The Contest of Wits
New York, minutes ago.
A man dressed in the uniform of the Third Reich during World War II and wearing an eye patch stood atop the building, his posture so upright that he seemed to be cast into the entire building like a bronze statue, unshaken even by the wind.
His single eye stared at the enormous portal in the sky, watching the Chitauri surge out of it before being stopped by Iron Man and Thor working together.
Although it was the first time the two Avengers had worked together, their roles were clearly defined. Thor was responsible for dealing with larger targets, such as the heavily armored Leviathan. Dealing with such enemies was perfect for him; he only needed to lightly toss the hammer onto its back. The weight of the material extracted from the fallen star and Odin's divine incantation made the hammer extremely heavy, instantly pressing the Leviathan to the ground.
If the Chitauri soldiers swarm in, he can take care of them with a single bolt of lightning.
Iron Man, on the other hand, is responsible for filling in the gaps. He takes care of the Chitauri who escaped from Thor's blockade. Enemies that can be dealt with by ordinary military firearms are no match for the laser weapons in the Iron Man suit, especially since his armor was developed with a focus on high mobility and powerful long-range firepower.
Tony Stark is a quick learner. He applied Ivan Vanko's design of changing the external armor to give the Jaeger a different combat style to the new armor. Once the Jaeger's parts are worn to a certain extent, the operating platform remotely controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S. will drop replacement parts, and weapons and ammunition will also be replenished at the same time.
After casually dispatching several Chitauri soldiers flying towards him, Colonel Zemo said, "Gentlemen, you see, this is the threat humanity will face, and this is just the beginning. The Chitauri are the lowest level of military force in the universe; even pirate-level Ravagers are more destructive than them, and the enemies to come will be much stronger."
A projection screen floated beside him, divided into countless small squares. In each square were one or more people watching with furrowed brows. These were the bigwigs of various branches of Hydra, including Gideon Malick, one of the members of the World Security Council appointed by the United States, who had just finished a video conference with Nick Fury, and Alexander Pierce, Black Eggplant's trusted old boss.
"Now let's vote by show of hands regarding Hydra's next development plan: to create weaponry comparable to that of the gods. During this period, all branches of Hydra will share resources and technology."
It was Gideon Malick who spoke.
As a key figure in the post-World War II reconstruction of Hydra, although Gideon Malick's lineage had somewhat fallen behind the times and weakened, transforming from the most important leader into a stubborn conservative, he still held considerable authority.
Apart from Malik's lineage, the other Hydra factions regard the so-called "Hydra Hive" as a legend, the delusion of a group of ancient people, or a joke. However, the consensus among all Hydra is to participate in the creation and master of powerful weapons with divine power.
With Gideon Malick still alive, no one can be sure if this is just an excuse for him to try to regain control of Hydra. The practice of forming factions and eliminating dissidents is nothing new. It is highly likely that he will join forces with other factions to attack the one that is not on their side and then devour all its resources.
After decades of dedicated development, each branch of Hydra has amassed considerable resources. If Malik were to make that suggestion, it's hard to say that the Hydra leaders wouldn't be tempted.
In particular, besides his own forces, Gideon Malick is also a member of the World Security Council. The Hydra. S.H.I.E.L.D. is the largest of all Hydra forces, and Alexander Pierce is his natural ally. The combination of these two forces is extremely powerful.
Furthermore, he also found the assistance of the remnants of the Third Reich called SHOCKER. The various technologies they possessed had already spread throughout the underworld. Faced with a force that could summon an army of enhanced humans at any time, no one could guarantee that their own forces could match them.
The Hydra's temporary meeting concluded with unanimous approval. Colonel Zemo, having turned off the portable projector, looked towards Stark Tower, where a beam of azure energy shot straight into the sky, its immense power distorting space.
Colonel Zemo's trip was specifically for the Infinity Stones. Wei Xiuming had mastered the Space Stone in the core of the Tesseract after a period of research, and the next target was the Mind Stone embedded in the Mind Scepter.
Beyond the stars, aboard the Chitauri mothership.
The projection of another being, who had been serving before Thanos's throne, appeared here, berating his subordinates for their incompetence.
A civilization that hadn't even built a manned spacecraft for intra-galactic travel, a civilization as weak as an insect, actually managed to hold off their vanguard, and with only two warriors.
A pure-blooded Chitauri pulled up footage of the battle in front of the portal and said, "Human warriors cannot withstand our army. The one who truly makes a difference is this Asgard, their prince, Thor."
Then the Chitauri pulled out a light screen, pointed to the numbers on it, and said, "Their technology isn't as backward as our intelligence suggests. They possess weapons that can manipulate celestial phenomena and have blocked the portal with lightning."
"Use the weapon Thanos gave us!" the other said.
According to the intelligence provided by Loki, their attack was timed perfectly to coincide with Odin's slumber. Without a leader, the Asgard army would not easily launch an attack. As long as Heimdall's line of sight was blocked, they would only have to face Thor, who was accustomed to operating on Earth.
Thor is a formidable foe who has made a name for himself throughout the universe. Thanos created a special weapon for him to counter Thor's ability to control lightning.
Don't underestimate this weapon. As a survivor of Titan, Thanos inherited all the wisdom of the entire civilization. He has roamed the universe for many years and has mastered a lot of knowledge about the rules of the universe, and can use them flexibly.
For example, the spear wielded Proxima Midnight Black Order, was personally crafted by Thanos. It is extremely powerful; once thrown, it splits into three black rays that can track their target. Any creature touched by it will die instantly, making it a guaranteed hit weapon with an instant-kill effect.
The Leviathan that had been entrenched in front of the portal and the Chitauri soldiers riding in airships neatly dispersed, clearing a straight passage. A metal artifact was launched from the mothership and flew straight towards the portal along the passage.