At this moment, outside S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters—
A young man dressed in a suit descended from the sky and calmly walked toward the entrance.
"Hey, kid. This isn't a place you can just wander into. Leave immediately."
Seeing Lucas Reed, the security guard assumed he was a lost tourist and spoke in a dismissive tone.
"Hello. I'm here to see someone," Lucas replied with a polite smile, his manner calm and courteous.
As the saying went, one should not strike a smiling face. Perhaps this young man was a relative of someone inside.
The guard opened the registration system and asked,
"What's your name, and who are you looking for?"
"My name is Lucas Reed," he said slowly and clearly.
"I'm here to see Nick Fury."
"What?" The guard froze, thinking he had misheard.
"Say that again."
"I'm here to see Nick Fury—Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Lucas repeated.
The guard's expression immediately darkened. He stepped away from the computer and walked to the window, warning coldly:
"You have ten seconds to get out of my sight. Otherwise, I'll classify you as an intruder and shoot you on the spot."
Lucas raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I suggest you give your director a call and ask him."
The guard pulled out his handgun and began counting down.
"Ten. Nine—"
Lucas sighed helplessly.
"I've already been very polite. Since you refuse to listen, don't blame me for what happens next."
As the words fell, he stepped forward and grabbed the solid metal bar of the security scanner—thick as a man's arm.
Before the guard's stunned eyes, Lucas lifted upward.
With a shrill creak, the metal bar snapped cleanly.
Lucas stepped over the inspection platform. The guard finally reacted, slamming the alarm button and raising his gun at Lucas.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three precise shots rang out in quick succession.
Yet the bullets failed to pierce even Lucas's clothing. Amid a series of metallic clinks, they fell harmlessly to the ground.
Without even turning around, Lucas flicked his hand.
A burst of compressed air sent the guard flying back into the booth.
The piercing alarm instantly put the entire Triskelion building on high alert.
---
The special response unit—on twenty-four-hour standby—fully geared up and arrived at the first checkpoint within thirty seconds.
They were confused.
The alert indicated that there was only one intruder.
Even so, they quickly took cover and formed a tactical firing formation.
Less than five seconds later, a figure slowly entered their field of vision.
"Intruder ahead! Stop immediately and surrender, or we are authorized to open fire!"
Lucas continued walking forward as if he had not heard a thing.
"Fire!"
In the next instant, automatic rifles erupted in unison. Bullets poured relentlessly into Lucas's body.
Yet he kept advancing—step by step, at a steady, unhurried pace.
The bullets struck his body, deformed, and fell to the ground like lumps of scrap metal, producing an endless chorus of metallic clattering.
When the magazines ran dry, every member of the response team stared in disbelief.
He was completely unharmed.
Not a single tear appeared on his clothes.
"I'll give you one last chance," Lucas said calmly.
"Let Nick Fury come see me. Otherwise, bear the consequences."
Before his words had even fully faded—
A rocket with a blazing tail slammed straight into his face.
Boom!
The RPG detonated violently. Scorching flames surged upward as shockwaves and heat rippled outward.
But when the smoke cleared—
Lucas Reed stood there, completely unscathed.
"…Sigh. If you won't listen," he said helplessly,
"then I'll just go see him myself."
At this point, even the dullest person understood—
Conventional firearms and RPGs were utterly useless against him.
"Retreat!" the squad leader shouted.
As they fell back, the situation was urgently relayed to headquarters through their comms.
Watching the retreating team, Lucas casually raised his hand and hurled an energy blast.
Boom!
A massive explosion swallowed the entire squad in fire.
Lucas resumed walking toward the Triskelion building.
---
Inside a headquarters office, a man stared at the surveillance footage with shock written across his face.
"This isn't the Super Soldier Serum… nor the effects of any other classified enhancement," he muttered.
"Is this guy an alien?"
He was in the middle of analyzing when his expression suddenly changed.
Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a silver button-like device and quickly placed it into his right ear.
"Yes… yes, I understand."
After ending the call, he removed the button, crushed it under his foot into tiny fragments, picked them up, and swallowed them.
"Authorize the use of special weapons—up to Level Four."
---
Just as Lucas approached the entrance, four members of an emergency unit rushed toward him from four different directions.
Each held a silver metal baton.
At a set distance, they lowered their stances and slammed the ends of the batons into the ground.
Hummm—
The batons activated instantly. Their tips split open, releasing spinning devices that shot into the air.
As they rotated at high speed, pale-blue shockwaves burst outward.
When the waves struck Lucas, it was like hitting an immovable mountain—no effect whatsoever.
Seeing the Thunder Batons fail, other agents immediately deployed freeze guns.
Two freezing beams struck Lucas simultaneously.
Layers of frost rapidly spread from the impact points, attempting to encase his entire body in ice.
Yet as Lucas continued walking, the ice shattered and fell away, unable to slow him in the slightest.
At that moment, two sharp whistling sounds pierced the air.
Two specially forged steel arrows struck Lucas and exploded on impact.
But when the smoke dissipated, there was still no effect.
Dozens of meters away, perched in a tree, Hawkeye's expression changed drastically.
He drew another arrow—
But upon receiving an order through his earpiece, he immediately lowered his bow and withdrew.
Less than a second after he left—
An energy blast tore through the area.
Boom!
Every tree within the blast radius was obliterated.
Lucas continued his steady advance toward the main entrance.
"Authorize weapon access—up to Level Seven!"
The man in the office issued the command once more.
Moments later, amid deep mechanical hums, four vertical-lift combat helicopters took off and surrounded Lucas.
Without waiting for further orders, the four 30mm autocannons mounted on the helicopters roared to life.
Deafening vibrations filled the air as large-caliber rounds rained down on Lucas's body.
From a distance, it looked as if four torrents of metal were relentlessly crashing into him—
Only to leave a carpet of spent shell casings at his feet.
Each round was powerful enough to tear an ordinary person in half.
Yet not a single one could even make Lucas pause.
"Deploy anti-tank missiles!"
All four helicopters launched simultaneously.
Four missiles streaked through the night sky toward Lucas under massive thrust.
The next second—
A catastrophic explosion erupted, shaking the ground and sky alike.
Flames and black smoke soared upward, illuminating the darkness.
The combined shockwave from the four missiles even uprooted landscaping dozens of meters away.
"No one could survive that," the man in the office snarled.
"No one!"
"Even Steve Rogers couldn't!"
But before the smoke and fire had fully dispersed—
A figure stepped out of the explosion, completely unharmed.
"T-this… this is impossible!"
"What kind of monster is he?!"