American comics start with asking Iron Man a question.

No matter how you look at that big guy, it seems like his brain is all muscle, not intelligence.

On the contrary, Loki gives people the first impression of being insidious and cunning, a master of scheming and trickery.

"In short, we can't control the grudges in Asgard, so Loki's coming to Earth to cause trouble is inevitable."

Nick Fury's expression turned serious. "What we can do now is prepare for Loki's arrival and try to avoid the Battle of New York."

"I have a question," Iron Man said suddenly after a moment's thought, "Could there be something more to this than meets the eye? Or perhaps... a bigger conspiracy?"

"Do you remember what Thor said? He asked Loki who showed him the true power of the Tesseract! He asked Loki who was the mastermind behind it all!"

Upon hearing Iron Man's words, Nick Fury and Black Widow's expressions grew even more somber.

"What is the mastermind's purpose? Why did he let Loki witness the power of the Tesseract? Was Loki's invasion of Earth simply due to the grudges of Asgard, or is it also related to the mastermind behind it all?"

Iron Man then posed a series of crucial questions, making the atmosphere even more somber.

If the mastermind simply showed Loki the power of the Tesseract and didn't do anything else, and everything was Loki's own doing, then it's acceptable.

But if there really is a mastermind behind Loki's invasion of Earth, things become much more complicated.

It's gotten much worse.

"We don't have enough information to analyze further, but if there really is a mastermind behind this... someone who could use the prince of the divine realm as a pawn must be someone we can't even imagine."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Nick Fury slowly uttered these words in a deep voice.

"If there really is such a being at play, why would he use Loki to invade Earth? His level is far higher than Loki's. If he really wanted to invade Earth, why wouldn't he do it himself instead of using someone else?"

"And besides the Cosmic Cube, what else on Earth could attract such a being?"

Black Widow also raised several pointed questions, but due to the limited information available, no one could answer them immediately.

"Is it possible that the mastermind behind the invasion of Earth didn't actually have Earth as its target, but rather some other, more complex purpose?" Iron Man pondered.

"For example?" Nick Fury asked, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Iron Man.

"For example... interstellar feuds!" Iron Man began to speak eloquently.

"If Loki invaded Earth because of a feud between their realms, then why can't the mastermind behind it all be for the same reason?"

"We already know that Asgard, the realm of the gods in mythology, exists. But what about the legends of the Nine Realms? Why does Thor love Earth so much?"

Iron Man's words made Nick Fury and Black Widow slowly realize what was going on.

"Stark, are you saying that Earth and the other planets of the Nine Realms are all the domain of Odin, the Allfather, and that the entity behind it all attacked Earth because of its grudge against Odin?"

Black Widow followed Iron Man's train of thought and asked him questions.

"Pretty much. We used to be like frogs in a well, knowing nothing about the world, but now we know about a much wider sky."

"Therefore, our thinking cannot remain in the past."

Iron Man was completely serious.

Nick Fury and Black Widow fell into deep thought.

Although Iron Man's "Odin's Grudge" theory is just a conjecture, or rather, a brainstorming-style flash of inspiration, it doesn't have much credibility.

But Iron Man's words make a lot of sense.

After learning about the existence of divine realms and extraterrestrials, we can no longer limit our thinking to just Earth's perspective, because Earth is also a part of the universe.

Sometimes, when considering a problem, it is indeed necessary to take a holistic view and consider it from a cosmic perspective.

"Furthermore, the Tesseract might be something beyond our imagination; it's far more complex than we thought," Iron Man said again in a deep voice.

That thing was originally just treated as an alien artifact, nothing more.

But now it seems that the Tesseract is far from what it appears to be, because even Loki and Thor are unaware of the Tesseract's true power.

Chapter 043 The Search and Rescue Team Was Annihilated

Without Iron Man needing to say much, Nick Fury naturally understood the seriousness of the matter. He had previously stated that the Tesseract was of paramount importance.

Based on the clues we have so far, Loki's arrival on Earth is unavoidable, because it involves the grudges and conflicts of Asgard.

Loki will eventually use the Tesseract to open a portal and arrive at S.H.I.E.L.D.

What S.H.I.E.L.D. can currently prevent is what will happen later.

They need to prevent Loki from stealing the Tesseract!

If this point is prevented, the subsequent Chitauri invasion will not have occurred.

"It seems that the security level of the Dark Energy Union Base needs to be completely upgraded!" Nick Fury made a decision in his heart.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously glanced at Iron Man. To do this, he really had to rely on Iron Man's skills.

[This round of questions is now complete!]

At this moment, the system notification sounded, and the large screen in front of everyone disappeared. Those who had been frozen in time returned to normal.

Several of the agents looked completely bewildered, glancing at Nick Fury and Black Widow beside them.

Are these two ghosts?

How could they suddenly appear in front of me?

Does it make no sound when it walks?

Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Iron Man, the three who had just finished answering the questions, exchanged glances and tacitly pretended nothing had happened.

The quiz system is a very important matter, so it cannot be revealed to anyone.

“So…” Black Widow shrugged, making a gesture as if to stop Iron Man, and said, “Stark, we appreciate your help, but please leave the rest to us, okay?”

The answer system paused at the exact moment Iron Man had just cut a hole in the fighter jet and was trying to enter.

Now that time has been restored, the scenes that need to be filmed must naturally be completed.

In fact, after learning that Iron Man would be one of their own in the future, neither Nick Fury nor Black Widow had any intention of stopping Iron Man.

"Don't even think about it!" Iron Man replied with his usual arrogant tone.

Then, ignoring the two, he flew directly into the fighter jet through the opening.

Nick Fury and Black Widow were lowered in one after the other using ropes. As for the others, Nick Fury ordered them to stay outside and provide support, and did not let anyone in.

There were only the three of them, "one of our own".

"Sir, it's Captain America's shield!"

As soon as they entered the fighter jet, something on the ground immediately caught their attention, and Black Widow couldn't help but excitedly call out to Nick Fury.

That was none other than Captain America's shield!

If we've found Captain America's shield, how far are we from finding Captain America himself?

Nick Fury nodded with satisfaction, feeling a sense of excitement in his heart.

"That centenarian is buried right here," Iron Man said, walking to a corner inside the fighter jet and pointing there.

The moment he entered, Iron Man had already conducted a full X-ray scan of the entire cabin and located Captain America immediately.

It has to be said that when it comes to search and rescue, bringing Iron Man along makes things exceptionally efficient.

"Is he still alive?" Nick Fury asked immediately in a deep voice.

“Although the thermal signal is very weak…” Iron Man shrugged, “but yes, Captain America is still alive.”

Nick Fury and Black Widow breathed a sigh of relief. Although they already knew this from the quiz system, they could only be completely certain now that Iron Man had confirmed it.

"Stark, I'll leave the rest to you," Nick Fury said earnestly to Iron Man.

Iron Man naturally didn't refuse; wearing his Iron Man armor did make things easier, so he immediately began to work.

In no time at all, they dug up Captain America.

Nick Fury and Black Widow went over to check on Captain America's condition, and both couldn't help but marvel at his appearance.

"Seventy years have passed. It's unbelievable that Captain America is still alive," Black Widow exclaimed.

Would you believe it if you hadn't seen it with your own eyes?

"Alright, let's take Captain America home now!"

Nick Fury stood up, clapped his hands, and said with great enthusiasm.

What Nick Fury didn't know was that the moment they unearthed Captain America, it was spotted by someone outside who secretly sent out the news.

Several fighter jets had already flown towards them!

"Two men, get down and get the captain out!" Nick Fury then took out his walkie-talkie and gave the order to the people outside.

"Yes, sir!"

Someone immediately responded on the walkie-talkie.

However, at that moment...

Oh oh oh!

A sound of atmospheric vibrations caused by something passing through the sky was heard.

Nick Fury and Black Widow's expressions changed instantly, because they both recognized the sound as that of fighter jets.

They hurriedly looked up through the fighter jet tunnel and, sure enough, saw two fighter jets circling overhead.

shhhhhh!

Several missiles were launched immediately.

Boom boom boom!

The fighter jets that Nick Fury and his team arrived in were immediately engulfed in flames and then exploded.

The explosion of the missile, combined with the explosion of the fighter jet, generated a terrifying shockwave, causing the ground to shake violently as if an earthquake had struck.

"Enemy attack! Sir, enemy attack! Ah!"

A frantic shout came through the walkie-talkie, followed by a scream and then silence.

chug chug!