Alien invasion? Luckily, I'm Superman.

"Baron Strucker?" Tony's voice carried on the night breeze. He raised his hand and tapped the armor on his temple. "Jarvis, tell me about him."

Jarvis's voice came through the loudspeaker: "Strucker was a high-ranking SS officer in Nazi Germany and a core founding member of Hydra, the organization established by Red Skull. He was an early core colleague of Red Skull. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the Baron died unexpectedly."

Tony stood still, processing the information. He died unexpectedly in 1945. The man who died unexpectedly was now commanding the remnants of Hydra. Either he faked his death, or someone was using his name to orchestrate Hydra's plans.

Suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder. Tony turned around to see Steve standing beside him, shield strapped to his arm.

"How's it going?" Steve asked. "Did Killian leave any instructions?"

Tony snapped out of his thoughts, raised a hand to his forehead, and said, "Well, Killian told me that AIM was secretly funded by Hydra. It was funded by Baron Strucker during World War II. Although subsequent funding came from the military, and the connection between AIM and Hydra weakened, Killian said there are still a large number of Hydra agents within the company that he doesn't know about."

His voice carried a sense of helplessness. They knew there were Hydra agents, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was also full of Hydra agents—how could they eliminate them? Should they send Hydra to clean up Hydra?

Tony was amused by his own thought, then froze. The idea spun in his mind, growing brighter with each passing thought.

That's right, they might as well let Hydra clean them up. They're all Hydra agents anyway, so it's a win-win situation. Even better if the infiltrating Hydra agents don't know each other, or if they're competitors.

Everyone watched as Tony's expression changed from exhaustion to contemplation, and then from contemplation to sudden realization.

"You have a plan?" Clint asked, hanging his bow back on his back.

"Okay." Tony nodded and explained his plan to everyone. Everyone agreed with the plan; time was tight, and it was the only feasible solution at the moment.

"Brilliant," Su Mo said, his tone full of admiration. "Hydra, apart from the individual heads, truly doesn't know each other, which really allows them to fight amongst themselves. But we need to deal with the Baron first, otherwise, if the Baron makes contact with the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s spies, the plan will fail."

"That's right." Tony's gaze swept over everyone present. "So, we're heading to Europe next. Anyone have any objections?"

Su Mo shook his head. He thought he could check with the Baron to see if he had any Infinity Stones, or Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Captain America, eager to eliminate Hydra, naturally wouldn't object.

Natasha, standing a short distance away, heard Tony's question and nodded without hesitation. As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she knew the Hydra threat better than anyone else.

Clint glanced at Natasha, then at Steve, then at Su Mo. Everyone was looking at him. He sighed, his shoulders relaxing. "Fine," he said, a resigned tone that suggested, "I knew it would turn out like this." "I'll go."

He decided that once this mission was over, he would go back to his family and get some rest.

In the distance, the outline of the Quinjet became visible through optical cloaking. Dr. Banner piloted the aircraft slowly to a landing, the rear hatch opening and lights shining from inside the cockpit.

Natasha boarded the plane from the back, her steps light. She walked up to Banner and blew him a kiss.

Banner paused for a moment, then smiled; he didn't flinch. But the Hulk within him prevented him from accepting this affection.

The other Avengers watched this scene, some shaking their heads, some sighing, and each went to their seats, leaning back in their chairs and closing their eyes. The next battle was about to begin; they needed to rest first.

The Quinjet took off vertically, its landing gear retracting into the fuselage, and the cabin doors closed. Optical and radar stealth capabilities activated simultaneously. The aircraft silently climbed the night sky.

The destination was Sokovia, an Eastern European country. This was a location Su Mo remembered. Combined with Su Mo's statement that the other party might possess the Mind Stone, Tony had Jarvis monitor abnormal energy signals throughout Europe.

After analyzing data and records for some time, Jarvis finally detected a peculiar energy fluctuation in the mountains near Sokovia. The frequency and waveform perfectly matched the gem set at the top of Loki's scepter. The Mind Stone. It was in Sokovia.

The Quinjet advanced silently into the night. The sky outside the window gradually brightened from pure black. Clouds spread out beneath the fuselage. The plane was moving quickly, and the journey from New York to Sokovia didn't take long. Due to the time difference, by the time they arrived in Sokovia, the sun was already high in the sky.

What was Baron Strucker doing at this time?

He had received a secret message from a Hydra agent disguised and infiltrated within AIM, informing him that his superhuman human program had been exposed. He sat in a secret room underground at the Sokovia base.

Before him was a huge conference room. A dozen or so faces appeared around him. Dr. Zola's virtual world connected everyone's consciousness to this encrypted virtual conference space, where their conversations would not be captured by any eavesdropping devices or recorded by any spy satellites.

"My fellow countrymen," Baron Strucker's voice was low and slow, "the Avengers already know of our existence."

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, paused for a moment, and then added, "Perhaps there is a traitor among us."

His face was somewhat gloomy. Although the Extremis virus from AIM Corporation was only a small part of his plan, and he had copied the virus's data and formula, the fact that it was exposed so quickly still annoyed him.

Although Hydra controls many forces in the world—finance, politics, media, and military—it is fundamentally flawed. Each entity operates independently, striving for a single goal, and its plans are far from complete. Therefore, it cannot withstand a combined attack from global forces.

From the shadows, a deep, mature voice rang out. It was Alexander Pierce, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I told you we should focus our efforts on supporting my 'Operation Insight' first," Pierce chuckled. "Once Operation Insight succeeds, we can stand in the sunlight. The Avengers? A bunch of clowns in tight suits. Three Helicarriers will take to the skies, and their names will vanish from the world. Nobody will remember them."

"What traitor?" another voice interrupted, sharp and shrill, with undisguised contempt. "I think it's just that your men are too useless."

The speaker was a tall man whose body was constantly writhing with swarms of insects. His face appeared and disappeared amidst the swarms. The virtual avatars of the other attendees around him unconsciously shifted to the side. Anyone would keep their distance from someone who could parasitize and control others. It was only because this was a virtual world; in reality, they wouldn't be in the same room as this person.

Some Hydra high-ranking members, either too lazy to speak or of lower rank, remained silent. Their virtual avatars sat quietly in their respective positions, like silent sculptures.

Baron Strucker was about to continue speaking when his expression suddenly changed.

"The Avengers are here," he said.