"This kind of species is definitely not from Earth. Alien visitors like the Chitauri?"
Tony looked at the evidence Jarvis had collected. This era wasn't like decades ago; the days of having no surveillance equipment were long gone. They were replaced by various electronic eyes and satellites overhead. If one wanted, it wasn't hard to get clear images of objects on the ground. Tony had given Artoria some of the data, but he had kept back a very important piece: a green creature walking behind a tree, followed immediately by a middle-aged man walking out from behind it. This interesting scene happened to be captured by a hidden camera.
Tony didn't give this video to Artoria. He knew what she would do if he did. As a responsible older brother, he would never allow his sister to face such dangerous and unknown alien creatures alone. Furthermore, as a superhero, he had already decided to protect the world, so he would absolutely not allow such disguised creatures with unknown motives to lurk on Earth and operate in the shadows.
"No matter how they disguise themselves, there will always be a slip-up. They can mask their appearance and scent, but there's one thing they absolutely cannot fake: the biological electromagnetic waves of the brain. That is the fundamental basis of a biological existence. Although they may be broadly similar, the biological characteristics of Earthlings will definitely have subtle deviations from these guys."
After pondering for a moment, Tony began to work on measures to counter the enemy's disguises. His idea was simple: while appearance and scent might be indistinguishable, the biological electromagnetic waves emitted by the brain differ between species. If he recorded the electromagnetic waves of Earth's biological life and then conducted a screening, he would surely be able to find the differences. Of course, this was just a hypothesis; Tony was currently working on the technical difficulties of how to implement it.
"What should we do, Leader?"
At that moment, in a cold storage room of a food processing plant, several green-skinned humanoid creatures wearing black battle suits were sitting together. Their appearances were difficult to distinguish. A thin fellow spoke to the figure standing opposite him. He looked distressed as he watched three of their kin lying on the ground; two were completely cold, and one was just a step away from Death. Even with their most advanced medical technology, they could only prolong their comrade's time until Death.
"Let our great compatriot rest in peace!"
The one addressed as the Leader looked helplessly at the dying comrade. Although he was unwilling to let him sleep forever, letting him live like this was clearly more painful than killing him. Therefore, the Leader decided to let this compatriot, who had sacrificed his life for the mission, rest eternally on this Planet.
After giving the order, the Leader turned away, no longer looking at the three kin on the floor. He fixed his gaze on the person sitting opposite him. It was the 'missing' King of the Inhumans, Black Bolt. By now, Black Bolt was conscious, calmly observing the group of humanoid creatures that didn't seem to belong to any Earthly race. He hadn't expected these guys to be able to freely change their voices and appearances to become those closest to him in order to get near. Although he had managed to kill some of them thanks to his powerful physical abilities, he hadn't expected there to be five of them instead of just three. He had been ambushed again and eventually knocked unconscious. Upon waking, he found himself bound by special energy locks, unable even to open his mouth.
"King of the Inhumans, perhaps choosing you was a mistake from the start. I didn't expect a King to be this strong. It seems my understanding of Earth is still too shallow; it turns out Kings aren't just mascots."
The Leader calmly gave a high evaluation to this King who had killed three of his comrades. Choosing a King as a target might have doomed them to failure from the beginning. From the data they collected on the internet, the various Kings they saw were basically just puppets, so they became overconfident and moved directly against the King of the Inhumans. But reality had slapped them in the face; the King of the Inhumans was no mascot. This information error had cost them dearly, with the Deaths of three compatriots being the heavy price they paid.
"I know you may be resentful and cursing me, but none of that matters. We have our mission. For the world to come, please continue to sleep, King of the Inhumans."
As the Leader's voice fell, a door opened behind Black Bolt, and mechanical tentacles pulled him inside. Soon, Black Bolt felt himself entering a container. A warm liquid began to fill the container, and a mask was placed over his face. Immediately, a heavy drowsiness washed over him, and Black Bolt fell into a deep sleep once more. Before closing his eyes, he took a deep look at the slowly closing door. The Leader stood expressionless, watching Black Bolt like a specimen soaked in formalin. Without any struggle, Black Bolt sank into a deep slumber.
"To carry out the Queen's orders, we must overcome any difficulty and offer our highest honorary blessings to our three heroes."
Seeing that Black Bolt was silent, the Leader turned to look at the corpses on the ground, his face full of fanaticism. He shouted the Queen's name to encourage his grieving kin. Upon hearing the Queen mentioned, all the Skrulls cast aside the sorrow on their faces, looking as fanatical as if they were seeing a deity. All of them, including the Leader, knelt on one knee with their arms crossed, speaking the Skrull language as they began to offer blessings for their three fallen comrades.
"Everything for the Queen and the race. We must continue to complete this mission."
After finishing, the Leader stood up and looked seriously at his subordinates. Seeing their fearless eyes, he nodded in satisfaction. His encouragement had worked well. Next, he would continue to arrange tasks. On this Earth, there were still superheroes with very powerful abilities. These guys were very formidable and the biggest obstacle to their mission. Their next targets were these superheroes; it would be best if they could be made to kill each other.
"Understood? Then continue the operation."
The Skrulls operated very efficiently. Upon hearing the command, they all began to transform into their disguised states. Soon, Earthlings of all ages and genders appeared in the room. Without a word, they all bowed to the Leader and quickly left the area, leaving the Leader standing alone, lost in thought.
"Gaea, can you find those guys from outer space?"
Knowing who the enemy was, Artoria thought it over and decided to approach Gaea. She figured that as the will of Earth, Gaea should be able to detect these extraterrestrial visitors. But to Artoria's surprise, Gaea looked at her in confusion and shook her head. If it were malice toward the Planet, she would have sensed it immediately, but she felt no malice, nor did she sense anything wrong with them. In other words, the Skrulls Artoria mentioned had hidden themselves so well that they even bypassed the Planet's perception, which considered them to be Earth creatures.
"You shouldn't expect the planetary consciousness to help with this, Artoria."
At this point, Galacta came out to explain Artoria's confusion. She had been listening for a while. This race was recorded in her computer's database. They weren't a particularly bellicose race, but they weren't to be trifled with either. For some reason, they had ended up at odds with the Kree. Their home Planet seemed no longer habitable, so they began a nomadic life. However, the Kree wouldn't let them be and were hunting them down. If it were them, they wouldn't commit any egregious acts against the Planet or its life, but their innate talent dictated that their way of surviving on other Planets was not very friendly, especially toward the Planet's intelligent life forms.
"In other words, unless they're making a move against the Planet itself, Gaea can't detect their existence?"
Realizing this, Artoria understood. It was like how one wouldn't notice a single strand of hair more or less on their body. So, Artoria didn't blame Gaea; after all, this matter wasn't about Earth, but about humanity. The enemy was clearly targeting humans. Artoria felt a bit helpless. If only the Counter Force 'Alaya' existed at this time, she wouldn't have to be so busy. Alaya would go and eliminate the creatures threatening humanity, and Artoria could slack off.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.