The Year of Many Things

Fanny stood at the door for a while before finally buying a ticket and entering the museum. He had been to the Captain America Museum once when he was a child, but he was focused on confirming the truth about this world at the time. He hadn't had the time to simply look around.

Fanny was greeted with the life history of Steve Rogers right after entering the museum. Some of the contents were obviously embellished or even outright fabricated, but most were actually true.

Regarding his final fate, the exhibit mentioned that he had sacrificed himself to end the war. Nobody would've expected that he had been frozen for 70 years and returned to life.

Fanny moved on to the exhibit of Captain America's belongings from World War II. His shield was also displayed, though it was obviously a replica.

Fanny enlightened himself about Captain America through this visit. The museum depicted Steve Rogers as an almost-perfect person.

He then recalled that Captain America should be discovered around this year.

Fanny sighed. Sure enough, after Tony debuted, the world became even more chaotic. Fortunately, he now had a little more strength to protect himself.

Fanny wandered around again after leaving the museum. He specifically looked for hidden and remote places far from any eyes and cameras in case he needed to suddenly teleport.

A day passed by unknowingly.

Fanny went to school as usual the next day. It was May, and the summer vacation was nigh, so the students were in high spirits. Groups of students gathered in the campus park, talking among themselves.

"Hey, Fanny."

His classmates were not spared from the general mood of the campus. Immediately after he entered the class, his classmate Billy whom he usually got along with, approached him and whispered, "I heard that Stark Industry is going to recruit interns soon. I plan to apply for it during the summer vacation. Do you want to go with me?"

"Uh... Stark Industry?!" Fanny was slightly stunned. He didn't have any urgent need to farm experience points, so he hadn't been contacting Tony for over a month.

"No need, thank you!"

An internship was definitely impossible. Fanny had decided that he would never work for others for his entire life. He already had a lot of money anyway, and he could sell fried chicken rolls to earn money quickly. He had no reason to work for others.

"He's the Iron Man, you know?" Billy continued to pressure him, his eyes gleaming with excitement and expectation, "Maybe I will get to see Tony Stark with my own eyes!"

"So what if I see him!" Fanny secretly pouted. The two of them had quite a bit of quarrel while fighting together some time ago. Their relationship had worsened.

Billy was a little stunned at Fanny's cold reaction. Iron Man was very popular among the younger people in the school; as many as eight out of ten people were fans of Iron Man.

"Alright!" Billy didn't press further. He then asked curiously with a mischievous grin on his face, "Then what are you planning to do during the vacation? Are you going to hang out with someone?"

"Who knows!"

Fanny shrugged indifferently, which gave Billy a burst of jealousy. He immediately whispered, "I am obviously more handsome, so why are you so popular?!"

"Do you know the difference between us?" Fanny couldn't stop himself from replying.

"What's the difference?" Billy asked.

"I have normal eyes!"

Fanny stopped paying attention to Billy and began preparing for the class. It took Billy a little while before he understood what Fanny meant, and he said to Fanny with dissatisfaction, "I'm very handsome; you just didn't notice it."

"Yes, we are not as blind as you," Fanny idly answered as he flipped through his textbook. Although Billy was not ugly, he was not handsome. At the very least, he wasn't quite at Fanny's level.

The two of them continued in a fierce debate around this issue until the teacher arrived.

The ordinary daily life made Fanny feel fulfilled. Deep within, he was just a normal person. He had wished that he had become more than just that, but it wasn't like he looked forward to gory battle and killing.

However, in the Marvel Universe, and especially its version of New York, it wasn't easy to live a simple and calm life. Many things had quietly transpired in the shadows.

SHIELD Headquarters.

It had been over half a year since Iron Man made his debut. Nick Fury felt very tired as the apologetic Coulson once again reported to him.

"Agent Coulson, please tell me the results of your investigation in the past seven months. Who is the identity of the silver knight?"

Nick Fury stared at Coulson with his one eye. He had always believed in Coulson's ability, but now he doubted his own judgment.

"Sorry, sir, I don't know!" Coulson honestly and helplessly told the truth. He just wanted to be done with the mission, but he couldn't.

Fanny always arrived through a portal, and he diligently erased Jarvis' records. There's simply no way to discover him through normal means.

Coulson even had the desperate idea to install a listening device in Tony's mansion, but he was discovered as he tried to sneak in. Dealing with the furious Tony was a whole other headache.

He didn't know that he was caught by extensive modifications that Tony had made since Fanny's first intrusion.

Although 'Anti-Fanny Studio' couldn't properly fight Fanny, it successfully deterred SHIELD.

"I'm relieving you from this responsibility."

Nick Fury decided to change the strategy. It was evident that Coulson couldn't produce any new results no matter how long he was assigned to this mission. He had to change the method.

"Yes, sir!"

Coulson was also anxious after getting nowhere for so long. He felt so relieved when Nick Fury said he didn't have to be responsible for it anymore.

Nick Fury's expression couldn't get any darker. He kicked Coulson out and called in a female agent with a graceful figure.

"Romanov, there is a task that you need to deal with." Nick Fury continued, "Evaluate Tony Stark and make a report. Also, find out the identity of the Silver Knight."

"That genius playboy?!" Black Widow raised her eyebrows, seemingly interested. She continued, "Also, you still didn't know that person's identity?"

"Can you complete these tasks?" Nick Fury ignored her question.

"Don't worry, Sir!" Black Widow replied confidently. She turned around and left the office, leaving Nick Fury alone with his thought.

While Black Widow was sent to Tony as a spy, a major event was also happening in Asgard, far away from Earth.

Asgard's Prince was about to be crowned as king soon!

Asgard was filled with a cheerful atmosphere. Almost every Asgard gods had a curious and expectant look on their faces, looking forward to what kind of change their new God King would bring.

The only exception would be the second prince, Loki—he was actually the third prince, counting the missing first princess, but nobody knew about that yet.

Loki forced a smile on his face to blend in with the festive atmosphere around him. There was an indescribable feeling in his heart. He did not know if he should congratulate his muscle-brained brother.

He believed that he would've been a better God King than Thor, one that would bring prosperity to Asgard!

At the same time, in a remote factory in Brazil, Dr. Banner was troubled by the serum inside his body. He was still a long way from solving the problem, even with all the methods that he had tried.