Skrulls

"Not all alien races were as aggressive as the Chitauri."

Nick Fury’s expression darkened. He had never expected the Skrulls’ spacecraft to have been discovered by China long ago.

With China’s power, destroying it would have been absurdly easy.

So "Nick Fury" hurriedly explained.

"Heh."

Zheng Xian sneered. "In China, we have an old saying: those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. They are an entirely different race, unknown aliens. They were never to be trusted."

"…"

Nick Fury’s expression worsened, because he realized that the Councilmen he had painstakingly persuaded to support the Sky Sword Bureau had clearly begun to waver after hearing Zheng Xian’s words.

That was right. They were not even the same species, so why should they trust aliens?

Why would aliens with advanced civilizations and advanced technology travel all this way to help Earthlings?

It was actually easy to explain. Take the people of America, for example. On Earth, their technology had unquestionably been the best—well, that was before. China now held first place in technology. But there was no denying that America was still far more technologically advanced than most countries.

Would the people of America willingly help those backward countries build up their national defense for free, without receiving anything in return?

What a joke!

America would already be doing well if it did not simply burn, kill, plunder, and loot. And people expected it to help others?

By the same logic, why would an alien civilization with advanced technology help Earth?

It made no sense!

"Then, Director Nick Fury, tell me: what race are these unknown aliens? Where did they come from, and what are their intentions?"

Seeing Nick Fury caught in a dilemma, Zheng Xian pressed on.

"They are Skrulls, a civilization that loves peace."

Nick Fury drew a deep breath and began explaining.

"Skrulls? If I remembered correctly, the Skrulls did not exactly have a good reputation in the universe, did they?"

Chen Mu stepped forward, his face full of amusement. "Because Skrulls possessed the talent to transform into the appearance of any other race, they had always been an unwelcome group throughout the universe."

After all, who would like a race capable of taking on any appearance lurking around them?

How would anyone know whether the people around them had actually been aliens in disguise all along?

Especially after a tiring day, after making love and preparing to sleep, only to suddenly discover that the person beside them had turned into an alien. Damn, that image was far too beautiful to bear looking at!

It seemed Skrull shapeshifting did not involve any limits based on sex. Even males—well, aliens probably should not be called "male"; "male specimen" was more appropriate—could transform into Earth women. Whether in terms of physical structure or genetics, they were completely identical.

So, becoming male or female was no problem for Skrulls.

"The Skrull race possesses a talent that lets them become any other race and pass themselves off as the real thing. There were often reports of Skrulls invading civilizations and secretly taking control of them."

And if it was a Super Skrull’s ability, that was downright monstrous. While taking on someone else’s appearance, they could also copy that person’s memories, even their abilities, directly replicating them at the genetic level.

Whether it was Thor of the Asgardians or Hulk, Skrulls could copy them and gain their abilities…

Of course, those were the Super Skrulls from the comics. The Skrulls in the movie world were much weaker. Although they could still transform into any race, they could not gain that race’s special powers, and the memories they could obtain were merely a few recent fragments.

Even so, that talent was enough to terrify people. Every Skrull was practically a Mystique, and no civilization would like such a race.

Of course, perhaps some people with unusual tastes would enjoy it. After all, one Skrull could turn into three thousand beauties in a harem…

"That was Kree Empire slander against the Skrulls."

Nick Fury looked indignant as he defended the Skrulls. "The Kree Empire was a notorious invader in the universe. Countless civilizations had been destroyed at their hands. To wipe out every Skrull, the Kree Empire had been hunting them down and spreading rumors throughout the universe to defame them!"

"Oh? Why are you getting so worked up?"

Chen Mu looked at Nick Fury with amusement, rubbing his chin as he asked, "You are speaking up for the Skrulls as though it was you who had been slandered by the Kree."

"Hm? In that case, could it be that you are not Nick Fury at all?"

A faint smile hung on Chen Mu’s face as he looked Nick Fury up and down.

"…"

Nick Fury’s expression froze. Everyone present also turned to look at him with strange gazes.

"Heh, no way, right? The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, was actually transformed from an alien?"

Seeing Nick Fury’s expression, everyone immediately came to their senses. Chen Mu also raised his voice in disbelief.

"Interesting. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had already been replaced by an alien?" Zheng Xian eagerly piled on. "No wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. opened a portal in New York. So it turned out all of this had been arranged by aliens!"

Good lord, when it came to smearing others, if Zheng Xian claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.

At that moment, Loki was still being dragged by Thor through reform at a military district on China’s border. If he knew what Zheng Xian was saying now, he would probably be stunned senseless.

The impact of the New York Battle was still at its peak, and the whole world was watching the incident. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had concealed things well, how could people of high status in places like America not know the truth? In any case, it had been Hawkeye, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who opened the portal.

The mastermind behind everything seemed to have been Loki, the legendary god of mischief…

But Zheng Xian’s words made everyone come to their senses.

When put that way, it actually made far more sense!

"Even S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Director had been infiltrated. One could imagine just how badly S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by now!"

Zheng Xian looked at Nick Fury teasingly and continued, "Most of the people in S.H.I.E.L.D. were probably spies by now, weren’t they?"

That made a great deal of sense. Even the Director was a spy, so one could imagine how many people in S.H.I.E.L.D. had been transformed by Skrulls, how many were spies within S.H.I.E.L.D…

"???"

Pierce, standing nearby, was full of question marks. Why did Zheng Xian’s words feel like they were talking about him…?