Avengers Assemble

"Now, Mr. Loki, I think we can have a proper talk."

Seeing that Hawkeye showed no sign of moving, Nick Fury’s frown deepened. He continued, "Since Asgard can cooperate with China and provide them with advanced armor technology, why can’t they cooperate with America?"

"Whatever China can give you, America can give you as well."

As a superpower, America still had that much confidence.

You were willing to support China, so why not support us? America was far more suitable as an ally than China!

"…??"

Loki wore a bizarre expression. Tilting his head, he looked at Nick Fury as though he were an idiot.

What the hell was he talking about?

What did he mean, Asgard had provided China with Kirin Armor Technology?

I fucking want China’s Kirin Armor Technology too!

"Nick Fury is trying to stall for time."

At that moment, Hawkeye stepped forward and spoke in an icy voice.

He immediately saw through Nick Fury’s plan.

The man wanted to use the energy emitted by the Tesseract to trigger an explosion and bury everyone present underground.

"…"

Nick Fury’s face darkened. Had Hawkeye Barton defected?

No, that should have been impossible. Was it something Loki had done just now?

Glancing at the spear in Loki’s hand, Nick Fury recalled how Loki had stabbed Hawkeye with it earlier. Could that spear possess the power to control people’s minds?

Unbelievable. As expected of the legendary Asgard—there really was no shortage of good stuff. If he could get his hands on that spear, wouldn’t he be able to control anyone he wanted?

When it came to daydreaming, Nick Fury was still the best.

"Hmph!"

Too lazy to deal with Nick Fury any longer, Loki walked over to Dr. Selvig and used the Mind Control Spear to control him as well. He then controlled several more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. A handful of people would not be enough for him to achieve his goals on Earth. Loki needed many more.

Seeing this, Nick Fury knew that negotiations were no longer possible. He quietly moved over to the equipment, removed the Tesseract, placed it inside a briefcase, and prepared to sneak away first.

He was completely fooling himself. Did he really expect Loki to be blind?

After controlling the last surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Loki looked at Nick Fury with a smile. "Please put that down. It is also why I came here."

Bang! Bang!

Hawkeye directly attacked Nick Fury and Coulson beside him. With the gunshots, both men fell to the ground. As the energy gathered by the Tesseract grew stronger and stronger, Loki had no intention of wasting any more time. Taking Hawkeye and the others, along with the briefcase containing the Tesseract, he headed outside.

"Are you dead? If not, get up and give me a hand."

A few seconds later, after confirming that Loki and the others had left, Nick Fury spoke through clenched teeth.

"Oh, right."

Coulson hurriedly climbed up as well and helped Nick Fury sit up.

As two cunning veteran agents, they always wore extremely thick bulletproof vests. Thus, the two men escaped disaster once again.

"Forget everything else for now. This place is about to collapse. Contact Hill outside and tell her that Hawkeye Barton has defected, the Tesseract has been stolen, and they need to pursue them immediately."

Although he knew the chances of recovering it were minuscule, Nick Fury still gave the order.

They were wearing bulletproof vests, but getting shot still really hurt!

The two men had not made a sound just now because they were afraid of being finished off. Now that the danger had temporarily passed, both were grimacing in pain. Coulson did not forget to relay Nick Fury’s orders to Agent Hill outside through the radio.

However, it was bound to be futile. Loki had controlled Hawkeye, who already knew the base inside and out. Combined with the powerful Kirin Armor he wore, Loki left the base with practically no effort at all…

"It seems the Avengers Initiative can officially begin!"

Nick Fury had been searching for suitable Avengers since two years ago, and he had now more or less settled on several candidates.

Hawkeye Barton, Black Widow Natasha, Crossbones Rumlow, Whiplash Ivan Vanko, Captain America Rogers, Abomination Blonsky, Iron Man Tony Stark—aside from Tony, who could not care less about S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury had recruited all of them into the team.

Of course, Hawkeye was currently under Loki’s control and was temporarily obeying him.

One wondered whether Nick Fury would be so ashamed that he killed himself if he learned that several of the people he had chosen were Hydra spies.

But given how thick-skinned Nick Fury was, that day would probably never come.

"Also, send China an official notice. Tell them that their Asgardian friend has come to invade Earth, and demand that China give us an explanation!"

Nick Fury was especially displeased. He had wanted to establish ties with Asgard, but Loki had ignored him and even opened fire on him. How could he possibly tolerate that?

Although he had no way to do anything to China, that did not stop him from making things unpleasant for them.

And the Tesseract had to be taken back!

It was America’s only hope of surpassing China again in the future!

"Something happened in America again."

At home, Chen Mu, who was learning how to raise a child, heard about it from Xu Jia.

"Something happened in America again? Isn’t that normal? When does America ever go a day without a few people dying in shootings?"

Hearing Xu Jia’s words, Chen Mu chuckled. He put down his book, went behind her, and began massaging her shoulders as he looked at the screen in front of her. "Besides, what does anything that happens in America have to do with us? And didn’t you say you didn’t need to worry about work anymore? You’re about to become a mother. Don’t wear yourself out."

"…"

Xu Jia’s face darkened. This guy… she was not disabled. Although she had been pregnant for two years (?), it was completely unnoticeable now. What was the difference between this and being one or two months pregnant?

At this rate, it would probably take another ten years or so before the child was born. If she really did nothing, she would get sick from boredom.

Was there any need to make such a big deal out of it?

"This time is different. S.H.I.E.L.D. sent the God Spear Bureau a request for assistance, and America also sent our country an official notice. Loki has come to Earth and stolen the Tesseract. They want us to give them an explanation."

"What do you mean? Loki stole their Tesseract, and they want us to explain ourselves?"

For a moment, Chen Mu was utterly astonished. He stared at the computer screen with a strange expression.

"How do these people have the nerve? They caused their own mess and now want us to clean up after them? Besides, Loki stole it. Why don’t they go ask Odin in Asgard? Why are they demanding an explanation from us? Are they insane?"

Chen Mu was shocked by America’s shameless conduct. It truly opened his eyes.

But had the Avengers storyline begun?

Although many things had changed, Chen Mu immediately recognized what this meant.

Perhaps he could go watch the show?