The Universe's First Law—Irresistible

At that moment, Fury's mind raced. He was the king of spies—Nick Fury!

Even when faced with blackmail, coercion, or even torture, he could never agree to this kind of soul transaction.

But that did not stop him from using this opportunity to extract more information, so he said:

"You want my soul? Then what can you offer in exchange?"

"And how am I supposed to know whether the information you provide is valuable enough?"

The corners of Lu Xi's lips curled upward slightly. He snapped his fingers and said with the air of someone holding all the cards:

"That's easy. I can first reveal some information about the future and show you its value."

"Some of these futures involve diplomatic incidents between advanced civilizations, while others concern invasions of Earth by cosmic overlords."

"As for the consequences of these crises, the mildest could mean the extinction of human civilization. At worst, Earth itself could be destroyed. In even more serious cases, the entire solar system could be affected."

Lu Xi paused, staring straight at Fury before continuing:

"I can give you one piece of information for free. Among these crises, one was personally caused by you."

When Fury heard that, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He instinctively retorted:

"That's impossible. I would never do something like that! My purpose is to protect Earth. How could I personally cause a disaster on that scale?"

Lu Xi waved a dismissive hand, certainty written across his face.

"I don't lie about transactions. Believe it or not, that's up to you."

Nick Fury had always made it a habit to nip crises in the bud.

Even if he could not do that, he would certainly make the appropriate preparations to deal with them.

But no matter what, he could not accept that one of these horrifying consequences might have been caused by his own hand.

Fury's already dark face turned even more ashen. His expression kept shifting as a fierce struggle raged within him.

He finally understood why Peggy Carter had been unable to refuse Lucifer's deal.

When it came to certain matters, the ownership of one person's soul no longer seemed so important.

Watching Fury's conflicted expression, Lu Xi smiled and asked:

"Well? Have you decided?"

Fury let out a deep sigh, as though he had made an agonizing decision.

"I'm willing to make the deal, but I have several conditions!"

Maria opened her mouth, intending to urge Fury to reconsider, but the words reached her lips before she slowly swallowed them back.

After all, what Fury was doing was atoning for the version of himself who might cause a future crisis. She truly had no standing to stop him.

Seeing this, Lu Xi grinned. Sure enough, no one could escape the law of irresistible appeal. He asked:

"What conditions?"

Fury took a deep breath and said:

"First, I need information on at least three crises. As for the crisis caused by me personally, I want the most detailed information possible."

Lu Xi considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"Not a problem. I agree."

Fury immediately continued:

"Also, the transaction will only truly take effect after the authenticity of two of those crises has been verified."

Lu Xi nodded again and readily agreed.

"Fine."

As he spoke, he waved a hand through the air. Vast divine power instantly gathered and outlined a new contract in midair.

Only this time, the terms had changed slightly. Nick Fury's soul would automatically belong to Lu Xi only after the truth of two events had been verified.

After carefully reading the contract, a flash of resolve passed through Fury's eyes. He stopped hesitating and immediately pressed his palm against it.

In an instant, the contract blazed with light and transformed into two runes, which flew into Lu Xi and Fury respectively. The contract officially took effect.

Fury froze for a moment and checked his body. Finding nothing unusual, he finally spoke.

"Then please explain the three events."

Lu Xi's expression turned serious. "The first event is that, before long, a prince of the gods will end up stranded on Earth. If you mishandle it, at best it will trigger an interstellar diplomatic dispute. At worst, Earth may be ruled by another civilization."

He was not making this up, because this was precisely the plot of the What If...? series.

If Thor died on Earth, the grief-stricken Loki would lead the armies of Asgard to conquer Earth and incorporate it into Asgard's territory.

Fury's expression grew solemn as he hurriedly asked:

"Then what should we do to avoid that?"

Lu Xi raised a hand, signaling him to stay calm.

"Don't rush. Let me finish all three matters first. The second is that, in the future, an alien army will descend upon New York, causing immense casualties."

Fury's face grew even grimmer. He nodded and silently committed both matters to memory.

Lu Xi took a deep breath and continued:

"Next is the third matter—the disaster you personally created."

Fury's expression sharpened. He took a deep breath, sat up straight, and stared intently at Lu Xi as though he wanted to carve every word into his heart.

Maria beside him also could not help focusing with utmost attention as she nervously waited for Lu Xi to continue.

Lu Xi's gaze was sharp as he spoke slowly:

"The Skrulls you protected will rebel in the future."

"They will replace every high-ranking human one by one, then attempt to alter Earth's environment. Their goal will be to exterminate all humanity and turn Earth into their new home."

Upon hearing this, Fury's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with disbelief.

Maria Hill looked utterly confused and could not help asking:

"What Skrulls?"

Lu Xi patiently explained, "The Skrull Empire is one of the three great empires of the universe. Its civilization was once exceptionally glorious, but it gradually declined for various reasons. Decades ago, some of them ended up on Earth, and your Director Fury took them in and protected them."

At that point, Lu Xi could not help commenting, "You know far too little about Earth, let alone the entire universe."

"The Skrulls, one of the universe's three great empires, were being hunted across the universe by the Kree Empire, yet you actually dared to shelter them."

"It's like if the Russians were on the verge of extinction one day, then went to South America seeking protection from some cannibal tribe. In that situation, what do you think your great leader would do? Would he drop one big mushroom and blast that tribe into the sky?"

Fury frowned deeply and argued:

"But we already drove back the Kree Empire's people."

Lu Xi sneered with utter disdain. "Ridiculous. Your friend Carol merely drove back a small fleet."

"You think the Kree Empire has no powerful warriors? You think they truly cannot deal with Carol?"

"They simply felt that deploying a legion-level fleet for a handful of scattered Skrulls was not worth the cost."

Faced with this string of slaps to the face, Fury nearly lost his temper. He hurriedly said:

"But... all the Skrulls are clearly under my surveillance. Why would this happen?"