Chapter 560

The moment Evenson heard the words 9/11, the name felt strangely distant.

He hadn’t awakened to his powers back then, but that didn’t mean he was unfamiliar with what had happened.

September 11, 2001. Terrorists had hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Nearly three thousand people had died, and the economic damage had reached roughly two hundred billion dollars.

Compared to that, the so-called Mandarin’s recent stunt was almost child’s play. Even hijacking Air Force One and getting within striking distance of the President couldn’t compare.

9/11 had caused panic on a global scale. It had marked the rise of modern terrorism.

But why was Peggy bringing it up now?

Evenson frowned as the pieces clicked together.

Could it be connected to what had happened recently?

"Don’t you find it strange?"

They had reached the elevator. As they waited for the doors to open, Peggy glanced at him.

"After spending so many years inside S.H.I.E.L.D. and learning just how capable the organization is, haven’t you ever wondered why S.H.I.E.L.D. failed to prevent 9/11?"

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside together.

"The terrorists back then weren’t nearly as complicated as the threats we deal with now. They were ordinary people. Looking back, their plan wasn’t particularly sophisticated, either."

Peggy’s expression hardened.

"So why couldn’t S.H.I.E.L.D. stop it?"

Evenson considered the question.

"Maybe they overthought the situation again. Too much analysis, a bad judgment call, and they missed their window?"

The elevator doors slid shut.

Peggy slowly shook her head.

"There was no misjudgment back then."

Evenson’s eyes narrowed.

"Then what exactly did S.H.I.E.L.D. do?"

Peggy hesitated.

"Nothing."

Her voice was unusually quiet.

"They did absolutely nothing."

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

"If that’s the case, should I call it negligence..."

He paused.

"...or deliberate inaction?"

"Call it negligence."

The elevator began its descent, and Peggy’s voice sank with it.

"But the responsibility wasn’t S.H.I.E.L.D.’s."

Evenson turned toward her.

"Oh?"

Peggy sighed.

"The predecessor of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the Strategic Scientific Reserve. It was created during World War II to combat the forces of Hydra under the Red Skull."

She paused, choosing her words carefully.

"But once the war was won and Hydra was destroyed, there was no longer any reason for the SSR to exist. Yet it survived. It eventually became the S.H.I.E.L.D. we know today."

She looked at him.

"Why?"

"I’ve heard the explanation," Evenson said. "There were a number of bizarre and particularly difficult cases happening domestically. Cases only the SSR had the expertise to handle."

"But that was only enough to keep it alive."

Peggy gave a bitter smile.

"What truly restored its purpose was an iron curtain descending over the entire world."

"The Cold War."

Peggy nodded.

"Exactly."

She leaned back against the elevator wall.

"For nearly half a century, no country in the world felt truly safe. At any moment, the Cold War could have turned into a global nuclear war and brought human civilization to an end."

Her expression grew distant.

"In that terrifying and irrational era, the value of the Strategic Scientific Reserve became impossible to overstate. The American government valued it even more highly than it had during World War II. Resources poured into the organization, and it expanded at an extraordinary pace."

"Even today, there are people who call that period a golden age."

Peggy’s mouth twisted.

"Just for the record, I am not one of them."

Evenson nodded.

He understood the logic.

When fires were breaking out everywhere, everyone suddenly remembered how valuable the fire department was.

An organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally thrived during the Cold War. And there had been plenty of people willing to quietly fan the flames of global crises, giving the organization more opportunities to prove how indispensable it was.

Then, one day, the Cold War simply ended.

"Just like that," Peggy said, clicking her tongue. "No warning. No dramatic final confrontation. It was over."

"The official explanations all sound perfectly reasonable, of course. But for people like us, even now, we still don’t fully understand why it ended so suddenly."

"Perhaps," Evenson said dryly, "some great being genuinely wanted world peace."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Of course you don’t understand.

The man who ended the Cold War was currently taking a vacation in Los Angeles and running a bar.

"Perhaps."

Peggy shrugged, apparently unwilling to argue with the idea.

"But after the golden age ended, the dark age followed."

She continued before Evenson could comment.

"With the Cold War over and the world supposedly entering an era of peace, S.H.I.E.L.D. once again lost much of its purpose. It faced the possibility of being dismantled and scattered."

"For ten years, it barely held itself together."

"Then the turning point came."

"9/11," Evenson said.

Peggy nodded.

"Exactly."

The elevator reached the parking garage. The doors opened, and the two of them stepped out.

"The rise of terrorism cast a new shadow over the world. Terrorist organizations weren’t governments. They didn’t follow rules. They could strike anywhere, destroy anything, and answer to no one."

"The world’s governments feared and hated them even more than they had feared the Cold War."

"In that environment, S.H.I.E.L.D. rose again."

She glanced toward him.

"It successfully transformed itself into a global organization under the direct authority of the World Security Council. Its influence and authority reached their peak."

Evenson was quiet for a moment.

"So when 9/11 happened, S.H.I.E.L.D. was in an awkward position. Its actual functions had almost ground to a halt."

"Which means it wasn’t responsible," Peggy said.

She looked around the parking garage. No one was nearby.

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"But there’s one undeniable fact."

"That incident pulled S.H.I.E.L.D. out of its crisis. It gave the organization more authority than it had ever possessed."

Peggy’s jaw tightened.

"Someone may have discovered just how profitable a tragedy like that could be."

Evenson scratched his head.

Now he understood what she was getting at.

"So you think..."

He looked at her.

"This abnormal behavior from S.H.I.E.L.D. this time might be an attempt to recreate the circumstances of the past, so the organization can gain even more power?"

The more he considered it, the more disturbing the possibility became.

If Killian’s plan had succeeded, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have faced enormous scrutiny. Nick Fury might have been dragged before the World Security Council and subjected to a very unpleasant interrogation.

But what would happen afterward?

The Council would want to make certain something like this never happened again.

And the easiest way to accomplish that would be to give S.H.I.E.L.D. even more authority.

Which made Aldrich Killian look almost pathetic.

He had spent enormous effort constructing his plan, manipulating events and preparing to seize power.

Yet from another perspective, all someone had to do was sit back and watch.

Killian’s carefully constructed scheme could become their stepping stone.

And whatever he achieved by succeeding would ultimately become nothing more than another sacrifice offered at the altar of an even more powerful S.H.I.E.L.D.

"It’s not impossible."

Peggy clenched her teeth.

"I know Nick Fury isn’t seeking power for its own sake. That’s never been what he wanted."

She looked troubled.

"But power is a necessary tool. A necessary means of protecting this world."

"To protect the world properly," Evenson said, a cold smile touching his lips, "you first need to make sure it’s under your control."

He understood the logic.

But that wasn’t S.H.I.E.L.D.’s purpose.

"That’s exactly what worries me."

Peggy’s voice turned bitter.

"How deeply has that organization infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

She stared ahead.

"Deep enough that even Nick Fury has been influenced into following their lead?"

Evenson’s expression darkened.

There was only one answer.

"Hydra."

He let the word hang between them.

"Hydra is everywhere."

...