It wasn't just Iron Man; even Nick Fury's expression was incredibly telling.
Through the previous rounds of questions, they all knew that Captain America would be a member of the Avengers in the future.
To put it more bluntly, he and S.H.I.E.L.D. were essentially on the same side, like family.
S.H.I.E.L.D. should be providing protection to the Avengers.
Yet, the future employer of the Avengers would actually order the arrest of an Avengers member?
How messed up was that?
"This is just a fragment of the future, a piece of the entire puzzle, and it doesn't represent anything on its own; behind it lie infinite possibilities," Nick Fury's voice rang out.
He spoke to Iron Man and the other man with a serious expression, saying, "So any discussion now is meaningless, Captain.
Let's focus on answering the questions carefully first."
"Once we figure out what's actually going on, it won't be too late to discuss it."
Captain America nodded; Nick Fury made a lot of sense.
It would be somewhat rash to judge based solely on an incomplete fragment of an event.
"Let's look at A first," Iron Man began, "S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to replicate Captain America's serum?
That doesn't sound like anything strange; many organizations want to do that."
"As far as I know, S.H.I.E.L.D. has also been conducting research related to the Super Serum!"
Captain America's brows furrowed slightly, and he couldn't help but glance at Nick Fury.
Naturally, he was instinctively resistant to such a thing.
After all, no one wanted to be someone else's guinea pig.
"If anyone harbors such evil intentions towards me, I will resist to the very end!" Captain America declared emphatically.
"Stark, are you taking S.H.I.E.L.D. for fools?" Nick Fury glared at Iron Man.
"If we really wanted to do something to the Captain, why would we let him wake up?"
"We could have drawn as much blood as we wanted while he was asleep and unconscious; why wait until he became a super-soldier to do that?"
Captain America's expression eased slightly.
What Nick Fury said was true; he was at everyone's mercy when he was unconscious.
That would have been the perfect time to study him.
Now that he was awake, it meant that they didn't intend to study him anymore.
Or rather, all the necessary blood had been drawn, and even if they wanted to study him further, there was no need for such a grand operation.
"Nick Fury, does Alexander Pierce know you rescued the Captain?" Iron Man asked, implying something.
"The classification level of this mission isn't very high; Pierce has access to the mission files," Nick Fury replied casually, then stared at Iron Man and asked, "Stark, what are you implying? Are you suspecting Pierce?"
"I'm just stating a possibility!" Iron Man spoke eloquently and logically.
"Let's assume for now that you genuinely have no designs on the Captain, but that's just you! You can't guarantee that others are the same as you."
"Yes, I can't guarantee that, but I'm the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that's enough!"
Nick Fury didn't deny this, but said confidently, "With me around, no matter who has what intentions, they can only keep those thoughts to themselves!"
"Including Pierce? You also said that Pierce is your old superior and a minister on the Security Council.
In terms of authority, he should be above you, right?"
Iron Man keenly seized on this crucial point, "You can control everyone in your S.H.I.E.L.D., but can you control Pierce?"
"Stark, that's my superior!"
Nick Fury said, somewhat exasperated.
He even had to call Pierce "sir."
"So that's it?" Iron Man shrugged.
"Right now, the Captain is with you, so Pierce naturally can't make a move, but once the Captain is out, Pierce will have no qualms, right?"
"So, if Pierce really harbored ill intentions towards the Captain, wouldn't the events in option A have happened?"
"Nick Fury, can you ensure that Pierce, like you, has no designs on the serum?" Captain America also asked in a deep voice at this point.
"Stark, Captain, this is impossible," Nick Fury shook his head, stating with great certainty, "The reason you're so suspicious is because you don't understand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operational mechanisms."
"Although S.H.I.E.L.D. reports to the World Security Council, it is an independently operating agency.
The Council only supervises S.H.I.E.L.D. but does not interfere with its operations."
"Regardless of why Pierce would arrest you, even if he really wanted to do so, he wouldn't be able to directly order an arrest."
"Because that would be an overreach of authority; he has no direct command over any S.H.I.E.L.D. special operations team! Any S.H.I.E.L.D. resources he wants to use must go through me."
"Let me tell you what he would do if he really set his sights on the Captain."
"First, he would use various means to portray Captain America as a criminal, and then he would use me as a pawn, having me dispatch a team to apprehend Captain America."
"That's the correct procedure!"
"So, you should now realize that A is impossible, right?"
"If that's the case, then I have nothing to say," Iron Man spread his hands.
"It sounds fine, but there's a prerequisite," Captain America pondered for a moment before seriously saying to Nick Fury, "Is Pierce trustworthy?"
"Captain, could you be more specific?" Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.
"I've seen too many powerful people like Pierce who have their own private armed forces.
They act recklessly, disregard the law, and do things without any scruples."
"If Pierce is also that kind of person, he wouldn't need to go through S.H.I.E.L.D. at all; he could secretly apprehend me at any time."
"Captain, you're overthinking it," Nick Fury couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.
"Pierce is like a mentor and friend to me.
He taught me a lot, and I'm in my current position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. because he promoted me."
"Sounds like Pierce is your good buddy," Iron Man interjected.
"...I know him better than both of you.
I believe he's not that kind of person," Nick Fury ignored Iron Man's jab and continued speaking to Captain America.
"However, he did arrest me!"
Captain America didn't easily believe Nick Fury's words; instead, he shrugged, "Didn't you say the question system foretells the future? In the future, he did indeed make a move against me."
"I think the only logical explanation has already been given to us by the question system," Nick Fury said slowly, staring at the large screen.