"
"Ah? Isn't that incredible?" Adrian leaned back in surprise. "Alright, let's try a different one. In the second year of era , a wandering gambler visited the Wayne family household."
"Stop!"
Fury slammed his fist on the table, veins bulging on his forehead.
"This is getting worse by the second. One moment it's modern, and now we're in Era's second year? These events have nothing to do with you."
"You need to make sense of your nonsense!"
"Fine, I'll skip the details on where I'm from. Didn't you say you could predict or foresee the future? Then tell me, what else have you seen?"
Taking a deep breath, Fury decided to ignore the last comment and moved on.
"Isn't that enough?" Adrian relaxed in his chair. For all the trouble, at least the SHIELD chair was comfortable—probably made from real leather.
Under Fury's deadly glare, Adrian shrugged and finally said, "I saw the spaceship eventually fall from the sky."
Fury flicked his cigarette ash, remaining silent.
"All of this happened because Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards—the genius himself—turned into a zombie."
Fury's brow furrowed. "Impossible. We ran extensive tests on everyone when they boarded the spaceship; nobody was infected."
"You're right."
"But Reed is a scientist obsessed with discovery, and he lost two of his children. He may not be stable mentally."
"If he discovers that zombies can live indefinitely without needing food, he might actually choose to infect the Fantastic Four to initiate a new form of evolution."
"But I suppose you wouldn't think twice about that and would send him off to work on a cure, exposing him to the virus, would you?" Adrian smirked with sarcasm.
Fury wasn't angered by Adrian's words. Instead, he considered the explanation, finding it uncomfortably plausible.
Reed was endlessly curious about strange phenomena and experiments. His intelligence might be the greatest among the world's geniuses, but that's exactly why he often found himself in predicaments.
In college, he once stayed up for three days straight trying to solve a problem, only to collapse on the test bench—and end up mocked by Doom.
If...
Suddenly, Fury looked up at Adrian.
"Wait, you said zombies could live indefinitely without food or water? How do you know that?"
"I'm a prophet, of course." Adrian shrugged, acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
After all, in the original comics, it was this "rubber man" who went berserk, injected the zombie virus into the Fantastic Four, and managed to sabotage SHIELD's aircraft carrier from the inside.
"Computer, initiate surveillance in Mister Fantastic's lab. Also, downgrade the bunker plan's priority from A to B."
The holographic projection instantly switched to display the lab, showing Mister Fantastic in a white lab coat, focused on his experiments.
His arm stretched over ten meters to easily reach a cup, and his neck extended a few meters as he examined a zombie corpse with a magnifying glass.
Completely absorbed in his work, he seemed unaware that two people were watching him on the security camera. He simply continued picking up various tools and working on the body.
"I think he's acting normal," Fury said calmly. "Just a scientist doing what scientists do."
The kind of scientist who might create Frankenstein, he thought.
Adrian leaned forward, pointing at the harmless rubber band on the screen, and said, "You might want to close the door and test him again. I'm sure Mr. Richards, as the hero he is, wouldn't mind if people misunderstood his intentions."
"It's harmless. Just do it."
Fury nodded slowly. He tapped the screen twice, and the lab door slammed shut and locked. Mister Fantastic, startled by the sudden action, quickly turned around and looked around in confusion.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Sue? Is that you?" Mister Fantastic mumbled, trying to understand what was happening. His voice sounded uncertain.
The lab atmosphere became tense and isolated. Fury watched Mister Fantastic's reaction through the screen with a neutral expression.
Reed stood in the lab, glancing around, knocking on the door, trying to reconnect with the outside world. A hint of nervousness and doubt filled his eyes as if he were questioning whether an accident had occurred.
"Sue, if it's you, please come out and explain. What's going on?" he called, hoping for an explanation that would calm his concerns.
Fury glanced at Adrian's smiling face and finally spoke, "It's me, Reed. An infected person just managed to slip onto the aircraft carrier. We've locked all the doors to check for any secondary infections."
"But don't worry, you haven't left yet. You're still whitelisted."
Fury's voice resonated from all over the lab, making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.
"Oh, I see. Wait—are Sue and the others okay?" Reed, just beginning to relax, asked quickly, sounding like a concerned husband and brother.
"They're fine. Ah, and Susan should be with you shortly, so I'll leave you be." With that, Fury cut off the communication.
Adrian frowned, noticing no one outside the lab door. The corridor was empty.
Ignoring Adrian's suspicion, Fury continued, "Computer, send an LMD to the 30th floor, set to look like the Invisible Woman. Once preparations are complete, open Gamma Area 16's protective gate."
The Life Model Decoy (LMD)—Fury's favored android—could mimic its original subject almost perfectly, including appearance, voice, and certain functions exclusive to living beings.
Hold on, Adrian thought in shock. Is the person in front of me an android too?
"Don't look so surprised. The one I used was a bio-simulation decoy. While it's valuable, it's nothing compared to the trust you have in Reed."
Fury took a deep breath, eyes filled with pain, then looked back at the security camera.
Outside the lab, a crack opened silently, and a beautiful blonde woman in a blue uniform stepped out.
"Please enter the command."
"Susan," Fury commanded flatly.
"Assuming the personality of Susan Storm to observe Reed Richards' reaction to the zombie virus."
"Clear."
The android's eyes rolled, her body twitched slightly, and her head shook as she dropped her perfect, composed look.
Seconds later, her neck clicked back into place, and a trace of sadness appeared on her face. Her eyebrows and mouth sagged as if embodying a mother grieving her two lost children.
The lab door slowly opened with a heavy mechanical echo, and Fury observed the situation closely.
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