Chapter 903: The Not-So-Secret Invasion (Part 2)

Everyone sitting on the sofa could see that the livestream camera was positioned at Shieler's chest, meaning they were now experiencing everything Shieler was experiencing through first-person perspective.

They saw Shieler follow the Nick Fury on the screen into a secret laboratory, located beneath the S. . . . . . headquarters, reached after a ten-minute transfer via a secret elevator to another base.

Nick took another vial from a lab cabinet and said: "This is the latest-developed serum—just one vial can perfectly resurrect a human, instantly healing all wounds and regenerating lost limbs…"

Shieler shook his head and said: "I'm not proficient in pathology, but I must say, this is a miraculous serum, Director—you hold humanity's future in your hands."

But Strange frowned outside the screen, watching the footage, and said: "Something's off—this serum can't be as perfect as he claims."

"We all know Dr. Connors' lizard serum was based on lizard DNA, but lizards don't grow limbs out of nothing—they still need to expend their own energy."

"That means energy is consumed during limb regeneration—the faster the regeneration, the more energy it drains."

"Dr. Connors told me he couldn't make humans instantly regrow perfect limbs not because lizard DNA was incapable, but because the human body simply can't supply enough energy to sustain such output."

"What if you used magic?" Stark asked.

Strange shook his head: "Magic can make limbs grow instantly, but the problem is, the limbs are made of magic—like the prosthetics you built. Once the magical energy cuts off, the limbs vanish immediately."

"Didn't you forget what Shieler told us about the principle of death?" Nick spoke up. "After death, the soul travels to the Realm of Death; if rejected by the Realm of Death, the person resurrects. To make a specific soul rejected by the Realm of Death, you must strike a deal with Death."

"Note: this is the only method in this world to resurrect life—whether through ritual serums or abilities, they're all surface-level. The ultimate principle always traces back to the Realm of Death."

"You mean this strange biomimetic entity that appeared after your death, claiming to be Nick Fury, has the ability to make deals with the Realm of Death?" Stark narrowed his eyes, his expression turning grave, then he asked with doubt: 【27】 "If this biomimetic entity of Nick Fury possesses Nick Fury's memories, then he absolutely must know that Shieler has telepathy."

"But Shieler made a deal with the Realm of Death and resurrected us—so if this person now makes a deal with the Realm of Death, can we be resurrected again?"

Nick smiled: "You'll find out soon."

On screen, Nick and Shieler were discussing the serum, when suddenly Nick picked up his phone and said:

"What? The bodies have been found? Really? Bring them back immediately—I'm on my way…"

After speaking, the two hurried back to the previous base, and the viewers on screen saw their own corpses inside S. . . . . .'s specialized life-support pods.

Inside the pods, the corpses of Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Coulson remained exactly as they were at the moment of death—even their wounds were identical: Iron Man's face was pale, Captain America and Spider-Man both had massive holes in their chests, and Coulson too.

Shieler immediately wore a sorrowful expression, making the sign of the cross over his chest, while Nick handed him the vial and said: "Doctor Shieler, go ahead—resurrect your friends. You'll see them again soon…"

"Thank you, Director." Shieler accepted the vial with a grief-stricken face, then injected one vial after another into the corpses' arms.

Then, their bodies visibly recovered, their skin gradually regained color, their chests rose and fell, their hearts restarted—and finally, Captain America stood up first.

Outside the screen, Steve opened his mouth wide and said: "He… I… I'm… wait a minute…"

He looked down at himself in confusion, then up at the screen, then back at himself—as if unable to believe it—and said: "How could that man look exactly like me? Identical in every way—even the stubble and moles on his body…"

Steve shook his head, but Stark sharply caught the logical flaw and said:

If this bionic entity of Nick Fury possesses Nick Fury's memories, then he absolutely must know that Shieler has telepathy.

"Though Shieler claims his telepathy only senses vague emotions, no one knows the truth—if this were the real Nick, he'd assume Shieler's mind-reading ability equals Professor X's."

"If so, why would he let Shieler witness the full resurrection of every superhero—and even let him personally resurrect them? It means these resurrected impostors aren't afraid of telepathy."

Stark drew a sharp breath: "Don't tell me they can even fake memories?!!"

Nick still had his arms crossed and said: "Keep watching."

Captain America, the first to stand, stretched his body and asked, bewildered: "Where am I? Didn't I… didn't I die protecting the New Warriors…"

"Welcome back, Steve. You did die in battle, but S. . . . . . resurrected you through a secret program. Welcome back, hero."

Captain America looked confused, stared at the blood-stained shield in the pod, and as he grabbed it, instinctively hurled it away.

The room was small—anyone throwing something with full force would leave a dent in the wall—but the shield, as if guided by eyes, reversed course a second before hitting the wall and returned without causing any damage.

Outside the screen, Peter stared in shock and said: "God! He doesn't just have the exact same strength as the Captain—he's mastered shield control at its peak!"

Peter pointed at the shield on screen: "I've played with this shield before, but for some reason, I could never get it back—it always smashed through walls, or flew back and knocked me down. This thing is impossible to control."

Steve's expression turned serious: "The shield can be controlled—but only after rigorous training. When Howard built it, he used special technology—the internal structure only responds to a specific way of exerting force."

"This should've been a secret known only to me—even Howard never practiced it himself. How could he possibly…" This can't be…"

Steve clenched his lips: "My learning ability is already several times that of an ordinary person, yet I still spent years mastering these techniques. At first, I couldn't control it either—just like Peter."

"I'm certain no one else on Earth can control the shield with such precision. But if that man on screen is me… then who am I?"

As he finished speaking, Spider-Man on screen also stood up, stretched, and asked confused questions. After Nick explained, Spider-Man began testing his powers again.

He leapt lightly and stuck to the ceiling, then climbed like a real spider. Next, he fired a web from his wrist launcher and swung through the air.

Outside the screen, Peter's mouth remained open: "He… was he bitten by a spider too? How does he have spider mutation abilities?"

"And he knows how to use the web-shooters—those require precise force to activate. How could he know my startup motion? Even other Spider-Men don't know—they all have different startup motions…"

Finally, Stark on screen stood up, bombarded Nick with questions, then pressed a button on his arm. Moments later, a suit flew in through the window.

Outside the screen, Stark's face changed instantly. He stood up and slammed his fist on the table: "How is this possible?! JARVIS! JARVIS! Are you there? How could you let someone else use my armor?!"

Suddenly, the screen on Stark's arm went dark. He stared at his arm, pounded the device, cursed, and said: "Damn it—that guy locked down all the systems!"

"He used my biometric authentication to trick JARVIS and shut down every system except his own!!" Stark lunged for the door.

Nick blocked him, but Stark cried out in panic: "He might use my authentication to enter Stark Tower and steal all the data—you don't know what dangerous things are stored there! If evil hands get hold of them, they could destroy the entire planet!"

Nick held him back: "Calm down. Haven't you realized yet? All of this is part of my plan with Shieler—he anticipated this exact scenario. Of course he knew this Stark could steal your access codes…"

Stark took two deep breaths and stopped. He said: "If I hadn't ascended, I'd never have agreed to such a dangerous plan. My god…"

"Relax. You're the only one in this world who can ascend into the Iron Demigod. These impostors don't have that ability," Nick patted his shoulder.

Stark exhaled. His armor stood in the corner of the room, and the magical core was stored in the equipment—meaning he could ascend into the Iron Demigod at any moment to stop this. The thought gave him security, and he sat back down to watch the screen.

Stark shook his head: "What the hell is going on? Who are these impostors? How do they have our memories? And how did they steal my identity and fool JARVIS?"

Nick sat on the sofa and slowly explained:

"Perhaps you've heard of the Kree Empire—one of the three great galactic empires—how some have boarded their ships and even piloted them through the cosmos…"

"Now, these impostors pretending to be you? They're members of another powerful empire—the Skrulls."

"They possess mimicry abilities beyond human imagination—they can copy any human's appearance, biology, genes, memories, and powers. In short, they can become you perfectly—with zero flaws."

"It may sound incredible, but that's the power of Super-Skrulls—and that's why they're so dangerous."

"Long ago, before the Avengers formed, before Director Pierce stepped down, when I was still just one of his top agents, I discovered a race utterly alien to humans—but perfectly mimicking them—had infiltrated our society."

When Nick grew serious, everyone remembered his title: King of Spies. After all, even as a regular agent, he'd detected this—enough to earn him legendary status.

"I waited for an opportunity to wipe them out completely. Then Shieler appeared—and gave me that chance. Worse, he proposed an even better plan."

"Including orchestrating conspiracies to kill me and all of you, manipulating the Red Door Plan's mastermind to elevate mutant status, designing a series of plots to kill them, sending them to Heaven to blackmail them… all of it was just setup."

"And we're carrying out this plan not for the military or the council's petty gains."

"You think your deaths were the process, and the generals' and senators' deaths were the result—but the opposite is true."

"Their deaths are meaningless—just part of the process. Your deaths are the final goal. Because if you didn't die, the Skrulls would have no legitimate reason to step onto the stage and impersonate you."

"Only when every superhero dies in a plausible way can they use their mimicry to replace you."

"This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity—legitimate, lawful, efficient. They don't even need to lift a finger to eliminate you—they simply gain the perfect chance to replace you."

"My ultimate goal, and Shieler's, is to let them replace you."