American comics start with asking Iron Man a question.

Nick Fury guessed.

Black Widow nodded: "Considering that the probability of New York being invaded twice in a row is not high, those guys should be the Chitauri."

"That name sounds really stupid, just like the armor they're wearing!" Iron Man couldn't help but complain.

There is a general consensus regarding the identity of the Chitauri.

"So option A refers to the Battle of New York. Was my first gathering of the Avengers because of the Battle of New York?"

Nick Fury continued his analysis.

“That’s possible, sir,” Black Widow began, offering a reminder. “Remember the news Miss Pepper saw on the flight in the last footage?”

"The 'response team' mentioned in the news is most likely the Avengers."

"But they didn't know the Avengers' name, only referring to them as the 'Response Team,' which suggests that this was the first time the Avengers had assembled."

Chapter 028 Are you sure Hydra is destroyed?

Black Widow's analysis makes a lot of sense; that "response team" existed as the main force against the alien army in the event of the Earth army's defeat.

In this situation, once the "response team" is exposed, the identities of each member should be thoroughly investigated.

However, the news report vaguely referred to them as a "response team," which can only mean one thing: no one really knows the other party's identity.

That response team was probably making its first public appearance.

If that response team really is the Avengers, then there's a high probability that this is the Avengers' first mission.

“Option A is indeed very likely. Let’s keep that opinion in mind for now and look at the other options.” Nick Fury nodded and turned his attention back to the next option.

"The Cosmic Cube has been stolen?"

Nick Fury fell into deep thought.

The Tesseract is an extremely important item, and if it were truly stolen, he might indeed be able to summon the Avengers to retrieve it.

The key issue is that even if the Cosmic Cube was indeed stolen, we know absolutely nothing about when it was stolen, who stole it, and so on.

Effective analysis is simply impossible.

Furthermore, the Tesseract is a highly classified item for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Apart from Nick Fury and a few of his closest confidants, most people don't even know that such a thing exists.

Nick Fury didn't want to discuss this further in front of Iron Man.

"This option lacks sufficient information for effective analysis. Let's look at the other option instead." Nick Fury quickly skipped over option B.

"Wait a minute, Nick Fury, what exactly is this Tesseract?" Iron Man interrupted Nick Fury, pressing him for an answer.

In order to find information about Captain America's plane crash, he hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system and saw a lot of classified information from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Those classified intelligence reports show that...

Howard Stark, Iron Man's father, participated in the search and rescue mission, but ultimately failed to find Captain America, only recovering the Tesseract.

Iron Man didn't take it to heart at the time, but now he thinks differently.

The "cosmic" Rubik's Cube is very likely something that comes from the universe!

Could the Chitauri have come about because of this Rubik's Cube?

"Why do you think I know?" Nick Fury glanced at Iron Man without batting an eye.

"Come on, Nick Fury! Don't try to fool me. I've already gone through one round of the quiz, and the options in the quiz system aren't just random guesses! Even the distractors have a chance of happening!"

"Since the question gives option B, it means that the Tesseract is definitely in your S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

Iron Man said to Nick Fury with unwavering certainty.

“You’re right, Stark.” Nick Fury didn’t deny it. “However, this is a SHIELD secret, and I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything.”

"Since this thing is the 'Cosmic Cube,' it must be something from outer space, right? Could the Chitauri have come to Earth specifically for this?"

Iron Man succinctly questions Nick Fury.

“Stark, scientists value rigor, not conjecture!” Nick Fury glanced at Iron Man without saying a word.

"First of all, this is what my father salvaged!" Iron Man declared without hesitation.

"How did you find out about this?" Nick Fury's one eye widened slightly as he stared intently at Iron Man.

Nick Fury's expression changed slightly as if he had realized something: "You didn't hack into S.H.I.E.L.D., did you?"

Nick Fury immediately realized why Iron Man was able to locate the area around Captain America's crash site so quickly; he clearly had accurate intelligence.

At first, Nick Fury was a little confused about where Iron Man got his information.

But now it seems that the other party actually stole it from S.H.I.E.L.D.!

"As an intelligence agency, your firewall is actually quite good, much better than that of the FBI and CIA."

Iron Man shrugged and shamelessly admitted it, as if he were talking about something trivial.

“Stark…” Nick Fury’s face darkened immediately.

“Secondly!” But Iron Man ignored Nick Fury’s dark expression and continued, “This thing is the only reason I can think of for the Chitauri to invade Earth. This concerns me, and it concerns every citizen of New York!”

"So I think I have the right to know!"

"Besides... whether you tell me now or not, I will eventually find out, unless all of your S.H.I.E.L.D.'s documents are in paper form."

The last sentence was full of threat, clearly telling Nick Fury, "If you don't tell me, I'll continue to infiltrate you."

Only Iron Man would dare to openly threaten to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. in front of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury stared at Iron Man with his one eye, and after some deliberation, ultimately chose to compromise:

"The Cosmic Cube did indeed originate from outer space and contains powerful energy; it may be an energy source. As for the rest, I don't know."

"That thing isn't from Earth; nobody can figure it out!"

“‘Nobody’ is too absolute a statement.” Iron Man frantically hinted to Nick Fury, “At the very least, America’s top geniuses haven’t researched it.”

Nick Fury fell into deep thought.

Iron Man has now joined the Avengers, and together they have gone through the quiz and learned some important secrets of this world.

They're not exactly outsiders anymore.

Moreover, Iron Man's father, Howard, was the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., so allowing Iron Man access to the Tesseract isn't entirely unacceptable.

“We’ll discuss this later.” However, Nick Fury didn’t immediately agree, giving a vague answer instead, “Right now, focus on answering the questions!”

The group then turned their attention back to the options.

"A raid on Hydra's secret base? That option can probably be ruled out, Hydra has been extinct for decades."

Black Widow said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“That’s not necessarily true, Miss Agent,” Iron Man interjected casually. “We thought Captain America was dead before this.”

“Stark, Hydra was completely eradicated during World War II,” Nick Fury said with absolute certainty, denying Iron Man’s claims.

"How can you be so sure about that?" Iron Man shrugged.

Chapter 029 The Hulk Cannot Be Suppressed

“Stark, let alone an organization, even an individual, as long as they exist, they will inevitably leave a trace.”

"And as long as he leaves a trace, even the slightest one, it will be impossible for him to escape the notice of S.H.I.E.L.D."

“Stark, believe it or not, if we wanted to, we could find out exactly how old you were when you stopped wetting the bed.”

Nick Fury wasn't exaggerating; with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current level and power, the entire world truly has no secrets in the face of this massive organization.

"And after so many years, we have not found any trace of Hydra, which is enough to prove that Hydra has long been extinct and does not exist at all."

Nick Fury spoke to Iron Man with an unwavering and definitive tone, showing that he still had that much confidence.

"If Hydra can truly exist without being detected by S.H.I.E.L.D., there's only one possibility: S.H.I.E.L.D. has been taken over by Hydra!"

But obviously, such an absurd and ridiculous thing is simply impossible.

"I was just saying it offhand." Iron Man didn't insist; he really was just saying it offhand.

"Then only one option remains." Iron Man then turned his attention to option D. "The Hulk? That doctor who transforms into a giant when he gets angry?"

“Stark, it seems it’s not just S.H.I.E.L.D. that you’ve hacked.” Nick Fury couldn’t help but glance at Iron Man.

The Hulk was an accidental product of the military's replication serum experiments, and related data and intelligence are highly classified.

Apart from a few people directly involved at the time, it was impossible for anyone else to know.

Those involved back then were all dealt with properly, keeping their mouths shut. After several years, the Hulk became even less known.

Iron Man, however, acted as if he were talking nonsense about the Hulk. What he actually did is self-evident.

"Don't worry about such trivial details, let's get back to the questions." Iron Man waved his hand dismissively. "That big guy is truly terrifying when he gets angry, he's practically a monster!"

"Although I don't want to admit it, with my current Iron Man armor, I can't do anything to him at all!"

“He’ll tear your armor off in three minutes and then stomp you to death,” Black Widow added seriously.

"That's a bit too hurtful, Miss Agent. Give me enough time and I will definitely develop an anti-Hulk armor. Then even that big guy will be nothing in front of me."

Iron Man said with a confident expression.

"But the key problem is, you haven't figured it out yet." Black Widow ruthlessly punctured Iron Man's confidence.

She then turned to Nick Fury and said, "Sir, if it's the Hulk, the army is useless. I'm afraid the Avengers will really have to step in."

"So, up to now, we've only ruled out option C?" Iron Man shrugged.

“No, I think option D can also be ruled out.” Nick Fury pondered for a few seconds before offering a different opinion.

"Option D refers to suppressing the Hulk, rather than dealing with or handling the crisis caused by the Hulk."

There are still significant differences between the two.