Bab 316: Chapter 316: Skrull
"... Outsiders?"
Jack raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who?"
"...Many, we don't even know who else."
Bucky shook his head, his tone heavy. "They are a group of aliens who arrived on Earth around 1995. S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved, but the problem wasn't solved in the end."
"Aliens... 1995..."
Jack thought for a moment and suddenly said,
"Are you talking about those shape-shifting Skrulls?"
"Do you know them?"
Howard asked.
"Yes, I've seen them a few times. They are a group of refugees being hunted by the Kree. I'm familiar with the events of 1995. If that's the case, there doesn't seem to be a need to worry, right?"
Jack recalled what he had seen in Captain Marvel. At least there, the Skrulls and Earth were allies.
Nick Fury, the one-eyed guy, was even a bridge between the two sides, and Captain Marvel herself was their savior.
He even met two Skrulls disguised as Nick Fury and Coulson.
From what he saw there, the Skrulls and Earth should be on good terms.
But looking at the seriousness on Howard and Bucky's faces, it seemed that things were different from what he had imagined.
"Alright, what have they done?"
Thirty minutes later, in a laboratory in the secret base
Jack looked expressionless at the dissected Skrull's corpse on the table and then glanced at Bucky across from him.
Howard, as an old person, couldn't handle overly bloody scenes, so he waited outside.
"Are you saying that the Skrulls have likely infiltrated Hydra?"
"Yes, and... it could be worse."
Bucky let out a long sigh and continued,
"This guy was originally a member of Hydra that my team was responsible for assassinating. He was a low-ranking clerk and shouldn't have caused any problems."
"What happened?"
"The result is that he easily killed five of my best soldiers and almost killed me."
When Bucky pulled up his shirt, he saw a scratch on his stomach.
"My guts would have spilled on the floor if it weren't for the advanced bulletproof vest that Stark Industries developed."
Jack imagined the situation and couldn't help but sigh.
"It's amazing that you're still alive."
Although Skrulls were skilled at shapeshifting, their physical abilities were a lot better than humans. It was not easy for Bucky to defeat and kill his opponent.
"...The problem is, he's not the first."
Bucky walked to the side and pressed a button on the wall.
Click!
The next moment, the laboratory wall split open, revealing the space behind it.
Jack curiously looked over, and his eyes widened.
"Tsk tsk, what is this? A Skrull exhibition hall?"
Behind the wall was a row of eight transparent glass displays, each containing the body of a Skrull dipped in a liquid.
"These are what we accidentally got during our undercover operations against Hydra. The highest-ranking one was only one step away from being a high-ranking leader... or perhaps they have already become leaders."
Bucky sighed and looked at the eight glasses with a solemn expression.
"So far, we haven't been able to figure out how the Skrulls' shape-shifting works. They can transform into our appearance with just a glance, knowing your secrets. It's quite magical, but that's the reality."
"So, that's why you're so cautious?"
"Yes, it's an important precaution. Who knows which random beggar on the street, which police officer on duty, or which clerk at a convenience store is one of them? Once they discover this base, it will be big trouble."
"Why not place the base in a hidden location? It's risky to have so many people coming and going here."
"Howard said, The more dangerous it is, the safer it is because the enemy would think the same way."
Bucky shook his head and chuckled.
"And this is not the only base. There's one in the deep ocean, one in the desert, and Howard even plans to have one on the moon."
"Quite ambitious."
Jack shrugged his shoulders.
The moon? What's the point if you can't grow plants up there?
"You really are... too cautious."
"It's called 'a sly individual has more than one plan to fall back on.'"
A voice came, and both turned around.
Howard was pushing a wheelchair, and an old man who looked even older than the original Howard was sitting on it.
"Let me introduce you. This is Anton Vanko, my old friend!"
"Anton Vanko."
Jack wasn't surprised to see him here. If he weren't here, then he would have been surprised.
Howard wanted to gather allies to fight against the invading Skrulls on Earth, and Anton Vanko was a talented person who couldn't be ignored.
"You must be Jack Wayne!"
Anton in the wheelchair raised his hand to greet him and said,
"Howard mentioned you before. He always says, You're a true hero!"
Jack raised an eyebrow and shook his head, saying,
"That compliment surprises me a bit. Perhaps only Steve deserves that title."
"Alright, let's get back to business."
Jack nodded and casually picked up a glass of water from the lab table.
However, Anton suddenly stopped him and took out a bottle... vodka from under the blanket.
Watching the old man's eager expression and Howard's helpless face, Jack understood. He took the vodka and added a few drops of the serum to it.
"Thank you! Thank you very much!"
Anton was excited to get the vodka and quickly wheeled away.
Watching Anton leave, Jack curiously looked at Howard and asked,
"I heard that you two didn't get along well. You were the one who kicked him out back then. How come you're getting along now?"
Howard sighed and explained, "That was just a fake rumor. Back then..."
He began to tell the story of Anton Vanko being kicked away.
It turned out that Anton Vanko and Howard had developed the Arc Reactor together, with Anton taking the lead.
Their original intention was to announce this project and break through the limits of energy in technological development.
However, when they realized the importance of the reactor, Howard knew that the U.S. government would never allow this technology to leak.
Naturally, Anton, who was on the other side of the country, would never gain the trust of the U.S. government.
After talking about it, they decided to strike first in order to protect Anton and the technology. They intentionally lowered the Arc Reactor's power, but because of their abilities, almost no one noticed.
After that, they pretended to have a fight, and Howard pushed Anton out of the company. Anton finally went back to his home country.
Everything seemed fine at first, but things didn't go as planned, which led to Anton being embarrassed and Ivan wanting to get revenge.
...
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