Frankly speaking,
Nick Fury actually didn't have as much confidence in this search and rescue mission as Pierce and the others mistakenly believed.
Because from beginning to end, the conclusion that Captain America might be frozen in the Arctic Ocean was purely a hypothesis.
It was a narrow, technology-oriented deduction made by a brilliant scientist who naturally rejected the supernatural.
Nick Fury only sent Black Widow to lead the search and rescue team to the Arctic Ocean because Coulson's magic-oriented hypothesis couldn't be verified, and nothing more.
Nick Fury didn't actually have much confidence in this mission.
But what Nick Fury didn't expect was that Black Widow actually found something.
"Sir, we found something! I found the wreckage of a fighter jet, and based on my judgment, it's very likely the one Captain America was piloting back then!"
Through the earpiece, Black Widow's voice sounded so excited and incredibly surprised.
It was clear she also hadn't expected to find anything during this operation.
A sharp glint flashed in Nick Fury's single eye: "Secure the site, I'm leaving immediately!"
After ending the call, Nick Fury quickly arranged his current work and wasted no time.
He began to take his trusted subordinate, Agent Hill, and piloted a helicopter towards the coordinates provided by Black Widow.
However, what Nick Fury didn't know was that all his actions were reported to Pierce in their entirety.
With a command from Pierce, the Winter Soldier also began to lead Crossbones and a series of Hydra elites, secretly heading towards the Arctic Ocean...
After reporting the relevant situation to Nick Fury, Black Widow began to direct her tactical team to cordon off the site.
They immediately set up a temporary base.
At the same time, they also conducted an inspection and preliminary excavation of the fighter jet wreckage, collecting necessary data and performing modeling analysis.
Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
By the time Nick Fury and Agent Hill arrived, the preparatory work was almost complete.
"Sir, after our preliminary excavation, the fighter jet's serial number is now visible. We can confirm that this is indeed the fighter jet Captain America crashed in back then."
Black Widow led Nick Fury to the wreckage of the fighter jet, pointing at the serial number on it as she spoke to him.
"Good, well done, Agent Romanoff!" Nick Fury nodded with great satisfaction.
Then he subconsciously looked around, feeling slightly puzzled, "Such a large object, and no one found it in the past seventy years?"
"Sir, the terrain here has changed," Black Widow explained to Nick Fury. "This is actually Stark's Marker #9 from back then. It used to be underwater."
Nick Fury nodded, understanding.
"Sir, the fighter jet is damaged, and the hatch cannot be opened. We need to break open the fuselage to get inside, but… we are still missing some relevant equipment."
Black Widow reported to Nick Fury at this moment.
Nick Fury was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed, as if he had detected something.
Then, with the agility of a rabbit, he quickly drew his gun and fired several shots into the air.
Bang, bang, bang!
After several consecutive shots, a black object was directly shattered by Nick Fury, flying obliquely and hitting the ground.
It must be said that although Nick Fury only had one eye left, it seemed to have no impact on his marksmanship.
"It's a drone!"
Black Widow's face immediately showed a look of vigilance. She hadn't expected that this highly secretive operation was being secretly monitored by others.
And as the person in charge of this operation, she had not discovered this at all, which was a serious dereliction of duty.
"No, wait."
However, Black Widow quickly realized something was amiss, because when she picked up the drone wreckage, she saw that it was not a military-grade drone at all.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Then, a faint whooshing sound attracted the attention of Black Widow and the others. Everyone turned their heads and looked up at the sky.
They saw an Iron Man suit, spraying brilliant high-heat streams of light, rapidly flying towards them.
"Sir, it's Tony Stark!"
Black Widow secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Iron Man's purpose was unclear, at least it wasn't some other special operations team.
The situation was much better.
—It was clear that the drone from earlier was deployed by Iron Man.
Whoosh!
Clang!
The Iron Man suit landed with an extremely domineering force right in front of everyone. The helmet automatically opened, and a familiar face appeared before them.
It was Iron Man, Tony Stark.
"Whew! It's really cold in this godforsaken place!" Iron Man felt a chill rush over him and couldn't help but gasp.
"Tony Stark, why are you here?" Nick Fury took two steps forward, walked up to Iron Man, and stared intently at him, questioning.
The surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents also followed Nick Fury's movement and surrounded Iron Man.
Each of them had their hands on the black objects tucked into their waists.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.
"Why are you here? That's why I'm here." Iron Man, however, seemed to feel nothing, casually brushing off Nick Fury's question.
Then he walked off on his own towards the wreckage of the fighter jet.
The surrounding agents were about to stop Iron Man, but Nick Fury waved his hand, dismissing them.
Because Nick Fury knew that Iron Man must have decided to come to the Arctic Ocean to find Captain America because of the Q&A system.
Their meeting was just a coincidence, nothing more.
"If nothing else, Captain America should be in there, right? I never thought you guys would find him first."
Iron Man nodded, then glanced at Nick Fury with a slightly superior tone, "But you can't get in, can you? You should be glad I'm here!"
Nick Fury didn't refute that statement. Iron Man's equipment was the most advanced in the world.
And since the other party was also involved in the search and rescue of Captain America, it meant they must have made the necessary preparations.
Breaking open the fighter jet wreckage certainly shouldn't be a big problem.
Anyway, Nick Fury's goal was to find Captain America, and Iron Man's goal was also the same. It didn't matter who broke open the fighter jet.
Whoosh!
After saying that, Iron Man began to scan the fighter jet, finding the optimal breakthrough point.
Then he emitted a laser beam from his iron arm, cutting into the fighter jet.