"What in the world are those idiots thinking?!"
Seeing that he had been suspended, Nick Fury was both enraged and unsurprised, unable to help but curse under his breath.
He had done his utmost to prevent the nuclear missile launch, but it seemed to have had no effect in the eyes of those higher-ups.
He even lost his position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
As a result, Nick Fury could do even less.
"Those bastards only care about their own positions and not the lives of civilians!" Iron Man also cursed mercilessly from the side.
"It seems New York is facing the second scenario now; the nuclear missile has already been launched and intercepted by Iron Man."
Black Widow summarized from the side.
"Sir, there's an anomaly on the deck!"
The camera on the screen switched again, and Agent Hill immediately detected the fighter jet taking off, reporting to Nick Fury.
"Attention everyone, a plane has taken off without authorization!"
"Shoot it down! Repeat! Takeoff was not approved!"
Agent Hill anxiously gave this order to all agents over the communication channel.
Nick Fury, without a word, grabbed a shoulder-fired rocket launcher and rushed out.
He knelt on one knee, aimed at the fighter jet taxiing on the ground, preparing for takeoff, and with a whoosh, a missile was launched.
Boom!
It was a direct hit, and the fighter jet was flipped over in a blaze of fire.
However, as Nick Fury shot down that fighter jet, another one had already completed its takeoff and was beyond the range of the shoulder-fired missile.
Nick Fury could only pull out his gun, point it powerlessly at the fighter jet, and then dejectedly put it away.
"Stark, did you hear that? A fighter jet carrying a nuclear missile just flew by!" Nick Fury immediately relayed the message to Iron Man via the communication channel.
"At crucial moments, it still takes me, Iron Man, to turn the tide!"
On the screen, Iron Man glanced smugly at Nick Fury beside him, "Nick Fury, you made the right decision. Future you looks much smarter than current you."
"Thanks for the compliment!" Nick Fury said grumpily.
Iron Man's arrogant and conceited personality was truly as insufferable as ever.
This was also why, even though Iron Man had clearly agreed to join the Avengers, Nick Fury hadn't substantially pushed the matter forward.
The main reason was Iron Man's personality: extremely arrogant, haughty, and self-willed. As an individual hero, there was no problem.
But forming a team with such a person truly required careful consideration.
That's why Nick Fury had planned to send Black Widow to go undercover with Iron Man for a period after the search for Captain America was over.
He wanted Black Widow to personally assess whether Iron Man was suitable for inclusion in the Avengers.
Nick Fury just hadn't expected that before this plan could be executed, Iron Man would meet Black Widow in the Arctic Ocean ahead of time.
"How much longer?"
"About three minutes! It will destroy the entire city!"
On the screen, the camera switched again, and Iron Man's figure appeared in the frame.
Clang, clang, clang!
Bang, bang, bang!
Iron Man was seen battling several enemies while communicating with Nick Fury through the comms channel.
At this moment, the appearance of the enemies was fully revealed to everyone present.
They were extremely tall figures, averaging over two meters, completely covered in armor, practically armed to the teeth.
From this alone, it was impossible to determine whether these enemies were aliens,
or Earthlings wearing specialized armor.
However, judging by the armor on these individuals and the weapons in their hands, they exhibited a very unique style.
"Are these our enemies?" Nick Fury stared intently at the battle on the screen, trying to commit it to memory.
This was crucial intelligence.
"Sir, we can't confirm if they are aliens," Black Widow interjected, "However, since the higher-ups are willing to launch a nuclear missile to destroy all of New York just to eliminate them, then that possibility is very high."
If it were a war between Earthlings, how could the higher-ups at S.H.I.E.L.D. issue such an extreme order?
Everyone knew the destructive power of nuclear weapons; their use in modern warfare was almost unthinkable.
Unless the United States was on the verge of annihilation.
But currently, the United States was the most powerful country in the world, leading in technology, military, and all aspects. Was such a situation possible?
Moreover, that was only the worst-case scenario. In reality, even if the United States were truly destroyed one day, Black Widow wasn't sure if the United States would actually launch nuclear missiles.
It was only a possibility.
From this perspective, the likelihood of those enemies being aliens was very high.
"Jarvis, divert all power to the thrusters!"
On the screen, Iron Man gave the command to Jarvis, then broke out of the enemies' encirclement and flew into the sky.
Whoosh!
At this moment, the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jet had already launched the nuclear missile.
A nuclear missile, spewing a long tail, shot towards the city center of New York.
Although this had not yet happened, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and others in front of the screen couldn't help but feel a secret tension, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Their eyes were fixed on the screen, wanting to see how Iron Man would intercept this nuclear missile next.
Iron Man himself was actually very curious: what method would his future self use to safely intercept this nuclear missile?
But what happened next completely surprised them.
"I know where to send it!"
Iron Man said over the comms channel, and then, piloting his Iron Man suit, he directly caught up with the nuclear missile and embraced it with both hands.
"Jarvis, use all energy for the turn!"
Iron Man gave the command to Jarvis. From the looks of it, Iron Man intended to personally carry the nuclear missile and fly it away from New York!
Nick Fury: "..."
Black Widow: "..."
Iron Man: "..."
They had thought Iron Man would surely use some high-tech method to intercept the nuclear missile, but who would have thought that wasn't the case at all!
Instead, it was this simple, crude, primitive method.
However, if that were the case… "Tony Stark, I never would have thought you would decide to sacrifice your own life for New York!" Nick Fury looked at Iron Man with newfound respect.
Intercepting a nuclear missile in this way was essentially suicide!
Black Widow also stared at Iron Man with an incredulous look. She truly hadn't realized that this arrogant man was such a person at heart.