American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

S.H.I.E.L.D.

The new Triskelion.

Nick was still bothered by what Luke had said in Asgard. What did he mean by dark-skinned elves? Couldn't dark-skinned people be elves? Despite his thoughts and complaints, Nick was still very interested in the idea that arcane energy could change life forms.

Especially the energy from other universes; each one seemed capable of transforming life into the form most pleasing to it.

"Knock, knock!"

A few muffled knocks interrupted Nick's thoughts. He first looked at the door of his office, then realized something was wrong and turned his head in surprise to look at the glass behind his desk.

After adjusting the light and dark, the glass revealed the scenery outside. Two Iron Man-style armors were hovering in the air. One of them was knocking on the window.

Then Nick's eyes widened as he watched the two Iron Man armors deftly remove his glass window, revealing a glass door. The wind howled in through the removed window, and along with the wind came two Iron Man armors.

For a moment, the two who had entered met the gaze of Nick, who was staring at them in astonishment from in front of his desk.

"I told you we should have come through the front door," a voice sounded from inside one of the Iron Man armors.

"Don't panic, we're just paying a visit." The faceplate opened, turning into black particles that formed a black suit. Tony Stark, having been discovered by the host, showed no embarrassment and calmly met Nick's gaze.

Nick retracted his hand from the alarm button and had S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligent system cancel the alarm that had just been issued. He looked angrily at Stark: "Couldn't you have just used the front door?"

"That would have wasted too much of our time. Actually, I really wanted to use a magical device to open the door directly, but your security measures here are pretty good, and I couldn't find the authority to intervene in the coordinates." Stark didn't care. The other Iron Man armor rapidly dissolved, revealing Dr. Bruce Banner's honest and friendly face.

"We'll put the window back on before we leave, I promise!" Dr. Banner said, raising his hand when he saw Nick turn his gaze towards him.

"It's not about putting the glass back on. Forget it, let's just talk about why you're here. What could possibly bring both of you together? Is there something you couldn't discuss through communications?" Nick wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat, and he swallowed them back down with exhaustion. He wasn't going to argue with Stark, the toxic tongue. If their time was tight, did that mean Nick had plenty of time to spare?

"I saw the engineering order. Stark Industries is responsible for the Mars terraforming, to act as a buffer point in the future," Stark said as he walked to the desk, taking the lead.

"Is there a problem? I remember the terraforming technology and project flow have already been sent to you," Nick thought for a moment and nodded. Stark was indeed responsible for the initial stage of terraforming Mars to make it habitable for humans as soon as possible.

"Do you know what kind of technology Luke pulled out?" Stark stared intently at Nick.

"I'm only responsible for allocating projects and supporting technologies. You know, I gave up trying to understand the Hebron technology a long time ago," Nick spread his hands helplessly. "However, what I do know is that the source of this technology also comes from another world. In his words, it's simple, easy, safe, and worry-free. What's wrong? Is there a problem with the technology?"

"The technology is not the problem, the problem is what he gave us. It's a life! Dr. Banner and I had to go to the data dimension to find information to supplement a lot of knowledge in order to understand that thing during this period," Stark said with some excitement.

"Life? I know about that. It's an alien species called a Thorns Beast, a plant-based life form. It represents the native natural power of a planet. According to the information provided by Hebron, it's responsible for transforming planets in another world, making the planet's environment habitable.

Of course, its role in environmental transformation is extremely powerful, but conversely, this power is a great trouble for flesh and blood life. They are extremely hostile to flesh and blood life forms and will compete with them for territory and survival.

Hebron's suggestion is to carry out targeted transformation on it, or rather, to create some kind of inhibitor. Someone in Hebron's laboratory has already taken on this task. But similarly, this project, as part of a large project, has been packaged, circulated, and distributed.

After weighing the pros and cons, I think the only one who can compete with Hebron is Stark, which you control, so I assigned it to you. Is there a problem?" Nick retrieved the information he wanted to look up, glanced at it a few times, and then asked Stark and Dr. Banner.

"No problem? I don't want to discuss technical issues with you because you don't understand them at all. So I'll just state my request directly. I need more materials. Materials of that kind called Thorns Beast," Stark said simply.

"Distributed according to needs, Stark. The allocated resources have been carefully planned and researched by the Hebron Technology Management Committee. You know, without this step, those giants simply don't understand what 'enough' means," Nick said, rejecting Stark's request outright. He often saw similar situations and already had his own process.

After all, compared to those giants, he trusted Hebron's analysis and statistics more.

"Don't compare Banner and me to those guys. We can complete this technology as soon as possible, but the prerequisite is that you have to provide more materials. Or tell me, how can I obtain this kind of Thorns Beast plant life? I understand the process, I can pay for it," Stark also had rich experience in dealing with Nick's rejections. His one sentence "I'll pay for it" was enough to make Nick change his mind.

Isn't it just taking a little intermediary fee?

Although it hurt, Stark could accept it. His principle was that money should be spent when it should be spent, saving it was useless. And Dr. Banner was like a ascetic, a little real currency could already satisfy his desire to live, what he pursued was more knowledge.

"I can help you ask. But don't have too high expectations," Nick thought for a moment and nodded. Seeing that the two were about to leave immediately after achieving their goal, Nick asked, "How much Thorns Beast do you need? What is it for? Don't tell me it's for experimentation. Those that Hebron distributed along with the engineering projects are enough for you to complete the corresponding initial experiments."

"Life armor, Director Fury. Don't humiliate yourself with technical issues, just tell those Hebron people that I'm upgrading my armor and technologically modifying it. If you can't get it, then Banner and I will have to block Luke next time," Stark re-encased himself in the black Mark armor. After speaking to Nick, the helmet fell, and then he strode towards the empty window where the gale was pouring in, and jumped down in front of Nick.

"Um, do I still need to help install the glass?" Banner's armor had already covered his neck. He looked at the glass window in his hand with some embarrassment, and then looked at Nick. He didn't intend to renege on the debt, but seeing Stark leave without looking back, he also wanted to return home as soon as possible.

"Go," Nick waved his hand wearily, watching helplessly as Dr. Banner followed Stark in drawing an arc in the air and quickly disappearing.

The high-altitude gale was still desperately pouring into the room. The fierce wind blew Nick's trench coat hem up and down like a flag, fluttering and rustling.

However, the alarm that Nick had suppressed finally sounded.

"Time Administration Bureau No. 03 is under unknown attack."

The information transmitted by the intelligent system made Nick even more flustered in the wind. His exposed single eye was full of astonishment, even more shocked than when he saw Stark remove the glass from his office in person.

The Time Administration Bureau, an agency under the Energy Bank, had rapidly evolved into a violent organization similar to an army after Hela's joining. With the support of various parties, the bureau was full of talents in all aspects. Its importance was increasing day by day, and S.H.I.E.L.D. was no longer able to match its status and function in other universes.

As an organization managed by Loki, Nick knew very well how much power it wielded. Moreover, the other party was hidden in time, and ordinary people couldn't even find it, let alone invade it.

Nick wouldn't gloat, but instead began to think about the possible invaders.

Was it the remnants of Kang, the original owner of the Time Administration Bureau?

Although a large number of Kang's variants had died, there were always a few mutated stragglers who were more powerful and cunning than the other Kangs. It was hard to say that the other party had no way to solve the trouble with their souls. In Luke's words, if they were lucky enough, they could find a way to disconnect themselves from the soul connection with other Kangs before the soul poison spread and covered them, and they could escape by chance without dying on the spot. As long as they were careful and disappeared, hiding long enough and not showing up, then they would most likely survive.

Was it revenge from those surviving Kangs?

But what was the use of that? The Time Administration Bureau had already changed its appearance. The right to manage time had been forcibly taken away and fell into the hands of the director of the Time Administration Bureau. The probability of those Kangs wanting to make a comeback was infinitely close to zero.

"Mr. Norman Osborn has sent a call request."

A transparent frame suddenly appeared in front of Nick, with a familiar portrait on it requesting communication.

"Fury, tell me, where is the Time Administration Bureau?"

Before Nick could speak after the call was connected, Norman Osborn's angry voice was transmitted.

"What's wrong?" Seeing the angry Osborn, Nick frowned. He was helpless against Stark and Dr. Banner because these two were indeed smart and could solve quite a lot of technical problems for S.H.I.E.L.D. as technical consultants, and provide various technical upgrades in a targeted manner.

He couldn't just buy everything from Hebron, could he?

Hebron's technology was indeed good, and it did exceed a certain specification. But it was expensive! The heavily indebted Nick had to live a frugal life early on. Although Stark and Dr. Banner's technology was not as good as Luke's, it was perfectly fine as a substitute. They were also one of the few technical groups in S.H.I.E.L.D. that could compete with the Hebron Laboratory in some technologies.

But Norman Osborn?

Well, it couldn't be said that he wasn't important, but his importance was obviously not irreplaceable like Stark and the others. So seeing Osborn come to his door in anger, Nick, as the client, would of course not be polite. He was still angry.

Seeing Nick also wearing a dark face, Osborn was silent for a moment, his face still ugly, but his tone softened: "Harry is missing."

"Harry?" Nick was stunned again, he didn't think of this name for a while.

"Harry Osborn. My son! He's missing!" Although Norman Osborn hated that his son was not up to par, he still paid attention to and valued him. Now that his heir had suddenly disappeared, his life or death unknown, one could imagine how angry Osborn was.

"I remember he was sent to the Time Administration Bureau to take office," Nick recalled and searched for relevant information from his memory.

When the Time Administration Bureau was first re-established, it absorbed many residents of this universe to join. As the heir to Osborn Industries, Harry Osborn was one of those who went to apply.

He was also a candidate recommended by S.H.I.E.L.D.

This situation was very common. The giants all wanted their heirs to work in the Energy Bank, but the threshold for joining the Energy Bank was too high. But fortunately, there was a roundabout way to transfer.

That was to join Hebron, S.H.I.E.L.D., or the Time Administration Bureau.

There was no need to think about Hebron. It only recruited researchers now, and they had to be famous researchers in a certain field.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was Nick Fury's one-man show. If Osborn and others arranged for their children to enter and there were places to join the Energy Bank, Fury, the old fox, would most likely choose his own people to enter, rather than the heirs of the giants who were destined not to be on the same side as him.

As a new Time Administration Bureau, it was important, lacked trustworthy manpower, had many opportunities, and was a subsidiary of the Energy Bank. Osborn and others arranged for their heirs to go there to gain experience, hoping to get in touch with a lot of secret intelligence and information.

For example, Osborn and others obtained information about various equipment orders issued by the Time Administration Bureau from their children in advance, and made full preparations.

Under normal circumstances, the heirs who were non-combat personnel could be guaranteed safe, but who would have thought that the Time Administration Bureau would be invaded?

Norman Osborn knew that the Time Administration Bureau had been conquering one universe after another, and had recently discovered a universe of extremely high value. The already tight combat power inside had been transferred one after another, almost emptying the nest. But who would have thought that they would be copied at their base camp while they were fighting in other universes?

And who would have thought that the number of the place that was invaded was where his child was?

"Nick, Harry is still a child, my only child."