Chapter Forty-Eight: The Enigmatic Trail of the Demon Sword

Several hours later, Natasha returned to Avengers Tower, where she finally met the mysterious woman Tony had dubbed “Snow White.”

“Wow, she really does look just like the Snow White from the fairy tales,” Natasha arched her brow as she studied the woman before her. Skin as pale as snow, lips red as blood, hair as black as ebony—she was the very image of the storybook princess. The only difference lay in the distinctly Eastern features of the woman, and the opulent gown she wore, so clearly unlike anything from Western culture.

“Tony, did you find out which country she's from?” In the modern age, nearly everyone leaves behind traces of information, but Natasha’s question was met with a negative shake of Tony’s head.

“No, ma’am. I had Jarvis pull records from databases all over the world, but we couldn't find anyone matching her description. Considering Snow White’s age, a lot of records might not be easy to locate.” Tony rolled his eyes. If the data were so easy to find, he wouldn’t be in such a bind.

“Age? Maybe you could give me a quick rundown,” Natasha replied, surprised as she looked at the unconscious woman. Judging by her appearance, she seemed no older than twenty. Natasha, having rushed back, hadn’t had time to review Tony’s detailed intel logs. Tony had only said he’d discovered a superpowered woman who required her help.

“Jarvis,” Tony called, then left, giving the ladies some privacy. Discussing matters in a woman’s bedroom was never quite his style.

Natasha, unconcerned, settled into her role—a cross between doctor and nurse. Yet when Jarvis presented the data, she was taken aback.

“Well, it seems we’re in trouble,” she murmured, brows furrowed after reading through everything. As a level-ten agent and someone who’d personally encountered the Hailar entity, she understood just how dangerous that mysterious cult could be. Though she wasn’t pleased with Stark acting on his own, the situation was already in motion, and what mattered now was the woman before her.

Remembering Hailar’s mind-controlled state, Natasha eyed the woman on the bed with caution. The cult had managed to silently kill scores of innocent civilians using nothing but an abandoned idol in a crumbling chapel. This woman, rescued by Tony from the cult’s secret underground chamber—could she possess even more terrifying powers?

Then, recalling the inexplicably flying magic sword, Natasha sensed the situation had become even more unpredictable. This needed to be reported to the Director immediately.

Of course, Tony hadn’t intended to keep any secrets from Fury. Natasha and Barton had unique roles—often serving as a bridge between the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.—which was precisely why Tony hadn’t summoned them at first.

Meanwhile, Nick Fury, stationed at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s New York headquarters, received Natasha’s reply. Ever since the previous incident, he’d returned to New York. Fury shared Tony’s wound-up anxiety, and rebuilding headquarters involved sensitive matters, so he oversaw everything personally.

Upon receiving Natasha’s report, Fury’s brows knitted so tightly it could crush a fly. The mysterious statue had already been a headache—now Stark had unearthed a more dangerous crystal coffin.

He silently cursed the careless agents who’d missed such critical intel. Was S.H.I.E.L.D. paying them just to throw money away?

But now, the bigger issue was how to proceed. Stark had placed the woman in Avengers Tower, clearly unwilling to let Fury relocate her. If there was time to study the woman slowly, it was the vanished magic sword that truly worried him.

“Pull up the satellites. Find out where that thing went,” Fury ordered a nearby agent. Hill and Coulson had been running themselves ragged and didn’t need to handle this.

Soon, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s satellites retrieved surveillance data from the incident. Yet unsettling news came: after leaving Avengers Tower, the object vanished from satellite tracking, apparently heading southwest.

...

After the crystal coffin shattered, the magic sword immediately departed from the woman’s body, swiftly flying southwest. Its small size and secretive powers allowed it to easily evade America’s air defense radars and satellite scans, arriving directly at an island.

This was the Bermuda Triangle, southeast of the United States—a world-renowned zone of mystery. Baron Strucker’s secret research base was located here.

Relying on Hydra’s technological prowess and strategic stealth, Baron Strucker had built his research facility not far from the American mainland. Though Hydra had infiltrated various U.S. political bodies and S.H.I.E.L.D., Bermuda was so close to the mainland that its secrets could be discovered at any time.

Still, Baron Strucker had taken the risk, establishing his base right under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s nose. Nearby in the surrounding waters stood a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility, the very one Fury had tasked with studying the evil god’s statue.

It was precisely this proximity that allowed Baron Strucker to quickly acquire the idol, swiftly seize control of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, and even return the idol unnoticed when Fury came to investigate, never once being discovered.

Now, however, the mysterious island was about to receive a new visitor—a strange and sinister sword.

As soon as the magic sword arrived on the island, Test Subject 069, whom Baron Strucker had high hopes for, began praying before the idol. This behavior quickly attracted Hydra’s attention.

“What’s going on? Is it prayer time now?” Baron Strucker frowned at the monitor. The idol’s mind-control powers surpassed Hydra's own, but after lengthy research, Hydra’s scientists had mapped out the behavior patterns of infected subjects.

Each night, upon awakening, the first act was to pray before the idol, then set out to hunt prey, followed by another prayer. The night’s cycle was simple and unremarkable.

But now, during hunting hours, this test subject had abruptly halted their killing spree to pray before the idol—a clear break from the patterns Hydra had so painstakingly observed.