"Please listen to the question: In the climactic battle against Thanos, who was the spiritual leader of the Avengers?"
"A. Nick Fury"
"B. Captain America"
"C. Iron Man"
"D. Thor"
With the appearance of the latest question, Iron Man, Rhodey, and the others temporarily stopped their discussion and began to focus on the question.
"The Avengers? Is that what our 'Earth's Allied Forces' are called? How cliché!" Iron Man couldn't help but quip.
"It's better than just calling them 'Earth's Allied Forces,'" Rhodey corrected him softly, then said seriously, "Let's look at the options. Nick Fury? Who is that?"
Rhodey then glanced at Iron Man and Coulson. "Do either of you know him?"
"If you asked me about the cover girls of Maxim magazine, I'd definitely know them." Iron Man shook his head and shrugged. "But this guy, who clearly looks like a nobody? You should ask Coulson."
"Yes, I bet you definitely know the Maxim cover girls," Rhodey said mockingly.
It was already common knowledge that Tony Stark, the playboy, had slept with all twelve Maxim cover girls that year!
"Coulson?" Rhodey then turned his gaze to Coulson, and seeing his expression, he knew the answer. "It seems you do know him."
"Nick Fury is my boss, the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Coulson admitted without hesitation.
"Sounds like a big shot." Rhodey nodded and continued to ask, "You should know your boss best. Do you think he could be the leader of Earth's Allied Forces?"
"It's not me sucking up to my boss, but I think it's possible," Coulson nodded, adding, "And I think the possibility is quite high."
Others naturally wouldn't know, but Coulson knew that Nick Fury had already assembled a secret special operations team called the Avengers.
The agents in it were called Avengers!
Hawkeye Barton and Black Widow Natasha were the first generation of this Avengers team.
Rhodey and Iron Man obviously misunderstood something, thinking that "Earth's Allied Forces" were called the Avengers. But Coulson knew that the Avengers definitely referred to members of the Avengers team.
And as the founder who single-handedly created the Avengers, wouldn't it be a matter of course for Nick Fury to become the spiritual leader of the Avengers?
"Excuse me, Coulson, if I may interject, does your boss have any special qualities? I mean, does he possess Iron Man armor, can he transform into a giant, or does he have other extraordinary means?"
Iron Man asked pointedly at this moment.
"While my boss doesn't possess the abilities you mentioned," Coulson replied to Iron Man with a serious expression, "he is the most outstanding agent I have ever seen."
"So, he's just a regular agent? No offense, but the opponent is a cosmic overlord! An alien army!"
"As you've seen, many superheroes participated in this war!"
"By the way, that guy in the cape, and Peter in the tight suit, should both be superheroes, because normal people don't dress like that."
"So the question is, how would superheroes recognize a regular agent as their leader? Do you think that blonde woman who blocked Thanos would recognize a normal person as her leader? She wouldn't!"
"I wouldn't! I am a superhero, so I know what superheroes think. Isn't it absurd for the strong to be led by the weak?"
Iron Man spoke with conviction, and to a certain extent, what he said made a lot of sense.
But Coulson still stuck to his opinion.
Iron Man thought that way because of asymmetric information.
Because Iron Man didn't know that the Avengers team Nick Fury was going to assemble was actually an alliance of superheroes.
The members in it were not ordinary people!
Even Iron Man was one of the individuals Nick Fury wanted to recruit.
And judging from the footage, Nick Fury eventually succeeded in forming this alliance.
The superheroes shown in that footage might all be members of the Avengers, it's hard to say.
The strong won't be led by the weak—this way of looking at the problem is a bit too simplistic and crude.
"You have a point, but I reserve my opinion," Coulson said to Iron Man.
"It seems we have a disagreement." Rhodey shrugged, "Then let's put this option aside for now and continue. Option B is Captain America, what do you all think?"
"Isn't he just an ordinary person who has reached the peak of human potential? What makes him worthy of being the spiritual leader of Earth's Allied Forces?"
Iron Man shook his head dismissively.
Leaving others aside, Iron Man himself would never consider such a person a spiritual leader.
"Although I'm a fan of Captain America… but, I think we've reached a consensus," Coulson said, agreeing this time.
Indeed, Coulson had always admired Captain America, but he hadn't let that sway his judgment.
Don't forget, the question asked about the spiritual leader of the Avengers!
Those Avengers were not ordinary people, but superheroes, possessing powerful abilities beyond normal humans.
It was even very possible that they were stronger than Captain America, as according to the data, Captain America was only at the peak of human potential.
And when a person possesses great power, they tend to lack some reverence.
Coulson felt that the likelihood of those people viewing Captain America as their spiritual leader was also small.
"Not just option B, Captain America, I think we should also be able to reach a consensus on option C, Iron Man, right?"
Rhodey shrugged at this point, speaking from the side.
Although he hadn't expressed his opinion on option B, he had clearly stated his view.
Evidently, he also didn't believe Captain America could become a spiritual leader.
"Tony, you're arrogant, conceited, you do things your own way, and you have no team spirit whatsoever… I'm not wrong, am I?" Rhodey then looked at Iron Man, pointing out his flaws without mercy.
"No, you're absolutely right!" Iron Man didn't deny it. "To add to that, I have no interest in being a leader at all. Being an idol, on the other hand, I might consider."
"So, someone like you simply cannot be a leader! Therefore, option C can also be ruled out," Rhodey spread his hands.
Options B and C were thus happily ruled out by everyone.
Only option D remained.