Knock knock knock...
Uehara Naraku arrived very quickly.
Tony Stark hadn't even had a chance to wait for Jarvis to hack the database and gather intelligence when Uehara Naraku and his entourage of subordinates were already standing at the laboratory door.
Uehara Naraku and a group of agents in black stood by the glass door, watching Tony Stark, who was fully armed inside the lab, and tapped on the door with his fingers.
"Come in!"
The burglar-proof glass door opened slowly.
Tony Stark lifted the faceplate from his head and glanced at Uehara Naraku and the group of agents entering behind him, raising an eyebrow involuntarily: "Ha? Today you actually look like a serious... hmm... official?"
Today's setup is quite something.
Uehara Naraku usually works solo, rarely appearing with a large group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents like today, and he doesn't care much for a director's show of presence.
"There are a few things I need to confirm with you..."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, waved to the group of agents who wanted to follow him in to stop at their spots: "You don't need to come in. Wait for me outside."
"Director Uehara, but it's a White House order..."
"I'm just asking Tony Stark a few questions."
Uehara Naraku turned to look at the agent questioning him and said coldly: "Or are you saying I don't even have the authority for routine questioning now?"
"Yes."
The group of agents exited one by one, standing guard outside.
Tony Stark observed their exchange the entire time, roughly figuring out that the White House order led Uehara Naraku to bring his people to surround Stark Industries Tower.
Presumably, Uehara Naraku also acted out of necessity.
Moreover, it seems Uehara's days aren't going well either. His subordinates dare to defy his orders as director, something that never happened during Nick Fury's tenure...
Uehara Naraku watched his subordinates stand at the lab door and close it, then turned to Tony Stark, silently brewing his emotions.
"Hmm, didn't you want to ask something?"
Tony Stark glanced in surprise at Uehara Naraku, whose expression was growing more complex, his mind racing to understand the current situation and what had happened.
What in the world happened?
Why is Uehara Naraku in a bad mood?
Why did Uehara Naraku bring a group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents here to surround the place, are they trying to capture him?
Why did that agent just mention a White House order, what did the White House command? What does the newly appointed president want from him, a billionaire?
Uehara Naraku's emotions finally brewed sufficiently, and his face turned from complex to indifferent, even showing a hint of anger: "Mr. Tony Stark, I want to know one thing, is Director Nick Fury still alive..."
"..."
Tony Stark fell silent at once.
Back then, when Nick Fury got shot, he faked his death in a hospital under Stark Group's management, which was the only thing that made Tony feel slightly guilty towards Uehara.
This time...
He couldn't force himself to lie anymore.
Because Uehara Naraku came here with this question, he must have gathered enough evidence, and if he continued to lie, he'd be exposed, ending any possibility of a friendship.
Tony Stark was silent for a while before speaking slowly: "Well, you already know... I didn't really care about this.
It's an issue among you guys after all?
Didn't that bald guy tell you? Back then, he said there must be a significant number of Hydra still lurking in S.H.I.E.L.D, so he wanted to use his own death to draw them out, see if those guys had any plans..."
To be honest.
Nick Fury's plan was pretty good.
Only the result of this fake death plan turned out to be a bit of a mess.
Because after Nick Fury faked his death, the Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't drawn out; instead, those Hydra bases worldwide suffered...
The entire Avengers Squad knew one thing, which was that the new S.H.I.E.L.D director Uehara Naraku was clearing out Hydra bases worldwide to avenge his superior.
Even the former former S.H.I.E.L.D director Alexander Pierce, who was a Hydra spy, along with some Hydra base leaders, were taken down by Hulk.
So it could be said to be revenge for Nick Fury.
Nick Fury probably didn't expect this result either.
Because such events are too outrageous, it appears on the surface that just after this director died, his successor took down all his competitors to accompany him, all because the former director was too charismatic and beloved by his subordinates?!
However.
The Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D didn't emerge.
Because no matter how you look at it, with all the external Hydra wiped out, the ones inside would certainly be more afraid to show themselves. This messed up Nick Fury's fake death operation by Uehara Naraku's actions, making it thoroughly meaningless...
In hindsight, Nick Fury's plan to fake his death looked embarrassingly foolish.
Tony Stark thought so too.
"I thought that bald guy's plan was stupid at the time."
When Tony Stark talked about Nick Fury's fake death plan, he was in a state of incessant chatter: "But you know that guy's brain always has some weird stuff, so when he asked me to keep it secret back then..."
"Shut up."
Uehara Naraku interrupted Tony Stark with a grim expression, coldly continuing: "Tony Stark, do you... know what you've done?"