Black Widow's analysis was still very reasonable. The "response team" was supposed to be the main force against the alien army after the failure of Earth's military.
In this situation, once the "response team" was exposed, everyone's identity should have been fully revealed.
But the news only vaguely referred to them as the "response team," which could only mean one thing: they truly didn't know who they were.
That response team was most likely making their public debut.
If that response team was indeed the Avengers, then it was highly likely that this was the Avengers' first mission.
"Option A is indeed very possible. Let's keep that in mind and move on to the other options."Nick Fury nodded and turned his attention to the next option.
"The Cosmic Cube has been stolen?"
Nick Fury fell into deep thought.
The Cosmic Cube was a very important object, and if it was indeed stolen, it was possible that he would need to gather the Avengers to retrieve it.
But the key issue was that even if the Cosmic Cube had been stolen, when it was stolen, and by whom, were all unknown. There was simply not enough information to make an effective analysis.
Also, for S.H.I.E.L.D., the Cosmic Cube was a highly classified item.
Only Nick Fury and his few trusted aides knew about it; most people didn't even know it existed.
Nick Fury didn't want to discuss this too much in front of Iron Man.
"This option lacks enough information for an effective analysis. Let's move on to the next one."Nick Fury quickly skipped over option B.
"Hold on a second, Nick Fury, what exactly is this Cosmic Cube?"Iron Man interrupted Nick Fury and pressed for more information.
Previously, Iron Man had hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system to search for information related to Captain America's crash, and he had seen some confidential intelligence from S.H.I.E.L.D..
That confidential information showed that Iron Man's father, Howard Stark, had participated in the search mission, but he never found Captain America, only retrieving the Cosmic Cube.
At the time, Iron Man hadn't paid much attention to it, but now he thought about it differently.
**"Cosmic" Cube? It's highly likely that it came from outer space! Did the Chitauri come to Earth because of this cube?"
"Why would you think I know?"Nick Fury glanced at Iron Man without a hint of emotion.
"Come on, Nick Fury! Don't try to fool me. I've already gone through a round of answering questions. The options in the question system are not based on rumors! Even if they're distractions, they still have a chance of happening!"
"Since the system gave option B, it means the Cosmic Cube must be with S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
Iron Man firmly said to Nick Fury.
"You're right, Stark,"Nick Fury did not deny it. "But this is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret, I'm sorry I can't tell you anything."
"Since it's called the 'Cosmic Cube,' it must come from outer space, right? Did the Chitauri come to Earth because of this?"
Iron Man pointedly questioned Nick Fury.
"Stark, scientists value rigor, not speculation!"Nick Fury glanced at Iron Man without flinching.
"First, this is something my father salvaged!"Iron Man retorted.
"How did you know about this?"Nick Fury's single eye widened slightly, staring directly at Iron Man.
Then Nick Fury's expression shifted as he realized something. "You didn't hack into S.H.I.E.L.D., did you?"
Nick Fury then realized that was why Iron Man had been able to locate the crash site of Captain America so quickly. Clearly, he had access to highly accurate information.
At first, Nick Fury had been curious about where Iron Man had gotten his information from.
But now it was clear. Iron Man had stolen it from S.H.I.E.L.D.!
"As an intelligence agency, your firewall is pretty good. It's better than the FBI and CIA by a long shot."
Iron Man shrugged and shamelessly admitted it, as if it were just a trivial matter.
"Stark..."Nick Fury's face turned dark.
"Secondly!" But Iron Man ignored Nick Fury's dark expression and continued, "This is the only reason I can think of for the Chitauri invading Earth. This is my problem, and it's a problem for every citizen of New York!"
"So I think I have the right to know!"
"And... no matter whether you tell me now or not, I'll eventually find out, unless all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data is on paper."
The last statement was filled with a threatening tone, clearly telling Nick Fury that if he didn't tell him, Iron Man would just keep invading his systems.
Only Iron Man could boldly threaten to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. right in front of the agency's director.
Nick Fury stared at Iron Man with his single eye, weighing the situation, and finally chose to compromise:
"The Cosmic Cube indeed comes from outer space, and it contains immense energy. It could be an energy source. Beyond that, I don't know."
"That thing isn't from Earth, and no one has been able to figure it out!"
"No one?"Iron Man said, hinting wildly in front of Nick Fury. "At least the top geniuses of America haven't studied it."
Nick Fury fell into thought.
Now that Iron Man had joined the Avengers, everyone had gone through the process of answering questions together and learned some important secrets about the world.
He wasn't exactly an outsider anymore.
Moreover, Iron Man's father, Howard, was the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., so it wasn't entirely unacceptable for Iron Man to have access to the Cosmic Cube.
"We'll discuss this later."Nick Fury didn't immediately agree, offering a vague answer. "For now, let's focus on answering the questions!"
The group turned their attention back to the options.
"Raid Hydra's secret base? This option should be ruled out. Hydra has been destroyed for decades."
Black Widow said with certainty.
"Not necessarily, Agent."Iron Man interjected casually, "We used to think Captain America was dead too."
"Stark, Hydra was completely eradicated during World War II."Nick Fury confidently denied Iron Man, shaking his head.
"How can you be so sure?"Iron Man shrugged.
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(End of Chapter)