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Chapter 251 Secret Counter-Invasion

S.H.I.E.L.D. is not just a bunch of freeloaders.

After eliminating the Skrull spies within, the massive organization immediately sprang into action, operating at full speed like a wound-up precision instrument, doing what they did best.

Intelligence, operations, logistics, and technology departments were efficiently integrated and worked together to develop a series of plans and measures against the Skrulls as quickly as possible.

The captured Skrulls were immediately handed over to the interrogation and counterintelligence departments. Psychological analysis, high-pressure interrogation and other professional methods were used in turn, and truth serum was provided in abundance. They were determined to dig out everything they knew, not even details such as how many times they wet the bed as children.

Efficiency is paramount; there's little need to consider humanitarian considerations.

Since the other party is an alien, what's the point of talking about humanity?

Meanwhile, Steve had already notified the Avengers.

Apart from Thor being out of the service area and Natasha being captured by the Skrulls, all the other members received the news and rushed over immediately.

Especially Banner, who forced Betty to go to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, and their relationship went from being close friends to being life-and-death friends. Their feelings gradually faded, and with General Ross interfering, the two separated.

After that, something happened, and Banner and Natasha suddenly developed an inexplicable relationship. Natasha was even able to calm down the enraged Hulk on the spot, with an effect more effective than the Hulkbuster armor, which made Tony quite depressed.

So, upon hearing that Natasha had been kidnapped by a group of green goblins, Banner's face turned even greener than Hulk's, and he rushed all the way to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Before long, the Avengers were assembled.

Du Mu looked around, a little puzzled: "How come everyone's here? I remember there should be one more member in the Avengers, right?"

"I've always been here!"

Clint walked out from a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, looking speechless.

"Oh!"

Du Mu then remembered that Clint was also one of Nick Fury's moles, but he was usually so inconspicuous that he was even less noticeable than Coulson, and Du Mu couldn't remember him at all.

Perhaps that's why this conspicuously obvious Avenger wasn't replaced by the Skrulls. Steve, seeing everyone had arrived, said gravely, "Tony, Banner, you should already know the details. In short, the situation is extremely serious!"

"I thought we were going to fight Nick Fury again, but it turns out it was an imposter."

Tony pursed his lips, looking somewhat disappointed.

He had only glanced at the target photo in the mission briefing and thought it was Nick Fury, so he immediately abandoned his latest armor research and rushed over, only to find out halfway there that it was a fake Nick Fury.

"To be precise, they are Skrulls," Steve corrected.

"That was also trouble caused by Nick Fury."

Tony couldn't help but complain, "Although he came up with the idea of ​​the Avengers, I feel like every time we get together it's related to Nick Fury. If this keeps up, we'll really become the Black Egg Stomping Alliance. The Avengers might as well just disband."

"Good idea."

Du Mu was the first to raise his hand in agreement.

Steve pretended not to hear and continued seriously, "Our current intelligence is limited. We don't know how much preparation the Skrulls have made or how far they have infiltrated. This is no longer just a battle, but a crisis concerning all of humanity. Therefore, we must assemble the Avengers and make the most thorough preparations."

"Since the Skrulls can transform into anyone, could there be a traitor among us?"

Tony suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Steve suspiciously.

His look made it clear, after all, both Steve and Nick Fury had prior convictions.

Steve: Yes—

"Don't worry, the Skrulls' shapeshifting ability is ineffective against me. I can see through their disguises, and I'm sure there's no traitor among us."

Du Mu waved his hand, taking the initiative to help Steve out of the predicament, and then said, "However, I can't guarantee the safety of the people around you. Perhaps the Skrulls have already become your relatives and friends, lurking among you."

Upon hearing this, Tony and Clint's expressions immediately turned sour.

They are both in relationships, spend a close time together, and occasionally exchange feelings in the evenings.

The thought of replacing the person you spend every day with with a green goblin is too horrible to contemplate.

A female Skrull might be somewhat acceptable, but what if the other person is a male Skrull...?

"The captain is right, the situation is indeed much more serious than we imagined!"

Tony's expression turned more serious than ever before: "Even if Du Mu can see through the Skrulls' disguise, he alone cannot investigate the entire area. I will try to develop a technology that can identify Skrulls as soon as possible to crack their shapeshifting ability at its source."

1

Du Mu wanted to say that this was unlikely.

If such technology were so easy to develop, the Kree, one of the three great empires in the universe, would have developed it long ago, and the Skrulls would have had no chance to hide on Earth.

But then he thought again, Tony was the kind of guy who could build a suit of armor in a cave, so maybe if the other guy thought about it, he could actually succeed.

"I think what we should be worried about is not this, but another ability of the Skrulls."

Banner was somewhat worried: "According to your intelligence, some of the Skrulls have the special ability to replicate their targets. If they obtain our genes and create a Skrull version of the Avengers, that would be a huge problem."

These words made everyone frown.

Indeed, that's the most terrifying thing: the Skrulls can not only mimic their faces, but also their abilities.

"This isn't a big problem."

Du Mu remained calm: "Even if the Skrulls get their hands on your genes, they can only replicate some of your abilities. Besides, apart from Banner and Thor's genes, it wouldn't have much of an impact if other people's genes were copied."

"Without his shield, Steve is just a super soldier with limited threat. Natasha's strength lies in her espionage skills, so cloning him wouldn't be very effective. Tony is even simpler; he relies on his intellect and armor. His physical abilities are worse than those of ordinary agents. If the Skrulls were stupid enough to clone his abilities, they would only be adding more DEBUFF to themselves."

That makes sense.

As everyone listened to Du Mu's analysis, their expressions gradually relaxed, and they all nodded in agreement.

Clint: "

'

No, why don't you analyze me?

While they were analyzing the situation, S.H.I.E.L.D. soon sent new information.

After repeated interrogations, they had extracted the coordinates of three secret bases from the Skrull prisoners, where the Skrulls who had replaced them were imprisoned.

Steve immediately said, "Our search and rescue operation must be carried out simultaneously to prevent the Skrulls from noticing and moving people away."

Everyone agreed to the plan.

Therefore, they decided to split into three teams and act in unison.

Tony and Banner were in charge of one of the secret bases, Steve and Clint were in charge of another, and the last one was given to Du Mu.

The other two teams had SHIELD agents to assist them, but Du Mu chose to complete the mission alone.

This was requested by Du Mu himself.

After all, the task rewards are calculated based on contribution, so naturally, the fewer people there are, the better for him.

The coordinates Du Mu received pointed to an adult product manufacturing plant in a remote area.

According to intelligence, the factory appears to be maintaining normal production processes, but the personnel operating inside have actually been completely replaced by the Skrulls.

Those humans who were replaced were imprisoned in a hidden basement deep within the factory.

Du Mu drove an unremarkable gray sedan and parked it outside the side gate of the factory.

He was dressed in dark casual clothes, with a hood up, chewing gum, and swaggering toward the closed iron gate.

"stop!"

The two security guards immediately noticed Du Mu's arrival, both reaching for their waists and watching him warily: "This is a private factory area. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed. Leave immediately!"

Through his keen eyesight, Du Mu could see that they were all Skrulls in disguise.

"Look carefully at who I am."

As Du Mu spoke, he raised his hand and pulled down his hood.

His face was a bright green, with pointed ears and the distinctive markings of the Skrulls on his head.

This face belongs to the Skrull woman disguised as Natasha.

Du Mu used the character customization feature an hour in advance to change his face to the other person's.

The character customization feature has no racial restrictions. As long as the basic human form is present, including a nose and eyes, it falls within the scope of reasonable character customization.

To prevent the Skrulls from resorting to desperate measures and killing the imprisoned humans, Du Mu did not choose a direct attack, but instead opted for a secret invasion.

Who says only Skrulls can invade humans?

"Commander Leila!?"

The two guards immediately recognized Du Mu's face, their hands loosening their grip on their weapons, their faces showing surprise and confusion: "What are you doing here? Weren't you on a long-term infiltration mission?"

Du Mu looked at them coldly: "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Open the door now."

"Yes, sir! I'm sorry, sir!"

The two immediately realized they had said too much, and quickly turned around to operate the access control and opened the iron gate.

"Sir, should I inform the captain for you?" a gatekeeper asked cautiously.

"Let him come over."

Upon hearing this, Du Mu guessed that it must be the person in charge here, and nodded.

Soon, a man in formal attire walked towards them, followed by several Skrulls disguised as humans.

Upon seeing Du Mu's arrival, the Skrull captain asked in surprise, "Commander Leila, the memories of that human woman named Natasha haven't been fully extracted yet. Are you too early, or does Lord Gravi have new instructions?"

Du Mu nodded in agreement: "That's right. The specifics need to be kept secret. You just need to take me underground to see those humans."

As he spoke, his appearance suddenly changed, and in front of everyone, he transformed into Natasha's likeness, even down to the length of the zipper on his chest.

Du Mu: (·V·)

"Understood, please follow me."

The Skrull captain had no doubts upon seeing this.

In his mind, it was always the Skrulls who disguised themselves as others; he never imagined that one day someone would turn around and disguise themselves as a Skrull.

Immediately afterwards, the Skrull captain led Du Mu into the interior of the adult product manufacturing factory, where dozens of workers were busy at the assembly line, all of whom were Skrulls in disguise.

They skillfully operated the instruments, inspecting all sorts of indescribable items; the machines hummed, and the process was orderly.

"Not bad, you're putting on quite a convincing act."

Du Mu gave a soft sigh of praise.

The Skrull captain looked surprised: "Commander Leila, what are you talking about? They really are working. To ensure the disguise is flawless, we must maintain full production capacity. This batch of goods will be shipped to various places according to commercial orders, and the quality must be guaranteed to be no lower than before."

"In fact, many popular products currently on the market are made by us, and user feedback is quite good with a high repurchase rate."

Towards the end, there was even a hint of barely perceptible pride in his tone.

Du Mu:

'

'

So you guys are the real alien brand!

The Skrull captain added, "Besides, we also have to pay taxes to the IRS on time and in full, otherwise they might very well take over this place with tanks one day."

Du Mu was speechless.

You aliens are supposed to be law-abiding citizens, yet you're plotting to replace humanity and rule the Earth.

You guys break the law and violate regulations, yet you still know to pay your taxes on time.

"Commander Leila, if you need, I can send you a few of the best quality ones from our factory..."

'

"Shut up and keep leading the way!"

The Skrull captain immediately fell silent and led Du Mu through the last noisy section of the production area.

They quickly stopped in front of a gray metal door, and a beam of eerie blue scanning light swept across the Skrull captain's face.

With a hissing sound of air pressure being released, the heavy door slid open inward.

The view behind the door suddenly opened up.

This is an extremely spacious, enclosed space with an astonishingly high ceiling, and densely packed, neatly arranged transparent columnar isolation chambers.

Each capsule contains a human in a deep coma. Their identities vary, including S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Hydra spies, as well as some familiar celebrities or capitalists with high social status.

Du Mu narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the Skrulls had already infiltrated all levels of society.

But he soon discovered some strange humanoid creatures with buffs stacked up as if they were about to fight a boss.

Du Mu's lips twitched: "Do we Skrulls even have political systems?"

The Skrull captain quickly explained, "In this country, these people's identities are often more useful than those of some high-ranking members of society. As long as we use their identities, even S.H.I.E.L.D. won't dare to touch us easily."

Du Mu: "

'

Wow, you guys really figured out the American cheat codes.

Everyone was placed on a silver device, with two blue energy beams extending from the sides of the device and connecting to their temples, pulsating slightly.

In front of some isolation pods, you can see some Skrulls holding their palms to the foreheads of humans, their five fingers emitting a continuous faint light.

[Status: Memory retrieval in progress]

Du Mu glanced at their personal information and realized that this was a method used by the Skrulls to extract memories from others.

He finally understood why the Kree had chased the Skrulls all the way to Earth and were determined to exterminate them.

Putting aside the Skrulls' near-perfect ability to mimic, the very means of directly extracting memories from others is enough to threaten any civilization.

Once an important figure falls into the hands of the Skrulls, it means that secrets are no longer secrets. Core secrets, strategic blueprints, and unpublished technological breakthroughs can all be stolen at once, and may even become the enemy's weapon against them.