"Director, we're in a difficult position here. There's nothing we can do to stop him."
The voice came through the communication channel with clear tension.
"This guy is unbelievably powerful. He easily defeated the Hulk and left him completely helpless."
The report continued rapidly, the operator barely hiding the shock in his tone.
"And what's even more unbelievable is that even Thor from Asgard couldn't defeat him. Now he's taken the Space Stone, and there's nothing we can do except hope he isn't hostile to us."
Thousands of feet above the ground, the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier hovered silently in the sky.
Inside the command center, Nick Fury stood with his hands behind his back, watching the battle unfold through the streams of live footage being transmitted from New York. He had been directing the entire operation from this floating fortress, carefully monitoring every movement on the battlefield.
At first, the victory over the alien invasion had filled him with cautious optimism.
But the new developments had replaced that optimism with a growing headache.
The screens in front of him continued replaying unbelievable scenes.
A crimson beam slicing through the sky and striking Thor mid-flight.
A slender woman lifting the Hulk's massive body as if it weighed nothing.
A space portal tearing open the air as a terrifying figure stepped out from beyond the stars.
Then, in the next moment, that same towering figure was forced back through the portal by a single young man.
And finally, Thor's humiliating defeat.
"My God…"
One of the technicians whispered under his breath.
"What exactly is happening to this planet?"
Every image on the monitors looked like something straight out of a blockbuster movie. The visuals were so intense and surreal that they resembled high-end special effects rather than real events.
But for the personnel of S.H.I.E.L.D.—an organization responsible for maintaining global security and monitoring supernatural threats—these scenes were anything but entertaining.
They were a nightmare.
"This man appeared out of nowhere," another analyst reported. "He's incredibly powerful. Even more concerning is the woman with short black hair who's traveling with him. Her strength is equally terrifying."
The technician paused before suddenly remembering something important.
"Oh, right. Agent Romanoff is trained in lip reading."
Everyone turned toward him immediately.
"She reported that the short-haired woman actually addressed the man as 'Your Majesty.' That suggests he may be the ruler of some unknown nation."
"Your Majesty?"
The phrase immediately caused a stir among the command staff.
Even Nick Fury's expression hardened slightly.
Over the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. had encountered many unusual individuals with extraordinary abilities. Some of them even held positions of political power.
For example, the king of Wakanda—known publicly as the Black Panther—was also a superhuman warrior.
But comparing that man to the pair currently displayed on the screen felt almost insulting.
"Even the Hulk couldn't handle them," someone muttered nervously. "This situation is far beyond normal military solutions."
Another analyst spoke up hesitantly.
"At this point… our only real option might be nuclear deterrence."
The comment caused several uneasy glances to spread through the room.
Not long ago, the Hulk had rampaged through Queens like it was his personal playground. During that incident, S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered that conventional missiles were practically useless against him.
And now there was a man who could defeat the Hulk effortlessly.
Under those circumstances, it wasn't surprising that some personnel were already considering nuclear weapons as the only possible countermeasure.
"There's no doubt," another officer concluded. "That man and the woman beside him are the strongest beings currently known on Earth. Our best strategy is to show goodwill and avoid any confrontation."
Nick Fury listened quietly.
Then he gave a faint, almost amused snort.
The strongest beings on Earth?
Sorry.
That title didn't belong to them.
Nick Fury had lived a long life—far longer than most people realized. Since World War II, he had operated within military intelligence and supernatural affairs, gaining access to secrets that ordinary people could never even imagine.
Thanks to the mysterious Infinite Formula, his life had been extended far beyond a normal human lifespan. As a result, Fury had accumulated more knowledge about the hidden forces of the world than almost anyone else alive.
Among those secrets was one he had never written down anywhere.
Not even in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most classified archives.
There had once been a terrifyingly powerful individual on Earth.
A woman.
A woman so powerful that she could stand alone against an entire alien fleet.
Although she had eventually left the planet, Nick Fury still remembered the last thing she said before departing.
"If Earth is ever in danger, use the signal device. Call me."
Even now, that device was never far from his reach.
Nick Fury carried it everywhere.
He kept it close because he knew that one day Earth might face a catastrophe so terrible that nothing else could stop it.
In fact, he had already used it once.
When Thanos snapped his fingers and half the universe's life vanished, Fury had pressed the signal device moments before turning to dust.
Whenever a crisis became completely irreversible, that was his final option.
So when people called those two newcomers the strongest beings on Earth…
Nick Fury could only shake his head internally.
Sorry.
They definitely weren't.
"Relax," Fury said calmly after a moment. "If they intended to attack us, they would have done it already. From what we've seen, they don't appear to have hostile intentions."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"For now, remain respectful. Do not provoke them."
The order was quickly transmitted to all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still stationed in New York.
But that wasn't the only issue on Fury's plate.
There were also the sorcerers from Kamar-Taj.
Their sudden appearance had added yet another unpredictable variable to the situation.
Fury rubbed his temple as he stared at the screen.
If only that woman were still on Earth.
The Avengers had only just been formed, and it was painfully obvious that they were nowhere near strong enough to deal with the pair currently standing in New York.
"What a shame," Fury muttered quietly.
Inside the Helicarrier's command room, agents continued feeding new information into the system.
Then someone suddenly spoke up again.
"Director, there's another individual traveling with them."
Fury raised an eyebrow.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already begun building a behavioral profile of the mysterious group. Whenever individuals with overwhelming power appeared, analyzing their relationships and personalities was essential to determining whether they posed a threat.
A new image appeared on the screen.
It showed a young woman standing near Yun Chen.
She had shoulder-length blonde hair that gleamed like sunlight. Her amber-colored eyes sparkled brightly, and her tall figure made her look like a model walking straight out of a Hollywood premiere.
The room grew quiet for a moment.
"She's beautiful," one technician murmured unconsciously.
Another analyst quickly added his assessment.
"This woman has barely taken her eyes off the young man the entire time. Their body language suggests an extremely close relationship."
Nick Fury nodded absentmindedly.
But as he studied the woman's face more carefully, his expression suddenly froze.
It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck his brain.
"This…"
His eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
He leaned forward, staring at the monitor as if trying to confirm whether his vision was playing tricks on him.
"Director?" one of the technicians asked cautiously. "Is something wrong?"
The staff exchanged confused glances.
Nick Fury was famous for his composure. Even in the most dangerous situations, the man could remain calm as a mountain.
But now his expression had completely changed.
It was just a woman on a screen.
Why was he reacting like this?
"This…"
Fury clenched his jaw.
"Damn it, Phil Coulson," he muttered under his breath. "Didn't you notice this?"
The technicians looked at each other again, even more puzzled than before.
For the director to lose his composure like this, the matter had to be extremely serious.
Inside his mind, however, Fury was already certain.
The most powerful woman Earth had ever known had returned.
What shocked him even more was that she was standing beside that mysterious man.
And judging from the way she looked at him, their relationship was far closer than simple cooperation.
Thinking about that possibility made Nick Fury's head start to ache.
....
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