Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

“I’ll take care of all the salaries,” Tony offered.

As a team of superpowered individuals, the Avengers are primarily funded by private donations, with Tony Stark being the largest source of funding and Pym being the second largest.

“I saw many excellent agents during the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters battle, such as Brock Rumlow of the S.H.I.E.L.D. commando team.”

Just when Li Ai thought Steve would say names like Coulson or Melinda, he said Brock Rumlow instead, causing Li Ai's hand, which was installing a smart receiver on the cycling helmet, to tremble.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, puzzled.

“Captain Rogers, Brock Rumlow is a Hydra agent…” Li Ai said, both amused and exasperated.

Chapter 119 Hydra: There's a box!

As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on Steve's face vanished instantly, replaced by a solemn expression.

Steve fought Hydra to the death during the war, and even his best friend's fate was unknown. He thought that Hydra would disappear completely after the war ended.

But why does Hydra still exist now?

“Tell me why Hydra still exists,” Steve said, clenching his fist.

“First of all, Hydra is actually a very large and long-established organization. Red Skull is only the leader of one of its branches. There are other Hydra branches all over the world.” Li Ai’s words made Steve’s heart skip a beat, but the important part was yet to come.

"Secondly, after World War II, countries competed to retain the outstanding scientists of the Axis camp. Some Hydra scientists took advantage of this to take root and grow in various countries, the most serious of which was S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Is this also something your dream ability told you?" Tony asked curiously. He had witnessed the power of Li Ai's 'dream ability,' which could even transmit information about new elements to him without them meeting.

“Yes, precognitive dreams are part of my ability.” Li Ai nodded, then continued:

“In the future I envision, Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. will use an algorithm every few years to try to eliminate anyone who might oppose them, and Brock Rumlow is one of them.”

"..." Steve fell into deep thought.

“His dreams are incredibly accurate, Captain Rogers.” Tony thought Steve didn’t believe Li Ai’s side of the story, so he assured him, “I’ve personally experienced the accuracy of his dream abilities.”

“No, I just don’t know what to say because I believe.” Steve finally spoke, shaking his head slowly, his voice weary. “I thought the war was over and Hydra would disappear, but I never expected that decades after I left, their threat would be even greater.”

"I can only say they are indeed very difficult to deal with." Tony, unusually, did not make a witty remark.

At this moment, Steve regained his composure and fighting spirit, asking, "Besides Rumlow, do you know the names of any other Hydra members?"

“Alexander Pierce, Lord Wolfgang von Strucker, Jasper Sitwell, John Garrett, Gideon Malik, Daniel Whitehall, and Arnim Zola, who transferred his consciousness into the computer, those devices are hidden in the military camp where you, Captain Rogers, first received your training, and…”

Li Ai recited all the names she knew.

These names sent chills down Steve's spine. These people sounded like they were just leaders and mid-level managers; the number of Hydra agents below them must be terrifying.

“That’s all I know.” Li Ai spread his hands and said helplessly, “Just like Tony said, Hydra is very troublesome, and what’s even more terrifying is that they will corrupt their opponents.”

“Just like S.H.I.E.L.D.” Tony continued, looking at Steve with an unusually serious expression. “So the Avengers absolutely cannot be like them. We may disband, but we absolutely cannot change our nature.”

“You’re right, Stark,” Steve agreed.

“However, I need to get Stark International’s legal team involved; there have been many companies trying to register trademarks lately,” Tony said, looking at Li Ai.

"Especially trademarks related to Kamen Rider ZZZ, many people want to use your name."

“Then leave it to your legal team,” Li Ai said with a smile. “If it’s successfully running, remember to invest most of the profits in charitable projects like infrastructure construction, and keep only a portion for myself.”

“Okay, I’ll get back to work then. Student training programs, legal matters, the new headquarters building construction, and base construction all need me.” Tony gestured for Li Ai to take the gift, then said to Steve:

"Later, I'll trouble you to ride in those two agents' car, or Dr. Pym's old car."

Then, the busy Tony opened the car door, started the vehicle, and drove away without noticing Li Ai, who still wanted to say something.

After the engine noise faded into the distance, Steve patted Li Ai on the shoulder as she stuffed things into her backpack and thanked her:

"Thanks to you for telling me this, otherwise I wouldn't even know who the enemy is."

At this point, Steve also listed eliminating the remaining Skrulls and hunting down Hydra as the Avengers' top priorities.

The Avengers are still a fledgling team, and the Skrull remnants and Hydra can be used as practice subjects to help them develop team synergy and better prepare them for future events.

“But I’m not sure if some of the people on the list are still alive, Captain Rogers,” Li Ai reminded him.

"It's alright, having a clue is better than not even knowing who the enemy is," Steve said gently.

"Leave the task of hunting down Hydra and the remnants of the Skrulls to us adults. You still need to study hard. Although I am somewhat out of touch with this era, it's not to the point where a student has to shoulder everything."

Steve's attitude towards Li Ai was simple: he saw her as a young man who needed to be nurtured, and he would try to buy time for Li Ai and other young people like her.

"I still have time during my vacation." Li Ai put on her helmet, which already had a smart receiver attached, zipped up her cycling jersey, and said with a smile:

"Alright, I'm off too. It's a rare opportunity to go for a bike ride, so I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest."

With that, the Red Comet's engines began to operate, and a roar followed.

“You could go to Brooklyn and explore; it has a great arts scene,” Steve suggested.

"Understood, Captain Rogers." Li Ai turned the handle and drove off into the distance.

After driving for several dozen meters, Asurada's cold, mechanical voice rang in Li Ai's ears.

"Initialization complete, currently connecting to the network to retrieve information. Please submit your request, administrator."

"Provide me with real-time weather and road information, and help me locate my residence," Li Ai ordered directly.

"Mission complete," Aslada Machines responded.

The next moment, neat and orderly information was directly projected onto the helmet visor in a holographic manner, making Li Ai's life more convenient.

"His response speed is indeed very fast, but he's still a bit behind Jarvis in terms of emotional intelligence; he needs to be cultivated gradually."

Li Ai sighed for a moment, then followed the route provided by Aslada and soon returned home.

At that moment, Ida was having lunch in the restaurant. She looked up at Li Ai, who had just returned home, and said:

"Lunch is in the pot, you can heat it up and eat it."

"Okay." Li Ai replied, packed himself a lunch, sat down at the table, ate a few bites, and then brought up something to Ida.

"Mom, have you ever heard of the Winter Soldier?"

Chapter 120 Clues to the Winter Soldier

Upon hearing the name 'Winter Soldier,' Ada put down her cutlery and said solemnly:

"You heard that name in your dream again?"

Li Ai immediately realized what was going on and asked, "So, you know about the Winter Soldier?"

"I've heard of it before; it's practically become a ghost story in intelligence circles," Ada said, tapping her fingers lightly on the table with a rhythmic sound.

"Legend has it that after World War II, there was a super soldier like Captain America who carried out assassination missions around the world, but most people do not believe that the Winter Soldier really exists."

“That’s right.” Li Ai nodded, her voice becoming deep.

The Winter Soldier isn't some ghost story from the intelligence world; he's Steve Rogers' close friend, Bucky Barnes.

At the end of World War II, Bucky fell off a cliff during a train chase against Hydra, losing an arm, and everyone thought he was dead.

But Hydra found Bucky, replaced his severed arm with a mechanical prosthetic, and then repeatedly brainwashed, modified, and cryogenically frozen him, turning him into a living weapon without memory, emotion, or any other ability but only to obey commands.

Bucky's assassination targets include Howard Stark and Maria Stark.

Even now, Tony still believes that the Howards died in a normal car accident.

However, the Howards were actually assassinated by Bucky, who was controlled by Hydra. The scene was staged as a car accident, and there was even video footage of it.

Li Ai felt a tightness in her chest when she thought about this.

In the original timeline, although Tony and Steve had a big argument about whether the Avengers should be subject to oversight, Tony was still willing to help Steve in order to stop a greater threat.

The situation worsened when the surveillance video recording the deaths of the Howards was released, and Steve, due to the chaos, made the wrong choice.

Tony is a person who is easily swayed by emotions. At the time, he was driven by the desire to avenge his parents, and Steve's personality wouldn't allow him to stand by and watch Bucky be killed.

So the two sides clashed, and Tony and Steve temporarily broke off their relationship. It wasn't until several years later, after Thanos used the six Infinity Stones to eliminate half the population of the universe, that they reconciled.

There are many signs of manipulation in this Avengers split, and the mastermind behind it all wanted to see the Avengers begin to split from within.

Li Ai naturally didn't want to see Steve and Tony break up, but he was in a difficult position to make a choice and didn't know how to bring it up.

So what he's thinking now is to find Bucky in advance, and then bring it up when Tony and Steve are both calm.

As long as they succeed, the Avengers will never end up splitting up.

"You want to find him?" Ida asked directly, her tone certain.

“Yes, so I want to see if your intelligence network can be of any use. The Winter Soldier is very important.” Li Ai explained her reasons for wanting to find the Winter Soldier, and then offered some clues.

"He was probably under the control of a colonel named Vasily Karpov at a former Russian military base in Siberia. After the collapse of the Russian Federation, he fled to Ohio to avoid being purged. That's about it."

"The dream was very detailed. Leave the investigation to me." Ada smiled. She thought Li Ai only knew the Winter Soldier's name, but now that she had so much information, things would be much easier.

Whether she gets paid or not doesn't matter. Ada deleted all her negative information during the battle at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and she can earn a lot of money just by being a private psychologist.

However, Ada also knew that this world was not safe, and that if she rashly thought that she could live a peaceful life, she would probably die with regrets.

Now that Ada has been injected with Enhancement Serum 1.0, she possesses the superpower of bullet time. In addition, with the upgraded high-end exoskeleton armor specially customized for her by Li Ai and her stronger mental strength, tracking down a Winter Soldier is more like practice for her.

"Notify me immediately after you find him," Li Ai said.

Just to be on the safe side, Li Ai chose to personally capture Bucky, which would be foolproof.

But in Ada's eyes, Li Ai's words had a different meaning.

"Still thinking of keeping Mom away from the most dangerous parts?" Ida smiled with relief, reached out and tapped Li Ai's forehead, speaking in a tone filled with satisfaction and affection:

"You're such a good boy. Don't worry, with your serum and armor, I have a 90% chance of winning even against the Winter Soldier."

“But my dad said you’re terrible at fighting,” Li Ai joked. “He said that even if you had held a gun to his back first, he would still have disarmed you.”

“That time I just wanted to test whether he had improved,” Ada said, enunciating each word with exceptional clarity. “Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Looking at her expression, which seemed to be brewing a storm, Li Ai thought that when Leon returned, there would probably be a major battle.

"Okay, okay, I understand." Li Ai, who had stirred up trouble, quickly lowered her head and ate her rice, afraid of being implicated.

But sometimes, what you fear most is exactly what happens.

"Wait a minute, didn't you say that the enhancement serum requires rigorous training to be effective?" Ada suddenly asked.

Li Ai had several meatballs stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's. He swallowed the food and nodded in reply:

"That's right. The enhancement serum is not as good as the super soldier serum at first, but with training, it can definitely surpass Captain Rogers."

“But I feel that the gym equipment outside is no longer useful, and if we get some special equipment, it will be too conspicuous…” Ada said, distressed.

Li Ai finally managed to swallow all the meatballs in her mouth, took a sip of water, and said in a relaxed tone, "That's easy. I can make a bracelet that can apply a gravitational field to people, so that even ordinary equipment can achieve the effect of exercise."

For him, the gravity bracelet is not technically difficult. All he needs to do is make a bracelet-shaped container in advance, inject a little bit of the gravity capsule into it, and then add an adjustment device to the bracelet.

In addition to personal gravity bracelets, Li Ai also plans to build a large gravity chamber in the Avengers base, so that several people can be trained at the same time.

“Alright.” Ada nodded, then changed the subject seriously, saying, “And you actually believed your father, forgetting who taught you all these fighting skills…”

"I was wrong." Li Ai interrupted very quickly; if she had continued, it would have gone on forever.

Seeing Li Ai's anxious expression, Ada smiled again and said, "Speaking of which, ever since we defeated those aliens, you've been making the two of us practice the meditation method you came up with. What exactly are you trying to do?"

"How was the effect?" Li Ai asked.

"It's alright, I feel like my energy is getting better and better."

Ida's answer brought a satisfied smile to Li Ai's face.

Chapter 121 Daisy's Test

Before we knew it, the last month of 2009 had quietly arrived, and New York City welcomed another Christmas.

Lunchtime at Midtown High School

While Li Ai was organizing his personal belongings, a blond boy noticed him.

"With such a great physique, why don't you join rugby?" The blond boy patted Li Ai on the shoulder familiarly.

This behavior made Li Ai feel somewhat helpless, but after he saw what the other person was wearing, his helplessness turned into a smile.

The other person was wearing a black and green jacket with red stripes and a shoulder bag, clearly imitating ZZZ's style.

"Who are you?" Li Ai asked.