An Explanation

Washington, United States.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

Pandora's Actor stared at the woman he had controlled before him, nursing a headache.

After receiving the Supreme One's orders, he had immediately used Teleportation magic to arrive at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

After using the magic [Human Domination] to control several minor agents and learn the location of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current highest-ranking leader, he had successfully infiltrated the room of the woman named Maria Hill and controlled her, obtaining the intelligence he wanted.

However...

"This is troublesome."

Pandora's Actor murmured softly as he looked down at the livestream on the computer screen.

Every major nation was watching the live broadcast. Lord Ryan's exposure was already irreversible unless they could kill everyone who knew the news in an instant. But even Nazarick could not accomplish that.

After a brief silence, he used message magic to send the intelligence he had obtained to Ryan, then closed his eyes and waited for his next order.

Whatever the Supreme One desired, regardless of the target or the difficulty, every member of Nazarick would carry it out with the utmost resolve, at any cost!

New York.

Ryan's villa.

After receiving Pandora's Actor's message, Ryan, who had remained silent until then, sighed. "You did well, Actor. Don't do anything unnecessary... Just go back and await orders. I'll notify you if anything changes... Mm, that'll be all."

After ending his communication with Pandora's Actor, Nick studied him for a moment before asking tentatively, "Were you contacting someone just now?"

He had previously thought Ryan's race was merely physically powerful, and that its technology might not necessarily be as advanced as imagined.

But judging from the fact that Ryan had obviously contacted an outsider just now while the surveillance department had detected nothing at all, there was still a gap between them. It was truly despairing.

"Ah, one of my subordinates. But Director Nick, I really didn't expect you to be so bold. You merely suspected my identity, yet before confirming anything, you dared to send your speculation that I was an alien to every major nation. Impressive! Truly impressive!"

Ryan praised him repeatedly, his gaze toward Nick complicated.

With things like this, he could no longer use any underhanded means. He could only accept that his identity had been exposed. Impressive!

"You needn't praise me so highly. It was simply necessary caution."

Nick spoke calmly, though cold sweat drenched his back.

Before making that decision, he had considered whether he should wait until the investigation was complete before reporting to the World Security Council. In the end, however, his cautious nature had won out.

He was now grateful that he had made that choice. Otherwise, there was no telling what he would be facing now.

"Caution."

Ryan repeated the word and sighed.

He had already acted with extreme caution. This time, his defeat had come at Nick Fury's hands. What normal person could truly connect all this to another civilization? And who would actually believe it?

It was simply bad luck. He also had to admit that he had never truly understood Nick Fury as a person.

"I come from Nazarick. As for my identity, you can think of me as an ancient Chinese emperor. As for why I came to Earth, there isn't really any particular reason. Taking over this body was merely an accident, and developing the company was just an interest of mine. If certain people on Earth hadn't attacked this body's relatives, I wouldn't have considered sending subordinates to Earth for revenge. Under normal circumstances, I am willing to abide by your Earth's rules."

Ryan briefly introduced his side. Since the plan to secretly control Earth had failed, he would start over in the open!

These days, what big shot didn't wear several masks? Only one layer of his had been uncovered. They were still far from revealing his true face completely!

"You said you're an emperor?"

Nick Fury asked with open suspicion. What kind of emperor would spend ten years playing around on someone else's planet? It would be strange if his subordinates didn't rebel. This lie had practically no thought put into it.

"You could say that, though there are some differences. My subordinates all call me the Supreme One. In terms of authority, I should hold far more power than your emperors and kings."

Ryan corrected Nick's statement.

"But you..."

Before Nick could finish, endless pressure burst forth from Sebas. At that moment, every human within dozens of kilometers felt panic rise in their hearts, as though the sky were about to collapse in the next second.

Nick, the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and the military forces approaching from outside, all of whom were the focus of that pressure, could not endure it. They dropped to their knees, completely unable to move.

"Foolish humans, Lord Ryan is speaking to you now as the Supreme One of Nazarick. Being allowed to hear the words of the Supreme One is already your fortune, yet you still dare to question him..."

"Enough, Sebas. Withdraw your pressure!"

"Yes, I have been discourteous!"

At Ryan's calm words, Sebas's expression changed, and he retreated behind Ryan.

"What... was that?"

Nick struggled to rise from the floor. Gritting his teeth, he suppressed the fear in his heart and asked.

"A kind of presence. Just as ordinary animals fear the scent of a tiger, when the gap in the essence of life becomes infinitely vast, lower life-forms will feel fear and panic."

Ryan raised a hand and summoned the red wine from the cabinet through the air. After filling his glass, he took a small sip and explained.

"Are you saying humans are lower life-forms?"

There was anger in Nick's eye. At the same time, after recovering from the shock, the leaders of various nations watching through their monitors issued orders to send people here for testing. They did not seek to decipher the principle, but they at least needed some means of resisting it.

"No. Humanity's strength lies in the brain, in wisdom, not in the body."

Ryan refuted him, then continued, "The civilization of my world is different from yours. I came here both to have fun and to relax. I follow your rules and obey your laws, like playing a game."

"But there are always people who dislike following the rules of the game. They always think they are special, that they can break the rules without suffering any punishment. Since that is the case, there is naturally no need for me to keep following your rules either. If you hadn't exposed my hidden identity today, perhaps in two days, you would have witnessed a very entertaining play."

Ryan's tone was calm, but Nick felt his throat go dry, as though it were filled with sand.

"What are you going to do?"

Nick asked, glaring with his single eye.

"It isn't about what I am going to do. It is about how you intend to give me an explanation!"

"Before you revealed my identity, I could still treat everything as a game. Even if I retaliated out of anger, I would only have acted against those people and forces who broke the rules of the game. But!"

Ryan's gaze abruptly sharpened as he looked at Nick, and his voice became imposing. "Now, I am speaking to you as the Supreme One of Nazarick. If Earth cannot give me a satisfactory explanation by tomorrow evening, then this planet has no need to continue existing!"