fell silent for a few seconds.
Fury was a supremely clever old fox; how could he not hear the underlying meaning in Makima's words?
He looked at the red-haired woman in front of him, whose arm was still in a cast and who seemed harmless, and let out a long sigh.
Hulk and Thor's rampages had indeed left Fury with lingering fears.
If he had adopted Makima's contingency plan earlier, perhaps the losses in Manhattan could have been halved.
"I understand what you mean, Makima."
Fury pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice carrying an irrepressible weariness.
"Fine, I approve. You can go ahead and prepare your Thunderbolts."
Hearing this, a slight curve finally formed at the corners of Makima's mouth.
Working with smart people indeed saved her a lot of trouble.
Fury had agreed very readily this time.
Firstly, S.H.I.E.L.D. urgently needed a Plan B outside of the Avengers. If the Avengers lost control again or encountered an event they couldn't handle, there had to be a "team hidden in the shadows," as Makima put it, to provide emergency backup and act as a check.
Just as Makima said, if Abomination had been on the scene when Hulk went on a rampage, the situation would have been completely different.
On the other hand...
"Listen, Makima."
Fury took a step forward. "In the eyes of many, including Stark and Rogers' group, you already died in the line of duty during the previous carrier attack. To avoid affecting the big picture, you must continue to remain dead and absolutely cannot appear before them."
"Understand?"
Having an elite Agent who was nominally dead move into underground work to assemble a team that couldn't see the light of day.
This was the most perfect arrangement at the moment, and it could be considered giving the hidden Makima something productive to do.
If he didn't drain this woman's energy, Fury was also afraid Makima would try to stir up more trouble...
Fury had always had an intuition—that this woman... was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
"Furthermore, cut off all private contact with Coulson, Natasha, and the others." Fury added coldly, "From today on, your security clearance is officially raised to Level 8. Within S.H.I.E.L.D., anyone below Level 8 will know nothing of your survival."
"Understand?"
"I fully understand, Director." Makima lowered her head slightly, her tone as submissive and well-behaved as ever.
A well-behaved and sensible good woman.
Watching Fury's back as he strode away, the pleasant smile in Makima's lowered eyes finally rippled out.
Everything was progressing perfectly in the direction she and Su Modie had anticipated.
Through this Battle of New York, Makima had officially stepped into the true core of power in S.H.I.E.L.D. without shedding a drop of blood.
Under normal circumstances, even for a very outstanding elite Agent, rising to Level 8 clearance would require at least ten years of risking one's life for S.H.I.E.L.D., with illustrious military achievements and unwavering loyalty. But Makima had only taken a mere six months...
This was certainly because she had used this "fake death plan" to outmaneuver Fury, going with the flow to seize his weakness, but there was an even deeper reason—Makima wasn't just very outstanding, she was super outstanding.
This was something that had received unanimous praise from Su Modie, Fury, Pierce, and others.
Hmm... Level 8. Going further up to Level 9 and Level 10, those would be the positions of deputy director Hill and Director Fury.
Makima thought this as she pushed open the door with her left hand and walked straight to her brand-new desk.
Although she had been declared dead to the outside world, a new classified office had already been prepared for Makima.
In the center of the desk lay several thick stacks of top-secret manila folders.
Makima leaned back lazily into the leather chair and casually flipped open the top file—inside were several high-definition candid photos of various individuals, along with background information and ability assessments detailed to an infuriating degree.
These were all potential targets she had carefully selected after observing through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network for a long time.
Looking at those faces in the photos, some defiant, some extremely cunning.
Makima rested her chin on one hand, her fingertips lightly tapping on the desk.
That look in her eyes was like picking out a new dog to put a collar on in a pet shop.
"Let's start with you..."
Makima, with her innate civil servant's constitution, had already seamlessly and methodically begun scouting for "good dogs" for her new department, just hours after an epic disaster like the Battle of New York had concluded.
One could only say that Makima truly lived up to being the most worry-free Villainess under Su Modie's command.
Meanwhile, as Fury, who had an innate scapegoat's constitution.
After enduring half an hour of bombardment from politicians on the Helicarrier and arranging the new job for Makima, he didn't even have time for a sip of water before hurrying toward a National Cemetery on the outskirts of Washington in the dim twilight.
Many people were already waiting for him here.
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