Chapter 1850: Journey of a Madman (Part 63)

Standing in the laboratory, Stark looked at the police officer at the door in shock. "What did you say?! Uncle Obadiah was murdered?!!! How could this happen?!!!"

The officer pushed the door open and rushed in, looking at Stark. "About thirty minutes ago, Obadiah was found dead in his home by his driver. The cause of death was a slit throat. Footprints of an outsider were found in the courtyard in front of his house. The killer fled the scene and is currently at large."

Stark was stunned.

At this moment, an FBI agent and Coulson rushed in one after the other. The FBI agent spoke first: "The wound on the neck was caused by an energy weapon. The killer is not an ordinary assassin. S. H. I. E. L. D. has already taken over this case."

Coulson squeezed through the crowd, took a look at everyone, and whispered into Stark's ear: "Thermal dagger, no doubt about it."

Stark gasped. Everyone knew that micro-weapons and thermal weapons were synonymous with Wakanda.

He also recalled that Erik had previously told him the culprit behind his kidnapping was Obadiah. When he had shown a skeptical expression, Erik had been visibly anxious.

Did Erik kill Obadiah?

Things were spiraling out of control. Stark couldn't afford to stay in the lab tinkering with his armor anymore. He dragged Coulson into a side office and asked, "Are there any traces of the killer? Do you know where he went? Can our plan still proceed?"

"Fury's meaning is for the plan to continue as scheduled. The plane is ready. You must go to Eastern Europe to take out those Hydra members. We will handle the rest."

Given the circumstances, Stark had no choice but to trust Fury. He closed his armor's faceplate and said to Coulson, "No plane needed. Just send me the coordinates. Believe me, the trouble you're dealing with is a big one—don't go easy on them. Also, leave the Hydra member inside S. H. I. E. L. D. to me."

Coulson nodded. Stark activated his armor and flew out. Following the coordinates on his HUD, he flew at top speed to a small town in a Baltic state.

Iron Man hovered in mid-air, extending his hand to scan the combat traces on the ground. Soon, the armor's AI assistant displayed the results.

There were no signs of life here, but an armed conflict had taken place. It appeared to be a dozen agents against three times that number of enemies, but the opposition lacked firepower; only about half of them had managed to retreat.

Iron Man flew to the next waypoint. He quickly discovered more secret Hydra bases, and the traces of their activities were no longer confined to the Baltic states, spreading toward Germany.

Finally, Iron Man stopped in a valley in the Berlin region. The signal response indicated that there was likely a massive underground base here, and judging by certain symbols, this place was definitely one of the legacies of the "Little Hu Zi."

Seeing that symbol made Stark's blood boil. Once the armor's energy was fully charged, micro-missiles launched from his back, blowing the gate wide open.

Alarms blared instantly. A group of Hydra agents armed to the teeth rushed out of the base, but these ordinary agents were no match for Iron Man. Iron Man flexibly controlled the armor, darting through the mountains and using the flexibility of air superiority and the precision of his repulsors to send them tumbling in minutes.

Just then, a tall figure emerged from the darkness of the base entrance. A burly, bald man appeared in Iron Man's field of vision, wearing a black combat robe and holding a strange weapon that looked like a cannon.

Stark was about to scan the weapon when the dark muzzle aimed at him. A bomb fired out. Stark turned flexibly to dodge, but the moment the bomb exploded on the ground, a cloud of black smoke billowed up, and alarms blared throughout the armor.

"Warning, warning. Unknown gas infiltrating oxygen circulation. Activating filtration system..."

"Corrosive substance detected. Potential damage to armor surface. Please evade immediately. Damage level: 9%..."

"Warning, air quality severely degraded. Please evacuate to an open area immediately to avoid asphyxiation risk..."

Stark didn't look back, flying several hundred meters away before the alarms in his armor finally ceased. He looked back at where the bomb had landed; the ground had been corroded into a patch of black.

He felt a bit dizzy himself; clearly, the armor's airtight seal had been breached for a split second, and some of the substance had been inhaled into his lungs.

Stark finally saw the man's true face. According to the Hydra files Coulson had provided, this man was Baron Strucker, once a favorite of the "Little Hu Zi" and also Fury's nemesis.

But Fury's files stated that this man was confirmed dead, killed by Fury himself. Seeing him here, Stark knew things weren't simple.

Stark checked the armor's status. That one hit had caused surface damage, and to prevent inhaling toxic gas, Stark had to keep the oxygen filtration system running constantly, which consumed a massive amount of energy.

Stark pondered a combat strategy. More bombs were thrown his way. Baron Strucker laughed wildly, and more black spores churned in the air, making it impossible for Stark to get close.

But just then, a strange humming sound rang in Stark's ears. As he turned his head, he saw a fleet of ships blotting out the sun appearing above him. The ships gradually decloaked in the sunlight, revealing the Wakandan emblem.

Stark's eyes widened in shock. Immediately after, a broadcast came through the communication channel: "Unidentified flying object, please clear the area. Wakandan Royal Guard on official business. Please clear the area, please clear the area..."

"Hello? Hello?! This is Tony Stark! Put your King on the line! Hello?"

The person on the other end was startled, muttering a few words in their local language. Soon, a slightly familiar voice rang in Stark's ear: "Hey, Tony, is that you? This is Black Panther. What are you doing here? And what is that thing flying in the sky?"

"This is my new armor. And that's what I should be asking you—what are you doing here?"

Stark looked down to see squads of Wakandan warriors rushing out of the landing craft, quickly surrounding the entire base.

Baron Strucker threw bombs at them as well, but the Wakandan warriors pressed buttons on their belts, blue energy shields enveloping their bodies. They roared in battle and charged forward with thermal spears, clashing with Baron Strucker and the Hydra agents behind him.

Not waiting to hear T'Challa's explanation, Stark dove down, blowing Baron Strucker's hand-cannon apart with a few missiles, then banked and dove again, smashing his fist into Baron Strucker's ear and sending him flying.

Watching the Wakandan warriors pin Strucker down, Stark's thrusters flared as he landed. Behind him, the Wakandan King T'Challa, wearing the Black Panther suit, leaped from the transport ship and walked to Stark's side.

Stark was about to speak when a fighter jet roared overhead. It stopped between the cliffs nearest to them, and the figure that stepped out was Nick Fury.

But to Stark's astonishment, the figure following Nick Fury wasn't Coulson or Pierce, but Shiler.

Just then, Wakandan warriors rushed over, escorting a figure captured from inside the Hydra base. Stark was shocked to see that it was Erik.

"Sorry, Tony. He is a fugitive wanted by Wakanda—a shameless thief and murderer."

"What is going on here?" Stark looked from T'Challa to Fury, asking in confusion.

Seeing Shiler behind Fury, T'Challa walked up and shook his hand warmly, saying, "You must be Dr. Shiler. Thank you so much; otherwise, who knows how this damn thief would have continued to smear Wakanda's name."

Meanwhile, S. H. I. E. L. D. agents took several people from the Wakandan warriors. Stark vaguely heard the S. H. I. E. L. D. agents refer to them as "Hydra."

Stark stood there blankly, his gaze finally landing on Shiler. He looked at that familiar yet strange face and asked, "What is going on? Can someone tell me?"

Shiler walked toward him. Behind him, the dreamlike light of the sunset began to brighten. The sun rose in the west and set in the east, the clock hands spun backward, and everything returned to three minutes after Shiler arrived on Earth.

Was the first thing Shiler did to contact Hydra? Of course not.

The first person Shiler contacted was the King of Wakanda, Black Panther.

The reason was simple: the culprit in this universe was Erik, who was a Wakandan. Based on the plot of the *What If...? * universe, Erik had long been in contact with the vibranium thief Klaw.

In Black Panther's original story, the vibranium dealer Klaw had a significant role and was undoubtedly one of T'Challa's enemies. Naturally, Erik, who dealt with him, couldn't have a good relationship with T'Challa.

Shiler first called the Wakandan embassy. Embassy contact information was public. Shiler told the Wakandan ambassador that he had spotted a wanted Wakandan fugitive in the Afghanistan region but couldn't be sure, and needed more physical descriptions.

The Wakandan embassy took this very seriously and immediately reported it to the Wakandan Royal Guard. The Royal Guard called Shiler to ask what the person he saw looked like. Shiler provided some of Erik's physical information.

Of course, at that time, Shiler hadn't actually met Erik yet, but he had seen the animation and the movie. Even without the physical description, he added that he seemed to have seen him with someone selling vibranium.

This immediately confirmed Erik's identity to the Royal Guard, and Erik wasn't just a petty criminal in Wakanda.

From the phone call, Shiler learned that Erik was a Class-A fugitive in Wakanda because he had murdered three scientists at the Royal Research Institute and stolen secret blueprints before defecting.

Erik had provided Stark with blueprints for a drone suit in the *What If...? * animation, so Shiler knew those blueprints were actually stolen by Erik from the Wakandan Royal Research Institute.

With this lead, Shiler smoothly got through to T'Challa. T'Challa immediately wanted to organize a capture team for Erik, but was stopped by Shiler.

The reason was sound: the situation in Afghanistan was too complex—government forces, anti-government forces, U. S. military bases, peacekeeping forces, mercenaries. A Wakandan fleet appearing would definitely cause panic and potentially trigger international geopolitical shifts.

Erik wouldn't just surrender, either. If the Wakandan fleet chased him, it would surely trigger a war.

T'Challa was also feeling a headache. He had more personal grievances with Erik, but leading a large-scale military strike would damage Wakanda's international reputation and his own standing.

And so, Shiler proposed a plan.

On the other side, Shiler contacted Nick Fury. That was simple; Shiler used to do the books for Fury and knew all his secret contact methods.

Fury wouldn't have believed a stranger calling his phone, but the news Shiler brought was too heavy: Alexander Pierce was Hydra, and Shiler had a way for Fury to get the evidence.

It wasn't that Fury had zero suspicion of Pierce, but Pierce was just too cunning, and Fury couldn't find a single shred of evidence. Shiler's appearance gave Fury one last shot.

Having initially gained the trust of two reliable and intelligent allies, Shiler prepared a tool: the Hydra head, Baron Strucker. Shiler naturally had his contact info; Shiler had the contact info for every Hydra member.

The Seven Kills, the Broken Army, and the Greedy Wolf were all in position. Finally, in the anti-government base in Afghanistan, Shiler picked up the satellite phone and said in a low voice:

"He knows."

"He knows."