"A prop for transforming into a giant, and a piece of equipment specifically for cutting down giants."
"Now, both the shield and the spear are complete."
Seeing Hulk transform back into Banner, Darian waved his hand, and that massive Sand Giant instantly disintegrated, turning into countless loose grains of sand that cascaded back to the ground. Meanwhile, Tony landed in front of him wearing his Iron Man armor, his faceplate flipping up.
"Is Banner okay?"
Tony looked down at Banner on the sandy ground, a trace of shock on his face.
Darian had actually defeated Hulk, something even Thor couldn't manage.
"He's fine, he won't die."
Darian said, casually raising his hand.
The tiny sand particles inside Banner's mouth and nose slowly flowed out, gathering into a small pile on the sand nearby.
Tony couldn't help but ask, "When did you get this ability? Why have I never seen it before?"
Darian replied calmly, "I just learned it recently. It's just that I'm a low-key person and rarely use it, so it's normal that you haven't seen it."
Tony looked at the mountain-like pile of sand left behind by the Sand Giant and was speechless for a moment.
A behemoth that could be clearly seen from several streets away was really hard to associate with the word 'low-key'.
But complaints aside, the Sand Giant's suppression of Hulk at the beginning actually gave Tony quite a bit of inspiration.
Perhaps it wasn't that the Hulkbuster armor wasn't good enough, or that its functions weren't strong enough.
But that it wasn't big enough, or heavy enough.
Mass is power.
As long as the mass is large enough, it can easily crush everything.
Thinking of this, Tony couldn't help rubbing his chin and muttering to himself, "Could it be that Stane was right all along, and a true mech should just be built as heavily as possible?"
Darian and Tony didn't linger; they took the unconscious Banner and quickly left the scene.
However, what happened here soon spread.
Although S.H.I.E.L.D. responded quickly enough, arriving at the scene immediately to jam most recording equipment and trying their best to prevent the live video from leaking, there were always some that slipped through the net.
Especially that Sand Giant rising from the ground; it was too conspicuous, and it was almost impossible to hide.
Within just a few hours, various blurry, shaky mobile phone footage and silhouette images shot from a distance had begun to spread wildly across major social media platforms and news websites.
Soon, sharp-eyed netizens recognized the figure standing on top of the Sand Giant.
"That's the Iron Glider!"
"It really is the Iron Glider! Is he saving his mount, Iron Man, again this time? He really is... I'm crying!"
"Long live the Iron Glider fans!"
"I didn't expect the Iron Glider to be able to control sand. Could it be that this is his true ability?"
"It's so shocking. It's a pity I didn't see it in person; otherwise, it would have been worth dying for."
Except for a portion of ecstatic fans, the focus of most netizens was stolen by that multi-story Sand Giant. There was no helping it; the visual impact of the Sand Giant was too strong; it was hard not to notice it.
By comparison, Tony's Hulkbuster armor seemed unremarkable.
"Wasn't that just a toy used to amuse Hulk? It was broken by Hulk in a few hits; what was there to discuss?"
Tony: "..."
Regarding the abilities Darian displayed, the netizens, while shocked, were quite accepting.
After all, having experienced an Alien invasion of Earth, the public's threshold for acceptance had long been trained to be extraordinary.
Moreover, since even mythological figures like Thor had appeared, having one more person who could control sand didn't seem like such a strange thing. However, some netizens also felt that the old title of Iron Glider was no longer suitable for Darian.
At the very least, he needed a title related to sand to be worthy of Darian's ability to control it.
As the saying goes, there are only wrong names, not wrong nicknames.
So some netizens suggested that since Thor, who could control thunder, was called the Thunder God.
Therefore, Darian, who could control sand, should be called... Son of the Beach!
After all, Darian used his ability on a beach and even defeated the powerful Hulk; this title was quite reasonable.
..."Bullshit!"
Darian's mouth twitched: "Don't let me know who came up with that, or I'll definitely turn that guy into a pattern on a sand wall."
Son of the Beach—in America, what's the difference between this title and being called a vulgar insult?
Posting it online would only get you a string of ***.
The hardest part was that if someone called him Son of the Beach on the street later, he wouldn't be able to tell if the other person was greeting him or cursing at him.
To avoid this situation, Darian directly activated the power of HYDRA, turning into an invisible hand and blocking all information related to this title.
"Freedom of speech? It doesn't exist!"
The group members all knew that so-called freedom of speech was often in the hands of the dog group owner and the dog administrators.
Besides that, a small portion of netizens criticized the large-scale destruction caused by Darian and the others.
Especially the battle between Tony and Hulk, which caused huge losses to the city. Many citizens' houses and cars, bought with loans, were destroyed in an instant, and their resentment was greater than that of the Evil Sword Immortal.
But fortunately, the compensation from Stark Industries arrived quickly, even amounting to much more than the losses.
The netizens instantly changed their tune, wishing they could buy houses and cars in the neighborhoods where Iron Man often appeared, then go find a place to enjoy a vacation, just waiting to make a fortune from the compensation.
Of course, none of this had much to do with Darian.
Have you ever seen a five-star 'good citizen' rampaging in Los Santos care about how many street cars and NPCs they bumped into during a mission?
After dealing with the rampaging Hulk, Darian returned to the Skrulls' secret Base.
I have to say, Natasha's ability to get things done is indeed impressive.
During Darian's absence, Natasha continued to disguise herself as the Skrull Officer, overseeing the Base, sending away the imprisoned humans one by one, and conveniently integrating the Base's remaining forces and resources.
Throughout the entire process, not a single Skrull discovered she was an impostor.
"Well done, Widow." Darian nodded with satisfaction.
It's a pity that Natasha's identity is special; otherwise, he would really want to try to poach her for HYDRA.
Natasha was already immune to this title and asked in surprise, "What do you plan to do by keeping these Skrulls?"
In her view, these Alien races that could perfectly mimic others were too high-risk, and controlling them all was the safest way to handle it.
Darian didn't hide it: "Of course, to invade the Skrulls."
"?"
Natasha had a face full of question Marks.
Darian didn't offer much explanation; he had his own plans.
Although theoretically, he could follow the Avengers and steamroll through, stopping the Skrulls' current conspiracy, doing so wouldn't result in a very high final mission completion rate.
You have to know that the Skrulls are a race with a population of millions.
If Gravik falls today, a new Skrull leader might pop up tomorrow.
As long as the Skrulls' intention to infiltrate Earth remains, the invasion crisis will never be truly resolved.
To thoroughly solve this problem, the most fundamental way is to become the person in charge of the Skrulls, completely control this race, and crush all ideas at the source; only then can it be truly solved once and for all.
Of course, this method is extremely difficult and not very stable.
Just like Nick Fury, who thought he was in control of the Skrulls, only to end up crashing and burning, with his life or death now unknown.
But Nick Fury is a human after all, and there is always a natural barrier between him and the Skrulls.
Darian is different; he is a pure Skrull and possesses a legitimacy that Nick Fury lacks. Once he controls the Skrulls, he will be their leader, not a black-hearted boss like Nick Fury.
As for why Darian is a Skrull?
It's just like being a Mutant; anyway, no one can expose him, so whatever he says he is, he is.
"However, this number of Skrulls is still not enough."
Darian rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, "According to intelligence, Gravik has at least a thousand Skrull warriors under his command, and they are all equipped with the Skrulls' most advanced gear, including many reinforced individuals who have fused with special genes."
"With the current manpower, if we really face them head-on, it's probably not even enough to whet their appetites."
King against king, soldier against soldier.
Although it wouldn't be a problem for Darian to fight ten against ten, taking the field to fight grunts personally really affects one's status.
But there are always more solutions than difficulties.
Darian muttered, "In that case, let's get some reinforcements and expand the army."
The next day, a massive team arrived outside the secret Base, claiming to be Skrull reinforcements from the Conservatives.
Looking out, it was a sea of people.
The number of people was significantly larger than the Skrull members currently under Darian.
This group was not only fully armed, but they had also brought armored vehicles, armed helicopters, and the like; the heavy weapons were dazzling, and the formation was so large it looked like they were going to fight a local war.
The Skrulls in the Base who originally belonged to the Radicals but later joined Darian's camp were all stunned.
Weren't the Conservatives basically controlled by Gravik's Radicals?
How could there be so many reinforcements?
And what's with this equipment? I'm afraid they robbed a human military Base's warehouse!
A Skrull stared at the soldier at the front of the line, the one holding the Stars and Stripes shield, and the more he looked, the more familiar he seemed.
He widened his eyes and said in shock, "You... are you Captain America?"
The other side shook his head and said seriously, "No, my name is Chris Evans. I am a Skrull warrior who has fused with Captain America's genes. You can also call me Captain Skrull. I was ordered to lead this unit to support Officer Layla."
As he spoke, he turned around and pointed to a figure in the back wearing Iron Man armor.
"That is Robert Downey Jr., our Skrull Conservative chief scientist. He has fused with Iron Man's genes and built an identical suit of armor by imitating the other party's Iron Man armor."
"In addition, there is Mark Ruffalo who fused with Hulk's genes, Jeremy Renner who fused with Hawkeye's genes, and Scarlett Johansson who fused with Black Widow's genes."
Skrulls: ( °mouth°III )
Since when did we Skrulls have our own Avengers?
They looked at the Avengers members in front of them, who were exactly like the originals, and were amazed.
They didn't expect the Conservatives to secretly hide such a trump card.
Except for Thor, all the other Avengers members had been replicated, and they all looked the part; even the Iron Man armor was perfectly reproduced, just like the real thing.
How could these Skrulls have imagined it?
What was standing in front of them was not some Skrull-disguised imitation, but the real deal.
The so-called Conservative reinforcements were actually the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.
After learning of Darian's plan, the Avengers didn't hesitate and agreed to his arrangement, posing as Skrull Conservatives and leading S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to come as reinforcements.
If they intervened directly in the Skrull civil war as Earth humans, even if they successfully defeated Gravik's Radicals, it would be unjustifiable.
It's like a civil war; if one side suddenly brings in another country's army to help, how would the civilians below view it?
But if it were done in the name of the Skrulls themselves, the situation would be completely different.
No matter how intense the fighting is, it is still an internal struggle of the race, people fighting their own kind; whoever wins, the civilians will naturally follow them.
Because of this, Steve and the others fabricated their Skrull identities.
Anyway, these Skrulls maintain human images in their daily lives, so even if they appeared in their own images, it wouldn't arouse too much suspicion.
Sure enough, this group of Skrulls didn't suspect anything.
No one would have thought that someone would send an entire battalion to go undercover, and that even the Avengers would take the field personally?
Besides, they didn't dare to suspect anything; isn't it better to stay alive?
"Although Hill didn't approve tanks and missiles, the current manpower should be enough."
Darian looked at the size of the team in front of him and was very satisfied.
The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, HYDRA spies, plus the Skrulls who abandoned darkness for light...
Such a luxurious lineup, now actually listening to his command alone; this feeling is really great.
Darian restrained himself, but still couldn't suppress the curve of his mouth.
Darian: (*√*)
Immediately after, he came to the front of the team.
Under the gaze of everyone, he instantly transformed into the Skrull image of Layla.
Darian met everyone's gaze and said loudly, "Gravik tore up the agreement we worked hard to reach with humans, destroyed our hard-won peaceful life, and attempted to drag the Skrulls back into the flames of war. We must not sit idly by!"
"Today we stand here, not for war, but for protection; not for division, but for coexistence!"
"We are fighting for ourselves, fighting for peace, fighting for the future of all Skrulls!"
Darian's words were passionate and inspiring, and everyone who heard them looked impassioned.
It was mind control.
He added mind control to his words.
Steve stepped forward, raised his hand first, and shouted loudly, "Fight for peace!"
"Fight for peace!"
"Fight for peace!"
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents below shouted one louder than the other.
The Skrulls were also infected by the atmosphere and couldn't help but raise their arms and shout, not knowing that they had already become Skrull traitors.