A Tip from a Concerned Citizen

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. New York Division, most employees could live like ordinary office workers, keeping nine-to-five hours. But with Doctor Octopus still at large with Tritium in his possession, no one could go home and rest easy.

The technical team monitoring atmospheric radioactive materials, in particular, sat before their computers, watching data relayed by satellites and monitoring stations across the country. During the first Artificial Sun experiment, readings resembling a nuclear explosion had nearly made them issue a nuclear threat alert. Fortunately, it had turned out to be a false alarm, and nothing happened.

Data did not lie, but until they figured out why the runaway nuclear fusion reaction had failed to explode, no one dared guarantee they would be so lucky a second time. The technicians did not dare relax for even a moment.

Barbara Morse, acting as commander, was receiving regular reports from the field agents. Those sent out had used every trick at their disposal to search for Doctor Octopus.

To everyone's surprise, no one had seen him. Some had even asked the Bowery King for information, but even New York's greatest king of informants had no answer. It was as if Doctor Octopus had vanished from New York.

Or perhaps he knew and simply would not say. No one could fathom the beggar king's thoughts.

As the seconds ticked by, everyone's nerves were pushed to the limit. Then Nick Fury suddenly entered the command center and looked at the room. "We found Doctor Octopus."

The news stabbed at Barbara Morse's nerves. A field agent had bypassed her, the operations commander, and reported directly to Nick Fury. The black one-eyed man acted as if he had not noticed his subordinate's expression, walking over to the technician operating the map display. "A tip from a concerned citizen. Doctor