bookbashuk Chapter 37 The Sovereign?
Chapter 37 The Sovereign?
Fury stared coldly at the group of shareholders below. The shareholders all lowered their heads, not daring to look at Fury above. No one noticed that the Holy Lord behind Fury was watching them with a mocking expression.
"Do you know what you've done?" Fury asked in a low voice.
"Interfering with an emergency mission and recalling agents who are on duty! Who gave you the guts!" Fury's voice grew increasingly angry.
The shareholders kept their heads down, and no one responded to Fury's anger.
"You idiot, it's not your money that's being threatened, what are you barking about?"
"Just do your own job and mind your own business. Don't meddle in capital matters."
"Without us, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been wiped out long ago due to funding shortages. You don't know how to be grateful, yet you dare to shout here."
……
Fury also noticed the atmosphere, his eyes growing even colder. He cleared his throat, and the temperature in the conference room immediately dropped a few degrees.
"You must remember one thing: it was you who made the request to support S.H.I.E.L.D., with the aim of having S.H.I.E.L.D. protect you. But don't forget that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission is the priority."
"Without the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D., you would have been brought down by Hydra long ago, and your so-called corporation would have collapsed long ago."
"From the moment you chose to support S.H.I.E.L.D., your corporation ceased to belong to you."
Fury took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It was clear that none of the board members were listening to Fury; they were still plotting their own schemes.
Fury glanced at the Holy Lord beside him, who understood and went to the back door of the conference room.
"Now, I need you to face reality. It is an honor for you to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. All you need to do is hand over your money, and you don't need to worry about the rest." Fury's eyes swept over each shareholder.
"What do you mean by this? Are you trying to make us your personal vault? That's impossible." Some shareholders had already reached their breaking point.
"This isn't up to you to decide."
Fury projected a small factory image onto the conference room screen; it was a suburban factory owned by the shareholder who had just voiced his objections.
He made a decapitation gesture to the Holy Lord, and a missile, without any command, flew from a distant military base straight toward the factory.
The shareholder watched the footage of the factory being bombed, and shortly afterward, he received a call from his secretary saying that it had been the site of an unknown terrorist attack.
The shareholder's face turned ashen: "Fury! The right to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s military firepower requires approval from higher authorities. Aren't you afraid of facing government repercussions for making such a decision on your own?!"
Fury waved his hand: "Which eye of yours saw me launch it? I've been in this conference room the whole time; there's no way I could have done that."
The other shareholders around him also looked grim. Normally, even if Fury ordered the launch, it would still require government approval. Now, Fury had somehow bypassed this step.
"Gentlemen, you now have one chance to choose again: do as I say, or lose everything." Fury no longer demonstrated his purpose.
"What I want is very simple: I just need you to hand over your authority within S.H.I.E.L.D. to me."
Fury spoke casually, as if it were a normal transaction, but the board members around him knew that if Fury held absolute power within S.H.I.E.L.D., the government would be powerless against him.
An eerie silence fell over the meeting room. Everyone felt as if a thousand ants were crawling all over them. Fury was still waiting for their response, and they didn't have much time left.
Another phone call broke the oppressive atmosphere in the meeting room.
A shareholder answered the phone, and Fury came to his side, grabbed the phone, and put it on speakerphone.
"Boss, something terrible has happened! We've been attacked by terrorists! They've blown up our chemical plant with missiles, and the surrounding environment is severely polluted. The government has already..."
The sound stopped abruptly, and Fury hung up the phone.
The director in front of me was already drenched in cold sweat.
"Considering you are a veteran board member of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. can help you deal with government matters."
Fury's voice echoed in the other person's ears: "You know, with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s capabilities, handling this kind of thing is a piece of cake."
"I...I agree to unconditionally transfer my rights to Director Fury," the director stammered.
The other directors also heard the conversation on the phone, and they knew very well that if they didn't make a statement now, they would be the next ones to suffer.
I agree.
I agree.
……
Fury took out several documents and watched the board members sign them with a satisfied expression. Now, he was the sole voice of S.H.I.E.L.D., the most powerful person within S.H.I.E.L.D., and the owner of the world's most powerful organization.
Standing at the back door, the Holy Lord narrowed his eyes as he looked at Fury, who now had a greedy expression, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He merely used the power of the Mind Stone to amplify Fury's greed; he never expected Fury to go to such extremes.
Fury is now the king of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the entire agency is his empire.
The Holy Lord was very satisfied with the current situation; all power was concentrated in one person, which was much easier to control than when power was dispersed.
"Very good, you've made a wise decision." Fury looked at the stack of documents in his hand that had all been signed and smiled. "S.H.I.E.L.D. will always protect you. S.H.I.E.L.D. is with you."
"Chief, what do we do next?"
After the threatening meeting, Shendu approached Fury and prompted, "Do we need to conduct a major purge of the agents within S.H.I.E.L.D."
Fury waved his hand, his greed now barely concealed: "S.H.I.E.L.D. is now my private agency, so a purge is inevitable. But there's no rush. Before dealing with those ordinary agents, there's another threat in New York."
"There's still a threat?" Shendu raised an eyebrow. He had already implanted a name into Fury's mind, and now all he had to do was get him to say that name.
Fury put his hands behind his back, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the crowds coming and going below the building: "Tony Stark."
"Mr. Tony?" Shendu continued to probe, "Mr. Stark shouldn't care about things inside S.H.I.E.L.D., so why would he be a threat?"
Fury frowned slightly, clearly displeased with the Holy Lord's questioning: "Fool! You only need to carry out my orders; you don't need to worry about the Emperor's affairs."
When the Holy Lord heard that Fury had changed his title to Emperor, he took two steps back, lowered his head to hide the murderous intent in his eyes. How dare an ant call himself that?
Fury turned around, his greed and anger growing even stronger: "That arrogant man actually shut down SHIELD's facilities without authorization. There can't be any anomalies within SHIELD. Tony must be eliminated."
Fury paused, then said, "I remember you and Tony are quite close. Go and bring him to S.H.I.E.L.D., and remember, don't show anything unusual."
Shendu nodded silently, suppressing his killing intent. He still needed to spare Fury's life, since Captain Marvel could only be summoned by the enemy.