Research Impasse

"Director, I'm afraid we're facing an old enemy."

"What are you trying to say?"

Coulson's muscles were strained all over, as if he had been repeatedly ravaged by ten burly men for three days and nights. Even speaking was difficult, but he still forced himself to sit up.

"Shockwave said he was an inheritor, carrying on the will of that man from decades ago. On top of that, he has opposed us at every turn. Therefore, I believe the person whose legacy he inherited is most likely Red Skull, and the force behind him is our old enemy, Hydra."

Nick Fury was no fool. Of course, he had considered this possibility; he simply did not want to admit it.

"Hydra was wiped out long ago. He's just being deliberately mysterious. Don't let him get into your head."

"Director, Shockwave's actions have repeatedly targeted us. Although our agency has countless enemies, the only force that bears such deep hatred for us is probably Hydra. And given their achievements in the superhuman field, it fits Hydra's style perfectly."

"Stop talking. Focus on recovering first. I'll investigate this matter."

After comforting Coulson with a few words, Nick Fury turned and left. Clearly, he did not agree with the theory that Hydra still existed.

However, not long after leaving the hospital room, Nick Fury summoned his deputy, Maria Hill.

"Hill, I'm assigning you a secret mission. Starting now, discreetly investigate our internal personnel. Report any abnormalities directly to me. Don't alert anyone."

"Director, you want to conduct a secret internal investigation? What is the direction?"

"Find out whether they're Hydra."

Hill fell silent for a moment. She asked no further questions and turned to carry out the order.

Just as Wang Khan had expected, Nick Fury, a man with severe paranoia, only needed the slightest hint before he would pursue it to the end.

And S.H.I.E.L.D. as it currently stood could not withstand scrutiny.

Of course, Wang Khan knew nothing about this. Right now, he was agonizing over the use of the Destroyer Armor—more precisely, the use of Uru metal.

"This stuff really is just metal. Its practical applications are far inferior to Vibranium."

Staring at the piece of Uru metal in the instrument, the dark circles beneath Wang Khan's eyes deepened again.

"Guardian, this Uru metal does not exist on Earth's periodic table of elements. Its hardness is comparable to Vibranium's, but it is not very malleable. At most, it can be used to make weapons and armor."

Based on the data, Red Queen outlined Uru metal's possible uses. Yet Wang Khan knew that Uru metal was practically the strongest magical material in the Marvel universe.

Whether it was Stormbreaker, Thor's ultimate weapon in the later years, or the most powerful Divine Artifact of the MCU's first decade, the Infinity Gauntlet, both had been forged from Uru metal.

Although Tony and the others had used Nanotechnology to create an Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers 4, the Nano Gauntlet was still vastly inferior to Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet.

Setting aside factors like durability, the Nano Gauntlet was already far too crude and simplistic in its use of the Infinity Stones.

Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet could effortlessly command the power of the Infinity Stones. Whether it was crossing space, creating reality, or even controlling time, he handled it all with absurd ease.

Especially when it came to controlling time, Kamar-Taj's sorcerers needed the Eye of Agamotto, along with the corresponding spells and hand gestures, just to use the Time Stone. Even then, they needed extraordinary talent.

In all of Kamar-Taj, it seemed that only Ancient One and Doctor Strange could use it.

Yet with the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos could rewind time the moment he got his hands on it and restore the exploded Vision. That was the Infinity Gauntlet forged by the Dwarf King. The Nano Gauntlet made by Tony and the others had no such function at all. Otherwise, Avengers 4 would not have been such a grueling fight.

"Uru metal is far superior to Vibranium in its application of magic and energy. But Earth's knowledge of how to use Uru metal is practically zero. That's troublesome."

Wang Khan's Meditation Experiment was built upon a complete foundation of basic knowledge. It could not create something from nothing; without any knowledge at all, he could not simply imagine it into existence.

Therefore, if Wang Khan wanted to conduct various experiments on Uru metal in his mind, he first had to master Asgardian magical forging techniques—even the most basic forging techniques would do.

"Looks like I can only wait until I infiltrate Asgard someday and find a way to steal the knowledge. For now, I'll seal away the Destroyer Armor and focus entirely on researching Thor's blood."

Just as Wang Khan was preparing to temporarily abandon his research into Uru metal, Red Queen's voice came through.

"Guardian, George Stacy, Director of an NYPD precinct, is calling."

"George? Why is he looking for me? Did something happen to the company again?"

"Guardian, nothing has happened to the company recently. However, it appears that someone on the government side is pressuring us to take the company public."

Wang Khan gave a cold laugh upon hearing that.

"I'm not short on capital right now. There's no need for me to seek investment on the stock market. Besides, this isn't something a police precinct director like George should be handling. Put him through. Let's hear what he wants."

"President Wang, this is George Stacy."

"Oh, Director Stacy. How have you been lately? By the way, are those police cars I donated last time working well?"

"You're too kind, President Wang. The quality of those police cars is quite good."

In the United States, police departments needed to solicit sponsorships. Could you believe that?

Yet that was the reality for American police. Their funding, equipment, vehicles, and even salaries all came from those sponsorships.

This also meant that American police served the wealthy. As for the poor, they could just huddle in the slums. They received a certain amount of relief money every month. It would not make them rich, but at least they would not starve.

Although many companies in New York sponsored the police, there were also a lot of officers. Divided evenly, the funds were still tight, and layoffs happened from time to time.

Thus, every wealthy person—especially company presidents—was someone local precinct directors desperately sought to curry favor with.

"President Wang, I'm calling today because I have a personal matter I'd like to ask your help with."

"A personal matter? Go ahead. If I can help, I certainly will."

"It's like this. Do you remember my daughter, Gwen?"

"Of course. That beautiful, brave young woman left a deep impression on me. What happened to her?"

After their conversation, Wang Khan finally understood George's intentions.

To put it simply, Gwen, who was about to enter her sophomore year, had already mapped out her life plan: join a major corporation and become either a senior white-collar professional or a researcher at a large company.

In Gwen's eyes, Wang Khan's Umbrella Corporation was not only sizable, but also held enormous potential. More importantly, it matched her field of study. So she had asked her police-director father to put in a good word for her.

Who said foreigners did not use connections? Anyone with personal connections and resources who stubbornly insisted on making it alone was just an idiot with too little sense.

"No problem. During our previous conversations, I noticed that Gwen was very talented. I happen to be launching a new project soon and need an assistant. Have her come over."

"Thank you, President Wang."

After ending the call, Wang Khan frowned slightly.

"Gwen didn't intern at Osborn. In that case, the plot of The Amazing Spider-Man probably won't happen, right?"

Some people were unhappy that the protagonist was targeting S.H.I.E.L.D., but this book did not merely reference the MCU. It also incorporated quite a few plotlines from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The S.H.I.E.L.D. in that series was truly infuriating.