Chapter 235: Clues About the Cosmic Cube
"Bucky!"
Steve was so shocked to see Bucky wrapped in the metallic tail of the Nine-Tailed Fox that he dropped his shield to the ground, then immediately rushed forward in a burst of speed.
Seeing this, George waved his hand, signaling the Metal Nine-Tailed Fox to place Bucky on the ground.
"Bucky, you're not dead, this is so... won... ouch!"
Steve stepped forward and embraced Bucky, overwhelmed with emotion.
Besides his beloved woman, Carter, the most important person in his heart was his childhood friend and brother-in-arms, Bucky.
He had thought Bucky had died during that mission long ago, but now, after over sixty years of ice, they met again. How could he not be overjoyed?
Unfortunately, while Steve remembered Bucky, the brainwashed and memory-erased Bucky did not remember him. Without hesitation, he landed a heavy punch on Steve's chin with his mechanical arm.
If Steve's body hadn't surpassed that of ordinary humans, a regular person's jaw would have been shattered by that punch.
Steve was knocked back, and Bucky quickly turned and fled toward the school gates.
Though brainwashed and with his memories erased, Bucky's intelligence was still intact. Knowing he was no match, his instinct was to flee first and deal with things later.
"George!"
Seeing Bucky's figure getting farther away and the metal statues making no move to chase him, Coulson and the others grew anxious.
But George simply waved his hand:
"No worries. He won't get away."
"Kid, if you want to get out, you'll have to get past me first!"
Just as George finished speaking, a loud roar came from the security office by the school gate.
It was the security guard, Colonel Blonsky, transforming into Abomination as he stepped out.
Seeing Bucky trying to leap over the school gate, he immediately reached out, grabbed him mid-air, and then strode back with Bucky in hand.
"Didn't expect it to be him!"
Coulson immediately recognized him upon seeing Abomination.
Back when the incident with Abomination, the Hulk, and George happened near Broadway, S.H.I.E.L.D. had documented it in detail.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had believed Abomination was killed by George, but now it turned out he had become the school's gatekeeper.
Because of that incident, General Ross gave Nick Fury a lot of trouble, trying to get him to have George hand over the Hulk and Abomination.
In the end, Fury had to use some blackmail material S.H.I.E.L.D. had collected on Ross—illegal experiments and such—to make him shut up for the time being.
"He must have been brainwashed by HYDRA using some machine. Professor, could you please help restore him?"
George greeted Professor X and then approached Sitwell.
Sitwell was considered a fairly high-ranking agent within HYDRA. Most of the efforts to convert S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were carried out by him, and he knew many of HYDRA's secrets.
"Legilimency!"
George placed his hand on Sitwell's head and used his psychic powers to activate the Legilimency spell.
Garrett had been a converted agent and was not fully trusted by HYDRA, so he didn't know many of the secrets—such as the location where HYDRA was using the Cosmic Cube to produce energy weapons.
"Found it."
A moment later, George withdrew his hand with a smile.
He had located the whereabouts of the Cosmic Cube from Sitwell's memory.
Compared to HYDRA and their Insight Plan, he was more concerned with the Space Stone—one of the six Infinity Stones.
His idea was simple: if HYDRA could extract the energy of the Space Stone using a machine to create energy weapons, then maybe he could extract the energy for use in meditation.
If it worked, it would be like having an unlimited mana crystal.
Even if it didn't work for meditation, the extracted energy could be used for the school's construction. In the future, if they built a floating city, it could serve as the energy core, converted into electricity to power the entire city.
Besides, the Space Stone would be much safer in his hands.
Even if Loki escaped the prison in Asgard and tried to repeat history by joining forces with Thanos and seeking the Cosmic Cube on Earth, he'd have to get past George first.
If they couldn't obtain the Cosmic Cube, then the Chitauri army wouldn't be able to teleport to Earth.
"Well?"
Seeing George finish reading Sitwell's memory, Natasha and Coulson quickly came over.
George calmly replied:
"According to Sitwell's memory, three Helicarriers will take off in about an hour."
"Only an hour? Then we must leave immediately!"
Black Widow, Coulson, Hill, and Hawkeye—the only remaining senior agents—instantly took on serious expressions.
A flight from New York to Washington takes nearly an hour. If they didn't leave now and the Helicarriers went airborne, it would all be over.
Each Helicarrier wasn't just equipped with the world's most advanced weapons systems but also had stealth and anti-detection capabilities. Once in the air, their location would be nearly impossible to detect.
By then, they'd be sitting ducks.
"Professor, how is it?"
George didn't respond but turned toward Professor X.
Professor X retracted his hand from Bucky's forehead and gave George an "OK" gesture.
"Alright, then Steve will lead the team, with Bucky—who's now recovered—along with Banner and Logan. You'll take the X-Jet, and you should reach Washington in half an hour."
Then turning to Natasha and Coulson:
"I just overused my powers and need a bit of rest, so I won't be joining."
Saying his powers were overused was just an excuse—he was planning to take this opportunity to go to HYDRA's energy weapon base and retrieve the Cosmic Cube along with the machine used to extract its energy.
"You don't look like someone who overused their powers…"
Coulson glanced at George, whose face was flushed and whose voice was strong, and mumbled to himself.
He had dealt with many super-powered individuals, and when they overused their powers, they could barely stand.
But George clearly wasn't like that. Still, to be fair, the fact that he was completely fine after such a large-scale use of his powers did seem a bit unbelievable.
So even though Coulson was suspicious, he didn't say anything.
After all, with Captain America leading, plus the recovered Bucky, the Hulk who once crushed General Ross's army, and Wolverine—everything was still in their favor.
Besides, George had already helped tremendously.
HYDRA's elite force had been wiped out, and there likely weren't many defenses left at the Triskelion building.
"Thank you then. If S.H.I.E.L.D. still exists after this, and there's anything we can help you with—we absolutely will!"
Before Nick Fury died, he had handed Coulson a cube containing all the data on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret bases, effectively appointing him as the next director.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. survived this crisis, Coulson would become its new leader.
(End of Chapter)