My name is Rory, and I am a bit of a disaster.
Beyond that, I am also a mad scientist.
During one of my experiments, a temporary municipal power grid overhaul caused a lab blackout, triggering a moderately sized experimental accident. Just like that, I ascended on the spot and smoothly enlisted in the grand army of transmigrators.
At the same time, I consider myself quite lucky, because I transmigrated into the Marvel Universe—a world where technology completely defies all reason.
I am thrilled to have arrived in this world.
The good news is that I can give full rein to my talents here to my heart's content.
The bad news is that I landed in the MCU universe in the year 1969, a full forty-three years away from the Battle of New York in 2012.
If I manage to survive until then, I will already be an old man of nearly seventy. Perhaps I would die of old age before Thanos even snaps that fateful fingers.
Since I am already here, how could I possibly accept such an ending?
To that end, I spent an entire year planning a single endeavor: to covertly infiltrate the secret S.S.R. (Strategic Scientific Reserve) base located inside a military base in New Jersey.
To crack the secrets of the Tesseract and then go take a look at that boundless, magnificent universe...
One summer in 1970.
Inside the New Jersey military base.
Rory wore a fake stubble glued to his face and oversized toad-style sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, making his Huaxia features practically indistinguishable.
Pulling the brim of his cap down low, he hid behind a stack of supply crates, his eyes fixed on the iron door marked "E47" not far away.
First, he needed to bypass the guards and enter that door, then crack the elevator password to enter the S.S.R. underground base, and after that, locate the warehouse where Object 084 was stored.
S.H.I.E.L.D. loved collecting all sorts of bizarre trinkets, only to stash them away in warehouses to gather dust—what an absolute waste of heavenly treasures.
Seeing that the time was right, Rory quietly pulled a few vials wrapped with wire coils from his backpack and hid them in various locations around the base.
Then, slipping into the cafeteria while the cooks were outside smoking and chatting, he shoved an unidentified lump of matter into the microwave, set the temperature and timer, and immediately turned and left.
After making a circle, he returned once again to the entrance of the S.S.R. organization.
Hiding in a corner, he stared at his wristwatch and silently counted down the seconds.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
At the exact moment the countdown ended, a deafening explosion and soaring flames erupted simultaneously from the direction of the cafeteria.
"Boom!"
The heat wave even swept all the way over to where Rory stood.
As the explosion echoed, the base instantly plunged into utter chaos.
Some people panicked and fled in all directions, while others reacted and sprinted toward the cafeteria to fight the fire.
The guards stationed at the S.S.R. entrance ran off to investigate the situation. Without a moment's hesitation, Rory—still hiding in the corner—seized the opportunity, dived straight through the iron door, and whipped out his pocket screwdriver to pry open the elevator control panel.
To the people of this era, the circuit design inside the control panel was unfathomably complex, but to Rory, it was child's play.
He severed one wire harness and connected it to another, then used a paperclip to short-circuit two points, bypassing the controller entirely to start the elevator.
"Hum—"
He pressed the button, and the elevator immediately whirred into motion. Rory snapped the control panel shut, stood up, straightened his military uniform, and stepped up to the elevator doors.
"Ding."
The elevator doors slowly slid open. Rory adjusted his fake ID badge and strolled out of the elevator as if nothing were amiss.
Because he hadn't been able to obtain the blueprints for this facility in advance, Rory could only wander around aimlessly.
Passing an empty secretary's desk outside a certain office, he casually picked up a coffee cup left on the table, pretending to sip from it while keeping his expression neutral and observing his surroundings.
He silently committed his route and the room numbers of every office to memory.
The end of this corridor was a T-junction. A door in the right-hand hallway opened, and two staff members emerged, prompting Rory to instinctively turn left.
Once those two had departed and he was just about to turn back, Rory suddenly spotted a sign bearing the number "084" hanging on the iron door at the very end of this corridor.
This door didn't use an electronic lock; instead, it featured the most old-fashioned cross-key core.
Prepared for this, Rory retrieved his lock-picking tools from his backpack, inserted the pick into the keyhole, and slowly probed the internal tumbler pins of the lock.
Just as he was busy picking the lock, a guard appeared behind him, happening to notice the strange behavior of the figure at the end of the corridor. The guard watched Rory with a scrutinizing gaze as he slowed his pace and crept closer.
The guard's right hand rested slowly upon the butt of his holster; at the slightest sign of trouble from Rory, he would draw his sidearm instantly.
"Click."
Fortunately, Rory's hands were nimble, and he made quick work of it.
Seeing Rory step inside, the guard behind him dismissed his suspicions.
Beyond the door lay another long corridor with several offices on either side, terminating in a massive storage room at the very end.
It matched a certain sequence from the movie precisely.
"Phew..."
Confirming he had found the right place, Rory let out a heavy sigh of relief.
However, this was no time to let his guard down. He hurried into the storage room and surveyed the surrounding environment.
The warehouse was enormous, stretching endlessly into the distance, cluttered with all sorts of miscellaneous items.
Rory clearly remembered every detail from the film, and after a brief mental review, he instantly locked onto the secret safe that likely held the Tesseract.
The second container past the two glowing shipping containers—it was easy to find.
Then Rory hit a snag. He lacked Iron Man's high-speed cutting technology, and opening the container probably wouldn't be easy.
"Electronic password?"
"No, it's a displacement cipher... with no reset function."
Rory pulled out his screwdriver to remove the side panel, tracing the wiring to the central control board.
After opening his flashlight to observe closely, he shook his head again: "A signal switch? Nnn..."
"There's no mechanical switch. If the base loses power, it cuts off the control unit, and the safe locks down automatically. So I can't unlock it by cutting the power."
"Could it be... a virtual signal?"
After muttering to himself for a long time, Rory finally thought of a way to crack it.
As everyone knows, binary 0 and 1 represent "on" and "off." Suppose the electronic combination lock has a total of ten numbers from 0 to 9, and the password length is considered as digits—ten to the tenth power means there could be up to ten billion completely different password combinations...
Rory shook his head, walked over to another container, violently dismantled its control board, and plucked a tiny single diode right off the circuit board.
Then, using a wire harness to connect both ends, he reattached it to the control terminal of the target container. All that remained was to transmit the signal emitted by the diode into the system.
Rory held his breath, carefully and gently touching the other end of the wire harness to the power supply port of the circuit board.
"Hiss."
A crackle of current sounded, kicking up tiny sparks.
"Clang!"
"It worked!" A smile finally broke across Rory's tense face.
The metal container gave an unlocking sound, and as it disengaged, the entire container sprang open to both sides, casting a ghostly blue glow across Rory's face.
"Whoa, the Tesseract! So easy."
Rory wasn't foolish enough to touch the Cube with his bare hands. The last fool who did that was the Red Skull, and he was instantly transported by the Cube to Vormir, left behind for all eternity to guard the Soul Stone.
He emptied his briefcase, then used two small pieces of metal to clamp the Tesseract and place it inside the case.
He closed the container again, locked it, and snapped the side cover back into place.
"OK, mission accomplished."
Patting his hands in satisfaction, Rory picked up the briefcase and headed back the way he came.
"You definitely weren't born here."
"The idea of me was."
"Right. Suppose you're S.H.I.E.L.D., trying to run an intelligence agency just like the Nazis—where would you stash it?"
"In plain sight," Steve Rogers replied, his eyes gazing toward the direction of the S.S.R. underground base.
Captain America Steve Rogers and Iron Man Tony Stark, who had arrived via time travel, were wandering through the base.
Strolling along, they chatted casually.
In the end, it was Steve Rogers who located the secret base of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor.
Tony Stark tapped his glasses twice, and his vision immediately displayed a power-grid perspective and thermal imaging. Sure enough, behind the wall marked with the number "E47," an elevator led downward.
The two men exchanged a glance and, moving with mutual accord, walked over together.
By this time, Rory had already stepped in front of the elevator. Accompanied by a "ding," the doors slowly slid open. Seeing the three people standing inside, Rory was so startled that he gave a violent shudder.
"Good luck with your mission, Cap."
"And good luck with your plan, Doctor."
Rory recognized Captain America Steve Rogers and Iron Man Tony Stark at a single glance.
Brushing past Tony Stark, Rory forced himself to remain calm and stepped into the elevator, turning to stand right by the doors.
The middle-aged black woman's attention was focused almost entirely on Steve Rogers, paying little heed to Rory who had just entered behind him.
"Are you new?" the woman asked Steve with a smile.
Feigning distraction, Rory turned his head to glance at Steve Rogers—after all, that was how any normal person would react.
Steve pressed his lips together, looked between Rory and the woman, and replied, "Not exactly."
The three of them entered the lower office area together.
Rory was the first to step out of the elevator. Clutching the briefcase containing the Tesseract, he strode down the corridor and ducked directly into the restroom upon spotting its sign.
Slipping into a toilet stall, Rory immediately ripped off his sunglasses and dropped them to the floor; through the reflective lenses, he indeed spotted Steve Rogers waiting outside the restroom door.
"Pym Particles?"
Even Rory hadn't expected such a coincidence—to run into time-traveling Cap and Iron Man at the exact same moment in time.
After a moment of thought, a foolproof plan began to take shape in Rory's mind.
A minute later, movement stirred in the hallway outside. Steve Rogers caught sight of Dr. Pym hurrying away, flashed out of the restroom immediately, and Rory put his sunglasses back on and followed closely behind.
Keeping the brim of his cap pressed low and looking left and right, Steve Rogers slipped straight into Dr. Pym's laboratory when he saw no one was watching.
After circling the lab, he finally found the Pym Particles he was looking for on a counter.
A triumphant smile spread across his face, and just as he reached out to grab them, Rory's voice rang out from behind him.
"Soldier, what are you doing?"
"Swish."
Steve Rogers immediately yanked his arm back and spun around, only to discover it was Rory—the very person who had ridden down with him in the elevator. What a coincidence...
At that moment, Rory tilted his head slightly, gazing at Steve with a look of curious inquiry.
"Ahem... I..." Steve Rogers hadn't figured out how to explain, but Rory spoke up first, giving him a way out.
"Big guy, be careful. That's Dr. Pym's research. You'd better not mess with it."
"Uh... I was just... curious..."
Rory waved a hand. "Nothing for you here. Head on out, or Dr. Pym will be furious if he comes back and finds someone touching his stuff. He might even fire you."
(PS: The publishing contract is finalized, feel free to read with peace of mind.
Begging for collections, recommendation votes, and investments for the new book. I kindly ask all you book-loving masters to give little Mushroom a bit of support.
Nut bows deeply in gratitude to all the masters!)