Two minutes.
A countdown was displayed on Bruce's visor.
Even though Bruce could see it clearly, his hands remained remarkably steady.
He fixed his gaze on the area he was cutting.
By the time Bruce completed his cutting plan, only a minute and a half remained.
Putting away the laser cutter, Bruce immediately took out a Batarang and inserted it.
With a slight pry—
The cut-out casing popped off and disappeared into the sky.
What lay before Bruce now was the mechanical timer.
After scanning it, Bruce had to admit that these guys were indeed skilled—but still not good enough.
A mechanical timer could stump many people, especially when attached to a nuclear bomb.
However, all they had done was connect the nuclear bomb to the mechanical timer.
Even though it appeared complex at first glance, it wasn't nearly as intricate as it seemed.
Still, they had a trick up their sleeve—disabling the mechanical timer also required disabling the remote control system simultaneously.
Bruce was absolutely confident he could dismantle the mechanical timer before him—
On the condition that the Ultimate Team in Texas successfully disabled the remote control.
And for that, he needed to establish communication with them.
"Jessica, connect my comms to the Ultimate Team. I need to coordinate with them."
Bruce was already removing unnecessary components, exposing the mechanical timer's core.
"Understood."
Jessica wasted no time and connected Bruce's comms to the Ultimate Team's channel without any unnecessary intermediaries.
"Captain America?"
A deep voice suddenly emerged through the communication channel, leaving the Ultimate Team members momentarily puzzled.
Captain America, ever cautious, immediately questioned the unfamiliar voice in his channel.
"Who are you? How did you access our comms?"
"I can disarm the mechanical timer, but I need you to disable the remote control at the exact same time. If either of us is too early or too late, the nuclear bomb will detonate."
Bruce paid no attention to Captain America's questioning. Right now, the only priority was resolving the nuclear bomb crisis.
Bruce was right. After hearing those words, Captain America didn't press further.
Instead, he immediately commanded the Ultimate Team to locate someone who knew the nuclear bomb's deactivation codes.
Meanwhile, Thor was left utterly shocked when he saw the gold bars in the hands of those in Texas.
That was Uru gold—the gold of Asgard.
How had they managed to get Asgardian gold from the realm of the gods?
"Monica, interrogate them. Quickly!" Captain America urged Black Widow.
But these guys stood no chance against Black Widow's sharp instincts. With just a glance, she identified the man who knew the nuclear bomb's deactivation code.
"The third guy from the left—the one with the poker face. It's him."
"Tony, you heard the conversation just now," Captain America said.
Before his words even settled, Thor had already charged forward and grabbed the man by his collar.
"Foolish mortal! Blinded by greed! Your gold has already—been corrupted by forces beyond your comprehension!"
The man seemed like he wanted to say something, but Thor had no interest in listening. He hurled the poker-faced man straight out of the high-rise building.
At that moment, there were only forty-nine seconds left until the nuclear explosion.
Just as the man was flung out the window, someone caught him midair—it was Tony Stark.
"Touchdown!" Tony quipped before shooting skyward with the man in his grasp.
"There are two things you might not know about me. One, my suit has two hours' worth of oxygen. Two, I'm not a big fan of sharing. So why don't you just hand over the code?"
With his grip tightening around the man's throat, Tony ascended higher, approaching the upper atmosphere.
That was enough to instill fear. Panicked, the man quickly whispered the nuclear bomb's deactivation code into Tony's ear.
"Got it!"
Eight seconds until detonation.
"Deep-voiced guy, I don't know if you can hear me, but my team is about to disable the bomb's remote control."
As Tony spoke, Anthony had already accessed the nuclear bomb's remote control system.
As Tony's AI assistant, Anthony excitedly announced, "I did it! I've got missile control!"
"Deactivate it now, then dump it into the water!"
Back at the nuclear bomb, Bruce could already see the New York skyline.
"Three, two, one."
In perfect synchronization, Anthony coordinated with Bruce's actions, completely neutralizing the nuclear bomb threat.
The timer froze permanently at the last second.
Under Anthony's control, the nuclear bomb was directed downward, plummeting into the Hudson River—
And Bruce, who had been clinging to it, leaped off in time.
His cape had already shifted into a glider-like bat wing, allowing him to descend gracefully toward the ground from such a great height.
"Looks like I don't need to prepare a space shuttle after all, BOSS," Jessica joked lightly over the comms to Bruce.
At that moment, Bruce had already landed on the rooftop of a building, adjusting his attire.
"But you do need to prepare the Batwing and pick me up," Bruce replied, expressionless.
"Got it, BOSS," Jessica responded with a chuckle. "By the way, BOSS, I suggest you consider picking up something on your way back. We could use a decent dinner."
"There's nothing left at home."
Hearing Jessica's remark, Bruce's previously steady steps faltered slightly.
Meanwhile, inside the mental prison in his mind, LEGO Batman was already laughing so hard he could barely stand.
He had never imagined that Batman—Bruce Wayne himself—would have to go grocery shopping.
"Hahaha!!!!"
LEGO Batman was practically rolling on the ground with laughter.
His laughter filled the entire mental prison, making it impossible to ignore.
The only thing Bruce could do was block out LEGO Batman's laughter.
That, at least, was something he was capable of doing.
Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters—
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who had been closely monitoring the situation in New York, immediately stood up and addressed President Howard.
"Mr. President! The nuclear missile has fallen into the Hudson River. No casualties, no detonation! I repeat! No detonation!"
The agent's voice was filled with excitement. Initially, they had all thought this was an unsolvable crisis, but now they had overcome the ordeal.
"Congratulations, Mr. President!" One of President Howard's advisors, standing behind him, cheered with his fist raised in triumph.
"Thank God, thank God!" President Howard clutched his rapidly beating heart, repeating the words over and over.
Carol turned to her former college classmate. "Let's hope New York never realizes how close it came to becoming another Washington, D.C."
However, a staff member watching the news suddenly called out to the president.
"Mr. President! Over here!"
But this time, his tone wasn't filled with relief from a narrow escape—it was disbelief at what he was seeing.
On the television screen, Senator Underwood was addressing the press, delivering the findings of the Senate Emergency Committee.
It was also a ruling from the Supreme Court.
"This is an emergency ruling from the Supreme Court regarding President Howard," Senator Underwood announced solemnly, his eyes fixed on the cameras, as if staring directly at President Howard himself.
"When Howard took the presidential oath of office, he was merely the acting Secretary of Energy and had not yet been sworn in before the Senate. His placement in the presidential line of succession was invalid."
President Howard could hardly believe what he was hearing. If not for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s real-time signal verification confirming the authenticity of the broadcast, he would have assumed this was a fake news stunt.
"What is he—?" President Howard's shocked words were cut off as Senator Underwood continued speaking on the screen.
"Therefore, the United States is in a state of crisis. Under the authority granted to us by the 'Winter Plan,'" Senator Underwood raised a tablet displaying official documents and continued speaking to the media.
"The Senate Emergency Committee formally declares the suspension of executive authority and calls for a special election to select a legitimate, undisputed president."
"After the dramatic events in Dallas, Texas will return to the Union. However, the evidence now shows that we should never have ended up in this situation to begin with."
"The committee will summon President Howard to explain his actions."
"When Texas was in turmoil, President Howard used his executive authority to transfer highly classified S.H.I.E.L.D. files to Bakersfield, California—to carry out a mission involving the abduction of members of the Ultimates, the heroes of America. This mission remains highly classified to this day—"
At this moment, it wasn't just President Howard and his staff watching Senator Underwood's press conference.
In what was once Sacramento, California—now the capital of the Western Nation—two men were watching the same broadcast.
However, the moment they learned President Howard was facing impeachment, they muted the television.
"We promised the people of the West Coast a new nation—one where science and technology would bridge the divide between individuals. We didn't anticipate thousands of refugees flooding into California."
"Our grand experiment needs a chance to progress. Now that we are an independent nation, we must close our borders."
One of the founders of the Western Nation, the elderly Mr. Stanford, spoke these words with a blank expression.
But his fellow nation-builder, the wealthy Mont, clearly disagreed.
"That's impossible, Stanford! There are thousands of miles of mountains and deserts—we should be focusing on helping—" Mont, the younger and more ambitious of the two, had no intention of helping the refugees.
He believed that the vast mountains and deserts of California would be enough to keep them out.
However, before he could finish speaking, another voice interrupted.
"It's quite simple, really."
A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness, their mismatched red and blue eyes drawing immediate attention.
(End of Chapter)
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