While Steve was leading the carrier battle outside, no one noticed the changes in the weapons warehouse.
Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, many advanced technologies were hidden. Weapons researched from the Tesseract, super-soldier serum data, and Chitauri technology—any one of these, if fallen into the wrong hands, would become a powerful weapon.
Two shapeshifting aliens walked inside and began to plunder wantonly. They were clever, knowing they could only take away limited items amidst the chaos, so they discarded some unnecessary things. They moved the items onto a newly developed, unused Quinjet.
"This place is simply heaven."
They quickened their pace, loading the advanced technology. They had to escape quickly before S.H.I.E.L.D. could react. Just as they finished the last transport in a flurry of activity, they prepared to board the plane and escape.
A snap of fingers was heard.
An alien, urging to leave, said, "Let's get out of here quickly."
He told his companion to start the plane, but there was no response. He looked up and saw his companion's mouth wide open. Starting from his hands and feet, his body gradually turned to stone.
"What's happening?" He reached out to touch.
The stone sculpture disintegrated like sand at a touch. His expression turned to terror, and he clutched his head, shouting, "What happened?"
He looked around, then suddenly turned back.
John stood at the entrance, slowly approaching with his hands behind his back. With a blink of an eye, the alien, like prey targeted by a hunter, became too rigid to move.
His lips trembled, "Is that you?"
"Your expression and your brain tell me that you know me." John stopped in front of the alien. He tilted his head, his vertical pupils meeting the eyes of the alien who was gradually shedding his disguise, revealing his true form. Legilimency was activated.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "A Skrull?"
"Please, kill me."
His identity exposed, the Skrull struggled to beg for mercy. The more he tried not to think, the more his mind uncontrollably flooded with information about the Skrulls.
"A group of foreign guests, squandering the kindness of others." John showed none of his usual smiles, only cold eyes. "Since you don't cherish it, then disappear from this world."
"Wizard King, no, I..."
"Tell me, who gave you the audacity to touch my reverse scale?" John's expression was terrifying, his shadow extending infinitely from his feet. Like ink spilled on white paper, the entire warehouse was devoured, without even a sliver of light.
Fear, like a tide, gradually drowned the Skrull's heart. He couldn't breathe, his rigid body had long lost its ability to move. He could only let himself be swallowed, be submerged. Enraging the Wizard King was the thing the Skrull regretted most after arriving in this world.
John wasn't in a hurry to end his life; he was still digging for more memories. He saw the origin of these creatures. A group of alien refugees had received help from S.H.I.E.L.D. and began living in this world. They waited for the person who had promised them to find them a home. But over time, different emotions began to fester among the refugees. This world made them too comfortable. It made them reluctant to leave. Coupled with the long-unfulfilled promise of a home, those thoughts were gradually amplified.
"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts." John read this far, his coldness gradually increasing. "Nick Fury, you were wary of wizards, yet you brought in the Skrulls?"
Good, very good. John couldn't stop the chilling feeling welling up in his chest. In this warehouse, there were many weapons made to guard against the Magical Kingdom. From beginning to end, S.H.I.E.L.D. had maintained a vigilant attitude toward wizards.
John's vertical pupils enlarged in the Skrull's eyes. "I need more, more information."
Legilimency dug deeper, brutally and unreasonably.
Suddenly, "Bang!"
The Skrull's head exploded like a balloon. A drop of blue blood splashed onto John's face. He expressionlessly wiped away the drop of blood. He didn't do it. A trigger magic had been set in the Skrull's mind. As long as anything related to the secret was triggered or leaked in any form, it would end the host's life.
The name of a spell appeared in John's mind. "The Unbreakable Vow."
A wizard was indeed involved. And a very powerful one at that. So powerful that in the magical world, there weren't many with this level of strength.
John glanced indifferently at the warehouse. He raised his right hand and squeezed. An invisible force crushed the Quinjet filled with weapons as if it were a soda can. As John continued to apply force, the jet was compressed into a solid ball. His anger would not be so easily quenched.
A helicopter landed at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Nick Fury stepped off. He no longer had the wretched look from his time in the magical world as he walked into the World Security Council.
Natasha had infiltrated the World Security Council members, successfully stopping Alexander when he was about to turn the tables. Now, Natasha was going to carry out Steve's plan: to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA together. To expose all of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the public. This required the authority of two Level A personnel. Alexander was one, and the other was Fury.
Alexander saw him too, showing a fake smile. "I'm glad you could come, Nick."
"Really?" Fury looked at him coldly. "You're the one who sent people to kill me."
"You know the rules of the game." Alexander knew at this point there was no need to hide anymore.
Fury looked at this friend of many years. He had once even had a hint of admiration for this man who had refused the Nobel Peace Prize. That such a person would become the leader of HYDRA. As the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury suppressed that sliver of complexity. He was no longer assessing a friend but a criminal threatening the entire world.
"My enemies are your enemies, Nick." Alexander didn't give up. "Chaos, war, a dirty bomb attack on Moscow."
"Or an EMP blast in Chicago, these are just a matter of time," Alexander said with a hint of sarcasm. "Rely on diplomacy? That's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Do you know where I learned all this?" Alexander approached Fury and said, word by word, "Bogotá."
"You didn't follow orders and did what needed to be done directly," Alexander said as if it were a matter of course. "Sacrificing twenty million lives to save seven billion."
In Alexander's view, this was a worthwhile trade. But justice should not be a transaction based on the number of lives.
Fury stared at Alexander. In him, he saw another person.
"If you dare to take that step, this is the next step, Nick."
"I have the guts not to take that step." Fury looked at him deeply. He chose justice and would not collude with him.
He forcefully grabbed Alexander, and they went to the computer for authorization together.
"What's the deal with the wizards?" Fury asked, removing his eye patch.
Alexander smiled, "I should have known. Did Steve tell you?"
Fury didn't speak, silently admitting it.
Alexander turned to look at the alert World Security Council members. "Such a powerful nation, so powerful that we've begun to forget we were almost destroyed by a wizard once?"
"Hanging over our heads is not just the Sword of Damocles," Alexander pointed upward and whispered, "but also the Wizard King."
Fury completed his authorization and had Alexander authorize it as well. The confidentiality agreement was canceled, which meant S.H.I.E.L.D. would be dragged into the abyss along with HYDRA.
Having done all this, Alexander was unhurried. He watched the chaotic battle outside. "You'll regret this, Nick."
Fury also looked outside and said, "I never have regrets."
Hearing this answer, Alexander smiled. He turned, looked at Fury, and said calmly, "You can't defeat someone who knows the future."
"What do you mean?" Fury asked.
"Did you know?" Alexander's gaze swept over the members. He said, "The establishment of HYDRA."
The establishment of HYDRA? Fury certainly knew. It was during the Nazi era that the Red Skull founded HYDRA.
As if knowing what was in his mind, Alexander shook his head. "You're wrong."
"Its founder was never the Red Skull."
"But a wizard."