"So... this round of answering questions is over?"
Captain America looked around at the now-empty surroundings and subconsciously murmured.
It was only at this moment that he truly understood how Nick Fury and the others had learned of his freezing in the Arctic through the question-answering system.
"Yes, Captain, the round has ended." Nick Fury nodded heavily. "But our business is far from over! Stark!"
As he said this, Nick Fury turned his gaze to Iron Man. "Since you're here, why don't we discuss the next steps?"
Iron Man thought for a moment but didn't refuse.
The future shown by the quiz system was known only to them, the "quiz participants." Some topics indeed needed to be discussed among just them.
"I have nothing much to say—obviously, we need to find Bucky first." Captain America immediately voiced his opinion.
"Captain, don't worry. Once we're back, I'll use the Sky Eye system to locate Bucky." Nick Fury solemnly assured Captain America.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Captain America responded earnestly.
"Stark, what about you?" Nick Fury turned his one eye toward Iron Man. "What are your plans?"
"Ivan Vanko may not be a huge threat, but he's annoying. I'll look into him first." Iron Man shrugged.
Neither Nick Fury nor Captain America was surprised by this response.
"Stark, my next priority is investigating HYDRA," Nick Fury said seriously after a moment of thought. "But I need your help."
At present, all Nick Fury could confirm was that HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., but to what extent, he wasn't sure.
Given that HYDRA's operations had gone unnoticed by S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, Nick Fury was forced to consider a grim possibility: HYDRA may have grown strong within S.H.I.E.L.D., developing a substantial presence.
It was likely that HYDRA agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. had been covering their tracks, even using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s name to carry out their missions.
S.H.I.E.L.D. believed they were handling their own operations, but in fact, they were unknowingly doing HYDRA's bidding.
In this case, Nick Fury dared not casually use S.H.I.E.L.D. resources for an investigation—it might alert the enemy.
In other words, Nick Fury no longer trusted anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D..
He was starting to understand why, in the video shown by the quiz system, his future self told Captain America not to trust anyone.
"Nick Fury, is the situation really that bad?" Iron Man couldn't help but ask.
"As much as I hate to admit it, yes, it really is that bad. I can't rely on S.H.I.E.L.D., so I need your help."
Then Nick Fury glanced at Captain America. "And you too, Captain—I need your help as well."
Right now, the only people Nick Fury was sure he could trust were Captain America and Iron Man.
"You can count on me." Captain America agreed without hesitation.
"Nick Fury, I'd really like to help too, but I might not have the time. I've been trying to synthesize a new element to replace palladium, but I haven't made any progress."
Iron Man looked genuinely helpless.
He wasn't trying to avoid helping—his palladium poisoning was a matter of life and death. Until it was resolved, he couldn't focus on anything else.
"About that… I think I might be able to help." Nick Fury said meaningfully.
Iron Man sneered. He was one of the top scientists in the world and had made no progress—what could an intelligence chief like Nick Fury possibly offer?
"Nick Fury, I appreciate the gesture, but I need to get back. I'm really running out of time..."
"Stark, that device in your chest—it's actually an incomplete technology," Nick Fury suddenly stood and said, catching him off guard.
"What are you talking about?" Iron Man dismissed it. "It's a finished product. Once I miniaturized the arc reactor, it worked."
"No, your father Howard said the arc reactor was just a stepping stone to something greater. He planned to start an energy revolution and leave all competitors in the dust."
Nick Fury began to explain calmly.
"He found clues pointing to a super-energy source. In comparison, a nuclear reactor would be like a triple-A battery."
Iron Man slowly turned, slightly stunned. "You knew my father?"
"Didn't you hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.? And you still don't know that?" Nick Fury raised his hands as he asked.
But Iron Man truly didn't know.
He hacked S.H.I.E.L.D. only to find specific information, not to snoop through all its secrets like some voyeur.
He genuinely didn't know the full relationship between Howard Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D..
"Stark, your father was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Nick Fury stated seriously.
Iron Man froze. That truly caught him off guard.
"Peggy Carter was also one of the founders,"** Nick Fury added, glancing at Captain America.
"Carter too?" Captain America was equally shocked.
But after learning this, he felt a sudden surge of familiarity and trust toward both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury.
And that was exactly why Nick Fury told them—it was to foster connection and unity.
"Stark, your father left you some things. He said only you have the resources and intelligence to complete the project he started."
Nick Fury looked Iron Man dead in the eyes as he spoke.
"You must be mistaken. He wasn't talking about me." Iron Man shook his head.
Howard Stark never showed any concern for him and had always been distant. He never spoke such praise.
"Stark, you really don't understand your father," Nick Fury sighed.
"You say that like you knew him better than I did." Iron Man replied dismissively.
"In some ways, I actually did." Nick Fury spread his hands. "I'll have someone send you the materials right away. Once you've solved your palladium problem, we'll talk about how to deal with HYDRA."
(End of Chapter)
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