Chapter 904

"Oh God, I never thought you'd come back." Schiller embraced Captain America, his face filled with sorrow. "I thought you'd been killed by traitors' bullets, and I could do nothing but seek revenge for you…"

He turned to Nick and spoke with deep sincerity: "Director, I never imagined that in such a dire moment, you still had the means to turn the tide. Without you, I might never have seen them again…"

Nick stepped forward, placing a hand on Schiller's shoulder. "It's the Director of S. . . . . .'s duty. I'm not like those who fire from the shadows. Do you remember what I said? This is humanity's one and only chance to step into the stars. We must seize it."

Iron Man donned his armor and stepped forward, raising his voice. "What the hell is going on?! Our deaths couldn't have been an accident! Who's behind all this?!"

Nick shook his head. "Tony, forget about this for now. We need to unite. We can't be distracted by petty matters."

"I have to know who did this! If we don't drag them out, humanity will never know peace—even if we reach the stars, we'll still be dragged down by traitors!" Iron Man declared firmly.

Captain America stepped forward, standing between Nick and Iron Man. "Tony, we must think of the bigger picture. Whoever did this—we're alive now, aren't we? Let's go do something meaningful."

Iron Man spread his hands. "Yeah, yeah… You're the best at forgiving those who hurt you, those who tried to kill you. You're the greatest Captain America in the world…"

Iron Man looked at Captain America. "Are you trying to impose your moral code on me? Like you demanded I forgive that assassin?!"

Nick sighed, shaking his head. "Stop arguing. That's all in the past. Focus on now. You've been gone a long time—there's a mountain of work waiting. Go handle your own affairs first…"

Just then, Nick's phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello? Hill? What is it? What? The largest warehouse in Pennsylvania exploded?! What the hell happened?!"

Nick hung up, frowning, and waved the three of them over. "We're heading back to headquarters. Something's happened. Schiller, please come with us…"

As Nick walked out, he turned to Schiller beside him. "Resurrection isn't without side effects. Memory damage is the mildest case. You'll need to monitor the Avengers. If any of them cause trouble because of aftereffects, it'll be a disaster."

Schiller nodded. "Understood. I was planning to stay at the Avengers' base anyway. We all know those who fired the shots are still out there. If they learn the heroes are back, they'll strike again. I can give early warning."

Nick nodded and kept walking. The other three followed. When they returned to S. . . . . .'s main base, Nick turned to Hill with a grim expression. "What happened? Why did the warehouse explode?"

Hill pressed her hand to her forehead. "Natasha was injured. There were traces of mutants nearby. The situation is extremely complex. You'd better see it yourself."

Nick's face darkened. He scanned the three of them. "Sorry, no welcome party. Get ready to move. Everyone."

Nick, Coulson, Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Schiller boarded S. . . . . .'s private jet and raced to the site in Pennsylvania at top speed.

The location was in northern Pennsylvania, far from New York, but by air, they arrived in just over an hour. The first person they saw upon landing was Natasha.

Hawkeye Barton was bandaging her. Nick stepped forward and glanced at her.

A wound ran from her neck down her shoulder to her back—like a deep slash. She had lost a great deal of blood; all the old bandages were soaked red, and the new ones were already seeping crimson.

"How… how did you get this bad injured? Natasha? Who attacked the warehouse?" Nick's voice brimmed with fury.

Natasha's face was pale, but her expression remained resolute. Female agents never showed weakness. "I was ambushed. The enemy was clearly prepared."

She sighed, then began her account:

"Recently, S. . . . . . seized a batch of military equipment from illegal bases. Under prior orders, Barton and I were assigned to transport these items to the designated warehouse."

"Hill told me Director Nick Fury had been resurrected. I wanted to rush back to S. . . . . . immediately, but this equipment was critical—I had to stay and oversee it. Then Hill requested a warehouse inventory list, so I planned to complete the inventory before returning."

"But as I entered the warehouse, I lost consciousness for a period—my memory went blank. I didn't realize it at the time. I followed the plan: entered the warehouse, logged the equipment."

"Someone used telepathic control while I was inside, preventing me from checking whether the warehouse door was sealed. When I finished logging nearly all the equipment and was about to exit with the inventory list, an explosion occurred."

"I don't know what type of bomb they used, but the power was immense. When I heard the first detonation, I immediately tried to move—but it was too late."

"The main door was closing. I couldn't break out in seconds. If I got trapped inside, I'd die. So I chose the emergency exit."

"The explosion destabilized the mountain structure. As I escaped through the emergency passage, falling debris struck me."

Natasha sighed. "Luckily, I reacted quickly enough to escape—and I took the inventory list with me."

Natasha pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and handed it to Nick. His pupils contracted slightly as he read the equipment list.

"Low Earth orbit weapons… space-based weapons… stellar detonation devices…" Nick murmured the names in disbelief, then looked up at the warehouse now reduced to rubble.

If he weren't Black, his face would have shown a dramatic shift—but still, he walked toward the warehouse entrance, unwilling to accept it.

The massive entrance, once large enough for an aerial carrier to pass through, was now half-collapsed. The right side of the trapezoidal opening had been crushed by a fallen beam; a row of support pillars had toppled forward. Nick stepped around them and stared at the destroyed equipment.

He turned to Iron Man, who had flown down from above. "Tony, can you identify these devices?"

Iron Man landed, squinting at a large fragment. "This shell is made of molten steel—likely part of a weapon launch system…"

He walked further, examining scattered components. "These devices are made from new materials—recently developed aerospace tech. And these massive machines—they're for mining, but can also be weaponized."

"Isn't the Solar System Development Project under your jurisdiction? Don't you have records of these devices?" Nick asked slowly.

Iron Man slowly shook his head. At that moment, Barton stepped forward. "We discovered these military bases during routine patrols. Most belonged to radical factions within the military—they've been obsessed with weaponizing power."

"They had ample funding, so their R&D advanced rapidly. As soon as new materials reached Earth, they bought and deployed them."

Barton stared at the wreckage. "When we moved these here, they were still incomplete—just missing assembly and power. If they'd been fully built, they could've been operational immediately. Too bad…"

"Who the hell did this?!" Nick's voice dripped with lethal intent. He turned to Natasha. "Hill said there were mutant traces nearby. What's the story?"

"It's only my theory," Natasha said, stepping forward. "I told you—I lost memory during my walk into the warehouse. I was likely mentally controlled. I suspect this is a mutant ability."

"You mean Professor X?" Nick immediately grew wary.

Natasha shook her head. "Unlikely. If Professor X had done this, he wouldn't have let me notice. He could alter memories silently, without a trace. But I clearly felt the memory gap—this feels more brutal."

"I'm not sure if I hallucinated, but I saw two figures with golden hair—possibly a man and a woman—who entered the warehouse after me."

"And also…" Natasha turned to the ruins. "I suspect this wasn't a human-made bomb. If it were, I couldn't have survived such an explosion."

Iron Man tapped his helmet—JARVIS must have spoken to him. "Correct. According to JARVIS, if this were truly that level of explosive yield, the entire mountain would've been blown into the sky. It couldn't have destroyed only the warehouse."

Natasha lowered her head. "I know several mutants specialize in explosions—using air compression or magnetism. Their blasts are highly controllable, immensely destructive, and often include incineration effects—just like this."

Following her gaze, Nick looked at the charred ground around them. "Mutants… what do they want?!"

"We need to talk to Professor X. He must take responsibility," Natasha said, stepping closer to Nick. "Regardless, mutants fall under his jurisdiction. He shouldn't allow his people to damage S. . . . . .'s property—this is humanity's precious asset."

"Director, you need to speak with him," Barton added. "We've always had a good relationship with Professor X, but this time, they've gone too far. Even the Brotherhood should've been warned by him…"

But at that moment, Nick's angry, dark expression flickered—just for an instant—with awkward hesitation. Then he spoke again:

"Don't you two find this… suspicious?"