Agent Coulson received an urgent order early in the morning, not even having time to enjoy his sandwich and coffee before rushing to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters.
As a well-known nice guy, Coulson was impeccable in his interactions with others. Normally at headquarters, he would greet and exchange pleasantries with his colleagues, but today's order was urgent, so Coulson could only nod to his colleagues as he hurried towards the elevator.
The bald Sitwell walked in, "Hey Coulson, how was your vacation? I haven't had a vacation in ages, I envy you."
"It was great, if it weren't for this emergency recall," Coulson casually chatted with Sitwell. Out of the caution of an excellent agent, Coulson only complained about his vacation being ruined, not mentioning anything else.
The elevator arrived, and the two had to end their pointless conversation. Coulson quickly went to the office across the hall.
After knocking and entering, the one-eyed Nick Fury said to Coulson, "Take a look at this briefing first. Agent Hill will tell you the details after Natasha arrives."
Coulson sat on the sofa and opened the folder. On the top was a photo of ZI-O. There were photos from various angles, the Time Driver, the transformation of the Clock Needle Gunblade, and close-ups of ZI-O's face, all taken clearly. There were also close-ups of the Pointer Gunblade blowing up the truck's front.
Coulson's first thought was: This guy ruined my vacation, ruined my happy life with my cello-playing girlfriend.
Two minutes later, a woman with fiery red hair and an extraordinary allure walked into Nick Fury's office.
"Coulson, give the files to Agent Natasha Romanoff. The meeting starts in two minutes."
"The target calls himself 'Kamen Rider ZI-O', is wearing unknown power armor, and his entire body is covered in clock-themed elements. The text on his head has been confirmed to be Chinese characters meaning 'King of Time'. His weapon is a gunblade that can switch modes."
Agent Hill spoke as the screen displayed images of ZI-O blowing up a truck, along with short videos taken by bystanders.
"This gun is incredibly powerful, and the energy ammunition it uses is far beyond current technology. Moreover, his watch seems to exhibit technology that folds space. Here! After he took the watch off his wrist and pressed a button, the watch transformed into a motorcycle. We estimate that the target's watch has even more unknown technology," Agent Hill said, pointing at a picture of him riding the Ride Striker.
"The incident took place on the edge of the port, and the few witnesses have been effectively controlled. At the same time, a huge explosion occurred at the port where the target drove to. It has been determined to be a gang human trafficking incident. Daredevil from the Level Six files also appeared at the port."
Natasha lazily stretched her waist and said, "So, we're going to investigate a pervert in high-tech spandex?"
Nick Fury ignored Natasha and said to Coulson, "What do you think?"
"Agent. Has the surveillance picked up any suspicious individuals?"
Agent Hill replied directly, "The initial surveillance check has turned up no leads. Further investigation is unlikely to yield results. The individual may have undergone extensive counter-surveillance training."
Nick Fury said in a low voice, "Hill, you're mistaken. This ZI-O doesn't have counter-surveillance training."
Hill looked puzzled.
"His movements! While clean and efficient, they're clearly not the style of an agent or soldier. If I had to say, it's more like… an action star! No agent or soldier stands like he does, so flamboyant!" Natasha provided a timely explanation for Hill's confusion.
Hill and Coulson, who had just reacted, blinked and carefully examined the photo of ZI-O. It seemed… the more they looked, the more flamboyant he was…
Nick Fury saw that the atmosphere in the office was about to be swayed by Natasha, and quickly said in a serious tone, "The question now is, how did this ZI-O allow an outsider to completely evade surveillance without leaving a trace? Are the techniques he possesses replicable? Will he pose a threat to the world?"
"Natasha! Your mission is to find him!"
"Yes, sir!" Natasha put away her playful demeanor and said with a serious expression.
"Coulson! Investigate any high-tech companies that have been acting up lately. There seems to be something fishy going on with Stark. Coordinate with Hank on this."
"Yes, sir!"
In the same building, Sitwell entered Alexander Pierce's office to report on the recent progress of his work. After finishing the report, Sitwell didn't immediately leave. Pierce understood what Sitwell meant and pressed a button.
"Alright, Sitwell, what else do you need to report?"
"Nick Fury has recalled the Black Widow and Coulson due to last night's events."
Pierce glanced at the report on his desk, "We must obtain this person. Keep a close eye on them. At any cost, seize the opportunity."
"Yes!"
On Monday afternoon, Zed was riding his bike home alone after school. Peter and Ned were now busy, and it was difficult to find time to meet outside of class. But this was also good; he had enough space to handle things.
After going home last night, Zed reviewed the plan one last time and then burned it. Today, he would deal with the Blank Watch in the secret base. Last night, he hadn't brought the watch, missing the chance to have Daredevil activate it. Although it was a bit of a pity, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. In Zed's eyes, Tony Stark, who had the best compatibility with Build, was the most important thing.
After putting the Blank Watch and a low-spec Another Watch into the Four-Dimensional Pocket, Zed began to ponder. Originally, Zed planned to wait until Iron Man fought Iron Monger, using the rescue of Pepper to make a deal with Tony. Before that, he wouldn't appear in public again.
But the existence of the Time Mazine gave Zed more options. Of course, Zed wasn't going to travel through time to save Tony.
Zed didn't know if the Ancient One would discover his secret use of time stop, but using the Time Mazine to travel through space-time would definitely be noticed.
Zed didn't know if he could beat the Ancient One, but he definitely couldn't. As a villainous rider, he could be a bit of a free spirit, but he needed to have a limit. He couldn't learn from a certain boss who made coffee that was incredibly bitter.
Uncle Charlie's battle phantom had already dissipated. In the evening, Zed chose to go for a night run. What a great excuse.
"Uncle Charlie, I'm going out."
To prevent others from noticing anything amiss, Zed really jogged for a while on the road. Then, he returned to the top floor of the small warehouse and summoned the invisible Time Mazine, flying directly to Afghanistan.
Zed only knew the name of the military base Tony Stark had finally arrived at from the news. He had no idea of its exact location, the Jericho Missile Test Site, the attack site, or the terrorist base.
Zed's plan was to start from the city and search for Bagram Air Base. Once he found the base, he would use a detector to search it bit by bit. He would spend two hours a night flying in the Middle East, and if he couldn't get lucky within a month, he would have to give up.
Unsurprisingly, the first night yielded nothing. Back in his small warehouse, Zed glanced at his wall cabinet, which contained a craft watch, repair tools, a game console, and, at the very back, the big sister magazines. Perfect~
With a satisfied smile, Zed locked the door and ran to Uncle Charlie's place.
Yinsen saw the ring-shaped LED device Tony Stark had made connected to his own electromagnet and couldn't help but be curious, "This doesn't look like a Jericho Missile?"
"Because this is a miniature Arc Reactor."
"How's the power generation?"
"If I haven't miscalculated, about 3 billion joules per second."
"That's enough to keep you alive 50 times over."
"Or enough for one big guy for a quarter of an hour."
After saying that, Tony Stark took Yinsen to his workbench, showing him his blueprints, "We're getting out of here with this."
Tony's blueprints were numerous and complex; Yinsen couldn't make heads or tails of them. Tony told Yinsen to overlay them. An iron exoskeleton mecha overlapped and appeared on the design.
Yinsen was mesmerized, "Very powerful!"
"You haven't told me where you're from?" Tony rarely relaxed, chatting with Yinsen.
"A small town called Gulmira."
"Family?"
"Yeah, I'll go see them after I leave."
At the Triskelion, Nick Fury's face was so dark it could have been used for stealth. "Two weeks, and you've found nothing? No progress at all?"
Natasha sighed, "I'm sorry, Director. ZI-O hasn't reappeared. Our agents in Hell's Kitchen haven't seen him meet with Daredevil. We've found nothing suspicious in surveillance reviews."
Nick Fury glared at the Black Widow with his one good eye. "I know you're capable of more than that. Tell me what else you've found, or what you suspect."
"ZI-O first appeared at the docks, then chased a truck before returning to the docks. He jumped onto the truck from the air, but there were no tall buildings nearby, and satellites didn't detect any aircraft. The most likely explanation is invisible flight. He was willing to reveal his Ride Striker, but not use a plane to go back to the docks. This suggests..."
Nick Fury finished her sentence, "That he has a superior aircraft to our Quinjets. Agent Romanoff, contact Matt Murdock and gather intelligence on ZI-O from him."
Nick Fury then turned to Phil Coulson, "And what about your mission, Coulson?"
"Sir, we've checked, and no tech company possesses technology similar to ZI-O's. However, Stark Industries has several unexplained financial transactions. I suspect that Tony Stark's attack involved someone on the inside."
"Follow up on that."
"Yes."
"The Director always gives us such troublesome assignments."
"Your mission is always easier than mine, which is finding a ghost who's actively trying to hide."
After Natasha and Coulson left, Nick Fury was alone in the darkness, quietly pondering.