"So you came to me for this?"
Marcus felt puzzled. Had Fury really sought him out just to catch up?
This seemed unlike what the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would do. Fury must have something important to discuss when tracking him down.
"Of course not. I came to you for something specific—something I can't let others know about."
"Oh~ Hydra? If I remember correctly, Pierce is your old boss. Why haven't you arrested him yet?"
Fury choked at these words. He knew Marcus harbored negative feelings toward Pierce, but did he seriously believe Pierce was Hydra?
After all, Pierce had worked diligently to help Fury attain his position as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, and had vigorously led operations suppressing Hydra.
With behavior like that, no matter how oblivious Hydra might be, Pierce couldn't possibly be involved.
But Marcus knew the truth—Pierce's prestigious position directly overseeing S.H.I.E.L.D. was just a facade.
In reality, Pierce had strengthened Hydra's position. Despite Fury's aggressive efforts to suppress the organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already become infested. Each "cleanup" operation merely drove Hydra deeper into secrecy.
Most concerning was how many of Fury's own actions ultimately benefited Hydra.
They accomplished their objectives under the guise of eliminating Hydra, even using Fury's own orders to continuously strengthen their position.
Hydra's transformation into a snake den within S.H.I.E.L.D. could largely be attributed to Pierce's leadership.
"Let's not discuss Pierce. Why did you come to see me?"
"I've been developing a special initiative that I started planning after you left. Now I have candidates."
Fury looked at Marcus with serious intent. This was the Avengers Initiative—a project he had specially prepared to protect Earth after witnessing the Kree fleet more than a decade ago.
Over the years, many individuals with extraordinary abilities had emerged.
There was Bruce Banner, the Hulk, who had been altered by gamma radiation; Tony with his Ironman suit; Bucky the Winter Soldier living on the farm; and Captain America—Steve Rogers—recently discovered in the Arctic after being frozen for seventy years.
These were the prime candidates for the Avengers Initiative in Fury's mind, ready to face potential alien invasions at any moment.
"You mean I'm part of this plan too?"
"No, neither you nor Carol are included in the initiative." Fury shook his head. "I wasn't targeting either of you—in fact, your sudden reappearance surprised me."
Looking solemnly at Marcus, Fury took a deep breath before continuing.
"Your strength is extraordinary—perhaps even Carol can't match you. That's why I want to obtain a device from you that could summon you when needed, similar to this one."
He pulled a pager from his pocket. It had clearly been modified, its technology visibly Kree in origin.
"Carol left this with me. She wants me to use it only in the most critical circumstances. I'd like something similar from you—a way to contact you whenever you disappear again."
A summoning device?
Marcus frowned slightly. He couldn't create such a device.
He might appear in any number of worlds in the future, but he couldn't build a signal device capable of communicating across different dimensions.
"It's a good idea in theory, but contacting me isn't so simple. If I'm not here, I can't be reached by any means."
Hearing Marcus's response, Fury didn't press further. He had merely hoped to establish Marcus as an emergency resource like Carol.
If the world ever faced catastrophe, he wanted to contact Marcus and Carol urgently, bringing them back to Earth to help resolve the crisis.
But Marcus had made his position clear, and Fury couldn't force the issue. He hadn't placed excessive expectations on this request anyway.
"If you really need to find me, just make some significant noise. If I detect it, I'll come back to investigate."
By "significant noise," Marcus meant violent fluctuations in Earth's dimensional fabric—something he could easily detect from within the Void.
Fury nodded slightly. If circumstances ever became that dire, he would certainly spare no effort in making such "noise."
"By the way, what's happening in space?" Marcus asked curiously.
He hadn't been to space since returning, and didn't know how things had developed.
"Not bad. They've built a huge fortress using those two warships as a foundation."
The Mar-Vell laboratory in space, along with the warship Marcus had captured, had been transformed into a space fortress by Howard and the Skrulls.
Over the years, Howard and Skrull scientists had collaboratively developed specialized weapons and equipment—Earth's last line of defense.
Though these weapons weren't as powerful as Marcus's arsenal, they could still provide humans with means to combat alien threats.
"Really? Let's go take a look. It's been a long time since I've seen them." Marcus glanced at Fury. "Leaving Earth won't cause problems for you, right? You are the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after all..."
Hearing Marcus's teasing tone, Fury simply shrugged.
"No problem. Talos will cover for me."
Talos was the Skrull who had boarded Mar-Vell's laboratory with them more than a decade ago—the leader of that Skrull group.
Seeing that Fury had already made arrangements, Marcus nodded and said nothing more.
Under Fury's direction, they boarded an optically cloaked Quinjet and flew toward Mar-Vell's laboratory beyond Earth's atmosphere.
...
Mar-Vell's laboratory had become home to the Skrulls. Some, like Talos, occasionally visited Earth to stand in for Fury when needed.
Most, however, remained at the laboratory, assisting Howard and other scientists with various research projects.
As the Quinjet approached the laboratory, a gap suddenly opened in what appeared to be empty space, perfectly accommodating their vessel.
"You seem quite familiar at this. You must have been here frequently over the years," Marcus observed with a smile, noting Fury's smooth operation.
The changes to Mar-Vell's laboratory surprised him, however.
Though built from a battleship, the laboratory wasn't nearly this spacious before. The Skrulls had clearly completely remodeled the vessel.
Walking through the ship, Marcus looked around as if visiting for the first time.
"You've invested considerable effort in this ship. It seems far more livable than before."
"Of course—this place has practically become my secret base!"
Fury regarded this location as a safe house. Though he maintained countless safe houses on Earth, this orbital sanctuary represented his most secure and secretive refuge.
"Secret base? Hehe~"
With a chuckle, Marcus shook his head and continued forward.
More than seeing Fury's safe house, he wanted to meet Howard and Maria. The couple had lived in space for so long—he wondered how they were faring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~