The Founding of the Immortal Royal Family

"Previously, when I was investigating this Lake Edwin, I came across some very interesting information."

"…"

Natasha looked at Phil Coulson, who seemed to be deliberately building suspense, and shook her head. She then said to Coulson, "Phil, can you beat me?"

Coulson replied without hesitation, "Of course not, I can’t!"

Natasha nodded, agreeing with Coulson’s statement, and then said, "If you keep being mysterious, believe me, your nose will bleed."

"…"

Coulson opened his mouth, looked at Natasha, who had a serious expression, and chose to back down. He handed the document in his hand to Natasha: "Take a look at this. This is Lake Edwin’s leave record from when he was with the NYPD."

Natasha took the document and looked at it.

The next second.

Natasha frowned as she looked at the leave record on the document.

During Lake’s tenure at the NYPD, except for the last year, which was last year, he did not take any leave. In the past few years, he had been taking leave from the end of January to mid-June every year.

"This…"

Natasha looked at Coulson, opened her mouth, as if she had thought of something, then shook her head as if she hadn’t thought of anything: "We already know that Lake Edwin and the Black King are very close."

Yes.

This document could only prove that much.

Lake Edwin and the Black King were two different people; this was beyond doubt. There were many proofs and eyewitnesses to support this. During the Black King’s activities, Lake had an ironclad alibi.

Moreover!

Natasha and Coulson had just seen the Black King. In their sight, the Black King and Lake, apart from their shared preference for wearing suits, had completely different facial structures and features.

What people see is not determined by their eyes, but by their brains.

This was the principle behind the Disguise Glasses.

They didn’t directly change Lake’s appearance, but by altering people’s brains, they made them imagine Lake’s desired appearance, thus achieving a perfect disguise effect.

Coulson looked at Natasha, his words somewhat fanciful: "But, is it possible that they are the same person?"

Natasha first let out a laugh.

The next second.

Natasha directly shook her head: "Don’t forget, last year, when this Lake Edwin was still at the NYPD, he didn’t take any leave. Also, this time, Lake Edwin attended the law enforcement security conference a few days ago in New York."

Coulson sighed: "Yes, but what about the previous years?"

Alright.

After Lake’s countless alibis, this only correct answer was directly ruled out.

Natasha raised an eyebrow and looked at Coulson: "You’re saying, maybe in the previous years, Lake Edwin was secretly helping the Black King plan this matter?"

Coulson looked at Natasha.

Natasha stood up, pursed her lips, and said, "The reason we know the Black King is here is not because the European S.H.I.E.L.D. told us, but because S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters’ intelligence department discovered that a federal satellite had been deliberately redirected over Budapest. We only noticed this place after we knew it was an operation by the Department of Homeland Security’s New York office, didn’t we?"

Coulson nodded and continued along Natasha’s train of thought: "Yes, the New York Operations Command Center discovered the suburban estate in Budapest while watching what this satellite was observing, and then Deputy Director Fury notified us to rush over."

Saying that.

Coulson and Natasha exchanged a glance, feeling that they had grasped a key point.

After a while.

Coulson and Natasha re-examined the data regarding Lake Edwin.

"Look."

Natasha found and handed a document to Coulson, the only record of Lake’s military operations they had found: "Lake Edwin once participated in a plan codenamed ‘Operation Freedom’, and the next day, Liberia was overthrown."

In a word.

If the events that happened here were no longer viewed as a struggle between two supernatural races, but as a so-called nation, then the actions displayed that night were too swift, precise, and ruthless.

In just one night.

The opposition led by Lucian was directly eliminated, and Emilia’s two political rivals were also killed by Lucian. Afterward, Emilia directly ascended to power with the prestige gained from killing Lucian.

This operation was precise, ruthless, and carried a strong federal freedom vibe.

Coulson took the document and examined it carefully.

Afterward.

Coulson and Natasha looked at each other again, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

The Black King was just a killer, someone an outsider wouldn’t understand such operations. But Lake Edwin, a federal elite officer, and an elite soldier who had received the Purple Heart Medal, having participated in and executed Operation Freedom, was undoubtedly an expert in this field.

And looking at Lake Edwin’s leave record?

Years of reconnaissance and secret planning before the operation, remaining motionless.

But once the operation began, it was swift, precise, and ruthless, keeping himself out of it and giving no handle to the outside world.

This is totally the federal freedom vibe.

Coulson and Natasha suddenly realized they seemed to have guessed the truth of the matter.

But…

As Coulson immediately contacted Nick Fury, who was already at the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch in Europe, and reported their speculation and findings to him.

Nick Fury wasn’t as happy as they had imagined.

The reason?

Although this strongly resembled the federal freedom vibe, don’t forget, the Vampire race is a race, not a nation in the secular sense. It’s a species that has descended entirely from those in higher positions.

The most important point.

This is still a supernatural race, not comparable to those little black guys in Africa who only know how to shoot while holding AKs.

Even if they knew, so what?

Directly announce S.H.I.E.L.D.’s speculative investigation results?

Fine.

Even if the vampires believed it and chaos ensued, Emilia is currently the only Vampire Queen who controls a vampire legion that has been passed down to her and is the most powerful in terms of preserved strength.

Chaos?

It would only implicate the secular world. By then, if the Security Council held them accountable, they might deal with the Vampire race first, but the blame would heavily fall upon S.H.I.E.L.D.

And…

The internal affairs of the vampires have already been settled.

Nick Fury rubbed his temples and said to Coulson and Natasha, "Just now, the VAM Consortium officially changed its name to the Immortal Consortium. At the same time, our friends in Italy sent a message that Queen Emilia is the Queen of the Immortal Royal Family."

This external name change has already explained one thing.

Emilia’s coronation as the Queen of the Immortal Royal Family is a foregone conclusion. All vampires belonging to the VAM Consortium have completed their integration and recognize Emilia as their Queen.

If this matter were to be made public, the biggest outcome would be S.H.I.E.L.D. directly confronting this newly formed Immortal Royal Family, with no other result.

After all, these speculations are just speculations. Like the assassination of Maureen Hand, they have no evidence. Moreover, judging by the speed of this integration, the Immortal Bloodline would not allow them to intervene in the investigation.

"What?"

"So fast."

Coulson and Natasha frowned upon hearing Nick Fury’s latest intelligence: "Victor and Marcus…"

Nick Fury directly sent a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite image.

Coulson and Natasha looked at it.

Nick Fury said, "This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. energy satellite. Two hours after the explosion at Victor’s manor, our S.H.I.E.L.D. energy satellite detected a powerful energy burst above this Immortal Queen’s ancient castle. The energy output was almost comparable to the ultimate weapon we deployed on the Island Nation back then."

Coulson and Natasha fell silent.

Nick Fury put away the satellite image and said directly, "Also, your mission is not to investigate the truth of this incident. Remember, your mission is to meet this Immortal Queen and, on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., sign a new supernatural agreement with this Immortal Queen."

This was the true purpose of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s visit this time.

The previous agreement of non-interference was signed between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the VAM Consortium.

But now.

The VAM Consortium is gone, only this newly formed Immortal Consortium remains.

S.H.I.E.L.D…

The five bigwigs of the Security Council were also somewhat pessimistic about this situation, so they wanted the Immortal Queen to sign a new non-interference agreement with the Security Council.

Treatment…

At worst, they could be given a small town in Europe, like the Volturi Immortal Royal Family in Italy, or the small town near the border of Hungary and Austria where the Immortal Castle is located could be designated as an autonomous town for the Immortal Bloodline.

In short, the Security Council did not care about the cause of this matter. They only saw that VM had lost, and the winner was the Immortal Royal Family. That was enough, and they didn’t care about anything else.

Coulson and Natasha frowned, wanting to speak but stopping themselves.

After all, whether it was the Black King or Lake Edwin, they were already considered enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now that they had finally caught a handle, letting it go like this…

Nick Fury’s expression was stern: "Did you hear me clearly? Don’t do anything superfluous. At the very least, on this matter, we cannot act."

It would be very simple to act on this matter.

If they had the ability to face the worst outcome and control the impact.

But unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. did not have that capability.

At least not at the moment.

Call for Earth’s ultimate weapon?

Heh heh.

This matter might be resolved, but the next target the Security Council would deal with would be the one who called for Earth’s ultimate weapon.

Coulson and Natasha exchanged glances, and finally said helplessly, "Understood, Director!"

Nick Fury directly cut off the communication.

But neither Nick Fury, Coulson, nor Natasha knew that the conversation conducted via the European S.H.I.E.L.D. communication satellite had been intercepted.

Meanwhile.

An agent knocked on the door, and after receiving a response, pushed it open and said, "Sir, outside, there’s a lady named Selena. She says she’s here to pick you up."

Coulson, Natasha: "…"