119

Chapter 119: The Return of the Administration

Fury's lingering doubts found swift resolution.

A fighter pilot patrolling the massive mothership in an escort aircraft quickly relayed back critical information.

"This is Escort 60. I've spotted something. It's a person."

"A human?"

Confusion gripped everyone until the camera footage from the escort aircraft confirmed the unbelievable.

Underneath the colossal space carrier, a small black speck was visible. At first glance, it could be mistaken for part of the carrier's structure.

However, as the camera zoomed in, the true identity of the "black speck" became unmistakably clear.

"It's Black Superman!"

He stood beneath the mothership, casually supporting it with one hand, a sight that defied belief.

Had it not been Black Superman, the scene might have appeared as if someone was somehow melded into the mothership rather than single-handedly lifting it.

The SHIELD agents, witnessing this spectacle, felt an unexpected wave of relief wash over them.

While Black Superman had been designated an extreme threat by SHIELD, at this moment, his presence oddly reassured them, instilling a newfound sense of security.

"Fantastic, it's Black Superman!"

"With him here, the mothership is safe."

Fury, ever vigilant, took note of this reaction. However, he wasn't one to stand idly by and watch his agents.

Beside him, his adjutant Hill, like others, found solace in Black Superman's arrival. The tension that had gripped her moments ago now visibly eased.

Fury frowned at this collective mindset. His already grim expression darkened further.

Meanwhile, Gwen felt a wave of relief wash over her as the situation seemed to stabilize.

Curious if there was anything more she could assist with, she approached Natasha, who was preoccupied with Hawkeye.

Natasha struggled to remove the spider silk restraining Hawkeye. Despite Peter's enhancements making the threads deceptively soft and pliable, they proved unexpectedly resilient.

"Natasha, these spider silks will naturally break down within a few hours," Gwen explained tactfully.

Observing Hawkeye, completely ensnared by the contraption, Natasha fell silent for a moment before remarking, "Alright. Consider it a minor penance. Barton won't find it easy to forgive himself once he wakes."

Gwen blinked, signaling her lack of interest in the term "penance," and inquired, "Is there anything else I can assist with?"

Natasha pondered briefly before responding, "Our primary concern now is the detention area, Loki included, and Stark and Rogers who are working on the engines outside."

Outside the Mothership — Engineering Section

Suddenly, chaos erupted in the office. Tony and Steve narrowly escaped harm thanks to their proximity to the door.

Once reassured by Gwen and others that all was well, they swiftly identified the most critical area—the turbine engine.

Should the engine fail, the entire space carrier faced imminent emergency landing, with survival chances for over 99% of those aboard.

They made a prompt decision and proceeded to the damaged engine to effect repairs.

In fact, Tony was indeed the most suitable person to undertake repairs while the mothership was in flight, given his mobility and expertise.

As for Steve, considered an outdated "old man" still catching up on modern knowledge, expecting him to repair a mothership engine was a stretch.

Whether he could grasp it was debatable.

This scenario echoed a cliché plot where two competitive individuals collaborate and gradually build mutual respect.

While viewers enjoyed such dynamics, it translated to practicality here. Tony handled both the soft technology of diagnosis and solution and the physical demands of dismantling and pushing the engine almost entirely on his own.

Steve could only observe from the sidelines, a stark contrast to his effectiveness in direct confrontations like with Hawkeye.

Meanwhile, Tony faced a new challenge.

Engaged in repairing the No. 3 engine, he grumbled about handling all the dirty work and even manually pushing the engine at risk to his life.

At this moment, the entire mothership abruptly paused, then ceased its descent.

Perplexed by the interruption, Tony recognized it as an opportunity to resume engine repairs. Steve had just finished subduing adversaries and assisted Tony in opening the engine valve.

The oxygen-deprived high-altitude environment left Steve breathless momentarily.

With the engine repaired and Tony about to express his gratitude, he noticed someone familiar.

Tony piloted his Destroyer armor beneath the mothership.

Indeed, the figure he anticipated, clad in black with a new white cloak, appeared.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Always the showman, aren't you, Black Superman?" Tony quipped, having just completed engine repairs and feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"If I were you, I would've lurked and watched for a while, swooping in just as everyone's about to perish."

Peter regarded him with an amused look. "Isn't that what you've always wanted to do?"

"No, you misheard. I'm actually complaining about you!"

"You do love to complain."

"..."

With the No. 3 engine repaired and the No. 1 engine restarted, the mothership regained lift capability.

"I have my own matters to attend to, Tony," Peter stated.

"Still on for that date, or is this something more?"

Peter glanced away. Tony followed his gaze, spotting figures on the mothership's outer steel plate.

"I'm watching another group of people."

Detention Area

"You've failed, brother," Thor stated firmly, facing Loki in his cell.

Amidst the internal clash between Banner and Hulk, Thor had acted swiftly post-explosion. Arriving at the cell ahead of others, he incapacitated all who attempted Loki's rescue, despite the latter's potent illusions.

"Failed? No, I refuse to fail. Victory shall be mine," Loki asserted defiantly from within the cell.

Despite his Asgardian trickster persona, his somber demeanor betrayed his true feelings.

Though chaos reigned and Hulk and Thor provided distraction, Loki missed his chance to sow doubt among heroes. Hawkeye had secured crucial materials without opposition.

Yet Loki, ever Loki, couldn't accept this outcome.

During the hero melee, he remained a bystander, feeling irrelevant to events.

This detachment gnawed at him. Winning wasn't enough; he sought to deceive all under their very noses.

Thus, he opted to open the Stark Tower's spacetime portal.

He craved attention from all, especially Thor and Odin, desiring a central role.

Unfortunately, greater ambition often brings greater uncertainty. This time, Loki lost his gamble.

Gwen and Natasha arrived, interrupting Thor and Loki's intense gaze exchange.

"Have we arrived at an inopportune moment?" Gwen inquired cautiously.

"No, you've arrived just in time," Thor replied, greeting them warmly. "Loki's under my vigilant watch; escape is impossible."

"Excellent," Natasha added. "Black Superman has restored the engines, eliminated all invasion teams. Now, we must free those under Loki's control."

However, Thor's attention veered unexpectedly.

"Black Superman's here? Where is he? I must meet him!" Thor exclaimed, fixated on confronting the being who bested Odin, his idol.

In Thor's eyes, Odin epitomized invincibility, the Supreme of Nine Realms. His reverence stemmed from this myth of invulnerability.

Now shattered, Thor sought answers from Black Superman.

Observing Thor's sudden shift, Loki grew displeased at the two women diverting his brother's attention.

"Don't even think about it," Loki muttered.

He referred to releasing Hawkeye from control, souring Natasha's mood.

"Maybe Black Superman can assist," Gwen suggested optimistically.

However, Natasha shook her head.

Her previous encounter with Felicia underscored that brute force, not finesse, was Black Superman's preferred solution.

Loki smirked smugly, sensing Natasha's dilemma. Thor swiftly intervened.

"Ignore his blather. A few good punches and he'll snap out of it."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Punches? No technical workaround?"

Thor shrugged. "That's how I dealt with Loki's antics in Asgard. Effective every time."

"..."

Loki sneered. "Crude."

Natasha retorted sharply. "Planning an army? Too late. We've pinpointed your Stark Tower hideout."

Loki froze at this revelation of his final trump card. Devoid of retorts, he sensed defeat creeping in.

Suddenly, a complete freeze overtook them all.

Not just Loki and Thor but also Natasha and Gwen froze mid-action.

The area descended into eerie silence.

Then, a rectangular door slid open, and a voice spoke, "Captain, isn't this approach too crude?"

It was the Space-Time Administration's anomaly response team.

Captain Black Aunt led the way, asserting, "Time's of the essence; this is our only option."

Operating her handheld device, she swiftly unlocked the cell door.

"We must ensure Loki follows the timeline, reaches New York, and initiates the conflict."

"Oh, forget about timelines. The Avengers are turning into the Justice League. This timeline's a lost cause," a spirited soldier lamented.

"And why haven't I seen a timeline where Black Cat's a cat-eared girl?" he added, bewildered.

Unexpectedly, Captain Black Aunt turned to her team member with a stern look. "The timeline's not our concern. Black Superman is."

Her statement left the team members stunned. They had labored under the assumption that timelines were paramount.

"The situation's unique. Our priority is Black Superman."

"He's a singular individual. Whether it's crisis management or otherwise, we must bring him back to headquarters. It's an order."

Silence fell until someone queried, "What if we fail?"

"I'm not sure," Black Aunt admitted, already moving Loki.

"Maybe we will ask others to take action. Maybe it's the Annihilation World Line. But the most important thing for us now is to ensure that the New York War takes place, and then lure Black Superman out." "

How to lure him out? This is the first time I have seen such a difficult time criminal. It has been here for so long, except Gwen Stacy can't find any clues at all. I even doubt whether he has discovered us!"

"Impossible!" the black aunt said firmly:

"We use the most advanced equipment to control time and space, even if black people No matter how powerful Superman is, he cannot transcend time."

"Then what are we going to do?" the soldier asked again.

This is the core problem. If you can't find the Black Superman, no matter how advanced the equipment is, it will be useless.

The black aunt also had trouble with this. It wasn't until she squinted her eyes and looked at the timeline observer who looked exactly like Peter Parker that she suddenly had an idea.

"Don't we have a ready-made bait?" she said.

"."

The people from the Space-Time Administration quickly took Loki away.

Time returned to normal, and Thor and the others didn't even notice Loki's disappearance immediately.

Thor had just shrugged, and Natasha was still speechless for a while, until Gwen subconsciously glanced at the cage and said,

"Wait a minute. , where is Loki!?"

——While

trying to recover, he is really too old.