Fury's Speculation

"Stark Industries is actually planning to shut down its weapons division? Ha! Let's see what becomes of Stark Industries then!" In the video, a host with extremely exaggerated expressions and gestures was giving his opinion on the show.

He set a cup on the table, then pulled out a baseball bat and smashed the cup with a single swing.

"This is what happens when an arms dealer stops selling weapons." The host delivered his conclusion with a resolute expression.

"Ugh!" Fury sighed and turned off the video. He truly felt exhausted right now. These people were all more troublesome than the last.

"You don't look too well. Looks like our 'Stark' gave you quite a surprise." A slightly teasing voice sounded at that moment.

"You're here." Fury looked up at Lu Yifang, who was standing before him.

"What, regretting it a little? After all, if it weren't for you, Tony Stark wouldn't have been rescued so easily." Lu Yifang knew that if Fury hadn't had Mystique put on an act to expose a flaw in the people behind it, allowing them to successfully monitor a suspicious communication, then the U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East would never have found Tony so quickly through tracing that communication. One could imagine that without Fury's intelligence, even if Tony had somehow escaped the terrorists' cave, he might have died in the desert before the military found him.

"Not really." Fury shook his head. Although Tony's sudden decision to close Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division had indeed surprised him, it was nothing more than a surprise.

Though Stark Industries appeared to be a massive corporation spanning numerous fields, more than ninety percent of its revenue actually came from arms sales. That host was right—Stark Industries was an arms dealer.

Even if Tony had made up his mind to stop producing weapons, such a colossal company could not transform overnight. At the very least, it had to fulfill all the orders it had already accepted. Otherwise, the penalties for breach of contract alone would be enough to cripple Stark Industries.

Thus, Fury was not worried about whether his Sky Carrier could take to the skies on schedule. As for future weapons orders, that was no issue either. America never lacked arms dealers, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own weapons division was not bad either.

So Fury's current stance was to wait and see while quietly preparing a "little hoe." If everything truly became settled, he would not mind poaching Stark Industries' unemployed top-tier military technology experts. If possible, he might also take a few weapons patents along with them. Fury had coveted the Jericho Missile for a long time, not to mention...

Fury was calculating away in his heart. When it came to this sort of thing, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director was simply that practiced.

"What did you call me here for?" Seeing Fury lost in thought, Lu Yifang tapped on the desk.

"Mainly to give you this. Your official position has been confirmed. Congratulations—from today onward, you're a genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. employee." As Fury spoke, he handed Lu Yifang a small booklet and a document.

"Special Security Advisor to S.H.I.E.L.D.? Didn't you say I'd be the captain of that Anti-Hulk Emergency Defense Squad?" Lu Yifang asked suspiciously as he stared at the document.

"That was just to fool the World Security Council. You didn't actually take it seriously, did you?" Fury said calmly.

"Of course, the Anti-Hulk Emergency Defense Squad has indeed been established, and it'll also be under your command. Consider it your subordinate department."

"So I got promoted?" Lu Yifang said uncertainly.

"Of course. And because of the promotion, I've also increased your salary by ten thousand dollars."

"That's not bad!" Although the slight upward curve of his lips still showed that he was in a good mood, he no longer seemed as eager as before.

"The contract is right here. You only need to sign it." Fury enthusiastically pushed the documents, nearly an inch thick, in front of Lu Yifang. As he watched Lu Yifang finish signing, Fury said nothing, but a mysterious smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"So that's all?" Lu Yifang looked up.

"That's right. You are now a Special Security Advisor to S.H.I.E.L.D. Your personnel file has been classified at Level 9. Aside from me and a very small number of others, no one can access your file.

"And because you are a Special Security Advisor, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agent ranking system does not apply to you. However, you have Level 5 Access Clearance, which means you may freely review all Level 5 and below S.H.I.E.L.D. documents. In addition, you have a special contact channel and the right to communicate directly with me," Fury explained.

Special Security Advisor was a position Fury had planned for Lu Yifang long ago. Advisor was the best description of Lu Yifang's status. He was not entirely an employee of S.H.I.E.L.D.; his relationship with the organization was both close and distant.

And the word security could be directly understood as meaning enforcer. Recently, Fury had increasingly felt that S.H.I.E.L.D., with only elite agents, was finding the current world harder and harder to handle. Thus, Fury had already begun looking for new sources of strength, and Lu Yifang—the enforcer he had recruited from Professor X—was Fury's first attempt.

As a gesture of goodwill, Fury had given Lu Yifang Level 5 Access Clearance. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence naturally meant little to Lu Yifang, but it held considerable appeal for Professor X. By turning a blind eye, Fury was effectively granting this clearance to Professor X through Lu Yifang.

After hearing Fury's explanation, Lu Yifang nodded. "I understand. Can I leave now?"

"Wait. What do you think about Tony escaping from the terrorists before the U.S. military found him?" Fury stopped Lu Yifang just as he was about to turn around.

"That? It was surprising. With his own strength, unless those terrorists were idiots, there was no way he could have escaped. So he must have relied on some other force. Either someone helped him, or he used some kind of tool—or perhaps both." Lu Yifang pretended to think for a moment before answering.

"That's what I thought too." Fury nodded.

"After finding Tony, we successfully located those scum's hideout through the intelligence he provided. Although they had already evacuated, they left in far too much of a hurry, so they did not have time to clean up many things.

"From the footage sent back, we could tell that the scene was extremely chaotic, as if a small-scale armed conflict had taken place. After investigating and reconstructing the site, we suspected that Tony had used the materials the terrorists gave him to force him to build Jericho Missiles to create another powerful weapon, then used it to fight his way out."

"In three months, he built a major weapon and then fought his way out of a nest full of armed terrorists. I have to say, Tony Stark really is a genius." Lu Yifang gave his assessment.

"After that, we expanded the search area," Fury continued.

"We finally caught a few small fish that slipped through the net and successfully learned what had happened. Tony built a mechanical suit of armor that he could wear, then used it to fight his way out."

"So what? You're interested in that thing?" Lu Yifang looked at Fury.