Chapter 125: The Final Curtain of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Under Viktor’s friendly guidance, the Helicarrier drifted directly above the temporary research facility. By the time the Hydra agents on board realized something was wrong, the entire vessel had been thoroughly compromised by Viktor. Since they were already at a high altitude, jumping off would be no different than committing suicide.

What? Bring a parachute?

That would just give Jayce a chance to practice his long-range artillery skills, not to mention that Viktor’s swarm of drones was far from toothless. In fact, them jumping off would be a favor; it would save the trouble of cleaning up the ship before taking it over. Indeed, once the Helicarrier was in Viktor and Jayce’s hands, they had no intention of handing it back. Such a massive piece of hardware—even if it couldn't be retrofitted into suitable equipment or naval vessels—would be worth a fortune just in scrap.

The resource allocation at the Clock Tower had always been tight; after all, they had to concentrate their strength on major projects. While those major endeavors were mostly complete, follow-up maintenance and upgrade programs were already underway. Consequently, once the Helicarrier descended closer to the ground, hundreds of T-800 adaptive mechanical units swarmed aboard, sweeping through the entire vessel while minimizing collateral damage.

In the end, when Viktor and his team found Pierce, he was lying on the floor, covered in boot prints with a gaping hole in his forehead. He had committed suicide—truly. To prevent the one-in-a-million chance that Pierce might somehow "rise from the dead," Jayce casually finished him off with a vaporization package from his energy cannon.

While everyone else was busy mopping up Hydra, Tony Stark, who held a deep grudge against the organization, sat at home. On the desk behind him lay two files, both accompanied by video footage: one detailing the true cause of his parents' deaths, and the other an invitation from the Hextech Institute.

Of course, the Hextech Institute wasn't inviting him to be a researcher, but an intern. No one could deny Tony’s talent in mechanics, but he was clueless about magic and needed to start from scratch.

*Gulp.*

Tony finished a glass of liquor and walked over to his armor, reaching out to touch the cold metal plating. What a magnificent suit—it cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build—yet he probably wouldn't get to use it much longer.

After this incident, Tony had realized something: if he continued to act as a lone wolf hero, it would be a complete waste of his talents. Take this Hydra purge, for example; what could he have done in his suit? Charge in and fight? With his combat style, the number of Hydra agents he took down might not even equal Frank’s count. After all, Frank was a professional killing machine—efficient and low-cost. Wasn't using his armor to fight like that just like using a cannon to swat a mosquito? Wasteful and ridiculous.

But what about now? By simply using J.A.R.V.I.S. and some resources from Stark Industries, coordinated with the head of Hextech, Heimerdinger, and Nick Fury, they had dealt a heavy blow to Hydra. Once the footage of Pierce’s death was broadcast to various nations, many Hydra cells that had gone dormant actively jumped out to retaliate against their enemies. The result was uniform: those who managed to leave behind a whole body were the lucky ones. As for the "smarter" Hydra members, unfortunately, hiding only delayed the inevitable. With the mystical side determined to purge them, not a single one would survive.

"Mom, Dad, I've avenged you. It’s just a shame that your life’s work is going to collapse with it." Tony muttered to himself with a hint of sorrow. S.H.I.E.L.D. was destined for dissolution; the only reason it hadn't happened yet was because the Security Council was still bickering over how to divide the spoils.

Regarding Nick Fury, Tony felt conflicted. The man had been severely derelict in his duties, but that couldn't be blamed entirely on him. Pierce, the mole sitting above him, was something no one could have anticipated. Even if Tony were in that position, he wasn't sure he could have rooted out the Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. Furthermore, Fury’s final decision had genuinely shocked Tony. It would have been easy for Fury to survive, yet he chose to sacrifice his life to land a crushing blow on his enemies, which could be seen as taking responsibility for his failure. Since Fury could make such a choice, Tony had nothing more to say; he had originally planned to spit on Fury’s grave, but he decided against it.

As for the possibility that the dead Fury was a body double, Tony hadn't even considered it. Not to mention that in such a short time, the only person capable of mobilizing the remaining forces of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Fury himself—as he would never truly trust a body double. Look at the consequences: even though Fury was dead, his name was already on the kill lists of various nations. Faking his death to escape? Who would believe Fury wasn't a member of Hydra? The detection methods of the mystical side weren't 100% accurate, so if Fury were to reappear and his identity were confirmed by any of the various methods currently available on Earth, only death would await him.

Besides, Fury didn't have the capability to deceive so many people. If not for the help of Tony and Heimerdinger, he wouldn't even have been able to reclaim control over a portion of the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases.

With the man dead, the matter was settled. Tony didn't intend to pursue the old accounts anymore because he had more important things to do.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., help me send a reply. I accept the position of intern researcher."

As he said this, Tony felt a strange sense of humiliation. He, an apprentice to others? In the past, if anyone had said that to him, he would have thought them insane. But now, it had actually happened, and it was his own decision. The world was truly absurd.

"Very well, sir. The reply has been sent," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

Tony snapped out of his daze and wiped his face. "Import all the materials they sent into the system and organize them by category. Also, send a message to Pepper: from today on, she is the CEO. She makes all the decisions. Until I come out of the lab, don't come looking for me unless the Earth explodes!"

"Understood, sir."

Tony took a deep breath and dived into his laboratory. He had no choice; the foundational knowledge sent over by the Hextech side was enough to keep him studying diligently for quite a while—certainly not something he could finish in a month or two. The Hextech Institute hadn't required him to master it all before starting, but Tony had high standards for himself. It wasn't for any other reason than that he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Jayce and Viktor!

Having started so much later than them, it was fine to know less, but if he were given sufficient time and still couldn't master the basics, it would be a disgrace to his genius! Tony even planned that once he joined the Hextech Institute, he would snatch the titles right off Jayce and Viktor’s heads. He set a small goal: achieve that within three years.