Chapter 180

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"I knew it!" Tony Stark muttered in a confident tone. 

Nick Fury's decision to approach Satan didn't surprise Tony at all. Given that any Avenger could be under Loki's control and could be a double agent, Fury didn't have many options to choose from. Satan seemed to be the safest and most efficient choice Fury could make.

If Iron Man were in Fury's shoes, he too might have sought out Satan. And Satan didn't disappoint Fury. His attitude suggested that Loki was insignificant to him, and he could retrieve the Tesseract with ease. 

Tony, known for his skepticism, didn't have much to question this time. The future Avengers, who would stand unrivaled in the cosmos, hadn't emerged yet. The current Avengers were just the initial group. In this situation, Satan was undoubtedly the most capable of accomplishing this task. 

Tony had witnessed Satan's strength firsthand and had to admit that, at present, he was far inferior to Satan. But that was just for now. Iron Man firmly believed that one day, he would develop an armor so powerful that not even someone like Satan could keep up with him.

"Hydra forever?" 

As these thoughts swirled in Tony's mind, his eyes glanced over his diary, and he froze. The diary indicated that Captain America shouted "Hydra forever" during the Battle of New York? 

What the heck! 

"Hydra forever" was Hydra's slogan. Why would Captain America say that? Could it be that Captain America is actually part of Hydra? Captain America, not Captain America but Hydra Captain? Tony's expression became even more intriguing.

The diary had previously mentioned the existence of a Hydra Captain and had a way to verify if Cap was the Hydra Captain: Check if Red Skull Schmidt was still on Vormir. If Red Skull was present, then Captain America wasn't the Hydra Captain. If not, then it couldn't be certain. 

This method of verification was clearly impractical for the Avengers. Fortunately, the diary later revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had once targeted Captain America, and Cap, along with Black Widow and Nick Fury, had taken down Hydra's Insight Plan. This cleared Captain America's name, making the diary holders believe that Cap wasn't a Hydra spy. 

However, "Hydra forever"? Tony was now thoroughly puzzled. If Cap wasn't Hydra Captain, why would he shout Hydra's slogan? The diary provided no context or related information, leaving Tony without a clear lead. 

Another question drifted into Tony's mind. If Cap were truly Hydra Captain, he would have likely said "Hydra forever" multiple times with his Hydra colleagues. Why was this instance during the Battle of New York considered a significant moment by Zhou Cheng? 

Additionally, the diary had highlighted significant moments from the Marvel universe, featuring mostly heroic acts and not villainous ones. This led Tony to lean towards the idea that Cap wasn't Hydra Captain. Still, Cap's "Hydra forever" remained unexplained.

There was another puzzling issue. If "Hydra forever" happened during the Battle of New York, why would it remain significant even if the battle didn't occur? Did it have nothing to do with the Battle of New York itself? This contradiction suggested crucial information was missing that only Satan knew.

[Haha, I never realized Captain America could be so clever.] 

[This is what it means to win without fighting!] 

[A simple trick to deceive Hydra and obtain the scepter, avoiding a war.] 

[But seeing Cap's "elevator fight" again would be great. It's one of the classic Marvel scenes!]

Without fighting, huh? Tony finally understood and felt relieved. He had been misled by Zhou Cheng's half-explanations. It turned out Cap's "Hydra forever" was just a strategy to deceive Hydra and grab the scepter. 

But what was the "scepter" in the diary? Why would both Cap and Hydra want it? It seemed very significant! Moreover, given it was mentioned in the Battle of New York's significant moments, the scepter must be related to the battle. 

"Wait!" 

"Scepter!" A light bulb went off in Iron Man's mind, making his eyes shine. Loki's "spear" was shaped like a scepter. Putting it all together, it was clear that the diary's scepter was Loki's weapon. 

Considering previous diary entries, the Battle of New York ended in victory for humanity and the Avengers. Loki was captured, and his weapon seized—everything made sense. 

But why would a war prisoner's weapon fall into Hydra's hands instead of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s?

So it's quite clear at this moment that Nick Fury had no idea that SHIELD was actually HYDRA! This fact can also be verified from the real events.

Considering HYDRA's terrifying level of infiltration, if Nick Fury hadn't obtained the diary and learned the relevant information from it, he would definitely still be in the dark! Therefore, during the Battle of New York, HYDRA must have still been hiding well within SHIELD, not yet unmasked. 

But if that's the case, another contradiction arises. Since Captain America used the phrase "Hail HYDRA" to deceive the HYDRA members and take away the scepter, it implies that Captain America had long recognized the identities of those HYDRA moles! Doesn't this contradict the earlier analysis?

Or did Captain America not know the identities of those HYDRA agents beforehand and only found out by chance after something happened? But even if that were the case, shouldn't Captain America have reported this to Nick Fury instead of secretly taking the scepter?

Additionally, the term "reoccur" made Tony feel a bit puzzled. What does "reoccur" mean? Could it be that Captain America had experienced an "Elevator Battle" with these people before? Judging by the tone in the diary, if Captain America hadn't used deception, he might have had another "Elevator Battle" with these people.

If that were the case, then those people who had already had a fierce battle with Captain America, why would they have no guard against him whatsoever and be easily fooled by Cap again? No matter how you look at it, this doesn't make sense; it feels awkward and inconsistent.

And this awkwardness and inconsistency aren't just in one place. Clearly, it must be due to the lack of crucial information. Did the diary not mention it, or did he not remember it? 

Tony fell into deep contemplation. 

And a few seconds later, the wrinkles on Tony's brow suddenly smoothed out as a flash of insight crossed his mind. 

"That's it! It must be this way!" Tony couldn't help but mutter to himself. He recalled another extremely crucial piece of information: previously mentioned in the diary, during the Battle of New York, other Avengers had traveled through time. The purpose of their time travel was unknown, but it led to Loki being captured by the TVA. 

And without a doubt, the Captain America who shouted "Hail HYDRA" must be the future Captain America! Only this explanation makes sense. Because he came from the future, he knew about the still-hidden HYDRA and experienced an "Elevator Battle." 

Thus, those HYDRA members who had battled Captain America had no guard against him, making it easy for him to deceive them. For them, what Captain America had already experienced — the "Elevator Battle" — had actually not yet occurred!

Everything made sense! Once Tony factored in the future Captain America's identity, all the inconsistencies resolved themselves. The logic was smooth and flawless, with no loopholes. 

"Captain America shouting 'Hail HYDRA' must be the future Cap! Is that why the future Captain America reappeared during the Battle of New York after lying low with Peggy Carter for so long? Was it all for the scepter?" Tony mused aloud, coming to this inevitable conclusion. 

In an instant, Tony became immensely interested in the scepter. Just what was it that made it so significant that someone would travel through time for it? Unfortunately, up to now, Tony's knowledge of the scepter was extremely limited. Apart from seeing it fire energy blasts and being used as a club, he hadn't noticed anything particularly special about it. He couldn't figure it out at that moment. 

Tony, thinking for a while and not getting any results, decisively gave up. Instead, he began pondering another crucial question. Since the Tesseract had already been taken by Loki, it was fair to say the Battle of New York had officially started. So, had the future Avengers already traveled back and were secretly hiding in New York? Or would they arrive in the near future?

Tony wasn't very interested in the other Avengers, but he was quite curious about his future self. 

"Not only is the story inside the elevator fantastic, but the story outside is even more thrilling!" 

"Captain America, who successfully got the scepter, encountered another version of himself. Can you believe that?"

"And he was mistaken by that other version as Loki!"

"The two Captain Americas even had a fight."

"In the end, the Captain America who could withstand a blow from Thanos with multiple Infinity Stones couldn't beat his past self. Truly astonishing."

"It seems Captain America's '50-50 chance' attribute doesn't work as well when applied to himself."

Indeed! Tony realized his analysis was correct. The Captain America who shouted "Hail HYDRA" was indeed the future Cap. Not only that, but he also had a face-off with his past self! 

Had things developed into such an interesting situation? Captain America was no ordinary man; this guy still looked the same as seventy years ago! The super-soldier serum slowed his aging process significantly. Might this future Captain America still be as young as his past self? Oh, and let's not forget the time Captain America spent with Peggy Carter in the past. 

"Mistaken for Loki?" Tony then raised his eyebrows. Why would that happen? Captain America and Loki were two completely different people with no similarities. How could he be mistaken for Loki? What's more, the person mistaking him wasn't any old man but another Captain America. 

Could someone like Captain America make such a basic error as mistaking a person's identity? Especially mistaking himself for someone else? This seemed absurd and almost like a joke. 

After thinking for a while, Tony concluded that the mistake likely did not lie with Captain America but with Loki. The probability that Captain America would make a "misidentification" error was too low.

It should be this: Captain America saw someone identical to himself but still believed that person with his face was Loki. After all, the two Caps had a face-off, indicating it was face-to-face and not from a distance.