On the other side of the one-way mirror—
Lyon pointed at Captain Arica, who was now learning the situation from Coulson.
"I told you, instead of listening to those psychologists' suggestions about recreating so historical setting, it's better to just lay the truth out in front of him."
"See? He's accepting it pretty quickly," he said.
"Quick, yes—but on the verge of collapse,"
Tony said, noticing the tremble in Cap's eyes at that mont.
It reminded him of how he looked when he himself had been trapped in that cave in Afghanistan—that sorrowful expression of soone about to say goodbye to the people they loved forever.
The Captain Arica described in Howard's records, the one so perfect he didn't seem human, suddenly had a concrete image in Tony's mind—one that had returned to being just a man.
"He's probably thinking about Madam Peggy Carter," Lyon said.
"Like you said, even kids know that dance beca a century-old regret. But now that Carter is married and growing senile, he's missed his chance."
According to the storyline of the main film universe, there should be another Steve Rogers from a parallel universe.
In the 1970s, he would travel through ti to return the borrowed Space Stone.
After returning the stone, he would stay behind and spend the rest of his life with Peggy Carter.
He would wait until the end of this world's Decimation event before reappearing to et the younger Falcon and Winter Soldier, handing over the responsibilities of Captain Arica to them. (End of Avengers: Endga)
Hearing Lyon, Tony felt a bit wistful. "Yeah… Carter suddenly found soone in her forties. Rogers is probably going to feel awful when he finds out."
"Tony, do you know who Carter's husband was?" Lyon raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you asking that?" Tony tried to recall. "No real impression. It was a secret marriage, and I heard the guy was so classified agent."
"I see…"
Lyon looked thoughtful.
He lifted the suppression on his enhanced hearing, and a few seconds later, located the information he wanted.
"Just as I thought," he muttered to himself.
Gazing at the gloomy, expressionless Captain Arica on the other side of the glass, a slightly mischievous but definitely uplifting idea suddenly popped into Lyon's mind—one that would surely make Cap ecstatic.
He was considering it.
Lyon suddenly asked Tony, "Are you sure you want to bring Captain Arica into the Avengers?"
"Of course. The Avengers need a lasting and active symbol of hope, don't they?"
Tony replied without turning his head.
"Sure, a Superman like you would be a better fit for that role, but unfortunately, you're not interested in joining my superhero group."
Lyon shook his head. "Isn't my na already listed as a reserve? If there's a crisis threatening the planet, I'll step in."
"That's exactly why I need Rogers—you only step in at the end. You don't take part in daily operations," Tony said.
Lyon spread his hands. "Well, since you've made up your mind, I won't object. But what about Bucky? How are you planning to deal with that? Keep it from Rogers? That's his best friend, you know."
"Bucky…" A fleeting look of inner conflict crossed Tony's eyes.
He pressed his lips tightly together. "Keeping secrets won't solve the problem. I'll co clean to Rogers."
"How do you plan to do that?"
"I'll wait for the right mont and explain everything to him—the cause, the effect." Tony let out a long breath. "Of course, the explanation doesn't need to be too blunt."
"You're going to tell him face-to-face? That's very much your style," Lyon shook his head.
"Well, it's your Avengers, so you make the call."
"But I was the one who killed Bucky. And I've never regretted it. So if Rogers ends up wanting revenge, let him co after . Just don't take the bla for , ok?"
Lyon turned to leave, casually grabbing a bottle of Celestial Spring Water and handing it to Tony.
"I'm heading out first. Here, this bottle's for you—handle it however you see fit. You've seen what it can do. You'll know when the ti is right to use it."
Tony accepted the bottle of Celestial Spring Water, watching Lyon's back as he walked away, then gripped the jade bottle tightly.
The cool sensation spread from his palm through his body, sending a chill through his chest.
He looked back toward Captain Arica on the other side of the glass and recalled Lyon's earlier question about Carter.
Suddenly, he felt like he understood the purpose of the spring water in his hand.
"That guy… always circling around just to offer so kind of compensation. Why can't he be as straightforward as ?"
Tony chuckled, and much of the gloom that had lingered in his heart over Bucky began to dissipate.
He assud Lyon had given him the Celestial Spring Water as compensation for Steve.
But in truth, Lyon didn't particularly care what would happen to Steve Rogers.
He gave the spring water—On one hand, it was out of mischief. On the other, it was to support his older brother.
But Tony believed he had figured out the real reason.
Grinning, he put away the Celestial Spring Water and walked toward the room where Captain Arica and the others were.
Pushing open the door: "Soldier Steve Rogers, from what I've heard, you've got a promise to keep, don't you?"
…
Nick Fury's warning to Talos didn't have much effect.
Even though the dove faction represented by Talos had mostly agreed to temporarily leave Earth, there would always be differing voices within any race.
A day passed.
Only the Skrull refugees in the shelters had evacuated from Earth.
As for the other Skrulls scattered across the globe—most of them had long since taken the place of humans.
They had grown accustod to life on Earth.
So had even risen to positions of power, able to issue orders and enjoy privilege.
So of them held low-status identities, doing manual labor every day—but at least their lives were stable.
No matter how tough things were, it was still far better than wandering through the universe.
How could they possibly give up everything they had now, leave Earth, and return to a life of constant flight and uncertainty?
Besides, they all believed their disguises were flawless, impossible to detect by any nation.
After all, Skrull disguises were incredibly thorough.
Even genetic testing couldn't expose them.
They had wandered across the galaxy for so many years, and only the Three Great Empires had developed counterasures against them.
If even the vastness of space couldn't expose them, then a remote and backward place like Earth was even less of a concern.
As for those so-called n in black? Just a bunch of petty clowns!
The Skrulls who chose to stay on Earth were all suprely confident—bordering on fearless.
But that confidence began to crumble when the man in black started distributing detection equipnt to governnts around the world.
It shattered instantly.
The detection devices were all mobile radiation towers.
Each tower stood three ters tall, pitch-black, shaped like a cone.
Once activated, they continuously emitted a special type of radiation within a ten-kiloter radius.
This radiation interfered with the Skrulls' disguise abilities, causing their appearance to flicker back and forth between their original form and their human disguise.
When these devices were activated by governnts around the world, everyone was stunned.
In Washington's White House, the janitor cleaning President Ellis's room was a Skrull.
In London's Buckingham Palace, the Queen's attendant was a Skrull.
In New Delhi, the ruling official—also a Skrull.
All of a sudden, people were enjoying the breeze, basking in the sun, when they turned their heads and saw green-skinned figures appearing all across the street.
Skrulls—Skrulls everywhere!
When the detection devices were activated, the Skrulls hadn't yet realized that their appearances were already flickering between green skin and human form.
When they were struck down or killed, many still had confusion on their faces.
That day—
Tens of thousands of Skrulls across the world were exposed in public!
Everyone now understood that the man in black hadn't been exaggerating.
Nations entered a state of true martial law.
The man in black took action, conducting a global sweep for Skrulls.
The Avengers mobilized as well, led by the newly awakened Captain Arica, hunting down Skrulls.
The remaining Skrulls finally felt fear.
After all, no matter how high the rank of the humans they had replaced, once their identities were exposed, they could no longer rely on that power or influence.
That very night—
Thousands upon thousands of spacecraft launched from all corners of the globe, rising into the starry sky!
For a race that had fled across the universe for years, the Skrulls were all too familiar with mass evacuations.
In a single day, in a single night, nearly all of the ten thousand Skrulls were withdrawn from Earth.
______
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