"So this is… my future?"
Nick Fury narrowed his eyes. After steadying his emotions and thinking for a moment, he finally gave voice to his guess.
"That's right. This is the fate you were originally headed toward."
Roland nodded, then lifted a hand again, signaling for Fury to keep watching.
"This should make it clear that, with your own abilities alone, you truly had no chance of solving all this."
"This future…"
Nick Fury found it hard to believe, yet if Roland had not intervened and resolved everything, perhaps events really would have unfolded this way.
Whether out of curiosity or for some other reason, he chose to keep watching. He wanted to see how things would have developed in the original timeline.
What exactly was the thing waiting later in the scene that had terrified him so badly?
For a man like him, long used to storms and crises, to show that level of fear, it could not possibly be some ordinary villain invasion.
It was probably…
Even before seeing the rest, an ominous premonition had already begun to rise in Nick Fury's heart.
Don't tell me…
His expression shifted, as though he had already thought of something.
And in the very next second, the things standing opposite the Nick Fury in the image—the things that had filled him with such dread—finally revealed themselves.
Roars echoed from offscreen. After several more snarls, the Nick Fury in the image finally pulled the trigger. Gunshots rang out, and the monsters beyond the frame exposed their true faces at last, roaring as they surged toward him.
They were all people Nick Fury knew.
The very superheroes he had intended to gather together to find a solution to the zombie virus—Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Doctor Strange, various second-string heroes, and more—had all become zombies in that future. Their bloody maws gaped wide as they lunged at him.
The outcome was obvious.
The Nick Fury in the image fired several shots in desperate, futile resistance. Then, after one final scream filled with terror, he was swarmed and dragged down by the zombie heroes.
After that…
there was only the sickening sound of chewing, flesh being torn apart, and meat being gnawed apart. There was no need to guess what came next. The Nick Fury in the image was doomed. It would not be long before all that remained of him was a skeleton.
Only then did Roland wave his hand and dismiss the panel.
"See that? That is your ending. No matter how hard you try, in the end you still fail—because one of those so-called super-intelligent heroes you place so much faith in betrays you."
"Your confidence means nothing."
"Betrayal? You mean that in this future, the reason they became zombies was because someone betrayed us?"
Nick Fury's expression turned complicated. He had only just been hit with this mountain of information, and now he was learning that the helicarrier's fall had happened because one of the heroes they themselves summoned had turned traitor?
At the end of the day, he was still an old fox. He immediately seized on the key point.
Nick Fury did not question whether Roland was lying.
At this level of power, what need was there for lies?
Roland could casually rip his head off and kick it around like a ball. Even if every superhero in the world joined forces, they probably would not be worth a single finger of his.
What reason could Roland possibly have to deceive him?
Which meant…
there was only one question left.
"But who would it be? A hero with extraordinary intelligence…"
Two figures flashed through Nick Fury's mind almost instantly.
And just thinking of those two gave him a headache.
Tony Stark.
Or Reed Richards.
The former would be one thing.
The latter would be… much more troublesome.
"Oh? Looks like you've already guessed."
Seeing that, Roland smiled faintly. Then he created a red-and-black business card and handed it to Nick Fury as he spoke.
"Good. In that case, there's no need for me to spell it out for you. How you expose that man is up to you. Besides, the zombie crisis has already been dealt with. I won't be staying here much longer."
"Oh, right—take this. You can use it to contact me. I'm rather interested in whatever's happening on the X-Men's side, so I may go check it out for you. No need to thank me."
"…"
Nick Fury took the card and examined it carefully.
It looked utterly ordinary.
The only thing written on it was the word:
Sentry.
There was no phone number, no address, nothing else at all.
"Uh… this is…?"
Nick Fury had countless questions, but when he lifted his head to look at Roland again, Roland was already gone.
Just like his sudden appearance, he vanished again in an instant, as though he had never been there to begin with. No one knew where he had gone.
If not for the card in his hand, and the agent beside him—who looked as though time had only just resumed for him and still wore a panicked expression—Nick Fury might have suspected the whole thing was an overworked hallucination.
"Forget that for now…"
"In that original future, the smartest superhero on Earth lets the helicarrier fall? Reed Richards… what exactly did he do?"
Nick Fury muttered to himself, already preparing for what came next.
Now, all he could do was wait for the other superheroes and the Fantastic Four to arrive in response to the summons, then investigate everything properly.
Oh, and the thing giving him the biggest headache of all was still this:
how exactly was he supposed to explain to the other superheroes that Captain America and the others had become zombies, gone on an infection spree, and then been stopped in time by Roland?
…
For the moment, Nick Fury could be set aside.
After leaving the helicarrier, Roland teleported himself straight to the rooftop of the tallest building in the entire city cluster.
Then, with nothing else pressing to do, he opened the chat group to see what everyone was talking about.
And maybe stir up a little more interaction while he was at it.
For example, he could take the group members along on missions and help them earn some points. Points could be exchanged for items in the system shop.
Roland himself did not really care.
The shop's contents were of little use to him. Now that he possessed Sentry's power, if there was something he needed, he could simply create it or obtain it himself.
What interested him more was what the others might choose to exchange for.
At that moment, a few people were still online in the chat group.
As soon as Roland logged in, they主动 came over to talk to him. The first to speak was Yuji Itadori.
[Strongest Athlete]: Mr. Multiversal Variant! You're finally online. I actually still have a lot of questions about your last livestream. Could you help answer them?
[Strongest Athlete]: Please, Mr. Multiversal Variant!
[Multiversal Variant]: Of course. Ask whatever you like—I'll answer anything I know.
Roland did not mind in the slightest and agreed right away.
It was only Yuji Itadori.
What kind of question could he possibly have?
And besides, his attitude was so sincere. It was hardly any trouble at all.
[Strongest Athlete]: Actually, what I wanted to ask is…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 26
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 27
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