Long... Time No See~~~

After calming the Hulk down, Nick Fury boarded the plane with a heavy heart.

He flew the helicopter himself, quietly heading to one of his secret bases.

Don't ask how he got those secret bases.

He was Nick "A Thousand Holes" Fury—if he didn't have a thousand secret bases, wouldn't that be a lack of prestige?

Could building a few secret bases as Director really be called greed?

That was called caution!

Anyway, an hour and forty minutes later, Nick landed on a mountaintop.

He didn't enter the base. Instead, he walked between two bushes, reached down, and dug under the weeds on the ground.

No water came out...

After a moment, he turned over the soil and pressed a button beneath it.

There was no reaction around him, but he wasn't in a hurry. He just stood there waiting silently.

A full three minutes passed before a faint noise finally came from the air.

The space in front of Nick shattered like a broken mirror, reflecting countless versions of himself.

Then, a small spacecraft fully appeared before Nick's eyes.

Whoosh!

The ship's hatch slowly opened, and two figures with green skin, wearing tight purple outfits, stepped out.

"Nick Fury... long time no see!"

The lead green-skinned man gave Nick a big hug.

After the embrace, Nick Fury habitually glanced around, then followed the green-skinned man onto the ship.

Once the hatch closed, Nick let out a long sigh.

"Buddy, what's wrong with you? You look really tense. Were you followed?"

"No, no, Talos. I've just run into a problem, a big problem—the kind from outer space!"

With that, Nick casually sat down on Talos's ship, even propping his feet up on Talos's workbench.

Talos didn't mind. He and Nick were old war buddies. The more relaxed Nick acted, the happier he was.

Sitting beside Nick, Talos handed him a glass of Skrull Sweet Wine and asked softly.

"A big problem from space? That shouldn't be. With Asgard and Carol around, who would want to mess with Earth?"

"But it's happened, Talos. Have you ever heard of Kryptonians?"

Nick asked seriously.

In an instant, Talos's big eyes widened sharply.

"Kryptonians?!!"

He asked in shock.

"Are you joking with me?

Have you forgotten that I lived on Earth for a long time?

I've read your comics, especially the most popular one!"

"But he's shown up, buddy. This isn't something I made up!"

As he spoke, Nick showed Talos the video of Heisenberg as usual.

"Look at this—this kind of power, flight, Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, and that Biological Field he showed recently. It's exactly like what's described in the comics!"

"Mhm, you're right, Nick!"

Talos frowned and watched the video for a long time before adding his comment.

"And he's even stronger than what's in the comics. At least in the Superman comics before 1986, the Kryptonian Superman could barely lift a large plane!"

"Mhm, just like how our comics keep making him stronger, his abilities keep getting stronger too!"

Nick muttered helplessly.

After a moment, Talos gave Nick a deep look.

"We have to notify Carol about this. This could be a huge problem."

"What?"

Nick was utterly shocked.

Decades ago, when Carol left, she did give him a contact device.

But he had buried that device for decades, not to use it now!

Talos seemed to sense Nick's tension. He patted Nick on the shoulder and offered a word of comfort.

"You don't need to contact her. We have a way to reach her. This isn't about Earth either. It's mainly that this so-called Kryptonian's power gives me a bad feeling."

With that, Talos took a sip of tea and continued explaining slowly.

"Our Skrull Empire was one of the three great empires in the universe hundreds of thousands of years ago. Even the Kree Empire, now part of that triad, was once our vassal."

"But I have to admit, even at our peak, we were still getting thrashed by the most powerful Shi'ar Empire."

"The Shi'ar Empire's strongest combatants are two: one is the Supreme Sword, and the other is the Supreme Nova."

"This Kryptonian... I don't buy that he stepped out of a comic book. I find it even harder to believe that we three empires have carved up the universe for millions of years and somehow missed a planet with limitless potential like Krypton!"

"Besides, if the so-called Kryptonians he talks about really had such exceptionally gifted genes, wouldn't they have made a name for themselves long ago?"

"Keep in mind, Earth isn't the only planet in the universe with a yellow sun."

"So I have to suspect this is a scheme by the Shi'ar Empire, or one of their enemies."

"Maybe it's some experiment on the Supreme Sword's legacy, or more likely, an imitation of the Supreme Sword by the Shi'ar's foes."

"Anyway, Carol has a good relationship with the Nova Corps, and the Nova Corps is the Shi'ar Empire's standing army."

"I need to ask her about this!"

With that, Talos clapped his hands decisively.

The Skrull sitting in the pilot's seat nodded.

After the nod, a call prompt appeared on the ship's window.

A moment later, staring at the projection of an American woman on the window, Nick nearly ground his molars to dust!

Damn it!!!

I've been holding onto that pager for thirty years, never once dared to press it!

And you've been in touch with the Skrulls all along!

Are you even an Earthling?

You just couldn't be bothered to come back, could you!

You've really forgotten your little Nicky by the Daming Lake!

But despite his fury, Nick Fury immediately put on a smile.

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel, after a moment of genuine surprise, couldn't help asking Nick.

"Huh? Fury, what are you doing here?"

In that instant, Nick Fury painfully accepted that the person across from him was the real Captain Marvel.

Back when he and Carol first met, he'd deliberately told her.

He only liked being called Fury; he never let anyone call him Nick!

Of course, it was just a little trick from an old spy. Nick Fury loved playing similar word games.

Almost everyone around him had a unique way of addressing him.

That way, if someone was impersonated, the moment they called him Nick Fury, he'd know they were fake.

But the more certain he was that Carol was real, the more his heart ached!

I waited for you so long, held onto that pager and never dared to contact you.

And you could've told me you were in touch with the Skrulls!

Why didn't you say so!

Then again, thinking about it...

After all, even though the Skrulls are down on their luck now, they were once one of the three great empires.

Cross-galaxy communication shouldn't be a problem for them.

For a moment, Nick's heart trembled.

He hesitated for a long time, then spoke quietly.

"Long time no see..."

Sometimes the most helpless words are that "long time no see" after years apart...

Like back when you were in your prime, and I was just a kid...

Ahem.

Enough digression. Seeing Nick Fury made Carol especially happy.

And the moment she got happy, her whole body burst into dazzling light.

The next second, she tore straight through more than three spaceships with her body.

After finishing the job, Carol finally found time to chat with Nick and the others.

Her first words were.

"You've gotten so old, Fury. And your eye...?"

"It's nothing, my eye is no big deal!" Nick immediately cut in.

But Carol wasn't stupid—she remembered quickly.

"Oh my god, back then when you got scratched by the Flerken... it was my fault. I should've told you that if a Flerken scratches you, you need to apply Horned Dragon blood to heal. But I didn't know that at the time either—I only heard about it on Tai'a Star near Centaurus. You poor thing, just a cat scratch and you..."

"No, no, no!!!"

Nick's face went dark instantly as he scrambled to explain.

"You're overthinking it. Fat Orange definitely didn't do this. I lost my eye later, in another incident—when a friend betrayed me!"

Carol: ...

Talos: ...

Whether they believed him or not, the three of them soon started talking about Heisenberg.

Carol expressed surprise first.

Because her favorite comics as a kid were Captain America and Superman.

Sure, she liked Captain America a bit more—she could join the army, but she couldn't be an alien. If she enlisted, she'd get closer to her idol, Captain America.

But when she grew up, she realized she hadn't gotten any closer to Captain America. Instead, her abilities ended up being more like Superman's...

Anyway, the topic of Kryptonians carried a story for almost every Earthling in the Marvel universe.

After a while.

Earth, the Skrulls, and the Shi'ar Empire—the three sides barely settled on a plan regarding Heisenberg.

First, they had to ensure Nick Fury's safety.

Since Heisenberg was overwhelmingly powerful and domineering, Nick, who kept scheming against him, was in real danger.

Second, to prove the authenticity of the Kryptonian bloodline, the Skrulls would send one or two professional agents to impersonate Nick Fury and someone else from S.H.I.E.L.D.

In short, they'd both replace Nick Fury to keep him safe and find a way to get close to Heisenberg.

Then they'd use the Skrulls' innate talent—shapeshifting—to deeply transform into Heisenberg himself.

The Skrulls had become one of the three great empires of the universe precisely because of their terrifying talent.

They could replicate a person entirely, inside and out.

If they ran into Captain America, they could take his appearance and his strength.

If they ran into Hulk, they could even take his regular-level strength.

This ability wasn't shown in Captain Marvel's movie only because Earth didn't have many supernatural beings running around back then. The Skrulls lacked suitable genetic samples, so they didn't mass-copy Earthlings.

After that, Carol burst onto the scene.

That woman's own bloodline was decent enough, but her power ultimately came from the Space Stone, not her own genes.

So Carol, who couldn't be exploited, formed a strategic alliance with the Skrulls.

Anyway, Nick Fury decided to officially board the Skrulls' hidden base and remotely control the Skrull impersonating him to figure out everything about Heisenberg.

As for who the other Skrull would impersonate?

Nick couldn't help but think of his deputy commander, Hill...

"Talos, the other disguise will be Hill. Execute it!"

"Of course, no problem!"

Talos laughed cheerfully.

After the laughter, Nick and Talos started happily drinking together.

But drinking was drinking—they were both top-tier spies from their respective planets. Who knew how many clashes happened over the table?

As the temporary leader of the Skrull refugee squad, Talos wouldn't let his people walk into danger without benefit.

As for what benefit Earth currently offered the Skrulls?

To be honest, only Hulk!

Talos actually wanted Hulk's genetic sample to mass-equip Skrull refugees with Hulk's transformation form.

That crossed Nick Fury's bottom line—he would never give the Skrulls an army of Hulks!

The two quickly started cursing each other.

To make them stop, Carol had to find a way to grab their attention.

So Carol began telling Talos about her experiences in the universe.

She knew that Talos, now living in a corner just trying to survive, loved hearing news about the major cosmic powers.

Carol spoke slowly.

"The cosmic situation seems pretty tense lately. Thanos's forces keep circling around the Kree's territory."

The Kree's Accuser Ronan seems to be showing signs of possible betrayal against the Kree Empire.

Also, the Chitauri—those dogs of Thanos—have recently begun gathering nonstop.

They've even nearly finished assembling their main forces.

I really wonder which planet those Chitauri, Thanos's vanguard, will sink their teeth into this time.

At least they're so far from Earth that there's no way they'd come here."

"Yeah, no way they'd come to Earth."

Talos added.