"So… this round of questions is over?"
Captain America looked at the empty surroundings and subconsciously muttered.
It was only at this moment that he truly understood how Nick Fury and the others had learned about him being frozen in the Arctic Ocean through the answering system.
"Yes, Captain, the questions are over." Nick Fury nodded heavily, "However, our business is far from over! Stark!"
At this point, Nick Fury looked at Iron Man, "You're here too, so why don't we discuss the next plan."
Iron Man thought for a moment and didn't refuse.
The future predicted by the answering system was only known to them, the "answer buddies," and some topics really needed to be discussed among them.
"I have nothing to say, I definitely need to find Bucky first." Captain America expressed his opinion first.
"Captain, don't worry about that. When we get back, I will use the All-Seeing Eye to find Bucky." Nick Fury said to Captain America seriously.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Captain America replied solemnly.
"Stark, what about you?" Nick Fury then turned his one eye to Iron Man, "What are your plans next?"
"Ivan Vanko, although he's not much trouble, he's quite annoying. I'll look into him first." Iron Man shrugged.
Neither Nick Fury nor Captain America were surprised by this.
"Stark, my main focus of work next is to investigate Hydra." Nick Fury pondered for a moment, then said to Iron Man and Captain America with a serious expression, "However, I need your help."
Currently, the only thing Nick Fury could confirm was that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., but to what extent, Nick Fury did not know.
But since S.H.I.E.L.D. had not noticed any of Hydra's activities for so many years, Nick Fury had to come to a terrible conclusion: Hydra, within S.H.I.E.L.D., might have become a force to be reckoned with.
It had developed to a considerable scale.
It was precisely because of this that Hydra's traces were completely shielded from S.H.I.E.L.D., because someone within S.H.I.E.L.D. was helping them cover it up!
Even more so, Hydra's undercover agents were carrying out some missions openly, under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. thought they were S.H.I.E.L.D. missions, but in reality, they were Hydra missions.
Under these circumstances, Nick Fury dared not casually use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources for investigation, because that might very likely tip them off directly.
In other words, Nick Fury now dared not trust anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D.
He was beginning to understand why, in the video from the answering system, he had told Captain America not to trust anyone.
"Nick Fury, is the situation that bad?" Iron Man couldn't help but ask from the side.
"Although I don't want to admit it, things are indeed that bad. I can't use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power to investigate, so I need your help."
At this point, Nick Fury glanced at Captain America again, "And you, Captain, I need you too."
Currently, the only people Nick Fury could definitely trust were Captain America and Iron Man.
"I have an inescapable duty in this matter." Captain America agreed without even thinking.
"Nick Fury, I also want to help you, but I might not have that much time. I've been trying to synthesize a new element to replace palladium recently, but I haven't made much progress."
Iron Man showed a helpless expression.
He wasn't making excuses; the palladium poisoning was a matter of his life and death, and until it was perfectly resolved, he had no time to worry about anything else.
"Regarding this matter, I think, I can help." Nick Fury said meaningfully.
Iron Man scoffed at this. He was the world's top scientist, and he hadn't made any progress so far. Nick Fury was just an intelligence chief; what could he possibly do?
"Nick Fury, I appreciate your kindness, but I think I still need to go back. I really don't have much time…"
"Stark, that thing in your chest is actually an unfinished technology." Nick Fury suddenly stood up and blurted out this unexpected remark.
"What are you talking about?" Iron Man completely disagreed with this, "It's a finished product. It worked after I miniaturized the Arc Reactor."
"No, your father, Howard, said that the Arc Reactor was just a stepping stone to a greater technology. He was preparing to launch an energy competition back then, to leave all his rivals in the dust."
Nick Fury began to explain to Iron Man, speaking eloquently.
"He had a clue about a super-energy source. A nuclear reactor would be like a 3A battery in comparison."
Iron Man slowly turned around, a little bewildered: "You know my father too?"
"Didn't you hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.? You actually don't know this?" Nick Fury spread his hands and retorted.
Iron Man really didn't know.
He hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D. only to find the information he wanted to understand, not to crack all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets like a peeping tom.
He really didn't know the true relationship between Howard and S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Stark, your father was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D." Nick Fury said to Iron Man seriously.
Iron Man was stunned. This matter truly greatly exceeded his expectations.
"Peggy Carter was also one of the founders." Nick Fury then glanced at Captain America beside him and added.
"Carter was also a founder?" Captain America was equally surprised.
However, after learning this, he suddenly felt much more affinity for S.H.I.E.L.D. and for Nick Fury.
And this was also the reason why Nick Fury told this news to Captain America and Iron Man—it was nothing more than to close the distance and bind everyone more closely together.
"Stark, Howard left you something. He said only you have the resources and wisdom to complete the plan he started."
Nick Fury then looked at Iron Man with a serious expression and said.
"You must have misheard. The person he was talking about definitely wasn't me." Iron Man shook his head.
Howard didn't care about him at all, had always been cold to him, and had never said such complimentary words to him.
"Stark, you really don't understand your father." Nick Fury sighed.
"By the sound of it, you seem to understand him better than I do." Iron Man said dismissively.
"In fact, to a certain extent, you could say that."
Nick Fury spread his hands, "I'll have someone send the things to you right away. After you solve the palladium poisoning problem, we can then discuss how to deal with Hydra."