The newly appointed director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alexander Pierce, was feeling deeply conflicted. He had never expected Nick Fury to leave behind so many messes before simply dusting off his hands and walking away, forcing Pierce to clean everything up.
Even worse, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. he had taken over had become America's latest privileged intelligence organization.
That was extremely dangerous. Everyone knew the three major American intelligence agencies were not to be trifled with.
How could the newly elected president be this foolish?
Alexander Pierce knew the full story. When the new president learned that a rival faction was tied to the Eastern European oil industry, he had excitedly launched a full-scale offensive to press his advantage. Then he discovered, to his horror, that his own supporters and even his closest aides were also deeply involved. The man's face had looked like he was constipated, yet he had no choice but to swallow it all down.
Pierce had zero doubt that if that president—who the world believed now held the ultimate power—tried to dig any deeper, the head of his personal security detail would visit his bedside one quiet night. The man would calmly tell him a bedtime story about how a certain Boston family had gone from ruling the capital to collapsing overnight, and why no direct descendant in their main bloodline had lived to adulthood in all the years since.
"Heh. Just a few days ago, the last young heir of that family died in a car accident exactly one week before his coming-of-age ceremony, didn't he?"
"Who knows if they deliberately left a few posthumous children so they could run a sequel?"
Those great families really kept their word.
If they said they would end your direct line, they would end it completely.
Never assume that after a few decades they would simply forget.
The reason they killed so slowly was probably just to remind the puppets on stage exactly who they really were.
Although Alexander Pierce stood with Hydra as one of its heads, and the massive organization could claim to be the second most feared terrorist group in the world with no one daring to claim first, he could no longer use Hydra's power in secret.
Not with Zodhis and the Divine Sword Bureau that the man now commanded suddenly appearing on the scene.
Pierce did not know how well Zodhis had built the Divine Sword Bureau's intelligence network, but he never underestimated any genius, especially an all-rounder like Zodhis.
Most geniuses only shone in raw intellect and creative thinking. That was why the world was still run by non-geniuses. Yet there existed another kind of genius who not only surpassed everyone in IQ but also reached unimaginable heights in emotional intelligence.
In other words, they could lock themselves in a lab and invent world-shaking miracles while also handling interpersonal relationships and complex affairs with the skill of a master administrator. People like that were born to lead humanity.
Both Alexander Pierce and Hydra were extremely wary of Zodhis, so Hydra's activities had been reduced to the absolute minimum. They could not afford to leave even the slightest trace that the now all-seeing director of the Divine Sword Bureau might discover.
That left Pierce with no choice but to use his own strength to confront the three major intelligence agencies and carve out a piece of their territory.
Fortunately, even the currently unstoppable FBI and CIA had weaknesses.
Take one incident Pierce knew about. Years ago the FBI had set a trap and caught a state governor on charges of accepting a fifty-thousand-dollar bribe.
The world's major media outlets immediately twisted the story, focusing entirely on the fifty thousand dollars and even churning out inspirational articles around it.
The fact that the fifty thousand had merely been the governor's "introduction fee," and that the FBI had later uncovered a massive human-organ trafficking network spanning half of America, received almost no coverage.
Because that was the real bombshell, so explosive that the media did not dare report it. They quietly killed the story, changed the subject, and hoped no one would notice them.
In the end, as the FBI followed the trail, they discovered that the network's upper reaches included not only their original target but also their old rival, the CIA, and several high-ranking members of Congress.
The FBI leadership collectively cursed their luck for trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. Several investigators "suffered sudden depressive episodes" and "committed suicide" in apology. The criminals they had captured also "committed suicide" inside a "suicide-proof prison."
Naturally, the FBI's budget was slashed again.
The other official agencies that had assisted in the case stared in shock for a moment, then wisely chose to drop the matter.
Only after the current American president rose to power did the FBI, originally created to protect America, regain some of its former strength.
Alexander Pierce believed he could use this history to throw some dirt in the eyes of the three major agencies.
After all, America was only so big and power was limited. Three departments fighting over the same pie would never be enough to go around.
Even though the CIA technically had no domestic law-enforcement authority, it was hardly the first time they had impersonated FBI agents.
For example, at least half of the hundreds of thousands of complaint letters the FBI received every day were about other organizations pretending to be FBI. The FBI themselves felt wronged and had since learned to impersonate the Secret Service in return.
"Why can the Divine Hammer Bureau and Leviathan in Russia get along so peacefully?"
Alexander Pierce sighed. "Don't blame me for being ruthless. Don't blame me for striking first. As the Chinese say, the one who strikes first wins, the one who strikes late suffers."
Then he began calling in people to set up the operation.
This was exactly the kind of problem Zodhis had feared would arise from the flood of privileged organizations.
Right now, however, Zodhis stood inside the Divine Sword Bureau Academy.
Every student admitted here had been carefully selected from the elite of the elite across the world.
Among them were successors to Leviathan's top agents from Russia, and even super-agents that America itself had trained.
"Starting today, until the day you graduate, you will each receive a number. You will have no names, no records, no files, no past. Everything you once were will be erased. Only the top twenty-six agents will earn the right to a single letter as their name. This is the system of the Divine Sword Bureau. Anyone who dislikes it may leave now."
Zodhis looked down calmly at the group of students below and spoke in an even voice.
/-\
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