After the hearing concluded, Tony smoothly obtained authorization to privately possess armor and weaponry.
However, he had no ti to relax; instead, he beca even busier. Each day was packed, far busier than when he was still a playboy.
First, the long-planned overhaul of his sky fortress officially comnced. He offered the MIB a high hourly wage to assist with the modifications, and now, the fortress looked different almost every day.
At the sa ti, Tony was actively participating in the hunt for Hydra. Whenever there was a lead on a Hydra base, he was always on the front lines.
Of course, the so-called "leads" were actually gathered by Lyon, who used his super-hearing to locate every Hydra base and then handed the list over to the MIB for them to take care of. Tony would then join them in action.
After a few days, Hydra had only three scattered, small bases left barely hanging on.
They tried using lead to block Superman's prying eyes, but unfortunately for them, Superman still had his super hearing.
Tony's path of revenge was now nearing its end.
What he was more troubled about now was the issue of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After the Hydra incident, Nick Fury and his close associates had been detained by the Security Council. Once their monitoring period ended, it would be difficult for them to have another chance to reorganize S.H.I.E.L.D.
So Nick Fury, having little left to lose, chose the only person he could barely trust—Tony Stark.
He strongly recomnded Tony to serve as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., vouching for him with his past credentials, all to prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from being disbanded.
Fortunately, the newly appointed mbers of the Security Council also agreed that the world still needed an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D.
After considering Tony's background, his transformation after the attack in Afghanistan, and his now world-renowned reputation, they agreed.
They ultimately agreed to Nick Fury's recomndation.
Just a week ago, the entire Security Council extended an olive branch to Tony, asking if he would be willing, like Howard, to rebuild a new S.H.I.E.L.D.
Of course, this ti, they assured that there would be no Hydra infiltration.
To help Tony make the most rational decision, he was granted temporary clearance, allowing him to browse through classified files within S.H.I.E.L.D.
After reading for several days, Tony ca to realize that S.H.I.E.L.D. did indeed have a legitimate purpose.
Superpowered individuals, global anomalies, ancient relics of high civilization... countless things he'd never heard of were docunted in the records.
Every day, new abnormal events were erging on Earth. And what S.H.I.E.L.D. had been primarily doing was to contain, limit, and manage these anomalies.
Tony had to admit that the normalcy most people experienced in their daily lives was, in part, thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s contributions.
But under the leadership of Nick Fury—infused with Hydra's influence—S.H.I.E.L.D. had also done plenty of reprehensible things.
So, whether or not to beco the director was the question that had been bothering Tony these past few days.
After weighing it over and over, Tony finally decided to seek out Lyon.
…
"What are you writing? A travel plan to the Himalayas?"
When Tony found Lyon, he was drawing a 3D map of a mountain range.
"Sothing like that. There's an area there that I can't see through, inhabited by so mages. I plan to visit them in a few days," Lyon said, putting down his pencil. "Of course, it could also be for study."
"Mages? There are mages in this world? How co there's nothing about them in the S.H.I.E.L.D. files?" Tony looked over the map.
"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"After all, there are plenty of things you can't see through. For instance, maybe that area is actually a lead-lined military base rather than a mage gathering place?"
"From what I know, ever since the Hydra incident, every confidential facility worldwide has started adding lead shielding."
"In fact, a Japanese TV station even launched a new program exploring what everyday items people have started storing in lead containers."
"You won't believe it — when a family searched their daughter's room while she was out, they actually found a stack of Superman fan magazines stored in a lead box under her bed!"
Tony laughed so hard at the ntion of the fan magazines that he was doubled over, slapping Lyon on the back.
"Your super vision is officially useless, Lyon!"
"Because the owner of those fan magazines definitely doesn't want you to know what she's been reading!"
Lyon's face darkened. "Did you co here just to tell about this?"
"Ahem, no, hahaha! But Superman fan magazines really are fascinating, you know, Lyon," Tony chuckled, laughing uncontrollably.
"The international price of lead has tripled because of you! You've singlehandedly driven an entire industry's growth!"
In the DC universe, people had to speculate about Superman's powers. But in Marvel, anyone could pick up a comic and know as much about him as he does himself.
As a result, lead supplies around the world were practically sold out. People didn't need to know whether the real Superman was the sa as the one in the comics — they just assud it was all accurate.
Lyon snatched the map back from Tony's hand. "If you keep talking about these trivial things, I'll throw you out."
He decided to take so ti to acquire a telekinetic ability. That way, whenever he encountered lead, he could use telekinesis to scan the area instead — an unexpected but convenient trick.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Actually, I ca to talk to you about S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony said, finally summarizing his dilemma.
"I believe S.H.I.E.L.D. still has a purpose," Tony explained. "And once I reorganize it, we could even coordinate with your n In Black Organization. You handle the extraterrestrial threats, and S.H.I.E.L.D. can deal with internal ones. What do you think?"
Lyon gave Tony a sidelong look. "You're sure it'll be you leading S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle internal threats? Co on, you're practically the biggest internal threat Earth has."
"That's just bias! You're biased!" Tony protested, stomping his foot. "Last ti, the Helicarrier crash was just a fluke!"
"But no matter what you do, there's always so kind of 'fluke'," Lyon scoffed. "Besides, it seems you've already made up your mind. Why bother asking ?"
"I didn't feel settled without talking to you first. Now that I have, I'm good," Tony admitted, relieved, knowing he had soone dependable to back him up.
Lyon looked at him disdainfully. "Keep dreaming. I'm not offering S.H.I.E.L.D. any help."
"Then it won't be called S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony grinned. "It'll be… the Avengers!"
Tony recalled the na he'd read in Nick Fury's files.
Avengers—what a fitting na.
After all, wasn't he, in a way, avenging by wiping out Hydra? And once the world knew that there was a team dedicated to avenging its wrongs, maybe the people with bad intentions would think twice before acting.
"Avengers… suit yourself. But if you want my help, turn over that Cosmic Cube from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base to for a good ten years of research," Lyon demanded.
"The Cosmic Cube… I rember sothing about that in one of the top-secret files…" Tony muttered, frowning as he tried to recall.
Just then, a notification alert beeped on Lyon's wrist device.
He turned his wrist to see Natasha's image projected in the air.
"Lyon… we've found so docunts. You'd better co and take a look," Natasha said, her expression more serious than he'd ever seen.
...
In Hydra's Siberian base.
Flying over the frozen landscape, Lyon and Tony arrived and entered the base. Natasha t them and led them to the main control room.
The room was filled with old, dusty equipnt, long abandoned and unused.
Natasha took out a box of videotapes with faded yellow labels and inserted one into a machine.
The dark screen of the old monitor flickered with static before starting to play footage from years ago.
Lyon guessed it was a recording from just before Howard's death.
He glanced at Tony beside him, whose face was full of curiosity, knowing that in half a minute, that curiosity would turn into rage.
___________
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