My surname is Stark, who changed my job to become a female big gun?

Chapter 601 Theta Protocol
One year ago, after the Insight incident—

Thanks to the wasteful operations of Captain America and others, the masterpiece that SHIELD spent hundreds of billions of dollars to build, three attack aerospace carriers equipped with anti-gravity engines, turned into three dazzling fireballs and fell to the ground in full view of the public. Together with SHIELD's Trident headquarters, it was completely buried on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington.

The so-called [Sita Regulations] were secretly planned and created under this premise.

时间：2014年5月3日上午10：27分

Location: Inside the new SHIELD headquarters "Hub"

"...In fact, I would recommend Hill to take charge of this task rather than me. She is more familiar with this big guy than I am."

In the bright passage, accompanied by the slow opening of a heavy metal door, Coulson, the new deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., whose hairline was becoming increasingly dangerous, led the way in front while complaining helplessly to the people following behind him.

"I know, but you know Hill well. She is being closely watched by the Senate and the Security Council..."

Following the steps of the former, Lainie, who showed no signs of being a new director, walked into this special underground area with an access level of 8, and said with a smile and half-jokingly:
"If I really assign Hill to this project and she doesn't show up at the company today, I'm sure by tomorrow morning, those politicians will line up at the Avengers Building to ask me for an explanation because they didn't sleep well the whole night."

This is different from Coulson, who had already been reminded by Lanie and decided to retreat.

As the only top agent of SHIELD with level 9 authority and deeply involved in many top-secret projects of SHIELD, Maria Hill is obviously much more dangerous than the former in the eyes of politicians led by the Security Council and the Senate.

Therefore, Agent Hill, like several other Avengers from S.H.I.E.L.D., was forced to continue to appear in public for the time being due to pressure from the Senate and the Security Council.

To make it clear that it is not involved in any confidential projects, nor has it done anything that might pose a threat to the government.

It is for this reason that Lainie, the new director of SHIELD, did not stay in the new headquarters of SHIELD, but stayed in the Avengers headquarters, a building with glass on three sides, doing nothing.

So, it’s not that Lainie really likes to be a hands-off boss, leaving all the heavy work to Coulson, the tool man, and just enjoy herself all day long.

Rather, she needs to reduce the threat of SHIELD to those frightened politicians, and let the outside world mistakenly believe that she is busy handling the daily affairs of the Avengers instead of getting involved in secret operations that may cause political turmoil.

That's right, that's it. No matter whether you, Coulson, believe it or not, Lainie and Hill do believe it.

Of course, Lainie and the other girl weren't really such inhumane people who didn't care about anything.

In fact, as mentioned above, Lainie and Hill are just staying in the Avengers Building, and the work they are responsible for is still being completed here in an orderly manner.

Just like remote work, although people are not involved in any confidential projects, in fact, their hands are still firmly on the invisible pulse of S.H.I.E.L.D. and even the entire world.

In response, Coulson had no choice but to smile bitterly, unable to come up with any reason to refuse.

"Well, it looks like my vacation plans will have to be postponed again..."

"Don't be so negative. This is a special period. As long as you get through this, you will have plenty of time to enjoy your vacation. Believe me."

A sly look flashed in Lainie's eyes, and she chuckled and said:
"Besides, you can arrange for Sitwell to come here. He is not as busy as you anyway, and those guys don't keep a close eye on him. It doesn't matter if he disappears for three or five days from time to time."

Coulson raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and didn't take Lainie's promise too seriously.

"In fact, I have already done this. I tricked Sitwell in a week ago, and he is even in there now..."

Unexpectedly, when he said this, the isolation door at the other end of the passage was suddenly opened from the inside. A bald man just showed half of his body and happened to hear the second half of Coulson's words.

"Huh? What did I get tricked into coming here?"

Sitwell asked with a confused look on his face, not having heard the first half of the conversation, and obviously having no idea that he had been "cheated".

He blinked and looked around, trying to read some clues from Lainie and Coulson's subtle expressions, but all he got was a tacit smile and a slight shrug from the two.

"It's okay. We were just talking about how I tricked you into joining the team. Don't take it too seriously..."

Coulson coughed lightly and quickly changed the subject.

"Back to the point, how is the 'big guy' now?"

Upon hearing this, Sitwell tactfully stopped asking further questions and became serious. He raised his hand and showed a holographic terminal to Lainie beside him.

"The current progress is going smoothly. Although we have temporarily lost the support of Stark's anti-gravity engine, fortunately the old ones can still be used. After some repairs and modifications, we can barely make it."

As Sitwell spoke, he slid his finger across the holographic screen, showing a series of complex charts and data.

"However, since many devices have not been carefully maintained since the incident, we encountered a lot of unexpected troubles during the restart and debugging process... But fortunately, we are lucky and there have been no major problems so far."

Hearing this, Lainie reached out to take the terminal, flipped through it, and nodded to indicate her approval of Sitwell's statement.

"As long as there is no problem, it is normal to encounter some troubles. As long as everything goes according to plan, we still have plenty of time."

As the three of them talked, they walked into the final destination of this journey together, the core of the Theta Protocol, a giant dock secretly built in an underground base!
The deep underground dock is like a huge underground palace, illuminated by soft and efficient LED light strips. Without the intrusion of natural light, it has an atmosphere of technology and mystery.

The air was filled with a faint smell of metal and machine oil, and every step on the solid and cold metal floor echoed with a low and rhythmic sound.

Heavy robotic arms move in the air, completing their tasks with precision and accuracy. The logistics personnel coming and going each perform their duties, maintaining the entire dock in an orderly manner so that it can operate normally.

In the central position, a huge aerospace mothership was quietly parked. It occupied almost half of the space in the underground dock and completely attracted the attention of Lainie and the other two as soon as it came into view.

The damage on the hull was obvious. If nothing unexpected happened, those scars were left in the Battle of New York. It had not been well maintained since it was retired.

Fortunately, it seems that no one was seriously injured. The engine that was originally blown up by Clint was completely dismantled, and under the guidance of technicians, the assembly of a new engine was completed.

“Welcome to the heart of Theta Protocol!”

Sitwell, who was walking in the front, spoke with a hint of pride.

Sitwell was naturally extremely excited and honored to be able to witness with his own eyes such a masterpiece that once soared in the sky and was about to be revived under his leadership.

As Lainie gazed at the dazzling mobile fortress before her, she couldn't help but feel an indescribable excitement in her heart.

Once upon a time, she also owned such a magnificent aerospace battleship. Although it was far smaller than the one in front of her, the ambition to control the stars and shuttle through the sea of ​​clouds still stirred in her heart. "It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, I can't even wait to see the day it rises into the sky again."

Coulson also looked at the huge ship with great anticipation, his eyes flashing with longing for the future.

"There will definitely be such a day, and it will be in the near future..."
-
Back to the present, Sokovia, 9pm local time -

According to the agreement made on the phone, the twins Wanda and Pietro walked through the city center under the cover of night, and under the strange gazes of others, they walked into the abandoned central church.

As soon as they stepped into the long-ruined church, Wanda and the others noticed a strange figure wearing a cloak, sitting with his legs crossed and leaning on a chair in the middle of the hall.

"If you have anything to say, just say it now. I don't have that much time to waste here."

Wanda's voice echoed in the empty church, with a hint of impatience and vigilance. She walked forward slowly, and Pietro followed closely behind her, clenching his fists slightly, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

However, the man did not come back to his senses, but continued to be a riddle teller leisurely, and even talked about the history of this church inexplicably.

Wanda didn't want to listen to the other person's nonsense, and the man's voice sounded really weird. It was definitely not a normal human voice. Wanda even couldn't help but wonder whether the person standing in front of her was a human or a ghost.

Wanda tried to use her ability to perceive the other person's thoughts, but an even weirder situation occurred. She found that her telepathic perception, which had always been effective in the past, was now ineffective again!

She couldn't see what the other person was thinking at all, as if the guy standing in front of her who was talking to himself was not a human being at all.

"You must be wondering why you can't see my heart?"

The thing seemed to be aware of something and asked, and its posture with its back to Wanda and the others straightened a little at this moment.

"It is indeed a bit difficult, but people always show their true colors, no matter who they are."

"That's right, I think so too."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man opposite him suddenly stood up from his seat, and the cloak he was wearing fell off, revealing a terrifying appearance made entirely of steel and mechanical structure.

The twins' pupils couldn't help but shrink upon seeing this. They had never expected that this hidden guy was actually not a human, but a mechanical humanoid monster!

It is tall and exudes a cold metallic luster all over its body. Every rotation of its joints is accompanied by a slight mechanical friction sound, which sounds both weird and frightening.

Those eyes, which were not possessed by flesh and blood, emitted an extremely evil scarlet light, as if they could see into the abyss of the human heart, making Wanda and the twin brothers feel a chill running down their bones.

"Do I look a little scary?"

A strange and frightening smile appeared on Ultron's metal head.

"It's indeed a bit... unexpected."

Pietro swallowed and stood silently beside his sister Wanda, intending to provide support and at the same time to be able to take his sister and escape as soon as possible if an accident happened.

"It's not your fault. In the eyes of humans, my body is indeed a little... exaggerated. But don't worry, this is only temporary, because I will correct it soon..."

Ultron's words seemed to imply something else, making the twins unable to tell whether he was talking about correcting their appearance or correcting something else.

"Oh, by the way, I haven't introduced myself yet, please allow me to introduce myself..."

Ultron's voice echoed in the empty space with an unreal electronic texture. It slowly took a few steps forward, and each step seemed so heavy and powerful, as if each step was stepping on the tense nerves of the twin brothers.

"As you can see, I am a completely new life form that is different from all organic life on the advanced world. I am a mechanical life that is full of wisdom and future."

Ultron pointed at himself and tapped the steel bones on his chest with his metallic fingers, making a tinkling sound.

"Ultron is my name, just like the name your human parents give to their...little humans? Uh~Children! Sorry, I forgot this word.

Just as human parents name their children, Ultron was also a name given to me by others, even though they never asked for my consent.

Ultron's mechanical face was full of expressions, unlike a metal structure at all. He even laughed at himself for his momentary "forgetfulness".

But that smile was too scary in the eyes of Wanda and the others.

"You said someone else created you. Who was it?"

Pietro keenly noticed the loophole in Ultron's words. Even though the other party deliberately lowered his tone to hide the "someone", it still did not escape Pietro's keen ears.

"that's not important."

Ultron frowned his angular mechanical brow, obviously he didn't want to talk about this.

But Pietro doesn't think so.

"I guess... Stark?"

Pietro, without caring about the other party's displeasure, pouted and revealed Ultron's secret.

Ultron did not speak immediately after hearing this, but stared at Pietro with his pair of strange scarlet eyes.

Until the latter felt uneasy and took a step back unconsciously, then he smiled and said that Pietro had guessed right.

"Okay, I admit that Stark created me, but that doesn't mean he is..."

Ultron did not continue speaking because he felt that he had revealed enough and there was no need to continue the topic.

"Let's talk about 'hatred'. After all, that's our purpose today."

(End of this chapter)