The Founding of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Must attack the person using Mind Control!"

Logan seized the opening. Ignoring the pain in his bone claws, he swung with force and knocked Murasame several meters back, then accelerated into a sprint to close the distance with Yutong.

Yutong raised her eyes. The Murasame under her Mind Control lost its momentum, and even at full speed, it could not catch up to Logan.

"I win," Logan muttered. He charged to within a meter of Yutong, briefly drawing back his arm before thrusting forward with his bone claws.

Just as his sharp claws were about to fall, Yutong’s eyes suddenly shone silver. She spread her little hands slightly apart. "Boss said to always leave yourself a backup plan."

Boom—

A powerful burst of force erupted from Yutong’s body. Logan’s eyes widened as he found his bone claws halted, unable to advance even an inch. An invisible air barrier flung him away, and he fell backward onto the ground.

"So this is the psychic barrier strong enough to withstand the aftermath of a nuclear explosion? This is too…"

Before Logan could think further, Murasame behind him intensified its assault once more. The flashing blade forced him to roll aside somewhat awkwardly. The grass where he had stood was sliced apart like it had been run over by a lawnmower, leaving a bald patch behind.

"So the strongest one here isn’t the Wolf King, but Crimson Eyes?"

The children surrounding them broke into murmurs. As they watched Logan fall into a disadvantage, their gazes subtly changed.

Realizing the situation was turning bad, Logan sprang to his feet with a graceful backflip and voluntarily retracted his bone claws. Using only his hands, he grabbed the rapidly slashing Murasame.

One hand gripped the hilt, while the other seized the sharp blade without any protection. Murasame trembled and buzzed under the psychic reinforcement, invisible force tugging at it as it tried to pull free.

"Got you." Logan steadied himself and used brute force to firmly restrain Murasame.

Yutong frowned and pushed her Mind Control to its limits, yet she could not reclaim control of Murasame.

Their duel began to turn into a pure tug-of-war between physical strength and psychic power.

Logan dragged the violently trembling Murasame closer step by step, disregarding the blood flowing from his sliced palm. Refusing to concede, Yutong lifted her little face. The silver glow in her eyes faintly shifted toward red, while her black hair gently stirred at the edge of her losing control.

Just as the distance between them shrank to less than two meters, and the children watching held their breath in tense silence, a firm, steady voice suddenly came from beyond the lawn. "Stop. This ends here!"

The moment the words fell, Kyle entered the battlefield. He moved swiftly between them, placing one hand on Yutong while resting the other on Logan’s shoulder.

Panting, Logan released the Japanese sword in his hand and lay back on the ground in exhaustion. Yutong, meanwhile, had severely depleted her mental strength and went limp, only to be caught in Lucy’s arms as she hurried over.

Looking at Yutong in Lucy’s arms, Kyle lectured her. "I gave you Murasame to increase the offensive power of your Mind Control, not to limit the variety of your attacks. When Murasame was restrained just now, you could have abandoned it directly and controlled any other nearby object for a second attack."

"As for you, Logan…" Kyle pondered before speaking to Logan, who was lying on the ground. "Although Mind Control happens to counter physical-enhancement Evolvers like us, and Sodium-Carbon Steel also happens to suppress regenerative abilities, you could still have overwhelmed her much sooner with your Superman Physique and skills. You could even have used your speed to make her judgment and reactions unable to keep up with you."

This battle might have looked like a clash between immortals, but in reality, it had been far too clumsy and rigid. Neither of them had perfectly demonstrated the strengths of their abilities.

Still, through this battle, Kyle learned about the flaws in their abilities and how they could be remedied.

Yutong’s psychic ability was powerful, but her body was still too fragile. She could pair it with a Super Agent Ability Card, strengthening her physique while extending her pitifully short lifespan.

In a one-on-one fight, unless Logan encountered someone like Yutong, he could absolutely display two hundred percent of his combat ability in a pure close-quarters duel. At present, there was no suitable card for him.

"If there were enough Adamantium, I could take his body to an entirely new level. Wolverine…" Kyle mused inwardly.

Under his gaze, Logan suddenly felt his hair stand on end. He hurriedly got up from the ground, clutching his injured left palm as he said he was going to bandage it.

"Enough. Hurry back and rest. I still have guests to receive," Kyle reminded them. Only then did the people in the manor notice the three visitors standing beyond the backyard lawn.

Perhaps witnessing that inhuman battle had shattered their imagination and left them deeply shaken. They still stood there blankly, looking dazed.

Inside the manor, second-floor reception hall.

"Kyle, I thought you were one of the only Supermen in the world. I never expected there to be two more here…" Joseph said with emotion.

Fury chimed in, "Yeah! I saw Logan before in Germany, but I never expected him to be so strong. He can even extend beast-like bone claws from both hands to fight."

Howard maintained a gentlemanly smile. He was the calmest of the three. Having already seen Kyle’s various abilities, he was no longer surprised by such things.

"Kyle, how about letting that Logan from earlier, or that little girl, help me out?" Fury asked impatiently.

"What, has that department the President mentioned last time—whose purpose is to target Hydra remnants hiding around the world—been established?" Kyle asked with some interest.

"The United Nations Security Council approved the application, but the specific rules and projects have not yet been finalized, and the department’s name is still provisional. I came here to hear your thoughts as well. After all, this department was originally founded because of you." Fury looked to Kyle. "What do you think of the name ‘S.W.O.R.D.’?"

S.W.O.R.D.?

Kyle, sitting on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, stared in astonishment. It took him quite some time to recover from that name before he hesitantly said, "Wouldn’t S.H.I.E.L.D. be better?"

Fury and Howard both paused slightly, as though they had sadly recalled a certain man in a tight suit carrying a shield. Fury agreed, "Anything works. Then it will be called S.H.I.E.L.D. Its full name will be the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"This newly established S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t be just for show. The President has ordered our military to fully cooperate with this mysterious department. Even the cumbersome political procedures have all been given the green light," Joseph said with a sigh.

"After all, it bears Kyle’s title as the Symbol of Peace." Fury looked at Kyle with complete confidence and said in a deep voice, "You are currently the internal choice for director. With you there, I believe S.H.I.E.L.D. will become the strongest shield protecting world peace."

Kyle shook his head. "No one is more suitable than you for the position of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first director."

"Then you should at least take an official position, right?" Still unwilling to give up, Fury spread his hands. "Without you, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s strongest backing during its founding will be gone."

Clinging to a powerful patron—that was his true purpose.

Kyle thought for a moment, then asked Howard, "Do you hold an official position in S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Howard nodded. "They wanted to hire me as the department’s Director of Science and Technology, but Stark Industries keeps me too busy. I only agreed to serve as a technology consultant for the future strategic division."

Kyle calmly took a sip of red wine and smiled. "Then I’ll be S.H.I.E.L.D.’s future Strategic Chief Consultant."