Chapter Forty: Circular Defense

"I have confidence in you! The fact that you asked Tony to buy insurance means we’re the ones destined to win. If we were doomed to lose, there would be no point in buying it at all," said Captain America with his straightforward logic.

"So, what’s our next move?" asked Tony Stark, having just finished his call.

"We wait and see," Yang Xin replied, then fixed his gaze on the three-dimensional map in his hands.

To be honest, Yang Xin had little faith in the Avengers. In his eyes, this team of superheroes was, at best, a small elite force—fine for minor tactical assaults, but in an interstellar conflict of this scale, entrusting them with victory was more wishful thinking than relying on S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Have the military been notified? How many local troops are stationed in Manhattan? Can the National Guard assemble within half an hour?" Yang Xin fired off his questions in quick succession—not to Tony Stark, but to Nick Fury.

"The notifications have already been sent, not just to the military, but to the Pentagon and the White House as well. But they don’t believe us," said Nick Fury grimly, his already dark face seeming even darker.

"If we can’t count on the Pentagon, we’ll have to rely on ourselves," Yang Xin responded, his voice steady and unperturbed.

"We’re agents, not soldiers. War isn’t our specialty, even if it’s a limited one," Fury replied.

As the king of espionage, Nick Fury was in his element when it came to covert ops. MI6, the FBI, or any intelligence agency was no match for him in that arena. But this was war, not sabotage—and the truth was, he felt uncertain, though his composure never faltered.

"Then let’s play to our strengths as agents—break into small units and fight street by street," Yang Xin said calmly.

"Here, here, and here—have Natasha suit up in the Iron Man armor, take my dimensional pouch, and pull out all those nearly obsolete anti-aircraft guns from World War II. Set up air defenses at these points. The weapons may be old, but they’re still effective, right? Then use the Quinjets’ VTOL capability to transport agents up," Yang Xin said, pointing to the rooftops of the tall buildings.

The rooftops in America’s skyscrapers often had enough space for helicopters to land, making them ideal sites for air defense positions.

"Without proper defensive structures, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s casualties will be severe," Fury said quietly, feeling a pang of regret. Anti-aircraft positions would be the first targets struck—he could already imagine those rooftops stained red with agents’ blood.

"Have all the Hydra agents been identified?" Yang Xin glanced at Fury.

"Using the enemy’s hand to slay the enemy! Brilliant!" Fury’s eyes lit up. He gave a mental thumbs-up, then quickly began dialing numbers. With his orders, Quinjets loaded with Hydra agents soared into the sky.

Yang Xin handed the dimensional pouch and the Mark V suitcase armor to Natasha. She suited up immediately and, clutching Yang Xin’s pouch, shot into the sky to begin deploying defenses.

"Hawkeye, Coulson, Melinda, you’ll lead S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and use Stark Tower as your center point—engage the Chitauri in urban combat. Remember, you can trade fire with the Chitauri; their weapons can’t harm you. But your agents’ main task isn’t fighting—it’s to evacuate and protect civilians. After this, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be impossible to ignore in the public eye, but you must appear as heroes."

"Yes, sir!"

"Prince Thor of Asgard, as the protectors of Midgard, we now formally send an interstellar diplomatic notice to Asgard. The Chitauri army is at our gates, and Midgard faces life and death. We earnestly ask for your aid. Should you help us through this peril, Midgard will be eternally grateful, and our people will forever remember Asgard’s benevolence," Yang Xin intoned, almost theatrically, his words flowing like a song.

He even performed an exaggerated medieval knight’s salute.

Everyone understood Yang Xin’s intent: he was using Thor as a shield, and not paying him a cent for it. All those grand words about eternal gratitude—beautifully spoken, but empty of substance.

Yet Thor, of all people, was moved by such words. As Yang Xin arranged the air defenses, Thor had already grown restless—standing on the sidelines was simply not his style.

Thor sat in exaggerated solemnity, striving for a formal air. The others struggled not to laugh at his performance, barely suppressing their amusement given the seriousness of the moment.

"Asgard has received Midgard’s request. As one of the Nine Realms, Asgard has both duty and obligation to stand with Midgard against our enemies," Thor replied, then performed an even more flamboyant Asgardian warrior’s salute before exclaiming excitedly, "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"

"While we’ve set up anti-aircraft defenses, I can’t be sure these projectile weapons will be effective against the Chitauri warships. If you see ships our weapons can’t bring down, I hope you’ll unleash your thunder and strike them from the sky. Just focus on the ships—we’ll handle the Chitauri foot soldiers," Yang Xin said.

"That’s exactly what I had in mind!" Thor cheered, raising his hammer enthusiastically.

"Captain and Hill, you’ll form a three-person team with Thor. Both of you can fly after transforming, so support Thor and cover any gaps," Yang Xin said, looking at Hill and Captain America. After her transformation, Hill became the cosmic princess She-Ra and could fly; Captain America, too, could fly after his transformation.

"It’s been centuries since I’ve seen a Valkyrie in action. Don’t disappoint me," Thor murmured.

"Yes, sir," Hill replied, snapping to attention.

"Yes, sir. I could fight a battle like this all day," Captain America echoed, also standing at attention.

"Dr. Banner, you’ll serve as our emergency responder—go wherever you’re needed, but try not to harm any allies. Will that be a problem?" Yang Xin asked Bruce Banner.

"Hulk says: No problem," Bruce said, tapping his chest.

Seeing Yang Xin allocate tasks with such calm precision, everyone’s anxiety began to subside.

"Hey, pal, aren’t you forgetting something, or maybe someone?" Tony Stark interjected as everyone started preparing for battle. Stark was a notorious attention-seeker—missing out on this would be worse than death for him.

"Your mission is the most crucial. As far as I know, the Chitauri are physiologically different from us—they’re part machine, part organic. Your task is to capture a Chitauri, study and analyze their physical structure," Yang Xin explained.

"I may be a scientist, but my specialty is mechanics. Biology isn’t my forte," Tony replied, hinting at his displeasure—analyzing Chitauri was hardly as glamorous as being in the spotlight.

"Tony, have you noticed this area forms a perfect hexagram, and, with Stark Tower at the center, the main streets of Manhattan create a circle?" Yang Xin said, looking at Stark.

"A natural alchemic array?" Stark’s eyes lit up.