"That's exactly what I'm trying to say!"
"If S.H.I.E.L.D. truly kept iridium secretly in some base in the future, and Loki wanted to steal it, why wouldn't he just directly control a special agent from that base?"
"Like how he controlled Barton and Dr. Selvig, wouldn't that be much simpler?"
"Using the method of getting caught on purpose involves randomness and uncertainty. I don't see the point in doing that!"
Black Widow nodded, continuing with her previous point of view.
Under everyone's discussion, option C was basically excluded without much controversy, and everyone's attention turned to option D.
"Loki intending to use Thor against the Avengers, that certainly seems possible." Captain America spoke first, "That also sounds consistent with the style of the God of Mischief and Lies, full of deceit and trickery."
"From the previous related footage, we can understand that Loki was not surprised by Thor's descent to Earth."
"In fact, with Loki's intelligence, he couldn't possibly not know that stealing the Tesseract would alarm the people of Asgard."
Tony Stark also pondered aloud, glancing at Thor, "I'm not wrong, am I? That should be the case, right?"
"Even for Asgard, the Tesseract is an extremely important item." Thor nodded, "Although my father, for some reason, placed the Tesseract on Earth, he must have always been keeping an eye on it."
"So…" Thor nodded at this point, "You're right, Stark, if Loki stole the Tesseract, my father would definitely intervene to stop him."
"As my brother and Odin's other son, Loki couldn't possibly not know this."
With Thor's confirmation, option D became even more convincing.
"So, Loki knew all along that Asgard would send someone to stop him, and considering Loki's identity, the most likely person to descend would be Thor."
"And our cunning and devious Loki must also be very clear about Thor's personality; he knows that when Thor descends and sees him captured, there's a high probability of a conflict with the Avengers!"
"Simply perfect!"
"In fact, if this was Loki's plan, then he really succeeded; Thor fought with me and the Captain."
After Tony Stark's explanation, option D seemed even more reasonable.
"So, both options B and D currently seem quite reasonable; they fit Loki's habits and his motives."
Hawkeye Barton couldn't help but glance at these two options, noting a commonality, "Actually, these two options are talking about the same thing: dealing with the Avengers."
"It's just that we don't know yet which method Loki intends to use."
"The crux of the problem lies here!" Dr. Banner nodded in agreement, "Once this is figured out, the answer will emerge."
"Thor." Captain America looked at Thor, "No one here understands Loki better than you. Which method do you think Loki would use?"
"D, I think it's very possible for Loki to use me against the Avengers; that's Loki's usual tactic." Thor thought for a moment and said.
But before anyone could offer an opinion, Thor immediately changed his mind and said, "Wait, B is also very possible; these are all Loki's style."
Everyone: "…"
Well, they shouldn't have had any hope for Thor.
"I think option B is more likely." Finally, after some deliberation, Tony Stark gave a relatively more reliable reason.
"Romanoff, do you remember what Loki said to Thor in that footage, 'Your beloved Earth'!"
Tony Stark said to Black Widow as if he had remembered something.
Black Widow naturally recalled it too, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Tony Stark and asked back, "Yes, I remember that line. Loki did say it. Stark, what are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is that Loki and Thor grew up together; they are Odin's only two sons, so Loki must understand Thor very well!"
"Loki must know that Thor is not someone who indiscriminately kills innocents!"
"And the Avengers arresting Loki was out of justice and self-defense, with legitimate reasons to do so. The Avengers are certainly not wicked villains."
"Plus Thor's 'love' for Earth…"
As Tony Stark said this, Black Widow had already understood Tony Stark's meaning.
"So Loki also knows that even if Thor clashes with the Avengers, he won't kill them!" Black Widow said emphatically.
"Of course!" Thor on the side nodded as a matter of course, "Although I have fought in many star systems and killed countless enemies, I have never killed an innocent person!"
"So… what's the point of Loki meticulously planning a battle between Thor and the Avengers?" Captain America also understood Tony Stark's meaning, and he finally spoke the crucial point.
Aside from being hot-tempered and a bit simple-minded, Thor had nothing to be criticized for; he even held a very friendly attitude towards Earth.
He couldn't possibly kill Earthlings just because they captured Loki in self-defense.
And the Avengers were certainly not madmen or psychopaths like Loki; they acted logically and had reasons for their actions. Even for someone who had committed numerous crimes on Earth like Loki, they hadn't resorted to killing.
Let alone Thor.
In this situation, even if the two sides initially clashed due to some misunderstanding, the possibility of it escalating into a life-and-death battle, or even resulting in fatalities, was not great.
Loki, as a master of schemes and tricks, couldn't possibly not think of this.
So this scheme seemed a bit pointless, because currently, Loki's goal in doing this seemed to be just to make Thor fight the Avengers, and nothing more!
As Captain America said, doing so was meaningless.
Of course, the possibility of the two sides clashing and ultimately fighting to the death couldn't be said to be nonexistent; there was certainly some possibility.
But for Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, to devise such a plan with unpredictable results and no guaranteed effectiveness, was somewhat inconsistent with his identity and caliber.
"Looking at it this way, option B still seems more likely." Hawkeye Barton nodded from the side.
"Loki knows the strength of the Avengers; he's well aware that he can't fight all of them, so he pretends to be captured."
"And a person of Loki's status, after being imprisoned, would most likely need the Avengers to guard him, which would give Loki an opportunity!"
"Dr. Banner, I think we can give the answer now." Hawkeye Barton said to Dr. Banner.
Now everyone had finished answering the second round, leaving only Dr. Banner.
"No, Barton, you should answer this question." Dr. Banner thought for a moment, but said, "The 'Spiritwind Battle Bow' is useless to me, but it's perfect for you."
A bow is useless to anyone who isn't an archer.
And Hawkeye Barton was the only archer present!
This question was practically tailor-made for Hawkeye Barton.
"Dr. Banner, then this battle suit is for you." Hawkeye Barton didn't decline much. After a slight pause, he took out the Saiyan battle suit and handed it to Dr. Banner.
"That's fair!" Dr. Banner also didn't decline, unceremoniously taking the battle suit Barton handed him.
"I choose B, deliberately getting caught to internally dismantle and defeat the Avengers!" It was only then that Hawkeye Barton directly faced the big screen and stated his answer.
"Correct answer!"
The system immediately gave the correct feedback.
"Congratulations to contestant Barton Clint for winning the Spiritwind Battle Bow!"
"The reward has been issued, please check!"
With this system prompt, a finely crafted bow, looking full of prestige, appeared in Barton Clint's hand.
Without a doubt, it was the Spiritwind Battle Bow.
Immediately, a very satisfied expression appeared on Hawkeye Barton's face, indicating he had received information about the Spiritwind Battle Bow.
"Barton, how is it?" Black Widow couldn't help but ask curiously from the side.
"Very good! Excellent!" Hawkeye's face broke into a smile, "Using this bow can increase arrow speed by twenty percent!"
Twenty percent, this increase was actually quite astonishing.
This was equivalent to greatly enhancing Hawkeye Barton's archery skills.
And with a twenty percent increase in speed, the shooting distance would also be correspondingly increased, which went without saying.
"Really good!" Tony Stark also couldn't help but nod, "Now, Barton can completely defeat Oliver Queen."
Oliver Queen, nicknamed Green Arrow, belonged to the same comic series as Batman and was also quite well-known in America.
"I really wish that guy was real, so I could have a match with him." Hawkeye Barton said with shining eyes.
In modern society, archers like Barton were almost extinct. Hawkeye Barton could be said to have no opponents.
If he really met someone like Green Arrow, Hawkeye would be very excited.
But everyone knew such a thing was impossible.
Swish swish swish!
Next, Hawkeye Barton fired several arrows in succession, and indeed, he could clearly feel that with the same force, the speed of the arrows shot out had significantly increased.
Barton was quite satisfied.
"Question answered. Now playing the answer analysis!"
As always, shortly after the question ended, the corresponding video began to play.
First to appear before everyone's eyes was a "confinement room" made of special glass.
Inside the confinement room, a man dressed in strangely shaped clothes with long, flowing hair was leisurely pacing.
It was none other than Loki.
But suddenly, Loki, who had been strolling along, stopped, and a playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth, as if he had discovered something.
"Not many people can sneak up on me." Loki said, then turned around.
Indeed, he saw someone standing outside the confinement room behind him; it was Black Widow.
"You guessed I'd come?"
"Needless to say?"
The two began a verbal sparring match.
Black Widow tried to extract some information from Loki, but the conversation was dominated by Loki from beginning to end.
Even in front of the cunning Loki, the well-trained Black Widow was pushed to the brink of psychological collapse and emotional loss of control by Loki's words.
"Loki is best at this kind of thing." Thor couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "Romanoff, I'm not underestimating you, but trying to play mind games with Loki is really a bit over your head."
"Is that so?" Black Widow retorted meaningfully.
No one understood her better than herself. She knew deep down that she couldn't be that fragile, and her performance was most likely an act.
"You're just a madman!"
On the screen, Black Widow ultimately retreated, only able to utter such a helpless accusation.
"Heh heh, no, the real madman hasn't come out yet." Loki said with a somewhat smug laugh.
"It's Banner!" The seemingly distraught Black Widow suddenly transformed, becoming the agent who had everything under control once more, "So this is your goal!"
"What?" Loki was stunned, clearly not expecting to be exposed so quickly by Black Widow.
"Loki plans to use Banner. If he's in the lab, don't let him leave! Get Thor there immediately!" Black Widow immediately said to everyone over the comms channel.
"That's truly impressive." Tony Stark couldn't help but laugh aloud, "The God of Mischief was actually outsmarted."
Thor just wanted to cover his face.
Loki, you troublesome brat, can you be any more embarrassing?!
At this moment, the camera switched.
Hawkeye Barton's figure appeared. He stood on a fighter jet, pulled out an arrow, and shot it towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Whoosh!
The arrow drew a long arc in the air and struck a specific spot on the Helicarrier's internal hull.
Beep beep beep beep!
The arrowhead immediately flashed red light. Everyone knew at a glance that it was an explosive arrow.
The camera once again moved to an indoor setting.
It was a place similar to a conference room.
Captain America, Tony Stark, Thor, Dr. Banner, Black Widow, and Nick Fury were all there.
Dr. Banner held Loki's scepter, while everyone else watched Dr. Banner warily.
Although they didn't know what had happened, the atmosphere in the room seemed tense.
Beep beep beep beep!
A notification sound rang out, and a display screen showed the words: "Gamma radiation concordance 95%."
"Found it!"
Everyone in the conference room was invigorated.
"You located the Tesseract?"
"I can go first!"
"The Tesseract belongs to Asgard. Humans cannot control it!"
"You can't go alone!"
"You want to stop me?"
Everyone in the conference room began to argue, but soon… Boom!
A violent explosion sounded.