Bait · Trump Card

"Haha."

Seeing Nick Fury's expression like someone had just killed his mother, Heisenberg laughed without restraint.

But once he'd had his laugh, Heisenberg waved a hand at the group.

"Looks like I'm interrupting your meeting, so I'll just say what I came for and be on my way."

The moment he finished, everyone in the room was stunned.

Was this how things were supposed to play out?

Shouldn't he have politely excused himself when he saw they were in a meeting?

You... really don't hold back, do you?

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

And Heisenberg took the opportunity to state his purpose.

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

He stole nerve gas from a United States Army base, but the mission went wrong—he was consumed by the gas, and it gave him some utterly deranged abilities.

In your search for him, under no circumstances should you send anyone to make contact with him, because anyone who does will be easily controlled by him!

In short, I only need you to provide me with his location. I'll find him and kill him.

My subordinate Eliza will work alongside you. You'd better follow her orders, or I won't be responsible for your casualties!"

With that, Heisenberg nodded to himself.

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

The words had barely left his mouth when he tore through the sky and vanished without a trace.

Just a few seconds—or maybe a dozen—later, Heisenberg reappeared in the hospital.

He went to Eliza's side and instructed her.

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

Eliza and Bullseye heard this and immediately felt boundless admiration for Heisenberg.

They'd only ever heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. planting spies in criminal organizations, but the Boss had already slipped his own people into S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Even if this Rumlow was just a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent, he could still play an incredibly vital role!

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

On the other end, at the Washington S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters after Heisenberg left.

The group looked at each other...

"Uh..."

Dr. Banner couldn't help but speak up.

"That guy... I've never met him before. Is he always this... domineering?"

"Ha, Banner, you've got power like his too, so you can be just as domineering if you want!"

Tony said coldly.

Never mind whether he'd drunk Heisenberg's wine back then or traded crude banter like men.

Even if they'd shared more than just one drink's worth of camaraderie, Tony could never stomach Heisenberg's condescending attitude.

Just as he'd once told Pepper, he was destined never to be friends with Heisenberg. The most likely outcome between them was exactly this:

Rivals in all but name.

Hearing Tony's words, Banner's heart jolted.

Honestly, in that moment, he truly questioned himself.

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

And what about himself?

Why was he living a life of hiding, scraping by, and trembling in fear?

Why couldn't he live like that?

If only he would accept the power of that big guy!

At that thought, Banner froze.

He understood.

He knew why he couldn't be as carefree as Heisenberg.

It was because his power wasn't his power—it was the Hulk's.

That power didn't belong to him, and he deeply feared and loathed the Hulk's existence.

But he really, truly wanted to live an ordinary life.

So, can he master the Hulk's power, or break free from it?

As long as it lets him regain a peaceful life, without worrying that a moment of agitation will bring out the Hulk!

At this moment, he found a certain resolve.

Setting aside Banner's inner thoughts, the rest of the Avengers were clearly caught up in their wariness of Heisenberg.

"The last time I saw him, he was a handsome naked man. I thought after we picked him up, we might have a chance to get something going," Natasha opened with a casual remark.

"Get something going? The only relationship we can have with him now is him dominating us single-handedly!" Hawkeye shrugged.

"Yeah, single-handed domination, and we can't even refuse his demands."

Nick let out a long sigh.

"After all, his demands aren't that high. He doesn't need this country, he doesn't want to destroy humanity, and he doesn't aim to become a new god."

"But we can't just keep giving in to him, Nick. I came here to be a consultant for the department my father founded, not to be an assistant to some alien!"

Tony's words were blunt, but they echoed Nick's own thoughts.

Nick nodded at Iron Man and said solemnly, "Then let's exchange intel and decide how to rein him in."

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

Virtual light gathered indoors, and a clear image appeared in the center of the round table where they sat.

Nick Fury then explained, "By exchanging intel, I mainly mean I'll show you some of the secret weapons I've got."

"Among you, we have experienced commanders like the Captain, and geniuses like Tony and Banner."

"So I want you to help me pick through these secret weapons."

"He's too powerful. If something we can't accept really happens, we might only get one shot!"

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

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

With that, the virtual image shifted, and Jane Foster quickly turned into the tall, imposing Asgardian Prince.

"Thor, Prince of Asgard and heir to the throne. No one knows how he stacks up against Superman."

"But I believe if we can reach him through his girlfriend—he's already back in Asgard—he could be our ally. Someone as arrogant as him won't stand for anyone being more arrogant than he is!"

With that, Nick quietly switched the virtual image.

It now showed a spirited but not particularly attractive middle-aged American woman.

She was wearing an astonishing uniform, charging at countless spaceships in the cosmos!

In an instant, the Avengers all jumped up from their seats.

"What the hell is that?"

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

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

"She's...?"

"She was once the executor of the U.S. Air Force's Project Pegasus. You can call her Major Carol, but her current codename is Captain Marvel."

"She has the ability to travel faster than light, with unstoppable strength and 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..."

"Alright, alright, alright, alright!"

Iron Man's eyes lit up.

"So the universe is that dazzling, huh? What we thought was silence was just Earth not having its ticket to the cosmos yet?"

"Exactly!" Nick nodded. "This news never spreads among the public. Not everyone can accept that Earth is basically a backwater. But luckily, we still have a powerhouse like Captain Marvel who can deter cosmic races!"

"But the question is... are you sure Captain Marvel is stronger than me, or him, and that she'll listen to you?"

Banner frowned and asked, making Nick shrug helplessly.

"I'm not sure. If I were, he'd already be our prisoner."

"So your so-called intel exchange is just dangling two people who might cause him trouble and a dazzling universe in front of us, like a goal we can see but can't touch?"

Tony asked irritably.

Hearing this, Nick slapped the table in frustration.

"True, I admit what I've said isn't very useful, at least not for now. But just like in war, no one knows who'll win until the end. What we're doing is stacking the odds in our favor!"

"Then..." Banner thought for a moment and suggested, "Your original plan was to recruit him into the Avengers, right? Why don't we brainstorm more ways to build a friendly relationship with him?"

"A friendly relationship? Do you think we take our friendly relationship with Japan seriously? Do you think Korea has gotten anything from its friendly ties with us?"

"When the gap in strength between two sides is too great, a friendly relationship won't exist, Dr. Banner."

"Then maybe we can find a chance 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 something just occurred to me."

Tony picked up where Banner left off and spoke to the group.

"I'm suddenly curious—why did he ask us to find this so-called Purple Man for him, and why does he want to kill him?"

"Ha..."

As soon as Tony finished, Natasha laughed without restraint.

"Ask? That's way too polite. That was an order, plain and simple. I didn't hear any asking."

"OK, fine, it was an order. But why does he want to kill the Purple Man? Could it be related to his abilities? Or did he even lose to the Purple Man?"

Hearing this, Nick Fury's eyes lit up with surprise.

"You mean..."

"That's right. My take is we find this Purple Man first and figure out his abilities.

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

After listening to Tony's view, everyone exchanged glances and thought it over...

A moment later, Captain America stood up.

"How about we run several plans at once? I'll lead a team to find and try to contact the Purple Man. Natasha, you get in touch with Jane Foster. Barton, you're with me. Tony, as Iron Man, be ready to support whichever team needs you."

With that, Captain America turned and left without hesitation.

Until Dr. Banner called him back.

"Wait, Captain!"

Banner looked especially awkward now, a hint of anger in his voice as he asked.

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

"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 guys screw up, I'm stuck in the base being their lab rat?"

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

Everyone's hearts tightened.

As for Captain America...

Before he could answer, Nick Fury spoke up for him.

"Banner!"

Nick Fury said.

"That's not an 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 cut everyone off, raising his hand.

"I think we're overlooking something. The first thing we need to do is figure out whether Krypton is real, or find any Kryptonite that might exist on Earth."