Sentry

"I don't like this guy," Tony Stark stated bluntly.

When Henry first saw this person on television, he began to wonder again where he had ended up in.

Sentry appeared on the East Coast of the United States in late 1996, about a year after Captain Marvel left Earth. They have dealt with numerous crises and disasters, acting like superheroes from comic books.

But the battle that cemented Sentry's status came earlier this year, when its adversary was reportedly a sea iguana affected by the nuclear tests in French Polynesia. One of the iguanas, contaminated by nuclear radiation, grew into a massive, dinosaur-like behemoth that invaded Manhattan, New York.

The reason its origin is so clear is that the France security service's cleanup team has been tracking the beast's movements, attempting to "get rid of" it, whether by capturing or killing it.

But the France organized several operations, all of which failed. Until the behemoth appeared in New York, landed in Manhattan, and nested and laid eggs in Madison Square Garden.

At this moment, the Sentry appeared, quickly resolving the behemoth crisis that ordinary soldiers could not handle, and destroying all the behemoth eggs in Madison Square Garden.

Before the behemoth causes further destruction to New York, let's avert disaster.

Prior to this, then- New York City Rudy Giuliani had considered issuing an evacuation plan for New York, with the military assisting in the evacuation.

It's easy to imagine the enormous economic losses this would have caused. Fortunately, it was eventually resolved.

At the same time, the X-Men were still arguing with the government about whether or not to deploy. The X-Men, led by Mystique, operated in a way that differed from Professor X's.

Mystique avoids missions that don't directly endanger Mutants or involve Mutants, and if she can't avoid them, she drags them out. It's said that the official dissatisfaction with the new X- X-Men has been building up for a long time and is nearing a breaking point.

The defeated behemoth was named Gozilla by the news media.

All of this sounds utterly surreal. Iron Man hasn't even been born yet, the curtain hasn't risen on the Marvel Universe, and the world has already been turned into something unrecognizable. The Marvel Comics Universe colliding with the Monster Universe?

This is why Henry secretly began manufacturing combat suits, in order to conceal his identity to the greatest extent possible while still being able to exert some combat power. Because if he didn't do it now, it would be too late; this sense of urgency had been pressing on him ever since the Sentry appeared.

After the Sentry War Gozilla, this superhero's achievements went even further, with his presence felt in major disasters around the world. The media even hailed him, saying, "We have our own Superman, Clark Kent."

The hottest news recently is that this Sentry single-handedly built a skyscraper in New York City in a short period of time and established the CLO. C. Artificial Intelligence system, which is responsible for monitoring the world and notifying Sentry of any disasters that may occur.

The media's frenzied hype propelled this superhero's prestige to unimaginable heights. Even politicians racked their brains to get a picture with the Sentry and a word of support from him. As if to explain that his likes and dislikes weren't just simple jealousy, Tony Stark unusually added, "I don't trust anything that looks perfect. Unless it's math."

Tony Stark then turned and asked, "You said the Super-Soldier Serum is related to him. What's going on?"

Jack Reacher replied, "It's still Super-Soldier Program. Canada's Department K, in partnership with the United States. civilian ' Operation: Rebirth,' aims to develop Super-Soldier Serum that surpasses the one used by Captain America."

"Unfortunately, it had grand ambitions but poor capabilities. Over the decades, it established thousands of isolated sub-projects, and outsourced laboratory work to private contractors. It looked like a shell company that was just trying to swindle funding, with absolutely no management whatsoever."

"Starting in 1992, this project suddenly claimed to have made achievements and completed the Sentry Serum, which claimed to be 100,000 times more effective than the Super-Soldier Serum used by Captain America."

"From a timeline perspective, there were no results for forty or fifty years from the World War II until then. But after Mr. Howard Stark's Super Soldier Serum was hijacked, there was an immediate turning point, which made me wonder if there was any connection between the two."

"However, this is just my suspicion, without direct evidence. And for the next few years, the Sentry Serum was in the stage of verifying its efficacy, not yet at the stage of human trials."

"The research on the Sentry Serum, much like the chaotic management of this project, involved too many labs interfering and issuing conflicting reports."

But in 1996, a lab on one of the sub-projects was burglarized. Then, at the end of the year, a superhero calling himself the Sentry appeared.

Tony Stark asked, "Do you know the original identity of the Sentry?"

"Robert Reynolds, a drug addict and habitual thief."

"Is no one going to pursue this guy's theft?"

Jack Reacher, with a hint of helplessness, said, "From the government's perspective, to be fair, no one can hold him accountable. Public power, in fact, exists only by relying on violent organizations like the military."

"But for a superhero who can kill a behemoth like Gozilla, can fly, and can appear anywhere in the world in a short time, even if you wanted to nuke him, you'd have to pray that he obediently stays in place and lets you bomb him."

With his hand gently touching his cheek, Tony Stark asked, "Of all the things you've said, which parts have empirical evidence?"

"Only the Sentry's true identity has direct, traceable evidence. However, regarding the Super Soldier Serum, I have no evidence to prove its connection to Mr. Howard Stark's lost item. But chronologically, he is the most suspicious."

"Do you think they might be the ones who ordered the seizure of the serum?"

Jack Reacher said seriously, "My opinion is that the people in Department K, whether they are core executives or sub-project managers, do not seem to be the kind of people who have the power to order the seizure of the serum."

"Given the chaotic state of the project, obtaining the serum for research seems more like a casual, ill-advised move by the mastermind, or perhaps a diversionary tactic to shift attention away from the real target being protected."

"After all, they have a way to find information about the Super Soldier Serum and its delivery route, and send out super soldier-level assassins to seize it. Such an organization wouldn't be easily infiltrated and have its research results stolen by a mere worm, would it?"

"The only thing that probably didn't expect was that it actually yielded results. And for that reason, the security level of information related to this Sentry Serum has been raised. That's all the information I have."

After a moment's hesitation, Tony Stark looked at the other man who had remained silent. He had considered asking him what he was thinking, but ultimately decided against it.

Tony Stark looked at Jack Reacher and said, "I understand your findings. I'll take over the rest, as that's not something you can handle. Is there anything you want or need? Just say the word."

The young master knew very well that if he wanted to delve any further, he had no law enforcement authority or secret forces to deal with this kind of thing, so he could only seek help from outside.

Whether the military would support him was not up to a mere captain like Jack Reacher. That's why Tony Stark put the brakes on the deal.

On the one hand, he didn't know which generals he could discuss these matters with, or whose stance might support him.

Looks like I need to visit a retired uncle. General Phillips, head of the Strategic Scientific Reserve during World War II, creator of Captain America, and one of the old man's friends.

This retired general is probably the most likely person to stand on his side in this matter.

Jack Reacher directly rejected Tony Stark's offer of goodwill, saying, "No, and there's no need. I'm investigating these matters only because of orders from my superiors. I'm not doing it for any reward."

He casually tidied up the scattered documents on the table; these were, of course, meant for Tony Stark. The burly man, with his wandering nature, didn't value the friendship with a billionaire much. Jack Reacher only trusted his comrades.

However, since the helpers he had recruited didn't care about any reward, Tony Stark, out of pride, couldn't simply leave them unrewarded.

He tore a blank piece of paper from an unimportant document, wrote a phone number on it, and placed it in front of Jack Reacher. Tony Stark said, "My promise is always valid. Call this number when you need to."

This time, Jack Reacher didn't refuse, but he only picked up the piece of paper, glanced at it, and then put it back on the stack of files. "I've written down the number."

Tony Stark asked in surprise, "You just have to write it down like this? Aren't you afraid you'll forget it?"

What If...? I can forget something, doesn't that mean it's not important to me?

Looking at the military police captain, and then at the chief of staff he had appointed, Tony Stark was speechless. They were both like this, making him want to strangle someone.