PY Everywhere

Faced with the congresswoman’s reasonable request, Egghead could only comply.

Rank was everything. S.H.I.E.L.D. ultimately answered to the Security Council, and all five council members were his direct superiors. He had to listen to every one of them.

At least, openly.

Just as he was about to leave, Old Wang called out to him.

"Director Fury, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you while we have the chance."

Old Wang smiled broadly. "As far as I know, the first-generation Sky Carrier hasn’t been completed yet, while the second-generation Sky Carrier is still in development and is little more than an empty shell?"

Egghead instantly became alert.

It’s been months, and this bastard is still thinking about my precious baby? Dream on!

He said in a deep voice:

"The first-generation Sky Carrier is over 80% complete. Development of the second-generation Sky Carrier is 90% complete, its overall structure has also been finished, and the entire vessel is more than 50% complete. From development to construction, S.H.I.E.L.D. has invested forty billion dollars and over ten thousand personnel. Crew recruitment and training have already begun. Although Project Insight was canceled, S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be without Sky Carriers!"

What a joke. The Sky Carrier was a sacred and inseparable part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Master Wang, don’t even think about it!

"Don’t worry. I’m not interested in the Sky Carrier." Old Wang smiled.

Egghead looked at Old Wang, thinking, Keep pretending. If you don’t want it, why have Skye stealing Sky Carrier data every day? Other than less than 1% of the core technology being tightly secured, the rest of the information was stolen long ago. Did you really think I didn’t know?

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cybersecurity experts might be weak and scrawny, unable to stop Quake from breaking in and robbing the place, but at least they had eyes. They could see!

Old Wang chuckled. Since I already have the data, why would I need the Sky Carrier? If I want one, I’ll build it myself—and it’ll definitely be better than yours!

"The first-generation Sky Carrier primarily exists as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mobile base. Although it is equipped with Quinjets and quite a few conventional weapons, its defenses are still far too weak."

Old Wang looked at Egghead’s eternally unchanged dark face. "I dare say that a single Mark 8 could destroy the entire Sky Carrier!"

The congresswoman caught the scent of opportunity and quickly joined in. "Is that so, Director Fury? A Sky Carrier costs nearly ten billion dollars to build and carries close to three thousand crew members. We must be responsible for taxpayers’ money and the lives of the crew!"

Egghead realized something was wrong.

Strange. I’m clearly the one who made PY deals with you people, so why are you taking Director Wang’s side now?

Fine, politicians had always been fickle. Besides, Director Wang held the Resurrection Serum in his hands. They were trying to curry favor with him, turning their backs on me without hesitation.

He even suspected that Director Wang had made PY deals with these four behind his back, and on a much greater scale—just like with Ms. Carter.

Fortunately, after the final battle with Hydra, I realized this and prepared in advance.

He snorted, completely confident.

"Mr. Tony Stark is currently drafting the deployment plan for the ship’s weapons systems. With the world’s best radar detection and most powerful weapons deployment, along with radar stealth and visual stealth, the Sky Carrier’s safety will be more than assured."

Is that so?

The congresswoman looked at Old Wang. Your turn.

Old Wang shook his head.

"Director Fury, you avoided my question. Fine, perhaps the Sky Carrier can withstand an attack from Iron Man, but our enemies are far more powerful than Iron Man. In my opinion, the Sky Carrier needs a stronger deployment plan, such as Iron Man armor."

The congresswoman quickly nodded. "As long as a Sky Carrier is equipped with ten sets of Iron Man armor, its absolute safety can be guaranteed."

The male council member beside her shook his head. "Unfortunately, Mr. Stark treats the Iron Man armor as private property and refuses to sell it. He claims that the Iron Man armor is one with him, and selling the armor would mean selling his own soul and… body?"

The congresswoman smiled. "He said it would be like becoming a slave laborer, or… But as far as I know, Iron Man armor isn’t the only option."

The male council member agreed. "Azeroth Industries also possesses Iron Soldier technology. Moreover, for safety and reliability, it uses remote control rather than piloted operation, so there is no risk of someone fleeing while wearing the armor."

The congresswoman continued, "The United States Department of Defense placed a ten-billion-dollar order with Azeroth Industries. Why can’t S.H.I.E.L.D. do the same? Director Wang, the Azeroth Industries exhibition is today, correct?"

The two sang in perfect harmony, exchanging a glance.

So you made PY deals with Director Wang too!

The Russian and Chinese council members beside them merely smiled without speaking.

Since you were being so proactive, there was no need for us to participate. Taking benefits without doing any work—what a marvelous show.

Old Wang smiled. "It has already begun."

The screen on the wall quickly switched to a live broadcast channel, revealing the packed and lively Azeroth Industries exhibition.

Representatives from the Department of Defense and military were present, including Colonel Rhodes and a White House representative, as well as Commodore Talbot, General Ross’s subordinate. Naturally, there were also other arms companies and major players from the capital market.

The former chairman of Hammer Industries and current chief marketing officer, "Mr. Justin Hammer," strutted onto the stage with clumsy moonwalk steps and passionately declared that the Azeroth Iron Soldiers were high-quality and affordable, and would protect America’s land and the safety of its people.

Meanwhile, deep in his heart, he roared without end:

Hammer Steel Soldiers! They’re my Hammer Steel Soldiers! You bastard Wang, you thief!

Watching Justin act like a clown, Pepper ‘Little Chili’ Potts could not help frowning. Just looking at him was irritating.

But when she remembered that Master Wang was the real power behind the scenes, she relaxed instead.

No matter what, this would greatly reduce the pressure coming from the Department of Defense and even the Senate. That was a good thing. Besides, Master Wang did not seem like a greedy man at all. There had to be some deeper purpose behind what he was doing, something she had not yet considered.

What was more, before producing the Iron Soldiers, Master Wang had already obtained authorization from Tony for the relevant technologies, including the Arc Reactor—

In many people’s eyes, Master Wang had no need to do that. After all, his technology came from Ivan Vanko, and he had the Department of Defense and military backing him. No one could do anything to him.

Yet Master Wang still did it. He had even paid for it with the Darkhold’s knowledge of invisibility. He really was a good person.

"Army!"

"Navy!"

"Air Force!"

"Marine Corps!"

As Justin shouted with unparalleled excitement, forty Iron Soldiers slowly rose from below. With autocannons on their backs and heavy machine guns resting on their shoulders, they looked imposing and magnificent.

Then they saluted in perfect unison.

The entire venue erupted into screams of excitement.

Security Council office.

Watching everything on the screen, Egghead fell silent.

Tony stubbornly refused to sell the Iron Man armor. In his opinion, he really should not have.

The young playboy believed that he could protect world peace on his own, but one person’s strength was ultimately limited. Worse, that guy had no idea that the world was far more dangerous than he imagined.

The Kree fleet had always been a thorn in his heart. Carol had said that it was merely an insignificant fraction of the Kree Empire’s massive fleet. The true Kree fleet could easily destroy planets, even stars.

Humanity could not even leave Earth, while the Kree could travel between star systems.

One civilization was still confined to the surface of its planet, while the other had already surpassed interstellar civilization. The gap between them was simply measured in light-years.

If aliens really were destined to invade Earth, then perhaps…

Preparations should be made in advance?

As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Egghead naturally would not casually make a decision worth tens of billions of dollars. Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. had no money right now.

Looking at the orderly ranks of Iron Soldiers, he asked, "Director Wang, I want to know their true combat capabilities."