Black Widow's analysis was quite reasonable. The "Response Team" existed as the main force against the alien legion in case the Earth's military failed.
In this situation, after the "Response Team" was exposed, every member's identity should have been thoroughly investigated.
However, the news vaguely referred to them as the "Response Team," which could only mean one thing: everyone truly didn't know their identities.
That Response Team was most likely making its first public appearance.
If that Response Team was indeed the Avengers, then it's highly probable that this was the Avengers' first mission.
"Option A is indeed very likely. We'll keep that in mind for now and look at the other options," Nick Fury nodded, his gaze returning to the next option.
"The Cosmic Cube was stolen?"
Nick Fury fell into deep thought.
The Cosmic Cube was an extremely important item, and if it had truly been stolen, he might indeed assemble the Avengers to retrieve it.
But the crucial issue was that even if the Cosmic Cube was stolen, all related information—when it was stolen, by whom, and so on—was completely unknown.
It was impossible to conduct an effective analysis.
Moreover, the Cosmic Cube was a highly classified item for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Aside from Nick Fury and a few of his absolute confidantes, most other people didn't even know such an item existed.
Nick Fury didn't want to discuss it too much in front of Iron Man.
"This option has severely insufficient information and cannot be effectively analyzed, so let's look at the next option," Nick Fury quickly skipped over option B.
"Wait a minute, Nick Fury, what exactly is this Cosmic Cube?" Iron Man interrupted Nick Fury, pressing for an answer.
He had previously hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system to find information about Captain America's plane crash and had seen quite a bit of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified intelligence.
That classified intelligence showed that...
Iron Man's father, Howard Stark, was involved in the search and rescue mission but ultimately failed to find Captain America, only recovering the Cosmic Cube.
At the time, Iron Man didn't pay it much mind, but now, he thought differently.
A "Cosmic" Cube, it's very likely something from the cosmos!
Could the Chitauri have come because of this cube?
"Why would you think I know?" Nick Fury subtly glanced at Iron Man.
"Come on, Nick Fury! Don't try to fool me. I've already gone through one round of questions, and the options in the Q&A system aren't baseless! Even the distractors have a possibility of happening!"
"Since the question provided option B, it means that the Cosmic Cube is definitely with your S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
Iron Man told Nick Fury with absolute certainty.
"You're right, Stark." Nick Fury didn't deny it. "However, this is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret, and I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything."
"Since this thing is the 'Cosmic Cube,' it must be something from the cosmos, right? Could the Chitauri have come to Earth for this?"
Iron Man questioned Nick Fury pointedly.
"Stark, scientists value rigor, not speculation!" Nick Fury subtly glanced at Iron Man.
"Firstly, this is something my father salvaged!" Iron Man asserted without hesitation.
"How do you know about this?" Nick Fury's single eye widened slightly, staring intently at Iron Man.
Then Nick Fury's expression changed slightly, and he realized something: "You wouldn't have hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D., would you?"
Nick Fury then had an epiphany.
No wonder Iron Man was able to quickly locate Captain America's crash site; he clearly had sufficiently precise intelligence.
Initially, Nick Fury was a bit puzzled as to where Iron Man got his information.
But now it seemed that the other party had stolen it from S.H.I.E.L.D.!
"As an intelligence agency, your firewall is actually quite good, much stronger than the FBI and CIA."
Iron Man shrugged, shamelessly admitting it as if he were talking about some trivial matter.
"Stark…" Nick Fury's face immediately darkened.
"Secondly!" But Iron Man completely ignored Nick Fury's dark expression and continued, "This thing is currently the only reason I can think of for the Chitauri possibly invading Earth. This matter concerns me, and it concerns every citizen of New York City!"
"So I think I have the right to know!"
"And… whether you tell me now or not, I will eventually find out, unless all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data is on paper."
The last sentence was full of menace, clearly telling Nick Fury, if you don't tell me, I'll keep hacking you.
Only Iron Man could openly threaten to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. in front of its director.
Nick Fury looked at Iron Man with his single eye, weighed his options, and finally chose to compromise:
"The Cosmic Cube is indeed from outer space. It contains powerful energy and could be an energy source. The rest, I don't know."
"That thing isn't from Earth; no one can fully understand it!"
"'No one' is too absolute," Iron Man heavily implied in front of Nick Fury, "At the very least, America's top geniuses haven't studied it."
Nick Fury fell into deep thought.
Iron Man had already joined the Avengers, and they had all gone through the Q&A session together, learning some important secrets of this world.
He was no longer an outsider.
Furthermore, Iron Man's father, Howard, was a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., so allowing Iron Man to access the Cosmic Cube was not an unacceptable proposition.
"We'll discuss this matter later." However, Nick Fury didn't immediately agree, instead giving a vague answer, "For now, let's focus on the questions!"
The group then refocused their attention on the options.
"Raiding a Hydra secret base? This option should be ruled out, right? Hydra has been extinct for decades."
Black Widow said with a matter-of-fact expression.
"That's not necessarily true, Agent," Iron Man interjected casually, "Before this, we all thought the Captain was dead."
"Stark, Hydra was uprooted during World War II," Nick Fury contradicted Iron Man, stating with certainty.
"How can you be so sure about that?" Iron Man shrugged.