Chapter 83

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Despite initially finding the notion absurd, Nick Fury earnestly began to analyze the improbable circumstance.

After all, no ordinary person is the head of SHIELD. He had seen countless supernatural events and interacted with numerous extraordinary individuals.

Werewolves, vampires, witches, magicians, and other incredible beings weren't unusual to Fury.

Thus, the idea of a man surviving frozen in the Arctic for seventy years didn't faze him as it might others.

Is it possible that a super-soldier, enhanced by a super serum, could have such tenacity to survive without sustenance for seventy years?

Nick Fury couldn't conclude on that matter.

Even SHIELD had limited understanding of the super serum.

Not only was the military attempting to replicate the serum, but SHIELD was doing so covertly as well.

Given Fury's character, he wouldn't miss such an opportunity. Unfortunately, despite significant technological advancements since World War II, no one had yet to uncover the secrets of that "old-time" creation, including SHIELD.

So yes, even someone of Fury's stature had only limited knowledge regarding the super serum and Captain America.

For this reason, regarding the details in the journal about Captain America's "hibernation" until the present, Nick Fury couldn't make a definitive judgment.

But this was not a difficult matter for Fury to handle.

He could simply send a team to the Arctic to search for the Captain himself!

As of now, while Fury remained skeptical of the journal, he couldn't completely disregard the information within it, considering its accurate predictions of many highly confidential matters.

It was an opportunity to verify the journal's reliability.

Fury, with a gleam in his one good eye, felt pleased as he made the decision.

"No way?"

"That 'old-timer' is actually lying in the ice and snow, waiting to be unearthed?"

Inside his luxurious villa, Tony Stark exclaimed incredulously.

When the journal previously hinted that Captain America had not yet been "unearthed," Tony Stark had a bold yet absurd hypothesis.

Captain America survived seventy years in the ice without perishing!

But this conjecture was so shocking that even Tony himself couldn't believe it.

And now.

Iron Man's wild guess had been confirmed.

Captain America had indeed spent seventy years lying in the ice.

Thus, the Captain America referred to in the journal had always been the one everyone remembered, not someone else who took up the title.

Case solved!

The true identity of the "unknown" Captain America was finally revealed.

"Sleeping for seventy years without perishing suggests he's almost a hundred years old now."

"If Captain America applied for the Guinness World Record for longevity, he'd be a strong contender."

Now aware of the truth, Tony Stark couldn't help but jest.

Wait a minute!

But suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind, causing Tony Stark to freeze.

If Captain America, presumed dead seventy years ago, was still alive, what about others?

Like... Winter Soldier!

Tony Stark's nerves tensed.

Ever since learning that his parents were killed by Winter Soldier, Iron Man had been thoroughly and comprehensively investigating the assassin.

But no significant leads were found.

The only thing he could verify was that the man's face matched that of someone who died seventy years ago.

But since the result seemed far-fetched, Tony hadn't taken it seriously.

Now, Tony realized, the result wasn't far-fetched at all.

People declared dead seventy years ago could still be alive, and one living example was right before his eyes!

This made Tony take the possibility seriously:

Could Winter Soldier indeed be Bucky Barnes?

"Jarvis, conduct a comprehensive investigation on Bucky Barnes, I need all his information!"

"You have the highest search authority!"

Tony Stark immediately issued such a command to Jarvis.

[But on the other hand, even assembled, it might not go smoothly.]

[Apart from the Black Widow and Hawkeye, all the Avengers are skilled divas, proud as peacocks.]

[Acting alone is no problem, but coming together as a team? That's a bit difficult.]

[Not to mention the lack of mutual respect, who would see Nick Fury as an authority, follow his leadership?]

[Only Fury's own subordinates!]

Nick Fury nodded silently in agreement with Zhou Cheng's key point raised in the diary.

As the head of SHIELD, he understood what an effective and ordered team looked like.

He could easily suggest countless combinations.

But no matter the assembly, a team full of divas wouldn't be perfect, and may not even qualify as a true team.

More like an unfocused gathering of individual talents.

The main issue in a crisis would be each member operating independently.

And disputes over hierarchies could cause real headaches.

Hence, from day one of deciding to form the Avengers, Fury knew the team needed appropriate integration.

However, he currently lacked a clear approach for facilitating such integration.

But there was no need to rush, the team's framework was still under construction, and Fury had plenty of time to solve this problem.

[Indeed, that's how it was.]

[When Loki attacked the SHIELD base and stole the Tesseract, Fury immediately assembled the Avengers.]

[But what did the Avengers do at the start? They bickered, they blamed each other! Stark looks down on Captain America, and Captain America also looks down on Stark. These two must have been enemies in a previous life; they have always looked at each other with disdain]

[Thor, as a god, finds these mortal Earthlings quite amusing.

Bruce Banner only wants to focus on his scientific research and prefers to stay out of any other affairs.

The scene was incredibly lively.

If Coulson hadn't been killed by Loki, the Avengers wouldn't have truly united and collaborated sincerely.]

"Loki?"

"The Loki of the Asgardian pantheon?"

Nick Fury's brows couldn't help but furrow slightly.

This was also a very famous figure:

The god of mischief, deception, and cunning in Asgard, and even the god of fire.

Of course.

According to the diary, the Asgardians are not merely the well-known mythological figures, but they truly exist.

In fact, Thor, who hails from Asgard, will even join the Avengers in the future and become one of the big three in the alliance.

And this Loki is actually Thor's uncle.

Oh wait, according to the diary, Loki's relationship with Thor has changed.

He's no longer Thor's uncle but instead his brother.

And this Loki, who became the brother of an Avenger, would eventually invade SHIELD?

And steal SHIELD's cosmic cube?

The diary mentioned before that SHIELD cheese had researched weapons in secret based on the cosmic cube, and it seems that he was eventually successful.

Of course, the research into secret weapons has not yet happened, and Nick Fury can't judge it.

But he damn well knows that the cosmic cube is stored at SHIELD, and that is indisputable.

It's truly outrageous.

That devil, he really knows too many secrets!

It's got to be said, it's a rather irritating feeling.

But now, Nick Fury can't dwell on this for the moment; that devil already knows so much.

At present, our egghead hero once again focuses his attention on the latest spoiler.

If what the diary recorded is true, why would Loki want to steal the cosmic cube?

Moreover, how did Loki know about the cosmic cube being at SHIELD?

The cosmic cube is an alien device, which is something the egghead has known for a long time.

He also knows that it contains vast energy and can be seen as a power source.

But beyond that, SHIELD has yet to figure out what exactly the cosmic cube is all about.

However, now it seems that even the Asgardians have made a move to snatch it away, indicating that the cosmic cube is indeed a very special item.

Even among the stars!

It seems that previously, I had underestimated just how extraordinary the cosmic cube was.

And after contemplating this, Nick Fury's gaze shifted to another piece of vital intelligence.

Coulson was killed by Loki!

The diary had previously mentioned that Coulson's death was one of the "highlight scenes" of the Battle of New York.

The egghead had not expected Coulson to actually die at the hands of Loki.

This suggests that Loki was also a participant in the Battle of New York.

Looking at the context, after Coulson's death, the Avengers finally came together and collaborated sincerely against a common enemy.

So, that enemy they all faced must have been Loki, right?

So the Battle of New York was a war between the Avengers and Loki?

While the conclusion that Loki stole the cosmic cube and killed Coulson isn't enough to fully support this conclusion, it is, however, a plausible theory that fits with all the known intel and the pieces of the puzzle so far.

The only question is, if Loki is the final boss of it all, isn't he a bit too strong?

After all, Thor, Loki's brother, is an Avenger.

Could it be that Thor, as his brother, would need the help of the other Avengers to stand against his own sibling?

Even though brothers aren't necessarily stronger than their siblings, in mythological stories, Thor is indeed stronger than Loki.

However, for lack of necessary information, Nick Fury can't reach any definite conclusions.

It was precisely because they fought side by side in the Battle of New York that the previously divided Avengers truly formed a team.

It was also because of this war that the Avengers truly came into the public eye worldwide.

Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, etc., all became national idols.

And the Earth finally had the power and means to respond to various extraordinary threats.

From this perspective, Loki did somewhat of a good deed.

"It's Loki!"

"It is definitely him!"

A gleam of insight flashed through Nick Fury's one eye.

If previously the idea of Loki being the boss of the Battle of New York was just a speculation by Nick Fury, these spoilers now provided a clear answer.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated that "Loki initiated the Battle of New York," looking at the descriptions and the context, there's no longer any doubt.

Loki is the big boss of the Battle of New York!

"So the Battle of New York was a war launched by Loki to seize the cosmic cube?"

Black Widow, who was approaching SHIELD, seemed to have figured it out as well.

As one of the first two people to come into contact with the diary, Black Widow was very concerned about the Battle of New York.

No wonder, the diary clearly stated that it was a "super war" that would happen soon.

A super war involving gods and nuclear weapons!

Black Widow was eager to understand what exactly this was about.

But the details revealed in the diary were too few, allowing Black Widow to draw only limited conclusions.

Now.

Finally, a piece of key intelligence could be pieced together.

At the same time, another question became more perplexing for Black Widow:

What exactly is the cosmic cube?

That a god would start a war just to seize it?

Can SHIELD really safeguard such an item?

This is literally a super time bomb!

Black Widow felt that it was time for SHIELD to change its attitude towards the cosmic cube.

But for now.

Since Director Fury also obtained the diary, it seemed there was no need for her to worry about it anymore.

With this thought, Black Widow unconsciously pressed harder on the accelerator.