The dim yellow light swayed.
The surrounding walls were covered with metal pipes, and inside the long, narrow, deep underground passage, waves of low roars echoed.
Druig's pupils were filled with golden light, several black-blue veins bulging on his forehead. Large beads of sweat seeped out, gathering along his cheeks to his jaw before finally falling onto the cold ground.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz...
The surrounding space visibly rippled with layer upon layer of waves, as if some invisible force were stirring the space.
"Ughghghgh ahhhhh..."
Nick Fury's brain felt as if it were being pierced by needles. He let out painful screams, his body curling up as he rolled back and forth on the ground.
It was like a red-hot branding iron had been pressed alive into his brain, then stirred around madly, as if he could even feel his brain matter trembling!
A consciousness that did not belong to him was forcefully squeezing in with an unreasonable and tyrannical posture, trying to explore the memories in his mind.
"No! No! No!"
Fury's eyes were about to split, his eye sockets nearly bursting. His eyes were red like a beast's as he roared loudly, "Don't even think about getting information about the Reishi Laboratory!"
Because both hands were restrained by golden bands of light, he could only choose an even more extreme method.
Fury suddenly swung his head, aimed at the nearby wall, gathered all the strength in his body, and slammed into it fiercely.
Bang!
Just one hit, and blood flowed from his head.
Fury's forehead caved in, blood flowing out uncontrollably, while he saw stars and his brain buzzed.
Blood soaked his entire face, making his already ferocious face look even more terrifying now, like a malicious ghost crawling out of hell.
Ikaris and Druig were startled, truly not expecting Fury to be this ruthless.
Seeing that Fury was about to slam into the wall again, Ikaris, both shocked and furious, stepped forward and grabbed Nick Fury, twisting his joints behind him.
"Want to die?"
Ikaris suppressed his anger and said coldly, "It won't be that simple. Once you reveal the secret of the Reishi Laboratory, I will naturally let you die!"
Unable to seek death, Fury became even more pained.
As the mental force kept increasing, his brain became like a lump of paste, leaving only the last trace of instinct, stubbornly resisting.
"He's still struggling?!"
Druig's expression changed slightly, shocked by Fury's willpower. Gritting his teeth, he increased his mental output. "I want to see just how long you can resist!"
Boom!
An extremely powerful mental force, like a drill cast from steel, erupted with astonishing impact force, continuously striking Fury's cerebral cortex, trying to break through the final layer of defense.
Rumble——
The clash between mental forces could not be seen, but it was extremely dangerous. Fury was like a tough reef, standing firm no matter how the huge waves struck.
But... humans had limits after all.
Fury struggled bitterly for a very long time, so long that his mind became dazed, and the reef was covered in wounds. Under waves of mental force that were stronger and more violent than the last, he was nearly on the verge of collapse.
Ikaris put away the contempt in his eyes, and it turned into admiration instead. He had not expected that a human could actually resist Druig's control, and for such a long time.
"Hurry up and tell me!!!"
Seeing the admiration flickering in his companion's eyes, Druig was ashamed and furious in his heart. Taking so long to deal with a human had made him lose face completely, and his mental force surged several times again.
Black-blue veins bulged from his neck, and Druig's delicate face became even redder and more ferocious from overusing mental power.
Boom!
Fury bled from all seven orifices, his pupils rolling upward and showing white. His entire body swayed, then his head dropped weakly.
It was precisely this impact.
It became the final straw that broke the camel's back. The tenacious reef could no longer endure it. Amid Fury's low groan, all his resistance completely collapsed, pouring out like a breached dam.
"It's finally dealt with."
Druig let out a long breath, his violent mental power restraining and calming down, and the veins on his face gradually faded.
Although the process had been somewhat difficult, Fury's resistance exceeded expectations and cost him no small amount of effort, he could now finally manipulate this man's consciousness without restraint.
But after entering the depths of Fury's sea of consciousness, Druig could not help drawing in a cold breath, and a trace of horror appeared in his eyes. "This man... this man..."
"What's wrong?" Seeing this, Ikaris thought something had gone wrong and asked nervously, "Did it fail?"
"No... no..."
Druig repeatedly took deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart, his face carrying a trace of horror. "This guy's brain... is very abnormal. It's practically like... it has the memories of countless people!"
He could only use such an adjective to describe the astonishing scene he had seen deep within Fury's brain, in the sea of consciousness where memories were stored.
In theory, every person's sea of consciousness should be relatively complete.
But Nick Fury's sea of consciousness had been cut into countless cubes, completely unconnected to one another, like independent individuals.
Druig tried to touch one of them and discovered that outside these cubes, there was an extremely powerful mental defense. If he forcibly broke through, it would easily cause self-destruction.
"Don't worry about those things!"
Ikaris said irritably, "Our target is the Reishi Laboratory. You only need to find this part of his consciousness and control him to reveal the secret of how to enter!"
"Give me ten minutes."
Druig closed his eyes and said, "This guy has too many memories. One careless mistake could easily cause self-destruction. I'll search carefully."
"Good!"
Hearing this, even if Ikaris was irritated, he could only force himself to calm down, but the uneasy feeling in his heart could never be dispelled.
Time passed little by little.
Just as Ikaris was about to lose patience and urge him again, Druig's entire body suddenly swayed. Immediately after, blood flowed from all seven orifices, and he groaned before slowly opening his eyes, his face as pale as if it had been painted with a layer of white.
"Are you all right?"
Ikaris was startled and quickly supported Druig, who was about to fall, asking with concern.
"I'm fine... I was just careless..." Druig raised his hand to wipe away the blood at the corner of his lips, barely squeezing out a smile. "I found the method to enter the Reishi Laboratory. It requires Nick Fury's biological DNA, retinal pattern, fingerprints, dynamic voice, and a secret hand gesture."
"We need to split into two groups." Ikaris's heart sank, and struggle appeared in his eyes. "There's no way around it. Fury and I will go..."
"No, let me go instead."
Druig interrupted him, forcefully patted his shoulder, used the force to support himself up, looked at the unconscious Fury, and said faintly, "First of all, only I can control Fury. There is no meaning in you going."
"But..."
Ikaris still wanted to argue, but was stopped by Druig raising his hand.
"Listen to me finish, Ikaris."
Druig's eyes were somewhat desolate as he said in a low, hoarse voice, "You are the Prime Eternal. Thena, Sersi, Sprite, they are all waiting for you to take them back home, so you cannot die."
"Secondly..."
"Makkari is already dead, and I... the feelings I hid for so long will never have the chance to be conveyed to her. This is the perfect chance to avenge her. I will not possibly give it to you."
"So, let me go."
Druig let out a long sigh, his eyes carrying encouragement as he said, "You will be a good Prime Eternal, Ikaris. I believe you will definitely be able to take them back."
Ikaris did not answer him. He only deeply lowered his head, his fists clenched tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh.
He had deceived Druig...
Once the Emergence ritual ended, when the new Celestial was born, everyone would die.
The road home...
Had never existed from the very beginning.