Chapter Seventeen: The Insight Plan!

With the help of Angela and Pepper Potts, it took great effort to move everyone onto their beds for treatment, and they only gradually regained consciousness by dinner time.

The good news was that the witch hadn’t evolved into her future ultimate form; though the heroes had been unconscious for several hours, none bore any lasting or severe wounds.

“Tony, are you feeling any better?”

Handing Tony a glass of his treasured red wine, Hao Yun beckoned the newly awakened heroes to sit.

“I’ll live, it’s nothing fatal.”

Tony’s expression was grim. He had learned about the people from the future through Hao Yun, and could guess who the two that had defeated him were. He had never wanted children to be drawn into war, but in the end, Hydra had used them anyway.

“It’s alright. Just one defeat—no one died, and that’s the best outcome.”

The Captain comforted Tony. To return safely was a blessing, after all. Their opponent was Hydra, the shadowy organization that orchestrated World War II and had lurked in the darkness for decades.

“But… Forget it,”

Tony’s lips moved as if to explain, but he gave up. He couldn't exactly admit he'd known about those two siblings all along.

“Fine, a loss is a loss. But Tony, there’s another matter you owe me an explanation for!”

Hao Yun halted the conversation, fixing Tony with a stern gaze.

“Where is the Mind Stone? And the Cosmic Cube? I couldn’t find them in the warehouse. Tony, you know how important those two items are!”

“Well...” Tony’s eyes darted away, “I… I wanted to create Vision ahead of schedule.”

“So?”

“I couldn’t find vibranium. SHIELD claimed they had some. But they wanted to borrow the Mind Stone and the Cosmic Cube for research…”

“And then they just took them, and now you can’t get them back, is that it?”

Hao Yun was so furious he nearly exploded. All his efforts to change the future, even going so far as to store the Cosmic Cube and Mind Stone in the Illuminati’s vault—and he still lost them?

And the Aether—if Thor hadn’t insisted on returning it to Asgard, would Tony have sent that out as well?

How could Tony be so arrogant, so careless, to hand Infinity Stones to Hydra?

Now, with the Mind Stone and Cosmic Cube in their hands, Hydra had dropped all pretense, seized control of SHIELD, and brought out the witch and Quicksilver ahead of time. With weapons powered by the infinite energy of the Cosmic Cube, how was Hao Yun supposed to fight them?

Had he known, it might have been wiser to let the plot unfold naturally—perhaps it would have been easier to win over the witch and Quicksilver.

“Come on… It’s just two super-powered individuals. With so many heroes, can’t we handle them?”

Tony turned away, avoiding Hao Yun’s gaze, trying to sound defiant despite his apprehension.

Hao Yun’s mouth twitched. Did Tony really believe they could win? Even if the witch didn’t unleash her powers to rival Thanos, how would they deal with Quicksilver?

All martial arts are unstoppable, but speed is invincible… Quicksilver’s velocity had transcended normal limits. In Marvel’s universe, he could even reach near-light speed!

If not for expensive special effects and plot convenience, Quicksilver could easily be one of the strongest Avengers.

“Enough, don’t blame Tony anymore.”

Angela couldn’t bear to watch and slapped Hao Yun, shooting him a fierce look. No matter what, Tony was your uncle—show some respect!

“Mom, I honestly don’t know how to deal with SHIELD right now.”

Hao Yun looked at Angela, aggrieved. Two powerful enemies plus SHIELD, the strongest official organization—how was he supposed to fight them?

Just then, before the group could discuss how to handle SHIELD, Jarvis suddenly interrupted with a call.

The 3D projection flickered on, displaying the caller’s avatar: the legendary, supposedly deceased SHIELD director, Nick Fury.

“Captain, Tony, we’ve got trouble.”

“Egghead? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

Tony stared in surprise at Fury, who looked healthy as he reclined on a hospital bed. Seeing the stunning Agent Hill by his side only deepened Tony’s confusion.

Dead? This looked more like a vacation—especially with such attractive company.

“Ha, have you heard of tetrodotoxin?”

“Tetrodotoxin can induce a temporary state of apparent death. Pulse, respiration—nearly undetectable…”

Tony rattled off the key points about the toxin, his expression turning even more mocking. “Looks like SHIELD’s tech needs an upgrade. I invented a device to detect feigned death a year ago!”

His pointed sarcasm left Nick in an awkward position, but Fury wasn’t here for Tony—he sought the Captain. So, Nick decisively shifted the topic, leaving Tony behind.

“Captain, do you remember the Insight Project I mentioned?”

“Right—the one where you planned to keep all humanity under the threat of gunfire, shrouded in terror?”

The Captain recalled their earlier conversation: three airborne carriers, suborbital flight, constant surveillance…

“Yes. I regret to say, the Insight Project was entirely manipulated by Hydra. In three days at most, they’ll secure approval from the Security Council, launch the carriers, and officially begin the project.”

“Wait, you’re not saying…”

The Captain’s face darkened as a dreadful realization struck.

“Yes, you guessed it.”

Nick’s expression grew grim—darker even than usual. “The Illuminati are listed as threats in the Insight Project. Clearance level: one. Must be eliminated.”

“Damn it, Nick! I told you your plan wouldn’t work!”

The Captain, unable to sit still, stood and began to berate Fury. Hao Yun and Tony exchanged glances, recalling the specifics of the Insight Project.

Hao Yun winked at Tony: Don’t tell me you helped upgrade the carriers?

Tony: I thought after the Battle of New York, Nick would’ve abandoned it…

Hao Yun: Come on, you know what Nick’s like! He should’ve been born Russian, name Nick Fury-Can’t-Stand-Not-Controlling-Everything-ski! And you dared to upgrade his carriers? He’ll be aiming his first surveillance at you!

Tony: Fine, my mistake! I forgot to account for human nature…

Hao Yun: You’re just all brains, no emotional intelligence. Sooner or later, you’ll break up with my aunt.

Tony: Say what you want, but don’t curse me!

Their silent exchange of glances ended as the Captain hung up. He’d received confirmation from Fury: in three days, if they couldn’t deal with Hydra’s SHIELD, the whole planet would fall under the terror of Insight.

And worse still, at that very moment, yellow sparks flickered in the air—Ancient One had arrived as well.