"Are you certain Nick Fury said that?"
Anton's expression was strange.
I sent someone to kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. director? How would I not know?
"I'm certain."
Eddie said in a low voice: "When Tony Stark contacted me, I heard this news. I repeatedly confirmed it with him, and he said he saw it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears."
"That's interesting..."
Anton suddenly laughed, "Hydra's reaction is more intense than I thought."
"Anton, this is tricky."
Eddie frowned, "If Nick Fury really thinks we're the ones who wanted to kill him, S.H.I.E.L.D. will also stand against the Justice League. At that time, we will not only face Hydra, whose power is unknown but is hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., but also S.H.I.E.L.D. itself... The situation is unfavorable for us now. We should clear our name as soon as possible."
"He can't wash his hands of it," Anton said.
"Nick Fury isn't that stupid. If he could say something like that and directly accuse Batman of being the mastermind behind the assassination attempt, he wouldn't be Nick Fury."
"But he did exactly that..."
Eddie paused, understanding the meaning behind Anton's words, and took a sharp breath. "You're saying Nick Fury has been replaced by Hydra?"
"Yes."
Anton nodded. "Highly likely... No, he definitely has been."
"I'll go tell Tony right away."
Eddie said, about to hang up the phone.
"Wait a minute."
Anton looked at him suspiciously. "When did you and Tony Stark get so close?"
"Uh, I saved him once when the Lang invaders attacked New York."
Eddie chuckled, "Later, when you were filming, he invited me to a few parties."
"Parties?"
Anton thought for a moment, realizing that Eddie was referring to the time between the Lang invasion and the Iron Man 2 period when Tony was throwing random parties.
He then scoffed, "Alright, remember you're still part of the Justice League, don't get recruited into the Avengers."
"Of course not, they don't pay me."
Eddie hung up the phone after speaking.
It seemed he was going to inform Tony Stark.
Anton sat at home, frowning slightly, thinking about the news Eddie had just relayed, as well as the military intelligence.
Ding dong!
At this moment, his phone received a message from John Keller, the Secretary of Defense, whom he had just contacted.
[Anton, meet me at the New York airport in half an hour.]
"So urgent?"
Anton clicked his tongue.
Normally, a flight from Washington to New York takes forty minutes, but Keller wanted to meet at the New York airport in half an hour.
Clearly, he had opened an emergency channel.
From John Keller's attitude, it was perfectly clear that the military was particularly furious at this moment.
A whole chest of anger with nowhere to vent.
It wasn't that they couldn't find a target, the key was that they couldn't find any evidence.
The military's grumpy old men had been slapped in the face, and they had already concluded in their hearts that Hydra was the culprit behind the instant death of the Cobra organization's prisoners upon arrival at the prison.
And according to the Daily Bugle's statements, Hydra was hiding within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Where was the evidence?
The Daily Bugle was backed by Batman.
Despite the good cooperation between the military and Batman, and their willingness to trust Batman, it was impossible for them to sever ties with S.H.I.E.L.D. based solely on Batman's word.
Half an hour later.
Anton received Keller, who had disembarked from a military aircraft.
Their meeting was quite friendly.
After all, the current Batman was essentially bound to the military on multiple levels.
The key to this wasn't just Batman's previous agreement to have the Justice League nominally under military command, but also the Wayne Enterprises founded by the Jameson family behind Anton.
Wayne Enterprises had entered the arms industry, and the military had diverted a large number of orders from Hammer Industries for arms deals.
The bond between them was no longer limited to face, but also included interests.
"Where's the evidence?"
Keller got into the car Anton had driven up, his expression grim. "Anton, we're willing to believe you, but you need to provide solid proof. Otherwise, we have no reason to get involved... After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. is backed by the World Security Council. You know, the World Security Council isn't just our representatives; it includes other member states of the UN."
The implication was clear: if they wanted to slap S.H.I.E.L.D. in the face, they couldn't just make things up.
"I understand."
As Anton spoke, he pulled the car over to an alleyway.
He got out, opened the manhole cover, and gestured to Keller. "Come on, the person you want to see is down there."
Keller paused for a moment, then seemed to understand.
This is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' territory.
Following Anton into the sewer space, he first saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as a large rat.
As for Dr. Connors and Dr. Banner, Anton had asked them to stay away.
Bruce Banner was still a fugitive from the military, although they probably understood that he might be hiding under Batman's protection. However, based on their friendly cooperation, they didn't say anything.
After all, Batman, along with the Justice League, now fell under the military's jurisdiction. From this perspective, Bruce Banner had also become an unofficial member of the military.
"The person you want to see is in there."
At a sewer corner, Anton turned to look at Keller.
Keller didn't think Anton would harm him, so he unhesitatingly stepped around the corner and saw a man with a metal arm.
When he saw the man's face clearly, his expression instantly changed drastically.
As a high-ranking government official and military representative, he shouldn't not know this man.
"This!"
Keller suddenly turned his head, staring at Anton behind him, his tone shocked: "He is!"
"It is him."
Before the words were even out, Anton gave an affirmative answer: "I'm one hundred percent certain, this man is him, Bucky Barnes, Captain America's comrade."
"What exactly is going on?"
Keller took a deep breath, looked at Anton, and then at the Winter Soldier, a strong desire to know welling up inside him.
"I do have a theory, it's a long story, but as it happens, we're not short on time right now."
Anton began to explain the reasons to Keller.
A residence in Washington.
After receiving the intelligence from Eddie, Tony instinctively frowned, feeling that this matter was becoming increasingly tricky.
Nick Fury had been replaced?
Thinking of the severely burned, bullet-riddled, and weak-breathed black egg that had been dug out from the ruins of the house, he fell into thought.
It wasn't impossible.
"Jarvis."
He suddenly said, "Pull up the monitoring of Nick Fury's hospital room."
"Yes."
Jarvis followed the order.
At this moment, Nick Fury had just finished surgery and was out of mortal danger, resting in bed.
Tony observed for a while.
He didn't know Nick Fury very well and couldn't tell any difference. After a moment of thought, he simply got up and went to the hospital to visit.
After arriving at the hospital, he saw Coulson, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, Nick Fury's three loyal subordinates, guarding the door with anxious expressions.
"Tony, why are you here again?"
Black Widow looked at Tony, somewhat surprised.
"I couldn't sleep, so I came to check."
Tony said, then asked Black Widow, "Do you really think Batman is the one pulling the strings?"
"I don't know."
Black Widow shook her head. "Batman is mysterious. No one can see through him."
"Forget about it."
Tony asked again, "How's Nick doing?"
Black Widow said, "After the surgery, he woke up for a little while, said a few words to us, and then fell back asleep."
Tony asked again, "Do you think there's something wrong with him?"
"A problem?"
Black Widow was surprised: "I don't understand."
"Never mind!"
Tony waved his hand, glanced at Nick Fury through the glass, and then turned to leave.
Black Widow and the others watched his back, puzzled.
"Jarvis, control the hospital's surveillance."
After turning the corner, Tony went to the operating room where Nick Fury had his surgery. From the trash can outside the room, he found the clothes Nick Fury had been wearing when they were changed, with Nick Fury's bloodstains on them.
He casually cut off a piece and left the hospital.
After a long while.
After the analysis and comparison, he looked at the DNA information of Nick Fury that he had found from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal database, and didn't find any discrepancies.
The person in the hospital was the Nick Fury he knew.
"If the person in the hospital is Nick Fury, that means Eddie is lying to me..."
Tony closed his eyes, extremely conflicted, both feeling that he should accept the reality and that he shouldn't believe it.
"Batman, could it really be you?"
He still remembered that when he faced the Iron Monger, Batman and Cyborg had saved him.
Although Batman was just watching the show at the time...
At this moment.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
A message popped up on Pierce's phone.
[Someone just invaded S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database and viewed Nick Fury's DNA information. It should be Tony Stark's artificial intelligence.]
Seeing this, Pierce revealed a silent smile.
Following this, the message automatically deleted itself; Pierce was unfazed.
"Think you can outsmart me?"
His eyes turned cold. "Batman, you're still too green."
Long before he planned to use face-changing technology to replace Nick Fury with one of his own and take the director's position at S.H.I.E.L.D., he'd made thorough preparations.
After rescuing the master of disguise and illusion, Zatanna, from the military, Pierce immediately used Zatanna's DNA information to replace Nick Fury's DNA information in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal database. Moreover, he had Dr. Zola, a digital consciousness, handle the operation, striving to leave no trace of his involvement.
Clearly, his strategy had been very successful.
Now that Tony Stark had received the definitive results, he would only become more suspicious of Batman.
In a few days, he would join forces with the "Nick Fury" who had awakened and jointly submit an application to the World Security Council to sanction Batman.
At that time, he would have a reason to deploy the Avengers and take action against Batman.
Once the Avengers and the Justice League clashed, he could sit back and reap the benefits. No matter which side suffered damage, he would ultimately profit.
As for the Hydra problem within S.H.I.E.L.D…
That's even simpler!
Who would have thought that the top two in S.H.I.E.L.D. were spies?
-----------------------
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