In the dark clinic, moonlight streamed quietly through the window into Daniel's office. He gently toyed with a crown in his hand—a silver crown of thorns trimmed with gold.
This was the very Corrupted Crown he had encountered long ago, when he was trapped in the secret underground room of the Triskelion Building during his time with S.H.I.E.L.D. Somehow, this crown had fallen into his hands.
Don't think that when Daniel was still with S.H.I.E.L.D., he was only preparing to negotiate with Asgard. In reality, he had already snuck deep inside S.H.I.E.L.D., and secretly swapped the real crown with a fake one. Though the fakes couldn't match the original's power, they fooled others for a time.
No one really knew when S.H.I.E.L.D. lost the real Crown, or how many other things they had lost over the years. If an internal investigation ever happened, many would panic.
The Crown's main power was imprisonment. It had once been used to trap King Arthur. Even if the great Merlin hadn't done it personally, this crown could imprison even the strongest.
What made the crown's story tragic was that it once belonged to King Arthur himself, used by him to imprison others. But in the end, he was the one imprisoned by it—a cruel irony.
Of course, the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't understand this. Though mages were rare in the world, there were enough to make clever use of the crown. If they'd tested it with even a minor mage, the crown would have shown its true potential. But they never tried.
Before the Avengers formed, most agents, inside and outside S.H.I.E.L.D., believed that modern weapons could solve any problem. That's how the space carrier project began.
Except for Nick Fury. Having lived through World War I and II, he'd seen firsthand the power of superhumans on the battlefield.
Even in this modern nuclear age, Nick Fury never gave up on seeking greater power. After all, he was a beneficiary of such power—without it, he might not even be alive today.
He had faced mutants, cyborgs, Iron Man, Hulk, Loki, Thor, and now the alien invasion by the Chitauri. Future threats might come from even more advanced civilizations. Earth's current science and technology might not be enough to survive.
So Nick Fury quietly built connections with many forces—Tony Stark, mutants, the Karma Taj, even secret groups—and secretly funded them.
When Dr. Bruce Banner was taken by the U.S. military, Fury helped him escape and hide safely in East Asia.
But aside from Fury, almost no one at S.H.I.E.L.D. shared these views. This led to many powerful magical artifacts being stored away among their warehouses—with no one able to use them.
The Crown, powerful and corrupted, was just another trick for S.H.I.E.L.D.—used mainly as a trap. But in Daniel's hands, it became a rare magical protective weapon.
When fully activated, this crown could form a nearly impenetrable shield, even against legendary mages, and could merge with the surroundings to create an independent space.
For S.H.I.E.L.D., it was a prison. For Daniel, it became like a private laboratory, free from outside interference—a magical fortress.
During his time with S.H.I.E.L.D., Daniel noticed Maria Hill's suspicions. But she was cautious, and he never found a chance to act.
Though Hill was often with Daniel, she had several secret agents guarding her day and night. As the strongest senior official there, she had many watching over her.
They had developed a quiet understanding—helping each other only when needed, gradually building trust through time.
True trust doesn't happen instantly. In the real world, everyone has their own agenda.
With the Crown, many possibilities opened up for Daniel.
A phone's "ding" alerted him to a message. He glanced at it and deleted it instantly.
It was just a number, but behind it was a lot of hidden information.
Unbeknownst to the general public, their phones were fully monitored—calls and texts with sensitive content were immediately captured by supercomputers.
Even harmless or useless data was stored for future use.
Daniel's phone was anonymous—after a while, he'd discard it and get a new one.
He used different numbers regularly, so no one could trace him.
Before the Chitauri invasion, Daniel had already told Bakshi to prepare. If Manhattan was attacked, Bakshi would send people by boat to seize the opportunity—and Bakshi had done just that.
Many alien weapons that fell to Earth had quietly been taken by Bakshi, beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reach.
Daniel knew a truth long ago—it's unwise to fight alone.
Even powerful mages rely on support—from the entire Karma Taj behind them.
Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor Xavier's X-Men all held strong armies.
Without support, Hulk had to hide, driven away like a dog.
So alien weapons more advanced than earthly tech were a major trump card for survival.
Of course, Chitauri weapons could only be used by their own people, but Daniel was already working on cracking their tech. Even if the weapons couldn't be openly used, studying them inspired new tech creations—and could be traded secretly without loss.
The Chitauri invasion left a lot behind—enough to propel human technology forward by leaps.
But Chitauri were not the most advanced aliens to visit Earth. Even without mentioning the Captain Marvel era, many alien visits had happened.
Daniel didn't plan to stay in New York long. He'd returned suddenly from Berlin because of the invasion, but now it was time to leave.
For appearances or safety, staying in New York wasn't good right now.
But before leaving, he had to manage his secret base in Newark and Hammer Industries in Manhattan.
The Chitauri invasion was actually an opportunity for Hammer Industries. If he played it well, the company could rise again.
Daniel was also planning to start his own business—a high-tech company he could openly run. He had many good ideas, but hadn't revealed them before for fear of attracting unwanted attention.
Now, with the world changed by the Chitauri, the time was right.The invasion made everyone rethink their values. People would focus more on technology and personal strength.
The Avengers were a good example.
More superpowered individuals would appear and be accepted, but also bring problems—superpower crimes, and eventually something like a superhero civil war.
The Sokovia Accords wasn't created overnight; it showed how much the world could no longer tolerate the chaos superpowers could cause.
Small threats like Hydra or Ultron were minor compared to what was coming.
The biggest disaster was Thanos.
With a snap of his fingers, half the planet disappeared. Even when the Avengers reversed that, the scars would remain for a long time.