Bait · Trump Card

"Ha ha."

Seeing the expression on Nick Fury's face as if his mother had died, Heisenberg laughed without the slightest restraint.

But after laughing enough, Heisenberg waved at everyone.

"Looks like I interrupted your meeting, so I'll tell you why I came looking for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present was stunned.

Was this really how things were supposed to unfold?

Shouldn't you politely leave after seeing that we were in a meeting?

You... really had no manners at all!

Of course, they dared to think it, but not say it.

Heisenberg then stated his purpose.

"I want you to find someone for me. Zebediah Killgrave, formerly a spy.

He stole nerve gas from one of your United States Army bases. But the mission went wrong, and he was consumed by the nerve gas. Because of that, he gained some utterly insane abilities.

While searching for him, do not send anyone to make contact with him. Anyone who comes into contact with him will be easily controlled by him!

In short, I only need you to provide his location. I'm going to find him and kill him.

My subordinate Eliza will act alongside you. You'd better listen to her commands, or I won't be responsible for your casualties!"

After saying that, Heisenberg nodded to himself.

"That's it. Get it done quickly. I won't disturb you any longer."

The moment his words fell, he had already torn through the sky and vanished without a trace.

Only a few seconds, perhaps a dozen seconds later, Heisenberg reappeared at the hospital.

He came to Eliza's side and instructed her.

"Once the cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D. begins, keep an eye on someone named Rumlow. He'll be your teammate in the future, so be a little friendlier to him."

The moment Eliza and Bullseye heard that, their admiration for Heisenberg soared without limit.

They had only ever heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. planting spies in gangs. Had their boss already planted one of his own people inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Even if that Rumlow was only the lowest-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent, he could still play an incredibly important role!

For a time, Bullseye and Eliza were filled with anticipation for the future.

Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in Washington after Heisenberg's departure.

A group of people looked at one another...

"Uh..."

Dr. Banner could not help speaking up.

"This guy... it's my first time meeting him. Is he always so... domineering?"

"Heh, Banner, you have power like his too, so you can be as domineering as you want!"

Tony said coldly.

It did not matter whether he had drunk Heisenberg's liquor or traded dirty jokes with him before.

Never mind that they only shared the bond of one drinking session. No matter how many drinks they had shared, Tony could never tolerate Heisenberg's lofty attitude.

Just as he had once told Pepper, he was destined to never become friends with Heisenberg. The greatest possibility between them was exactly what they were now.

Hypothetical enemies!

Tony's words made Banner's heart tremble.

Honestly, at that moment, he truly questioned himself.

Why could Heisenberg use his overwhelming power to intimidate S.H.I.E.L.D. to the point that S.H.I.E.L.D. practically placed him on a pedestal?

What about himself?

Why did he have to live a wretched life of hiding and fleeing, going hungry, and constantly trembling in fear?

Why couldn't he live like Heisenberg?

As long as I'm willing to accept that big guy's power!

Thinking that, Banner froze.

He understood.

He knew why he could not be as carefree as Heisenberg.

It was only because that power was not his power. It was Hulk's power.

That power did not belong to him, and he deeply feared and hated Hulk's existence.

But he truly wanted to live an ordinary person's life.

Then, could he master Hulk's power, or free himself from Hulk's power?

As long as he could regain a peaceful life and no longer have to worry about Hulk appearing whenever he got upset!

At that moment, he gained a certain resolve.

Leaving Banner's inner thoughts aside, the other Avengers had clearly fallen into wariness toward Heisenberg.

"The last time I saw him, he was a handsome naked man. I thought that after we picked him up, there might be a chance for something to happen between us." Natasha was the first to make small talk.

"Something to happen? The only relationship we can have with him now is his one-sided domination of us!" Hawkeye shrugged.

"Yeah, one-sided domination. We can't even refuse his demands."

Nick let out a long sigh.

"After all, his demands aren't excessive. He doesn't want this country, doesn't want to destroy humanity, and doesn't even want to become a new god."

"But we can't keep indulging him like this, Nick. I came to serve as a consultant for the department my father built, not to become some alien's assistant!"

Tony's words were extremely blunt, but they also voiced Nick's thoughts.

Nick nodded at Iron Man and said solemnly.

"Then let's exchange intelligence and decide how to place him under restraint."

As he spoke, Nick clapped his hands, and the meeting room suddenly went dark.

Virtual light gathered in the room, and a clear image appeared in the middle of the round table where everyone sat.

Nick Fury explained at the right moment.

"By exchanging intelligence, I mainly mean that I'll show you some secret weapons I have under my control.

Among you are an experienced commander like Captain America, as well as geniuses like Tony and Banner.

So I hope you can help assess my secret weapons.

He's too powerful. If something truly happens that we can't accept, we may only get one chance!"

As he spoke, a beautiful but very thin woman first appeared in the center of the round table.

"Jane Foster, a young astrophysicist, and Thor's girlfriend!"

At that point, the virtual image changed accordingly, and Jane Foster swiftly turned into the tall, burly Prince of Asgard.

"Thor, Prince of Asgard, and heir to Asgard's throne. No one knows how his abilities compare to Superman's.

But I believe that if we can reach Thor, who has already returned to Asgard, through his girlfriend, then he can become our ally. An arrogant guy like him definitely won't be able to stand someone else being more arrogant than he is!"

As he said that, Nick quietly switched the virtual image.

The image now showed a valiant but not especially beautiful middle-aged American woman.

She was wearing an astonishing uniform and launching an attack against countless spacecraft in space!

In an instant, all the Avengers leaped from their chairs.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Nick, are you sure you're not joking?"

"Who is that? Why do I feel like she's the real Superman?"

"She is...?"

"She was once an operative in the United States Air Force's Project Pegasus. You can call her Major Carol, but her current codename is Captain Marvel.

She possesses faster-than-light travel, unstoppable power, and an extraordinary physique. But the only problem is..."

"What is it?" Natasha asked.

"She mainly operates in space. She might be hundreds of thousands of light-years away from us..."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!"

Iron Man's eyes lit up.

"So the universe really is this brilliant? Does that mean the silence we thought we saw was merely because Earth hasn't yet obtained a ticket to the universe?"

"That's right!" Nick nodded. "This information will never be spread among ordinary citizens. Not everyone can accept the reality that Earth is basically a primitive backwater. But fortunately, we have a powerhouse like Captain Marvel who can deter alien races!"

"But the question is... are you sure Captain Marvel is stronger than me, or stronger than him? And will she even listen to you?"

Banner asked with a frown, making Nick shrug helplessly.

"I'm not sure. If I were, then he would have become our prisoner long ago."

"So your so-called exchange of intelligence was just using two people who might cause him trouble, plus a dazzling universe, to draw us an unattainable target?"

Tony asked irritably.

Seeing that, Nick helplessly slapped the table.

"Indeed, I admit that none of what I said is useful, at least not for now. But just like war, no one knows who will win until the end. What we're doing is increasing our odds of winning!"

"Then..." Banner thought for a moment before suggesting, "your original plan was to recruit him into the Avengers too, right? Why don't we work out more ways to establish a friendly relationship with him?"

"A friendly relationship? Do you think we take our friendly relationship with Japan seriously? Do you think South Korea could gain anything through a friendly relationship with us?

When the gap in strength between two sides is too great, friendly relations do not exist, Banner."

"Then perhaps we can find an opportunity to let the guy inside me make an appearance. It's dangerous, but... it might increase our leverage!"

"That barely counts as an idea, but I suddenly thought of something!"

Tony picked up Banner's words and said to everyone.

"I suddenly have a question. Why did he ask us to find that so-called Purple Man for him? And why does he want to kill Purple Man?"

"Heh..."

The moment Tony finished speaking, Natasha laughed without politeness.

"Ask? That wording is far too flattering. That was merely an order. I didn't hear any hint of a request!"

"Okay, then it was an order. But why does he want Purple Man dead? Could it have something to do with Purple Man's abilities, or did he perhaps even suffer at Purple Man's hands?"

Hearing that, Nick Fury's eyes widened in surprise.

"You mean..."

"That's right. I think we should find Purple Man first and figure out his abilities.

He said Purple Man can control other people. Could that control become a weapon we can use against him?" Tony concluded.

After hearing Tony's view, everyone present looked at one another and thought it over...

A moment later, Captain America stood up.

"How about we carry out several plans at once? I'll lead a team to find and attempt contact with Purple Man. Natasha can get in touch with Jane Foster. Barton will come with me, while Tony, as Iron Man, should be ready to support our respective teams at any time."

After saying that, Captain America turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Until Dr. Banner called out to stop him.

"Wait, Captain!"

Banner looked especially awkward at that moment. With a trace of anger, he asked Captain America.

"What about me? What's my assignment?"

"You... I have to admit, your anger is our strongest trump card. So you'll only appear on the most critical battlefield!"

"So unless you screw things up, I can only stay at the base and be their test subject?"

In an instant, Banner began to turn a little green.

Everyone's hearts tightened at once.

And Captain America...

Before he could answer, Nick Fury began explaining it to Banner for him.

"Banner!"

Nick Fury said.

"That isn't the experiment you're talking about. It's to prevent you from ending up like this right now. No matter what, you need to become calmer!"

"Wait!"

Hawkeye unexpectedly interrupted everyone. Raising his hand, he said.

"I think we may have overlooked something. Shouldn't the first thing we do be to confirm whether Krypton is real, or search for any Kryptonite that might exist on Earth?"