"I hope I'm just overthinking it!"
When Nick got the backup of the materials Tony collected, he keenly sensed something was wrong. With a spy's cautious spirit, Nick began to sort through the major events mixed in these materials. The biggest event was undoubtedly the first contact with Captain Marvel years ago, which was also the first time seeing alien races like the Skrulls and the Kree. It was also then that he encountered that most surprising species, the 'Flerken,' and even paid a price for it—one eye. Thinking of this, Nick couldn't help but touch his lost eye. All sorts of past memories flooded his mind, but he quickly adjusted. As an Special Agent, he had to be able to regulate his emotions at any time to better complete his missions. Nick looked over the materials; a large portion consisted of smokescreens he had released. Since he had made them himself, a quick glance told him which information was true or false.
"Could he have noticed something?"
After checking, Nick, who knew Tony well, found it hard to believe his own judgment. What circumstances would make a playboy interested in things from decades ago? During that time, this was the only major event exposed to the public eye; the rest were smokescreens he'd put out to let the matter die down. He didn't expect that many years later, these things buried in history would be dug up.
"What exactly piqued his interest to investigate things from so many years ago?"
Though surprised, Nick's understanding of Tony told him that something must have happened to make Tony interested in the past and try every means to find traces left behind. Thinking of this, Nick rubbed his bald head and stared straight at the materials. There were only four major roles in this matter: 'Captain Marvel,' 'Kree,' 'Skrulls,' and the 'Flerken.' So, which role had caught Tony's attention?
"Adventurer Squad, initiate Level 3 Alert. The target of the alert is anyone, including myself."
After thinking for a moment, Nick opened a secret channel and issued his command. He felt something was wrong now, very wrong. He believed in Tony's ability; since Tony had started investigating past events, it meant something recently might be linked to what happened decades ago. Although there was insufficient evidence, precautions had to be taken. Without hesitation, Nick included himself in the scope of caution because he knew that if the opponent had the ability to transform into others, he himself could be targeted as an object for disguise. How could a cautious man like him forget that? The Skrulls' transformation ability had cost him dearly back then.
"Understood."
The other party went silent for a moment before quickly sending a reply. Hearing this, Nick nodded in satisfaction and hung up. After doing all this, he didn't relax; he stood up and began walking toward the Technical Department. If there were a best solution, it should be to go find Tony now, but Nick knew Tony's hatred for their profession was severe. Forget asking questions; Tony would probably pick a fight and accuse them of 24-hour surveillance. This was why Nick didn't go to Tony immediately but instead tried to guess the reason behind Tony's strange behavior.
Currently, because of his decisive success in protecting the President and countering Hydra, he wasn't just safe from being fired; he was about to be promoted to replace the deceased Alexander Pierce. Sometimes things were just that coincidental; he had planned to die humbly in a corner to lure the enemy out, but they had acted early. Coincidentally, there were no conflicts between the heroes, and he didn't die at the hands of the enemy. After being saved by Captain America, he began to utilize his command abilities to launch a full-scale counterattack against Hydra.
Facts proved that his previous small moves were correct; even when Washington fell, his subordinates had backup plans to resist Hydra's frantic assault. After winning, Nick analyzed the cause and effect. If Alexander Pierce hadn't been so eager to expose his fangs, Nick might have truly died. Knowing everything, Nick felt very emotional about his good luck.
"Namor, I didn't expect you to have such interests?"
Compared to the busy Nick, Captain America's mood at this moment was very complicated. He quietly watched his former comrade-in-arms dressed in a drag outfit, looking very flamboyant. If the other person hadn't gone under the knife on his face, Captain America really wouldn't have recognized him in this outfit. But his comrade clearly didn't recognize him. Namor, with bright red lips and a cigarette in his mouth, looked curiously at this man with a large chest and firm buttocks. How did he know his name? Who was this guy?
"I don't think I know you, sir. If you're looking for a princess, I'm sorry, I'm not one."
Namor lit his cigarette. He had lost all his previous memories but was kindly taken in by the owner of this drag club. He heard from the owner that he was picked up at the seaside, so it seemed he had met with an accident at sea. Although he lost his genes, he kept his life. For this, he was very grateful to the owner, so he voluntarily put on women's clothes and became a waiter. Who knows what Tony did back then? Such a powerful person was actually beaten into amnesia by him, just like Thor was, except Thor only lost a small part of his memory, while he lost most of it—only remembering his name and nothing else.
"Namor, come back with me! This place isn't suitable for you."
Seeing Namor's expression as if looking at a stranger, a very complicated look appeared on the Captain's face. He felt pained that his comrade had become like this, and even more distressed that the other person didn't recognize him. All of this was hard for the Captain to accept. He decided to help his comrade recover his memory, so the Captain stepped forward and reached out his hand, intending to take Namor away. But to the Captain's surprise, Namor just gave him a faint look and didn't reach out.
"Sorry, I can't go with you."
After brushing away the Captain's hand, Namor stood up quietly. He looked straight into the Captain's eyes and said those words plainly. Although he had lost his memory, Namor was living very easily now—or rather, he was very resistant to recovering his memory. His body resisted, and his heart resisted. He didn't know why, but whenever he thought about recovering his memory, a ferocious robot would appear in his mind. That robot's fist, the size of a water tank, would come swinging at his face. Although it was a hallucination, he felt real pain.
"Alright! If you've really made up your mind, then contact me."
The Captain carefully observed the now neither-here-nor-there Namor. He didn't understand why his comrade was so resistant, but he knew that since the other person had made a decision, forcing it would only cause resentment. Thinking of this, the Captain couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. He took a piece of paper from the table, wrote down his phone number, email, and address, placed the paper in front of Namor, said those words, and then left dejectedly.
"What a strange person."
After the Captain left, Namor put out his cigarette, picked up the paper, and burned it with a lighter. After doing all this, he began preparing for work again. Captain America's visit didn't affect anything here; customers coming to see the drag show still arrived in an endless stream. Namor continued his busy day. Tony would probably be surprised if he knew; he had actually completed a scientific experiment—the great 'physical' memory deletion experiment.
"Sorcerer Supreme... you..."
At this moment, Steve looked at the Sorcerer Ancient One, whom he respected, with a pained expression. Kamar-Taj had been attacked by Kaecilius, a former disciple of the Sorcerer Ancient One. They had stolen power from the Dark Dimension, intending to summon the dimensional demon Dormammu. Of course, that wasn't the most important thing; what mattered most was that Kaecilius revealed the Sorcerer Ancient One had borrowed power from the demon Dormammu. Initially, he didn't believe it, but seeing the mark of Dormammu on the Sorcerer Ancient One's forehead, he realized Kaecilius was right.
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