Clang!
The sound of the door opening echoed, and Pierce, as usual, changed into his slippers and walked into the luxurious and spacious living room.
He habitually opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of milk, but before he could drink it, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Pierce abruptly turned his head and saw that someone, he didn't know when, was sitting casually on the sofa.
It was none other than the bald hero, Nick Fury.
"Nick?"
Pierce's heart was filled with alarm, but also with deep bewilderment.
Why would Nick Fury infiltrate his home in advance?
What did he want to do?
Could this guy already know that he was Hydra?
No! Impossible!
But Pierce immediately sorted through his thoughts again and found no place where he might have given himself away.
Even the Winter Soldier's base, which had been caught off guard, had all traces of its existence promptly cleaned up.
Nick Fury shouldn't have been able to trace it back to him.
"May I ask what you intend to do by breaking into my house?" Pierce appeared very calm, took a sip of milk, and leisurely sat down opposite Nick Fury.
"Nothing much, just apprehending the biggest bastard of Hydra," Nick Fury sneered.
Pierce was momentarily stunned, then returned to normal: "Nick, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Pierce, do you think we would be here if we weren't a hundred percent sure?" Nick Fury stood up, a sharp light shooting from his single eye.
Pierce was startled again.
His eyes revealed an expression of extreme shock.
Nick Fury was right; the other party had come directly to him, so they must have confirmed his true identity. But how did he do it?
It seemed,
He had always underestimated Nick Fury's capabilities.
"Nick, you truly are the most outstanding agent I've ever met in my life." Pierce no longer denied it, maintaining his calm expression. "So, do you intend to kill me or arrest me now? Can you handle the enormous mess that doing so would create? Do you really have the heart to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Of course!"
At this moment, another voice suddenly sounded, and Pierce instinctively turned his head, immediately startled.
He saw another version of himself suddenly appear before him.
"Is this your plan?"
But then, Pierce scoffed, "Nick, finding someone to impersonate me? How long do you think that can fool anyone? If this is your plan, honestly, I'm a little disappointed."
"I was hoping to see some more sophisticated methods."
"T-1000, show him," Nick Fury said to the other Pierce.
Buzz!
The T-1000's body underwent a transformation, like magic, quickly changing from Pierce into Crossbones Rumlow.
"Hail Hydra!" Rumlow said to Pierce.
His tone, demeanor, and intonation were all identical to Rumlow's.
If he hadn't seen the T-1000 transform with his own eyes, Pierce would have truly believed the person in front of him was Crossbones; there was absolutely no difference between them.
Even having witnessed the scene with his own eyes, Pierce still couldn't believe them.
Transformation?
How was such a thing possible?
Pierce's worldview was practically shattering; he was speechless, dumbfounded.
His previous confidence and certainty were instantly shattered.
"From now on, you're mine," Nick Fury said coldly to Pierce.
Pierce immediately pulled out his gun and tried to attack Nick Fury, but the T-1000's right hand instantly transformed into a blade, and with a whoosh, it sliced Pierce's gun in half!
Pierce was utterly and completely dumbfounded.
Bang!
Captain America also emerged from the corner and delivered a powerful punch to the back of Pierce's head.
Pierce's vision blurred, and he immediately passed out.
When Pierce opened his eyes again, he found himself in a prison cell.
Outside the cell, special agents stood guard.
Pierce immediately knew he was finished.
He was a seasoned agent, so he naturally understood the workings between agents.
With Nick Fury finding a perfect substitute, he might have to spend the rest of his life in this cell...
The anti-infiltration Hydra plan proceeded very smoothly; everyone successfully used the T-1000 to replace Pierce without arousing any suspicion.
After all, the T-1000's imitation was almost a hundred percent replication, with no flaws whatsoever.
While the T-1000, in Pierce's identity, handled various affairs in the Triskelion, Nick Fury and his team were busy conducting a series of interrogations on Pierce.
One Hydra secret after another was unearthed.
It wasn't that Pierce was a softy; in fact, Pierce had quite a backbone and had no intention of surrendering to Nick Fury even at this point.
But some things were not for Pierce to decide.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s various methods were simply too much for Pierce to withstand; after a few injections, Pierce became completely disoriented, having no idea what he was doing.
He blurted out everything, both what he should and shouldn't have said.
This was the first good news.
The second good news came a month later when Tony Stark indeed developed a Jarvis 2.0 for Nick Fury, and it successfully went online.
Coupled with Nick Fury's Eye in the Sky system, there was almost nothing happening globally that Nick Fury couldn't see.
Nick Fury immediately put all personnel in global biochemical research institutes and similar organizations, all Hydra members, on a monitoring list.
Paired with surveillance drones, it was a 360-degree, 24-hour, full-process surveillance, terrifyingly effective.
However, this Jarvis 2.0 was only used to better assist the Eye in the Sky system with surveillance; the name was also given casually by Tony Stark and was not a true replica of Jarvis.
Its functions were far inferior to Jarvis.
But for assisting the Eye in the Sky system, it was more than sufficient.
"Stark, thank you very much!"
Inside Nick Fury's office at the "Quizzer Alliance" base.
Seeing Jarvis 2.0 officially running and fully controlling the Eye in the Sky system for corresponding surveillance, Nick Fury sincerely said to Tony Stark.
With this surveillance system, Nick Fury couldn't quantify how much manpower he would save; it was an enormous help.
"Nick Fury, let's skip the pleasantries; everyone is busy and doesn't have time to waste on such useless small talk."
Tony Stark directly stated his purpose to Nick Fury, "Can I take the scepter now?"
Indeed, Tony Stark didn't come specifically to deliver the system to Nick Fury; that wouldn't be worth his personal trip.
Tony Stark's fundamental reason was actually the scepter.
In these almost two months, Tony Stark and Nick Fury had actually met privately many times, and both had the intention of further developing the scepter.
So, after much discussion, they reached an agreement to continue having Tony Stark create Vision.
"Stark, be extremely careful, and don't create another Ultron," Nick Fury warned Tony Stark with a serious expression.
"Do you think I would make the same mistake I've already made? You underestimate me too much," Tony Stark said with a dismissive look.
"I have only one request." Nick Fury stared at Tony Stark with his single eye for a long time before gravely saying to him, "Your research must remain completely transparent to me! I can access all information related to this research at any time! If I deem it necessary, I will also halt your research at any time!"
"No problem!" Tony Stark agreed without hesitation.
Only then did Nick Fury lead Tony Stark to a vault and hand him a box.
"Oh, and this matter, just keep it between us. I don't want some old-fashioned person to hinder me one day."
Tony Stark said to Nick Fury as he was leaving.
There was no need to elaborate on who this "old-fashioned person" referred to; everyone present understood.
"Stark, I'll remind you again, be extremely careful!" Nick Fury didn't say much else, but instead, he cautioned Tony Stark once more, "This time you don't have a three-day time limit; you have all the time in the world!"
The psychological trauma caused by Ultron was simply too great for everyone.
Tony Stark waved his hand, said nothing more, and left, feeling satisfied.
"Jarvis, analyze this scepter."
Upon returning to Stark Tower, Tony Stark immediately gave Jarvis the command, and Jarvis immediately scanned the scepter.
And promptly provided feedback.
"This scepter is of extraterrestrial origin and contains elements that I cannot quantify," Jarvis immediately said to Tony Stark.
"So that means there are also quantifiable elements," Tony Stark said, taking it in stride.
"The gem protects what's inside; it's something very powerful, like..."
"Like a computer?" Tony Stark interrupted Jarvis, saying that he already knew this through the quiz system.
"Yes, sir, I believe I can decode it, but it will take time," Jarvis continued to respond.
"Take your time; this time, you have all the time in the world," Tony Stark calmly said to Jarvis.
The previous failure was actually due to the limited time; Tony Stark hadn't fully understood the scepter before he indiscriminately downloaded all the data streams.
Wasn't that a huge risk?
This time, Tony Stark could take his time to thoroughly understand the scepter, then selectively download, or simply create another intelligent program by imitating the scepter's encoding method.
Tony Stark simply refused to believe that something could still go wrong this way.
The scepter, the regeneration cradle, organic biology, and all other related disciplines once again plunged Tony Stark into working tirelessly, forgetting to eat and sleep.
He could only research the blast gun in his spare time, and it was only after Nick Fury's repeated urging that he submitted the relevant research report to Nick Fury three months later.
Nick Fury, upon receiving it, naturally wasted no time; he immediately began recruiting relevant personnel, setting up production lines, and secretly commencing production.
Everything was proceeding busily and orderly...
Asgard, the Golden Palace.
Odin, the All-Father, sat steadily on his throne, and opposite him was Thor, holding his hammer.
As for Loki, he was currently imprisoned in Asgard's dungeons.
Although the war he instigated against Midgard was stillborn, Loki's series of actions in Asgard were also grave offenses.
If he weren't Odin's son, his ashes would probably have been scattered by now.
"Father, why aren't we sending troops!"
Thor looked up at Odin, a little unconvinced and a little puzzled, "Don't you still believe what I've said? Even Loki has seen that quiz system now! And my strength, my Chidori Sharp Spear... Aren't these enough to make you believe?"
"If you still don't believe me, you can summon Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Nick Fury to the Golden Palace and question them yourself!"
"No, Loki, I don't disbelieve," Odin said.
When Thor returned last time, Odin was truly surprised; this boy had actually unleashed his full potential despite not being able to lift his hammer.
This was simply incredible.
It completely defied common sense.
Because not being able to lift the hammer meant Thor couldn't control his divine power, his realm and level were far from adequate, so how could he unleash his potential?
Coupled with Thor's persistent questioning about Hela, the Old All-Father was truly astonished and perplexed, so he contacted the Ancient One on Earth for verification.
He then received a reply from the Ancient One, saying that a mysterious force, which even she could not perceive, had interfered with the timeline.
Odin knew what kind of being the Ancient One was; she was a super-powerful figure no weaker than himself, and in terms of peering into the future, she was ten thousand times better than him.
Even the Ancient One was interfered with by a mysterious force, so even though the Old All-Father still had some doubts, he believed a part of it.
Moreover, Thor hadn't heard of Thanos's name, but Odin had; the Old All-Father's experience was naturally incomparable to Thor's.
Thor was mainly active in the Nine Realms, while the Old All-Father truly commanded respect throughout the universe.
Generally speaking, for a "galactic bully" like Thanos, if he were eliminated, Odin wouldn't have too many concerns.
Not to mention that there was now a prophecy that Thanos would kill Loki and slaughter the people of Asgard, and he was indeed currently causing trouble in the Nine Realms using Loki, so Odin was even less inclined to let him go.
But there was one problem Odin knew, but Thor didn't, and that was that Odin was about to die!
He didn't have many years left to live!
Under such circumstances, how could Odin dare to act rashly?
Not to mention, after the Rainbow Bridge was broken, the mess in the Nine Realms hadn't been cleaned up yet.