Silence...
With the appearance of the naked man, everyone near the Manhattan District Stock Exchange fell into a tense silence.
This silence persisted for over twenty seconds until Heisenberg stirred with great effort, breaking the stillness.
Heisenberg stiffly raised his hand like a living corpse.
In an instant, over seventy rifles and twelve grenade launchers were aimed at him.
Iron Man's gauntlet cannons locked onto Heisenberg, the energy in his palms steadily building.
Arcing electricity crackled across Black Widow's right gauntlet, dangerous yet mesmerizing.
As for Coulson...
He glanced at his raised pistol, aimed at the target, and pursed his lips.
Why does this pose always feel so utterly useless?
Ahem!
Coulson shook his head, banishing the distracting thoughts. He cautiously spoke, "Can you understand me? Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you want?"
As his words hung in the air, Heisenberg frowned. Isn't this the age-old existential question?
Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?
"I am Heisenberg, the 64th Supreme Elder of Krypton's Council of Elders. I... Ugh, ahhhhhh!"
Before he could finish speaking, an unbearable pain abruptly cut him off.
A cacophony of voices, an overwhelming din, crashed into his mind!
It felt like tens of thousands of Huskies were howling madly in his ears.
Or like hundreds of thousands of women were chattering incessantly in his brain.
Or even worse, like a thousand nuclear bombs were detonating in his nose and mouth!
The air itself felt like razor-sharp daggers. Each breath required every ounce of his strength, yet no matter how much he inhaled, his lungs remained parched and dry.
And most critically...
Radiation!
Heisenberg recognized it as the radiation from Earth's unique yellow sun, a force that naturally enhanced Kryptonian cells.
But this enhancement was far from gentle. His cells were like a riverbed that had been dry for centuries, while the solar radiation surged through them like a raging river.
The moment the irradiated river water touched Heisenberg's body, it transformed into a raging mudslide, surging through every corner of his being.
"I... Ugh, ah, fuck! Fucking hell! Aaaaaaah!"
He collapsed to the ground with a thud, face down on the greasy asphalt, his body convulsing like a shrimp being boiled alive.
His agonizing display instantly dissolved the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' hostility.
Coulson darted to Heisenberg's side.
"Damn it! An elder from some alien planet seems to have crash-landed on Earth with some kind of disease. I really don't want him dying here!"
As he spoke, Coulson barked orders to the others:
"Evacuate the Manhattan District immediately! The target is suspected of carrying a lethal disease with potential for contagion. Personnel with children at home and field agents under twenty-five are to stay clear. The rest of you, help me get him back to headquarters!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Roger that!"
"I'm on it!"
Three or four agents immediately stepped forward, and within moments, Heisenberg was being lifted into a Hummer and secured.
The Hummer roared away, leaving Iron Man standing alone, his large eyes glaring from behind his mask.
Watching the departing convoy, Tony Stark sighed in exasperation.
"They move fast. Fine, Jarvis, notify Pepper to send two samples of the virus testing equipment Stark Group developed two years ago—the ones we discontinued. And emphasize to Pepper that she must not approach the stock exchange under any circumstances!"
After a moment's thought, Tony added another instruction.
"Oh, and while you're at it, acquire 200,000 hazmat suits and a million masks. Let's get New York prepared."
"Understood, Mr. Stark," Jarvis replied, swiftly executing the orders.
Afterward, Tony turned his attention to the spot where Heisenberg had collapsed. He seemed to have noticed something.
He walked over, bent down, and examined the ground.
"Wait... was there always a hole in the road here?"
Indeed, right where Heisenberg had fallen, a peculiar pit now stood in the middle of the road.
The pit appeared to be composed of three sections: two shallower depressions flanking a deeper central cavity.
Tony reached out, puzzled, and probed the edge of the pit.
"This is a major thoroughfare in Manhattan. There's no way such obvious damage could exist here. So, what exactly is this pit...?"
He involuntarily replayed the image of Heisenberg's fall in his mind. His expression immediately darkened.
He sprang to his feet and recoiled several steps in disgust.
He glanced uneasily at his crotch, then back at the pit on the ground.
"What a fucking miracle! An absolute miracle! It's infuriatingly enviable! Damn it...!!!"
With that, he turned and flew away without looking back.
He needed to change his armor. The Mark II suit had to be discarded; he couldn't bear wearing armor that had indirectly touched a man's... you know.
That was just too un-Tony Stark!
Approximately forty minutes later.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York headquarters.
Nick Fury stood behind a one-way bulletproof glass wall, his gaze fixed on Heisenberg in the room.
Around Heisenberg's bed, over a dozen medical experts were engaged in intense discussion.
"Damn it, our current scanning devices can't penetrate his skin to reach his internal organs! His muscles are denser than the thickest metal!"
"This is unbelievable! Even my finest surgical scalpel can't cut a single strand of his hair!"
"It's not just his hair. I even tried using a laser scalpel to take a sample from his eyeball for analysis, but the laser couldn't even scratch his lens!"
"What kind of being is this? Even Thor, when he came to Earth, didn't possess such an indestructible physique!"
"I suspect he could survive independently in space. Absolutely!"
"Enough talk. He's awake, though he seems to be in pain. Even if he doesn't understand our language, we shouldn't reveal too much information. After all, he's..."
"After all, I'm an alien, right?"
Heisenberg suddenly spoke, his eyes snapping open as if jolted awake from a deep slumber.
Just moments ago, his body had been strapped to an experimental table by S.H.I.E.L.D. If he weren't a Kryptonian, he'd likely be a pile of scattered, dismembered organs by now!
He was feeling rather annoyed.
When he opened his eyes, his vision was still blurry. The first thing Heisenberg saw wasn't humans, but a dozen human skeletons.
His enhanced vision pierced through the doctors' disguises, revealing their true forms.
He lingered his gaze on one doctor's rear, drawn to the conspicuous anal plug clamped between the doctor's buttocks...
The doctors remained oblivious to his scrutiny.
Instead, they were stunned by Heisenberg's fluent English.
During their brief silence, Nick Fury, watching from outside the isolation chamber, barked into his earpiece:
"Ask him about his condition! What disease is it? Is it contagious? Ask him now!"
"Pah!"
Before Fury could finish, Heisenberg abruptly sat up.
"Don't insult me with talk of contagious diseases!"
As he spat the words, he raised his arm.
The specialized restraints binding him to the bed snapped instantly. The metallic ropes shattered with a deafening crack, forcing many doctors to cover their ears.
Heisenberg, surrounded by countless blades and lasers aimed at him, felt an overwhelming urge to
kill.
Yet in the end, he evaded the doctors and casually hopped off the bed.
The moment his feet touched the ground, his legs seemed to buckle. He staggered, his hand darting out to grip the nearby medical equipment for support.
Crash!
He crushed the instrument, leaving a deep, several-centimeter-wide dent. Electric sparks flickered within the indentation for a few seconds before the device went completely dark.
Heisenberg showed no remorse for the damaged equipment. He casually ripped a bedsheet off the bed and draped it over his lower body.
Then, he glanced at the supposedly opaque mirror and strode directly toward Nick Fury, who stood outside the one-way glass.
Nick Fury's brow furrowed deeply, beads of sweat forming at the corners of his forehead.
Fortunately, Heisenberg stopped just before the glass.
"You're... well, you don't have a business card, but I seem to have overheard someone mentioning your name over seven hundred meters away. You're the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, right?"
"I can't believe it!" Nick Fury exclaimed, astonished by Heisenberg's words.
"There's much more you can't believe," Heisenberg continued, advancing. "For instance, you're completely powerless against me. Oh, and I don't particularly enjoy chatting with you in this isolation chamber. It makes me feel like some rare creature on display."
As Heisenberg drew closer, Nick Fury and Hill immediately retreated, their tension palpable.
Just as Heisenberg's forehead touched the glass, he suddenly stopped.
"You haven't retreated far enough. Another twenty steps back, to that corner over there!" he instructed.
After a moment's hesitation, Nick Fury complied.
Twenty steps away, Nick Fury and Hill stood by the corner, their eyes fixed on Heisenberg's relatively handsome, yet undeniably masculine face.
Heisenberg continued to advance slowly.
Without any visible exertion, he effortlessly passed through the glass and wall.
The shatterproof glass, forced to its breaking point, instantly shattered, the violent reaction sending shards raining down across a twenty-meter radius.
Heisenberg, gripping the bedsheets that had nearly been crushed, stood amidst the debris and raised a hand to Nick Fury.
"You look like you have a lot to say, but first, get me some clothes. Just a black trench coat like yours will do. Hurry!"
"I can fulfill your request, but please refrain from any rash actions," Nick Fury said cautiously. "I'd appreciate it if you would accompany me to my office. The clothes will be prepared there."
"Hmm!" Heisenberg nodded and followed Nick Fury to his office.
Halfway there, Hill parted ways with them.
By the time Heisenberg entered the office, Hill was already waiting inside with a full set of black clothing.
Heisenberg took the clothes, examined them briefly, and nodded.
"Your sense of style is quite good—a bit better than on my planet. I've long grown tired of our uniforms, which haven't changed in over a hundred thousand years!"
With that, he changed into the clothes in an instant.
His movements were so swift that he created a small whirlwind in the office.
The sudden gust of wind forced Nick Fury to squint against the gale. When he looked up again, Heisenberg was already fully dressed and seated on the sofa that should have been Fury's.
"Sit down. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed the feeling of sitting. Ask whatever you want."
Heisenberg greeted Nick Fury from the sofa, his demeanor chilling Fury to the bone.
Dominance. That was the impression Heisenberg exuded. Combined with the astonishing power he had previously demonstrated, this dominance was backed by boundless confidence.
Nick Fury, like a subordinate facing his superior, quietly took a seat opposite Heisenberg.
After a moment of silence, Fury glanced at Hill and instructed, "Please bring us some wine—the finest you have."
"Yes, sir!" Hill nodded and immediately left the room, understanding Fury's intent.
To guard against Heisenberg's presence in the office, S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to deploy their strongest available asset:
The Hulk, currently stationed in India.
As Hill contacted Coulson and Black Widow to issue orders for recruiting the Hulk, Nick Fury softly asked Heisenberg:
"Before the drinks arrive, allow me to ask a presumptuous question: what exactly is your true identity?"
"Ha!"
Heisenberg chuckled. Who am I?
Am I still the ordinary man I once was? Am I still that powerless nobody, skilled only in bowing and scraping?
Now, he had no desire to feign humility, especially with his Kryptonian strength making S.H.I.E.L.D. a trivial concern.
He spoke calmly.
"Who am I?
I am the 64th Supreme Elder of the Council of Elders of ancient Krypton, the only leader in Kryptonian history to be branded a traitor by the people.
I am also the so-called criminal who was sealed in temporal stasis and buried for over eighteen thousand years.
And I am the withered bone that, even after being lost to time, still struggles to rise from the grave!
Hatred, resentment—do you think my heart is filled with such petty emotions?
Rest assured.
I may sense your wariness toward me.
But in truth, stripped of everything I once possessed and lost, I am now...
just an ordinary Kryptonian."