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Homelander returned to his seat, looking at Fury's despairing single eye.
"Earth can only be saved by Earthlings themselves."
"And now, that Earthling is called Homelander."
Fury fell completely silent.
He slumped in his chair, the light in his eyes dimming.
Recalling the past twenty years. Every time Earth faced a crisis, he instinctively wanted to press that button, but held back each time.
He told himself it was to keep his trump card for the very end.
But now, thinking back... perhaps subconsciously, he was also afraid.
Afraid that after pressing it, no one would answer.
If what Homelander said was true... then everything he had done was not just a joke, but a disaster.
He had invited the wolf into the house, yet still felt smug about it.
After a long while.
Fury stood up from his chair, picked up the file on the desk. His face was expressionless, but his slightly trembling fingers betrayed his inner turmoil.
"I need to go back first... to confirm with them."
"Suit yourself."
Homelander waved dismissively, turning his chair away and no longer looking at him.
"Anyway, once I finish my current business, I'll start cleaning up these alien goblins."
"Of course..."
Homelander turned his head slightly, giving Fury a profile view.
"If you can deal with them, all the better."
"Have them come to me voluntarily to confess, hand over the list, and follow Vought's arrangements."
"In that case... they might still have a sliver of a chance."
Fury said nothing more.
He silently turned and walked out of the office with heavy steps... After Fury left.
Skynet spoke up while tidying Homelander's desk.
"Sir, I think I must remind you."
"The data collected by those T-850 Robots infiltrating all levels of society, after cross-referencing..."
"The first few hundred names on this list can be confirmed with 99.99% certainty as Skrulls variants. But the remaining few thousand..."
"There is no conclusive evidence that they are also Skrullss."
"So what?"
Homelander said indifferently, looking in the direction Fury had left.
"For someone as paranoid and arrogant as Nick Fury."
"Even a 1% accuracy rate is enough to make him doubt the whole World."
...Brooklyn, an underground bomb shelter.
One of Fury's secret hideouts.
"Bang!"
A loud noise.
The heavy iron door was kicked open violently.
Talos was startled and looked up.
He saw Nick Fury storming in with a dark expression, his face filled with barely suppressed rage.
"Fury?" Talos stood up, somewhat surprised. "What? Couldn't reach an agreement with Homelander?"
"Smack!"
A list was slammed violently onto the table in front of Talos.
"Look at this."
Fury pointed at the list on the table, his single eye suppressing a Fury about to erupt.
"Tell me, Talos. What is this?"
Talos picked up the file, puzzled.
"Explain this."
He opened the first page.
There were several familiar names and photos, ones he had tacitly allowed to infiltrate.
He turned to the second page.
Still familiar names.
The third page... the fourth page... Talos's finger stopped.
He didn't turn further, just closed the list and let out a long sigh.
"It seems... you already know."
Talos's tone was surprisingly calm, neither defensive nor panicked.
This only made Fury angrier.
"You knew?!"
"You actually admit it?!"
"These lists... are they real?"
"The first few pages are real." Talos pushed the file back. "I'm not sure about the later ones, but they're probably close to the truth."
"Damn it!"
Fury punched the table.
"Tell me, Talos! How many Skrullss are on Earth right now?!"
Talos was silent for a moment.
He looked at this old friend he had fought alongside for over twenty years.
In the end, he chose to tell the truth.
"All of them."
"What?" Fury frowned, as if he didn't understand.
"You mean... all of them? All the remaining survivors?"
"Yes." Talos nodded.
"You mean..." Fury's voice suddenly rose, filled with incredulous horror, "there are a fucking million Skrullss on Earth now?!"
One million! This number was like a heavy hammer smashing into Fury's head.
One million alien beings who could transform into anyone at will, with super strength and endurance, lurking right under his nose!
"Are you insane?! Talos!"
Fury roared, drawing the pistol from his waist and pointing it at Talos's head.
"What are you trying to do? Start a war?!"
Facing the dark muzzle, Talos did not dodge.
He stood up, a fire igniting in his originally gentle eyes as well.
"I did all this because you didn't keep your promise! Fury!"
Talos roared back, his voice even louder than Fury's.
He stepped towards Fury, pressing his forehead against the gun's muzzle.
"Back then, you promised us! As long as we listened to you, you would help us find a new home!"
"We believed you!"
"We worked for you for over twenty years! Did all sorts of dirty work for you, helped you climb from a lowly Agent to the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director!"
"You're not some 'Agent King' at all! Without the Skrullss' help, you'd have died in some gutter long ago!"
"And how did you repay us?"
Talos pointed at Fury, his eyes full of disappointment.
"For over twenty years, you haven't given us a single piece of information about a new home, and now you can't even stay in S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore!"
"Look at you now! A fugitive wanted globally! Hiding in a sunless rat hole!"
"How can we believe that you, as you are now, can still help us find a home?!"
"If we don't find a way ourselves, my people will die out in the Universe!"
Fury's hand holding the gun trembled slightly.
He wanted to refute, but found he had nothing to say.
Because what Talos said was true. He had indeed used them, and indeed... broken his word.
"So this is your plan?" Fury gritted his teeth. "Turn Earth into your new home?"
"My dream is simple, Fury." Talos's tone softened a bit.
"I just hope the Skrullss and humans can coexist peacefully."
"Coexist peacefully?!"
Fury sounded as if he'd heard the biggest joke.
"Talos, you've lived on Earth for so long, haven't you seen humanity clearly yet?"
"Humans can't even fully coexist with each other! Do you think they can tolerate an alien species like you?"
He took a step forward, staring Talos down.
"And, by your so-called 'peaceful coexistence,' do you mean replacing humans?"
"What about the people you replaced?"
"Where did they go? Did you kill them? Throw them into space?"
Talos looked into Fury's eyes and said seriously, "We've known each other for so many years, you know what kind of person I am, Fury. I am not a butcher."
"We established a sanctuary in Chernobyl. We call it 'New Skrullos.'"
"There's radiation there, humans can't approach, but for us, it's a natural barrier."
"All the replaced humans have been moved there."
"They are locked in Life Support Pods, in a state of deep hibernation."