In the final post-credits scene of Thor's recording, everyone had already learned that the Tesseract had fallen into the hands of a one-eyed black man.
But in that scene, the one-eyed man had not said his name at all, so no one knew who he actually was.
Only now did everyone discover in surprise that the person controlling the Tesseract was actually Nick Fury, who had been hiding among the specially invited viewers all along!
At that moment, it was not only Tony, Loki, and Strange who paid attention to the live chat group. Even Odin in Asgard directed his gaze toward it!
After all, it was the Tesseract, namely the Space Stone!
If Odin had not cared much before about the Tesseract being left on Earth, his thinking was now completely different!
The Ancient One's expression in Kamar-Taj also changed slightly.
The Eye of Agamotto hanging on her chest began glowing again, but the light soon disappeared.
The Ancient One exhaled.
"Just as I expected, I cannot predict the future at all. It is truly interesting to think about whose hands this Tesseract will ultimately end up in."
At that moment, the chat group had already become extremely lively.
[Loki Odinson: Oh, wow. @Nick Fury, so you have been hiding in the group this entire time and saying nothing!]
[Loki Odinson: Deceiving a god is a serious crime. Are you prepared to pay the price? (艹艹艹)]
[Stephen Strange: I still remember that Natasha Romanoff called this Nick a director. Connecting that with what Natasha admitted earlier, this mysterious spy organization must be S.H.I.E.L.D.! And this man is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!]
[Tony Stark: Fine, whatever kind of director you are, hand over the Tesseract immediately. Otherwise, I will personally come and get it.]
After seeing the terrifying scene in which Thanos turned countless beings into ash with a single snap of his fingers, Tony and the others' obsession with the Infinity Stones had reached a terrifying level.
The logic was very simple.
As long as they could ensure that the Tesseract, namely the Space Stone, did not fall into Thanos's hands, he would not be able to collect all six Infinity Stones.
And without them, he would not be able to perform that terrifying snap.
Seeing how everyone in the chat group was serious and determined, as though they would not give up until they obtained the Tesseract, Nick Fury frowned.
Although he was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and possessed enormous power, in essence he was still an ordinary man.
And now he was facing mysterious sorcerers and a terrifying god from another world!
If he offended them, only God knew how serious the consequences might become.
The mere thought that the gods of Asgard behind Loki might come to Earth because of the Tesseract made Fury's scalp tingle and his entire body break out in goosebumps.
Thinking about it, Fury hesitated for a while, but in the end made a decision.
He opened the drawer of his desk, took out a somewhat outdated pager, and pressed the button.
A white star symbol appeared on the pager with a quiet sound.
Seeing that the device had been successfully activated, Fury slowly leaned back in his chair.
He had just summoned the most powerful superhero on Earth — Captain Marvel!
As long as Captain Marvel could return to Earth, he should not have to fear either sorcerers or some god from another world!
Although he thought this way, Fury still did not completely calm down.
After all, no one knew where Captain Marvel currently was in the universe or how long it would take her to receive the message!
What if those sorcerers or the gods of Asgard attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. before Captain Marvel returned to Earth?
As a top-class spy, Nick Fury did not only possess first-class intelligence, but was also extremely skilled at devising conspiracies and tactics.
His single eye moved slightly as he quickly formed a plan.
[Nick Fury: Hey, as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I am responsible for the peace and security of the entire planet. Since the Tesseract is so important to you, it is not impossible for me to hand it over.]
Seeing Fury immediately give in, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
[Loki Odinson: Hahaha, at least you know how to recognize the situation. Report your location immediately. When I leave the live broadcast room, this god will reluctantly go to Midgard and retrieve the Tesseract.]
[Mordo: What a joke! How can we hand the Tesseract over to you, the God of Mischief?]
[Mordo: Besides, in another universe, Thanos took the Tesseract directly from your Asgard. Who knows whether history will repeat itself?]
[Loki Odinson: Shut up, sorcerer! What are you talking about? My father is still sitting on the throne! Let Thanos just try to come!]
[Wanda Maximoff: You have lived for more than a thousand years, yet you constantly say "my father this, my father that." Are you not ashamed?]
[Loki Odinson: Little girl! You are courting death!!!]
[Nick Fury: Fine, I am sorry. I said I would hand over the Tesseract, but I did not say I would hand it over to Loki.]
[Loki Odinson: What did you say!!!]
[Nick Fury: Tony Stark, I was planning to take out the Tesseract for research anyway. Since you are so interested in it, it is not impossible for me to hand it over to you.]
[Nick Fury: However, I would still like you to become an official consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D.]
[Tony Stark: Stop talking nonsense. You only want to hand the Tesseract to me so Loki and the others will not come after you, right?]
[Nick Fury: ...]
[Tony Stark: You want to use me as a shield, and then you still try to negotiate with me? You are asking for a little too much.]
[Tony Stark: Hand over the Tesseract nicely! Otherwise, I will come to S.H.I.E.L.D. with Loki and Strange to get it! First we will deal with you, and then the three of us will decide who gets the Tesseract!]
After Tony turned the situation against him like that, Fury frowned.
"This playboy is much harder to manipulate than I expected."
Fury's original plan had been to shift the problem onto others and force Loki, Tony, and the others into conflict with one another.
But with a single sentence, Tony had cornered him!
Seeing that he had no other choice, while Captain Marvel's current location was still unknown, Fury had to take another step back.
[Nick Fury: Fine. Since you put it that way, I will not force you to become a consultant. After you leave the live broadcast room, I will send someone to deliver the Tesseract to you.]
[Loki Odinson: Damn humans!!!]
Loki was now truly both furious and agitated, while feeling strong dissatisfaction inwardly.
When he left the live broadcast room, he had to go to Midgard!
Besides wanting to take the Tesseract, Loki also wanted to see what the current situation was with that ancient artifact.
And he also wanted to try whether he could lift Mjolnir!
Seeing Nick Fury simply surrender and agree to hand over the Tesseract, everyone felt great satisfaction.
No one had expected that they would manage to secure one of the six Infinity Stones so quickly!
As long as they managed to protect this stone, Thanos would not be able to snap his fingers!
And when he thought that he would receive the Tesseract immediately after leaving the live broadcast room, Tony became even more excited.
After all, he already possessed the Infinity Gauntlet!
If he managed to remove the Space Stone from the Tesseract and install it in the Infinity Gauntlet, perhaps Tony Stark could also obtain power on Thanos's level!
Seeing Tony's triumphant expression, little Wanda could not resist bringing him down to earth a little.
"I think you should still be more careful. If someone like Obadiah appears again, comes up with a conspiracy, and steals the Tesseract from you along the way, it will be very troublesome."
"This..."
Hearing Wanda mention his dark past, black lines almost appeared on Tony's forehead.
He immediately remembered the terrifying scene from the recording in which Obadiah had sneaked into his villa alone and paralyzed him with a special sonic device!
"Hmph! I am completely different now. Not only do I have Megatron, but I also possess the Void Engine and various alien technologies!"
"And the Obadiah you are talking about... even if the God of Mischief Loki himself appears, if he tries anything, I will show him who he is dealing with."
Thinking about this, Tony once again looked somewhat hostilely at Loki, causing the latter to feel uncomfortable.
And looking at Tony displayed in the small window on the screen, Nick Fury coldly snorted.
"Just enjoy yourself while you can."
"When Captain Marvel returns, we will see whether you will still be laughing then!"
At that moment, the system's voice suddenly sounded.
[Ding! Tony Stark has spent all 100 live broadcast points from this round. Does he wish to continue the display?]
[If so, he must add new live broadcast points.]
Tony, who had just been in a very good mood, generously waved his hand and confidently said:
"Just continue! I, Tony Stark, have enough points!"
Seeing Tony's expression, Loki's eyelids twitched again, but there was nothing he could do.
After all, among everyone in the live broadcast room, Tony had answered the most questions correctly!
Besides the various rewards he had received, he had also accumulated the most live broadcast points!
Soon, the system's voice sounded again!
[Ding! Tony Stark spends 200 live broadcast points! Future display begins.]
[Ding! "Iron Man 2" begins playing.]
[A new image appeared on the screen.]
[Inside a run-down small room lay an old man on the verge of death.]
[A middle-aged man with long hair approached the old man and sat beside him. At the same time, news about Tony Stark was being shown on the television.]
[The old man opened his mouth and said in Russian:]
["That fame should have belonged to you."]
[Then the old man closed his eyes and stopped breathing.]
[The middle-aged Ivan Vanko was completely broken by grief, but his grief soon turned into anger.]
[Immediately afterward, the image changed and showed Ivan Vanko beginning to build something in his workshop.]
At first, everyone in the live broadcast room seemed somewhat confused, but soon, including Tony, all of them opened their eyes wide.
"No way... Did this guy just make..."
Looking at the round object gradually taking shape in the hands of the man on the screen, Peter Parker opened his mouth wide in disbelief.
"Is this an Arc Reactor??? How is that possible?"
When the Arc Reactor in Ivan Vanko's hands began working, Tony's pupils instantly contracted, and his heart almost tightened.
Are you kidding?
The Arc Reactor was an invention of his father, Howard Stark, which Tony later developed further.
How did this Russian know how to make one?
Even more incredible was the fact that Ivan Vanko's workshop was extremely primitive, almost no better than the cave in which Tony had previously been imprisoned.
But that man had still managed to successfully build an Arc Reactor in such a place.
That meant that his abilities in mechanics and engineering, even if they were not on Tony's level, certainly were not far behind.
"Tony, judging by the situation, this Russian seems to hate you very much."
Strange thought briefly, then continued:
"He built an Arc Reactor. Perhaps he is preparing to take revenge on you."
"Hmph, let him come. There are many people who hate me!"
Tony snorted, his voice filled with contempt.
But unlike his tone, his gaze at that moment was extremely serious!
[Immediately afterward, the image changed.]
[Tony jumped out of an airplane in the Iron Man armor and landed precisely on an enormous stage.]
[In the background, a group of beautiful women performed an energetic dance. With the help of robots, Tony removed the armor, then raised his right hand toward the loudly cheering audience.]
[At that moment, the atmosphere reached its peak.]
[It turned out that this was the opening ceremony of the Stark Expo.]
[After stepping onto the stage, Tony played a recording of his father, Howard Stark.]
[At the same time, he himself went backstage and checked the condition of his blood.]
...
[Result: blood toxicity level — 19%.]
[Looking at the result on the device, Tony appeared helpless, and a trace of fear appeared in his eyes.]
"Toxin!!!"
Seeing this, Tony's own expression also changed slightly.
When had he been poisoned?
And what kind of poison was it?
[The image continues.]
[After leaving the event, Tony received a call as soon as he sat inside the car.]
[It turned out that a group of senators wanted to seize his Iron Man armor and force Tony to hand it over to the U.S. government.]
[The next day, during a Senate hearing, Tony fiercely mocked the senators.]
[At the same time, he humiliated Justin Hammer, whom the senators had invited to oppose him.]
["I would say that most countries will need at least five to ten years to reach my level."]
["As for Hammer Industries, they will need at least twenty years!"]
[In front of the group of senators, Tony proudly shouted:]
["You want my property? Forget it!"]
["I do not have time to waste on you clowns!"]
Watching himself on the screen showing off while the senators sat there furiously and could do nothing to him, Tony touched his chin and nodded with satisfaction.
"That is right. This is exactly how politicians should be treated. You cannot give them even a millimeter, otherwise they will demand a kilometer."
[Although the political problem was temporarily resolved, Tony still had to face the poisoning.]
[After returning to the underground workshop of his villa, he checked the toxin level again, and the result had already reached 24%!]
[J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice sounded beside Tony's ear.]
["It appears that further use of the Iron Man armor will worsen your symptoms."]
["Sir, I have simulated every known element. None can replace the palladium core."]
["Unfortunately, the device keeping you alive is also killing you."]
[Looking at his chest covered in pronounced bluish veins on the screen before him, Tony Stark had a dark expression and tightly furrowed brows.]
[Those bluish veins were the result of palladium poisoning.]
[If he could not find a new element, he would die soon.]
"So it is palladium poisoning?"
Seeing this, Tony's pupils contracted, and a strong sense of urgency appeared in his heart.
Although he now possessed various alien technologies, for Tony, the Iron Man armor and the Arc Reactor were still his foundation.
Unlike his version on the screen, the current Tony was not injured and did not need to have the Arc Reactor implanted inside his own body.
Therefore, the possibility of palladium entering his bloodstream was very small.
But it still felt unpleasant to use such a toxic material as the core of the armor.
At that moment, a thought suddenly passed through Tony's mind, and his eyes widened.
When he obtained the Void Engine, the system had also given him the ability "Elementary Material Definition."
According to the system's description, by using the abilities of the Void Engine, he could even redefine matter at the molecular level!
If that was really the case, could Tony use the Void Engine and Material Definition to remove the toxicity of palladium and create a new, non-toxic element?
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