Revoked S.H.I.E.L.D. New York Center (Third Bonus Update, Please Subscribe in Full!!!)

Even though Nick Fury was silver-tongued enough to come back from the dead, he had spent a long time unable to find any excuse to refute Secretary Kelly’s three questions that struck directly at his weaknesses.

At the beginning, Victoria Hand had already told him that Lake had handed all investigative authority over to S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. had suspected there might be some conspiracy, but after thinking it over for a long time, they had found nothing.

Hulk?

Indeed, that was the case. After all, the information they had received from S.H.I.E.L.D. London about the one-eyed demon giant was related to what they were dealing with this time. That was why they had wanted the military to cooperate with the operation. It had been a win-win situation, and the military had not refused at first.

When all was said and done, the worst part was the third question.

The fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. had opened fire on Hulk was indisputable. There was no room for argument.

After all, Hulk’s height advantage was right there. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had seen Hulk for the first time had already done quite well to remain restrained. But when Hulk faced them head-on, it was a severe test of their mental fortitude.

If Hulk had been facing a group of ordinary people, they probably would have already dropped to the ground in submission. But Hulk had been facing a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from a secret organization, all of them armed with guns.

And so…

The gunpowder had exploded on the spot.

That was what Nick Fury thought as he took a deep breath and said directly to Mr. President, "Mr. President, the most urgent matter right now is that escaped…"

Secretary Kelly interrupted him once again and looked toward Mr. President. "The mayor and governor of New York have already stated that the federal government must provide an answer for this matter. Mr. President, I suggest that we immediately freeze all the authority of S.H.I.E.L.D. New York, suspend it on the spot, and have it undergo a disciplinary investigation by New York State."

Nick Fury’s eyes widened. "Suspend it? There’s a demon rampaging through the skies over New York right now."

How was anything supposed to work without S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Secretary Kelly said expressionlessly, "If S.H.I.E.L.D. had not been involved in this matter, I believe that destroyed district would never have appeared."

With that, Secretary Kelly said to the president, "Mr. President, this case involves a terrorist attack. It should rightfully be handled by the Department of Homeland Security."

Mr. President looked at Secretary Kelly. "Can you handle it?"

Secretary Kelly said, "I believe Director Lake Edwin can handle this incident properly."

"That’s a demon."

"When did S.H.I.E.L.D. switch careers and become exorcists?"

"…"

That afternoon.

Lake held another video call with Secretary Kelly.

"Secretary!"

"Lake."

Secretary Kelly appeared on the large screen again. "Congratulations. The case has returned to your hands."

Lake raised an eyebrow.

Had the result of the investigation already come out?

Was S.H.I.E.L.D. in danger?

Lake asked, "Secretary, has S.H.I.E.L.D. finally been abolished?"

Secretary Kelly shook his head directly. "No. But starting now, S.H.I.E.L.D. New York will immediately cease all activities, have all its authority frozen, and submit to questioning and investigation by the Special Prosecutor appointed by Mr. President. Even if the investigation proves that S.H.I.E.L.D. New York has done nothing wrong, it will still be transferred back to Washington."

Lake rubbed his chin. "This result…"

Secretary Kelly said, "S.H.I.E.L.D. still has value as an organization, so it won’t be abolished that easily. However, on your land, S.H.I.E.L.D. will no longer have any chance to interfere. Director Edwin of the Supernatural Activity Detection and Action Bureau."

Lake was slightly stunned when he heard that.

"The Supervisory Bureau?"

"On the surface, the Supervisory Bureau can take over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s functions in New York State. As for other places, well, our Department of Homeland Security isn’t afraid of S.H.I.E.L.D. either. Do a good job, Lake."

"…Understood, Secretary."

"Good."

S.H.I.E.L.D. still had value as an organization?

What value?

The Eastern Kingdom, Russia, and the Federation had no soil left for S.H.I.E.L.D. to survive in, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had been founded by the five major powers. It could not meddle in the affairs of those five major powers, but when it came to other countries, its authority—personally endorsed by the Security Council—was still useful.

Perhaps that was why the Federation did not want to abolish S.H.I.E.L.D.

After a while.

Lake smiled. After all the twists and turns, the case had still returned to his hands. He had been somewhat surprised by that, but at the same time, it had been within his expectations.

Surprised?

Only Lake knew that he had already been considering doing the work for free and handing the credit for killing the demon over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

But S.H.I.E.L.D.’s actions had nearly thrown out his back.

Lake reckoned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken the case because they believed that, whenever they encountered an issue they could not resolve, Gemini’s Saga would appear just as he had when he showed up at the Manhattan building.

Unfortunately, they had guessed wrong.

The first time Lake had acted was because the case belonged to the Department of Homeland Security, so Saga had appeared.

After that.

As for the rampaging Hulk, unless Saga also went all out, the price would be Lake becoming one of the executioners who destroyed the district.

Unless he used an item.

But why should he?

It was the same old story.

When facing S.H.I.E.L.D., Lake could already be considered immensely merciful if he refrained from kicking them while they were down. Did they really expect him to clean up S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mess?

In broad daylight, what kind of ridiculous daydream were they having?

Now?

There was no doubt about it.

The irrelevant parties had already been eliminated. It was time to let the true radiance—the Saints who symbolized love and justice—protect this city.

The call ended.

A Homeland Security agent stared at the live satellite image of New York City and spoke up. "Sir."

Lake stopped just as he was about to turn around and looked toward the large screen.

On the large screen.

Iron Man came howling through the sky above Long Island, then landed firmly in the Long Island wind power station with a boom.

Lake raised his brows.

He had almost forgotten about this fellow who had spent nearly the entire previous night sitting on the sidelines.

That was what Lake thought as he turned and walked out of the Operations Center.

That evening.

It had come?

The Department of Homeland Security could find out about these matters. There was no doubt that the exceptionally intelligent Tony Stark could find them out as well. Just as Tony Stark adjusted his armor again and prepared to lie in wait, Tony opened his eyes and saw a silver Porsche Cayenne approaching from the distance, honking its horn.

Beep beep!

Lake honked once, then got out of the car with Saga, who had come along in the passenger seat, and said to Tony in the distance, "Tony, what are you doing here?"

Tony’s gaze fell on Saga, who was wearing a suit beside Lake, completely ignoring Lake. "You came?"

Lake’s mouth twitched.

Good grief.

Am I transparent?

Saga looked up at the sky. "It’s almost dark. You should leave. Staying here is completely pointless."

Tony said, "Since you’re so powerful, why didn’t you show up yesterday?"

Saga’s expression remained indifferent. "I was asleep."

Tony: "…"

Asleep?

Tony opened and closed his mouth. He felt completely speechless at this exchange with Lake.

But…

Tony had actually felt that he shouldn’t have brought up last night the moment he said it. The difference between Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. was that he did not push the blame onto others.

Why should he expect Saga to come out last night?

But…

Tony felt somewhat guilty about what had happened the previous night. He had originally thought that now that he had the armor, it could do something beneficial in his hands. But then he had suddenly discovered that, during yesterday’s battle, it had not performed the way he had imagined it would. He had spent nearly the entire time sitting on the sidelines.

That reminded Tony of something else.

Tony glanced at Lake, who was leaning against the hood, then looked at the handsome, golden-haired Saga and said, "Is it really possible to become like you by throwing ten thousand punches in a row?"

Saga glanced at Tony, whose mask had opened, then turned his head toward Lake. "You told him?"

Lake shrugged. "Who told you to ask everyone you meet whether they’ve sensed the power of the Cosmo? He asked me, and I happened to know the answer, so I told him."

Saga nodded and looked back at Tony. "So, have you felt it?"

Tony’s trigeminal nerve throbbed. I’m asking whether throwing ten thousand punches will do it, and you’re asking whether I can feel it. Feel my ass.

Actually, after returning home the previous day, Tony had given it a try. But by the time he reached the 125th punch, Tony had already felt that this was completely pointless. Jarvis had also spoken up at the time, stating that according to the existing data, throwing ten thousand punches in a row would only cripple both his arms. It would not awaken anything else.

Although he now knew that gods existed, Tony Stark was still that same genius of technology.

Lake, who was over there, looked up at the sky and said to Tony, "Hey, it’s almost dark. Hurry up and leave. If you don’t, be careful—you might not even get to play an extra this time."

Saga turned his head toward Lake. "Did you contact that fellow?"

Lake put on an act. "I left him a message. Who knows whether he saw it?"

Saga said, "If he doesn’t come, with my current level of cultivation, I won’t be able to keep him here."

Lake nodded. "I’ll remind him later. It’s fine. We still have some margin for error. At worst, we’ll let Hell Gate open. Someone will clean up the mess then."

Tony stood nearby, listening with a completely bewildered expression.

Lake had no intention of giving Tony time to think. He could already sense the dark power approaching. "Are you leaving or not? I’m leaving if you are. If you die, don’t expect me to care."

After saying that.

When Tony did not respond, Lake got into the car, reversed, and drove outside the cordon that had already been established.

Tony watched the car’s taillights as they drove away without slowing down. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Coward!"

Wait…

Was this really the same man who had dared to face the Winter Soldier one-on-one in an underwater tunnel for the sake of a case?

Lake withdrew his consciousness from his clone and returned it to his main body, which was disguised as Saga. His eyes were deep as he stared at the mass of black mist howling toward them from afar. "He’s much stronger than me."

Tony frowned. "Lake?"

Lake did not speak again.

Rumble!

The black mist coming from the distance tore through space and crashed into the ground of the wind power plant with a boom, like a meteor.

Black Heart Demon, his face twisted with arrogance, walked out of the dissipating black mist and stared expressionlessly at Lake. "You again."

As for Iron Man beside him?

Without a doubt, he was once again ignored in the most spectacular fashion.