Although both William and Nick Fury knew that Frank Castle's wife and children were killed by the Cartel, hearing William imply there was more to the story forced even the cunning and calculating Fury to reconsider whether there was a hidden truth.
Fury hesitated to call the Punisher because Frank had already wiped out the entire Cartel. If he made that call, Frank would be consumed by hatred once more.
But after reviewing the Punisher's activities over the past few years, Fury realized that whether he made the call or not, Frank was already on a path toward an inevitable death.
Besides, apart from Coulson, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, Fury had almost no one he could trust.
If it turned out that HYDRA had indeed orchestrated the murder of Frank's family using the Cartel as a front, then Frank would be a valuable ally in the fight against them.
As for whether the intel was true or not, that would only be revealed through investigation. If it was false, then it was William's problem.
But once Frank started digging, there was no way he wouldn't go to war with HYDRA.
And once that happened, Fury wouldn't have to convince him to take action—Frank would go after HYDRA with everything he had.
With that in mind, Fury finally pressed the dial button.
No one knew what was said between them, but for William, this move was perfect.
Using the Punisher against Alexander Pierce was ideal—Frank wouldn't strengthen Fury too much, and since his methods always involved killing, there would be no turning back.
After just a few encounters, their conflict would become an unresolvable blood feud.
This meant that both sides would be preoccupied, leaving William out of their focus.
—
With the matter of Fury and the Skrulls settled, William was free to wait for Captain Marvel's arrival.
He had expected it to happen quickly, but unexpectedly, two months passed before she made her move.
By then, it was the opening day of the 2005-06 Premier League season, as well as the official inauguration of Chelsea's new stadium.
What neither Lena nor Chelsea's management had anticipated was that the 60,000-seat stadium was already struggling with capacity issues upon opening.
They had to hold emergency meetings to discuss whether to release the additional 4,000 backup seats that had been left in reserve.
William stayed out of the matter, leaving everything to his mother. He didn't even attend the opening ceremony, letting Lena take center stage instead.
Over the past few years, despite Chelsea failing to win the Champions League, securing two Premier League titles in four years had kept the fans satisfied.
Even those who weren't completely happy with the results had no power to challenge the Devonshire family.
Everyone understood that even if every other Premier League club owner went bankrupt, William never would.
As for not winning the Champions League, William didn't particularly care. It was nice to have, but not essential. Besides, the club had finally reached financial self-sufficiency in the past two years, so he was even less concerned.
Lena, on the other hand, wasn't as indifferent.
For her, William had postponed the commercialization of his medical devices for three years just to support her dream of winning a championship.
This delay had cost the Devonshire family over a billion dollars—twice the amount Chelsea had appreciated in value during the same period.
If they failed to win the Champions League again this year, José Mourinho's position as manager could be in jeopardy.
William didn't care whether Mourinho stayed or left, but thirty minutes into the match, Sunday reported something that he did care about.
Putting on his smart glasses, he saw a short-haired woman clad in a red-and-blue bodysuit, glowing with energy.
She was rampaging through the abandoned base in the Sahara Desert, recklessly destroying all defensive measures and equipment.
It took her less than two minutes to blast her way from the second underground level to the fifth, leaving no area unchecked.
Anyone could see that Captain Marvel was searching for something.
But this trap hadn't only ensnared Fury and Captain Marvel—it had also caught over a hundred American soldiers and dozens of mercenaries.
When Captain Marvel finally reached the lowest level, dozens of structural support beams exploded simultaneously.
Hundreds of successive detonations echoed through the base.
The entire structure trembled, metal creaked and groaned under strain, and to the shock and horror of everyone on the surface, the base began to collapse, sinking into the earth.
Fortunately, the American troops and mercenaries stationed on the surface had set up their camp at a safe distance.
As soon as they felt the tremors, they reacted quickly.
With dozens of seconds to escape, they managed to run over a hundred meters, avoiding the fate of being swallowed by the crumbling base.
As long as they weren't standing directly over the sinkhole, they had a chance to escape.
Only about a dozen slow-reacting individuals were caught in the collapse, while the majority managed to flee.
Captain Marvel, however, wasn't so lucky.
At that moment, escaping left her with no time to worry about secrecy.
She had to unleash all her energy, blasting through layers of reinforced concrete and steel to break free.
Then, transforming into a blinding streak of light, she shot skyward.
High in the air, she clenched her fists, suppressing her frustration and regret as she watched the ground continue to sink.
The sight of soldiers and mercenaries scrambling for safety did little to ease her mood.
Once the collapse stabilized and no further casualties occurred, Captain Marvel turned into a meteor, streaking several hundred kilometers away to a hovering helicopter.
—
What she didn't know was that shortly after she left, about a hundred meters from the collapsed base, something else had happened.
The shockwaves from the base's destruction had triggered a secondary collapse deep underground.
A massive subterranean structure caved in, revealing an ancient tomb.
A plume of dust, dozens of meters high, erupted from the ground, clearly visible to the surviving soldiers and mercenaries.
—
Landing beside Fury, Captain Marvel's expression was grim.
"You were tricked, Fury," she snapped. "Maybe we should head straight to London and confront William Devonshire."
"Confront him? No, Carol."
Despite realizing he had been deceived, Fury remained rational.
"Talos and the other Skrulls are still missing. Even if we go directly to William Devonshire, what do you expect us to do—beat him up or kill him?"
Carol frowned. "Then what do you suggest?"
After a brief moment of thought, Fury said, "I'm worried that William Devonshire has them locked up in a spaceship somewhere in space.
"If that's the case, we don't have many options beyond negotiating with him."
They fell into silence for a few moments before Fury continued.
"We've already made our move and tipped him off. I think you need to check Mars—there's a chance he's keeping the Skrulls there."
Carol crossed her arms. "Didn't you say he has teleportation powers? If he knows we're looking, he'd move them before I even get there."
"That's true," Fury admitted. "But think about it, Carol.
"If William realizes you can operate freely in space, maybe he'll start taking you seriously and make some concessions."
She pondered this for a moment before nodding.
Without another word, Captain Marvel launched herself into the sky, heading straight for Mars.
(End of Chapter)
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