Chapter 11: A New Stronghold in Montana (Part I)

Two months after the end of the Great War in New York, the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C

Whether it is a world war or an alien invasion, as long as human society has not been destroyed, then after the restlessness, life still has to go on. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The Potomac River, which flows through Washington, D.C., is one of the most famous rivers on the eastern Atlantic coast of the United States. Originating in the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is formed by the confluence of the North and South Bronch rivers and eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay in the Atlantic Ocean. During the Civil War, the Potomac River once became the border of the confrontation between the two armies in the Civil War, and from the front of the White House in Washington, you can see the fire and smoke of gunpowder lining up on the brutal battlefield.

The landmark building of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the Triqual Wing Building, stands like a trident reaching into the clouds, standing on a small island in the middle of the Potomac River, across the river from the Washington Monument, and not far from the famous Lincoln Memorial and Watergate Building.

After a few weeks of hiding on a floating aircraft carrier, S.H.I.E.L.D. Chief Nick, dressed in black leather. Fury, when he finally returned to the director's office in the Sanqu Wing Building, was sitting at the glass table, staring at the LCD screen of the desktop computer with one eye, reading the classified documents inside.

After more than a month of bitter fighting, the question of accountability for the Manhattan nuclear bombing finally came to a so-so conclusion: the World Security Council pinched its nose and carried the accusations, and several permanent members held a news conference in Washington to express regret over the deaths of 400,000 New Yorkers and the nuclear contamination suffered by tens of millions of Americans. But at the same time, the directors have repeatedly emphasized that in the event of an alien invasion and the entire earth is facing an existential crisis, all means of war are necessary, and all sacrifices are also necessary, even the nuclear explosion is no exception!

Therefore, it is not wrong and beyond reproach for the World Security Council to order the nuclear bombing of New York, and those who dare to make trouble are anti-earth "ball traitors"!

In short, all the losses and culpability are blamed on fate, no one is at fault, and naturally no one has to take responsibility! As for the 400,000 unjust souls in Manhattan, New York, it is a necessary sacrifice to save mankind, the greatness of life, and the glorious death! All of humanity will remember your selfless efforts, so the bereaved families should not worry too much. Anyway, you're full of super killers over there, and you're used to dying for decades

Such a stubborn attitude of not admitting accounts is comparable to those stubborn students who are caught cheating and still speak up, which naturally makes the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. quite angry. However, since the World Security Council has smashed this black pot by itself, there is no way to use it to harm others. So, seeing that the matter is basically revealed, S.H.I.E.L.D. Chief Nick. Fury returned to headquarters to resume normal work.

At the same time, the U.S. Air Force has repeatedly tried in vain to capture or destroy the cosmic Rubik's Cube that has turned into a giant bouncy ball and is all over the American continent. However, no attack method known to mankind can break the pure energy shield activated on the periphery of the Cosmic Rubik's Cube, or even consume the durability of this shield - because the Cosmic Cube itself is an endless super energy source!

On the contrary, every weapon attack, whether missiles, lasers, or artillery shells, makes this giant bouncy ball jump faster, higher, and farther.

After discovering that the Cosmic Rubik's Cube could not be shot down at all, the military racked their brains to devise a "ballcatcher" plan to use airships, helicopters, and other aircraft to mount a giant net bag and catch the Cosmic Rubik's Cube like a baseball. To this end, the Pentagon urgently mobilized two airships, more than twenty helicopters, as well as a detachment of "war machines" personally led by the "Iron Patriot" Colonel Rhodes.

(Iron Man Tony.) When Stark had a premonition that he was going to die of palladium poisoning, he gave Mark II Iron Man suit to his friend "Iron Patriot" James. Colonel Rhodes, which was used by the military to develop the "War Machine", is a mass-produced lite version of Iron Man. ）

However, this operation did not go smoothly, after all, the volume of the Cosmic Rubik's Cube plus the excitation device is far from being comparable to baseball or football, and its size is at least equivalent to a telephone booth! Not only is the jump fast, but the trajectory is irregular. The pilots paid the heavy price of four helicopters, an airship and two "war machines" falling and seven dead and eight wounded, but they still failed to catch the oversized bouncy ball.

After this setback, the elm-headed staff officers of the Pentagon finally came up with a relatively feasible idea, which was to use the bombardment boost method to push the Cosmic Rubik's Cube into a certain swamp to slow down its movement. Unfortunately, it was too late - just last week, the Cosmic Cube had already jumped from New York on the East Coast to the West Coast, and finally jumped into the Pacific Ocean and became a floating object. Then, before the elated naval warship could be salvaged, Thor suddenly arrived with a group of Asgard warriors and began a confrontation over the object......

“…… Cosmic Rubik's Cube, Evil God Loki, Foreign Spy, Alien Weapon, Norse Gods of Asgard ......"

Looking at the text, pictures, and videos displayed on the LCD screen, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick. Fury kept his head down, and kept whispering about the sources of the recent troubles, but his face was still completely expressionless, making it impossible to see what was going on in the heart of this one-eyed black bald head.

“…… Knock! Knock! Knock! Suddenly, Nick was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. Fury's musings.

“…… In. "Turn off the computer, Nick. Fury said, looking up at the office door.

“…… Yes, sir. "With the sound of leather boots hitting the floor, a fair-skinned black girl in a black tight uniform walked in with a serious face. …… This is the latest report that I just received today, and I ask the chief to approve it as soon as possible! As she spoke, she handed Nick the folder in her hand, then stepped aside and stood there with a serious face. It looks clean and clean, without any superfluous movements. Sky blue eyes calmly looked at their commander, like a well-trained soldier, waiting for instructions on the next step.

“…… Thank you. Miss Hill. Nick was used to Agent Hill's serious, almost harsh, and impersonal attitude, and he didn't care. He just reached for the paper, put it on the table, and squinted through it.

“…… There is still no progress in the research and development of extraterrestrial weapons in the scientific research department, and all the alien weapons seized in the New York battlefield cannot be used, and all the alien soldiers are dead, and no information can be obtained through torture. Based on the autopsy, the captured Zetarians appear to be half-machine, half-biological hybrids, and any of them have remote-controlled safety devices, which can only be considered drones-like tools of war, rather than truly intelligent life...... Damn it! I knew all this stuff last month! Could it be that this piece of waste hasn't researched anything new yet? ”

“…… Agent Sitwell has completed an alien weapon recovery effort, capturing two bandits who used alien weapons to rob banks and recovering an alien weapon suspected to be an energy gun or laser gun. The two robbers are husband and wife, and the male robber appears to be capable of cracking the safety device of the alien weapon, and it is recommended that S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit him into the research department...... Approved! You're going to have to put some pressure on those waste scientists! ”

“…… Some lawmakers delivered a speech against the Avengers in the House of Representatives, claiming that it was because the Avengers' superheroes rashly took hostile actions against aliens and caused huge damage to aliens, which led to the intensification of contradictions and the occurrence of the nuclear bombing of New York, which caused huge losses to the United States. Therefore, the Avengers should be responsible for the disaster of this alien invasion, and S.H.I.E.L.D. should also bear the responsibility for poor supervision......

Hehe, which rabies patient from an insane asylum is barking? Even if he talks about the cosmic Rubik's Cube, it's a little more decent than this! ”

“…… The confrontation in the Pacific Ocean has ended, the naval fleet has returned in vain, and the aliens who call themselves Thor, the god of thunder, and his men have taken the Cosmic Rubik's Cube...... Well, this matter has finally come to an end, so let's close the case and file it like this! ”

“…… In this matter, the World Security Council has just sent a video newsletter asking why we have not taken decisive action to sit idly by and watch the precious Cosmic Cube be taken away by the Asgardians! Agent Hill added suddenly.

“…… Don't bother with such stupidity! Nick waved his hand heroically, "...... Anyway, these old slippery heads are just finding fault at random, and no matter what we do, we are wrong! If you really want to get the Cosmic Rubik's Cube back, the mess will only get bigger! Well, let's get here today! ”

Watching Agent Hill put away the approved papers and turn to leave the office, Nick couldn't help but rub his temples and sigh.

Although S.H.I.E.L.D. has not lacked enemies and challenges since its inception, and is no stranger to aliens, a large-scale invasion of alien armies like the recent one is the first of its kind. For example, in order to suppress the mob wreaking havoc in the New York area, the National Guard's first task after the nuclear explosion was not disaster relief, but counterinsurgency, killing tens of thousands of rioters before and after, and dispatching armored vehicles and planes to blow up the remaining ruins to the ground, finally restoring social order.

More worrying Nick than the retreating aliens and unclinched thugs is the shadow lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. - an old rival from the days of World War II, the terrifying group called Hydra. It was only recently that he was vaguely aware of the presence of Hydra, which was an extremely unusual thing for the leader of a secret service organization.

As the protector of Earth and all of humanity, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not afraid of any alien enemy, whether aliens or cults. But when the enemy is parasitic in your body, the feeling is indescribably bad: you have eyes but you can't see the direction clearly, you have ears but you can't rely on it, you can only walk on the tightrope carefully step by step, and if you don't deal with it carefully, everything can be taken over by it. I don't know who is trustworthy, I don't know where the opponent is, I can't use my strength, and if I accidentally fall into its grasp, I can only suffocate in despair.

In fact, at the moment, there are only a few people that Nick can fully trust within S.H.I.E.L.D., such as Hill, Black Widow Natasha and Captain America Steve, but the shadow of Hydra seems to be everywhere, as if it has completely swallowed up the entire S.H.I.E.L.D., and it seems to be just his personal imagination.

“…… For the time being, we can only come step by step, let's solve the alien trouble first! He touched his bald head and muttered.

However, in the midst of his ignorance, another small force from outside this world has also quietly infiltrated this country......

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During this period, Wang Qiu, Political Commissar Guo, and Tang Mary and Chen Ping, two trapped traversers, also experienced a long journey from south to north across the entire mainland of the United States, from hot and dry Texas all the way to densely forested Montana, and settled here.

-- Montana, located in the northwestern United States, near the Pacific coast and the Canadian border. The state has a vast land area of 380,000 square kilometers, which is larger than the entire territory of Japan, and among the states of the United States, Montana is the third largest in the country in terms of area, but the population is the sixth from the bottom, so the population density is the second lowest in the country, but the permanent population is only 900,000, which is absolutely sparsely populated.

However, despite the vast and sparsely populated land, Montana is not a snowy plateau like Tibet or the Gobi Sandy Land like Xinjiang, but a land full of life. As soon as Wang Qiu and his entourage drove here, they were fascinated by the scenery: the flat and wide valleys were green and verdant, the farmland was full of crops, the clear streams meandered, and the mountains were surrounded by abrupt mountains dotted with snow.

This kind of magnificent landscape, which is very rare in China, made Wang Qiu and others very admired, as if they were in the plot world of "The Lord of the Rings".

In general, in the eyes of Chinese like Wang Qiu, Montana is a wonderful land full of paradoxes. Although the land is flat, the water is plentiful, and the climate is not particularly cold, at least not colder than Boston and Vancouver, the population is surprisingly small. While Montana's 10 national forests and 13 nature reserves attract visitors from all over the world, young people are moving out in droves, with more than 70 percent of high school graduates dreaming of leaving the city in search of a new life in one of the bustling metropolises. Although many of America's most fashionable billionaires have spent huge sums of money on luxury vacation homes in Montana, Montana is still almost the poorest state in the United States. Many locals even have to work two or three jobs to reach the federal poverty line.

The key to this situation lies in the natural environment. While Montana's land may seem vibrant, its high latitudes and altitude make it possible to grow crops in a short and one-year-round season, not as much as in longer summers. And the transportation is also inconvenient, far from the densely populated consumer market. These shortcomings mean that any crop from Montana that grows elsewhere in the United States can be delivered to other densely populated areas of North America at a cheaper cost, higher yield, and faster and cheaper transportation.

As a result, Montana has become a wonderland of beautiful scenery but not competitive in agriculture.

But in the final analysis, it is because the Americans' territory is so good, and there are more fertile and superior lands everywhere, that they do not look down on such inferior places and let them sleep in the wilderness. If the Japanese or Chinese could get such a treasure land, I am afraid that they would have dreamed and woken up with laughter.

But for Wang Qiu and other visitors from other worlds, it was precisely because Montana was both sparsely populated and relatively impoverished that they were able to easily buy a large piece of the farm on the verge of abandonment at a very low price, in a remote place far from the people—the old couple who owned the farm had died of illness not long ago, and their son was more willing to live in bustling Los Angeles and refused to come back to inherit the farm. It's only a very pitiful $15,000!

-- As far as Wang Qiu and the others are concerned, the funds available at the moment are quite tight. Although they took advantage of the chaos of the battle in New York to get a lot of money from some shops and supermarkets, the Chinese government in the modern world is ready to provide sacks of dollars to fund it.

But first of all, the dollars of the two worlds are not exactly the same. Secondly, in the United States, where credit cards are widely used, it is a very eye-catching and suspicious thing to rashly take out large sums of cash. If anyone can pull up a stack of dollars to buy something, then everyone will immediately associate you with a criminal organization...... So, the cost of buying the farm in Montana was entirely from Don Mary's savings in her bank account, and she had to choose the cheapest one.

However, when they first looked at the land, they understood why the farm was sold so cheaply: because it was so remote. There is neither running water nor gas, and he relies on firewood for cooking and his own generator for electricity. From the nearest town to the farm, it takes at least half a day to drive more than 150 kilometers in one breath along the primitive road completely run over by vehicles. When heavy snow closes the mountains or the roads are washed away by heavy rains, the farm is completely isolated from the rest of the world! Also due to the lack of transportation, it is also very difficult to transport agricultural products from the farm, and the freight costs are prohibitively high, and it is almost uncompetitive.

In short, in such a place, you can almost only live the life of a reclusive monk in the legend, relying on what you grow to feed yourself, and it is very difficult to save a few spare money, and you have to pay taxes and fees. It's no wonder that the aborigines yearn so much for the outside world.

However, for Wang Qiu and others, who do not rely on this world at all to sustain their lives, such a remote place is ideal.

So, after hastily tidying up the only dilapidated wooden house on the farm, they went out to survey the environment with great interest. Credit cards and checks are also used to pay for things. If anyone can pull up a stack of dollars to buy something, then everyone will immediately associate you with a criminal organization...... So, the cost of buying the farm in Montana was entirely from Don Mary's savings in her bank account, and she had to choose the cheapest one.

However, when they first looked at the land, they understood why the farm was sold so cheaply: because it was so remote. There is neither running water nor gas, and he relies on firewood for cooking and his own generator for electricity. From the nearest town to the farm, it takes at least half a day to drive more than 150 kilometers in one breath along the primitive road completely run over by vehicles. When heavy snow closes the mountains or the roads are washed away by heavy rains, the farm is completely isolated from the rest of the world! Also due to the lack of transportation, it is also very difficult to transport agricultural products from the farm, and the freight costs are prohibitively high, and it is almost uncompetitive.

In short, in such a place, you can almost only live the life of a reclusive monk in the legend, relying on what you grow to feed yourself, and it is very difficult to save a few spare money, and you have to pay taxes and fees. It's no wonder that the aborigines yearn so much for the outside world.

However, for Wang Qiu and others, who do not rely on this world at all to sustain their lives, such a remote place is ideal.

So, after hastily tidying up the only dilapidated wooden house on the farm, they went out to survey the environment with great interest.