"We see this as a very serious accident, Director Stark."

The President himself sat in his chair and looked at Tony Stark standing opposite his desk.

"Or, I personally think it's not an exaggeration to say that this is a disaster," he said.

"I may agree with you, sir." Tony said expressionlessly.

The President held his chin and seemed to ponder for a moment.

"Let me take it aside," he said, "I saw you say in the report that many people, including yourself, superheroes and senior executives from all walks of life, have you been locked up in alien spacecraft before?"

"Yes, sir."

"That is to say, for a very long time, the operation of many key systems in our world has actually been delivered to the hands of alien spies?"

“That’s exactly that.”

"And now you tell me that you are back, those aliens have been driven away," Mr. President owed, "and the credit has nothing to do with you, S.H.E.L.D. or the Avengers. You said that the one who protected this world was an institution called...'S.S.H.S.H.I.E.D.?"

"It's true." Tony nodded and confirmed, "The Black Knight, the commander of the Sky Sword, was aware of the signs of alien invasion in time and prepared a set of practical and effective response strategies. The alien's general attack was disintegrated by them before it was formed, and all of us trapped were rescued by them."

"Okay." The President did not express his opinion on these things for the time being, but continued, "put aside this part, I think you mentioned in the report...the problem has not been solved yet?"

"Yes. We haven't found an effective solution to crack the Scrurian mimicry, which means we can't find them from humans." Tony said, "Mr. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four are still looking for solutions, but progressing... may take some time."

The President frowned: "You might as well tell me directly that you are helpless."

"Yes, sir, I'm helpless," Tony said calmly, "from beginning to end."

"Then Director Stark, tell me...If you have no choice but to do anything about world peace, if you can't do your job... Then why should I let you, not someone else, take this position?"

Tony looked at him expressionlessly: "What you said makes sense, sir. In fact... I'm thinking about this issue too."

***

ASCHUAN, aerial carrier, altitude of thousands of meters.

"Report, the commander has boarded the ship!"

“Received. The Northwest corner hatch door is open.”

Iron Man dragged a golden arc through the clouds and landed on the deck of the mothership with a transparent air wave. As he walked through the deck and into the corridor, the agents on both sides of the road saluted him straight.

Maria Hill has been waiting here for a long time. When she saw Iron Man, she picked up her arm a little stiffly: "It's better to tell me that you are the real person this time. Aliens have already given me enough of it recently."

"It's me, Hill." Tony took off his helmet and paused, "At least I believe I am."

"Okay, I think that's enough."

Hill sighed and led him into the way.

"How is the situation here?" Tony asked, "we will find a few Scrurers?"

"There are few, they are all irrelevant." Hill sighed, "Most Scrulls changed their faces before their disguise come back. We only caught a few of them who reacted slightly slower, but they don't make much sense.

Is Richards still not making progress? If Mr. Magic doesn’t give us some help, I don’t know how long this ship can fly in the sky.”

"I'm still working hard there and telling everyone to do their job well."

Tony shut up, remained silent for a while, and then asked, "If Nick Fury was still there, he wouldn't have let things go like this, right?"

Hill did not answer directly. But while the two of them were talking, they had already arrived at the door of the director's office.

Hill silently unlocked the certification lock and opened the door: "Why don't you ask him directly?"

Tony stood outside the door and looked inside, and saw that former SHIELD director Nick Fury was sitting upright in the office chair again, just like they did when they last met.

Hill and Fury exchanged glances, then left and brought them to the door.

Tony stood at the door and looked at Fury for a while until Fury reached out and signaled: "Sit down."

He acted like it was still his office.

Tony ignored it and asked straight to the point: "What are you trying to say? If you came here to tell me specifically that I was a failure and that the whole thing was a disaster, then let me avoid it. Someone has already said it before you."

Fury leaned in the chair and raised his legs: "Have you gone to chat with Mr. President?"

"yes."

Fury pondered for a few seconds and asked, "You said you don't want to continue working?"

"Your information is quite well-informed."

"I may no longer be able to see and hear the world, but I still have my own channels." Fury said calmly, "Yes, I know it."

"There's nothing to talk about." Tony simply said, "I thought I could do this myself, and I thought that being Chief SHIELD would help me perform my duties better... protect the world. But I found that I was wrong, I couldn't do it, and I could do nothing. This was beyond my ability. I was just a arrogant and overestimated fool, so the world paid the price for it. Chief SHIELD... This was simply a mistake."

Nick Fury rested his elbow on the armrest and supported his chin with both hands.

"So that's what you think? It's all your responsibility?"

"Other else can it be?" Tony looked at the white tiles in the office. "If you were still there, things wouldn't have fallen to this point."

"Although I'm glad you see this," Fury said, "but you know, when I was still there, the ASK was covered with Hydra spies. And for a long time, I really didn't notice it."

Tony didn't speak.

"Well, it's not bad if you're determined to abdicate." Fury said, "You're not suitable for this, Stark. Fortunately, things haven't developed to the worst, and it's not too late to realize it now. But, are you thinking about who should take over your current position?"

"I... don't know, I haven't thought about it yet." Tony shook his head, "but I think you look quite suitable."

Fury shook his head: "My time is over, and those old guys will not agree to me coming back to sit in this position. And my retirement life is nothing bad, I have not come back to take charge of the ASCHEN. But if you want, I have an excellent candidate who may not be worse than me... maybe even better than me."

Tony was stunned: "Who?"

A more suitable S.H.I.E.I.E.L.D.? Is this kind of person really there in the world?

"A guy you are not unfamiliar with." Fury leaned in the chair, brewing for a moment before slowly speaking the name, "Michael Paso."
Chapter completed!