Chapter 55 Alexander: It's Hard to Get Money These Days!

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

Nick Fury moved with remarkable speed.

Realizing that there might be agents of the Umbrella Corporation within S.H.I.E.L.D., he immediately initiated a covert purge.

Because he had clear targets, Nick Fury's operation progressed swiftly.

In just a few short hours, he had captured over a dozen agents.

Following the clues, he quickly proceeded to lock down the remaining hundred-plus individuals as well.

"Damn that Umbrella Corporation!"

Director's Office.

Nick Fury stared at the list in his hands, filled with burning anger.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s total personnel numbered only in the tens of thousands, yet the Umbrella Corporation had managed to plant more than a hundred agents among them, including members of core departments.

"Motherfucker!"

Growing angrier the more he thought about it, Nick Fury almost slammed his fist on the desk.

Yet, despite his intense fury and the urge to eliminate these people immediately, he still refrained from making a move against the hundred-plus individuals right away.

The antidote had not been developed yet. Striking at these people immediately would likely alert the enemy and spook the snake.

Even for the dozen or so people already captured, the official cover story was that they had been summoned for a secret mission and were temporarily unable to contact the outside world.

This was a relatively normal occurrence within S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, capturing over a hundred people all at once, all of whom happened to belong to Umbrella, meant that no matter how sluggish Umbrella's response might be, they would eventually realize something was wrong.

For now, Nick Fury had no choice but to endure.

"I wonder who that guy got to research the antidote. Can it really be developed in three days?"

Nick Fury suddenly began to worry about the other matter.

Before he could dwell on it much longer, however—

"Director, Minister Alexander is here."

"Why is he here?"

Nick Fury felt a twinge of curiosity.

Alexander Pierce, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and current Minister of the World Security Council, could be considered Nick Fury's superior, responsible for representing S.H.I.E.L.D. in communications with the five major nations.

It was Alexander who had heavily pushed for Nick Fury to ascend to the directorship, and over the years, he had been immensely supportive of his work, counting as one of his most trusted close friends.

Wearing black-rimmed glasses, a head of blonde curly hair, and a smiling face, Alexander Pierce walked into the room.

"Nick, I've come to visit you! You wouldn't be unwelcoming, would you?"

"Of course not! No matter when you come, you are always welcome here!"

Nick Fury smiled and walked up to greet him.

"Come, take a seat. It's been a while since you last visited my office!"

"Ah, you know how it is—so many things to take care of, keeping me busy!"

After sitting down, Alexander began to vent his grievances at length.

"You have no idea. Things are different now than they used to be; securing funding has become extremely difficult, yet for S.H.I.E.L.D. to continue developing, it cannot function without massive amounts of funding."

"You wouldn't believe the amount of effort I had to expend not long ago just to secure a huge sum of funding from Umbrella."

*Umbrella?*

Hearing that name, Nick Fury instantly understood why Alexander had come.

Although his actions within S.H.I.E.L.D. were carried out with the utmost secrecy, it was impossible to keep them completely hidden from Alexander.

Even though Alexander was no longer the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he remained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s direct superior.

He even maintained a permanent office at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters—located on the floor directly above Nick Fury's director's office.

Normally, the higher the office floor, the greater the authority it represented.

Alexander's ministerial office occupied the top floor of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, while Nick Fury's director's office was relegated to the floor just below.

The underlying dynamics of this arrangement spoke volumes.

Of course, because Alexander had rarely interfered with Nick Fury's administration in the past and had even publicly expressed strong support for him on numerous occasions, Nick Fury had never paid much attention to this detail.

After all, he was one of his most trusted "close friends"!

Hearing Alexander suddenly beating around the bush and inquiring about the Umbrella Corporation, Nick Fury did not think much of it and prepared to lay the whole matter out in the open.

At that crucial moment, however, Nick Fury suddenly recalled other anomalies he had discovered within S.H.I.E.L.D. while investigating Umbrella's agents.

*Could those anomalies be connected to Alexander?*

Maintaining his composure, Nick Fury flashed a smile and brushed the question aside with vague remarks, effectively deflecting Alexander's inquiry.

"Hmm?"

A subtle change flickered in Alexander's mind, and he probed further with a few more indirect remarks.

Realizing that Nick Fury was offering no substantive response, he decisively dropped the subject.

After exchanging a few more casual pleasantries, he took his leave and departed.

Throughout the entire process, he never once directly mentioned why Nick Fury was arresting Umbrella Corporation agents.

Watching Alexander's retreating figure, Nick Fury's single eye narrowed slightly.

"Alexander..."

From S.H.I.E.L.D.'s perspective, Alexander's behavior was actually quite normal.

As a global organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. housed far more than just "agents" from the Umbrella Corporation.

For the most part, Nick Fury chose to turn a blind eye to these things—after all, they were the big bosses who provided the funding!

Planting a few grains of sand here and there was standard practice and no big deal.

If you rounded up everyone they had planted, what would you do if they decided to stop funding you in the future?

Driven by this concern, it was entirely natural for Alexander to drop by for a chat upon seeing that he had detained the Umbrella Corporation's people.

Especially since, throughout the process, Alexander had not shown any intense concern.

Once he sensed Nick Fury's underlying reservations, he had also decisively stopped pressing the issue.

Judging by all these outward manifestations, Alexander probably did not have any deep-seated ties with Umbrella.

Naturally, Nick Fury himself had never, from beginning to end, believed that Alexander would participate in the Umbrella Corporation's insane world-destruction plan.

—The reason Umbrella would concoct such a mad scheme was because the power and influence they currently held were not truly at the absolute apex.

Too many factions and too many individuals carved up the power that rightfully belonged to them—or so the Umbrella Corporation believed.

Alexander had already ascended to the position of World Security Council Minister and commanded a genuine global organization like S.H.I.E.L.D.

With that level of influence, he would have to be out of his mind to collude with Umbrella on a world-destruction plan.

While theoretically there might still be higher levels of authority above him, would Marcus actually hand them over to him?

Especially when the plan required passing through years of hibernation, waiting for all the zombies across the world to die off naturally.

Who knew what kinds of accidents might happen along the way?

Based on Nick Fury's understanding of Alexander, with the latter's intelligence, it was impossible for him not to see the massive flaws in such a scheme.

Even if he desired greater power, he would never resort to such a method.

Solely regarding the Umbrella Corporation incident, Nick Fury could trust Alexander.

However......