"Truly, finding it was effortless."
Looking at the bound green-skinned person, Artoria's expression was very subtle. You have to know she had spent a lot of effort trying to find these guys, having Saturday use big data to search for any trace of them without finding a single bit of information. Three or four cloud computers had even fried. As it turned out, one had actually appeared right in front of her. Interesting; some surprises really do pop up unexpectedly. Artoria looked gratefully at Wanda. It was because of her and Quicksilver's chemistry that this Skrull was caught. Such a theatrical plot was very similar to a movie. If she didn't know this was a real world, she would have thought these guys' acting was truly off the charts.
"This is a 'delivery' packaged and sent to the door. Don't touch it carelessly; if you kill it, you're paying for it!"
Artoria slapped away Galacta's hand as she poked the Skrull, who was bound tightly like a zongzi. "Please, look, this Skrull is about to be poked to death by your monstrous strength. You have no sense of restraint. We finally managed to catch one alive; if we don't seize this opportunity to interrogate him for information, all this will have been in vain." Galacta held her hand where Artoria had slapped it and pouted, walking away in boredom. Gaea, who had been observing the Skrull, was also curious, but she wasn't as playful as Galacta. Furthermore, she had seen many grand scenes, so she wasn't particularly focused on a Skrull.
"I know you can understand me. Now, I'll give you two choices. One, you tell us yourself. Two, we help you tell us, but it might be very painful, and you might turn into an idiot."
After shooing Galacta away, Artoria comforted Wanda, telling her she would definitely help her find her brother. Once Wanda's emotions were settled, Artoria walked quietly over to the Skrull. Looking at his Goblin-like appearance, Artoria patted the Skrull's bald head and uttered those words tonelessly. Her tone was very flat, yet it caused the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees.
"I will never betray my people! Just kill me!"
Hearing Artoria's words, the Skrull spoke with great backbone and sought death from Artoria. It seemed he truly had no intention of living. Artoria could feel that this guy felt absolutely no fear or dread facing the four of them; he accepted his capture very calmly and calmly requested his enemies to kill him. Such a warrior indeed possessed very tenacious willpower, so Artoria didn't waste any more words. She directly activated her Mangekyo Sharingan, preparing to control the mind of the Skrull before her. Seeing Artoria's eyes suddenly turn red, Gaea, Galacta, and Wanda, as well as the bound Skrull, were all startled.
Immediately after, the Skrull's expression dazed for a moment, but he quickly regained clarity. This made Artoria pause. It clearly seemed like it was about to succeed; why did it suddenly fail? Artoria's mind raced. It was likely because a Skrull's physiology was different from a human's! But since she had already talked a big game, if she didn't show some real skill now, how would she save face? She had already said the words; she couldn't just take them back!
"Quite tenacious, but it's going to be very painful next."
She originally didn't want to use this ultimate weapon for such a small matter, but she hadn't expected this situation. After Artoria said that, her right hand began to glow with golden light, and a silver Infinity Gauntlet appeared on her hand. Ever since this gauntlet was put on Artoria's hand, it had been undergoing a synchronization reaction with her Spirit Gear. She didn't know what kind of metal those Dwarves had used to forge the Infinity Gauntlet for it to be like this, but at least Artoria didn't have to wear silver Spirit Gear while having a gauntlet the color of gaudy gold. That would be such a mismatch!
Artoria couldn't help but look at the empty socket on the back of her right hand, her gaze as resentful as could be. Just one more to go, and the collection would be complete. Only the Time Stone remained. Artoria really wanted to go straight to Kamar-Taj, find Steve, yank the eye of agamotto hanging around his neck, and gouge out the Time Stone inside. Then, her Infinity Gauntlet would truly become a supreme divine artifact.
"I'll give you one last chance."
Facing such a "tough guy," Artoria felt she should give him one last chance. But facing Artoria's "kindness," this Skrull clearly didn't give her any face. The guy closed his eyes and wouldn't even look at Artoria. This attitude didn't make Artoria angry; she sighed somewhat helplessly. The golden gem on the Infinity Gauntlet, representing the soul, instantly lit up. Artoria placed her right hand on the Skrull's bald head.
The moment they made contact, images flooded into Artoria's mind. Artoria clearly saw how they had come to Earth, what their leader had said, that Black Bolt had been captured, and that Quicksilver had been ambushed. Soon, Artoria finished reading the information she needed. She opened her eyes. Facing the worried looks of the three women, Artoria smiled slightly, making them all sigh in relief. However, the Skrull Artoria was touching no longer had any breath left. This was why Artoria didn't want to use the Soul Stone—it would absorb the power of the soul. Moreover, judging by his expression, he had suffered quite a bit of pain.
"I already know where their ship is. Let's go together!"
Directly tossing the Skrull's corpse into the lab, Artoria spoke to the three women. Galacta, Gaea, and Wanda all nodded. Although the scene just now was a bit unsettling, these three women were not ordinary people. One was a planetary consciousness, one was the daughter of Galactus, and one was a powerful Mutant. None of them felt there was anything wrong with Artoria's actions; they just didn't really want Artoria to have to do such things. Now that Artoria invited the three of them to participate, it meant that in the upcoming slaughter, they could handle the enemies without Artoria having to lift a finger.
"Keep the leader alive; you can do as you wish with the rest."
She hadn't found their specific mission for coming to Earth from that Skrull's memory; only the leading Skrull had been given orders. Artoria wanted the leader's memories to see exactly what they intended to do on Earth and what their plan was. These were the things Artoria wanted to know most right now.
"Okay" x3.
None of these three women were fools. Even if their brains weren't the sharpest, seeing Artoria's actions just now, they knew exactly what she wanted to do. The three of them readily agreed to Artoria's request. Hearing their response, Artoria nodded in satisfaction. The Space Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet instantly lit up, and blue spatial energy enveloped the four of them, including Artoria. After the blue light faded, Artoria and the others vanished from the spot.
"So, was I right, Doctor Steve?"
Just as Artoria was pursuing the Skrulls, Steve's side had also found Kaecilius and his group. These guys could already perfectly utilize the power of the Dark Dimension lord, Dormammu. Unfortunately, they were currently in the human realm, and their power was suppressed by the great barrier set up by the Ancient One. The power they could borrow was limited, and they temporarily couldn't find a way to open a gap in the barrier. They had just found a lead that the barrier in Shanghai, Taiwanese, might have a flaw and were preparing to go check it out, but they hadn't expected Steve to find them so quickly.
Facing Steve, Kaecilius wasn't nervous at all. After all, the actions of the Ancient One that he had exposed back then weren't without evidence, and Steve was indeed a magical genius. He wanted to pull Steve into his camp and have him become a resident of the Dark Dimension, so he asked Steve if his words were correct.
"Your words are indeed correct, but that doesn't mean anything. You're still a bastard—a super big bastard."
But Kaecilius was destined to be disappointed. After his confrontation and conversation with the Ancient One, Steve understood his duties and obligations. He couldn't just stand by and watch the Earth he lived on be sold out by a bastard, letting a guy who didn't look like anything good—and turned out to truly be nothing good—take over the Earth. At the thought of the Earth he lived on being sold out by such a guy, Steve had already activated his magic, his attitude clearly displayed.
"Then there's nothing left for us to talk about."
"There was never anything to say in the first place, bastard."
The conversation between the two ended there. Golden light collided with transparent objects as the magical battle broke out once again.
---------------------------------
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.