A United Front Against External Threats

So-called sleepers were agents who had yet to be activated. They infiltrated the enemy from within, but normally received no contact and sent back no information. Only at a specific moment would they receive their mission.

Agents with such powerful deceptive potential often produced miraculous results, but Deep Sleepers were a step above even that. They did not know beforehand that they were undercover agents. They would be abandoned or persecuted by the very organization they belonged to, and all of it would be real, all so they could gain the enemy’s complete trust.

Using honesty as deception was a very clever method.

But then came the problem: they had truly been abandoned and persecuted, and they had not known a thing beforehand. Why would they obediently return to serve you just because you crooked a finger? Not everyone possessed the resolve to be abused by an organization a thousand times and still love it like their first love.

That was why Deep Sleeper agents were, for now, only a theory.

Thus, Carter did not quite believe Dottie. "Come on, Dottie. We all know that agents like Deep Sleepers don’t actually exist."

"Besides, we also know that Leviathen was destroyed long ago. So even if you were a Deep Sleeper, who could activate you?" Leviathen was the organization that had trained Dottie, as well as the predecessor of the Red Room that had trained Natasha.

"Leviathen was destroyed. At first, I thought so too," Dottie said in a low voice. "It was originally an independent intelligence organization established by the former Soviet Union to train agents like me."

"But after some bald man came to power, he forcibly reorganized it into the KGB. That was when I completely lost contact with it. Damn revisionists, damn bald man!" Dottie cursed, then noticed Nick Fury’s unfriendly gaze. "Don’t look at me. I wasn’t talking about you."

"I thought that bald man was already stupid enough, but then an even stupider bald man came to power. The Soviet Union collapsed. Without Motherland’s propaganda, Leviathen was finished too. Hmph! Bald men are all idiots!" She then apologized once again for speaking too bluntly. "Don’t glare at me. You’re clean-shaven, not bald."

Nick Fury thought, Maybe I should just grow my hair out from now on.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, chaos reigned everywhere. There was not only administrative disorder, but also economic depression. The new government could not even afford to pay the military, so there was no choice but to cut personnel. The KGB was awaiting restructuring, while all its subordinate departments were dismantled. That was how Leviathen disappeared.

"But on the day that strange fellow took you away, I suddenly received their contact. Can you guess what happened?"

"The department was gone, but… the people remained." Carter considered it. If Dottie was telling the truth, then the only possibility was former members of Leviathen.

After all, Leviathen had been eliminated through layoffs, not wiped out by S.H.I.E.L.D. Many of its people were still alive.

"That’s right." Dottie admitted, "Leviathen was once an extremely powerful intelligence organization. It trained many outstanding agents. You should know that very well. Like that junior of mine—she’s doing exceptionally well in your organization."

S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally knew how troublesome this former rival had been. Among S.H.I.E.L.D.’s many agents, Natasha, who came from Leviathen, was also among the best.

"So the new government could not afford to maintain Leviathen, but plenty of others wanted to support it. Aside from some people who knew too much and were secretly executed by the new government when Leviathen was disbanded, most found new paths. Some became freelance intelligence operatives, some accepted recruitment from other organizations, and of course, some still cared for their old country and were rehired by the intelligence organization of the current new government."

"Then which organization does the person who activated you belong to now?" Nick Fury asked. The Cosmic Cube had only been stolen a few days ago, yet that organization had learned of it so quickly, reacted immediately, and sent someone aboard this Helicarrier. Clearly, it was no ordinary organization.

"I only just joined, so I don’t know much about that organization. But I can be sure that it has exceptional methods. They gave me my current abilities. They allowed me to turn my former fear into strength," Dottie answered.

Dottie had been deeply afraid of Shadow Power. After she was taken away, Saloras’s enhancement plan for her was to directly infuse her body with powerful Shadow Power. Not only could it grant her strength, it could also help her overcome her former mental weakness.

And Dottie had indeed gained many unusual abilities. For example, the ability to turn into black smoke allowed her to instantly elementalize herself, dispersing her body into a mass of shadow elements.

Her sniper rifle was also similar to Carter’s Havoc. It required no ammunition; she simply channeled the shadows within her body into the gun and fired them.

"The name of that organization." Nick Fury grew even more anxious. That organization was not only well-informed, but also highly knowledgeable about human modification. It gave him a bad feeling, reminding him of a mysterious company.

"The name of that organization is…" Dottie slowly turned around and revealed the armband on her sleeve to them. "Umbrella Corporation."

"Damn it!" Nick Fury muttered as he looked at the red-and-white emblem. Umbrella Corporation, which had not shown itself for so long, had chosen this critical moment to cause trouble. What exactly was its purpose?

"What is your—or rather, your company’s—objective?" Nick Fury asked.

He did not expect to gain much information about Umbrella Corporation. Dottie’s experience joining Umbrella Corporation was practically like being hired as a temporary worker specifically for the job, and the remnants of ** would likely not look kindly upon a former Soviet Union agent. In Umbrella Corporation’s eyes, she might be nothing more than a dispensable presence.

What he did not know was that most of Umbrella Corporation’s personnel were aboard this ship, and the person he had deemed ignorant actually knew every director of Umbrella Corporation.

"A united front against external threats." Dottie answered decisively. "The person who took care of me anticipated that you would ask this, and told me to pass on a message…"

Dottie thought for a moment about the words Saloras had told her while watching Approaching Science, then adopted a different tone. "Our company may have some grievances with S.H.I.E.L.D., but we are all human. When facing an extraterrestrial threat, we should stand together. And if Earth is occupied by aliens, none of our company’s goals can be achieved."

"She also said that this is our company’s goodwill. If you do not accept it…"

"What happens if I don’t accept it?" Nick Fury asked. He did not like the threatening undertone in her words.

"If you do not accept our goodwill, we will immediately launch Operation Valkyrie," Dottie said coldly. "The Helium-3 Cannon, Ragnarok, has already been loaded. We will carry out saturation strikes on any possible location of the Cosmic Cube."