Tony Steps Up

"Mr. Tony, S.H.I.E.L.D. can always have your back." The agent guarding S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters gave "Tony" a standard military salute.

"Tony" nodded to the agent and put away his identification card.

This was Shendu's first time entering S.H.I.E.L.D. Fortunately, he had previously sent Shadow Legion ninjas to infiltrate the place. Based on the information they had relayed, he was already very familiar with the building's layout.

Fury's office was at the top of the building. Just as Shendu reached the elevator, the doors opened and Steve stepped out.

"Tony?" Steve was surprised to see Tony. "Perfect, I was just about to look for you."

"Tony" raised an eyebrow. "Looking for me? What a coincidence. I was just about to ask Fury about the situation."

"Looks like we had the same idea." Steve and "Tony" returned to Fury's office together.

"Tony? What a coincidence. I just sent Steve to find you." Fury was also surprised by "Tony's" appearance.

"We happened to run into each other at the elevator." "Tony" said casually.

"Fine, then I'll keep it brief. You should already know that there's a mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. Their goal seems clear for now—they want to drive a wedge between us and Valmont." Fury told "Tony" the conclusions from their earlier discussion.

"Tony" stroked his chin, looking deep in thought. "What do they gain from that?"

Fury pulled up the footage of Shendu controlling the Leviathan. "This dragon's power is formidable. It can control inanimate objects. You should understand the danger of that ability better than I do."

"You mean they want to use Valmont's power to control my Iron Legion?" "Tony" put on a shocked expression.

"Not just that. Communication devices, missiles, satellites—if they have a way to amplify Shendu's abilities, intelligent equipment around the world could be destroyed." The more Fury spoke, the greater his fear became, and the firmer his resolve to win Shendu over.

"Tony," listening from the side, was shocked as well. The Mouse Talisman can be used like that? He had never considered it. If it really could, he would not have been sealed away by Uncle.

"Mm... that does sound terrifying." "Tony" said after considering it for a long while.

"Fury, your message said there was a mole within S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Natasha's voice came from behind them.

"Natasha, you're here." Fury stepped forward to greet her. "Just as the message said, they want to drive a wedge between us and Valmont. We can't let them succeed."

"What are you planning to do?" Natasha asked.

"Just as I said in the message, Tony and Steve will work with you to find the mole." Fury handed Natasha the prepared plan.

Natasha gave the plan a quick glance, then set it aside. "The plan is workable. I'm confident I can find the mole within a week."

Natasha arrived at the archives. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents logged their work every day, so reviewing the work records from this period should make it easy to find anything suspicious.

Just as Natasha was about to check the files, an agent stopped her. "Sorry, Agent Natasha. The archives are undergoing maintenance and are temporarily closed."

"Maintenance?" Natasha frowned deeply. "The facilities inside S.H.I.E.L.D. are having problems? Or did you receive orders from someone?"

Natasha took out her identification badge and faced the agent guarding the door. "Now, in my capacity as a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I order you to open the door."

The agent hesitated. If equipment was damaged, the site was supposed to be sealed off immediately to prevent anyone from tampering with it. That was one of the rules S.H.I.E.L.D. agents followed. Now his superior was asking him to violate that rule. It put him in a difficult position.

Watching from the side, Steve took out his identification badge as well. "Open the door."

Seeing that Steve had spoken too, the agent stopped hesitating and opened the door. He trusted Steve's character. If there was any problem with this, Steve, who had given the order, would take responsibility for him.

The archives were lined with all kinds of cabinets, filled with agents' files. "Tony" casually picked up a dossier and glanced through it. Besides the basic information, every file had a section at the bottom asking whether the subject had been brainwashed. Every single one read: "Completed."

"Something's wrong."

Natasha's voice came from beside the mainframe that stored the records. "All systems have gone down. Not only can we not view the agents' work records from this period, but we won't be able to upload any records for some time either."

"The system crashed?" Steve also walked over to the mainframe. "I remember Stark Industries installed this system. Stark Industries also has partial control over it."

As soon as Steve finished speaking, he and Natasha both looked at "Tony."

Feeling their gazes, "Tony" waved a hand. "Hey, hey, hey. You don't think I'm the mole, do you? Is this some new kind of bad joke?"

"We don't suspect you. But the clues currently point to Stark Industries, and we need an explanation." Natasha's tone was unfriendly.

"Tony's" tone remained unhurried. "You know, I'm only one of Stark Industries' shareholders. I don't concern myself with matters involving its cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"There's a problem within Stark Industries too." Steve stated his opinion from the side.

The trail had gone cold from the very beginning. The more Natasha thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Stark Industries had never made any mistakes until now, so why had an anomaly appeared at such a critical moment?

She took out her phone and made several calls in a row, her expression growing darker and darker.

"What happened?" Steve asked from the side.

Natasha ignored Steve's question and walked straight toward "Tony." "All of Stark Industries' monitoring facilities within S.H.I.E.L.D. are currently malfunctioning. Don't tell me you know nothing about this."

"Tony" did not answer. He only looked at her with interest.

"Mr. Stark, I think that before we root out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mole, we should first deal with the problems within Stark Industries." Natasha pressed forward step by step.

"I refuse." "Tony's" answer was decisive. "At least during this time, Stark Industries must continue operating normally."

"Operating normally? You mean shutting down every system within S.H.I.E.L.D. related to Stark Industries? Mr. Stark, are you joking? I don't find that funny." Natasha stared directly into "Tony's" eyes, as if trying to see through everything about him.

Seeing the atmosphere grow increasingly tense, good-natured Steve began trying to smooth things over.

"Natasha, calm down. Tony must have his reasons for not doing it now. What matters is finding the mole."

Natasha took a deep breath, then gave "Tony" one last glance. "Mr. Stark, I shouldn't suspect you, but all the evidence points to you."

"Gather the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents by division and in batches over the next few days. Brainwash them again. Investigate Stark Industries after everything is finished."