Chapter 598

"Camilla herself isn’t a problem," Evenson said, sounding just a little pleased with himself. "I talked with her on the plane, and she’s agreed to cooperate fully with your investigation."

Nick Fury nodded.

"Then the people in Peru probably won’t have much time to worry about that forest fire you caused."

There were undoubtedly plenty of people in the Peruvian government who had risen through the ranks by riding on the lies those Hydra remnants had fed them. To protect those secrets, they had even gone so far as to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. team.

Now that everything had come to light, those officials had bigger problems.

They’d have to worry about saving their own careers, their own positions, maybe even themselves.

Who had time to argue about who started a forest fire?

The fire was already burning. Send people to put it out. The trees were the government’s problem.

Their careers were their own.

That wasn’t exactly a difficult decision.

"But those people aren’t going to politely stick their necks out and wait to be executed," Evenson said.

He drained his glass, then casually slipped the crystal tumbler into his bag.

"Once Camilla’s plan failed, they’ve almost certainly started cleaning up loose ends. And Camilla isn’t some wanted criminal. She’s part of Peru’s military and police establishment. They’re never going to agree to let S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogate her without interference. They’ll do everything they can to get her back."

He took another sip from an imaginary glass that was no longer in his hand.

"And you can’t simply ignore them. Peru may be a small, relatively weak country, but countries like that have their own special advantage."

Fury raised an eyebrow.

"They know how to play the victim."

Evenson shrugged.

"If you can’t win an argument with power, win it with sympathy. It doesn’t even matter who’s right. They put on the saddest possible face, claim a powerful organization bullied and discriminated against them, then call on other developing nations to condemn the abuse."

He snorted.

"Keep that up long enough and somehow S.H.I.E.L.D. becomes the villain. Then a bunch of righteous idiots crawl out of the woodwork to defend them. ’Look how miserable these poor people are! S.H.I.E.L.D. only knows how to bully the weak! So what if they tried to hijack your plane? They didn’t even succeed! And even if they had, what’s one plane to an organization as powerful as S.H.I.E.L.D.? Why can’t you just forgive them?’"

Fury smiled.

"That’s not a problem."

Evenson gave him a skeptical look.

"If that woman really is willing to cooperate, I’ll have every piece of intelligence I need before we get back. Whatever Peru tries to do, they’ll be too late."

"But Camilla isn’t stupid."

Evenson folded his arms.

"She may have been emotional on the plane and blurted out that she would cooperate completely. But by now she’s had time to think it through. She knows that if she falls into the Peruvian government’s hands, she’s dead. So unless you can guarantee her safety, I doubt she’ll tell you anything."

Fury clasped his hands behind his back and adopted the solemn expression of a man delivering a sacred principle.

"One reason S.H.I.E.L.D. is trusted around the world is because we respect laws and procedure. If the Peruvian government formally requests her return, I have no grounds to keep her."

Evenson’s eyebrows rose.

"That’s it?"

There was absolutely no way Nick Fury was going to release their first real lead on Hydra that easily.

Fury nodded solemnly.

"Of course. I’m a very honest and upright man."

Then his expression remained perfectly straight.

"But if the plane carrying her back to Peru suddenly crashes because of bad weather, and everyone aboard—including Camilla—is killed and burned so badly that their identities can’t be confirmed..."

He spread his hands.

"I’ll simply express my regret."

"Heh."

Evenson managed a weak laugh.

A completely respectable corporate representative had shipped the package exactly as requested. If the customer never received it, well, that was unfortunate. Proving the accident had anything to do with the sender would be someone else’s problem.

"Still, this whole incident should serve as a warning," Evenson said, lighting a cigarette. "We only discovered Peru’s secret by coincidence. But how many other ’Perus’ are out there?"

Fury’s expression immediately darkened.

Peru might have been an isolated case.

But what if it wasn’t?

What if other countries had also been deceived by Hydra?

What if South America was full of them?

"The Hydra remnants escaped to Peru after World War II," Evenson continued. "They convinced the government they’d stumbled across something incredible. In exchange for protecting them, Peru gave them enormous sums of money and even established dedicated research teams."

He exhaled smoke.

"And what did Peru get in return?"

"Lies."

"Exactly. The so-called scientific research was nothing but a performance. And honestly, how much does it cost to put on a convincing show?"

Evenson glanced at Fury.

"Over the years, how much money do you think Hydra siphoned out of the Peruvian government? Where did it all go? Sure, the officials working with them probably kept some for themselves. But I’d bet they don’t know where most of it ended up."

Fury rubbed his beard slowly.

Whatever satisfaction he’d felt at finally catching a piece of Hydra had vanished.

There were countless small and relatively weak nations around the world. For all kinds of reasons, many of them were technologically dependent on stronger countries. They imported nearly everything, sometimes even basic industrial equipment.

For a nation like that, developing cutting-edge technology and strengthening its own national power was a dream.

And then Hydra showed up.

They demonstrated just enough ability to impress the country’s leaders, built an aura of expertise, and offered them hope.

Strength costs money, after all.

And fear makes governments generous.

How much money had Hydra accumulated over the decades using that kind of scheme?

And more importantly, how much power had all that money bought them?

The thought sent an unpleasant chill through Fury.

Then another possibility occurred to him.

This probably wasn’t Hydra’s only source of income.

There were plenty of profitable criminal enterprises. Drug trafficking. Arms dealing. Money laundering.

But after seeing how Hydra had essentially milked an entire government for decades, Fury couldn’t help thinking those ordinary criminal profits might have been beneath them.

The modern world was broadly peaceful.

Broadly.

There were still plenty of regions plagued by wars and political crises. The major powers treated those places as arenas for competition.

But when the proxies and pawns of those great powers fought each other, surely someone else was standing nearby, quietly making money from the chaos.

Hydra didn’t necessarily need to start every war.

They only needed to know where to stand when one began.

Fury’s head began to ache.

He rubbed at it repeatedly until Evenson finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"Stop scratching."

Fury glared at him.

"You’re already bald. Keep that up and you might lose whatever chance you have left of growing another two hairs."

"Hmph!"

Fury shot him an annoyed look.

Then his attention shifted to the aircraft.

After everything they’d uncovered, this team had become more necessary than ever.

They had pulled a piece of Hydra out into the light this time.

Next time, perhaps they could pull out the rest.

There was just one problem.

Their combat capability was questionable.

They had nearly failed to make it back alive on this mission alone.

Fury’s gaze drifted toward Evenson.

"Would you be interested in joining this special team?"

"No."

Evenson answered instantly.

Fury actually blinked.

That was fast.

He rubbed his nose and thought about Evenson’s personality.

"Coulson probably told you that the team receives a special allowance."

Evenson remained silent.

Fury raised three fingers.

"At least this much."

Then he added:

"After taxes."

"After taxes?"

Evenson’s expression changed.

"How does the tax work?"

Clearly, he was tempted.

But after a moment of painful resistance, he shook his head.

"No. Still not happening."

Fury didn’t seem offended.

"Then how about this?"

He started raising another finger.

Evenson immediately grabbed his hand and pushed it back down.

"Stop tempting me."

He looked almost genuinely distressed.

"You know my personality. I’m lazy. I’m obviously not suited to staying with a team full-time."

Fury’s eyes narrowed.

Not suited.

Full-time.

Staying with a team.

Those were some very deliberate words.

"So?"

Evenson covered his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at the four fingers Fury was holding up.

"How about I work remotely?"

He lowered his hand.

"I’ll install a teleportation circle on the plane. Whenever the team runs into something they can’t handle, they call me. I’ll teleport over immediately. It won’t delay anyone, and I don’t have to spend every day following you around."

He spread his hands.

"So I stay home most of the time, and everybody’s happy."

Fury stared at him.

So that was why the brat had suddenly stopped negotiating.

He hadn’t become less greedy.

He’d become more efficient.

He wanted to lounge around at home, avoid regular field duty, and still collect a paycheck.

Fury sighed and reluctantly lowered three fingers.

"Fine. This amount."

"Deal."

Evenson answered so quickly that Fury almost regretted the offer.

He shook his head.

"I really don’t understand what’s so great about your house. On this plane, the food is better, the accommodations are better, and you can travel anywhere in the world."

"Please stop."

Evenson backed away toward the aircraft.

"Keep talking and I’m going to change my mind."

Apparently, the last mission had done wonders for his mental resilience.

At the very least, he had discovered a new strength:

The ability to resist temptation.

Not long afterward, the aircraft took off again.

This time, there was no mission.

They were simply taking Evenson back to New York.

He could have used the demonic teleportation circle at home to return on his own.

But there was a problem.

He had driven to Peru.

He wasn’t about to leave one of his most valuable possessions sitting behind.

And there were two scientists on this plane.

For all he knew, one of them might get bored someday and decide to pop the hood of his car to see how the engine worked.

Evenson glanced toward the cockpit.

Yeah.

Best not to test that possibility.

He couldn’t afford another aircraft.