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Sure enough, at night, Kai helped Steve move all of his belongings from his apartment to the manor. Kai arranged a room for Steve on the first floor, near the lawn, offering a broad view of the estate. As soon as he stepped inside, Steve immediately liked it.
Kai then took Steve on a tour to familiarize him with the various features and locations within the manor. What Steve saw truly amazed him.
The manor had been magically enhanced for convenience. Tasks that were typically time-consuming had been streamlined with magic, allowing things to be done with a single command.
For instance, in the laundry room, clothes would be cleaned instantly through magic, eliminating the wait time entirely. Similarly, in the kitchen, the appliances had been enchanted to cook meals autonomously upon command. While they had mastered Western cuisine, the system was still learning more complex Chinese dishes, requiring additional time for refinement.
After seeing everything, Steve was eager to settle in.
While Steve enjoyed his new life at the manor, Nick Fury at S.H.I.E.L.D. was anything but pleased. Losing a soldier of Steve's caliber was a significant blow, and worse, he couldn't force him to stay.
Frustrated, Fury called Natasha to debrief her on the mission.
"So you're saying Steve had already been considering leaving before the mission even began?" Fury asked after listening to Natasha's report. He realized that Steve's departure had been inevitable—it was simply a matter of time before their differences led to a split.
Left alone in his office, Fury pondered his next move. Originally, he had planned to bring Steve in on Project Insight, but with Steve gone, he would have to make adjustments. The loss of Steve could also raise questions from his superiors, possibly leading to inquiries about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations. He needed a plan.
"Looks like I'll have to handle Project Insight myself," Fury muttered.
Determined, he took the elevator down to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s underground facility. The vast underground space was large enough to house three helicarriers side by side. Walking through the area, Fury observed the massive warships, their advanced gravity engines, and the numerous long-range sniper turrets. Watching fighter jets being transported onto the carriers, a satisfied smile crossed his face.
These helicarriers would be his ultimate weapon against global threats.
Project Insight had been conceived after the Battle of New York, when Fury convinced the World Security Council to enhance their threat analysis capabilities. The goal was simple: eliminate potential threats before they could act.
Steve, however, would have strongly opposed the idea. He would have said, "No one will trust you if you point guns at the entire world and call it protection."
But Steve was no longer with S.H.I.E.L.D. Instead, he was in the manor's underground lab, watching an experiment with Kai and Tony.
"Kai, I don't agree with this," Steve said, frowning. "People have tried similar experiments for years. Most ended in failure, wasted resources, or outright disaster."
Kai met his gaze. "I understand your concerns, Steve. And I agree with your principles."
Steve raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"The difference is that those other programs aimed to create soldiers for war," Kai explained. "I just want my friends and family to have better physical abilities and some means to protect themselves in dangerous situations."
He looked directly into Steve's eyes. "Trust me, Steve. This isn't about power. It's about protection."
Steve studied Kai's expression, recalling his past actions and decisions. Kai had never acted like a power-hungry scientist or someone obsessed with creating super-soldiers. With that in mind, Steve reluctantly chose to let the experiment proceed—though he resolved to keep a close watch on it, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.
Now that Steve lived at the manor, monitoring the experiment would be much easier.
Later that evening, Steve, Kai, and Tony gathered in the living room to discuss upgrading Tony's suit.
That's right—Tony's suit!
After the battle with Aldrich Killian, Tony had set off a spectacular display of fireworks, destroying all of his suits. He had also removed the arc reactor from his chest and thrown it into the ocean.
For a time, Tony lived without his suits. But recently, the urge to build again had returned. And this time, he wanted to make them better than ever.
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