Marvel: I am Iron Man

After a brief moment of surprise, Tony quickly calmed down.

Upon closer reflection, this doesn't seem surprising at all. For an organization like Hydra, dedicated to conquering the world, it would be abnormal if they didn't have a nuclear weapons production line.

Especially considering that Hydra was closely associated with the Nazis during World War II, and everyone suffered greatly from nuclear weapons back then, it's quite possible that the remnants of the Hydra organization today have a special attachment to, or even an obsession with, nuclear weapons.

Strictly speaking, even without its own production lines, Hydra already possessed nuclear weapons.

For example, at the end of the Battle of New York in Avengers 1, the World Security Council forced Fury's airship to launch a nuclear missile at New York.

In fact, the decision to nuke New York was controversial even back then.

It's like someone gets bitten on the finger by a snake, so they promptly cut off the finger. Then the venom spreads to the palm, so they chop off the hand. Next, the venom spreads to the arm, so they chop off that too. Finally, the venom reaches the brain, so they chop off the head...

Although he lost his life after all that, wouldn't you say he successfully stopped the spread of the toxin?

So, the MCU later confirmed that Hydra was actually behind the decision to nuke New York, which somehow makes more sense. This also shows that Hydra's infiltration was so extensive that they controlled nuclear launch authority—and it's very likely that this control extended beyond just the Aegis mothership.

They only managed to gain the right to launch nuclear weapons by using espionage and infiltration methods. After all, it felt like they had stolen someone else's nuclear weapons, and it was still not as free and flexible as building their own.

After all, even if a cadre in the organization becomes president, he would still need to come up with a decent reason to launch nuclear weapons, and he would be subject to checks and balances from the cabinet, defense minister, and the like, which is quite troublesome.

Having secretly produced nuclear weapons would certainly be convenient for Hydra.

Jarvis asked, "Sir, what should we do with the fissile material here?"

"What should we do with them?" Tony thought for a moment. "Pack up the useful ones and destroy the rest. These toys are too dangerous for bad kids like Hydra; they have to be confiscated."

The nuclear weapons issue is too complex for Hydra to handle.

I have to do it myself.

This was a thought that Tony had had before—a nuclear bomb.

Miniaturize nuclear weapons and mount them in Iron Man's armor during specific battles as one of his trump cards.

Of course, this matter cannot be publicized. No country in the world would allow an individual to possess such a crazy thing as a nuclear bomb, and the control over the necessary materials for manufacturing nuclear weapons is very strict—otherwise, Saddam Hussein would not have been punished with a hammer.

In the Marvel universe, you can't say that nuclear weapons are useless, but they're not necessarily that powerful either.

First of all, it's certain that for characters of Thor's caliber, Hulk's, and Captain Marvel's, being able to withstand nuclear weapons is standard practice, not to mention that Marvel has a number of bosses even stronger than them.

Secondly, before using nuclear weapons on Earth, one must weigh whether the exaggerated area-of-effect damage and more severe radiation effects are worth the benefits, especially when the opponent is a powerful being with nuclear weapons ineffective. Using nuclear weapons would undoubtedly be an act that harms the enemy by a great margin while also harming oneself by a great deal.

However, it wouldn't be accurate to say that nuclear weapons are completely useless in the Marvel universe. While they're ineffective against heavyweights like the Hulk, their massive area-of-effect (AOE) attacks are still useful for clearing out smaller enemies.

For example, their individual combat strength is average, but their main attack is an endless Chitauri army like locusts.

If the explosion's area-of-effect damage and radiation don't affect your own side, a nuclear bomb is an absolute weapon for clearing out an army like the Zitauri—just like when Iron Man carried a nuclear bomb into a wormhole in Avengers 1.

Therefore, in Marvel, nuclear bombs are only considered moderately powerful when facing heavyweight bosses, and their single-target damage is probably not as high as the burst damage of Thor's hammer—because if a nuclear bomb can't kill an opponent, Thor might be able to kill them by unleashing his ultimate power.

Compared to single-target damage, nuclear weapons have a greater advantage in terms of their large area of ​​effect and speed in clearing out mobs. However, this can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, because their area of ​​effect is so large that it is uncontrollable, which limits the scenarios in which they can be used.

Regardless of whether it's actually useful or not, possessing this weapon certainly gives Iron Man an extra trump card.

Tony was completely unprepared. This trip, which was just a casual test of new equipment, had yielded such an unexpected gain. Nuclear weapons materials are strictly controlled, after all, and Hydra had even collected, packaged, and brought them to him—it was incredibly thoughtful of them.

Shortly after Iron Man took off, another series of deafening explosions echoed through the valley. The hidden base was completely engulfed in flames and buried by the collapse of the mountain, becoming a thing of the past.

...

...

Alexander Pierce received news of the base's destruction a full day later.

There was nothing we could do, because yesterday both the base and the Ten Rings Gang's outpost, which we were cooperating with, were completely cut off from contact. We had no idea what had happened there all day.

It wasn't until much later that a Hydra agent who had been lurking at a nearby US military base went to investigate and discovered that the Ten Rings stronghold there, along with the Hydra base, had been completely uprooted, leaving not a trace.

The situation at the scene was absolutely horrific.

According to images transmitted back by frontline agents, there was not a single patch of intact land in sight. The rammed earth and concrete bunkers looked as if they had been gnawed by a giant beast, exposing twisted steel bars like broken ribs against a benevolent sky.

A watchtower broken in half, an armed pickup truck with only its frame remaining, its tires melted and stuck to the scorching ground, and shattered tank and turret parts.

There were also corpses scattered everywhere, charred arms, legs broken at unnatural angles while wearing camouflage pants, and even more unrecognizable chunks of flesh stuck to the canvas and splattered on the walls...

The report said the scene resembled a modern military massacre, with no survivors.

In addition, all communications within the entire base area were completely cut off during this period, with no communications, no video information, and no witnesses.

Nobody knows what happened here yesterday, or who turned this place into hell.

After reading the report, Pierce clenched his fist so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged, and gritted his teeth as he spat out a name: "Nick Fury..."

Pierce's secretary, standing nearby, cautiously asked, "Is this Frigan's?"

"Nonsense!" Pierce glared at his subordinate. "That one-eyed bastard has captured seven of our deep-cover agents and taken down three of our bases in the past month. Who else could have done that?"

The secretary lowered his head and dared not speak. After thinking for a moment, he felt that what his superior said made sense.

Besides Fury, who else could be so relentlessly pursuing Hydra? And who else possesses the capability to silently take down a military outpost?

"Alright, Fury. If you want to play, I'll play along to the end."

Pierce was so furious that he laughed in exasperation.

"It's either you die or I die."