Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 399: 399 MCU 74

Arriving at the White House and entering the conference room, I found not only the President but also Secretary Ross, Tony, various commanders, and senators already present.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I hope you understand that we’ve gathered due to the gravity of the situation. Let’s begin right away."

As soon as the President finished speaking, the aides moved into action.

They handed out thick bundles of documents to all attendees, detailing the incidents that had occurred at Damage Control, as well as the latest intelligence on North Korea’s current movements.

As I flipped through the documents, a particular section caught my eye.

It contained a maliciously written report on the crimes involving the Captain’s team, and from the tone and structure of the document, it was clearly prepared by Secretary Ross’s side.

"The fact that the U.S. mainland has been attacked is a very serious matter. This is a national crisis on par with 9/11. Furthermore, in this incident, the alien weapons and advanced technology stored at Damage Control were stolen. This is not just a simple act of terrorism—it means core national security assets have fallen into enemy hands."

Secretary Ross argued, and the President rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and then said,

"Hmm... It seems we have no choice but to go to war with North Korea. But a nuclear war would break out... Does anyone have a different opinion?"

After the President finished speaking, I tapped the documents I had received and said,

"These documents contain inaccuracies and omissions."

"In what way?"

Secretary Ross frowned, clearly displeased by my words, while the President urged me to speak quickly.

I immediately stood up and began a briefing based on the information Minerva had gathered.

"Various supplies are currently being secretly funneled into North Korea from multiple countries. It’s highly likely that these are resources being sent from Hydra branches scattered around the world. Fortunately, thanks to the Avengers’ efforts, many of those branches have been dismantled, so the quantity is not large enough to be a major concern—but the problem is China."

I projected prepared satellite images onto the screen as I continued my explanation.

The photos clearly showed large quantities of supplies being moved into North Korea across the border between Mount Paektu and the Tumen River.

"China appears to be supporting Hydra in order to acquire their technology. Hydra holds numerous classified assets, including advanced technology leaked from S.H.I.E.L.D. and super-soldier serum. From China’s perspective, that’s certainly worth coveting. Ultimately, it’s highly likely that some kind of deal was struck between the two sides."

Everyone was listening to my words with grave expressions.

"That means this issue might not end with North Korea alone."

"Yes. In the worst case, it could escalate into World War III."

"Then should we assume Hydra established itself in North Korea with that in mind? To use World War III as a bargaining chip..."

"Personally, I don’t think they’re using World War III as a bargaining chip—I think it’s the opposite."

"Opposite?"

"They’re probably trying to start World War III in order to rewrite the world order."

"Wha, what? Do you have reason to think that?"

The President asked again, startled, and I pointed to the satellite map and said,

"Isn’t the way they’re moving supplies too blatant? Large underground tunnels have been identified in North Korea and China, but moving things in a way that can be caught on satellite is suspicious. Also, during the Damage Control attack, if they really wanted to stay hidden, they would have used only Hydra operatives, not North Korean soldiers."

"Hmm... So you’re saying Hydra is openly advertising that they’re based in North Korea, trying to drag China in and provoke World War III."

"Yes."

Then Secretary Ross stood up and began to refute my opinion.

"That’s nothing but baseless suspicion! Criminal organizations and rogue states aren’t that sophisticated. I understand that large amounts of supplies are moving from China, but claiming Hydra would use World War III is an excessive stretch."

"No, it’s a perfectly plausible scenario. Hydra tried to swallow the United States itself. It’s not an excessive stretch at all."

The President, looking like he had a headache, frowned and rubbed his forehead repeatedly.

"Hah... Then what exactly is the incorrect information?"

"It’s about the Captain. He was the first to discover North Korea’s involvement and reported it to us. It’s true there was friction with the UN in that process, but the claim that he was colluding with Hydra is nonsense. This should be seen as an incident caused by a lack of communication. And the medical expenses for the injured agents have already been covered by the Avengers."

"I see... Understood. Let’s take a short break. I need some time to organize my thoughts."

With that, the meeting was temporarily adjourned, and Tony and I stepped outside to have coffee and chat.

"As expected, you’re amazing. You’re probably the only one who can make Secretary Ross speechless."

"He keeps saying ridiculous things, so it’s only natural."

"Do you really think Hydra is trying to use World War III?"

"Yes. It’s probably true. There’s no way those meticulous bastards would move that carelessly."

"I suppose..."

Tony seemed to agree that my reasoning made sense.

"By the way, have you thought about making up with the Captain?"

"Huff... Rhodey said the same thing... I’ll think about it. That doesn’t mean I agree with his methods, though."

"Okay."

Just then, the aides informed us that the meeting was resuming.

Tony and I returned to the conference room.

"We’ve made a decision. First, we’ll inform the entire world of this fact and begin by isolating North Korea. War comes after that."

Secretary Ross immediately stood up and objected urgently.

"That won’t work. If we give them more time, they’ll produce even more super-soldiers and weapons, making them much harder to subdue."

"I know. But we have no choice. We must prevent World War III. So first, it’s important to separate China from North Korea."

"What about the nuclear weapons?"

"We’ve kept it classified, but we already have intelligence on where North Korea’s nuclear warheads are stored. So if we strike those locations at the start of the war, we should be able to contain it."

"But North Korea has super-soldiers—we can’t guarantee a swift occupation."

"If the Avengers help, it’s possible. We estimate North Korea has about 80 nuclear warheads, but experts say they can only launch about 10 at a time at most. That’s a manageable number for us to intercept. And with Colonel James (Rhodey) and the Avengers supporting, we can even stop decoys, so no nukes will fall on our allies."

"That’s true, but the Avengers aren’t soldiers—I wonder if they’ll agree to participate."

At that, all eyes turned to me.

So I gave my opinion.

"Certainly, if this were a normal war, the Avengers would not have participated. But this time, Hydra is involved, so we have sufficient justification to join. However, only against Hydra, super-soldiers, and nuclear weapons."

"That’s enough."

"And please lift the warrants on the Captain’s team. They’ll be a great help as well."

"Understood. We’ll do that."

Secretary Ross looked displeased at the President’s words but ultimately did not object.

There could be several reasons—perhaps because he would get the war he wanted, or because, facing a country with super-soldiers and nuclear weapons, our cooperation was essential.

From this, it seemed he was the type of person who prioritized his own achievements over other concerns.

I intended to use this opportunity to unify Korea.

If war was unavoidable, I figured this was the better outcome.

Anyway, after the meeting ended, I returned to the Avengers base and informed the members of the results.

Natasha began asking questions.

"So we have to participate in the war?"

"No, this is literally a war, so you don’t have to join. As I said before, I won’t force anyone. And not everyone needs to fight on the front lines—we also need people on the Odyssey to intercept any nuclear missiles detected on radar. You have time, so please think carefully before deciding to participate."

"Got it."

"We also lifted the warrants on the Captain’s team. They’ll probably join us too."

"That’s good news."

I also informed the Captain’s team in Wakanda.

"So that’s how it turned out... Understood. We’ll return to the base once we’re ready. Thanks for your hard work."

"No problem. How’s Bucky doing?"

"It seems immediate treatment is difficult. They’re planning to put him in cryo-sleep first and then analyze his brain to attempt treatment."

"I see. And Rumlow?"

"He’s been executed. Assassinating a king—it was an inevitable outcome."

"As expected..."

"How are Eleanor and Emilia doing?"

"They complained a bit when they heard, but they’re doing fine."

"Good to hear. Anyway, see you at the base."

"Yeah."

After the call, I began replicating a Helicarrier and equipping it with powerful laser turrets.

This was to intercept the nuclear missiles that North Korea might launch.

I installed two Arc Reactor engines on it, designing it to be able to take out over 50 missiles at once with that immense energy.

Since I only needed to build one turret and replicate the rest using [Matter Copy] ability, it wouldn’t take long.

However, there were some issues.

Because it was built with Marvel technology, after about 20 uses, the components themselves would melt and become unusable.

Additionally, if the range exceeded 400 km, the laser would scatter and lose effectiveness—but I judged this would still be sufficient for our purposes.

About two days later, Secretary Ross personally visited and handed me a map marked with the locations of North Korea’s nuclear warheads.

"I don’t need to tell you this is classified—don’t leak it. If they find out, they might move the locations. Several people died obtaining this intelligence."

Though Secretary Ross said that, there wasn’t a hint of remorse in his tone.

That day, the President appeared on TV and delivered a national address.

In short, he publicly announced, based on the satellite data I had provided, that Hydra had joined forces with North Korea to produce super-soldiers, attacked the U.S. mainland, stolen various technologies, and was receiving support from China.

Naturally, China denied any involvement with Hydra, and Russia also began defending China.

For several days, fierce debates took place at the UN, but North Korea remained surprisingly silent.

In the meantime, the Captain’s team returned and greeted the members at the base.

I noticed Thor was absent and asked about him.

"Where did Thor go?"

"He went back to Asgard. He said there was nothing to do and that he’d been on Earth too long."

"Well, he was here for a while."

With Jane not in Wakanda and nothing else to do, he must have just returned.

Since the Captain was back, I called Tony and Pietro for a meeting.

Fortunately, everyone agreed to participate—it seemed no one wanted to see mass deaths from nuclear strikes.

However, Tony still seemed displeased with the Captain and simply ignored him.

I showed them the locations of the nuclear warheads and the modified Helicarrier.

"This can’t be used for ground attacks, can it?"

As expected, the Captain was worried the Helicarrier might be misused, like with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Impossible. I didn’t include that functionality. And each laser turret will melt after about 20 uses, becoming unusable. This was only built in a hurry for this specific operation. Besides, showing this off will make China and Russia think twice before attempting nuclear war."

"That’s a relief. What if interception fails?"

"I plan to deploy newly built drones in the upper atmosphere over South Korea and the East Sea. Those drones will provide a second layer of interception. If that also fails, Vision, Myo Myo, Rhodey, and Tony will handle it. Ideally, we prevent launches altogether—but if they do launch, aim to intercept at maximum altitude or over the ocean to minimize EMP and radiation damage."

After I finished, Tony said, clearly dissatisfied,

"Once again, I’ll be sent to stop nukes because I can fly, but I wonder if the Captain’s mindset will actually allow us to properly deal with Hydra."

The Captain, clearly stung by the remark, immediately retorted,

"You don’t need to worry about that. I have plenty of battlefield experience."

I sighed at their bickering and continued speaking.

"Wakanda has also agreed to participate. They’ll deploy an energy shield over Seoul to protect the city, and their warriors will also help neutralize nuclear threats. They said they want to completely root out Hydra this time."

"That’s good news. I heard North Korea has a lot of artillery. I was worried Seoul might take heavy damage."

That was something I was also very concerned about.

I had considered stopping it myself, but since Wakanda was helping, I felt relieved.

After fine-tuning the details and finishing the meeting, we informed Secretary Ross.

He agreed to attach special forces to the ground teams.

The Avengers were divided into four teams total—one team to intercept nuclear missiles if launched, and three ground teams to raid the nuclear warhead storage sites and disable the missiles.

I decided this was the right time to give Natasha the Devil Fruit with penalty removal.

She might have to face large numbers of troops, and she would also have to fight super-soldiers.

With the ground team split into three, she might not always have backup.

So I finally decided to let her eat a Devil Fruit.

"Huh? What’s this weird fruit?"

"Eating this fruit will give you superpowers. I went to great lengths to obtain it."

"Wha, what? There are fruits like that?"

"Yeah. It’s a fruit infused with magic. Trust me and give it a try. But it tastes awful, so you’ll have to endure it."

Natasha looked at the fruit suspiciously, turning it over in her hands, and asked,

"What kind of ability will I get if I eat it?"

"I don’t know. It varies from person to person."

"Really? Hmm... Okay, I’ll try it. But how bad could it possibly taste..."

"I’ve never eaten one myself, but the magical texts say it’s absolutely terrible."

"Now I don’t want to eat it. But since you gave it to me, I’ll bear with it."

Natasha finally began eating the Devil Fruit.

As expected, because of the taste, she gagged and retched repeatedly, but she held on and forced herself to finish it.

"Ugh, damn it... It’s like shoving garbage down my throat."

"How do you feel? Do you sense anything?"

Natasha stood up and examined her body.

"Hmm... Not at all. You didn’t get scammed, did you?"

"No. I can sense magic, so it’s not a scam."

"Really? Then how do I use it..."

Natasha tried meditating and moving her body in various ways before finally figuring out how to use the ability.

The fruit I gave her was the [Barrier-Barrier Fruit], and since it required a specific hand gesture—crossing her index and middle fingers—it took her quite some time to figure out.

The [Barrier-Barrier Fruit] is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that grants the user the ability to create invisible barriers at will.

These barriers are extremely durable, capable of blocking bullets and explosions, and can be generated anywhere to defend against attacks or push enemies away.

They can also be used in various ways, such as forming a dome to protect oneself or allies, or blocking off space to restrict enemy movement.

However, the number and scale of barriers that can be maintained simultaneously are limited, and the required hand gesture is a drawback—which is why I had kept it in my inventory without eating it.