In the afternoon.
Tony and Gwen had already left.
According to Tony, although their research into the Hell Dimension and soul positioning via flesh hadn't successfully retrieved the missing part of Gina's soul, it had given him some inspiration.
Perhaps they could try restarting the research to locate the parallel universe where Gwen's home was.
Maybe it wouldn't be long before Gwen could truly go home.
However, Luca, who had been watching Gwen's expression closely, noticed something.
When Tony said "go home," a look of confusion and conflict clearly appeared on Gwen's face.
Having become familiar with the Stacy family here, perhaps deep down, she had grown accustomed to this life where both her parents were alive, and she even had a lively younger sister.
It wasn't just about family.
Although from the perspective of "natives" like Tony, this world was a mess—alien invasions, Hydra uprisings, everything going to hell...
Luca knew that Gwen actually enjoyed this "job" of having a harmonious hero team and being able to truly contribute to the world as a superhero.
If her biological father wasn't still in her original world, Gwen might have already given up on returning to that place where everyone hated her.
In fact, failing to find a way back might have become an excuse Gwen used to comfort herself and enjoy her current life.
But ultimately, that was Gwen's business. Even if Luca saw through it, he didn't butt in.
In the end, before Gwen left, Luca simply gave her a pair of [Tracking Glasses] he had hand-crafted as a small gift.
After the two left, Luca simply had Hajimi arrange for his "Haro Engineering Brigade" to continue repairing the company building.
Compensation was paid to surrounding businesses and residences, and employees were told to work from home where necessary.
Leaving aside the fact that New Yorkers were already used to occasional monster attacks...
Given Aurantius Industries' current status and its relationship with the police across the US...
Even if Luca had really caused a full-blown demon invasion—let alone a minor scuffle with no casualties like this—as long as he was willing to pay damages, no one would come looking for trouble.
In a situation like today's, aside from S.H.I.E.L.D.—which was practically stationed in New York these days—coming to check the situation, the NYPD didn't even show their faces.
Finally, only the Mayor of New York called to express concern about the "disaster" at Aurantius Industries and comfort the new corporate titan Luca, before letting the matter drop.
However, thinking of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luca didn't rush to continue his research or ask the Spot to take him back to Sokovia.
Instead, he went straight back to his room, took off his [Transformation Watch], and drew a familiar magic circle on the floor.
"F! I knew it!"
Looking at the extra cluster of white light in the circle compared to before, Luca's face wore an indescribably strange expression.
In the synthesis array right now, besides the [Transformation Watch] glowing in the center, three of the ten surrounding circles—meant for materials—were lit up with white light.
Since the [Transformation Watch] was the core, this array was naturally for synthesizing the [Omnitrix] (the "Little Broken Watch").
The ten material circles corresponded to data for 9 different alien species, plus a DNA Sampler.
Luca was only trying to confirm a suspicion, so he didn't put the Sampler into the array.
As for the three lights... the first two were already there: one was "Dark Elf Data," and the other was "Asgardian Data" Luca had secretly scanned from Thor.
As for the new, third light...
"Damn it. So under that skin, Nick Fury really is a green-skinned goblin in disguise?!"
Yes. Because the "Nick Fury" he met earlier was simply not enough of an asshole, Luca had formed a slightly bad suspicion.
So, Luca decided to exploit a "glitch" in his System.
While talking to him, Luca secretly used the [Transformation Watch] to scan Fury's data.
Although the watch scan seemingly only returned Nick Fury's appearance data without showing anomalies...
The extra white light in the synthesis array now was explicitly telling Luca:
You scanned Nick Fury, but his base data is Alien!
"Son of a bitch! So, was Nick Fury stupid enough to get replaced by a Skrull? Or is he working with the Skrulls, getting a green-skin to cover his shift?"
Luca felt a wave of irritation.
This godforsaken Marvel Universe. It's just one mess after another!
He recalled Tony mentioning that S.H.I.E.L.D. had rescued many officials captured by Hydra.
And that these people would be returning to their original posts.
As the true controller of Hydra now, Luca certainly didn't remember ordering his subordinates to kidnap officials out of boredom.
Right now, Luca's Hydra was too busy burying its head in the sand; why would they actively stir up trouble?
As for the high officials in Washington, they had ascended to heaven with the nuclear radiation long ago. If Hive had captured any prisoners back then, Luca would have disposed of them privately ages ago.
Since this likely had nothing to do with the real Hydra...
The true identities of those officials were worth pondering.
"What do the Skrulls want by infiltrating the government system?"
"This doesn't look like Fury's style. Did the Egghead actually capsize his boat in the sewer?"
Thinking this, Luca rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
But in the current situation, Luca couldn't be sure.
Did Nick Fury want to use the Skrulls to gain more power in this chaotic land?
Or were the Skrulls planning a "Secret Invasion"?
"No. Even if Fury is the one plotting this, his character isn't trustworthy."
"I need to try and whip up a covert soul or gene detection device later. I can't have the people around me replaced by these green-skins too."
Exploiting the System glitch for detection only worked once per species. Scanning another Skrull wouldn't light up a new orb.
Once he built a usable detector, as long as he could ensure his own circle was safe, Luca could sit back and watch.
Even if these green-skins really occupied America through a "Secret Invasion"...
Worst case scenario, Luca would just retreat to Sokovia.
Once his Yuri Technology tree was unlocked, Luca would definitely cover Sokovia with Psychic Towers.
No matter what tricks these green-skins played, they couldn't hide from psychic detection.
And if he drained Hydra's resources to mass-produce troops...
"But I still need to pay more attention to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s movements. At least I need to stay ahead of the curve."
"That way, I can give the Avengers a heads-up at the right time. I don't want them getting wiped out before they know what hit them!"
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