Daniel stepped out of Nick Fury's office.
After a long round of persuasion, Fury finally believed that he had no intention of quitting S.H.I.E.L.D.
Daniel even took the chance to make a request: unless it was a high-difficulty mission, those low-value assignments shouldn't be sent to him anymore—he simply couldn't be bothered with them.
And so, he was granted a day off.
The reason was simple—S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have any high-difficulty missions available at the moment. All the higher-tier ones had already been snatched up by other agents.
Fury simply decided to give Daniel a day off so he could rest. After all, they didn't want their "sales champion" collapsing from overwork.
"This game is impossible to play. Even the NPCs are this competitive!"
Daniel complained while wandering down the corridor.
Come to think of it, he had never properly explored S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Every time he came here, he went straight to Fury's office. He hadn't even fully unlocked the map yet.
Perfect—this was a good chance to explore and see if there were any hidden Easter eggs.
After all, some game devs just loved stuffing treasure chests into random map corners, forcing players to scour every inch. Those memories still haunted Daniel.
Time to get to work!
Daniel opened the minimap and headed toward an unexplored area of the building.
S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ really was enormous. He had been walking for over an hour and still hadn't lit up the whole map.
Soon, he reached the door of an office. The minimap showed it as a completely dark, unexplored region.
Not many people at HQ had private offices. Those who did usually had special status—at least Level 8 clearance. Someone far above a Level 5 agent like Daniel.
But Daniel didn't care at all. He pushed the door open and walked in.
Inside, he saw a blonde, suit-wearing elderly man sitting behind a desk, while a bald man with glasses stood opposite him, reporting something.
Daniel's sudden intrusion startled both of them.
The bald man reacted immediately, staring warily at Daniel.
"Who are you? How did you get in here? Why didn't the office security system trigger an alarm?"
So many questions.
Daniel suspected he might have triggered some kind of hidden storyline. He answered, "I'm Daniel. As for how I got in—no need to explain that. And the alarm didn't go off because I hacked the system."
The bald man: "?"
How could he say that with such confidence?
"You—"
"Alright, Agent Sitwell. You may go. I have something to discuss with Agent Daniel."
The blonde man interrupted him.
"Mr. Pierce, but he—"
"It's fine. Leave him to me."
"...Understood."
Sitwell gave Daniel a long, deep look before exiting the office.
"Please, have a seat."
Pierce offered Daniel a polite smile.
Daniel sat down without hesitation, casually fiddling with a wallet in his hand.
"And that is…?"
Pierce looked puzzled.
"Oh, this? My wallet."
Daniel emptied all the cash from the wallet into his own pocket, then tossed the wallet into the trash can by his foot.
Pierce had sharp eyes. He clearly saw a driver's license slip out of the wallet—the photo on it belonged to Sitwell, who had just left.
Pierce: "…"
A thief.
A shameless one.
Sitwell merely glared at him, and Daniel stole his wallet out of spite.
Pierce made a preliminary assessment of Daniel, then said frankly, "I know you, Agent Daniel."
"Oh? You've heard of me?"
"Of course. Your abilities are exceptional. You advanced from a fresh graduate to a Level 5 agent in just two months. That's unprecedented in S.H.I.E.L.D. history."
"You're too kind."
Daniel's opinion of Pierce improved instantly. NPCs with good taste were rare.
"But that's not all I know."
Pierce's smile turned meaningful.
Daniel hated this kind of cryptic tone, but since the man had praised him, he cooperated.
"And what else do you know?"
"Why, of course…"
Pierce leaned forward, brought his lips close to Daniel's ear, and whispered:
"Hail Hydra."
Daniel's eyes widened. He stared at Pierce in disbelief.
"You, you—"
Pierce nodded as if satisfied with Daniel's reaction.
"That's right, I am—"
"What do you mean by that?"
Daniel finally finished his sentence.
Pierce: "…"
Can't you finish a sentence properly?
Pierce's expression darkened as he dropped the pretense.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm Hydra."
"And your superior."
Hearing this, Daniel suddenly understood. He immediately stood up straight.
"Apologies, sir! I did not recognize you earlier!"
That's right—
Daniel had chosen the identity of a Hydra spy at the beginning!
According to the system, he was a covert operative planted inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
The mission was simple: keep his identity hidden at all costs and never let anyone discover it, especially that black-hearted, one-eyed commander.
Aside from that, he could still accept S.H.I.E.L.D. missions normally and collect rewards as usual.
"It's fine. You couldn't have known. For security reasons, unactivated Hydra members do not know each other before identity confirmation."
Pierce paused, giving Daniel a speechless look.
"If you hadn't barged in today, I wouldn't have activated you at all."
This encounter was pure luck—he had stumbled right into the office of his real superior.
"However, your caution is commendable. Even if someone shouts 'Hail Hydra' at you, you shouldn't admit it immediately. You handled that well."
"Uh… thank you for the praise."
Daniel scratched his head guiltily.
Could he admit that he'd been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for so long he nearly forgot about Hydra?
No—wait. Forgetting your real identity was the highest level of undercover work. If even he forgot, who else could figure it out?
Thinking this way made Daniel feel confident again.
Pierce's expression turned serious.
"Since you've been activated, don't waste the opportunity. I happen to have a task suitable for you."
"What task?"
Daniel perked up immediately.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have anything interesting for him, perhaps Hydra would.
"This is a long-term assignment. I need you to keep an eye on Nick Fury. If he gives you any special missions or shows unusual behavior, you must report it to me at once."
[NPC Alexander Pierce has issued you a new mission]
[Mission: Hail Hydra]
[Objective: Report Nick Fury's mission assignments and unusual movements to Pierce]
[Reward: Depends on mission completion and intelligence value]
"Understood, sir. I will complete the mission."
Daniel answered with a sharp, formal salute.