"Warning: High energy signature detected. Ship damaged."
Upon arriving at the location from the Skrull's memory, Artoria confirmed the direction. The purple Power Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet on her right hand lit up, and a purple energy wave shot out from it. What was originally an empty space saw a wave of blue electrical arcs ripple across the ground as the Power Stone's energy wave hit. A strange-looking spaceship appeared on the empty ground, except there was now a smooth, nearly person-sized hole in the hull. This hole went right through the entire ship, allowing one to see the interior from the outside. The place blasted through by the Power Stone was still sparking, and it seemed some unlucky Skrull was now missing his upper half.
"Found them. These guys... even I didn't notice these aliens. Truly strange."
Seeing the ship appear, the eyes of Gaea, Galacta, and Wanda lit up. Especially Gaea—she looked at the Skrull ship through gritted teeth. She hadn't even sensed such a large object. How on Earth did these guys get to Earth, and what did they do? As the planetary consciousness, she knew absolutely nothing about these things. This was a literal slap in the face. At the thought of making a fool of herself in front of Artoria and looking so incompetent, Gaea's anger flared up to the top of her head.
"This one is really fuming; her head is actually smoking."
Galacta, who was curiously observing and recording the Skrulls, was the first to see the thin white smoke rising from Gaea's head. If her eyesight wasn't excellent and she had already noticed this trait of Gaea's, someone else might not have discovered anything. How should this state be described? It felt just like a volcanic eruption on Earth.
"End the battle as quickly as possible. Don't let anyone find out a fight is happening here."
Since they had found the target, Artoria needed to tell the three women. Although this place was remote, it wasn't too far from the urban area. The battle had to be resolved quickly, or else... perhaps their movements had already been detected by organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. If they could resolve the battle and retreat within half an hour, then even if someone could rush over, no one would have any thoughts of chatting with them. This kind of blitzkrieg was what Artoria liked best, like the saying 'Run after showing off, so exciting.' Hearing Artoria's words, the three women nodded and quickly entered the ship's interior. Artoria stood outside the ship with no intention of going in. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but rather she was waiting for the important target to appear.
"They're coming, they're all coming. I knew that if the ship was attacked, you guys would definitely know immediately and rush here as fast as possible."
As Artoria expected, there weren't many Skrulls inside the ship. Most of them were in a state of disguise, integrated into human life. They captured people with high authority or control over the economy onto the ship, then took their forms and lived smoothly in human society. Today, some ordinary people might have been astonished as their bosses, who were in the middle of a meeting, suddenly ran out with dark expressions, leaving everyone aside. And they ran as if they were being chased by a dog; they were simply too fast. Everyone was amazed that a nearly three-hundred-pound ball of fat could run so quickly. This scenario played out many times today, all occurring at the same time.
In less than five minutes, these Skrulls used some unknown method to quickly appear within Artoria's perception range. Feeling them approach, a "just as I thought" smile appeared on Artoria's face. The reason she hadn't followed the others inside was to wait for these guys to show up.
"Cutting Ray."
Feeling that enough of them had arrived, the crimson gem on Artoria's right Infinity Gauntlet lit up. The Reality Stone could create reality and transform objects into something else. Artoria turned the sunlight into cutting lasers and fired them at the Skrulls behind her. The two guys in front accidentally got hit and were turned into fragments. Seeing such a bizarre scene, the remaining Skrulls stopped in their tracks.
"This lady is a Superhuman, isn't she? You just killed someone!"
Seeing their comrade's 'tragic death', the Skrulls, who still looked human, had eyes turning red. They glared at Artoria, wanting revenge, but a guy with the aura of a superior slowly walked out. He looked at Artoria solemnly, as if she had committed some heinous crime, and then questioned her.
"If I had killed humans, that would be a different story. Skrulls, you've learned a lot since coming to Earth, and your habit of shifting blame is quite good. But the premise is, does the other person know something? Tell me, what is your goal for coming to Earth?"
When Artoria called them 'Skrulls', the other party obviously froze for a moment. They hadn't expected this woman to know their identity. Since they were exposed, there was no need for such a disguise. The body of the guy questioning Artoria began to writhe, and a green-skinned humanoid creature that looked very much like a Goblin appeared before her. Following his lead, the remaining Skrulls also reverted to their original forms.
"Why not continue the disguise?"
Artoria felt like a powerful boss at that moment, while these guys were just adventurers who had just left the novice village. They would never have imagined that a big boss would be waiting for them outside the novice village. Seeing their surprise mixed with angry eyes, Artoria felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
"Everyone, attack! Take out your weapons and kill her here."
Since they were exposed, there was no point in talking. The leader immediately ordered Artoria's death. Upon hearing the order, the Skrull warriors were like they'd been injected with chicken blood, quickly taking out their weapons and aiming at Artoria to open fire without hesitation. Facing such childish attacks, Artoria didn't even bother to block. Just as the attacks were about to hit her, a Skrull was thrown directly in front of her, blocking all the attacks. This scene stunned Artoria; she had indeed felt a heavy object flying over. Then she took two steps back, letting all the attacks hit the flying Skrull, while the remaining shots missed entirely.
"If you want to harm Artoria, you'll have to get past me first."
Gaea was the first to notice, but it was Wanda who threw the Skrull. Galacta was still in the spaceship, continuing to search for the captives. Wanda and Gaea appeared in front of Artoria. Looking at the Skrull warriors, Gaea spoke fiercely. She was sick of these guys who came onto her body silently with unknown purposes. Facing these extraterrestrial life forms, she had no good feelings at all.
"These alien creatures are so disgusting."
Wanda was genuinely repulsed by the Skrulls' appearance. To be honest, she hated green creatures the most, just like frogs. Seeing the Skrulls reminded her of frogs. Even when she was a refugee as a child and almost died of hunger, she didn't dare eat something like a frog. Although her brother ate them with gusto, she just didn't dare.
"You guys! For such a small matter, is it necessary for you to take action?"
Artoria smiled and touched the Infinity Stones on her right hand with her left. She only needed one living Skrull; the rest were unnecessary. According to Artoria's thoughts, the blue Space Stone lit up, and a spatial portal appeared beneath the leader's feet. This left the Skrulls bewildered. Taking advantage of their confusion, Artoria directly used the Power Stone. The fatal purple light reappeared, destroying everything in front of her.
"What on Earth happened here?"
Three hours later, S.H.I.E.L.D. finally noticed something was wrong. Looking at the large hole in the ground like a meteorite crater, they investigated the satellites in frustration, only to find nothing. Only a huge pit was left at the scene, along with some purple liquid. Soon, the familiar Director Egg arrived. Looking at the purple liquid dissolved in the soil, his brow furrowed. He had the technicians preserve this piece of soil intact and take it away for inspection.
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