Ron extended his hand and lightly tapped.
An energy ray blasted Luke Cage, sending him crashing through the window and plummeting dozens of stories down with a scream.
Pew, pew!
The others started shooting at Fury and Captain America.
"Damn it, he's too impulsive. I shouldn't have brought him."
Knocked down by Captain America, the two hid behind the sofa. Nick Fury regretted hiring Luke Cage just for his exceptional strength. He pulled out the pistol from his waist.
"Fury, didn't you tell him about Ron's strength?"
Holding his shield to block the thudding energy lasers, Captain America yelled.
"That's a secret even the high levels of Congress don't know!"
He whispered, Luke Cage was just a mercenary hired by S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Let's get out of here first."
Bang!
A corner of the sofa was shattered, wood splinters flying. Captain America covered Nick Fury, observing nervously, using his shield to block the incoming energy lasers, trying to leave.
Clang, clang, clang!
The laser gunshots hit the Vibranium shield, all blocked.
Just as the two were near the door, about to leave.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Captain America cried out, clutching his injured, bleeding leg as he fell to the ground, turning his head to look.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ron stood coldly with his hands behind his back. Beside him, Najia, full of female might, held a double-barreled shotgun with smoke rising from its muzzle. She snorted, pushed, and two shell casings dropped.
"You threatened our King and still think you can leave?"
"A shotgun?"
He widened his eyes.
Why would this high-tech nation suddenly have a shotgun used for hunting in the countryside?
Without protection, Nick Fury dared not move. Facing a barrage of laser guns, he simply dropped his gun, signaling he was no longer a threat and to not shoot.
"What?
The renowned Captain America, who can block machine guns on the battlefield, can't defend against a shotgun."
Stepping closer, Ron glanced at the shield in his hand.
This shield, for some unknown magic, couldn't even fully protect a person's upper body, yet it allowed Captain America to move freely on the battlefield.
"Could it be that it has a taunt effect, 'Must attack the minion with taunt first'?"
Everyone who saw the shield with the U.S. flag colors got excited and pounded on the shield.
But facts proved this effect was useless against the large-area shrapnel coverage of a shotgun. A shotgun—a treasure against Captain America.
In "Avengers: Age of Ultron," if Ultron hadn't been so fixated on his high-tech palm cannons, and instead had picked up a shotgun like the Terminator and fired a few clean shots, he wouldn't have ended up losing his own body against Captain America.
"Hiss… you know me?"
Hearing Ron's words, cold sweat dripped from his forehead. Captain America gasped in pain, his knees and below injured in multiple places by the large-area shrapnel.
In public perception, he had been dead for seventy years. Even having a shield didn't explain anything; who would believe he was the real Captain America?
"Of course, I even specifically had my subordinates buy a rare master tape of your documentary from the last century."
"Could… could you be a fan of Captain America?"
Nick Fury asked, his tone somewhat disbelieving.
He thought of Coulson in the agency, who was a fanatic fan of Captain America, spending years to collect a complete set of Captain America trading cards.
A master tape from the last century, related to Captain America, after so long, hard to find and valuable, likely not easy to acquire.
Captain America's expression was strange.
This man, who ordered his subordinates to riddle his leg with holes, was his fan? Was there such a fan?
Ron looked at Fury as if he were an idiot, then pulled out a button and lightly pressed it.
A holographic projection appeared in the room.
Color ultra-clear restored footage.
After a dynamic 20th-century music piece, two rows of heavily made-up dancers on stage, holding hands and swinging their long, pale legs, danced and sang.
(Who is strong and brave to save America?)
(Who vows to fight for justice day and night?)
Captain America, wearing a battle-suit-like stage costume, a goofy mask, and carrying a square shield, made a grand entrance from backstage. He grinned, gave a thumbs-up, and smiled warmly: "Not everyone can storm a beach or drive a tank, but everyone can contribute to the nation."
"E-series defense bonds, every one can become a bullet fired at the enemy!"
"…I've only heard about it, never seen it. Today, my eyes have been opened."
Nick Fury felt his eyes had been opened.
The Super Soldier Serum was originally a mass-production experiment, and Captain America was the first test subject. But later it became a discontinued product. The United States Government believed that a single Super Soldier was useless, better off as a celebrity doing commercial shows and selling bonds.
With a light tap of the button, scenes of Captain America performing in various places appeared, with the consistent act of punching down an actor with a 'mustache' trying to ambush him from behind.
There were also several stage plays filmed, depicting 'heroic' battles with Nazi soldiers.
"Captain America Bravely Enters Berlin," "The Shield Hero's Beach Landing," "Who Made the Mustache Man Beg for Mercy?"
"I must say, your acting needs improvement."
His acting was a bit cringeworthy. Ron slightly shook his head, speaking to Steve Rogers, the young idol heavily promoted by the U.S. military in the last century.
"…Looking at his embarrassing past, Captain America instinctively curled his toes, but only felt a pang of pain.
Why could embarrassing history be left behind even in an era without the internet?
This person must have specifically bought the master tape to humiliate him, right?
"Take them away."
Ron waved his hand, giving the order.
Handcuffed, Nick Fury was escorted away, while Captain America, with his injured leg, was dragged away. The holographic projection in the room happened to show him crawling forward, landing on the beach amidst Nazi gunfire.
He opened the system panel and checked his ability points.
Ability Points: 680,000
"Almost, more than halfway there."
A slight smile played on his lips. The ability points required to purchase the Odin template were already more than halfway complete.
He had no intention of starting a World War with America, but it was absolutely impossible to take people from him with just a few perfunctory words and threats.
Even if General Ross was being brainwashed by him, bringing him back would still make him an inside agent.
…In Asgard.
Since that day when Odin, Frigga, and Angela told her she was their daughter, Angela couldn't accept it and tried to escape as if fleeing.
Who could suddenly be told that the people they had been taught to despise and hate, even their assassination targets, were actually their father and mother?
The despicable, hypocritical Asgardian royalty is me?
Frigga, who never expected to see her deceased daughter again, had no choice but to use magic to create shackles, locking Angela in her chambers to explain the situation to her.
She would never let her daughter, whom she had finally reunited with, leave.
Odin, to protect himself, forcibly exited the Odin Sleep again and even used a burst of divine power, making his body damage even worse. He was conscious for only a short while before he couldn't hold on and had to enter the Odin Sleep again.
"You… are you really my mother?"
Restrained by Odin's mercy and the woman's continuous tearful chatter for days, Angela, chained to the wall, spoke with a pale face and trembling lips.
"Yes, my daughter."
Hearing her daughter relent, Queen Frigga, rarely losing her composure, nodded vigorously, her eyes red with emotion.
"Your name isn't Angela, you are Audreyf, Audreyf Odinsdottir.
You are the daughter of Odin."
Odin had four children: Hela, Audreyf, Thor, and Loki, but only Audreyf was born to Frigga.
Frigga was even younger than Hela; she was chosen by the Vanir gods to marry Odin.
She only had one daughter, Audreyf, and that daughter was killed before she even left the cradle after birth. This had been her heartache for many years.
Odin, whose stubbornness in earlier years led to the loss of his daughter, was also greatly grieved by this.
"Child, look, these are my memories."
To make Audreyf believe, Frigga waved her hand and released her memories, allowing her daughter to view them freely.
Audreyf saw the war of that year, how the Queen of Heaven, whom she served, stabbed her when she was still in the cradle, and how the woman in front of her was heartbroken.
She remembered being the only wingless one in Heaven, remembered being raised by the Queen's handmaidens, remembered her strength far exceeding that of ordinary Angels, and remembered the scar on her chest as a child, and various other strange occurrences.
"But… but…"
Audreyf also remembered how she had bravely charged into the Heavenly Palace not long ago, and for a moment, she couldn't accept it.
"If so, didn't I invade my own home, blind my brother, and almost kill my father?"
This was something she could not accept.
She could see that Odin's physical condition had worsened due to her assassination, forcing him to awaken, and his lifespan would be shortened.
"No, Thor's eye was injured but not blinded."
Fearing her daughter would blame herself, Frigga quickly said, Thor's eye was only injured, and he was indeed not blinded.
"As for your father, he… he was just too tired. He was forced to fight a Midgardian on Midgard with his aging body, which is why he became like this. It has nothing to do with you."
She thought for a moment and said hurriedly.
"Re… really?"
Audreyf hesitated, looking up at her.
"Really."
Frigga nodded vigorously, not wanting her daughter to feel self-reproach or guilt.
Audreyf seemed to gradually accept her identity. After the mother and daughter talked for a while longer, Frigga, who hadn't rested for several days and was emotionally stirred by reuniting with her daughter, felt a wave of drowsiness. She lay on the bedside, holding Odin's hand, and fell asleep.
Before sleeping, she unlocked Audreyf's magical shackles.
"Odin is actually my… and I…"
Audreyf stood up, silently looking at Odin, whose face was ashen, almost like a dead man. She bit her lip hard, then turned and quietly left, heartbroken.
She still couldn't accept and face what she had done. She had killed many Asgardians to reach the depths of the Heavenly Palace.
After leaving Asgard, a surge of anger filled her heart, but she didn't know who it was directed at.
Was it the trickery of fate, or the deception of her adoptive mother? Against herself for almost committing a grave mistake? Or all of the above?
There was also a sense of confusion about where she should go next.
"With the blood of my own people on my hands, I have no face to remain in Asgard, but Heaven…?"
No, Audreyf shook her head abruptly. She also didn't want to return to the place where she grew up but never truly belonged.
Suddenly, she thought of Midgard, and a certain person on Midgard.
"Midgard, that Midgardian who… who caused 'him' to fall into a long Odin Sleep!"
Her confused and angry heart found an outlet. For a moment, she numbed herself, only thinking about this matter and nothing else.
"I'm going to find him, and I'll make him pay!"
…In the water prison.
In the water prison, near the swamp, where poisonous insects flew everywhere.
"Why would a high-tech nation have a prison like this?"
Luke Cage, who had fallen from the high-rise and passed out, was now stuffed into the water prison with only his neck above the water. He gripped the bars, somewhat angry.
Isn't this the kind of water prison you'd only see in primitive tribes in the African jungle?
The two guards watching him said coldly, "His Majesty specifically ordered it built for you. Just stay put."
"He's right, this clearly was built for us."
With his wounds soaking in the sewage, Captain America's face was pale and he seemed somewhat weak.
"Normally, you wouldn't need Vibranium to make cages for ordinary people."
After being put into the water prison, he had already tried to pry open the bars to escape, but with his strength of several tons, he couldn't even bend them slightly.
"Nick Fury, why didn't you tell me he wasn't an ordinary person either, and so powerful!"
He also tried, but even with tens of tons of strength, he couldn't bend it. Luke Cage turned his head and angrily asked.
That way he wouldn't have charged in like an idiot and been knocked off the building.
"You said this was just a regular protection mission, at most dealing with Wakanda's energy laser guns."
"It's classified."
Fury's face, black as a pot bottom, had several new bumps. As the one with the most ordinary physique among the three, he suffered the most here.
And… not mentioning this would save a large sum in hiring fees.
"Besides, I didn't expect Ron to react this way."
Last time, he saw Ron unyielding even to the legendary god Odin for the sake of Earth.
This time, he had expected Ron to consider the consequences of a major war for the World and his country's people. Even if he wouldn't easily agree to release them, he wouldn't directly break ties and attack them, the intermediaries.
He miscalculated.
Fury couldn't help but think of that cosmic pager.
Should he call that woman back? It had been decades, and she shouldn't just be maintaining peace in the Universe. It was time for her to return and see her homeland.