Marvel: I am Iron Man

Of course, it wasn't actually Alexander Pierce who showed up at the deal tonight. No, this unfortunate high-ranking Serpent Shield officer had actually spent most of the night in the secret base listening to the Winter Soldier's last operational briefing and overseeing the reinforcement and maintenance of the Winter Soldier's brainwashing program.

What Pierce didn't know was that Tony Stark, who had the advantage of being a time traveler, already knew about his supposedly concealed identity, and therefore he had long been included in Tony's list of people under close surveillance.

With Tony's technical skills, while it's an exaggeration to say that he could casually monitor and listen to the inside of any Hydra base, he could easily track Pierce's daily movements—for example, what time he left for work, what time he arrived at the office, what time he returned home, and roughly what time periods he hid in his secret little nest to format the empty brain of the centenarian popsicle.

This is why Tony was able to be certain beforehand that Pierce would be at his Hydra hideout exactly when the deal was completed.

This means Tony can confidently create a fake Pierce to gain recognition without worrying that the real Pierce might be chatting in Fury's office at the same time, causing Tony to be discredited before he can even get away with it.

Therefore, given the timing of last night's transaction, the only alibi for the unfortunate former Director Pierce was that eccentric centenarian popsicle Bucky.

Conversely, a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, several Hydra agents, and a group of smugglers all witnessed former Director Lippierce taking the infamous assassin Winter Soldier out for a stroll late at night.

Tony has to thank Quentin Baker, an outstanding employee of his Stark Industries, once again for his incredibly realistic holographic projection technology, "Double Matrix," which perfectly modeled the personal images of Pierce and the Winter Soldier, making such a wonderful performance possible.

Tony was very satisfied with the performance of the technology and went back to give Quentin a bonus.

At this point, nobody cared about Vincent's smuggling ring anymore; S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra would probably be very busy from now on. But these guys were originally just nobodys, and they'd all been marked by Tony anyway.

Once the storm has passed and Iron Man makes one more trip, he can retrieve the leaked weapons, which will no longer be a concern.

Tony, the mastermind behind it all, didn't show his face at all, not even a single screw of his armor was visible. He flew straight home, took a hot shower, ate something quick, and then went back to his lab.

What? You're saying there are flaws in this story and that doesn't necessarily make it believable?

Tony didn't care whether people believed him or not. The point was to stir things up even more and make them fight even fiercer.

Nick Fury is a suspicious man. He might believe Pierce is Hydra, or he might suspect it's a frame-up. But regardless, even with only a one percent suspicion, he'll keep an eye on Pierce, investigate, and look for clues.

Even if someone maliciously framed me, why would they frame you, Lao Pi, and not me, Fu?

But Pierce clearly wasn't going to let him investigate.

Although Pierce is being unfairly blamed today, he certainly can't withstand a thorough investigation by Fury.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Pierce, with his exceptional skills, could easily outmaneuver Fury and continue to outmaneuver the one-eyed idiot.

Even so, it's just maintaining the status quo... Oh, and it also makes Fury and Pierce rack their brains trying to figure out who's impersonating Pierce. Who knows, Fury might even suspect the Skrulls who are good at shapeshifting and impersonating, and then, by investigating, Fury might have noticed the Skrulls' little tricks before the awful "Secret Invasion" plot in the original comics even started... That would be even more hilarious.

In short, whether it succeeds or not, there's no harm in trying.

"Great progress tonight, Ja," Tony said cheerfully. "Frey and Pierce aren't getting any sleep. In fact, I think they probably won't be getting any sleep for the next few days."

Jarvis said, "You sound like you're looking forward to having fun, sir."

Tony laughed. "Stop talking nonsense, Jarvis. This is a rare moment of fun in our hectic work lives. Don't you think it's entertaining?"

Jarvis: "That's very interesting, sir. I think the conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra will escalate further."

"Yeah. It's a shame I couldn't see Pierce's fury or how interesting Fury's expression was."

Tony shook his head and sighed, as if he was genuinely very disappointed.

"Yes, but we can imagine it," Jarvis said with a smile.

...

...

Fury stared wide with his only eye, so wide that it almost made Agent Barbara Morst, who had rushed over overnight to report, feel physically uncomfortable.

"Say it again, who?" Fury asked.

Barbara: "Alexander Pierce, sir."

Fury: "Alexander what?"

Barbara: "Pierce, sir."

Thankfully, Fury didn't follow up with "What Pierce?", otherwise Barbara felt she would have gone crazy too—because she had already been shocked enough tonight.

Fury stared blankly for a long time, then paced back and forth in his office with his hands behind his back.

He remained silent for a long time, but Barbara felt the atmosphere was becoming increasingly oppressive and she had an urge to open the window for some fresh air.

Finally, after pacing back and forth along the same route in his office countless times, Fury turned around and asked, "Have you mentioned this to anyone else?"

Barbara shook her head: "No, I reported to you immediately, Director."

"Okay, very good, you did a great job."

Fury nodded and then began to mutter to himself.

"Pierce... Haha, Pierce... You're all getting on in years, yet you still manage to surprise me, old friend."

Barbara hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Could there have been some misunderstanding? Perhaps Secretary Pierce was there on some special mission..."

The image of the Hydra agents being so respectful to Pierce, and the way they addressed him as "Sir," involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

"I'll judge that for myself. Your task is complete, and you've done it exceptionally well, Agent Morst," Fury said. "Now you go back to your post, pretend nothing happened, and do what you were doing, understand?"

Fury clearly meant that she shouldn't alert him; he had his own plans for the future.

Barbara was no novice either, so she immediately nodded: "I understand, Chief."

Barbara stepped back, and the automatic door to the chief's office closed behind her.

Nick Fury sat back in his chair, staring at the file and image of Pierce projected onto his desk for a long time before letting out a dry laugh.

"Well, old friend. Now I see you."

Fury interlaced his fingers and muttered to himself.

"Now, it's my turn to make a move."

...

...

That same night, at the secret Hydra hideout led by Alexander Pierce.

"I've already told both Strucker and Viper separately, I don't want to repeat myself..."

Pierce roared into the phone over the encrypted line in a fit of rage.

"I didn't go out! I didn't go anywhere all night, and I certainly didn't go to that damn arms deal!"

Pierce's encrypted lines have been bombarded with calls tonight. Baron Strucker, Lady Viper of Hydra, Senator Sent... high-ranking Hydra executives from various branches have been bombarding him with calls, all questioning what got into him that he went out for a walk with the Winter Soldier in the middle of the night.

After the Hydra agents in charge of buying the weapons returned, they naturally reported the transaction to their superiors. As a result, within that one night, the entire Hydra knew that Pierce had gone out for a walk with the Winter Soldier in the middle of the night because he had nothing better to do.

But Pierce knew perfectly well that he was being framed!

Oh, it's not entirely untrue that he was the mole... but he definitely didn't go out for a walk with the Winter Soldier in the middle of the night.

There's a bastard plotting against me!

Moreover, the most insidious part of this scheme is that although the blame placed on him is fake, the fact that he is a rat is real.

Although his public appearance tonight was fake, if it attracted Fury's attention and the already suspicious Fury started to investigate him more thoroughly... who knows what he might find out.

So Pierce was unfairly blamed, but he couldn't clear his name. Because he was inherently flawed, the more he tried to explain, the worse he became.

Pierce was furious and was yelling at Senator Sent, a Hydra executive, on the other end of the microphone.

"Proof that I didn't go out?" He laughed angrily, glancing at the Winter Soldier beside him. "I spent the entire night in the report room with the Winter Soldier. What? You want to hear him on the phone?"

The Winter Soldier stood ramrod straight beside him, looking at Pierce with a wise yet bewildered gaze, clearly not understanding what had happened.