章 184: Chapter 179
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And just like that, Loki disappeared.
The high-profile invader of SHIELD, who had turned the dark energy combined base into ruins, vanished without a trace after the battle with Tony and Cap. It was as if he had never appeared. Two weeks passed, and not only had Loki taken no further action, but he also seemed to have evaporated from the mortal world. Completely "hidden," with no further movements.
But the more this went on, the more uneasy the Avengers stationed at the new base felt. No one believed Loki would stop just like that. Everyone assumed he was planning something big.
"I checked our satellites again, and as always, there's nothing," Hawkeye Barton said, clicking away at a computer screen in the control center and shaking his head. "Stark, what about you?" He turned to ask Tony, who was munching on snacks. SHIELD's satellites were far more advanced and comprehensive than those of typical intelligence agencies but still fell short compared to JARVIS's capabilities.
"JARVIS hasn't reported anything," Tony replied, not surprising anyone.
"So, that's it? Loki just vanished?" The Red Guardian shrugged with a hint of frustration. "I still can't understand how he managed it." With both SHIELD's satellite system and JARVIS observing, even a fly couldn't hide. How could Loki, a living person, do it? Unless he had been hiding in some isolated place all this time.
"Erik, we're discussing a god here!" Black Widow interjected. "Doing the impossible is what makes him a god."
"What we need now is not to lose confidence," Red Guardian shook his head.
"Exactly, I couldn't agree more," Iron Man pointed a finger at Red Guardian with gusto. "Loki is a god, but so what? Don't forget, we gave him a good beating. Oh no, I gave him a good beating!"
"I'd love to see you do it again, but first, we need to find him."
"We will, I'll make sure of it!"
After a brief exchange, everyone returned to their work. Tony, not used to the serious and dull atmosphere, tried to lighten the mood but found everyone's enthusiasm lacking. Captain America, in particular, looked incredibly serious.
"Stark, please, can you be serious? We're at a crucial moment!" Captain America couldn't stand Iron Man's demeanor any longer and reminded him sharply.
"Precisely because of that, we can't put too much pressure on ourselves," Tony argued.
"Can't you boys get along?" Black Widow shrugged and, after a slight complaint, left the room.
Where was she going? To take care of some personal needs.
In the bathroom, she was calmly washing her hands at the sink as always. Suddenly, she paused, sensing something. Her breath quickened slightly, and she instinctively tensed. When she looked up at the mirror, her pupils shrank!
In the reflection, she saw a man in a robe smiling behind her. Loki!
The thought flashed through Black Widow's mind. She instinctively reached for her gun and quickly turned around, but behind her, there was nothing.
What was going on? She must have seen it wrong or was hallucinating. As a top agent, Black Widow shouldn't have such hallucinations or make mistakes. But there was clearly no one there.
With questions in mind, Black Widow quickly scouted the bathroom, making sure no one was around. So, what was the situation?
Returning her gaze to the mirror, she saw only herself. No one else. She didn't let her guard down, ready to continue her investigation. Just as she turned her head, she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. Instantly, her gaze returned to the mirror.
Loki was standing beside her in the reflection, his smile growing even more sinister.
In an instant, she turned around as fast as she could, but before she could react, Loki's scepter was already pointed at her chest. A silent energy emanated from the scepter, and Black Widow's eyes turned pitch black before returning to normal. She put away her gun, now fully under Loki's control.
Loki's smile brightened. "You know what I need you to do?"
"Obtain the Tesseract," Black Widow responded immediately.
"Excellent," Loki nodded approvingly. Then, abruptly, he disappeared, just like in the movie "Thor," when Thor was captured by SHIELD and Loki appeared and vanished.
Indeed, gods have methods beyond ordinary human capabilities.
The controlled Black Widow showed no drastic reaction, as if nothing had happened. She straightened her appearance in the mirror and nonchalantly returned to the Avengers.
Neither the genius Tony Stark nor the familiar Hawkeye Barton could detect anything out of the ordinary. Black Widow resumed work seamlessly.
Everything seemed normal, yet everything had changed.
Three days later, Black Widow vanished just as abruptly as Loki, taking the Tesseract with her.
This unexpected twist caught everyone off guard.
"Why would Natasha do this?" "Why would she steal the Tesseract now?" The control center turned heavy and tense. Hawkeye Barton, closest to Black Widow, began to speak, unable to accept what had happened.
If possible, he'd prefer to believe it was a misunderstanding. But the surveillance footage clearly showed Black Widow exploiting their trust to sneak away with the Tesseract temporarily.
There was no disputing the evidence.
"Little Natasha really is a born spy. She tricked us all," Red Guardian sighed. "I wasn't wrong; she is the best in the field."
"No, Erik, I believe Natasha had a reason," Hawkeye Barton argued passionately. "She must have had her reasons, Director!" He then approached Nick Fury, hoping for support. "You know Natasha as well, right?"
"Barton, that doesn't matter now,"
Nick Fury shook his head, "The important thing is, she took the Tesseract."
"Exactly, so we need to find Natasha and get the Tesseract back!" added Captain America firmly.
Undoubtedly, this was a crucial point. Nick Fury immediately started making a series of arrangements and deployments. Once things had temporarily settled, he left nonchalantly.
He walked over to the coffee machine in the break area to get a cup of coffee to refresh himself.
"It's Loki," said Tony Stark, who had been silent until now, as he walked over without making a fuss. "Loki has ways to control minds, doesn't he?"
The diary had long revealed this crucial information. In the original Battle of New York, Barton was controlled by Loki, nearly blowing up the Helicarrier. So now, the sudden betrayal of Black Widow seemed undoubtedly Loki's doing. Loki must have seen the defense around the Tesseract and knew it was impossible to seize it by force, so he controlled Black Widow to break it from within, creating a spy scenario from *Mission: Impossible*.
"If you were under Loki's control, you wouldn't openly admit it to me," said Fury, his coffee-fetching motion uninterrupted, his voice drifting over calmly. "So, you're not under Loki's mind control, right?"
"But considering Loki is the god of mischief, nobody can predict his schemes with certainty," Nick Fury continued, "Yeah, that's Loki's brilliance," Tony agreed, "because I can't be sure you aren't under his control either. In fact, I can't guarantee anyone in this room isn't."
This was precisely why neither Nick Fury nor Tony mentioned this crucial information to the team.
"Loki wants us to distrust each other," Fury said. "And as much as I hate to admit it, he succeeded."
With that, Nick Fury's coffee had filled, and he didn't say anything more to Tony. He casually tossed the full cup of coffee into the trash can, then swaggered out. Where he went remained unexplained. No one, including Tony or any other Avengers present, knew where Fury had gone.
So where did Fury go?
After some contemplation, Fury once again found himself standing before someone. Who? Satan, or Zhou Cheng.
In fact, Nick Fury had been contemplating hiring Satan to investigate Loki's whereabouts for quite some time. After all, Loki's matter was of significant importance. If mishandled, it could lead to a major alien invasion disaster. Given that SHIELD and JARVIS couldn't locate Loki, if anyone still stood a chance at finding Loki, it would undoubtedly be the enigmatic Satan.
However, as SHIELD's director, Fury couldn't seek outside help whenever faced with a difficult problem, as it would strip him of his prestige. So, the idea had remained just that—an idea—until now.
But Black Widow's "betrayal" made Fury realize the severity of the situation. It could no longer be delayed! Loki needed to be found, or rather captured, as soon as possible! Besides, considering the Avengers guarding the Tesseract might now be under Loki's control, who else could he rely on? Certainly not ordinary SHIELD agents.
So, in the end, Fury went to Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng was surprised and deeply curious. What trouble had Fury encountered this time?
"Satan, seventeen days ago, someone stole something from SHIELD." After a brief exchange, Nick Fury explained the situation to Zhou Cheng, laying out some related photos in front of him. Zhou Cheng glanced at the person in the photos, remaining outwardly calm but immediately recognizing him inwardly—Loki?
There was no doubt the stolen item was the Tesseract! So, the Battle of New York had already begun! Despite various deviations in this world's events, the iconic Battle of New York was still unfolding!
"Satan, name your price. I need you to retrieve the stolen item." Fury's voice pulled Zhou Cheng back to reality from his thoughts. Zhou Cheng began to ponder whether to accept Fury's commission.
Why not? After mere moments, Zhou Cheng cheerfully made the decision. Based on his memories from the film, Zhou Cheng knew his current strength could easily subdue Loki. If so, why not take the money?
After all, beating up Loki wouldn't cause him any trouble, right? None of the Avengers who fought Loki were ever retaliated against by Loki or Asgard.
Would stopping the Battle of New York and thwarting Thanos' plans put him on Thanos' radar? Zhou Cheng didn't think so. First, the chances of his identity being leaked were slim. Even if it did get leaked, what harm could it bring if he opposed Thanos? Thanos had never killed a single hero during his fights with the Avengers, except for Vision during the Mind Stone battle and Loki, who attempted to assassinate him.
Considering Thanos' peculiar mentality of not killing his enemies, there was no reason for hesitation!
"Ten billion, same old terms—start action once the advance payment is in," Zhou Cheng quoted his price to Fury.
Even for SHIELD, this price was astronomical. But Fury knew he had no leverage to bargain with Zhou Cheng. All Fury could do now was raise the money for Zhou Cheng as best as he could.
After Fury left, Zhou Cheng nonchalantly recorded his thoughts in his diary.
In the break area, Tony, who was sipping his coffee, saw the diary update with new entries:
["Loki still managed to steal the Tesseract from SHIELD. Unexpected yet expected.**
**With all the deviations in this universe, the Battle of New York still arrived as scheduled.**
**After all, this is the first major event in Marvel! If the Battle of New York didn't happen, what would Marvel be?**
**Wait, Fury already contacted me. If he gets the money ready, the Battle of New York might not even happen!**
**Honestly, I'm feeling a bit conflicted. The Battle of New York has so many iconic scenes! Iron Man with the nuke, Hulk smashing Loki—such classics. It's a shame to miss out.**
**Though Captain America's 'Hail Hydra' bit should still be there, right? Haha, another classic scene."]
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