The trembling of the villa clearly caught Carol Danvers off guard, yet she did nothing. She simply stood there, watching in silence.
Nolan narrowed his eyes, weighing his options.
Standing before him was the strongest superhero in the Marvel world.
The strongest. Without question.
Kill her?
He had to admit, Carol Danvers' domineering attitude stirred that impulse deep inside him.
He considered it seriously.
Then dismissed it.
It was not realistic.
If Captain Marvel were that easy to deal with, then the Infinity Stones would not be worth all the fear surrounding them.
What an enviable origin, he thought with a hint of bitterness.
Still, even so.
Even if Carol Danvers was an insurmountable peak in the eyes of countless people.
Today, Nolan wanted to see just how capable this so-called Captain Marvel truly was.
The constantly shaking villa finally revealed its true form.
In the blink of an eye, a fully armed mechanical fortress unfolded before them.
Nolan had not moved, yet an expanding energy barrier had already enveloped him.
This was his home.
After everything he had been through, how could he not be prepared?
The transformation was not over.
A massive underground passage opened.
Amid rhythmic mechanical collisions, large numbers of robots emerged, brimming with advanced technology.
They were Terminators.
Not like the earlier models.
These were pure machines of war, created for a single purpose.
Their orderly, lethal presence alone was enough to unsettle anyone.
Anyone except Carol Danvers.
She looked at Nolan's mechanical army with open contempt.
In her eyes, no matter how much preparation Nolan had made, it was all laughable before her.
"This is your confidence?" she said coldly.
"It seems you've overestimated yourself."
Nolan's expression did not change.
"Overestimated?"
"Maybe. But how would we know if we don't try?"
As his words fell, a massive Titan mech appeared.
Its towering mechanical body radiated an instinctive sense of oppression.
For the first time, surprise flickered across Carol Danvers' face.
Even she had to admit that this giant war machine was unexpected.
In her experience, civilizations capable of building something like this did exist, but never on Earth.
The Titan mech shattered her assumptions.
The battlefield fell into an eerie calm.
Nolan's gaze was equally steady as he looked at Carol Danvers.
Neither the Terminators nor the Titan was his true trump card.
And that final card was not prepared for her.
Carol Danvers might be reckless, but at least she still called herself a superhero.
Nolan's real trump card was reserved for those who could genuinely threaten his survival.
For example, the Ancient One.
Although the Ancient One had shown goodwill toward him, Nolan was not naive. No one extended kindness without a price.
Every gift in this world came with a cost.
Even if the Ancient One had never stated it outright, Nolan would never lower his guard.
That was why he would not use his ultimate weapon on Earth.
At least, not yet.
What worried him was whether the Ancient One, through her observation of future possibilities, might already know of that trump card.
Whether she knew or not, he had to be ready.
And beyond her, this world was full of dangers. Dimensional lords watched from the shadows, and unseen manipulators waited for their chance to step onto Earth.
"You're very lucky," Nolan said with a grin.
Carol Danvers frowned slightly, her confidence unshaken.
"Nolan Locke, I'll give you one last chance. Or I can dismantle every one of your robots."
"Dismantle them all?" Nolan scoffed.
"From the moment you stood here, this fight became inevitable.
I don't care where you come from, but Earth has its own rules. No one gets to ignore them. Not me, and not you."
As his words ended, every barrel turned toward Carol Danvers.
At that moment, the tension was broken by the roar of engines.
A fleet of black off-road vehicles rushed in.
Nick Fury stepped out with a large number of agents.
He glanced at Carol Danvers first, then turned to Nolan.
"Mr. Locke, you don't want to fight Danvers. I think the best thing we can do right now is sit down and talk. I can persuade her."
Nolan looked at Fury.
"If you can make her abandon that ridiculous idea, I'm willing to talk."
Nick Fury's expression grew more serious.
Carol Danvers' approach was extreme, but that did not mean her intentions were wrong.
That document had been handed to her by Fury himself.
In his original plan, it was meant to serve as a bridge between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nolan Locke.
What he had not expected was that Carol Danvers would push so hard, demanding Nolan sign an agreement that even Fury himself considered excessively harsh.
His single eye shifted slightly, his expression unchanged.
"We can renegotiate some of the specific terms in that document."
Nolan laughed softly.
So it was still a dead end.
Fine.
He would force this situation back onto a path where negotiation was possible.
Nolan ignored Nick Fury.
"Red Queen!"
He shouted.
The chill in his eyes deepened.
Every Terminator opened fire at once.
The entire mechanical fortress unleashed a storm of missiles, raining down on Carol Danvers like a metallic downpour.
Giving advance notice before a fight?
That was for fools.
The explosions thundered endlessly.
Smoke and debris engulfed Carol Danvers' position.
Nick Fury's heart tightened.
Nolan, however, did not relax.
This was only a greeting.
He had never believed this alone could deal with Captain Marvel.
The next second, a deafening blast erupted.
A violent gale tore through the area.
Nick Fury and his agents were thrown off their feet, sent flying.
Suddenly, the energy shield before Nolan flared brightly.
He turned toward the source of the impact.
Carol Danvers stood there, frozen mid-punch, shock written across her face.
She had expected to shatter the shield with ease.
Clearly, she had miscalculated.
Nolan remained calm.
If his defenses could not withstand even one of her punches, there would have been no point in preparing any of this.
Now, it was his turn.
Swarms of Terminators charged at Carol Danvers.
To her, they were nothing more than insects challenging a towering tree.
One punch. One machine shattered.
Not a single Terminator could withstand her strength.
But this was only the beginning.
These machines were merely standard components of his arsenal.
They had never been calculated as a decisive force against Captain Marvel.
A streak of black light flashed.
Carol Danvers did not take it head-on. She dodged.
Her gaze sharpened as she looked toward the source.
There stood a specialized combat unit, its weapon rapidly charging.
In an instant, the ground beneath her feet collapsed.
She appeared before the machine and destroyed it with a single punch.
That attack had carried a faint sense of danger.
Even if slight, it was enough to make her wary.
Before she could act again, countless identical attacks surged forth.
Forced back by the barrage, she retreated.
Nolan smiled.
It seemed his preparations were paying off.
Now came the real course.
"Red Queen, let Captain Marvel see our Titan."
At his command, the Titan mech finally moved.
Without Nolan inside, and with the Red Queen in control, it was even more formidable than before.
Nolan had always believed that if an AI was strong enough, putting a human inside a mech was pointless.
Without a pilot, vast internal space was freed.
That space was now used entirely to enhance the Titan's performance.
"Titan, full barrage," the Red Queen announced.
Every weapon fired at once toward Carol Danvers.
The Titan ignored the Terminators being torn apart like toys.
Even though those specialized units cost millions each, the Red Queen did not calculate losses.
Her logic revolved around victory, not cost efficiency.
Nolan did not mind either.
Once, those Terminators had been priceless to him.
Now, with Locke Technologies expanding globally, his resources had grown immense.
If spending that money let him give Carol Danvers a lesson, it was worth every cent.
Faced with the Titan's assault, Carol Danvers dodged immediately.
Cold fury flickered in her eyes.
Nolan Locke was making her angry.
And when she was angry, the consequences were severe.
A thunderous explosion rang out, distinct even amid the chaos.
In the next moment, she appeared directly in front of the Titan.
She slammed her fist down.
A dull impact echoed.
In her mind, that punch should have obliterated the Titan.
Instead, she failed again.
For the second time, Nolan Locke's technology stopped her.
In the distance, Nick Fury's battered face showed shock.
Just how had Nolan Locke managed this?
He had believed that once Carol Danvers intervened, there would be no surprises.
Now he was staring at one.
Everyone was stunned.
Everyone except Nolan.
His eyes never left Carol Danvers.
This exchange had cost him dearly.
Carol Danvers pulled back and hovered in midair.
For the first time, anger fully surfaced on her face.
"So you're that confident in your toys?" she said coldly.
"Then I'll crush that confidence completely."
A deep hum seemed to resonate through the air, though no sound could be heard.
Immense energy surged from her body.
It was almost identical to the power Nolan had witnessed the first time they met.
Carol Danvers moved.
In an instant, she reached the Titan.
Every attack along her path was ignored.
Even another full barrage failed to slow her.
She was Carol Danvers.
She was the strongest superhero.
Surrounded by blazing energy, she struck rapidly.
In less than three seconds, the Titan's energy shield sent out a critical alert.
Before the Red Queen could respond, the shield collapsed.
In the next instant, a concentrated beam from her fingertips reduced the Titan to dust.
She landed lightly.
The Terminators' attacks no longer affected her at all.
Step by step, she walked toward Nolan.
"Now, I'll give you your final chance."
She shone like a blazing deity.
Nick Fury finally let out a breath.
A rare smile appeared on his face.
This was Captain Marvel.
This was his strongest card.
With Danvers here, there was nothing to fear.
Not even Nolan Locke.
And yet, Nolan smiled too.
There was no fear in his expression.
Only mockery.
He had not lost.
His true trump card had not appeared, and he had no intention of revealing it.
But still.
Nolan looked at Carol Danvers and raised the Sling Ring in his hand.
Fueled by magic, a massive portal opened.
On the other side waited a surging mechanical tide.
At his command, everything beyond it would pour out like a storm.
Endless Terminators.
Countless machines Nick Fury had never seen before.
Weapons already demonstrated, and many that had not.
Several towering Titans.
Massive cannons with barrels meters wide, radiating advanced technology.
Fury could tell at a glance they were not conventional artillery, but colossal energy cannons.
No one knew their power.
Just as no one knew how to respond if that mechanical tide was unleashed.
Nolan chuckled softly.
"Captain Marvel, do you still want to fight?"
"If you do, I'm ready."
Carol Danvers' expression changed.
"You really did violate the regulations," she said grimly.
Nolan shrugged.
"Maybe. But the rules you talk about are ignored by everyone, including you. Otherwise, you would be following the law instead of acting like this.
Still, I'm generous."
His voice turned cold.
"If you want war, I'll give you war. I'll throw everything I have into this ridiculous fight.
I'm ready. I hope you are too."
Before Carol Danvers could respond, Nick Fury panicked.
War?
Was this a joke?
…