The Skrull commander stood in front of the machine with his back to it, his green face utterly expressionless.
He watched Android 18 and Nymph enter the laboratory, his gaze lingering on them for several seconds before shifting away.
"This is what you wanted," the commander said, his voice calm enough that he did not sound like someone who had just been defeated.
"The Gene Infuser, the most valuable asset of the Skrull Empire. You can take it."
Nymph walked over to the machine and reached out to touch its silvery-white surface.
Her golden eyes lit up as she analyzed the machine's structure and functions.
"It's real," Nymph said, turning to look at Android 18. "This is what we wanted."
Android 18 nodded.
She walked up to the commander, her blue eyes fixed on him.
The commander was a head taller than her, yet beneath her gaze, he felt as though he were standing before a giant.
"You'd better stop setting your sights on Earth," Android 18 said. It was neither a question nor a demand, but a statement.
The commander looked at her, his lips moving slightly.
"Our invasion plan..." he began, but his voice cut off halfway through.
"It's over," Android 18 finished for him.
The commander remained silent for a long time.
Then he nodded.
"It's over," he said softly, as though confirming something he had already known.
Android 18 turned and walked toward the Gene Infuser.
She stretched out both arms and gripped the base of the five-meter-tall machine.
Her arms left faint dents in the machine's metal surface, an inevitable result of Vibranium-level hardness against ordinary metal.
Then she lifted the machine.
Five meters tall, weighing roughly forty tons.
For Android 18, it was about the same as an ordinary human lifting a suitcase.
She