Nick Fury, Completely Duped

Nick Fury, Completely Duped

Tri-Wing Building.

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

Director Nick Fury stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing outside with all the bearing of a big shot.

His attire never changed regardless of the season: a black knit shirt beneath a black leather jacket, a black eyepatch covering his one eye, and coupled with his dark skin, he could vanish completely into the shadows just by standing in the dark.

It suited an agent, all right, but the air conditioning in his office was always cranked up high. Very high.

A knock sounded. Nick Fury walked to his desk, sat down, struck a cool pose, and called out, "Come in!"

The moment Natasha Romanoff entered, a wave of cold air hit her in the face.

By now, Natasha was long used to it.

Nick Fury asked, "How did the mission go? Was that little alien girl cooperative?"

"She was extremely cooperative, but the results were rather fantastical..."

Natasha organized her thoughts. "This is how it went. During this investigation, I obtained some very useful information. For example, Rimuru's Superpowers, as well as her attitude toward Earthlings. Based on my analysis, Rimuru has quite a favorable impression of Earthlings, and even of S.H.I.E.L.D. She is basically harmless."

"Basically harmless, and she has quite a favorable impression of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Nick Fury immediately grew curious. An alien civilization capable of interstellar travel and reaching Earth could not be underestimated technologically.

It would have been good enough if they did not look down on all humanity from on high, yet they actually had a favorable impression of Earthlings. Was this what they called... an Earth traitor? An Alien Intellectual? An Alien Saint?

"Tell me the investigation process in detail!"

"Understood. Rimuru is an alien, but strictly speaking, she is not an alien."

Natasha gave Nick Fury a concise account of Rimuru's origins. It was mainly a summary of the information, without mixing in her own subjective judgment.

When he heard that Rimuru came from an Earth in a Parallel Universe, Nick Fury was briefly stunned.

The concept of Parallel Universes had long existed on Earth, so it was not exactly new.

But then he heard that the Earth in that Parallel Universe had undergone a 2,500-year Wandering Earth project before finally arriving at a new home four light-years away—a place with three suns.

Why did this sound so sci-fi?

And what was that about taking the Earth out to wander?

Nick Fury's face was so dark it practically reflected light. If Natasha had not been one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite agents, exceptionally capable and consistently outstanding in her previous missions, he would probably have sent her to sit on the bench with Coulson immediately.

A brain was a good thing to have!

However, when he heard about the "evolution" of the Earthlings' descendants, Nick Fury was once again left speechless.

To adapt to the erratic three suns, the Earthlings who immigrated to the Parallel Universe had evolved Temperature Change Resistance?

Was that really a Superpower humans could evolve?

But biological evolution adapting to the environment was indeed an unshakable truth of nature.

And the environment of outer space really was more likely to induce genetic mutations in humans. That was not baseless speculation.

NASA had once reported that after an astronaut spent a year on a mission in space, 8.7 percent of their genes underwent permanent mutation.

And that genetic mutation process had lasted only one year. If humans in another world had truly drifted through space for 2,500 years before arriving in a star system with three suns, perhaps they really could have evolved a physique with Temperature Change Resistance.

For a moment, it somehow sounded completely reasonable.

Yet his rationality told him it was utterly, utterly absurd!

And then there was the fact that, to survive the water-scarce—or even waterless—Arid Era, these new humans had evolved a dimensional Stomach capable of holding a lake's worth of fresh water.

Was he listening to a fantasy story?

Did humans really have such incredible potential?

Human potential? Wait!

Nick Fury immediately thought of Captain Marvel Carol, that ruthless woman who could tear apart spaceships like toys!

In Binary Mode, Carol could even traverse the vacuum of space with her physical body alone!

Most importantly, Carol was an Earthling. Human potential really was that immense!

Could what Rimuru said be true?

Nick Fury's brows furrowed tightly, twisted into knots.

Secretly studying the Director's expression, Natasha found it rather amazing. Before entering, she had already prepared herself to be chewed out.

Honestly, compared to her previous missions, she had indeed done a poor job this time. Too much of the information was simply too absurd.

Although Natasha had always been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ace and deeply trusted by Director Nick Fury, her life was nowhere near as glamorous as it appeared.

As a defected agent from the former Soviet Union's Red Room, her margin for error was far too small.

Because once a traitor, always a traitor. She could never wash away that label.

Nick Fury asked, "By the way, you said Rimuru also has quite a favorable impression of S.H.I.E.L.D. What's that about?"

Natasha replied, "Rimuru said that in her universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. was once a hidden organization just like ours. But 2,500 years ago, New York suffered an alien invasion. S.H.I.E.L.D. shone brilliantly and thwarted the aliens' scheme. As a result, S.H.I.E.L.D. became widely known, and some of its agents became heroes whose stories were passed down by word of mouth. Their deeds were even made into movies?"

What?

Aliens invading Earth, a battle for New York? S.H.I.E.L.D. thwarted the aliens' scheme, and it was made into movies... what the hell?

But if that were not the case, how would Rimuru know Coulson and recognize Black Widow?

Were aliens really going to invade Earth?

Had the Kree discovered that he had taken in the Skrulls?

Was it still too late to hand those Skrulls over now?

The more a person knew, the wilder their imagination became.

Natasha did not believe a single word of much of what Rimuru had said, but the more Nick Fury thought about it, the more unsettled he became.

"What else did she say?"

Did the Director actually believe it?

Natasha found it exceedingly strange, but she still told the truth. "Our Earth is called Midgard, also known as Middle-earth. It is the little brother of Asgard's God Realm. Asgard is ruled by God-King Odin, who has two sons: his eldest, Thor, and his younger son, Loki. However, Loki was adopted..."

Nick Fury impatiently interrupted, "Stop! Don't report these mythical stories that are obviously fake!"

"Yes!"

Natasha immediately breathed a sigh of relief. If the Director believed even that, she would have started wondering whether his brain had been flooded.

Nick Fury repeatedly examined the report Natasha had submitted, his brows tightly drawn together.

There was no doubt that Rimuru possessed extraordinary abilities. She also had a suit of armor identical to Iron Man's, so her combat strength was unquestionable.

Should she be listed as a candidate for the "Avenger Alliance" project?

Judging by her individual abilities alone, Rimuru qualified, but she was simply too young.

Moreover, Rimuru's words mixed truth with falsehood, making it impossible to distinguish reality from fiction. Whether she truly harbored any designs on Earth was still difficult to say.

If he believed someone's casual words so easily, he would never have risen to the position of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director!

It would be better to consider it and observe her for a while longer!

"How can a child waste her time? Your Ivy Timothy identity is very suitable. You will be responsible for urging little Rimuru to attend school and let her absorb more of the American Spirit!"

Natasha immediately smiled. She knew that Rimuru seemed extremely resistant to going to school.

This would be quite entertaining!

"Yes!"

After Natasha left, Nick Fury stood and placed all of Rimuru's files into a thick safe.

The other files in that safe were clearly marked with the code name 084.

084 was a code name, a classification, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest-security file level. Only the Director and a handful of individuals with the highest clearance could access it.

084 represented things of unknown origin, including objects and energy.

The first item in history to be classified as 084 was the Inhumans' Terrigen Obelisk. Later, the Tesseract was added.

And now, Rimuru had become the first... human to be classified as 084!