Reaping What You Sow

"The members of the World Security Council just heard your entire report," Nick Fury said to Wei Xiuming as they left Pierce's office.

"I know," Wei Xiuming replied. "I sensed a third party's gaze on me, likely through the cameras. Considering you warned me to watch my words, it was easy to figure out. If it weren't for that, my wording would have been much more precise, and I wouldn't have deliberately made it so easy to understand, leading to logical flaws."

Nick Fury suddenly wanted to ask Wei Xiuming what he was thinking, deliberately stirring up trouble and bringing out the dirty laundry that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't want to touch, to sow discord among the five major powers behind the Security Council.

"Clark Kent, what kind of world was it in the era you were born?" Nick Fury fumbled for a small device and activated it. "This device can distort sound waves within a certain range, so outsiders won't hear our conversation."

As for reading lips, it was useless against Wei Xiuming. To this day, Nick Fury had never seen him take off his gas mask.

Wei Xiuming really wanted to say he didn't know, because his identity and various threats were all lies, but he still had to play along. "Mr. Nick Fury, if you had a Time Machine and traveled back before World War II, would you assassinate that warmonger Hitler to prevent the war and save the lives of a generation of young people?"

Nick Fury thought for a moment and said, "I wouldn't. The uncertainties of time are too great. Given the situation back then, the outbreak of World War II was inevitable. The economic crisis forced countries to seek external conflicts to divert internal ones, and war was the best method. Even if I hadn't intervened, we, representing justice, would have still won in the end. If I interfered, the final outcome would be unknown."

America's rise was due to its profiting from two World Wars, frantically absorbing Europe's gold and technical talent. The fires of the World Wars never burned on American soil.

Wei Xiuming said, "Yes, so with future people taking enormous risks and breaking the continuity of spacetime, sending a perfect weapon embodying the most advanced technology of the time to the past, how desperate must their situation be?"

Nick Fury, who had silently turned off the jamming device, looked even more grim. "You might as well tell me that in the future, communism has been achieved, the free world led by America has been ruined by an American president who was a double agent, and you were sent to accelerate this process."

"I've never seen you so humorous," Wei Xiuming said noncommittally, then asked, "Where are we going now? If you're not busy, I need to return to my lab to develop things. Time waits for no one."

Walking to the elevator, Nick Fury said, "First to my office. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Knight System wearers have been selected. At our pace, he'll arrive about a minute after we enter the office."

"Speaking of which..." Wei Xiuming's voice paused. "S.H.I.E.L.D. might not get a qualified knight. The necessary raw materials for manufacturing the Knight System have been lost."

"When!" Nick Fury frowned. The security of the Osborn Industries park was handled by S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing him to come and go freely, so a Quinjet landing in the park wouldn't cause panic. If such security still allowed a theft, especially of important raw materials, Nick Fury suspected there might be a mole.

"What was lost?"

Wei Xiuming said, "The body of a Xenomorph. Xenomorphs are semi-dimensional beings. They contain something called tachyons, which allow them to move at superluminal speeds without resistance from friction, air, etc. It's also essential for the Knight System's acceleration and the wearer's enhancement."

"After the Knight System defeated the first Xenomorph, its body was urgently recovered. It was used as a template to extract materials for the subsequent development of the Knight System, but only a few portions were extracted. That night, the Xenomorph's body vanished from the bio-lab. The security department's investigation concluded that the perpetrator's methods were too advanced, leaving no trace, so we just had to take the loss."

Knowing what happened, Nick Fury looked at the person beside him, who was over two meters tall. "If there was a Xenomorph body now, could you still manufacture it?"

Limited by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s technological capabilities, their research on Xenomorphs had not yielded any useful results. When handed over to the Skrulls, with whom they had some contact, their conclusion was that Xenomorphs and Skrulls were structurally very similar yet exhibited different racial characteristics, making them likely branches of the same ancestor on different evolutionary paths, much like gorillas and humans. It was useless to keep it, so it was better to return it to Wei Xiuming, giving him one more trump card.

Wei Xiuming shook his head. "It's too late, and there's no need. Giving me a Xenomorph now and developing the Knight System based on it would be like scrapping a project and starting over. Tachyons dissipate rapidly after a Xenomorph loses its life functions, and such a coincidence won't happen again."

"Furthermore, with the existing wearers and an effective intelligence network combined with Xenomorph detection equipment, we have enough to solve the Xenomorph problem, although the overtime required would be inhumane."

Nick Fury remained silent. In his life, this was the first time he had inadvertently set a trap for himself. Also, the elevator had reached his office floor, and some topics were not suitable for further discussion.

Shortly after the two entered Nick Fury's office, a burly man in a combat suit knocked and entered. Nick Fury introduced them: "Dr. Clark Kent, the developer of the Knight System; Brock Rumlow, captain of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Rapid Response Unit, and the wearer I selected for the Knight System—but now, this matter must be put on hold due to an unforeseen incident."

Wei Xiuming almost burst out laughing, only able to lament how difficult Nick Fury's job was. His former superior was a high-ranking Hydra official, and one person chosen from so many was still a core member of Hydra. And he chose none other than Rumlow, the infamous villain Crossbones, who had a love-hate relationship with Captain America in the comics, and was about to hand him a powerful force. It was truly ironic.

Rumlow, who had mentally prepared himself to become a knight, was bewildered, wondering where he had gone wrong. He was a carefully selected individual by Hydra. Upon learning that Nick Fury needed S.H.I.E.L.D. to have a knight, he had used various methods, including psychological suggestion, to ensure his file ultimately became Nick Fury's final choice. Yet, at the last moment, he was told he was rejected.

Wei Xiuming said, "Besides developing the Knight System against Xenomorphs, I have other plans!"

Then, Wei Xiuming approached Rumlow, his eyes shining, and said, "Do you have the courage to surpass human limits?"