I got back too late in the early hours of the morning, so I apologize for the late update.
There will be an extra chapter today, delivered before 12 o'clock.
Four days after the London bombings, JARVIS intercepted a second intelligence report at 4:17 a. m.
This intelligence is more accurate than the first one.
The report included the target city, the timing of the attack, the estimated yield of the explosive device, and even a brief tactical analysis, which pointed out that the United Nations counter-terrorism forces' response time in London was a full eleven minutes slower than the standard plan.
The wording remained cold and restrained, but after reading it, Lynn put the tablet on the table and said, "Tsk, this isn't intelligence, it's a declaration of war."
Within 72 hours, a public transport hub in a major Europe city will be attacked, with estimated casualties far exceeding those in London. The sender's identity is still obscured by multiple layers of proxies, but JARVIS has traced it to a more specific node. The source IP address of the message still belongs to the United Nations, but this time it has been pinpointed to a terminal on the internal network of the Vienna office.
Tony stood in front of the whiteboard in the conference room and drew a timeline with a marker. The first piece of intelligence was vague, the second precise. "They're escalating. The first time was just a test, to see our reaction. We didn't intervene, so they think they can escalate."
Steve sat at the other end of the conference table, his hands clasped together, staring at the curve on the whiteboard for a long time. "Is the intelligence itself true?"
Tony glanced at JARVIS, JARVIS calmly replied, "Preliminary verification shows that the type of explosive device mentioned in the intelligence closely matches the debris left at the London crime scene. The geographical features of the target city and the layout of its transportation hubs also match the description in the intelligence. I tend to believe the intelligence is accurate."
No one spoke around the conference table. Sam leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the armrest. James Rhodes crossed his arms, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Natasha opened the copy of the agreement in front of her, turned to Article 17, Section 4, and then closed it.
Everyone knows what that clause says: prior notification should be made when conditions permit. But what if conditions don't permit? What constitutes "permitted conditions"? During the negotiations, the other party kept dodging the question.
Tony tossed the marker into the whiteboard tray. "Transfer the intelligence to the United Nations counter-terrorism team. Encrypted channel, record the entire process." JARVIS responded and, a few seconds later added, "Sent. The suspicious nature of the intelligence source has been flagged, and the evacuation of the target area is recommended. We have suspended all proactive operations in accordance with the agreement; the threat will be handled entirely by United Nations- authorized agency."
Steve tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table. It was a gesture he only made when he was extremely restrained.
That afternoon, JARVIS intercepted a third intelligence report. This time, the accuracy was even greater, with the target specified as a particular subway line and a specific platform, and the time window reduced to within 24 hours.
That same evening, a fourth intelligence report arrived: an internal communication record from the United Nations counter-terrorism forces, indicating that they had not initiated pre-emptive evacuation procedures after receiving the second intelligence report, citing "unverified intelligence sources and the need to avoid causing public panic."
Lynn projected the intelligence onto the large screen. "Source unverified," he repeated. "So dozens died in London, the second attack was scheduled for a specific time and place, and they still didn't think evacuation was necessary. This is the system we've been waiting for."
"That's enough." Steve's voice wasn't loud, but the entire conference room fell silent.
He didn't stand up; he just sat there, his hands clasped on the table, his gaze fixed on the communication log on the screen. His voice was very soft, as if he were using immense restraint to suppress something about to overflow.
"We passed the intelligence to them. We gave them the time, the location, the estimated yield. We did everything except go there in person. Then they replied that the source was unverified. I knew it was a trap, I knew someone was waiting for us to break the rules. But if we continue to sit here and pass intelligence to an organization that will never act, what difference is there between us and accomplices?"
Tony walked over and stood by the conference table, showing no intention of sitting down. He looked at Steve, his words sounding less like a rebuttal and more like a confirmation. "What do you want to do?" Steve paused for a few seconds, then spoke, "At least send people over. Get them to the target city ahead of time, make all the preparations, but don't act. If the United Nations system really does act at the last minute, we'll withdraw. If they don't... at least someone will be there."
Lynn leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced on his knees. He remained silent for a long time, then sighed softly. "Go then. But not to stop the explosion. To record it. Take pictures of every single frame, every delay in United Nations decision-making, every instance of buck-passing, every piece of intelligence marked 'unverified source,' record it all. If we stop the bomb this time, they win. But if you record the whole process, then it won't be us explaining to them, but them explaining to the whole world."
Steve looked at Tony. Tony shrugged. "Anyway, I wasn't planning on wearing the armor. I'll just bring a few portable cameras, and JARVIS will handle the real-time transmission. I'll just be watching."
The target city was Berlin. The estimated location of the explosive device was the S-Bahn platform on the third basement level of Berlin Central Station. After receiving a second batch of precise intelligence from the SSC, the United Nations counter-terrorism forces finally arrived in Berlin six hours before the scheduled time of the explosion, set up a command post outside the station, and evacuated some passengers from the upper levels of the platform, but did not completely close the station.
The reason given remained the same: the source of the intelligence was unverified. Steve didn't confront them; instead, he found an empty room in an office building across from the train station and set up surveillance equipment.
There was still an hour until the scheduled explosion. The number of passengers on the platform was about one-third less than usual, but there were still several hundred people waiting for the train.
With thirty minutes remaining until the scheduled explosion, the United Nations command post finally ordered the evacuation of the lower platform. However, there were only two teams of field personnel responsible for the operation, and the evacuation speed could not keep up with the ticking countdown.
With fifteen minutes to go before the scheduled explosion, Steve stood up from his chair, walked to the window, and looked at the train station entrance across the street.
Someone ran out, but not everyone knew what had happened. He turned to look at Tony, Tony only said two words: "Don't go."
Steve didn't answer, but simply turned his gaze back to the window.
As the countdown reached zero, a violent tremor was heard outside.
A muffled explosion came from deep underground, and thick smoke billowed out from the two entrances. This time, there were no fatalities.
The vast majority of passengers were evacuated in the last fifteen minutes, but more than a dozen people were injured, two of them seriously.
Tony dragged the footage from the portable camera and the United Nations communications records into an encrypted folder, pressed enter, and sent it directly to contacts at several media outlets.
The footage clearly records the decision-making process at every point in time: when the SSC handed over intelligence, when the United Nations command post ordered the evacuation, how slow the evacuation was, and that they only arrived in Berlin six hours before the explosion.
The footage was played tens of millions of times within hours. A United Nations spokesperson claimed at a press conference that day that a full investigation would be launched, but this time no one felt that those diplomatic words carried any weight.
Five days after the Berlin bombing, JARVIS intercepted another intelligence report in the early morning. The content was identical to the previous reports, but the number of targets had increased from one to three: Paris, Rome, and Madrid, all on the same day, in the same hour. The report ended with a brief message: "You're retired, but they'll still be bombed on their way home from work on the subway."
Lynn finished reading the intelligence report and turned off the screen. The conference room was quiet for a moment, and everyone's eyes were on him. He leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a while, as if he were mentally rehearsing the next move in a game of chess.
"This is the third time. The first time was just a test, the second was an open demonstration, and this third time, they are determined to nail us to the pillar of shame as 'hypocrites.' No matter what we choose, we'll be falling right into their trap."
But this time we'll try a different approach.
He looked up at Tony. "Go and hold a press conference. Publicly disclose the exact times of our first two intelligence transfers, the United Nations's repeated 'source unverified' statements, the delays in evacuation orders, and their silence on casualty figures—lay it all on the table. Then announce the target cities for the third attack: Paris, Rome, and Madrid. We've only intercepted the coordinates so far, not the precise addresses, but this is enough to put all public transportation in those three cities on high alert."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Tony before finally settling on Steve. "They've been the ones throwing mud at us from the shadows. Now it's our turn to shine the spotlight back on us. We won't take action; we'll release the intelligence directly. We'll kick the ball back to them and wait to see whether the United Nations counterterrorism team acts or not, whether they evacuate or not. This time, we'll release the intelligence directly, and the whole world will be watching their actions."
Steve listened in silence, then slowly nodded. "Okay." He didn't say anything more, just repeated, "Okay."
Lynn looked at Steve's tense, almost stiff posture, but didn't point it out. He simply stood up, straightened his collar, and looked at JARVIS sitting to the side.
" JARVIS, contact all major media outlets. A press conference will be held tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM at Stark Industries headquarters. While you're at it, compile all our communications with the United Nations regarding the previous two terrorist attacks and send them to several major media outlets simultaneously. Also, have the legal department prepare several contingency plans, so that if anyone wants to sue us for leaking secrets, at least we won't catch them off guard."
Tony turned to Lynn and said, "The prerequisite for prosecuting you for leaking information is that the intelligence is true. If they prosecute, it's tantamount to publicly admitting that the intelligence is true. Do you think they dare to do that?"
The next morning at 10 a. m., at Stark Industries headquarters, the lobby was packed with reporters, even more than when the retirement announcement was made.
Tony, dressed in a dark gray suit, stood on the stage. Without any opening remarks or jokes, he directly instructed JARVIS to project all the communication records from the previous two terrorist attacks onto the large screen behind him. The timestamps of every email, the transfer records of every piece of intelligence, and the wording of every United Nations counter-terrorism team's reply that "the source has not been verified" were laid out frame by frame before everyone's eyes.
The audience went from whispering to deathly silence, then from that silence to a flurry of camera shutters clicking.
Tony waited until the clicking of camera shutters subsided slightly before speaking. He first announced that the SSC had issued three advance warnings to the United Nations counter-terrorism team, but the first two attacks failed to be effectively prevented due to delays in the approval process. Then, he abruptly changed the subject and directly announced the third terrorist attack warning.
Paris, Rome, and Madrid —three cities, on the same day, at the same hour.
He told the reporters in the audience directly that the intelligence they had intercepted was not yet accurate to the specific platform, but it was enough to make the public transportation systems of these three cities immediately sound the alarm and carry out a complete lockdown and investigation.
Finally, he formally urged the United Nations counterterrorism agency to immediately activate its emergency response mechanism, requiring the public transportation systems in the three cities to be shut down in advance and thoroughly investigated. If they are unable to cope, they could consider requesting external intervention.
SSC will transfer all relevant intelligence simultaneously and retain all communication records for future verification.
After speaking, he nodded slightly, then turned and left the podium without answering any questions.
Steve stood in the shadows backstage, watching Tony walk down.
Tony paused for a moment, then raised his hand and patted his arm.
He noticed that Steve's right hand was hanging down at his side, his knuckles slightly white.
That's an action he only makes when he's extremely restrained.
"Are you alright?" Tony asked in a low voice.
Steve released his grip, letting his hands hang at his sides. "Still controllable. Let's go."
The news conference spread throughout Europe within hours. Public transportation systems in Paris, Rome, and Madrid simultaneously announced an emergency checkpoint that evening, closing major metro stations and light rail hubs and directing passengers to surface public transport.
Twenty-four hours later, JARVIS received the fourth intelligence message in the early morning. It was short, just two lines: "Looks like you've learned a new trick. But can you really go without armor forever?"
Lynn glanced at the encrypted signature at the bottom of the screen—an old acquaintance. He casually tossed the tablet onto the table, leaned back in his chair, and smiled.
"They're getting anxious, look how anxious they are. Are they mocking us for learning new tricks? Do they mean we still have to follow their original script? We're not breaking any rules; we're just releasing intelligence and letting the United Nations system run itself. What they want isn't the bombs, it's us."
He stood up and handed the tablet to JARVIS. "Keep monitoring. A fool's flashes of inspiration are endless."