"Even though Thor is a god, I still believe... the answer is probably me."
Under the watchful gazes of Black Widow and Nick Fury, Iron Man spoke confidently, logically analyzing the situation.
"After all, even gods aren't omnipotent! 'Thor'—just from the name, you know he's a god who can control lightning."
"But a nuclear missile isn't something you can intercept just by controlling lightning. If anything goes wrong, Thor might even trigger an early detonation."
"Gods have their domain, and scientists have theirs. Clearly, intercepting nukes belongs to the realm of science—not divine intervention!"
"So if I had to pick between myself and Thor for who's most likely to intercept a nuke—I'd pick me!"
After delivering his bold statement, Iron Man cut to the chase and faced the screen.
"I choose B, Iron Man!"
Both Nick Fury and Black Widow stared wide-eyed at Iron Man, waiting to see what would happen now that the correct answer had been given. Would the so-called random Mark Armor blueprint really appear?
[Congratulations to respondent Tony Stark for receiving a set of Random Mark Armor Blueprints.]
[Reward has been distributed. Please check accordingly!]
Right after the system's voice rang out, a hard drive suddenly appeared in Iron Man's hand—out of nowhere.
Clearly, the blueprints must be inside that hard drive.
"Man, I really want to take a look at what's on this thing right now."
Iron Man looked at the hard drive in his hand, practically itching with anticipation.
"And the naming convention matches my own armor series... don't tell me it's really my conceptual Mark suits?"
Iron Man believed that was very possible.
After days of deep thinking, he had concluded that the quiz system might not be predicting their timeline's future—but the future of a parallel universe.
After all, the presence of the quiz system would've already altered their own future.
Take Tony Stark's death, for instance—thanks to the healing potion awarded by the system, that shouldn't happen anymore.
The potion could cure any injury.
So how could Iron Man die?
The most logical explanation was that this was the future of a parallel universe.
In other words, another Iron Man in that world had also developed the Mark series, and the reward he now held came from that version of Iron Man.
Of course, this was all still Iron Man's theory—it remained to be confirmed.
"Sir, if I recall correctly, Tony Stark wasn't originally holding a hard drive when he came in, right?"
Black Widow's surprised voice broke the silence. She stared intently at the hard drive in Iron Man's hand and asked Nick Fury.
"Correct. I also remember Stark coming in empty-handed."Nick Fury nodded firmly.
They hadn't actually seen the drive materialize—but when Iron Man had arrived, his hands were clearly empty.
Given that he'd come to the Arctic to search for Captain America, why the hell would he be holding a hard drive?
And with the bulky Iron Man armor, there was no sneaky way for him to pull a drive from his pocket.
So yeah—this hard drive was clearly a system reward.
"Sir, I still don't fully understand what's going on here... but it's obvious this quiz system isn't something to take lightly."
Black Widow said seriously to Nick Fury.
At this moment, she began to treat the quiz system with real gravity.
"I told you before—take the quiz seriously."Nick Fury folded his arms, sounding like a grumpy school principal.
Black Widow nodded, now more focused than ever.
[Quiz complete. Now playing answer explanation.]
The system's voice chimed in again. The text on the screen vanished, replaced by a corresponding video.
"Commander Fury, the council has made a decision."
"I knew they would."
With this male and female dialogue, Nick Fury's figure appeared on screen.
The setting was clearly a tactical command center.
The male voice was obviously Nick Fury, and the female voice came from a screen in front of him.
On that screen, communication interfaces flickered—clearly a remote meeting.
Iron Man didn't recognize the people on the screen, but Nick Fury and Black Widow sure did.
They were the high-ranking officials behind S.H.I.E.L.D.—the real decision-makers.
Nick Fury, though the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was just a proxy appointed by those folks.
Seeing this, both Nick Fury and Black Widow's expressions turned grim.
The fact that Nick Fury was meeting with these top brass meant things had gotten very serious.
"And... I also know exactly what kind of dumb decision they're going to make. That's why I plan to ignore them!"
On the screen, Nick Fury continued his argument.
"Commander, your carrier is closest to the battlefield. Please give the order to—" one of the top brass began to issue orders, brushing off Nick Fury's concerns.
"That's Manhattan Island we're talking about, Senators! Unless my team fails to stop them, I absolutely will not order a nuclear strike on civilians!"Nick Fury interrupted sharply.
"Nick Fury! So it was S.H.I.E.L.D. who launched the nuke!"Iron Man couldn't hold back, turning to glare at Nick Fury.
"I would never give that kind of order! You saw it yourself—it was those stupid council members!"Nick Fury snapped.
"If we don't stop them, it's all over!"
"If that nuke really launches, that's when it's truly over!"
On screen, Nick Fury firmly resisted, shut down the communication interface, and unilaterally ended the call.
The footage then cut to a fighter pilot in his cockpit.
"Commander Nick Fury has been relieved of duty. Execute Order 7A11."
Simultaneously, a cold command echoed.
"7A11 confirmed. We're preparing for takeoff!"
After confirming the order, the pilot immediately began starting the aircraft.
No doubt—he was going to launch the nuclear missile.
(End of Chapter)