-----
-----
"Are you saying something, sir...?"
Hearing Reid mutter to himself while supporting him, Howard asked curiously.
However, Reid would never reveal to anyone that he had a system, and since Alfred was his first role to play, he even planned to continue maintaining Alfred's identity in front of others.
"It's nothing, I was just feeling a bit shaken up. Why would someone like that come to attack you?"
Upon hearing this, Howard fell silent as well. He too was puzzled. Why would such an assassin target him?
He had certainly made many enemies, but someone with the capabilities of a super soldier clearly wasn't something low-level forces could send. Unless... it was someone from his other hidden enemies.
But soon, Howard stopped pondering the details.
Because when they returned to Stark's car, they discovered that Howard's wife, Maria, had already stopped breathing.
Her face, repeatedly struck by Winter Soldier, was completely caved in, with her cheekbones and skull shattered. For her to be able to call out Howard's name in her final moments, allowing him to regain his focus and help Reid, was nothing short of a miracle.
"No! No! Maria, don't leave me!"
Howard seemed to lose all his strength as he collapsed onto Maria's lifeless body, crying in despair.
The heartbreaking sound made Reid, who had always seen these people as mere virtual figures, feel deeply moved.
In that moment, he fully realized that this wasn't some comic book world or movie, nor was it a fictional universe. This was a real, harsh, and even more dangerous reality!
"Mr. Stark, please accept my condolences..."
Following Alfred's instincts, Reid quietly stood beside Howard, his hands clasped together in a respectful prayer for the deceased woman.
At this moment, Alfred's role-playing progress subtly increased a little.
After some time, overwhelmed by grief and exhaustion, Howard fainted over Maria's body. Reid carefully placed him in the front passenger seat and quietly waited by his side.
In the movies, Winter Soldier killed Howard by exploiting the opportunity when Howard was unprotected. But Reid believed that, as the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., even though Howard no longer managed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s affairs, the agency would surely keep track of his movements. It was only a matter of time before S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived.
And indeed, as Reid predicted, not an hour later, a Quinjet slowly descended nearby. A burly African-American agent and a sharp, Mediterranean-looking white agent stepped out of the cabin.
'Nick Fury and Phil Coulson?'
Reid saw the two figures from a distance—Nick Fury, who had yet to become the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his assistant, Phil Coulson.
From Reid's memory, Nick Fury had risen to the higher ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1995, after the events of Captain Marvel, seizing the opportunity to transition from field agent to management.
As for poor Coulson, unless Fury was to die, it seemed like this unlucky guy would remain a dutiful field agent for the rest of his life.
"Hello, sir. Thank you for saving Mr. Stark." Nick Fury approached and immediately shook Reid's hand.
However, at that moment, Reid decided to test the agents' ability to react. He feigned surprise and said, "In a situation like this, I couldn't just stand by. But what organization are you from? A private jet? It can't be from Stark Industries, right?"
"....."