Chương 124: Chapter 119
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Pym Technologies, a company founded single-handedly by Hank Pym after he left S.H.I.E.L.D. It has grown considerably in scale now, and although it's not on par with Stark Industries, it has become a well-known conglomerate across America. Hank Pym, who is now an esteemed individual with both status and influence, would be the last person one would expect to become a thief. That's just nonsensical.
Not to mention the issue previously recorded in the diary about an Ant-Man from a parallel universe who slaughtered the Avengers—Fury has taken note of Hank Pym once more. The old man has since handed his company over to his pupil and daughter, leading a leisurely life in retirement, never having spent time in jail. But the spoilers in the diary have never been wrong!
So, what's the deal with the current Ant-Man? Is it possible that my universe is finally showing deviations from universe 199999? The specifics are currently unknown to Fury. It seems he'll have to wait until this round of spoilers is over before he investigates Ant-Man in detail.
"However, Ant-Man is somewhat perplexing."
"He indeed made a remarkable contribution after the Infinity War, with half of Earth's population owing him a tremendous favor."
"But his family is indeed like a ticking time bomb, constantly delving into quantum realm research—as if that's something ordinary people can meddle with!"
"If they encounter a quantum virus, the entire universe is doomed, even Thanos can't avoid that fate."
"Even without the quantum virus, there is Kang the Conqueror waiting inside."
"This supervillain is even more formidable than Thanos!"
Whoosh!
Nick Fury's expression instantly became extremely grave. Having knowledge of the quantum realm, even if not in depth, as the King of Spies, Fury was acutely aware of what it entailed. The field is a frontier for present human society, complex and profound in its depth. Most research related to the quantum realm is currently theoretical or superficial.
Therefore, there are significant risks involved in such research. Nick Fury knows all too well, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret agent "Ghost" mutated due to radiation from an explosion in the quantum lab, gaining the ability to phase through walls and turn invisible at will. The dangers of the quantum realm were evident. Yet, even Fury could not have anticipated the threat reaching this extent, capable of endangering the entire universe.
The term "quantum virus" was new to Fury, but the implications were clear from the name—a virus unique to the quantum realm. Before this, Fury had no idea that quantum viruses even existed, but what was vital was its terrifying nature. He couldn't even imagine a virus that could end the entire universe, including titans like Thanos. The idea was mind-blowing.
And the threat of the quantum realm didn't stop there—it also housed a supervillain even more fearsome than Thanos: Kang the Conqueror. The diary had very little information beyond the name, but the nickname alone suggested the style and level of the threat. "Conqueror" isn't a title given lightly. The diary confirmed this villain was even stronger than Thanos, who had wiped out half of the universe—a daunting thought.
The diary implied Kang the Conqueror was a super-villain existing within the quantum realm—could this suggest the realm was an inhabited world? Fury didn't expect this, and Fury was shocked: perhaps the quantum realm resembled Earth, not a dead world but one teeming with life, nurturing civilizations that were highly developed? This revelation would undoubtedly astound the scientific community if made public.
However, what really concerned Fury was Kang the Conqueror, a threat more fearsome than Thanos. Unfortunately, an abrupt end to the diary's intriguing revelation left Fury staring for several minutes, waiting for an update that never came—he reluctantly accepted defeat.
Snap!
Fury wouldn't waste any more time and closed the diary. He began to meticulously process the critical intelligence he had gathered. After some reflection, Fury didn't delay in summoning one of his most loyal subordinates, Black Widow, to his desk.
"I knew you'd call me after finishing the diary, Director."
After the greeting, Black Widow confidently looked at Fury, "Is that right?"
With a stoic face and not surprised, Fury glanced at her with his one good eye, "What do you have to tell me?"
"I guess you want to know about the Red Guardian?"
She made a natural assumption, although Black Widow also understood this might only be one of her superior's objectives, given the significance of the diary's revelations.
"Alexei Shostakov, he's the guy mentioned in the diary."
"When I was very young, we executed a secret mission together in Ohio."
"We lived as a family for three years during that mission, with him pretending to be my father."
"After the mission, we separated and rarely saw each other again, as we both operated in different spheres."
"It seems that for some ideological disagreement or some other reason, he was thrown into prison by Dreykov," Black Widow reported to Nick Fury what she knew about the Red Guardian.
"Dreykov?"
Fury raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, are you telling me that if we want to find the Red Guardian, we need to find this guy who has been declared dead?"
Dreykov was the founder and leader of the Red Room!
For a long time, as far as SHIELD was concerned, he was a dead man.
Hawkeye, Clint Barton, had spent a long time investigating the Red Room, but only managed to uncover some widows under its command. Beyond that, no further clues had been found.
"I know some of the Red Room's secret detention facilities, but that was before I left the organization."
"I can investigate, but I can't guarantee anything."
After some contemplation, Black Widow could only provide an uncertain answer.
After all, it had been a long time, and the Red Room had gone through significant changes. Who knew if those detention facilities still existed?
Not just Black Widow, even Fury did not hold much hope for it.
However, what neither of them could have known was that those secret detention facilities had been operating all along without any change!
In the standalone "Black Widow" movie, Natasha easily found them.
She and Yelena together destroyed the secret prison and freed the Red Guardian.
"Send the intelligence to Barton; let him handle this."
After some thought, Fury gave this order to Black Widow.
Barton was an old foe of the Red Room.
Back in Budapest, he and Black Widow fought a days-long battle against the Red Room, which culminated in Dreykov's death and the supposed destruction of the organization.
Plus, Barton had recently spent months investigating the Red Room, so it was suitable to hand this matter over to him.
"It seems I have other important matters to attend to?"
Black Widow nodded, without any objection, and made the obvious conclusion.
"Look into the Black Captain America," Fury instructed her. Indeed, the assignment was as important as she had predicted.
In terms of 'operational capability,' Black Widow and Hawkeye were equal in Fury's perspective.
The only difference was that Black Widow knew the intel about the Black Captain America, and Hawkeye did not!
And given Fury's disposition, it was best to keep such crucial intelligence known to as few people as possible.
So naturally, it fell to Black Widow.
"The information in the notebook is too scant. I can only start with the Korean War, boss, and this will take a long time with no guaranteed results," Black Widow said after a brief pause.
"This is a long-term mission," Fury acknowledged, understanding the nature of the task.
When the conversation with Black Widow concluded, Fury asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Do you have any ideas about how to normalize Hulk?"
Fury looked at Black Widow again.
Black Widow spread her hands innocently, "Truth be told, boss, I am as clueless as you and just as eager to know the answer."
Even if a future version of herself could cure Hulk, at this stage, Black Widow was genuinely without ideas.
"We'll leave this matter to you," Fury responded unsurprisingly and handed her another long-term mission, "Bruce Banner joining the team relies on you."
"You really are putting a lot of pressure on me, boss."
Black Widow couldn't help but exclaim.
"I trust you will accomplish it," Fury stated emotionlessly, then waved her off.
"Coulson."
After Black Widow left, Fury summoned the ever-reliable Coulson and assigned him a task.
"Look into Hank Pym; I need to know what he's been up to recently."
"Also, find out if he's secretly working on anything dangerous."
Hank Pym?
Coulson, being a high-level SHIELD agent, was naturally aware of the former legendary SHIELD agent.
The renowned Ant-Man.
Initially a field agent at SHIELD, he had the guts to stand up to high-level executives like Howard Stark.
It's said that when he fell out with Stark and others, he even broke a SHIELD executive's nose with a punch and managed to leave the confrontation scot-free to become a celebrated business magnate.
A formidable character indeed.
But why had Fury suddenly set his sights on him?
A flicker of confusion passed through Coulson, but it didn't linger as he didn't question what he wasn't supposed to know.
Instead, he asked a related question, "Boss, could you be more specific about 'dangerous things'?"
"Like, the Quantum Realm."
The Quantum Realm?
Coulson's first thought was the quantum explosion that created Ghost.
"Understood, boss," Coulson accepted the task.
After Coulson, Fury called in Agent Hill and assigned her some tasks before calling it a day.
But throughout it all, Fury didn't task anyone with investigating the super-soldier serum.
Such an important matter was something Fury planned to handle personally.
As for the notebook, it didn't offer any substantial leads on the super-soldier serum.
In other words, for Fury, the lead was pure speculation.
He wasn't in a rush.
Before that, there was another matter for Fury to handle — having a talk with Bruce Banner!
After Hulk had been turned back to Bruce Banner by Satan, Fury brought him back to SHIELD, where he was currently being accommodated in the reception room.
Since the opportunity presented itself, Fury intended to discuss the Avengers with Banner.
Gradually, with Fury's series of commands, the core members of the Avengers, including Fury himself, began to operate systematically.
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