Let them enjoy themselves.

As the scene before his eyes blurred, Joss found himself already standing inside his quarters within the base.

“What a pity. If only I had one more move, like the ‘Hairspray Hand,’ my cool factor would have gone up by at least three percent.”

Joss hadn’t wasted his time in the underground base. Instead, he’d taken the opportunity to roughly explore his new abilities, among which the one called “Coo Coo Coo” proved the most intriguing.

Its effect was straightforward: by uttering the words “I’m out,” he could instantly teleport himself back “home.”

Here, “home” was merely a concept, but it still required two conditions: he must have been there before, and it had to be inside a building.

There weren’t too many such places, but not too few either. For Joss, it was a rather convenient teleportation skill.

However, the location restrictions made it of little use in actual combat. Based on previous attempts, it also seemed this ability couldn’t be used during combat; it required a relatively stable situation, and the three words had to be enunciated clearly, one by one, for it to activate.

Although he suspected this cryptic power might hold more potential, so far, he’d only discovered this single application.

As for George, the bespectacled man who’d locked himself away in the panic room, he would have to face death in his final moments, lost in confusion and helplessness—just as he himself had said.

After returning to the base, Joss didn’t linger. He had a purpose for coming back here instead of heading straight to New Yolk City, and he wasted no time, making straight for Duncan’s office.

“Ah, ah, hey, hey…” Joss grabbed the broadcast microphone and began making all sorts of sounds.

At first, the ‘ah’ he uttered was still in his own voice, but by the final ‘hey,’ it had transformed completely into Duncan’s tone.

This was a new trick Joss had developed from his Tape Recorder ability. Instead of repeating entire phrases, he could mimic individual syllables, combining them to speak in someone else’s voice and say whatever he wished!

This sort of ability was commonly known as “slipping in personal messages while repeating.”

“Attention, everyone in the base: New Yolk City is currently in crisis. All units, prepare for action on my command…”

In just a few concise words, Joss outlined the current situation, then, under Duncan’s name, dispatched everyone in the base.

After all, the Avengers’ manpower was limited, and S.H.I.E.L.D. still had to watch out for their own HYDRA infiltrators during operations. It was essential to find ways to send them some extra support.

“All right, that’s taken care of too. Let’s get ready to head back to the fight.” Satisfied after finishing everything, Joss shut off the microphone.

As for those remaining HYDRA members hiding in the underground base…

“Little Black, did you finish what I asked you to do earlier?”

“Of course, no problem. Is it time to start now?”

No one knew just how many explosives had been laid below ground, encircling the underground base, since Joss’s return.

According to Little Black, it was almost as if the entire stockpile of explosives in the base had been used up.

However, since this wasn’t wartime, unconventional weapons were only inventoried every few weeks. So far, no one had noticed anything amiss.

“Hmm, then set it to detonate… twenty minutes from now.”

After a few quick taps on the controller, Joss and Little Black vanished from the command room.

…

In New Yolk City, countless skirmishes were erupting in streets and alleys across the metropolis.

The public seemed well-accustomed to such scenes by now. Upon witnessing the chaos, people calmly yet swiftly hurried home to lock their doors and windows.

Whether that was effective or not was a matter of fate—property losses were covered by insurance, and as long as you survived today, you might strike it rich tomorrow.

“S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D., everyone follow my orders. Fight as you see fit—we may not return, but all for the glory of justice!”

Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury, wearing a gold chain as thick as a thumb, was directing his agents to the battlefield. For some reason, the agents were all moving in rhythm with Fury’s commands, swaying their bodies to his cadence.

If Joss had been there, he would have noticed the scene bore more than a ninety-percent resemblance to a certain ridiculous video he’d once seen.

…

Stark Tower, Avengers’ Operations Room.

“Based on the intelligence Joss provided, there are roughly three ways we can prevent this catastrophe,” Tony Stark said, his usual playboy demeanor gone. With glasses perched on his nose, he gravely presented his simulation models to the group.

“First, destroy the spatial gate. The advantage is that the target is singular, and it’s the plan with the highest success rate. We only need a remote strike to disrupt the gate’s frequency, triggering a collapse.”

“But the downside is obvious too: if we’re unlucky and cause a chain spatial reaction—or even create a black hole—the resulting destruction could be worse than HYDRA itself.”

Though it was the first option mentioned, it was clear Stark only considered it a contingency, with practically no real value for action.

“Second, we destroy the magic circle. But right now, we don’t have any mystical experts to help, so to pull it off, we’d have to eliminate all the magic generators ourselves.”

“As for the third option, that’s to stop HYDRA’s assault teams. Prevent the magic circle from charging, and it can’t be activated.”

“You’ve all probably realized—given our manpower, the first two options are impossible missions.”

At Stark’s words, both Steve and Natasha looked grim. Hawkeye’s face grew anxious as he couldn’t help but ask, “Time is running out. Just tell us what we need to do.”

But Stark didn’t provide the perfect solution he was hoping for. Instead, he shook his head, a hint of frustration in his voice. “This time, there is no best plan. That’s why I wanted us all to discuss it together.”

Hearing this, even Steve—usually a master strategist—fell silent.

“This is really troublesome… Wait! Joss is sending a message!” Just as he was lost in thought, Steve suddenly sensed his telepathic link with Joss reestablish itself. He cried out in surprise and listened intently.

Here, here, and over there… I see, I understand now… “Everyone, Joss just told me the routes the most dangerous orc warriors will take to attack. We’ll meet them head-on in these directions. As for the other areas… Joss says the city’s other factions will have to find their own ways to protect their districts.”