"..."
Silence.
Since John Keller confirmed what Anton had said, the conversation between the two sides fell into a long period of silence.
Anton, indifferent, sat on the sofa in his home, leisurely turning on the news, lowering the volume, and waiting for John Keller response on the other end of the phone.
However, John Keller was clearly unable to process such shocking news, and after waiting for a while, he still hadn't given any response.
"I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Finally, John Keller took a deep breath, said this sentence, and then hung up the phone.
Beep beep beep!
Listening to the busy signal on the phone, Anton smiled.
He knew that although John Keller had responded like this, sounding doubtful, in reality, John Keller was mostly convinced about this matter.
The Justice League had never deceived John Keller, or the World Security Council, in terms of intelligence.
This time, it was no different.
Whether John Keller believed it or not, suspected it or not, as long as John Keller launched an investigation into the matter, he would definitely find some clues.
Even if John Keller truly lacked the ability and couldn't find any leads, Anton would still lay out the entire truth, break it down, and put it right in front of the guy, forcing him to accept reality.
Once the truth was verified, John Keller would inevitably have to make a choice.
To prevent Tony and Winter Soldier from meeting, and to manage the consequences of this matter, various arrangements would be made...
For the military, represented by John Keller, protecting both Winter Soldier and Tony, and preventing a conflict, was the most obvious choice.
Although the military had a good relationship with Stark Industries, it was clear that Stark Industries was no longer the world largest arms dealer.
It had successfully transformed into a clean energy giant and had made significant strides in the artificial intelligence industry.
This shift in business meant that Stark Industries had essentially abandoned the military market.
The military knew this well.
Although they wouldn't harbor any ill feelings toward Stark Industries because of this, it was a fact that their relationship was no longer what it once was.
Even if their relationship had remained the same, John Keller would still make the choice to protect Winter Soldier.
Tony Stark was eccentric and incredibly arrogant—no one could control him.
In contrast, Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, was originally a member of the military and could become an asset to their side.
Moreover, Bucky had been Captain America Steve Rogers closest friend.
Through Bucky, the military could better pull Captain America back into their camp, away from other factions.
Furthermore, with Bucky abilities as the White Wolf after joining the special forces, his value to the military far surpassed that of Tony Stark.
Anyone with a bit of sense would know what to choose.
A multitude of thoughts flashed through John Keller mind, and just thinking about the news he had just received from Anton gave him a severe headache.
He didn't doubt the authenticity of the information Anton had provided.
On the contrary, the moment he heard it, he was sure the news was true.
On one hand, John Keller knew that Anton wouldn't intentionally feed him false information.
After all, Winter Soldier became a captive of the military in the first place because of the Justice League capture.
On the other hand, after the military took over Winter Soldier and dismantled Hydra brainwashing of Bucky Barnes, they managed to extract a lot of information from him.
However, due to the aftereffects of the brainwashing, Bucky had lost a significant portion of his memory.
He vaguely remembered many things but had forgotten many of the tasks he had previously carried out.
Of course, Bucky couldn't refute this and admitted that, during his time as Winter Soldier, he had been manipulated by Hydra to kill several important figures.
The specific list was unclear.
However, over the years, all the cases where the Winter Soldier had been identified as the killer were attributed to Bucky.
In the grand scheme of things, this wasn't very important.
Because the military had never intended to hold Bucky accountable.
To them, a Bucky who could be controlled by them was certainly more valuable than a criminal.
Now, things were different.
Even if the military still didn't consider accountability, they had to think about how to keep this information hidden, so Tony wouldn't realize that his parents car accident wasn't actually an accident.
"We can block Tony Stark access to the data leaked by Hydra."
At the meeting, after John Keller made this matter public, as he had anticipated, it shocked everyone.
Then, in response to John Keller question, someone spoke up.
"No, that not realistic."
John Keller said, "Tony was once a member of the Avengers and has the highest access to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database.
Coupled with his own hacking abilities and the two A.I. under his command, we can't block his access to information."
After a pause, he added,
"In other words, blocking his access to information from any channel is unreliable.
In fact, he has the capability to block our information channels."
After these words, the meeting was silent for a few minutes.
Each participant exchanged glances, feeling somewhat helpless.
At this point, it seemed there was no suitable solution to handle the situation.
Although the tone of the meeting had been set from the start, the goal was clear:
protect Bucky Barnes, prevent any conflict between him and Tony, and avoid letting Tony discover the truth about the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark.
However, the problem was that Tony was an exceptionally capable individual.
And they had no way of stopping Tony from accessing enough information about Hydra from the S.H.I.E.L.D. database.
"Since that the case, we'll take it step by step."
Seeing this, John Keller spoke up helplessly, then announced the meeting conclusion.
His meaning was clear: delay this matter for now and put all efforts into hiding the true identity of the special forces and the White Wolf.
Fortunately, they had agreed from the start to give Bucky a new identity.
So, after Bucky transformed into the White Wolf and joined the special forces, it was as if he were a ninja within the unit, like Snake Eyes, wearing a mask.
The mask concealed Bucky face, revealing only his eyes.
His identity remained undisclosed.
No one would think that he looked exactly like Bucky Barnes, Captain America comrade from the last century.
After all, the truth was too outrageous—who would ever imagine it?
Not only did Steve Rogers, Captain America, survive from seventy years ago to today, still retaining his youth, but his good friend, Bucky Barnes, had also lived on, looking exactly the same as when he was declared dead.
As long as Bucky could be thoroughly hidden, even if Tony cracked the truth behind Howard and Maria Stark deaths, finding Bucky for revenge would not be an easy task.
Since Winter Soldier was officially a criminal of the military, Tony would have to inquire about Winter Soldier whereabouts from the military.
At that point, as long as the military firmly insisted that Winter Soldier was dead, Tony would have no way to refute it.
Though it was the most helpless approach, it also seemed to be the most effective one.
...
New York.
Stark Industries.
Tony sat on the sofa in the center of his apartment, staring at the flashing neon lights outside.
He thought about the information Harry had revealed when he visited and took a deep breath.
His large hand, gripping the cup, was now swollen with veins.
"Their deaths weren't an accident..."
"I can't believe I never considered this from the start!"
Tony muttered to himself, his eyes hiding deep cruelty and fierceness.
An unprecedented rage nearly caused him to lose his sanity.
He hated his own late realization.
Back then, because of his strained relationship with his father, he had neglected the possibility that his parents deaths could have been a murder.
After all, in that era, no one would dare to murder the head of an arms company.
Let alone the head of that arms company being one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Not to mention the bodyguard team that had once been by his parents side...
Tony had instinctively dismissed the possibility of "murder."
However, Harry reminder just now made him realize something was wrong with the situation at the time.
"Sir, we've reviewed Winter Soldier mission records."
Jarvis suddenly spoke up, "On December 16, 1991, the day Howard and Maria Stark died in the car accident, Winter Soldier has a mission record, and the location of the mission was in New York."
While this wasn't concrete evidence, it immediately validated Tony suspicions.
The data leaked by Hydra didn't include a full list of the assassinations Winter Soldier had carried out.
But Tony knew full well that, considering his father Howard Stark status as one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was completely normal for Hydra to target Howard for assassination.
And this piece of inconclusive evidence was enough for Tony to confirm his suspicion.
After all, the news that Howard and Maria had died in a car accident due to brake failure was already suspicious enough.
As the owner of a tech company, the fact that his own car had a brake failure...
It sounded highly unusual.
Now, Tony parents had been murdered.
This fact, though only indirectly confirmed by the Hydra data, was enough for Tony to trust it.
Bang!
Tony large hand clenched tightly.
The extreme anger gave him strength beyond his limits, causing him to crush the glass in his hand.
Drip... drip...
The glass shards cut into his palm, and blood flowed from the gaps in his clenched fist, dripping onto the floor.
The apartment was eerily quiet.
Tony could even hear the sound of his blood splattering on the floor, intensifying the fury inside him.
"The cost..."
"I will make you pay the price!"
Tony gritted his teeth, his eyes instantly bloodshot.
"Winter Soldier."
He continued, ordering Jarvis, "Find him. I want to know where he is now."
"He dead, sir," Jarvis replied.
"However, this data is a bit strange."
With that, the holographic projection activated.
Before Tony appeared a surveillance recording.
It was of a cell.
Inside, a man with a muscular build and a metal arm lay in a pool of blood, his heart no longer beating.
After leaving Stark Industries, Harry recalled Tony expression when he discussed the situation and had a foreboding feeling.
To him, the truth of this matter hardly needed verification.
The information he had received from Anton had never been wrong.
And once Tony verified this, the consequences were inevitable.
It was going to explode!
Harry pondered for a moment, then drove home.
On the way, he thought about the conflict between Tony and Captain America, and Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes.
It was clear that Anton intended to use Bucky to divide Tony and Captain America, potentially causing the recently established Illuminati to split.
So, if Tony and Captain America really did come into conflict, which side would he stand on?
Perhaps, he would stand with Tony.
The murderer of his father!
Having nearly lost his father once, Harry had a deep and lasting hatred for such enemies.
"Rogers..."
Harry sighed. "I hope you won't show too much favoritism because of the other identity. No matter what, Bucky should be punished."
As he reflected, he once again came to realize the vast power of the Justice League.
To have such information, the other side had obviously obtained it somehow.
Was it really determined through the recent data from the Hydra base in Europe that had been breached?
Harry had reasons to doubt that.
He believed the Justice League had been aware of this information ever since Winter Soldier first appeared—during the Battle of Washington, when the Justice League and the Avengers clashed.
The reason Harry had been biding his time was precisely for this moment.
Whether it was Tony, Captain America, or even the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, they had all been clearly manipulated.
No wonder the Justice League was able to defeat the Avengers.
Looking at it this way, the dissolution of the Avengers was inevitable from the very beginning.
That being said, if the Avengers had such powerful intelligence-gathering capabilities, they at least wouldn't have been defeated so quickly.
The reason why they were defeated so fast wasn't just because of their lack of intelligence, but because the Avengers assembled fighting force couldn't even match the Justice League.
From strategy to combat power, the Avengers had been utterly crushed.
"Tony, you didn't lose unjustly."
Harry shook his head.
Though he sympathized with Tony, he didn't believe it was his place to help Tony retaliate against the Justice League.
Without the Justice League, there would be no Osborn family position today.
From any angle, the Justice League was the more trustworthy force.
Though he had a decent relationship with Tony, it wasn't strong enough to make him betray his own principles and switch sides.
Everyone is drawn to strength.
As a superhero and the leader of a major corporation, Harry was no different.
Only by following the strong could one achieve victory.
Compared to the Justice League Batman, Tony, while not weak, was clearly not on the level of a true powerhouse.
At home.
Anton received the intelligence from various sources, and the smile on his face deepened.
The situation was developing just as he had expected.
The civil war had followed its original trajectory.
However, this time, it wasn't the Avengers that were at the center of the civil war, but the Illuminati.
Of course, despite the change in the team name, the leaders of the two opposing factions in this civil war were still Iron Man and Captain America.
And the root cause of this civil war was still a piece of legislation.
The catalyst for the division was still Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who had once been Captain America comrade and childhood friend from the previous century.