His godson had indeed become a playboy, just like in the films.
"How are Huang Quan and Wang Kun doing?"
Chen Mo was still very concerned about these subordinates of his.
"Huang Quan, Han Qing, Luo Zhen, and Bucky Barnes are now core members of S.H.I.E.L.D. They've all received serum enhancement and are frozen in rotation with Steve and the others, taking turns awakening to serve as deputies and special forces commanders assisting the director in managing S.H.I.E.L.D. Currently paired with Howard is Huang Quan."
Chen Mo nodded lightly. With Howard's unreliable personality, it was indeed hard to feel at ease. Having the steady Huang Quan assisting and supervising was much more secure. Without needing to ask, this must have been Colonel Phillips' arrangement.
"The Seven Rings Gang led by Wang Kun has developed very rapidly. Their influence now spreads throughout America, radiating to some neighboring countries as well. New York, their headquarters, has been fortified like an iron fortress under his management. However, he's never been frozen, so he's aged quite a bit—now he looks about the same age as me."
Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but laugh. Back at the martial arts school, old Albert had been over sixty with graying hair, while Wang Kun had been a young man in his thirties. If the two had stood together, they would have clearly looked a generation apart.
Now seventy years had passed. Old Albert had become younger while Wang Kun had aged—the two had instead become "the same age."
"His great-grandson is now in his twenties. Following your original instructions, I later sent him some enhancement serum. His family members have all been enhanced. Now the Seven Rings Gang is managed by his son, while he just stays at the martial arts school every day drinking tea and teaching his great-grandson martial arts."
Chen Mo couldn't help but be amused.
"This guy's really acting like a centenarian—already retired and enjoying his golden years!"
A smile also appeared on Albert's face, then he continued.
"Additionally, sixteen years ago, when Steve and Carter were managing S.H.I.E.L.D., they had a daughter—Sharon Rogers, a very pretty little girl."
Hearing this made Chen Mo very happy. Under his intervention, the two of them had finally changed their original fate and gotten together. Now they even had a daughter. This made him feel quite gratified.
Hearing this, Chen Mo raised his head to look seriously at Albert, wanting to hear more specific details about her.
Albert clearly sensed Chen Mo's intent and continued introducing.
"Ten years ago, Steve and Carter entered cryogenic sleep again. Sharon was too young to be injected with super soldier serum, so she was entrusted to someone else to raise."
"Now she's in high school."
Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but frown.
"Why didn't the two of them stay outside and raise her themselves?"
Albert continued explaining.
"Fifty years ago, after their S.H.I.E.L.D. term ended, they faked their deaths together during a mission for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. So they couldn't appear before ordinary people anymore and couldn't give Sharon a normal life."
"They hoped Sharon could grow up among ordinary people, planning to tell her the truth after she came of age."
At this point, Albert's tone changed, becoming somewhat serious.
"The children of S.H.I.E.L.D. need tempering!"
"That must have been Steve's stupid idea."
Hearing this, Albert smiled but didn't refute it. Yet he seemed to think of something, looking at Chen Mo somewhat hesitantly.
"However..."
Chen Mo looked at Albert, quietly waiting for what came next.
Albert's expression seemed somewhat conflicted. After sighing lightly, he slowly said.
"When choosing Sharon's new guardian, they seem to have made a mistake."
Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but be extremely curious about this guardian Steve had chosen. To be selected by the rigid Steve, logically it should be a very reliable person.
"Who?"
Chen Mo asked curiously.
Albert looked into Chen Mo's eyes, his face full of regret and conflict as he slowly spoke a name.
"Tony Stark!"
Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but cover his forehead.
"This idiot!"
Chen Mo couldn't help but curse, then looked at Albert with a face full of doubt.
"Steve's brain broke—surely Carter didn't also get confused with him?"
Facing Chen Mo's confusion, Albert looked at him helplessly with some sentiment.
"At that time, Tony was still a good young man."
Chen Mo helplessly shook his head. He really couldn't imagine how twenty-something Tony had taken care of six-year-old Sharon.
It seemed he'd need to find time to check on her. He really didn't feel assured about Tony.
Two equally pitiful children, both screwed over by their own dads, had thus inexplicably become "orphans" depending on each other.
Chen Mo was very curious what it would be like when they saw their parents again. Tony would probably beat Howard to death, right?
Not only did you fake your death to deceive me, but in the end you also dumped a six-year-old little girl on me and didn't care anymore! I don't know how to take care of kids! I still need to pick up women, okay!
However, without the Iron Man suit, Tony didn't seem to be Howard's match. It seemed necessary to help Tony undergo serum enhancement first. Chen Mo was very much looking forward to the scene of Howard getting a good beating from his son.
Meanwhile, on the other side, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in New York.
"Achoo~~!!!"
Howard, who was busy in the laboratory, suddenly sneezed loudly. His hand shook, white smoke rose up, and a piece of material on the lab bench was completely ruined.
Watching hours of hard work turn to nothing, Howard couldn't help but curse under his breath.
"Damn it! Have to start all over again!"
...
Norway, Hydra's top-secret base.
In the office, Chen Mo set down his coffee cup and fell into contemplation.
Through the information learned from Albert, Chen Mo discovered that although this world had changed quite a bit due to his influence, at least on the surface it still didn't differ much from the background of the film "Iron Man."
Tony Stark was still a weapons genius who had "lost his father" at a young age. After taking over Stark Industries, he was still assisted in managing and operating the company by company veteran Obadiah Stane. His assistant Pepper Potts, driver Happy Hogan, and friend Colonel James Rhodes were all no different from the film.
It seemed everything had been corrected under an invisible force.
Chen Mo speculated this was very likely due to the special nature of film spaces. For film series like "Captain America" and "Iron Man," even if the previous plot was changed, what followed would still develop according to the original plot. Of course, this correction had limits—it wouldn't completely revert to how things were before the changes, but would try to bring the deviated trajectory back on course. If the deviation exceeded what the world could correct, no changes would occur.
For example, the changed fate trajectories of Steve and others, the development of Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Seven Rings Gang had all exceeded the world's corrective limits, so they hadn't changed at all.
But Tony's birth, the appearance of Obadiah, Pepper, and James were still developing along the original trajectory, unaffected by the butterfly effect.
After all, this wasn't an ordinary alternate dimension world but a film world. The plot could change, but other things not yet changed or that hadn't yet occurred would still try to follow the plot's development as much as possible.
Actually, this was a good thing for Chen Mo. This way, his greatest advantage in film worlds—the foreknowledge brought by familiarity with the plot—wouldn't completely disappear due to previous changes.
Of course, for worlds like Underworld where Chen Mo had completely overturned the original plot, future development would be unpredictable.
Thinking of this, Chen Mo suddenly looked at Albert and asked curiously.
"How did Steve and Howard fake their deaths?"
Albert found it somewhat strange that Chen Mo would think to ask this, but still answered directly.
"Howard staged a car accident and died together with his wife."
At this point, Albert paused, glanced at Chen Mo, then continued somewhat amusedly.
"As for Steve, to commemorate you, he chose to crash a plane into the sea."
Hearing this, Chen Mo only felt deeply speechless. What was there to commemorate about that? He looked like he simply couldn't think of any better way to die.
That brat—even faking death he has to copy me!
However, these S.H.I.E.L.D. bosses' creative ways of faking death must have been quite interesting. Unfortunately, Chen Mo hadn't been able to witness them firsthand.
As for Colonel Phillips, Chen Mo didn't even need to guess. That rigid old fellow had definitely chosen to die of old age. Who told him to be the oldest? After ten or twenty years, he could just lie in bed for a nap and death could be announced. No need to be as troublesome as Steve and the others, having to think of an appropriate way to die and carefully stage an accident.
The coffee was finished, and Chen Mo had gained a basic understanding of the current situation. Just like the previous two traversals, the "Iron Man" plot hadn't started yet. Chen Mo had sufficient time to prepare.
The beginning of the "Iron Man" film plot, which was also an important turning point in Tony's life, started when he went to Afghanistan to demonstrate the newly developed Jericho missile to the US troops stationed there and was ambushed and kidnapped by the terrorist organization the Ten Rings.
And now, according to intelligence obtained by Hydra, although the Jericho missile had been developed, Tony temporarily had no scheduled trip to Afghanistan for a weapons demonstration, and the military hadn't received any information in this regard either.
So at least in the short term, Tony wouldn't go to Afghanistan. Chen Mo had ample preparation time.
Seeming to remember something else, Albert added.
"The list you gave me before leaving—everyone on it has been found and recruited into Hydra. After strict cultivation, their loyalty is beyond question."
"Just as you said, they're all rarely seen talents."
Hearing this, Chen Mo nodded.
"Very good."
The people on that list back then weren't so easy to find, let alone recruit into Hydra. Albert must have put in considerable effort for this.
"Do you need me to awaken Dr. Zola and Colonel John?"
Having basically introduced the situation from all aspects, Albert looked at Chen Mo inquiringly.
Chen Mo nodded lightly.
"Go ahead."