Everyone in the Star Devouring Engine looked at the results of Natasha's investigation and each gave their opinion.
As the King of Special Agents, Nick had certainly detected some clues. He said, "The possibility of Ross committing the crime is very small, not to mention that I personally do not believe he would resort to murder. Tony's decision to look for Rhodes was purely spontaneous."
"Also, Ross and Rhodes' factions within the military are not in direct opposition, so there is no reason for him to install surveillance equipment in Rhodes' home, let alone know that Rhodes complained to Tony about his arrest, even if he knew, it would be too late to act."
"This is quite suspicious." Tony frowned and said, "I remember that I came here wearing a battlesuit. The battle armor on Tony Stark in this world already has basic life scanning capabilities. Even if the culprit has an invisibility function, they would not be able to hide under the scan. How come they failed to detect it?"
"Unless the perpetrator never actually came." T'Challa, standing behind the bar, gave his opinion. He said, "I believe that the perpetrator might have poisoned in advance."
"But as I said, Tony's visit was spontaneous. Who could have anticipated that he would suddenly go to Rhodes and poisoned in advance?" Nick refuted this idea, saying: "Either Tony was unlucky and the perpetrator happened to plan to murder Rhodes at this time, and he just happened by."
"The chance is too slim." Tony shook his head and said: "It is clear that the perpetrator wanted to create conflict between Stark Group and the military. There is no such coincidence in the world."
"Did you ever consider that the perpetrator also acted on impulse?" Shiller chimed in: "Change their actions according to Tony's behaviour?"
"But as I said, if they are monitoring Stark of this universe, they will certainly be discovered."
"Not necessarily." Shiller said thoughtfully.
Although he knew what the normal storyline in this universe should be like, the situation now was far from normal. The timing of the killer's actions against Thor and Tony overlapped, and this situation, which didn't originally exist, couldn't be explained by the butterfly effect brought on by Natasha.
Shiller silently analysed in his heart, is it that the perpetrator wants to hit two birds with one stone, finishing two cases in a hurry, or is there more than one mysterious figure behind the scenes?
"Let's start from the beginning." Nick raised a finger and said: "At noon, SHIELD agents received an investigation task for unknown fallen items. Around half-past three in the afternoon, Natasha and Coulson arrived in New Mexico."
"At half-past four, a frenzied Thor broke in, and at five o'clock, Thor returned to normal. At almost the same time, Tony arrived at Colonel Rhodes' house."
"At half past eleven in the evening, Colonel Rhodes showed signs of abnormality, and at three in the morning, Rhodes died."
"So the most noteworthy point is the five o'clock in the afternoon. Thor returned to normal, and Tony arrived at Rhodes' house. Does this mark the shift of the murderer's target from Thor to Rhodes?"
"Did Loki detect any abnormalities when he used magic to check Thor of this universe?" Shiller looked at Thor and asked.
Thor shook his head and said, "He has no abnormalities."
"What about the recurrence of old injuries?" Nick asked.
"Nonsense." Thor shook his head and said: "The reason Asgardians rampage through the cosmos is because of their powerful recovery ability. No matter how intense the battle or how severe the injury, as long as there's breath left, there will be no sequelae after recovering."
"I know better than anyone, I didn't have any old injuries at that time. Although causing chaos in Jotunheim did hurt me a bit, but those superficial injuries healed even before the Father of All Gods called me over."
Nick couldn't help but sigh in admiration at the Asgardians' powerful physique. At this time, Shiller frowned and said, "Is it possible that when Thor screamed in pain, his heart was really injured, and by the time Loki checked it, the wound had healed because of the powerful recovery ability of the God Clan?"
"But if it's just such a minor injury, how could he be in so much pain?" Thor countered.
Shiller smiled and said: "In that case, you have truly underestimated the experience that humans have accumulated through millions of years of torturing each other. We excel at making living beings suffer."
Thor had no words to respond.
"So can I understand it this way." T'Challa chimed in again: "The moment Tony stepped into Rhodes' house, the killer shifted his attention from Thor to the two of them."
"The question is whether it was Tony's act of entering Rhodes' house that made the killer divert his attention, or was the killer forced to shift to Tony to avoid Loki's probe?"
"Or both could be possible." Shiller speculated: "Since the perpetrator was able to bring down Thunder God Thor, it shows that the culprit is not simple and must have some skills. Loki exposed his force during the investigation, and the perpetrator might have sensed the energy fluctuation."
"He didn't want to expose himself, so he had to leave. And just when he was identifying a get-away route, he discovered that Tony and Rhodes were together, so he hastily changed his plans and targeted Rhodes instead."
"Why me?" Stark immediately focused on the crucial point. "Why would he think of me first when he was preparing his escape route?"
"It is likely not that he thought of you, but that he could only find you." Shiller gently tapped the coffee table in front of him: "Even for our universe, teleportation is not a common technology. In this universe, it must have various restrictions."
"Perhaps Tony of this universe is the anchor point for the murderer's teleportation. When he wants to use this technology to escape, he can only return to you."
"So you're saying he has contacted me before? When?" The moment Stark asked this question, he thought of the coffee that Natasha spilt on his other self in a different universe.
"The barista? The owner?" Stark guessed.
He knew that Natasha couldn't just spill coffee for no reason. He thought it might be a hint, but he really didn't find any suspicions about the others in the coffee shop, so he could only list his suspected objects.
"Why couldn't it be that cup of coffee?" Shiller questioned.
All headlines turned towards him instantaneously.
In the secret safehouse of Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D, Stark took a bottle of whisky and two cups from Nick's hands, all enclosed in a transparent evidence bag.
"Tony, not that I'm pressuring you, but things aren't looking good. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is considering a military collaboration, they want to put you in jail."
"They won't be able to," Stark said, returning to the lab table and putting on gloves to prepare for the analysis. "Hold them off for ten hours, and I'll get you an accurate result."
Nick's gaze landed on the blue pattern at Stark's neck, and without turning his head, Stark said, "I won't seek death before avenging Rhodes. Now, leave my lab. I don't need anyone standing in my way."
Nick gave him one last glance before leaving the lab. Stark was once again alone in the safehouse.
He toiled among various analytical devices, testing the remnants of liquid present in the bottle and the cups and analysing the composition of the containers. Various assumptions flashed constantly through his genius mind.
Three hours passed, and everything had been cross-examined. No toxic elements were confirmed in any entity.
Yet Stark didn't show any despair or doubt; he stood silently before the lab table, his gaze fixed on a pile of experimental reports. Obviously, the high pressure was making his universe-dominating genius brain work sharply.
Suddenly Stark stopped. He muttered, "It's not poison, not chemical poison. It's not about chemistry. It's physics, it's physics..."
He swiftly turned to grab the phone, only to have his wrist seized by a hand.
Stark looked up, in disbelief of how the battlesuit that was originally pushed to the corner of the room was now standing upright in front of him, its hand gripping his wrist.
The visor lit up revealing a pair of eyes.
"Bang!"
Stark was thrown back, his head smashing against the corner of a wall, blood oozing out instantly. He moaned in pain, shouting, "Jarvis… Jarvis! Jarvis, why aren't you answering me? No… impossible…"
Meanwhile, driving to the Beyotte High Energy Physics Laboratory where Dr. Banner was located, Natasha and Coulson abruptly heard a voice emanate from the car.
"Greetings, I'm JARVIS, Tony Stark's AI Butler. Approximately three minutes ago, Battle Armor number 1025 unexpectedly went offline. Its detected location is…"
Upon hearing JARVIS stating the whereabouts of Nick's safehouse, Natasha immediately slammed the brakes, causing Coulson at the side to cry out in pain due to the seatbelt chokehold.
Natasha instantly made a U-turn and sprinted at full speed towards the safehouse. Meanwhile, she dialed a number on her phone and warned the person on the other end, "Nick, Tony is in trouble! Hurry over! Someone has hacked into his battle armor. He might be in danger!"
Natasha arrived quicker than Nick did, but upon reaching the front door, she found that the safehouse had activated its emergency defense mechanism. She couldn't get in. But Nick soon arrived and unlocked the front door with his physical key. Agents followed him in one by one.
Natasha stretched her hand out to Nick, who handed Mjölnir to her. Gripping the hammer, Natasha stormed in, only to see the Iron Man armor holding Tony Stark by the neck aloft upon reaching the door.
Stark was struggling desperately, continuously trying to pry open the fingers of the armor-hammering its metal hand with his bare ones, his knees buckling under the pressure and fatigue.
Natasha lifted Mjölnir high.
"Snap"
A bolt of lightning struck the mecha and Stark, reducing both to a charred state. Swearing, Nick, who followed Natasha in, rushed over with his agents and placed the barely alive Stark on a stretcher.
Natasha didn't stop for a moment she left hastily, carrying the hammer, calling Coulson out, "I have figured out the culprit's game. Let's head to the High Energy Physics Laboratory!"
This time, Coulson got into the driver's seat. Just as he was about to step on the gas, Natasha solemnly intoned, "There's no time."
"The perpetrator can teleport." Holding the hammer, Natasha continued, "He's leading us on, juggling between targets. When we rush to protect the other, he teleports away to kill the original one."
"So, what should we do?"
"We teleport."
"But how can we…"
Under Coulson's astonished gaze, Natasha raised Mjölnir high and smashed it down onto the car with a loud 'Bang!'
The next second, the car-energized by the Power of Thunder-lifted off, shaking and lurching unstably, disappearing as a speck of light in the New York City skyline.