"Give them some water and food." Dr. Serizawa said to his assistant beside him. "They are survivors, not prisoners." A few bottles of water and compressed biscuits were passed over. Strange tore open the package and took a hard bite of the biscuit, which was as hard as a brick, complaining incoherently: "Even prison food is better than this. When I get back, the first thing I'll do is go to Joe's Pizza and eat my fill."
"It's good enough to be alive, Doctor." Barton was tending to his own wounds; his expression was more somber than the others. As a high-level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, he knew the procedures ahead all too well. "Listen." Barton lowered his voice and said to the others beside him. "After we land, we will face very strict screening. S.H.I.E.L.D. has an extremely high level of secrecy for such unknown events. You need to be mentally prepared to sign a pile of non-disclosure agreements, and you might even have your personal freedom restricted for a period of time."
"What can they do to us, lock us up?" Strange frowned. "I am Stephen Strange, I'm a person of status in the medical field." "In the face of national security, fame is not worth mentioning." Banner gave a bitter smile and pushed up his glasses. "Believe me, I have experience."
"Agent Barton, and everyone." Dr. Serizawa's English had a heavy accent, but his tone was very sincere. "I am very sorry to meet you all in this way, but please understand, the existence of Skull Island is one of the greatest secrets in human history. To prevent global panic, we must take unconventional measures."
"Unconventional measures?" Banner swallowed the water in his mouth and gave a bitter smile. "Dr., I saw a thirty-meter-tall gorilla and lizards as big as trucks. If these things got out, panic would be certain. Have you, Monarch, been monitoring them all along?"
"Monitoring, studying, and protecting." Dr. Serizawa corrected. "They are the original inhabitants of Earth, ancient Titans. We are the latecomers. Skull Island is just an entrance, the tip of an iceberg of an ecosystem."
Alice, who had been silent, was now sipping water. Her brain was running at high speed. The situation was now clear. Rumlow and S.H.I.E.L.D. treated them as ordinary survivors and potential subjects for secrecy. However, once follow-up S.H.I.E.L.D. troops entered the jungle and found the precisely sliced pterosaur carcasses, they might notice her. After all, there were witnesses when she activated the [Mikasa Ackerman] character card. Strange and Banner might not say much about it, but she doubted Hughes's ability to keep a secret....
"Titans? I think they look more like monsters." "Monsters? No, they are actually gods, it's just that humans have forgotten how to revere the gods." "Gods?" Rumlow scoffed, interrupting. "Dr., stop with the mysticism. In the eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D., as long as it's a carbon-based life form, it can be killed. If necessary, Director Fury would approve dropping a nuclear bomb on that island."
"That would be a foolish act." Dr. Serizawa's emotions suddenly flared up. "Nuclear bombs won't kill them; they will only make them stronger. Godzilla feeds on nuclear radiation."
"Godzilla?" Strange keenly captured the word. "Wait, are you saying that the monster from the Japan movie is real too? Well, it seems this World is even crazier than I imagined. Since there's Godzilla, does that mean there's also Ultraman?"
The atmosphere in the cabin became a bit Strange due to this debate between science and force. Alice listened silently, but in her heart, she was quickly calculating her path forward. Her current situation was delicate. Although she had left the deserted island, she had obviously been drawn into the center of the whirlpool of this World. Her current identity was that of an underage plane crash survivor and the orphaned daughter of a billionaire. This meant she would inherit a huge fortune, and it also meant she would become a piece of meat in the eyes of various forces.
"However, with money, I can pay-to-win." Thinking of the god-tier cards yet to be unlocked in the system store, Alice felt a bit more at ease. As long as she had enough money, she could draw stronger character cards. By then, whether it was HYDRA or Monarch, whoever dared to block her way would be flattened.
A few hours later. The plane landed on a massive aircraft carrier somewhere in the Pacific. On the deck, busy ground crew and Agents were coming and going. And not far from the tarmac, a black man wearing a long black trench coat and an eyepatch was standing there, hands behind his back, like a black statue. Nick Fury. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, King of Agents, and the most suspicious man in this World.
He was currently examining the people walking off the plane with his only remaining eye. Rumlow walked over quickly, handed over a tablet, and reported in a low voice: "Director, all survivors, including Agent Barton, have been brought back." Fury nodded, took the tablet, looked at it for a few seconds, and made no comment. He strode in front of the group, his powerful aura causing the surrounding air to solidify a bit. "I am Nick Fury. Welcome back to the civilized World, everyone."
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