The Martial God of the Marvel World

Chapter 369 Sokovia
Eastern Europe, Sokovia.

This is a very small country. Rather than calling it a country, it is better to say that it is just a small political entity formed by a few small towns united together.

It is mountainous, barren and unstable, and borders Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Because it is too poor and has no natural resources to exploit, it has not attracted the covetousness of powerful countries.

I am poor but I am right. As long as I am poor enough, the surrounding countries will avoid me as much as possible. This is probably the truth.

When the Avengers' fighter planes appeared over Sokovia, not only did the Air Force fighter planes come to drive them away, there was not even a radio warning.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s airspace or not, just fly wherever you want!
The Avengers' fighter planes circled in the sky for a long time, but finally failed to find an airport, so they had to find a relatively spacious and flat square near the outskirts of the city to land. Fortunately, this fighter plane can take off and land vertically. If it was a jet plane, I'm afraid they would have to parachute.

As the plane descended, a puff of smoke rose from the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

There were already many local residents in the square. When the plane landed, they had already hidden far away, pointing and talking in a flurry from afar. Children were beside the adults, hugging their parents' legs and looking over here timidly. Some brave kids even ran to the square to get a close look at this amazing big iron bird.

As the door of the fighter plane opened, the gangway slowly popped out, and the Avengers, led by Steve, filed out of the fighter plane. Considering the possibility of a battle, the Avengers were fully armed and wearing battle robes.

The children who came closer seemed frightened again, and ran back in a swarm, hiding behind the adults, taking shelter under their parents' protection, causing a group of elders to laugh. They didn't seem to worry at all that the Avengers would use force against them, because they were all poor and there was nothing worth stealing.

"This is such a peaceful and tranquil country. It can be seen that the people are very friendly." Steve looked around and smiled. He smiled and waved to the children, then turned to look at Scott behind him, "Scott, do you have any clues?"

Scott held a tablet, frowned, and walked back and forth. "The coordinates are here, but there are fluctuations of the reality gem everywhere around, and I can't locate it accurately."

"Well, it seems that we need to find the gems ourselves. This is another huge project. I hope the locals can help us reduce the workload."

When dealing with the locals, of course it is Natasha, who has the best affinity, who has to step in.

No man can resist a delicate-looking red-haired beauty, especially when her eyes are rolling, her lips are smiling, and her words are pleading.

With just a few words, Natasha coaxed the group of middle-aged and elderly men into forgetting their own last names, and they rushed to tell them all the secrets they knew.

Soon, Natasha retreated with the information she wanted, and all these bootlickers got was a flying kiss and a beautiful memory worth bragging about for the rest of their lives.

"This city is not big. No outsiders have appeared recently, and I haven't heard of any accidents. No one has picked up any gems, and no one has moved away after making a fortune. By the way, the only jewelry store in this city also does gem recycling business. Maybe we can go there first. But the jewelry store is at the other end of the city, and we need to cross the entire city."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go, and hope everything goes well."

The crowd took some candies and sent away the children who gathered around them again, then strode towards the city center.

The municipal construction here is very backward. Most of the buildings and streets are left over from the old times. The architectural style is simple, mostly old reinforced concrete structures. The colors are old and gray, without many modern elements.

The streets are relatively narrow, with few trees planted on both sides and few roadside trees. The alleys and streets are also somewhat dirty and messy.

Most of the buildings on both sides of the street are two or three-story buildings. Among them are some old houses that have been in disrepair for a long time and have peeling walls. The windows are often closed and locked, revealing a feeling of vicissitudes of time.

In the corners of the city, you can often see several well-preserved ancient buildings. These buildings are usually small castles built of bluestone. Walking among them, you can feel the interweaving of history and time.

The entire city's infrastructure is relatively weak, and public transportation is relatively backward, with only a few buses.

But as you get closer to the city center, everything starts to change.

The most obvious thing is that there are more high-rise buildings, the streets have become wider, the city is much cleaner and tidier, and there are more private cars.

"Sure enough, even in the poorest countries, there are rich people." Steve couldn't help but sigh.

"This is not good news for us." Clint said thoughtfully, "After the poor get the gems, they will definitely cash them in as quickly as possible to improve the living conditions of themselves and their families, but the rich will most likely collect them."

"In other words, the Reality Stone is most likely in the hands of a wealthy man in this city?"

"The biggest possibility is that it is in the hands of the city's ruler. If we don't see the real gem at the gem recycling merchant, we'll probably have to pay a visit to the mayor of this city. Of course, we can't ignore the council members either."

"What if they don't admit it?" Scott asked tentatively.

Steve said without hesitation: "Although I don't want to use illegal means, the Reality Gems never belonged to them. I have no psychological burden in taking the gems from them."

"That's great." Scott nodded with a smile. "In fact, I just released some nano monitors that Professor Hulk gave me to monitor all the officials and wealthy businessmen in this city."

“What?” Steve exclaimed, startled. “You’re doing mass surveillance and wiretapping?”

"This is the fastest way!" Scott shrugged. "Do you have a better way?"

"What Scott did was right. When we were in SHIELD, we did so many surveillance and wiretapping activities. Strictly speaking, the US government is the best at doing this. So, Steve, you don't have to worry too much about these things." Natasha was afraid that Steve would be stubborn and insist on talking about personal privacy, so she tried to persuade him. "I..." Steve hesitated and finally waved his hand in frustration, "Well, I'm not that naive. I know the government has many dark sides, but... forget it, why bother talking about these things? Let's put the overall situation first!"

After everyone reached a consensus, Scott became even more unscrupulous. The Avengers' technological level was completely superior to Sokovia's, and they were completely defeated and could not be detected at all. Even if the politicians and businessmen in Sokovia knew that they were being monitored, they could not see, find, or hide from them.

As the saying goes, what you fear is bound to come true. The Avengers gained nothing from the jewelry recycler.

Although he has a monopoly on the jewelry recycling business in this city, in fact this jewelry recycler is just a small businessman. He has never seen truly expensive jewelry, and his appreciation ability is very questionable. If he really saw the perfect treasures like real gems, it is impossible for him not to be impressed.

And in front of experienced agents like Natasha and Clint, no one can lie to them.

"Well, it looks like we can only wait for the results from Scott. So what do we do now? Just wait?"

Just as they were discussing whether to find a place to taste the local delicacies, a black extended Lincoln stopped in front of them. A well-dressed man with an elite aura got out of the car, bowed politely to Steve, and said enthusiastically:
"Welcome President Rogers to Sokovia!"

"Mayor Hanas sent me to greet you and invite you and your friends to the mayor's residence."

"Mayor Hanas has invited all the political and business people in the city to prepare a grand welcome party for President Rogers. Please come and join us."

Steve was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had mistaken himself for Steve Rogers in this world. He didn't have the habit of impersonating others, so he immediately explained:

"I'm not President Rogers, I'm..." He was speechless halfway through the sentence, not knowing how to explain to the other party, so he had to say, "I'm Captain America Steve Rogers."

Fortunately, the other party also misunderstood his words and said with a smile:
"I see!"

"Although America is no longer here, Mr. Rogers is still a world-renowned superhero, the magnetic field warrior, Captain America."

"No matter what your status is in Sokovia, you are our most respected guest."

Everyone understood immediately that they were afraid of the strength of the magnetic field warrior Steve Rogers and didn't know what such a super master wanted to do in their territory, so they treated him politely. Whether they wanted to test everyone's intentions, or wanted to win over a powerful warrior to provide sufficient survival guarantee for their family, or simply wanted to hold on to a big leg, it was undoubtedly an expression of goodwill.

Steve never liked this kind of high society social activities. He hesitated for a moment and was about to refuse. However, Natasha came over and whispered in his ear, "We just need to find the Reality Stone. All the politicians and businessmen will come to the party tonight. It's a good opportunity to investigate."

Steve thought it made sense, so he agreed.

"Well, thank you very much for Mayor Hanas's kindness."

The visitor smiled and opened the back door of the car. He respectfully invited Steve and his party to get in the car, then he personally acted as the driver and took everyone to the mayor's residence.

When the vehicle slowly drove to the door of the mayor's residence, Mayor Hanas had been waiting there for a long time.

Although he had a big belly, he was wearing a dark suit, a plaid tie, a neat hairstyle and a trimmed beard, which made him look dignified and friendly. The setting sun cast soft light on his carefully groomed face, which made him look very friendly. It was obviously carefully designed by a professional stylist to deceive voters.

Behind Mayor Hanas, there were several middle-aged and elderly men and women, all dressed in formal attire, waiting with serious faces. They should be other government officials in the official residence, or some business leaders.

As soon as the car door opened, Mayor Hanas came up to greet us warmly, stretched out his hands to Steve who had just got off the car, and greeted him with a smile:

"Welcome to our city, sir. You will soon find that it is really nice here."

"Thank you for your warm invitation, Mr. Mayor." Steve replied politely.

Although Steve hated this hypocritical upper-class social model, he was actually very good at dealing with these people because he had been specially trained in order to trick wealthy people into donating money.

After a few polite words, Steve introduced his companion to Mayor Hanas. He also got to know several celebrities behind him, all of whom were representatives from various fields.

After a few polite words between the two sides, Mayor Hanas took the initiative to open the door of the official residence for him and led everyone into the spacious and bright living room.

According to social customs, the time to talk about serious matters is after the party in the evening. Nowadays, this kind of sitting and talking is often just to show goodwill to each other and chat some nonsense.

But Steve was impatient to talk nonsense with a group of politicians, so after making it clear that he had no ill intentions, he took the initiative to change the topic to the purpose of this trip.

"Mayor Hanas, we are here to find a red gemstone. It has a perfect shape and is unforgettable. We don't have a photo of the gemstone, but I can draw it for you. This gemstone is very important to us. If you can help us find it, we will be very grateful and willing to give you a generous reward. Whether it is financial or other aspects, you can ask for it."

Steve finished speaking, and then he got a pen and paper, drew the Reality Stone, and handed it to them.

It must be said that Steve worked very hard to become a cartoonist. His painting skills are very exquisite, and the realistic gems he draws are both realistic and lifelike.

Perhaps the conditions Steve promised were too generous. Everyone, including Mayor Hanas, came over very eagerly, craning their necks to see what the gem that "President Rogers" had come all the way to look for looked like.

Unfortunately, however, after seeing it, everyone shook their heads in disappointment and claimed that they had never seen this beautiful gem.

(End of this chapter)