S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Lifelong Enemy

"Are you talking about this organization?"

"Yes."

"No."

Emilia shook her head and then said, "I never dealt with these things. Before, Craven handled these matters. I remember it was about forty years ago. Craven reported this matter to me. At that time, the Volturri Immortal Royal Family had signed a non-aggression pact with this organization, so I had Craven follow up. Since then, Craven has been the one dealing with this organization."

Lake stroked his chin.

Forty years ago.

Around 1960?

S.H.I.E.L.D. also seemed to have been established around this time. This meant that the European branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. had contacted Emilia and the Volturri Immortal Royal Family as soon as it was established.

Lake wasn’t surprised.

One of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Peggy Carter, the lover of Captain America, Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers had assembled the famous Howling Commandos during World War II.

The Howling Commandos at that time were full of talent.

As Captain America’s lover, it was normal for Peggy Carter to inherit the Howling Commandos. Moreover, when S.H.I.E.L.D. began establishing branches everywhere, the members of the Howling Commandos helped a lot.

Mages.

Wizards.

Vampires.

Werewolves.

Admittedly, Steve Rogers had a unique charm. Otherwise, so many different races wouldn’t have formed the Howling Commandos around him.

Unfortunately, there was only one Steve Rogers. Later, after Peggy Carter led the Howling Commandos in the early days, the members of the Howling Commandos returned to their homes and lived in seclusion after Peggy Carter resigned.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had a promising future at the start, but unfortunately, it didn’t seize that promising future.

Lake thought to himself.

This explanation was reasonable.

But…

While this explanation could clarify why European S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about Emilia, it couldn’t explain why they knew about him. Moreover, if European S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about this matter, why didn’t they directly approach Emilia?

…Right.

Craven, who was responsible for liaising with secular organizations, had passed away.

At this moment.

The phone in the ancient castle rang.

Lake glanced at the satellite phone ringing in his hand. It wasn’t List’s number, so he handed it directly to Emilia.

The call was connected.

On the other end of the line, Catalan, who had been promoted to Prime Minister by Emilia and was currently at the Paris headquarters, respectfully said, "Queen, the secular Security Council has sent a request through the Volturri family, hoping to meet with the Queen."

Emilia glanced at Lake, who nodded subtly. Emilia directly said, "Have Selena handle it."

Catalan acknowledged.

He hung up the phone.

The next second.

The phone rang again.

Emilia glanced at it and handed it to Lake. "Yours."

Lake took it, looked at the number, and answered, "Mr. List."

List on the other end of the line said, "We’ve found out. The information about Mr. Black King was sent from the European branch of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the source of this document is quite interesting."

Lake raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

List hummed and then said, "That document was transmitted via S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite. The origin was at the London S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, but the point of dispatch to the European S.H.I.E.L.D. branch was on a cargo ship in the open sea."

Lake blinked.

He stood up.

He walked outside to the hall and looked up at the sky.

"Alexander Corvinus?"

"Yes and no."

List said, "After Mr. Black King provided us with such important intelligence, we didn’t act immediately. Instead, we signaled the European S.H.I.E.L.D. branch to conduct a preliminary investigation. Strangely, our people at the European branch sent a message saying that the European branch took no action. The investigation report has already been written and sent to headquarters."

Lake: "…"

Good heavens.

Did this mean that Alexander Corvinus’s influence had also extended into S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Huh.

Wait.

Why did I say "too"?

Lake blinked, his expression turning a bit odd.

Hydra’s Alexander had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

This immortal Alexander had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.’s European branch.

Impressive.

Could it be that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s lifelong enemy is named Alexander?

Lake’s expression shifted back to a slightly strange one as he shook his head at List on the other end of the phone, saying, "Mr. List, your intelligence work seems a bit…"

List’s expression on the other end also wasn’t great.

Let’s put it this way.

List had previously thought their organization was the only one lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D., but suddenly, upon receiving Lake’s clue worth a hundred million, they also discovered that their organization wasn’t the only one operating within.

This was utterly ridiculous.

List shook his head and gave a wry smile, "Mr. Black King, our organization is currently conducting a secret investigation into the specific situation. I only found out after making this call."

Lake said it was fine and then hung up the phone.

They had been cooperating so pleasantly for some time now, and Hydra understood Lake’s temperament well enough to know what should and shouldn’t be said.

Moreover, Hydra had considered this matter carefully before deciding to tell the truth. Sometimes, honesty builds mutual trust and lays a good foundation for better cooperation.

This was quite interesting.

After hanging up the phone, Lake chuckled and shook his head, unable to help himself.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Budapest Office.

Coulson hung up the phone and then said to Natasha, who was not far away, "It’s done."

Natasha asked, "So quickly?"

Coulson nodded. Thinking about Natasha’s S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance level, he walked directly to his office, closed the door, and then said to Natasha, "After the European S.H.I.E.L.D. branch was established, European S.H.I.E.L.D. signed a non-aggression pact with the supernatural beings living here. This was also authorized and approved by the Security Council at the time."

This time, Emilia’s contact had hung up.

So, European S.H.I.E.L.D. directly contacted the liaison for the Volturri Immortal Royal Family in Italy. After extending S.H.I.E.L.D.’s regards, they asked the Volturri Immortal Royal Family to act as an intermediary to help them contact Emilia.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s purpose is to help ordinary people filter and screen the information they can and cannot know.

The Volturri Immortal Royal Family’s philosophy, in a way, was similar.

They also didn’t want much contact with ordinary people; more contact meant greater risk of exposure. Furthermore, they had cooperated with European S.H.I.E.L.D. several times. For instance, some vampires who broke the rules were sometimes located using the European S.H.I.E.L.D. system, and then the Royal Family’s law enforcement would directly apprehend them at their destination.

Therefore, the Volturri Immortal Royal Family did not object to acting as an intermediary.

Coulson said to Natasha, "European S.H.I.E.L.D. just said they’ve contacted the newly appointed Prime Minister here."

"Prime Minister?"

"Yes."

Coulson said, with a sense of dreamlike disbelief, "Emilia, the sole survivor of the three elders, naturally became the sole Queen of the vampires. The Prime Minister is responsible for handling tribal affairs for the Queen."

Natasha frowned, "This matter…"

Originally, three people governed. Now that the other two were dead, only one remained.

This was clearly a case of insiders harming insiders.

Coulson shook his head, "We don’t know what the truth is. I’m afraid only the recently enthroned Vampire Queen Emilia knows the real truth. European branch received news from elsewhere that the previous Prime Minister had secretly colluded with a Werewolf. The Werewolf wanted to kill the three vampire elders, while the previous Prime Minister wanted to become king himself. In the end, this previous Prime Minister was betrayed by the Werewolf. Two vampire elders were killed, and when they attacked Emilia, she powerfully suppressed them."

Natasha’s eyes flickered, "But, the Black King arriving here at this time, and then this happening, with his woman becoming the last one standing, that’s clearly suspicious."

Coulson said, "European branch has very little information about this Black King. As for other aspects, the information obtained is also scarce. The Black King first appeared about thirteen years ago. At that time, Emilia, who was in power, adopted a son and a daughter, claiming they were adopted by her and her lover. For the next thirteen years, the Black King would stay here annually from February to the end of May or June. Even thirteen years ago, Emilia moved out of her suburban estate and into the massive ancient castle in the Cornom Mountains, which was an asset under VAM."

Natasha nodded.

After Coulson finished speaking, he walked over to his desk, picked up a document, and looked at Natasha, saying mysteriously, "Want to see the most interesting part?"

Natasha looked up at Coulson.

"Lake Edwin, you remember him, right?"

"Of course!"

Natasha snorted. The agents who participated in the New York operation clearly and firmly believed that Maureen Hand was assassinated through the inside job of the cold-blooded and merciless Lake Edwin and this mysterious killer, the Black King.

But…

They had no evidence.

Not a shred.

Lake wasn’t the killer. At the time of the incident, Lake was sitting next to them – irrefutable proof that Lake wasn’t the one who acted.

There was also no evidence against the killer, the Black King. Although the Black King had just admitted it, as he himself said, even if he admitted it now, it would be useless in court. They had no direct evidence to prove that the Black King was the one who fired the shot.

Coulson chuckled, looking at the information he had found, and raised a finger towards Natasha.

Natasha frowned.

Had he discovered something significant?