A Failed Theft, a Costly Loss

The two ultimately decided to split up.

Before leaving through the door, Shendu seemed to think of something. Without turning his head, he said, "Captain, have you ever considered what you would do if all the bad luck you've encountered lately was Fury's doing?"

Steve picked up the Vibranium shield and rubbed its surface. "I'd go straight to him and question him face-to-face about what other intentions he has for the Mind Stone. Knowing Fury, he'd spend at least half an hour dealing with me."

"And if it succeeds, what will you do?" Shendu asked.

Steve fell silent for a moment, then revealed a bitter smile. "I'll keep being Captain America. As long as he has no evidence, he can't do anything to me."

Steve paused. "Besides, Fury still needs me. He needs a spiritual leader."

Following the map Natasha had given him, Shendu arrived at an overlooked little room within S.H.I.E.L.D. Beneath one section of the floor was a hidden door.

Only emergency lights inside the hidden door emitted a faint glow.

At the end of the passage stood a heavy metal door. Numerous concealed traps had been arranged before it, and the surrounding cameras were all aimed at the metal door.

Shendu tried throwing the map toward the metal door, but before it could hit the ground, a beam reduced it to ash.

Shendu's shadow stretched out, and Natasha emerged from it.

Natasha walked over to a screen standing nearby and took out the USB drive she had copied from Fury earlier. She nodded to Shendu, signaling that the surrounding traps had been disabled.

Streams of data appeared on the screen. Then, a hiss of compressed air sounded from within the metal door, and another sign appeared.

Shendu transformed into Fury's appearance and walked up to the sign.

"Retina, voiceprint, fingerprints, verifying." A mechanical voice sounded from all around them. "Welcome, Director Fury."

As soon as the mechanical voice fell silent, the metal door before them opened.

A room enclosed entirely in metal came into view. At its center was a transparent box containing an orange-yellow gem.

Fury, who was occupied with Steve, failed to notice that the screen of a surveillance device in his drawer had switched on by itself. On it, someone who looked exactly like him was approaching the Mind Stone.

"Captain, that's not something you should concern yourself with," Fury said. "What you're worried about cannot happen. No one in S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to monopolize the Mind Stone."

Steve lifted a cup of coffee from nearby and took a sip. "That's hard to say. You know how tempting that gem can be."

"Captain, you're really overthinking this. I know you suspect me, but I can assure you that everything I do is on the side of justice."

Fury paused, his tone firmer than before. "The Mind Stone cannot possibly be discovered now, much less stolen. I've put it in the safest place in all of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"A place only you know about?" Steve provoked.

Just as Fury was about to say something, the surveillance device in the drawer suddenly emitted a piercing alarm. Fury's expression immediately darkened.

Seeing Fury's face change so abruptly, Steve knew Shendu had succeeded. "Hmm? Why did your expression change so quickly?"

Fury shot Steve a vicious glare. He realized it too—Steve had been distracting him. Otherwise, the surveillance tablet would have been on the desk, and he would have discovered the intruder immediately.

"Damn it! How did you find out about that place?!"

Fury flew into a rage, grabbed the phone at hand, and immediately ordered the room surrounded. Not even a fly was to be allowed out.

He took the tablet from the drawer. On the screen was a man identical to him, now opening the box that held the gem.

Steve noticed the image on the screen as well. According to his plan, Valmont would definitely trigger the alarm system once he took the gem.

Then they could use it to force Fury to back down and reveal why he wanted to possess the Mind Stone, but now everything had changed.

The person on the screen was not Valmont at all.

Fury also noticed Steve's abruptly changed expression. "What's going on? He isn't one of your people?"

"Something went wrong. He really isn't. The original plan was to act with Valmont, using his ability to control inanimate objects to bypass the security system, take the gem, and then use it to pressure you." Steve revealed the plan and its objective.

Fury curled his lip. "So you were plotting against both of us at once. Looks like your failed theft ended up costing you dearly."

Shendu looked at the Mind Stone in his hand. He could feel the temptation emanating from it. "What a fine thing. No wonder it's one of the gems capable of reducing the universe's entropy."

Fury watched his double on the screen gradually vanish after taking the gem.

"What's going on?!" Fury's eyes widened. "How did he disappear?!"

Steve's eyes widened as well. "Invisibility. We discovered it before—the mole was modified by Chitauri biotechnology and has the ability to turn invisible. It seems he can transform too!"

Steve grabbed his shield and rushed out of Fury's office. "This situation has completely exceeded our expectations. Those agents won't be able to catch the mole, and Valmont has fallen into their hands too!"

When the agents waiting outside the hidden door saw it open, they immediately aimed their guns at it. But they found no target—the passage beyond the hidden door was empty.

"Stay serious, stop shoving me," one agent shouted at the person beside him.

"What are you talking about? I didn't move."

Steve arrived at that moment and heard the exchange between the two agents. Without hesitation, he hurled his shield between them.

Bang.

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the room. The agents saw another Captain America appear among them, also holding a Vibranium shield.

"What's going on? Two Captains!"

The agents stared at the scene in shock, their movements coming to a halt.

"Take him down!" Fury had arrived as well, his voice coming from outside the door.

With their superior giving the order, the agents came to their senses. The Captain beside them was a fake. Without further hesitation, they pounced on him.

The subdued "Captain America" flickered several times in a short span. By the time he was restrained, he had already returned to his "original appearance."

Fury keenly noticed the flickering and narrowed his eyes. He said to Steve beside him, "Good. It looks like their transformations and invisibility can only last a short time."

"Talk! Who in S.H.I.E.L.D. is receiving you? What have you done to Valmont?"

Steve strode up to the restrained "Chitauri soldier," interrogated him, and searched the Mind Stone from his body.

The "Chitauri soldier" merely curled his lip disdainfully and activated the recording device on his wrist.

In the footage, Valmont was in a dilapidated factory. Several Chitauri soldiers stood beside him, their guns pressed to his forehead.

"Want to save this piece of trash? Then you can't kill me!" the "Chitauri soldier" snarled. "His situation isn't looking too good right now."