"Super Soldier Serum?"
When Black Widow spoke these words, the reactions of the Avengers varied greatly.
Iron Man Tony Stark subconsciously shot a glance at Batman, Captain America and Jack Monroe looked at each other, while the rest bore expressions of absolute bewilderment.
"Guessing won't get us anywhere. Why don't I bring up the footage captured by the municipal traffic surveillance cameras during Natasha's attack and see if everyone can piece together a few clues?" Iron Man suggested.
Seeing that no one objected, Iron Man instructed JARVIS to pull up the surveillance footage.
Though Manhattan was the most prosperous district in the global metropolis of New York, it still lacked one hundred percent coverage across its surveillance network.
In the surveillance footage pulled up by Tony Stark, the figure of the mechanical-armed enhanced human appeared for merely three or four seconds.
"Batman, do you have any leads?" Captain America looked toward Batman.
"The surveillance footage is too blurry and the duration too brief; his physical features cannot be analyzed," Batman shook his head.
"I believe that metal arm is his most prominent feature. Perhaps if we start an investigation from that angle, we might uncover something," Hawkeye suggested.
"I have already conducted a series of investigations into that," Batman's voice was deep. "Judging by all the intelligence obtainable through electronic channels, it remains impossible to definitively ascertain his identity."
Captain America pressed his palm against his forehead, equally at a loss as to who could have launched an attack on Black Widow.
The current general consensus pointed toward either Hydra or the lingering remnants of Latverian criminals.
Given that the opponent had been injected with the Super Soldier Serum, the probability of it being Hydra was slightly higher.
"No, wait." Jack Monroe caught Batman's phrasing. "Intelligence obtained through electronic channels? What about physical paper records?"
Batman glanced at Jack Monroe, the second Baki, offering a slight nod to confirm his point:
"Correct. Physical records."
This single phrase drew the eyes of all the superheroes onto Batman. Natasha, Black Widow, asked:
"We can't possibly spend vast amounts of time digging through physical books and archives to find this person's identity. Batman, I take it you already have a general direction?"
Batman did not answer Black Widow's question directly, looking instead toward Captain America:
"Captain, you know that combat techniques are not static; they undergo continuous development."
Captain America lowered the hand covering his forehead, meeting Batman's gaze:
"Combat techniques?"
Batman nodded.
Captain America pondered for a moment before turning to look at Iron Man:
"Tony, loop that surveillance footage for me."
JARVIS complied, allowing those four or five seconds of surveillance footage to repeat continuously.
Captain America watched the blurry figure on the screen without blinking, observing the way he swung his fist, watching for seven or eight full minutes.
During this period, Iron Man shot several meaningful glances at Batman, but Batman paid them no heed, while the other Avengers watched the surveillance screen with furrowed brows.
The interior of the Avengers Mansion fell into a prolonged silence.
After a long pause, Captain America spoke slowly:
"Batman is right. He's a man from my era."
"How can you tell that?" Jack Monroe asked.
"It's simple. During World War II, I underwent training in the classic techniques of the CQC system popular back then. I see shades of that in this man," Captain America said.
"In truth, it goes beyond that," Batman added.
Captain America nodded heavily, supplementing:
"It indeed goes beyond that; his fighting style is also spliced with techniques from the Russian combat style, Systema."
"If we combine this with your earlier discussion regarding physical paper intelligence, we can temporarily assume this is a centenarian originating from the Soviet era," Iron Man said.
"Captain, perhaps this is an old rival of yours," Hawkeye said to Captain America.
"Though I am behind the times, my opponents back then came in all shapes and sizes—like Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Baron Strucker... none of them were opponents with a metal arm," Captain America said.
"Perhaps when he was your opponent, his arm wasn't metal yet," Black Widow quipped.
"I can't say for certain, but regardless of who he is, launching an attack on a member of the Avengers constitutes a threat. I will capture him," Captain America declared.
"Captain, I'm sorry," Iron Man suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a rasp.
Batman acutely noticed this; he even discovered that Tony Stark was acting contrary to his usual behavior today, offering neither wisecracks to break the ice nor drinking alcohol.
"Tony, there's no need to apologize. You mentioned you were investigating the cause of your parents' deaths at the time... Did you find the killer?"
Captain America had assumed Iron Man was apologizing for failing to provide immediate support to Black Widow.
Yet Iron Man merely stared at the figure in the surveillance footage, without so much as looking at Captain America:
"The reason I'm apologizing is... this guy is mine."
"Hmm?" Captain America didn't catch Iron Man's meaning for a moment.
Iron Man retracted his gaze, looking instead toward Batman:
"Much as I dislike speaking about this in public, I have to lay it out now to tell you why this guy is mine.
"I always believed my parents died in a routine car crash, but only this afternoon did I learn that it was no simple accident—someone murdered them.
"The killer likewise possessed a silver metal arm."
It was abundantly clear that the individual who ambushed Black Widow today was highly likely the very killer who murdered Iron Man's parents.
"Tony, I understand you." Captain America stood up, walking over to Tony Stark's side. "No matter which of us catches him first, we won't let him off easily."
Due to the occurrence of the attack, it was clearly no longer feasible for the Avengers to go their separate ways as they had in previous days. At this moment, each person found a room and simply took up residence within the Avengers Mansion.
Iron Man and Batman currently stood on an elevated balcony of the estate.
"What did you want to say to me earlier?" Batman asked.
Tony had been frequently winking at Batman earlier, clearly having something he wished to convey.
"Peter." Iron Man kept his voice extremely low. "I recall Oscorp was researching the Super Soldier Serum previously. Is it possible this person is connected to Oscorp?"
"What you actually want to ask is whether this person could be one of the Green Goblins, father or son, isn't it?" Batman asked impassively.
Iron Man nodded.
"No," Batman said. "It matches my analysis from earlier: this is a super soldier who, in all probability, comes from the Soviet Union."
"I trust you," Iron Man said. "I won't let that fellow get away."
"Protect yourself," Batman said.
"I will. Furthermore, there is a piece of intel from the Pentagon," Iron Man said. "Alexander Pierce, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top brass, wishes to summon Captain America. I suspect Pierce is Hydra, but this isn't convenient to bring up in front of Hawkeye and Black Widow."
"Arrange for Captain America to accept the summons, with Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Jack Monroe assisting covertly," Batman said. "Tony, I leave this place to you for now; I must set off for international waters immediately."
"Alright, I'll send you the detailed information for a three-hundred-nautical-mile radius around the coordinates you provided," Iron Man said. "Stay safe. If necessary, even if you send out a distress signal, I won't laugh at you."
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