Chapter 912

In New Mexico, one of the few remaining relatively intact SHIELD bases, Shiler held a data folder and said to Natasha: "You should already understand SHIELD's reimbursement policy."

Natasha flipped through a report and said: "Relax. Barton's new to this—he's been too conservative with his numbers. I'll fix them up, then you check again for any issues…"

"The Hydra attack on SHIELD's nationwide warehouses caused us heavy losses. To combat Hydra, SHIELD has paid far too much. Though we're willing to continue selflessly contributing, for sustainable development, we must fight Congress for our rightful rights…"

Natasha nodded, but then her phone rang. She answered: "What? Captain America applied for base access clearance? …Why? He can't help with inventory loss assessments…"

"Agent Carter, you know SHIELD forbids office romances. Even if you admire Captain America, you can't secretly apply for his access clearance—that's a violation. If the Director finds out, he'll yell at you again…"

"Fine. For Peggy Carter's sake, just this once… Alright, I've granted him access. What does he want?"

Natasha hung up and turned to Shiler, puzzled: "Steve just requested base access. He seems to be looking for someone. Do you know what's going on, Doctor?"

Shiler blinked, then said: "Oh, that thing. You forgot?"

Natasha blinked too, then her face lit up with sudden understanding.

Moments later, Captain America appeared before Shiler, his face tense: "Doctor, I need to speak with you. What I'm about to say may be shocking, but please hear me out—it's vital."

Captain America took a deep breath, looked at Shiler, gripped his shield tightly—then relaxed his arm muscles and set it down. "I'm not Captain America. Let me reintroduce myself: I'm Barrack. A Skrull."

As he spoke, his face slowly changed. His skin turned green. Patterns emerged along his jaw and chin muscles. His ears elongated, transforming into the appearance of a Skrull.

But the shock he expected from Shiler never came. Shiler merely smiled and said: "Welcome back, Captain Barrack."

As those words settled, Shiler's own face began to change. Green spread across his skin. Patterns unfolded gradually.

Barrack's eyes widened in shock. His mouth opened—because beside Shiler, Natasha was also shifting into the appearance of a Skrull.

Barrack cried out in disbelief,

"Talos?!!"

"!"

"!"

Then Barrack froze, and said: "Wait—if you're Mannor, then the one who went to find Gana is…"

In Stark Tower's lab, Shiler walked in. Nick saw him and turned to the impostor Iron Man.

"I didn't want to use this method. But if you refuse to complete your mission, I think I have no choice but to use another way to make you fulfill your duty."

The impostor Iron Man stepped back two paces. "Gana, you think those ridiculous weapons in your hand can stop me? Don't forget—I'm Iron Man… the suit!"

"!"

As he shouted, the Iron Man suit flew in, armor locking onto him. He rose into the air, looking down at Gana. Light flickered along his arms—he was charging his repulsors.

Nick smirked, glanced at Shiler, and said: "I'm SHIELD Director. Clearly, Tony Stark has been controlled by some evil force. Doctor Shiler, please examine him. Confirm he's lucid…"

Shiler nodded, reached into his pocket. As he squinted, the impostor Iron Man suddenly froze midair.

Half a minute later, he slowly descended, standing motionless. Shiler turned to Nick: "All set, Director. Iron Man still has strong responsibility—he'll give everything for our cause."

"Well done," Nick praised. He walked up to the impostor Iron Man, turned back to Shiler, and said: "You're the kind of exceptional talent great causes require. And them… if they weren't still useful, I'd throw this trash into the sun!"

Then, staring at the impostor's armor, Nick sneered. He turned to Shiler: "Make him open the suit."

Shiler nodded. Seconds later, the impostor Iron Man stepped out of the armor, still dazed in place. Nick grinned wickedly. "Those who defy my orders must pay."

He pulled out a portable combat knife and placed it in the impostor's hand. "You know how he just talked back to me? He said he couldn't do this job, and refused to waste his time on my crazy ideas."

Nick's face hardened. "I know you all look down on me. Call me a thief. But in that chaos, I was the only one who made a decision. Everything I have now? I earned it!"

"You lab nerds—if not for fleets and soldiers guarding you, how could you sit safely in your labs doing experiments? You don't even show gratitude, yet dare to defy me!"

"I hate hearing disobedience. Before I left the fleet, I once cut out a subordinate's tongue…"

"Mr. Arengel was the Skrull Empire's top scientist. But scientists don't need tongues, do they, Doctor Shiler? I think he'll do it himself. Won't you?"

Shiler said nothing. He nodded. The impostor Iron Man slowly raised the knife toward his own jaw.

But the next second, the knife whistled through the air past Nick's ear—*whoosh! —blood sprayed. But what flew out wasn't a tongue. It was a black ear.

*Plop. The black ear hit the floor, then turned green. As the unmistakable Skrull stripes appeared, Nick recoiled sharply. The Tony Stark before him smirked.

His skin slowly turned blue. His figure slimmed. In an instant, Mystique appeared, knife in hand. Shiler lunged at Nick.

Nick spun, crossed his arms to block—*crash! —he was flung backward, slamming into the wall. Shiler leapt into the air, his face shifting.

Hair grew rapidly, black strands swirling in the air. One white strand drifted gently to his forehead. The Scarlet Witch—Ms. Potts—shot forward and delivered a brutal uppercut to Nick's chin.

Mystique snorted and hurled the knife—*whoosh! —it buried itself in Nick's shoulder. He screamed.

The impostor Nick—General Gana—had no idea what was happening. The next second, the Scarlet Witch's fist filled his vision.

Gana was flung again, slammed from one wall to the other. He clutched his bleeding nose and mouth, shouting: "Who are you?! How is this possible… how could you fake…"

Mystique transformed again into Tony Stark. Metallic clicks sounded as the suit armored her. She rose into the air and fired a repulsor blast into Gana's leg.

Gana howled, staggered upright, rolled sideways to dodge the Scarlet Witch's next strike.

Mechanical blueprints materialized around his arm. A massive cannon formed—*boom! —a shell shot toward the Iron Man suit. Mystique dodged, then fired another blast from a different angle.

Seeing the shot miss, Gana's foot blueprints reappeared. Jet boots ignited, launching him out of Stark Tower. The Scarlet Witch and Mystique in the Iron Man suit followed.

Gana sneered. "Whoever you are, your tech is primitive. You think you can fight me? Dream on!"

At that moment, he heard a roar from a lab below: "Fire the interference signal on the frequency I gave you!"

At that moment, he heard a roar coming from a laboratory beneath Stark Tower: Transmit interference on the signal frequency I specified!

"!"

Gana looked down. Through the glass wall on the floor below, a man who looked exactly like Tony Stark spoke to a green-haired woman.

"Gana, you stupid thief… if you hadn't warned me in advance, I'd have lost my tongue!"

"His weakness? All his gear is remotely projected from the ship. A specific EM signal disrupts it instantly. I designed the ship's weapon projection system. You think you can outsmart me? Dream on!"

The next second, Polaris rose into the air, hair flowing. An electromagnetic storm swept over Stark Tower. Instantly, all the blueprints-turned-equipment reverted to blueprints.

Gana, hovering thirty floors above ground, lost lift and plummeted like a bullet, streaking through New York's skyline.

As he fell, he cursed. Green stripes appeared on his arm. A flash of light—then a portal opened beneath him. *Whoosh! He vanished into it.

But then, with Strange at the lead, sorcerers appeared on Stark Tower's roof. Strange's crimson cloak billowed. He raised his staff. Light surged skyward.

Instantly, Earth's magical defense network activated. All teleportation energy signals flowed along layered magical pathways, converging at the staff's tip. He lifted his head, voice low: "... ot him. A spatial fragment southwest of the Shattered Dimension. Tell them: prepare the transit!"

Gana landed on the main deck of the Skrull Polaris. He exhaled, clutching his bleeding ear and gasping for air.

But the next second, a portal opened. Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Nick Fury, and Shiler stepped out before him.

"You…" Gana stepped back warily—then realized: this was the Skrull flagship. Only Skrulls knew its location. These people must be Skrulls disguised as humans…

But then he remembered: it was the Skrull scientist Arengel who betrayed him, disabling his gear and forcing him to use emergency teleportation…

Yet he also recalled: the real superheroes were all dead. They couldn't be here. Only Skrulls disguised as them could be here…

Standing there, Gana felt wave after wave of dizziness. When false becomes true, truth becomes false. He could no longer tell who was real and who was fake.

But the superheroes didn't hesitate a second. Shiler waved his hand. Steve swung his shield—Gana flew backward. Peter rushed in and delivered a crushing punch. Gana passed out.

The portal flared again. Mystique entered as Steve and Peter held Gana pinned to the ground.

Mystique stepped forward. As she neared Gana, her form shifted. Skin turned green. In an instant, General Gana the Skrull stood again in the cockpit.

Entering the command center, Mystique placed her hand on the control panel. Unlock icons flashed. She smirked arrogantly.

Though Mystique couldn't mimic Skrull powers, her biological mimicry was more perfect than any Skrull's.

She could directly alter her own cells and tissue structure. Any humanoid lifeform existing in reality? She could perfectly replicate its physiology.

And conveniently, Skrulls and humans looked nearly identical. So Mystique's imitation of General Gana matched every single cell to the original.

Thus, the ship's biological scan unlock function was perfectly fooled.

Then Stark approached the control panel. He slammed the throttle. The faster-than-light engine shuddered to life.

Instantly, the ship vanished. Only Shiler's voice echoed through the empty void of space.

"Full speed ahead. Target: the Large Magellanic Cloud. Kree Empire's First Starport!"

"Set sails. Ram them!"

"Raise the sails, ram into them!"