United Dark Energy Operations Base

"Yes!"

The familiar voice echoed, which immediately lifted Natasha Romanoff's spirits.

This had nothing to do with receiving rewards; it was purely because she had fought in place of her superior and emerged victorious.

"Well done, Agent Romanoff." Nick Fury nodded in satisfaction from the side.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Back then, Natasha Romanoff, a notorious executioner from the Red Room, was one of Nick Fury's targets for elimination.

Nick Fury had sent his most trusted agent, Clint Barton, to handle the mission, but after a confrontation with Romanoff, he didn't kill her.

Instead, he had recruited her into S.H.I.E.L.D..

Who would have thought that the person he once wanted to eliminate would, like Clint Barton, become one of his most loyal and reliable right-hand men?

"Fury, how can you even laugh? S.H.I.E.L.D. has seriously derelicted its duties! You lost the Tesseract!"

The disheartening voice of Tony Stark rang out, criticizing Nick Fury mercilessly.

"Stark, you can't blame me for something that hasn't happened. At least, right now, the Tesseract is safely stored in S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

Nick Fury fired back without hesitation, "And I will ensure this does not happen in the future!"

"How will you ensure that?" Tony Stark wasn't giving Nick Fury any face, "Since you sent the Avengers to find the Tesseract, it means the ones who took it aren't ordinary people."

"It's highly likely that it was those Chitauri! Nick Fury, this is a matter of Earth's safety!"

Nick Fury found himself speechless at this point.

If it were any regular human faction, he was confident that he would have nothing to fear.

As long as he sent more personnel, tightened security, and increased the defense levels, no organization could steal the Tesseract from their base.

But if it were an extraterrestrial force, then he didn't have much confidence.

Especially since the Chitauri were a species that possessed space technology, which wasn't something that could simply be handled with more manpower.

If it was indeed the Chitauri, it would be a huge problem.

"Nick Fury, let me step in to protect the Tesseract! I can turn your base into a fortress! You need my technology!"

Tony Stark seriously offered his help to Nick Fury.

Nick Fury was somewhat tempted. If it were Tony Stark, he could indeed upgrade the security at their base.

This was a good thing.

"We'll discuss this in detail after the quiz is over." Nick Fury nodded, always staying neutral, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

[Congratulations, participant Natasha Romanoff has received the reward: Infinite bullets for a Colt 1911.]

[The reward has been issued, please check!]

The system's voice continued, and with the notification, Natasha Romanoff immediately felt her right hand become unexpectedly heavy.

Without thinking, she raised her hand and saw that, sure enough, she was now holding a Colt 1911.

Both Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff were seasoned operatives, experts in firearms.

With just a glance, they immediately knew that this gun, on the surface, looked no different from an ordinary Colt.

Even when Natasha Romanoff felt the weight of the gun, it seemed no different.

She ejected the magazine and checked it—everything looked identical.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Immediately, Natasha Romanoff began firing at the snow ahead.

The sound of rapid gunfire rang out.

Natasha Romanoff fired off forty or fifty rounds in one go, far beyond the Colt 1911's magazine capacity, yet bullets continued to stream from the barrel.

She ejected the magazine again to check, and it was still full, as if it had never been used.

This left both Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff amazed.

"Sir, this really is infinite ammo! This is fantastic!" Natasha Romanoff said excitedly.

At first, she had been skeptical of the quiz system, trusting Nick Fury and Tony Stark based on rational judgment.

But now, Natasha Romanoff had truly come to believe in the quiz system.

Infinite bullets—this was like a miracle.

"Perfect for you!" Nick Fury nodded, approvingly. "With this, you'll be unstoppable!"

Natasha Romanoff didn't hesitate, immediately stashing the infinite-ammo Colt. As a front-line operative, this was indeed a great asset.

[The quiz is complete, now displaying the answer analysis.]

With this voice from the system, a relevant image appeared on the big screen in front of them.

Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, and Tony Stark all immediately focused, not blinking as they stared at the screen.

They all knew that what the system would show next would provide crucial information about the future.

"Attention all personnel, evacuation orders have been confirmed. Please board the designated vehicles for evacuation immediately!"

"Repeat, this is not a drill!"

"All personnel, evacuate immediately!"

The broadcast echoed throughout what appeared to be a base-like location.

At various exits and critical pathways, armed security personnel were evacuating people.

Panic-stricken individuals were swiftly and orderly evacuating under the guidance of the security team.

At the same time, vehicles sped toward the location from afar, and helicopters flew in the sky.

From the looks of it, something extremely urgent had happened.

"Joint Dark Energy Operations Base! The Tesseract is stored here!"

Nick Fury's single eye narrowed slightly.

Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark didn't know the location shown in the footage, but Nick Fury immediately recognized it.

It was the place where he had been secretly studying the Tesseract.

Now, it seemed that someone had managed to steal the Tesseract from this base, which was supposed to be completely secure.

But even then, there seemed to be no reason to order an evacuation of the entire base, right?

Had the situation escalated to the point where he had no choice but to abandon the entire base?

Though the issue hadn't yet been fully addressed, Nick Fury's mood was already heavy.

After all, if someone had forced him to abandon an entire base, this was certainly not something a mere human special ops team could have accomplished.

Could it really be the Chitauri?

Boom!

Amid the chaos of the evacuation, a helicopter landed on the helipad, and the door opened. Two figures emerged.

It was none other than Nick Fury and his trusted operative, Maria Hill.

Another of Nick Fury's trusted agents, Phil Coulson, had already been waiting on the helipad.

(End of Chapter)