Chapter 41: Captain America (Part 2)

"Thanks a lot for this time. Goodbye." After asking a few more questions about the aliens, Fury stood up, ready to leave, seemingly having forgotten about Daniel Davis' identity as a mage.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Since the director is here, how about making a deal?" Daniel's words made Fury immediately sit back down.

"What deal?" Fury asked in a low voice.

"An information exchange for 100 kilograms of vibranium." The amount of vibranium that has leaked from Wakanda isn't insignificant. Back in the day, Howard could get enough vibranium to make a shield, let alone now with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Do you know what vibranium is?" Fury's eyes widened.

"Of course I know, otherwise, I wouldn't be asking for it." Daniel replied with a smile.

"If you know, then you should also know how much vibranium costs." Currently, on the black market, 100 kilograms of vibranium is worth ten billion dollars, theoretically. If that amount were actually available, it would be even more valuable.

"I do know, but I believe my information is worth that much." Daniel maintained his composure.

"Tell me what the information is first." After a moment of silence, Fury asked.

"Information about Captain America." Daniel said directly.

"What?" This exclamation didn't come from Fury but from Coulson. As a die-hard fan of Captain America, he couldn't remain indifferent upon hearing this.

"You know where he is." Fury shifted in his seat, asking in a deep voice.

Captain America is a legend. Even Fury was a bit shaken upon hearing this.

"I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. That's the Captain. You are using his remains for a deal." Coulson's gaze towards Daniel changed instantly, filled with disdain.

As a fan of Captain America, the fact that someone was insulting the Captain made Coulson restrain himself from drawing his gun immediately, showing considerable restraint.

Melinda, on the side, also had a changed expression.

"Don't look at me like that. I have the utmost respect for the Captain. But I got this information from someone else. If they found out I leaked it, it would be hard to get any more information from them. I need to compensate them, and there aren't many things on Earth they would value." Daniel hurriedly explained as he saw their gazes soften a bit.

As their expressions softened, Daniel tapped his fingers on the table and revealed a meaningful smile. "Besides, who said the Captain is dead?"

"The Captain is still alive." All three, including Fury, couldn't help but tremble. Even the stoic Fury was no exception.

Melinda, though not a fan of the Captain, owed much of her career to him. Her trust within S.H.I.E.L.D. came because she was trained by Carter, whose connection with the Captain was well-known.

"This information, 100 kilograms of vibranium, isn't too much, right?" Seeing their disdain turn into curiosity, Daniel finally relaxed. Lying wasn't easy.

However, not all of it was a lie. Daniel had considered telling Fury and Coulson about the Captain for free. But thinking about how vibranium in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands would be a boon for Hydra, he decided on a trade.

Originally, the Captain wasn't supposed to be found for several more years. After all, Tony hadn't even become Iron Man yet. But thinking about the Captain lying frozen in the ice, Daniel decided it was time for him to come out and breathe, regardless of whether it might scare Hydra.

"Alright, I don't need the vibranium. I just won't get any more information from them in the future. These messages are useless to me anyway. They don't know the exact location either. They just happened to see the Captain in Antarctica. You can use the Captain's plane crash route to estimate. It will just cost some manpower and resources to find him." Daniel said, as if making a big concession.

"Director." Coulson looked at Fury with eyes filled with fervor.

"I understand. Goodbye." With that, the three immediately returned secretly to the Triskelion headquarters.

"Director." Back in his office, Coulson impatiently urged.

"Coulson, calm down. The information hasn't been confirmed yet." Melinda quickly pulled Coulson back.

"I'll take people there." But Coulson didn't care about her advice.

"I understand. Hill, come over here." Fury called in Hill, a level nine agent in charge of information processing.

"We found it." Using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supercomputer simulations, Fury and his team soon confirmed the Captain's crash situation and pinpointed the approximate location.

Back then, Howard searched for the Captain's body for years, only to find the Tesseract and not the Captain.

It wasn't because Howard didn't try. The plane crash site was hard to find due to the technology of the time and the Antarctic ice.

The Tesseract was found because it emitted energy, something the Captain couldn't do. The plane had crashed deeply into the ice, making it almost impossible to find back then. But with modern technology and the thinning glaciers due to global warming, the Captain could now be found.

Antarctica.

Currently, in the polar day period, this made things easier for Coulson and his team.

"Search every inch. Don't miss anything." Coulson loudly ordered the agents who had started their work. They didn't know what they were looking for, just anything unusual.

With nearly thirty Quinjet fighters and over two hundred field agents, Fury gave Coulson extensive resources.

However, given the vast expanse of Antarctica, even with a specific area narrowed down, it was still like finding a needle in a haystack, especially with the constant blizzards.

So, after two weeks without any progress, most agents were already complaining, and the search efforts had become half-hearted. Even the strict S.H.I.E.L.D. protocols couldn't solve this. The only one not complaining was Coulson, who worked tirelessly from day one.

Despite repeatedly asking Fury for more personnel, Fury had his constraints. Deploying so many resources to find a presumed-dead person drew questions from the U.N. Security Council and inquiries from Pierce.

"Maybe the Captain will only be found later." Daniel also received multiple calls from Coulson, not to confirm the information's authenticity but to ask for help narrowing down the location.

But Daniel couldn't do that. If he could, he'd have dug out the Captain himself.

Half a month later.

"Coulson, give it up. The director can't hold off the pressure any longer. This information might be fake." Melinda, bundled up against the cold, urged Coulson.

"No, we can't let him keep lying here." Coulson continued searching, ignoring Melinda, while other agents were slacking off.

Perhaps heaven favored the persistent, or Coulson's determination moved the gods. The device in his hand suddenly began flashing red.

"There's something here." Coulson dropped the device, picked up a shovel, and began digging through the ice. Melinda immediately helped.

"Come help." The surrounding agents called for more assistance.

"We found it." Breaking through the ice revealed a plane embedded in the glacier, the same plane from Captain America's final battle with Red Skull. Coulson recognized it instantly.

"Captain." Coulson rushed into the frozen plane, immediately spotting the iconic star-spangled shield.

"Nick, the council has issued a final ultimatum. Let them come back. This way, there's still room for maneuver." In Fury's office, Pierce was earnestly advising Fury.

Whether they found the Captain's body or not, it didn't matter to Pierce. It was just a corpse to him.

Just as Fury was about to respond, Hill entered with a smile after noticing Pierce.

"We found him. The Captain is alive." Hill said excitedly.

"We found him." Fury closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths to calm his excitement. But in truth, he was contemplating Daniel's information.

Fury had supported Coulson's operation not just to find the Captain but also to verify Daniel's intel. As the master spy, Fury wasn't easily moved.

Pierce's smile froze momentarily upon hearing Hill's words but quickly regained composure. "So what if he's found? He's just an old man now."

The significance of the Captain was not only symbolic but also practical, being the first successful super-soldier. Red Skull's enhancements didn't count as a success.

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