"Updated again?"
In the basement of his mansion, Tony Stark put down the sledgehammer, removed his windproof goggles, and patted the dust off his clothes.
If any outsider had seen him at that moment, they would probably have been shocked. The sight was nothing like the image of the super-rich Tony Stark from the legends.
Instead, he looked more like a worker on a construction site.
"Yes, sir, the diary has been updated again," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Let's take a look, then," Tony Stark said after a moment's thought. While creating new elements was important, he decided to check the diary first.
After all, the new element wouldn't be going anywhere, so he had time.
He removed his gloves, walked to the side, and checked the latest entry in the diary.
"Snake and Shield Bureau? Another Snake and Shield Bureau?" Tony Stark narrowed his eyes. He had been eager to uncover the origin of this "Snake and Shield Bureau," especially since it resembled S.H.I.E.L.D. so closely. Could there be some connection?
It wasn't hard to see why Tony would think this way—it was entirely possible!
"Could this 'Snake and Shield Bureau' be a joke?" Tony said skeptically.
Rowan hadn't been shy about playing pranks in his diary, so Tony wondered if this was another one. Maybe there was no such organization as the Snake and Shield Bureau after all.
He instructed J.A.R.V.I.S. to search for the Snake and Shield Bureau online.
"Nothing, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. confirmed after a moment.
"It's possible, sir!" J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Create a file for the Snake and Shield Bureau," Tony Stark ordered. "Regardless of whether it's a joke or not, this 'Snake and Shield Bureau' can't be good news. But from Rowan's diary, it seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. is still the dominant force in the world. The Snake and Shield Bureau might still be dormant. Otherwise, Rowan wouldn't have said they'd acted in advance."
"Yes, sir, your analysis makes sense," J.A.R.V.I.S. complimented.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., call Nick Fury immediately and let him know that the diary has been updated!" Tony Stark commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
At that moment, in a room at the small-town base in New Mexico, Nick Fury received a call from Tony Stark.
"Tony, you saw the diary update, too?" Nick Fury asked, clearly already knowing why Tony was calling.
"Yes, I saw it," Tony replied. "I think this 'Snake and Shield Bureau' might not be what we originally thought. It's probably not a real organization; it's probably a joke. Rowan might not even be calling it by the right name. Its original name could be something completely different."
Nick Fury nodded. This was certainly a possibility.
After all, one organization was called S.H.I.E.L.D., and the other had a name suspiciously close to it: the Snake and Shield Bureau. It wasn't hard to imagine Rowan was poking fun.
But Rowan had a history of playing tricks in his diary.
"I also think that the reason we haven't heard much about this Snake and Shield Bureau, and haven't had any contact with them, is because they could still be in a dormant state," Tony said. "Maybe they were hit hard some time ago, and now they're recovering, staying quiet. That's why we haven't heard anything from them."
"Makes sense," Nick Fury said, nodding. "Your analysis is very reasonable. Rowan's diary also mentioned that they took actions in advance, meaning they haven't acted yet. But as time goes by, they might become active."
He silently made a mental note of this.
If that's the case, it meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Snake and Shield Bureau would inevitably clash at some point.
"I think this also raises another possibility," Phil Coulson said. "Could the Snake and Shield Bureau be an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Even if they're a major threat, there must be a hostile organization. S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. the Snake and Shield Bureau—maybe there's some deep connection between the two."
Nick Fury pondered this for a moment. It was certainly plausible. If the names of the two organizations were so similar, it suggested a bitter rivalry, perhaps even an old enmity.
"Right now, the Snake and Shield Bureau isn't active," Nick Fury said, his voice serious. "That's why we can't find any information on them. But it's possible that they're lying low—waiting for the right moment to make their move."
Nick Fury's expression darkened. The recent crises, including the Level Universe incident and the villains Thor had faced, hadn't been fully resolved yet. Now, it seemed like even more enemies were emerging. Rowan's world was becoming increasingly dangerous.
The more you learned, the more problems there were to deal with. Ignorance seemed like bliss in comparison.
Nick Fury also recalled Rowan's complaint about the lack of rigor—how information that could cause trouble had somehow become public knowledge. Surely, someone like Rowan should be able to keep secrets.
In a world filled with superpowers, he was more than capable of hiding his own abilities, even from people like Tony Stark, who could uncover almost anything.
But now, this Snake and Shield Bureau had appeared out of nowhere. Nick Fury had already blacklisted them for future consideration.
"I'm just curious about something," Tony Stark said over the phone. "In this Mjolnir, they say there's a neutron star core. Is that even possible?"
"I don't know how that could be true," Tony continued. "Do you know how dense a neutron star's core is? How could it possibly fit inside a hammer? But this is a magical world, so I guess anything's possible."
Nick Fury turned his attention to Thor, who was standing nearby. "Is there really a neutron star core inside Mjolnir?"
Thor looked confused. "I don't know," he admitted, his eyes betraying a lack of knowledge on the subject. "I only know that it was made by the dwarves, but I don't know how. My father gave it to me, and that's all I need to know. I understand it, I use it... that's enough."
Nick Fury stared at Thor for a moment, slightly dumbfounded. This was typical Thor—he was a hot-blooded, reckless man, not one to worry about the scientific intricacies of his weapon.
It wasn't realistic to expect him to have all the answers.
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