Chapter 123: A Trap for Captain Marvel

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The military’s movements soon came to Nick Fury through various channels.

Although he had hidden himself in Antarctica—or perhaps simply because it was the instinct of a veteran agent—Nick Fury had never relaxed his surveillance of the outside world.

He had no idea why the American military had suddenly mobilized, but he suspected they might be coming for him.

Although he was no longer the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and no longer had sufficient manpower, his cooperation with Wakanda had actually given him certain advantages.

If this operation was indeed aimed at finding him, Nick Fury felt he ought to make some kind of response.

He concealed important information, fabricated intelligence, and laid traps. Every plan he could think of, Nick Fury put into action.

But the results were limited.

Meanwhile, Roald, who had been secretly formulating his own plans, was also considering and analyzing the advantages in his hands.

At the beginning, he had possessed only a few cards, with barely two or three usable characters. But as time passed, Roald first obtained the Space Stone through his plans and summoned Kel’Thuzad. Then, relying on the advantages provided by the storyline, he acquired the other two Infinity Stones. Only afterward did his advantage gradually expand.

The Ancient One and Strange had not appeared for a long time. Odin had shown himself, but he had done nothing. Holding three Stones at once put Odin in an awkward position, and with the crisis threatening Asgard drawing ever closer, he seemed increasingly powerless.

Perhaps he had glimpsed some future. That was likely one of the main reasons he had chosen not to pursue Roald.

With three Stones in his possession, Roald now possessed considerable influence.

Thanos—Thanos must be extremely anxious by now, but Roald did not care in the slightest.

He had set his sights on the Time Stone and was constantly using his talent for whispering in people’s ears to influence the sorcerers in the New York Sanctum, plotting to destroy them from within.

At the base in Antarctica, Nick Fury stared at the images and intelligence displayed by the radar system manufactured by Wakanda, utterly speechless.

The military forces were converging on this location with such precision that the American military had clearly learned something.

Could there be a traitor among the people I recruited?

Nick Fury had always thought the American military was incredibly stupid and could never match his own intelligence. Since they had brought armed forces with them this time, the operation’s true mastermind clearly was not the military.

There was another power hidden behind all this.

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Nick Fury keenly sensed that something was wrong.

Moreover, an international operation of this scale, involving the mobilization of troops across national borders, could never have taken place without the tacit approval of the Security Council. This might well be a joint operation.

And if it was a joint operation, there would be loopholes to exploit.

But when Nick Fury looked at the manpower currently under his command, he could only sigh.

The view shifted. The radar had clearly marked the movements of the troops approaching the base across the cloud map.

Large numbers of soldiers began to gather. Behind the icebreakers came rows of armored vehicles. At the very front, Nick Fury saw the scene he least wanted to see.

After heavily armed soldiers climbed down one after another, they immediately scattered to search the area, automatic rifles in hand. From their gestures, it was obvious that they were full of confidence.

Once the soldiers had established a defensive perimeter, Nick Fury saw a gray-white figure leap directly from a helicopter. Behind him, General Ross also jumped from the aircraft. As he walked, he chewed on the cigar in his mouth, then handed another cigar to the gray-white figure and lit it for him.

Nick Fury’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Smoking their cigars, Ross and Grommash leisurely walked to the front of the formation, standing before all the soldiers with their arms folded as they watched the search teams disperse.

“Shit…”

Of all the people Nick Fury could have encountered, he least wanted to see Ross, that swaggering old bastard, along with Grommash, whose face radiated violent defiance.

Nick Fury thought for a moment, then decisively chose to retreat.

If he did not withdraw, Grommash alone might very well hack all of his people to pieces.

Grommash was one of the older men whom Coulson had placed under close observation when S.H.I.E.L.D. was first established. His connection with General Ross dated back to the war involving the Apocalypse organization. That reminded Nick Fury of another member of Apocalypse—and of the detestable Tony Stark.

Still, seeing these two men also confirmed some of Nick Fury’s suspicions, so he was not particularly surprised.

Damn Hydra. Ross was definitely one of its members too.

He and Ross had been old adversaries. Their conflict had existed ever since the Hulk first appeared.

When the Hulk incident had occurred, Nick Fury had sent Natasha to carry out the plan. Using the Hulk crisis, he had dealt General Ross a devastating defeat. After the congressional hearing, Ross had nearly lost his position and standing within the military.

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Given the internal situation of the American military, Ross should have had no chance of rising again after the hearing. Yet, unexpectedly, General Ross had somehow established contact with Apocalypse and, through the Super-Soldier Program, regained his former position. He had even secured a seat in Congress—one higher than the position he had once held.

Nick Fury could not make sense of it.

And judging from the way Ross had just leaped from the aircraft, the Super-Soldier Program he was promoting might have been proceeding extremely smoothly. The military could possess a large number of super soldiers.

Taking that thought further, perhaps every soldier who had come this time was a successful product of the military’s Super-Soldier Program.

Once again, Nick Fury had become a disposable benchmark against which someone could test their strength and combat ability.

He slammed a fist into the instrument panel in front of him, then turned and strode toward the outside of the base.

“Everyone, scatter and break through separately. I think we need to head to the next base.”

The agents inside the base immediately sprang into action.

Ross and Grommash watched the soldiers searching ahead while continuing their conversation.

“Is there really no problem with doing this? Why drive them away instead of wiping them out on the spot?”

“There are naturally other plans in motion. As Hill said, Nick Fury still has plenty of value to uncover. For example, we’re very interested in Wakanda.”

“Indeed. He appears to have considerable value left. It seems my plan to put a bullet in his head has fallen through again.”

General Ross spoke indistinctly around his cigar, but Grommash still understood him.

“It will be very easy to make him surrender, and equally easy to let him escape. What we want is to force someone else to reveal himself. As long as Nick Fury still has that signal device, we will make him flee from place to place like a stray dog—until the moment he summons his savior.”

“Savior? You mean he still has another card hidden away?”

As Grommash spoke, General Ross opened his mouth in surprise, and the cigar fell from his lips onto the ground.

“Yes. My master has been unable to sleep peacefully night after night. There is a nightmare haunting him. Once that nightmare is dealt with, everything else will be easy.”