Darian ignored the three disdainful gazes and continued: "Not only that, Earthlings have many powerful allies, such as Thunder God Thor and Captain Marvel. They would never stand by and watch Earth change hands."
Hearing the name Captain Marvel, several figures at the round table couldn't help but tremble.
Decades ago, they had witnessed firsthand just how terrifying that square-jawed woman was.
Even the Kree, who had nearly wiped them out, were scared off by her and fled. Since then, the Kree fleet had never dared to approach Earth. If they really faced her, they might as well find a good burial spot in advance to ensure they at least had a complete corpse.
Darian chuckled: "So you understand now, right? If I hadn't stopped the traitor Gravik, we Skrulls would inevitably have headed toward extinction."
A Radical member asked hesitantly: "Then what should we do? We can't stay cooped up in this place forever, living as undocumented Aliens in the shadows for the rest of our lives, right?"
Darian smiled slightly: "Since Nick Fury can't help us, we will find a new home ourselves. The Universe is so vast; Earth isn't the only Planet suitable for us Skrulls to live on. Why must we insist on clinging to this place?"
Talos sighed: "I understand the logic, but when we escaped back then, our warships were destroyed by the Kree. We have no capability for interstellar travel."
"Furthermore, millions of our kin have arrived on Earth over the years. We can't just relocate so many people; we have neither the ability nor the resources."
They had certainly thought about leaving Earth to find a new home on another Planet.
The problem was they couldn't do it.
Earth was a backwater place; they didn't even have a decent spaceship.
It wasn't that the Skrulls lacked technology, but that Bald Egg Nick Fury had been freeloading off them for decades without paying a cent. Their pockets were cleaner than their faces; they couldn't even afford to build a spaceship toilet, let alone talk about interstellar travel.
Darian waved his hand: "Don't worry about that. I've already thought of a solution. It will only take three years for us Skrulls to launch from Earth and head to the Mo... ahem, find a new home."
Nick Fury: (Seven 灬 ●)
This sounds so familiar, like the empty promises I used to make.
That said, these Skrulls really hit hard; they beat his face until it was swollen.
Hearing this, the Skrulls' eyes instantly lit up with hope.
"What kind of solution?"
If Nick Fury had said this, they wouldn't believe a word of it, but the person in front of them was one of their own Skrulls, so the credibility was much higher.
"You will know in due time."
Darian didn't explain, just revealed a meaningful smile.
Talos knew Darian's true identity and hesitated for a moment: "Are you sure?"
Darian nodded: "Of course, Skrulls don't lie to Skrulls!"
Talos: "..."
The problem is, you aren't a Skrull either!
Darian chuckled: "Don't worry, I'm not that heartless guy Nick Fury. I can definitely do what I promised. I might not even need three years to send you to a new home, but I have one condition."
"What condition?" Talos asked.
Darian said bluntly: "Let me be the leader. From now on, all Skrulls must follow my command."
Talos's expression stiffened, finally understanding what Darian was aiming for.
Wasn't this the same as Nick Fury back in the day, asking him to package and sell the Skrulls?
Only this time, the buyer had changed from the black-skinned one-eyed man to this human.
Talos looked at Darian, then at Steve who had been watching them, knowing they had no choice. What Gravik had done had pushed the Skrulls to the edge of a cliff and completely violated the bottom line of Earthlings. Earthlings would never allow a dangerous Alien race like the Skrulls to escape their control.
If they dared to resist, the outcome would likely be exactly as Darian said—a dead end.
"I understand. From now on, all members of our faction will follow your command."
Talos sighed.
As an Alien with an Earthling's heart, even if he knew everything, he wouldn't resist.
Seeing this, a high-ranking member of the Radicals quickly chimed in: "If you really have a way to lead us to a new home, we will also follow your command."
They didn't know Darian's true identity; in their eyes, Darian was a tough guy who could even kill Gravik. With his strength, it was only natural for him to be the leader, so they naturally didn't dare to have any objections.
Furthermore, if Darian could really deliver on this promise, changing leaders wasn't a big deal.
The Skrulls had been drifting for too long; as long as they could find a new home, they didn't care who was in charge.
Seeing that both the Conservatives and the Radicals chose to submit, Darian grinned: "Very good. I believe that with our joint efforts, we will soon find our new home."
"But before that, I want all Skrulls, regardless of which faction you were in before, to behave yourselves. Do not make any more underhanded moves, otherwise, you will be executed as traitors."
The Skrulls, thinking of Gravik's fate, shuddered.
"Understood!"
[Mission 'Secret Invasion' completed]
[Rewards obtained: 25,000 EXP, Free Attribute Points * 8, Skill 'Enchantment', Item 'Construction Card', Item 'Goblin Horn', Item 'Military Ration Pill', Equipment 'Mental Amulet']
[Skill: Enchantment (You can add temporary or permanent attribute buffs to equipment; specific effects depend on equipment properties)]
[Item: Construction Card (Use to immediately complete any construction; requires sufficient materials; build a skyscraper from the ground up)]
[Item: Goblin Horn (One-time item; blow it to summon a squad of Goblins to fight for you)]
[Item: Military Ration Pill (Consuming it restores a certain amount of mana and fills your stomach; a must-have medicine for every ninja when going out)]
[Equipment: Mental Amulet (Wearing it slightly increases the maximum mental capacity while accelerating mana recovery speed)]
"Enchantment? What a great skill!"
Darian's eyes lit up.
He had seen this skill in many games; it was quite practical.
Looking at the other items, they were also quite standard, without any strange effects.
His gaze finally fell on the Mental Amulet. This equipment came at just the right time. Recently, he had been learning more and more skills, and his mana pool was starting to run thin. This could just make up for it.
Darian allocated his newly acquired free attribute points.
Soon, his personal panel was updated again.
[Attributes: Strength 100, Agility 53, Constitution 60, Spirit 60]
Spirit attribute caught up with Constitution, leaping to become Darian's second major attribute.
In contrast, Strength hadn't moved since breaking the 100 mark.
At this rate, he was afraid his build was going to turn into a bucket mage.
Just like that, Darian, in the guise of the Skrull Layla, officially became the new leader of the Skrulls.
Whether it was the Conservatives or the Radicals, they all had to listen to his orders.
All Skrulls had no objections to this, and even if they did, they didn't dare to voice them—that tens-of-meters-tall Sand Giant wouldn't listen to their reasoning. '
After the Skrull crisis was resolved, most of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents withdrew, leaving only a small number of people to cooperate with Darian's work and supervise the Skrulls.
Neither the Avengers nor S.H.I.E.L.D. could completely let down their guard against these Skrulls.
As long as the Skrulls were on Earth for one day, this supervision would never be reduced.
Of course, this was also out of consideration for the Avengers.
Superheroes' methods were ultimately gentler. If S.H.I.E.L.D. handled it alone, their methods would be more extreme. If the United States Government knew about this, they would probably take action directly and finish what the Kree failed to do back then.
After all, who could tolerate a group of Aliens with ulterior motives hiding in their backyard?
Regarding such a large-scale departure, Darian made up a random excuse to brush it off, saying they had formed a reclamation team to head into the Universe to find a new home. Except for Talos, who was the only one who knew the inside story, the other Skrulls' trust in Darian deepened.
Don't look at this as just taking a small step; in their eyes, this was already a giant leap for the Skrulls.
Think about that Bald Egg Nick Fury; he had been drawing empty promises for decades without fulfilling a single one.
In contrast, Darian had just taken office, and he had already started taking action.
The contrast between the two was like heaven and Earth.
Many Skrulls sighed, saying that with Darian here, the Skrulls finally had a clear sky.
"Little Talos, didn't you say we have a million people? Where are they all hiding?" Darian turned to look at Talos beside him.
Now Talos had completely broken away from Nick Fury and became Darian's lackey.
Nick Fury had no objection to this.
He was currently in deep trouble and had to face interrogations from all sides upon returning to S.H.I.E.L.D., so how could he dare to get involved with the Skrulls again?
Talos whispered: "Our people are scattered all over the World, disguised as Earthlings living normal lives, while collecting information. Under normal circumstances, they won't reveal their identities. Only a small number of Skrulls remain here at the Base."
"So that's how it is,"
Darian suddenly realized.
He had been wondering how these penniless Skrulls could afford to feed a million mouths.
So they were scattered and living on their own.
Darian asked again: "How many Skrulls with fused special genes do we have currently?"
"You mean Super Skrulls, right."
Talos said honestly: "Not many, counting them all up, there are only a few dozen. Gravik's group accounted for the majority; they had been using the gene fusion device to mass-produce Super Skrulls. The effect was indeed there, but the cost was also high; many Skrulls died due to failed gene fusion." Darian listened, and immediately had a clear idea in his heart.
A few dozen Skrulls with fused special genes—the number wasn't large, but if used well, it was a force to be reckoned with.
Darian pondered for a moment and said: "Little Talos, to tell you the truth, I actually have a Base on the Moon. After the infrastructure construction there is completed, the next step is to explore the Universe. I can indeed help with the Skrulls finding a new home."
"You... are you telling the truth?"
Talos widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.
"Of course, if you don't believe me, I can take you to see it."
Darian didn't waste words; he directly called that silly dog Lockjaw over and took him and Talos to teleport to Attilan.
Talos looked at this small city built on the far side of the Moon, and he was completely dumbfounded.
"So the rumors on the internet were all true; there really are Aliens on the far side of the Moon."
Darian was speechless: "You're an Alien, and you have the nerve to call others Aliens? Besides, the Inhumans aren't Aliens either. They are also native inhabitants of Earth, and can be considered Earthlings, but a long time ago, their city as a whole migrated to the Moon and has been living here ever since."
"Is that so..."
Talos scratched his head, secretly rejoicing.
Fortunately, Gravik's plan didn't succeed, otherwise, how many terrible opponents would the Skrulls have to face at the same time? Even the Moon had a branch of Earthlings.
Darian ignored his internal monologue and led Talos forward.
Soon, the two arrived at the edge of Attilan, and the view before them suddenly opened up.
From here, they could clearly see a large group of HYDRA members using a newly built transport tunnel to continuously send various building materials to the more peripheral areas.
Looking in the direction of the transport tunnel, in an open area further away, several special-shaped engineering spaceships were hovering at low altitude, continuously performing construction work.
Below the spaceships, an extremely large Base already had a preliminary outline; the foundation was laid, the main frame was being built, and some areas had even started installing outer walls and energy equipment.
And around the perimeter of this Base, various supporting buildings had begun to be built around the core area.
Talos stared in amazement.
This was no Base; it was clearly a plan to build a city on the Moon!
Darian was very satisfied with the current progress.
HYDRA's infrastructure capability was indeed reliable, plus the technical and material support provided by the Inhumans, the formation speed of this Base was even faster than he had expected.
Once it was completely built, this place would be his core stronghold in the Milky Way Galaxy, whether for exploring the Universe or dealing with various emergencies, he would have a stable rear guard.
Darian turned to look at Talos and said cheerfully: "What do you think?"
Thump!
Talos knelt down on the spot, tightly hugging Darian's thigh: "We Skrulls have wandered for half a lifetime, only regretting not meeting a wise master. If you don't abandon us, we are willing to serve you as our leader!"
Of course, that wasn't exactly what he said, but that was the meaning.
Back when Nick Fury was just a level 3 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent with nothing, Talos was able to take his compatriots to defect to him for a promise he made, and from then on, he was devoted.
Not to mention someone like Darian, who had ability, wealth, and power—a top-tier big shot.
In comparison, their defection to Nick Fury was at most poverty alleviation; defecting to Darian was definitely holding onto a golden thigh!
Any hesitation for even a second would be disrespectful to that thigh!