Absurd. Absolutely absurd!
The more Nick Fury thought about that explanation, the more outrageous it seemed.
And yet
the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Before Iron Man appeared, there had never been such a figure.
But the moment Tony Stark revealed his identity, androids suddenly emerged.
Yes, the attack on the military base had been Android 18's personal vendetta.
But abducting Hammer?
No matter how one looked at it, something felt off.
Pierce shook his head helplessly.
"Fury, don't you think Tony has been a little too flamboyant?"
"Especially those arrogant claims he made earlier."
"'This kind of armor can't exist anywhere else.'"
"'And it won't exist for at least another five to ten years.'"
"Those words clearly offended our friend."
"That's why the androids appeared."
"Young men competing for dominance—nothing more natural than that."
This old fox, Pierce, had an almost frightening grasp of human psychology.
It was precisely that which made Fury deeply wary of him.
"Then how do you explain Hammer?" Fury pressed.
"If his real target is Iron Man, why bother pulling Justin Hammer into this?"
This was the question that troubled him the most.
Pierce sighed with disappointment.
He hadn't expected Fury to miss something so obvious.
"To truly destroy an opponent," Pierce said slowly,
"the best method is to drag him down from his throne."
"Hammer—or rather, Hammer Industries—is nothing more than a chess piece."
"A clown meant to replace Stark Industries."
"Cruel methods," he added with admiration.
"Killing the body isn't enough—he aims to destroy the heart as well."
Pierce genuinely admired this young man.
If possible, grooming him as a successor wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
"Heh…" Fury sneered coldly.
"Too bad he ran into me."
"He wouldn't escape this eye of mine."
"He won't get anywhere near Iron Man—
he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars!"
S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed black technology far ahead of the world.
As long as they dug up his crimes, life imprisonment awaited him—
inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison.
But reality slapped him in the face far faster than expected.
"Director… there's nothing in the classified database. No records at all."
"The intelligence division reports the same. We don't even… know his name."
While the two generations of S.H.I.E.L.D. directors were speaking,
both the Information Department and Intelligence Division had already ground to a halt.
They searched through global databases, classified intelligence from every nation—
And found nothing.
Not a single trace of the target individual.
The result made Fury's eyes widen.
After a moment of stunned silence, he exploded.
"Motherf—!"
"What, did this bastard really crawl out of a rock?!"
"Keep digging!"
Fury's face darkened, roaring like an enraged gorilla as he berated his subordinates.
But Pierce raised a hand, stopping both departments from continuing their futile efforts.
"Fury," he said gravely,
"there are far more hidden organizations in this world than you imagine."
"Someone capable of creating such terrifying killing machines—
do you really think he's an ordinary person?"
"Stop investigating him."
"Don't invite disaster upon yourself."
"There's a saying: Where there is one, there will be two."
"He has already shown his methods."
"He does not fear state power."
"Do you want to become the second Ross?"
Pierce pressed a hand to his agitated student's shoulder, speaking earnestly.
No one had expected things to turn out this way.
Secret societies.
Alien technology.
Speculation after speculation surfaced in Fury's mind.
This was no longer an existence that the current S.H.I.E.L.D. could confront.
Fury closed his eyes in resignation.
He was not a brainless fool.
Black Widow's disappearance.
The hacking intrusion.
All of it was a warning.
If they could destroy a military base,
they could just as easily erase S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
Never in his life had Fury felt such humiliation.
"Locate Tony Stark for me," he said coldly.
"I'm going to see him personally."
If they couldn't punish the enemy—
Then at the very least, Tony needed to know what kind of danger he was facing.
And so
Because of Pierce's overactive imagination,
even Renjie himself had no idea that he'd acquired a brand-new virtual identity.
A gifted young master from a hidden organization.
His purpose upon entering the world—
Was to teach Tony Stark a lesson.
There is always someone stronger.
Beyond the heavens, there is another heaven.
Airport
It was already late at night.
A fine drizzle fell from the dark sky.
The young Hammer stared up at the youth stepping out of the cabin, frozen in shock.
Too young…
Completely different from what he had imagined.
Only when Renjie descended the stairs did Hammer snap back to reality.
He hurried forward with a sycophantic smile, eagerly holding up an umbrella for him.
Who could imagine that this lapdog-like man
was, in truth, a billionaire tycoon worth hundreds of billions?
"B–Boss?" Hammer asked softly, testing the waters.
Renjie said nothing.
What answered him was a pair of cold, indifferent eyes.
As if scolding him:
Even holding an umbrella properly is beyond you. Useless trash.
The horrifying scenes from the underground laboratory resurfaced in Hammer's mind.
His face drained of color.
He immediately shut his mouth.
The billionaire bent even lower, his posture more submissive, his expression more reverent.
It was clear—
This boss held an almost divine position in his heart.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent disguised as airport staff witnessed everything firsthand.
His body trembled instinctively.
For the first time, he truly understood—
Just how terrifying a single person's presence could be.