Nick Fury sighed when he heard that: "Of course, it's not for that small budget; there are many ways to get money."
Why would he care about such a small budget? He did this, firstly, to reassure the President, and secondly, to show other countries the strength of S.H.I.E.L.D..
If S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't demonstrate irreplaceable strength, then why would the high-ranking officials of those countries be willing to spend large sums of budget on them every year?
Moreover, taking advantage of this opportunity, they could also gather information on dangerous Mutants and secretly register those who had not been exposed before.
Most importantly, by using this competition, although it did expose S.H.I.E.L.D.'s experts to the public, it would definitely make recruiting new Mutant Agents much smoother in the future.
The celebrity effect is sometimes very effective for those more naive Mutants.
"Oh, there's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
Black Captain Marvel asked, puzzled.
"According to our analysts' comprehensive analysis of all information on Adam, inferring from his facial expressions and actions, his transformations into a giant ape and fox form should have certain limitations."
"It might be related to time, or it might require specific conditions."
"So, when you finally fight him, if he transforms into a giant ape or fox form, don't confront him head-on; try to stall for as much time as possible."
Nick Fury carefully explained the plan to Black Captain Marvel.
This conference had another important task, which was to openly let Black Captain Marvel and Adam fight a match to see if they could find Adam's weakness and verify some of their conjectures.
If Adam's transformations indeed had certain limitations, then many things would be much easier to handle in the future.
"I understand. If he can't transform, then he's definitely no match for me."
After listening to Nick Fury's plan, Black Captain Marvel nodded.
She knew she definitely couldn't beat Adam in his giant ape form, and it would be a close match against his fox form, but she was confident she would win against him in his untransformed state.
She still had that much confidence.
If it weren't for falling in love and marrying Nick Fury back then, she had planned to return alone to the Kree homeworld of Hala, take on the entire Kree race by herself, and destroy the Kree leader, the Supreme Intelligence.
After resolving the doubts in her heart, Black Captain Marvel also left the office. As a mother, she still had to go home to pick up her children from school.
Not long after Black Captain Marvel left, Nick Fury summoned Agent Hill.
"Have the interrogation results for those HYDRA Agents come out?"
During this period, with the help of the League of Heroes Superheroes, they had destroyed many HYDRA Bases and captured some HYDRA Agents who didn't have time to commit suicide.
Hill handed the interrogation results to Nick Fury with a somewhat solemn expression.
"The results are out. We didn't get any information about new HYDRA Bases, but we did get intelligence about a secret weapon they've been researching recently."
"Sentinel Robots. It turns out that Trask Industries was destroyed by Alexander Pierce's orders back then."
After quickly scanning the intelligence Hill handed him, Nick Fury also showed a somewhat solemn expression.
Back then, when he received Colonel Stryker from Professor X and Magneto, Trask Industries sent people to smooth things over, wanting to protect Stryker.
Later, although Stryker died unexpectedly, it also allowed him to catch a glimpse of HYDRA's tail.
In order to track down HYDRA's clues, he secretly sent people to investigate Trask Industries at that time. He knew that the founder of this corporation was very disgusted by the existence of Mutants and had been dedicated to researching and improving Sentinel Robots that could kill Mutants.
But just as he was preparing for a deeper investigation, the leaders and scientists of Trask Industries disappeared overnight, and all related information about the Sentinel Robots vanished without a trace.
Now it seems that Alexander Pierce must have also investigated Trask Industries and, for the Sentinel Robot technology, sent HYDRA Agents to do this deed.
"Let's put it aside for now. After the conference ends, we'll deal with them completely."
Three days later, in the morning, at the League of Heroes Headquarters in New York.
"I didn't expect Midgard to have changed so much after such a long time."
Thor, in his Thor armor, sat on a chair in the hall, curiously opened a can of beer, drank it in one gulp, and nodded with satisfaction.
To his left sat the Valkyrie Sif and The Warriors Three. The four of them also each held a can of beer, looking around, clearly agreeing with Thor's point of view.
And to his right, Loki, in a black suit, covered his face and whispered: "Can you guys please change out of your armor first? Today is just the entrance; the competition officially starts tomorrow."
"Why should we change out of our armor? Don't we usually dress like this?
Oh, Loki, go get some more of this beer from that iron box over there. Although it's not as good as the wine from Royale Palace, the taste is quite unique."
Thor pointed to the vending machine standing in the corner of the hall.
Loki could only nod helplessly at his words: "Alright, whatever you say."
He got up and went to the vending machine, bought a few more beers, but after handing them to Thor, he sat in the row behind them.
At this moment, many of the other contestants sitting nearby focused their gaze on Thor and his companions, pointing and whispering about them.
"Look at those people, dressed like they're from the Renaissance."
"Oh, they even have cold weapons in their hands. I'm going to die laughing."
Whether they were Mutants or Mutants who acquired special abilities for various reasons, they were essentially modern people.
So their attire was naturally quite normal; many were indistinguishable from ordinary people before using their abilities.
However, Thor and his companions, dressed as they were, certainly appeared quite unconventional in the eyes of most contestants.
"It really is them."
In the corridor on the second floor above the hall, Adam glanced at Thor and his companions in their armor and asked Susan beside him: "How are the preparations over there?"
"Everything is ready. The company's Superheroes all went over last night and will be forming teams in batches to maintain order shortly."
"The World's most famous television stations and reporters are also in position."
Susan nodded with a smile.
"Then let's begin!"
Adam's figure flashed, and he disappeared from his spot.
And Susan also pulled out her phone from her pocket: "All branch managers, listen up! Begin preparations for the contestants' entry!"
"All contestants, please gather here. We will line up to enter the competition venue."
As Susan's order was given, a notification suddenly sounded in the hall, followed by a seemingly ancient and mysterious large door being carried out by several staff members.
And the same scene was also happening in various branches in cities around the World.