Chapter 366: The Plot Takes a Strange Turn

Steve stood before Eric, clad in uniform, shield in hand, tapping his shield with his fist: "You know who I am. What's your codename? Which region do you handle? Who's your superior? How long have you been with Hydra? Who recruited you?"

Eric had been severely shaken by the Leopard God's magic; both his arms were dislocated, his ribs likely broken, and he couldn't rise—but he remained defiant, continuously cursing T'Challa in Wakandan dialect.

Steve slammed his shield into Eric's shinbone; Eric let out a dying scream and rolled on the ground. Peter, witnessing this, silently stepped back two paces—he had never seen such a brutal captain.

Seeing his action, Steve said to Peter: "Peter, remember: the first rule against Hydra is never show them mercy."

"Don't be fooled by his loud screams—he might have a bomb planted inside. I've lost several comrades to this vile tactic."

Hearing the possibility of a bomb, Peter grew anxious—there were many people inside the Wakandan tower, and if the explosion was powerful enough, the entire building could collapse.

He stepped forward and said: "Why don't we open up his chest cavity? That's the only place a bomb could be hidden."

"Isn't Doctor Strange here? He's called a divine gift to human medicine—surely he can open his chest cavity perfectly without killing him?"

Hearing this, even with fractured arms, Eric strained his waist violently, trying to flee.

"Uh…" Steve hesitated. According to Strange's earlier account, when he went to pick up Peter, Peter had been in the biology lab conducting experiments. Peter always carried a peculiar aura after leaving the biology lab—as if everyone looked like a lab rat.

At that moment, Stark stepped out of the portal, charging toward Eric with murderous intent, even knocking Steve back two steps despite his shield.

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but Stark turned, his helmet's faceplate clicking upward as he stared directly at Steve: "Don't provoke me. Right now, you only need to focus on one thing: doing your damn job and sending these Hydra scum to hell."

Steve stared back at Stark, deeply displeased by his defiance: "On this matter, I have far more experience than you. I've sent more Hydra to hell than your age multiplied by hundreds."

"Is that so? Perfect." Strange walked in from outside the room. "Mephisto's been working from home lately. His hell loves the most wicked souls. If you can bring him more, maybe you can trade for something better."

In an instant, the tension between Iron Man and Captain America dissolved.

It was like two masters debating swordplay in a bamboo grove—one saying, "Flowers and leaves can become blades," the other saying, "Riding wind and walking on water, I alone am extraordinary."

Then someone burst in: "When sparring, remember to chop more bamboo—sell it at the market for two and a half yuan per jin…"

Steve and Stark both turned to stare at Strange. Strange, still lowering his head to adjust his red silk ribbon, said: "A few of his subordinates tried rushing over—I dealt with them."

He looked up and noticed both men staring fixedly at him. Strange touched his face: "What? Is there something on my face?"

Steve crossed his arms and turned to Stark: "When it comes to fighting Hydra, no one in the world is more professional than me."

"Yeah, you fought just a few of these bugs and ended up frozen under ice for seventy years."

"Bugs??" Steve was clearly angry now. "Those who've never known war can never imagine its cruelty. What do you call the sacrifices of countless lives?"

"The weak talk about sacrifice. I only care about efficiency."

As the two were about to fight, Peter rushed between them, stopping them. He first turned to Steve: "Captain, calm down—we can't fight among ourselves. The real enemy is right in front of us!"

Then he turned to Stark: "Mr. Stark, shouldn't we first find out the cause?"

At that moment, Strange had already walked to the spear lying beside Eric. He said: "Just now, I noticed the Leopard God seemed very interested in this object. There's a peculiar energy on it—a power I've never seen before. What is it?"

Stark glared at Steve, then walked over to Strange and took the spear. "The tip's material is definitely vibranium—but why is this sharp part discolored?"

Stark continued analyzing: "Vibranium is a metal with excellent properties across the board, stable even under extreme conditions, never changing shape. What caused this discoloration? I need more precise equipment to analyze…"

At that moment, Steve tapped his shield and said: "We have a living Hydra member right here. We should interrogate him first before considering anything else."

"You completely miss the point."

"You're the one chasing trivialities."

Peter sighed helplessly—he didn't understand why everyone was so irritable today.

In truth, it was normal. Upgraded Stark had seen the full truth—he now knew his parents' car accident had been orchestrated by Hydra, through Captain America's friend, the Winter Soldier.

But later, he saw even more tragic endings of alternate timelines. The shock of hearsay versus firsthand experience differed by thousands of times. Stark simply could not accept such a fate.

He knew civil war would only worsen humanity's plight. To prevent potential tragedy and end humanity's helplessness, he could temporarily set aside his hatred and stand on the side of justice.

But that didn't mean his mood would improve—especially when confronting the very mastermind behind it all.

Steve's temper was usually decent—at least far better than Stark's. But his lifelong pursuit, nearly an obsession, was Hydra.

Previously, Nick had subtly hinted that Hydra still existed, but Steve had refused to believe it. Yet when Strange approached him, he immediately set out—until he saw Eric, and realized his old nightmare had truly returned.

Countless comrades had fallen beneath this evil organization's blades. Humanity had panicked, feared, and erupted into war. Countless innocent lives vanished. And this organization never repented—it had never been truly destroyed.

Steve's mood could not possibly be good. Anyone who had endured such things would feel weary—and now Stark, like a powder keg, ignited at the slightest spark. They couldn't exchange two sentences without clashing.

Peter's head throbbed. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore—he shouted: "Listen to me!!!"

The two arguing men stopped and turned to him. Peter grew timid again, stammering: "... h, I mean, don't fight… how about you each take one part? Mr. Stark studies the spear, Captain interrogates the killer—wouldn't that work?"

The two exchanged glances, seeing battle in each other's eyes. Stark extended one finger: "I'll show you that all your years of effort were useless. You ignored the most critical part, so you could never eradicate them completely. Now, Stark will demonstrate the correct method…"

Steve coldly replied: "Those who've never known war will always be this arrogant. You'll never understand the cruelty of this war. You'll pay for your pride."

With that, both men snorted in unison and went their separate ways.

But anyone could see a competition had begun between them—and it would soon grow far larger.

Stark quickly gathered all his scientist friends—Banner, Connors, Charles, Strange, Sheeler… Wait, was there a strange person mixed in?

Regardless, Stark contacted every highly educated person he knew, assembled them in his lab, and created a massive operational analysis chart.

"War alone cannot solve fundamental problems. To excise this cancer from human society, technological means are essential."

"Surveillance, monitoring, aggregation, analysis—this is modern warfare."

Stark's voice echoed through the room as the others sat on sofas, watching him point at the projection: "I will build a complete surveillance network to monitor every location where Hydra might operate. All behavioral data will be fed to the main brain, JARVIS, for analysis."

"Of course, even an AI might make mistakes. That's where you two renowned psychologists come in—to help the artificial intelligence build its analytical logic…"

"Wait." Sheeler interrupted him, glancing at Charles, then at Stark: "You brought Charles and me here to help refine your behavioral analysis system?"

"Don't you feel like something's missing from this step?"

"You mean you think we're unnecessary? Honestly, I also think that given enough time…"

"I mean—you're unnecessary."

Stark glared at Sheeler: "What do you mean? I'm the creator and leader of this plan. You want to kick me out??"

"He means," Strange added, "Charles is sitting right here, and you still want to rely on robots to monitor people?"

"No, no," Stark shook his head. "You don't understand. This is a competition, right? I'm competing with Steve. He wants to prove experience works—but I must stop him from walking down the wrong path."

"He's fought Hydra for decades. And what's the result? That damn organization is still alive."

"Listen, I'm not denying veterans' achievements—but clinging to past glory without progress won't solve anything. The problem is right there. We must solve it completely."

"So you're saying you lead, and we assist?" Banner asked.

Stark nodded, pointing at Banner: "Geniuses always resonate, right?"

Banner sighed: "Could it be possible that if you two teamed up, efficiency would be higher?"

"How can you still not understand?" Stark crossed his arms, sounding slightly angry. "I have to beat him first before I can convince him! Fine, I don't need you anyway. Go do whatever you were doing."

Stark waved his hand, giving off an expression of "I can't communicate with you people." Charles, however, remained gentle: "Let me see if I understood correctly: Captain America believes his old methods against Hydra still work—just keep fighting them firmly, and victory is guaranteed."

"But you think those methods are outdated, inefficient. And neither of you can convince the other."

"So you're going to have a competition—the one with better results wins, right?"

"Exactly." Stark rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "That kid Peter actually sided with him! After all I've done for him…"

"After you kept him in the lab until midnight, his aunt nearly took Stark Industries to the press for child labor exploitation," Connors retorted. "Besides, any sane person knows who to pick between playboy Stark and Captain America Steve?"

"That's right, Tony. Cherish us," Sheeler leaned against the armrest, smiling. "We chose you over Captain America. You should know—if I'd chosen Steve, he might've given me the last figure from that collection…"

"What???" Banner stared wide-eyed at Sheeler. "The Captain really said that?? I was just one figure short of the hidden edition!"

"Hey! Bruce, don't leave! Damn it, is a toy figure enough to buy you off?!" Stark yelled.

Seeing the others rise as if to leave, Stark raised his hands helplessly: "Fine, fine. Great Stark, after completing 99% of the work, needs your 1% help. Is that acceptable?"

"No sincerity," Strange shook his head. Sheeler had already stepped out of the sofa range. He shrugged: "Alright, if we're worth only 1% together, I'll let the other 0. % go to someone else…"

"Fine! Fine!" Stark rolled his eyes, raising his hand. "Will you join my team and work with me on this Hydra operation? I admit your skills are on par with mine—that's why I want to collaborate. As for the other side…"

Stark snorted: "They don't even have a single Ph. . between them."

"We don't even have a single Ph. . between us," Peter said gloomily in the new base of the superhero team. "The other side has at least a dozen Ph. . —Banner alone has seven."

"The world isn't about degrees," Steve patted Peter's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "Like you, Peter—you're just a high school student, yet you've already done more than many adults."

Peter smiled: "Captain, you're always so good at comforting people."

"You know I'm honest. Only sincerity brings real comfort."

"Forget that for now—shouldn't our team have a name?" Matt was mixing drinks at the bar; Elektra handed him a glass of ice—they had both joined the superhero team.

Matt had just finished one drink when Eddie, sitting at the bar's end, grabbed the entire glass and shoved it into his mouth. Matt glared at Eddie. Eddie looked innocent: "You know it wasn't me."

At the same time, Venom's shadow flickered, its broken-voice growling: "Yeah, it was me. Got a problem?"

Mark swung his cane and smacked Eddie with a "whoosh." Eddie yelped: "He ate it! Why are you hitting me?"

"Don't play dumb with me."

Eric, the Blade Warrior, polishing his weapon on a nearby chair, turned to Steve: "Aren't you going to control him? We've already replaced two sets of glasses this week."

"Alright, Venom, even if your teeth are strong, you can't eat everything."

"And you, Eddie—if he wants to eat chocolate balls, let him. I heard Blue Spirit say Venom's still a child in his species."

"Though kids shouldn't eat too many snacks, denying him entirely is too harsh. That's not good parenting…" Steve said solemnly.

"A child? Bullshit!" Eddie widened his eyes. "Have you ever seen a child weighing three tons?"

"I'm not that heavy! Shut up, coward!" Venom roared.

"You're not that heavy? Don't you notice how much fatter you've gotten? Your slime volume has tripled—how much have you eaten?"

"Friends. Let's get back to the point," Steve sighed, clapping his hands to draw their attention. "I think the earlier question deserves discussion—we need a proper name for this team."

"Our previous codename was 'Superhero Team Project,' but the team has expanded."

"Barton and Natasha couldn't come due to work; the three mutant students are still in another star system due to symbiote issues—but they've all agreed to join. We have enough members now. It's time for a name…"

"You're the captain—you decide," Matt said indifferently. "I have no ideas for names, especially one that pleases everyone."

Steve sighed. His low voice echoed through the dim underground base: "When I learned that evil organization still lived, my first thought was of my fallen comrades."

Xiaoshuting

"They left their safe homeland to fight these evils on the front lines—and gave their lives in war."

"If this is the destined fate of all who harbor justice, then we shall use the unique power bestowed upon us at birth to avenge these ordinary people who, aware of the danger, still press forward without hesitation..."

Eddie said inside his mind: "No, not..."

"Revenge!!!" Venom stood and shouted: "I am Venom, I am Revenge!!!"

The others gathered around; Steve extended his hand, and Matt was the first to place his on it, saying: "Avengeing criminals is my creed. Hydra has committed countless atrocities—they deserve retribution. I have no qualms being both executioner and judge, making them pay."

Elektra placed her hand on top, saying: "Count me in—I haven't settled my score with the Hand yet."

After Peter placed his hand on top, he said: "Yeah, I don't have many enemies, but you're my friends—your enemies are my enemies. I'll do my best."

"Then... alright..." Steve picked up his shield from beside him, raised it, and said with resolute eyes:

"The Avengers, assemble!"

——————Side Note——————

I managed to bring this back? I'll cross my arms!