In recent days, the entire world had fallen into a state of panic and paranoia.
The reason was simple: the live broadcast from the US had already spread widely, and its content was simply too shocking.
Although, apart from the initial speech by the fake Captain America, the "real" Captain America's appearance was brief, and what was exposed on the surface wasn't much...
The world never lacked smart people, nor did it lack conspiracy theorists who thought themselves clever and loved to make connections.
From the Avengers being split and wanted, to the appearance of the "real Cap" confirming someone was impersonating Avengers (and clearly more than one imposter), to the abrupt end of the video leaving the "real Cap's" fate unknown...
Everything indicated that a group of unknown creatures capable of mimicking others was lurking among the populace.
And these creatures were bold and ambitious.
More importantly, the earlier part of the video showed high-ranking officials from over thirty states supporting these green monsters.
Some speculated that aliens were hiding on Earth and had already controlled the US.
Others guessed that the US itself had developed some kind of biological weapon intended to replace the Avengers.
In short, all kinds of theories were rampant.
But for other countries, whether it was real aliens or the US causing trouble, it didn't make much difference—neither was good news.
Soon, everyone in the world began to fear for their own safety.
Afraid that their loved ones had been replaced by green-skinned monsters, everyone nervously kept their distance from others.
Furthermore, many government officials and even top leaders in various countries had been assassinated recently.
The reason was that their policies or public statements had suddenly changed drastically, suggesting they might have been quietly replaced by those green monsters.
Of course, whether these baseless suspicions were true or false, or simply opportunists using the chaos to eliminate rivals, only those involved knew for sure.
However, the most terrifying thing was that in a very small number of successful assassinations, the officials actually turned into green-skinned monsters after death.
When this news broke, the world plunged into even greater chaos.
Leaders of most countries, regardless of their previous stances, began to unify their rhetoric.
They proclaimed the need to eliminate these green monsters as soon as possible.
But what followed was that those leaders with the most vehement and high-profile rhetoric suffered even more severe assassination attempts. And this time, it was the corpses of the failed assassins that turned into green monsters.
For a time, everyone became paranoid.
Leaders who were originally active and high-profile turned reclusive, increasing their security while minimizing public appearances as much as possible.
The world fell silent again.
But correspondingly, beneath this silence, fear continued to accumulate relentlessly.
This eerie silence lasted until news spread on the internet that the Avengers had developed a device to detect "imposters."
"My Queen, since they've exposed themselves, should we stop them and bring them back?!"
In the United States, inside a governor's office, the current owner of the office sat respectfully in front of a computer, asking the person on the screen.
The video showed a large laboratory that looked straight out of science fiction. In front of the camera, the person addressed as "Queen" by the governor was a young-looking white woman.
Needless to say, this was a conversation between the Skrull Queen and her subordinate.
"Don't send our own people yet. They chose to build that spire on the ruins of New York precisely because of its current desolation."
"As far as I know, even the transport and construction materials are handled by robotic units under that man named Luca. Our people have no way to infiltrate."
Hearing his Queen's words, the "Governor" nodded in agreement but soon looked troubled again.
"But... are we just going to let them establish some safe zone? If they really have a way to identify disguises and cover the entire Earth with these spires..."
Actually, because the information Luca posted online was vague and lacked even a verification video...
Even the "Governor" himself suspected that those fleeing rats might be exaggerating and had no detection method at all.
But one couldn't be too careful.
However, the Skrull Queen—G'iah—raised her hand to interrupt him.
"I only said not to send our own people to attack. Have Fitzrov mobilize the human army under his command to launch an attack. If they can't cause effective destruction, then launch a nuclear strike directly on their construction site in New York!"
"But..."
Hearing this, the troubled look on the "Governor's" face didn't fade.
"Those human soldiers are currently very vocal in their opposition to us. Even though the troops under Fitzrov strictly control information, a lot of news has still spread among the lower ranks."
"It doesn't matter! As long as they don't know what's happening in New York! Send the troops! If the Avengers don't plan to strike first, it's a perfect opportunity for our people to mix in and cause destruction!"
Understanding the Queen's intent, the "Governor" nodded again, then asked:
"Then... about the nukes..."
This time, the hesitation in the "Governor's" voice was stronger, and he didn't know how to continue.
In fact, unless absolutely necessary, these Skrulls didn't want to use nuclear weapons either.
Among the radical Skrull faction led by G'iah, the vast majority already viewed Earth as their possession.
Although the Skrull population was far smaller than humanity's, they believed that with every member possessing superpowers and their advanced biotechnology allowing them to master other Earth metahumans' abilities, they were a superior race to humans.
Rashly using nuclear weapons could cause permanent damage to "their own Earth."
The ordinary humans killed by nukes would also reduce the number of slaves available to them in the future.
Even if they nuked an uninhabited area like New York now, if it triggered retaliatory nuclear strikes from other countries regardless of the cost, the Skrulls wouldn't benefit either.
Therefore, he wanted to persuade the Queen further.
However, clearly, G'iah didn't share his view.
"No buts, just do it!"
"I'll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. dispatch drones to assist Fitzrov's operation!"
"As for other operations... you don't need to know!"