"I hope this will be a confidential interrogation, Nick. You know these cunning terrorists always think they have the right to negotiate. So, I'll talk to them." Pierce walked briskly down the corridor of the underground detention center and turned to speak to Nick, who was following him.
Nick nodded and at the next intersection, he stopped trailing Pierce and walked alone in a different direction.
Pierce quickly arrived outside an interrogation room. Nodding at the special agent guarding the entrance, he pushed open the door to find two interrogators taking serious notes.
Pierce glanced over their shoulders but found no valuable information. He lifted his gaze to look behind the bars where Shiller sat, his expression serene and entirely unlike a man who had been interrogated for seven days.
The thods that S.H.I.E.L.D used for interrogation were no different from modern tactics, primarily relying on fatigue to break the subject. This tactic worked effectively with 99% of heinous criminals because everyone, at so point, becos tired.
So people believe that ancient thods were superior to modern interrogation, in that sheer physical suffering would eventually force confession. However, humans are fragile. Traditional torture had a low threshold, normally ineffective after one round, unlike the current technique which could eventually uncover any secret.
While so people have high physical resilience, ntal exhaustion would creep in after prolonged fatigue, revealing secrets that pain and intimidation could not extract. They would inadvertently reveal those secrets in the gaps of their conversations for experts to analyze and consolidate.
There was no long-lasting damage to the subject's health. After a period of rest, they can be interrogated from scratch. The longer the captive's duration, the more fragnts of information could be gathered. One day, those pieces will form a complete puzzle and revealing ant straightforward exposure.
For Shiller, the issue was not whether he would be exposed. Everyone knew he was a mber of Hydra; they were trying to get more information about Hydra from him. In this respect, Shiller was the most challenging subject.
He would seize any opening to redirect the conversation to regain control. His proactive nature accelerated his energy consumption, but it caused the interrogators to tire faster, subsequently increasing the frequency of their shift changes.
As shift changes beca more frequent, the continuity of the interrogation declined. Any new interrogator had to start from scratch, which after multiple repetitions, made the density of the acquired information as poor as crisis public relations apology videos.
After a brief observation in the room, were strikingly obvious to Pierce. Shiller was an exceptionally savvy opponent. The majority of S.H.I.E.L.D agents in the prison had no strategy to effectively interrogate him. If there was anyone capable of extracting information from Shiller, Pierce believed, that would be Nick Fury. But before that, he needed an insurance policy.
Nick quickly returned with a team of special agents to escort Shiller out of the interrogation room and into a confidential interrogation room.
There were no surveillance caras in this room. Other than the interrogator and the subject, there was nothing else. This environnt allowed for unconventional thods and hush deals with tarnished witnesses.
Shiller stood behind the bars of the cramped room, unhandcuffed and without a chair. The limited space only enabled him to stand or move half a step forward. There wasn't enough room for him to raise his arms either.
Pierce had significantly more room on his side. He could even pace around the room. Essentially, Shiller was locked in a cage, and Pierce was watching him.
Once the heavy doors were locked securely, and the soundproofing equipnt was activated, Pierce was about to take the initiative when he heard Shiller say, "Long live Hydra, Mr. Pierce. There is no doubt. This is a trap set for you by Baron Strucker. The clues that Nick Fury found were intentionally left by him. His intention was to make him suspect you."
Incredulous, Pierce stared at Shiller's face, searching for any signs of deception. But Shiller, as always, appeared calm, his emotions unreadable.
"Baron said you betrayed him, shattering the trust he and his subordinates placed in you. I don't know what happened between the two of you. I just made a deal with him."
Uneasiness gripped Pierce as he asked, "What deal?"
"I testify against you as a tainted witness, so that Nick Fury can arrest you before you start working at the United Nations."
Pierce's face turned ashen.
Shiller casually spread out his hands and said in a nonchalant tone, "Look at the situation now. Either I make a deal with him, and you go to jail, or you make a deal with , and he goes to jail."
"Or I let you die here," Pierce replied in a frosty tone. "In which case, no one goes to jail."
"You know that won't work. Nick is watching you." Shiller clasped the bars with both hands and leaned in close, a childish, malicious smile on his face. "Alternatively, I can harm myself now. Then you can gamble on the probability that Nick, upon seeing this scene, would think you tried to silence ."
"You..."
"Pierce, you are just a piece of trash riding on the winds of the tis, a complete cowardly Arican. You disregarded everything to protect your glory and wealth. This is the price you must pay!"
Pierce's eyes widened in disbelief, "Shiller... Shiller... you're a German? You... you work for the Red Skull?!"
Shiller tilted his head slightly, not confirming or denying anything, while Pierce gritted his teeth and cursed, "Damn NAZI German!"
He took a deep breath and looked at Shiller with sullen eyes, "You know we are not here to preach, just na your price."
Shiller let go of his hand, lowered his eyes and smiled. He tilted his head and said, "You two are like bidders in an auction house, whoever offers the highest price, I stand by their side. I can say that all these actions were instigated by the Baron, or I can say it was you. One of you will inevitably lose their freedom or even their life. So what price are you willing to pay for your freedom and life?"
"Don't think too highly of yourself, they can't take my life."
"But I can." Shiller's eyes beca icy. He looked at Pierce and said, "You know clearly that losing freedom is equivalent to losing your life. Once you are no longer the S.H.I.E.L.D Director, killing you becos easy. You owe many people a lot of debt, and I am willing to collect it for them, with my own interest on top."
Pierce's lips turned white. He knew the key lied with Nick. Years ago when S.H.I.E.L.D was his, he had countless ways to make a trial die quietly.
However, he relaxed his control over S.H.I.E.L.D after preparing for his promotion. Now Nick has built his own team, and Pierce was acutely aware of the weight legend agents carried.
Pierce was taking a gamble. As long as he could ascend to his position with a perfect image, his alliance with Nick would be unbreakable because Nick had the sa confidence in himself. If he couldn't detect a flaw in Pierce, then Pierce was trustworthy. This would be a useful support for him to climb further up.
But, if he makes one wrong step, Nick would imdiately shatter his past trust in him and seize his handle faster than anyone else, landing him in prison.
Before this incident happened, the entire plan was nearing completion. To show his goodwill and trust, Pierce delegated more power to Nick in exchange for his future support. But it was the last step that went wrong.
Pierce could no longer take risks. Once Shiller's testimony left a shadow of doubt in Nick's heart, he would not be able to live a peaceful life.
But should he allow this cunning NAZI to make excessive demands on him? Pierce wasn't willing to do so.
Ever since this secret conversation ended, Pierce kept thinking about how to resolve the current situation.
Dragging this out, Shiller would eventually accuse him. Even if there was no evidence, Nick would still be suspicious if he continued investigating. But if he found a way to kill Shiller, Nick would suspect him just the sa.
Suddenly, Pierce thought of a way. He still had a card left to play, that was Tony Stark.
It was difficult for Pierce to send people to Eastern Europe to exterminate Hydra now. On one hand, S.H.I.E.L.D was full of agents, not good at large-scale operations. On the other hand, if Nick's people went first, it wouldn't be easy for him to manipulate things under Nick's watch.
But as long as he could drive Stark to kill the Baron in Eastern Europe, not only could Nick not stop Stark's revenge, Shiller would also lose his other trading partner and would have to make a deal with him. This would prevent him from swinging both ways and setting a high price.
However, persuading Stark to go to Eastern Europe wasn't easy. Pierce didn't believe that the current grudge was enough for Stark to risk it again. Adding more to the wager was needed for him to go over and kill the Hydra in Eastern Europe.
In a luxury apartnt in the Manhattan area, Erik hung up the phone with an ice-cold expression. He had just learned from a rcenary broker that soone was investigating his past.
"Obadiah..." Erik muttered a na to himself. He could only think of this possibility. When he took over the position of security chief from Obadiah, the other side had expressed doubts.
Erik was very clear that he could fool Stark because he was a scientist and naive to the world, but Obadiah was one of those who could tell by looking at their faces that they had been in business for many years. These people couldn't be deceived, and they were definitely his biggest threat.
Since Obadiah started investigating him, once he told Tony Stark the results, all the trust and goodwill he had gained from him would be lost.
"Absolutely not," Erik thought. The Stark Group was his best stepping stone, he couldn't let this opportunity slip through his hands.
His only plan right now was to find a way to take down Obadiah. Only by exposing his plot to kidnap Tony Stark, would others disregard anything he had to say.
Ti was running out, Erik didn't do much preparation. He picked up his thermal dagger and a pulley bow, driving towards the obligatory route Obadiah must take when leaving the Stark Building.
If you ask why he went to find Obadiah instead of going directly to the TV station, mainly because he didn't have substantial evidence. Since Obadiah was already investigating him, he might as well confront him, and if necessary, take action directly and disguise it as an accident.
The car stopped at the exit of the Stark Building underground parking lot. Erik lowered the car window and waited for a while. When he saw a familiar car driving out of the underground parking lot with Obadiah in it, he imdiately closed the window, turned the steering wheel, stepped on the accelerator and followed Obadiah's car. It wasn't long before he saw Obadiah's car driving into a rich residential area.
Erik parked the car outside and sneaked into the residential area alone. The security in the rich district couldn't stop him. By the ti he got to the front door, the driver was reversing that car into the garage.
Erik saw Obadiah's figure in an upstairs bedroom. He gripped the micro thermal dagger in his hand, jumped over the wall, and silently entered the house.
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