"Motherfucker!?"
Cold, dark space.
Inside an inverted cone-shaped space station—
SWORD Space Station.
Nick Fury sat at his desk, watching a video of the MIB.
The curse slipped from his mouth without thinking.
He scoffed at the alarmist tone of the first half of the video.
He took it all as a counterattack from the Stark brothers.
After all, the two of them had discovered that he was secretly having the SWORD investigate Lyon's background. It was only natural for them to retaliate a little.
Nick Fury didn't think much of it.
While fast-forwarding through the video, he began to consider how to respond.
Although the video had already stirred up a massive uproar online, it was all just temporary heat.
The internet has no memory—so long as he could settle things with the Five Great Powers, no matter how loud the online noise got, it would eventually die down.
To Nick Fury, the current situation didn't even count as a real crisis.
Compared to this video, he was actually more concerned about how Tony Stark had managed to uncover the Skrulls' infiltration.
The shapeshifted Skrulls not only retained the memories of their assumed identities but were also equipped with S.W.O.R.D.'s advanced technology.
By all accounts, they shouldn't have been discovered.
Nick Fury's thoughts began to drift.
But suddenly, the MIB agent on the screen yanked his mind sharply back to reality.
As he listened to the man in black fluently listing detailed information about the Skrulls,
Nick Fury's expression darkened—he couldn't understand how the other party knew the Skrulls so well.
He even began to suspect whether it was Captain Marvel and her friend who told them—That was highly unlikely.
But the content that followed in the video caused Nick Fury's heart to sink even deeper.
—Dozens of surveillance clips that were supposed to have been destroyed, now fully and thoroughly exposing the Skrulls' capabilities and threat level.
Nick Fury could already picture the chaos erupting among the upper echelons of various governments.
Because he had Captain Marvel as his strongest support, and because he had once gone through trials and hardships alongside the Skrulls, he was convinced they were trustworthy.
But the political leaders of Earth didn't know that!
And the people in the video who had been replaced...
They were indeed once his enemies or mission targets, key to his promotions and accomplishments.
So he couldn't completely wash his hands of the matter either.
At this point, Nick Fury started to feel the situation was getting thorny.
But the very next moment, when he heard the MIB agent on the video spit out the phrase "ten thousand,"
Nick Fury's eyes flew wide open. "Motherfucker? Ten thousand Skrulls? Where the hell did ten thousand come from? Weren't there only a few thousand?"
He wanted to deny the MIB Agents's claim.
But deep down, he too started to harbor suspicions about the true number of Skrulls.
…
On the other side of the Earth—
The ruins of the city of Chernobyl.
A city that should have been utterly deserted.
In air thick with nuclear radiation, even the sound of birds would be laced with unease.
And yet, within the broken walls and collapsed buildings, green silhouettes could be seen moving now and then.
Looking up, one could see a sea of green heads moving around near the nuclear power plant.
Most of the Skrull refugees had gathered here.
The maintenance workers originally stationed around the plant had long since been secretly replaced.
This city, once abandoned by humans, has now welcomed a new group of inhabitants.
The Skrulls were unaffected by nuclear radiation.
So every nuclear leak site on Earth became an ideal refuge for them.
Even satellites rarely passed over these areas.
They could safely treat these places as their temporary homes.
And Chernobyl—they had named it New Skrullos.
The so-called Skrullos was the homeland that had long since been destroyed.
This new name for Chernobyl was a clear sign of their desire to remain on Earth permanently.
At that moment, inside a warehouse within the abandoned nuclear plant—
General Talos of the Skrulls, his wife Soren, and several other high-ranking Skrulls were gathered.
They sat in a circle around a long table.
The projector on the table cast the video of the man in black in front of each of them.
The video had already played over and over again.
The warehouse was dead silent, the tension in the air stretched tight like a taut string.
"General, what… should we do now?" someone finally asked, breaking the stifling silence.
Talos rested both hands on the table, staring at the looping video.
Silent.
Still silent.
The general who had once led his people in search of hope now had no clear answer.
It took a great deal of effort for him to slowly speak: "Wait for Nick's response. He and Captain Marvel promised they would help us find a suitable planet to live on—they won't let us down."
But someone immediately questioned, "But he can't even protect himself right now, General. The United Nations has already issued a warrant for his arrest!"
"He'll figure something out!" Talos had no confidence either—he simply shut his eyes, refusing to meet the gazes of his people.
He said, "He's Nick Fury. We must believe in him!"
"Then… if he fails… could we voluntarily come forward to Earth's people and ask them to grant us a piece of land?"
This time, Talos kept his eyes shut and gave no answer.
And the high-ranking Skrulls, getting no response, also fell silent, asking nothing more.
Talos was a dove among the Skrulls, and most of the leadership he brought with him were also doves.
But that didn't mean there weren't those who advocated for war.
"General, why don't we just declare war!"
A young Skrull slammed the table and stood up.
He looked thin, with eyes full of hostility.
"Anyway, we already have many agents placed by Nick Fury in the upper echelons of various countries. Once war is declared and their governments fall into chaos, we might actually win!"
"We could even directly replace personnel in their weapons departments and take control of their nuclear arsenal!" The young one's plan was radical.
"Shut up, Gravik!" Talos immediately snapped.
He slammed the table hard, startling everyone present.
"Do not entertain the idea of using weapons against Earth! Never!" Talos was dead serious.
"But…" Gravik was unwilling.
"I said shut up! Do not bring this up again!"
Only when Gravik clenched his fists and reluctantly closed his mouth, did Talos sit back down, rubbing his forehead.
As expected, no matter where they were from, young ones were always impulsive, war-hungry, and unaware of the depths of the situation.
They had no idea just how powerful Captain Marvel, who backed Nick Fury, truly was.
Let alone the fact that Earth now had a hero called Superman as well.
How were the Skrulls supposed to fight against such monsters?
"Meeting's over. Everyone go back and wait for news—it won't be long," Talos waved his hand.
The high-ranking members gradually filed out.
Soon, only Talos and his wife Soren were left in the warehouse.
"Don't worry. Nick won't abandon us," Soren said, gently stroking her husband's forehead.
Talos let out a sigh. "Let's hope so."
Beep beep!
At that moment, his communicator buzzed—it was a call from Nick Fury.
"It's Nick!" Talos perked up.
After answering, Nick Fury's holographic image appeared above the projector.
Before Talos could speak, Nick Fury cut straight to the point.
"Talos, I want you to tell me honestly—what exactly have you been hiding about the destruction of the Skrull homeworld?"
Talos froze, the hopeful look in his eyes vanishing.
He wanted to deny it, but his gaze shifted away involuntarily.
All he could do was shake his head, then slowly nod. "I swear, you know everything you're supposed to know!"
"Is that so? Then are you saying the MIB's video is fake? Or is it that there are things I'm not supposed to know?" Nick Fury's tone rose sharply.
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Read ahead of WN at Patreon.com/LiveLifeLove