Chapter 127: The Gathering of the Avengers

Within a deserted factory in Russia, the Black Widow was in the midst of an investigation, occupied with her preferred method of "interrogation by capture," when a call from Coulson came through.

With her hands bound behind her back to the chair, the Black Widow tilted her head to clamp the phone handed to her by the suspect against her shoulder. She frowned and said, "I'm busy."

"Return to headquarters immediately," Coulson said directly. "Barton has been compromised by the enemy."

The Black Widow’s expression turned stern. "Stand by."

A minute later, having effortlessly neutralized all the suspects, the Black Widow walked toward the exit. "Where is Barton? Is he still alive?"

"He should be," Coulson replied. "We'll discuss the details when you return. But for now, we need you to go talk to that guy first."

"Stark? You know, Coulson, he doesn't trust me," the Black Widow said with a bitter smile as she walked.

"No, I’ll handle Stark," Coulson said with a chuckle. "You go find 'the big guy'."

The smile on the Black Widow’s face slowly faded.

***

In New York, inside an empty boxing gym, a man with blond hair, blue eyes, and a perfectly proportioned physique was relentlessly hitting a punching bag. Tiny beads of sweat soaked his muscular frame, and the force of each punch sent the bag swaying violently.

The man’s eyes were grave, as if he were deeply troubled. Finally, with one powerful strike, the punching bag burst, flying several meters away before hitting the ground, scattering fine sand everywhere.

At that moment, a voice sounded from behind him, as if it had been watching him for a long time: "Can't sleep?"

The man turned to look. Standing at the entrance of the boxing ring was the black-clad Nick Fury.

The man replied, "I slept for seventy years, sir. I've had enough sleep."

"Then you should go out, take a walk, and see the sights," Fury said, walking over slowly with his hands behind his back.

Reaching the man, Fury handed him a file.

"A mission for me, sir?" the man asked calmly, unwrapping the bandages from his hands. "Do you want me to integrate into the new world?"

He took the file and opened it, only to see the words: S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 7 Clearance, Tesseract.

Fury looked at the man and said, "Not integrate, but save it. Captain."

***

Deep underwater in the Upper New York Bay, Tony, wearing the Mark VI, was installing a specialized Arc Reactor onto a submarine power conduit. The Arc Reactor lit up successfully, merging with the independent power grid for Stark Tower.

Ever since the last major New York blackout, Tony had been planning to use the Arc Reactor to create an independent power grid for his building. That way, even if some troublemaker tried to mess things up again, he wouldn't be left powerless.

On the calm surface of the sea, the Mark VI burst out of the water and shot into the sky, carving an arc like a shooting meteor as it flew rapidly toward the brightly lit New York City.

Inside the suit, Tony’s interface displayed a video call with Pepper.

"Stark Tower will become a benchmark for renewable, clean energy," Tony said with a smile. "No one will be able to compete with us for market share in this field for the foreseeable future. That kid's fusion reactor will take at least another year—no, three years—to become reality."

"Oh, that's assuming your Arc Reactor actually works," Pepper said.

"No problem, flip the switch," Tony said, full of confidence.

As he spoke, he looked up to see the distant, towering, pitch-black Stark Tower suddenly light up from the bottom to the top, once again becoming the most brilliant landmark in New York.

"Is it beautiful?" Pepper asked.

"Just like Christmas!" Tony laughed with satisfaction. "And it belongs only to me."

Tony flew to the top of the tower and landed on the platform dedicated to Iron Man. As he stepped forward, several robotic arms extended from both sides, flexibly and methodically dismantling the Mark VI suit from his body.

Suddenly, Jarvis’s voice came through his Bluetooth headset: "Sir, Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. is calling for you."

"Tell him I'm not here," Tony said immediately, without a second thought. "He really knows how to pick his moments."

"Sir, I’m afraid he won't believe that," Jarvis said.

"Have a little confidence, Jarvis. I have a date to get to," Tony said carelessly as he walked. He had arranged to spend a wonderful evening with Pepper, and his principle was never to keep a beautiful woman waiting.

The Mark VI suit was quickly removed. In the blink of an eye, Iron Man had returned to being the billionaire Tony Stark.

He walked into the tower and poured celebratory champagne with Pepper. Before they could say much, Tony heard Jarvis speak again: "Sir, it’s your phone. My programming has been, has been modified..."

"Again?" Tony’s face immediately soured.

The phone Tony had left on the coffee table rang on its own, and Coulson’s voice came through: "Stark, we need to talk."

Tony grabbed the phone and said to it with a straight face, "You are currently speaking to a holographic projection of Stark. Please leave a message."

Pepper couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Coulson’s voice replied, "It’s urgent."

"Then leave a message quickly," Tony said irritably.

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and Coulson himself, phone in hand, appeared before Tony and Pepper.

Tony gestured with his hands in frustration, "Is the security system broken too? Why do you people love breaking into my home?"

"Mr. Stark, this is urgent. Please take a look at this," Coulson said with a serious expression, handing Tony a laptop.

Tony remained indifferent, but Pepper took it with an apologetic look, which finally prompted Tony to reach out and take it.

He walked to the side and had Jarvis project the contents of the laptop.

When Tony saw the blue cube and the portraits of the various Avengers members, his expression finally began to grow solemn.

***

The next morning.

Tony was the first to pilot the Mark VI and board S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier. This was the assembly point for the Avengers.

In fact, this Helicarrier was the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, which had always been kept strictly confidential. Countless people with ulterior motives had spent their lives trying to find the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, unaware that it was either sailing in the deep sea or cloaked in the sky.

As soon as Tony landed on the carrier deck, he turned his head and looked toward the distant sky. Inside the suit, he frowned.

In the far distance, five black dots—one large and four small—were flying toward the carrier at an incredible speed.

Tony raised an eyebrow; he had recognized them.

As the five dots drew closer, they revealed their true forms: the massive G-0 War Lord and four much smaller Gust mechs.

The five mechs, one large and four small, slowly landed in the designated deck area under the guidance of the carrier’s landing signal officer.

The hatches opened one after another, and Luke’s small figure stepped out first, followed by the Four Roses.

Then, Peter Parker emerged from the War Lord's cabin, followed by Christina the Snowman.

Suddenly, a group of "little short-legs" appeared on the deck, chattering away.

Tony opened his faceplate and walked toward Luke with a strange expression. "Does this place offer field trips for elementary school students now?" He couldn't help but make a snide remark. Why on earth did Luke bring so many kids on board? Did he think they were going on a picnic?