"Superman is not on Earth..."
Anton heard those words and remained expressionless. Casually glancing around, he noticed that everyone expressions were strange, their eyes tinged with shock. He shrugged.
"Superman is indeed not on Earth!"
In his heart, he added another sentence: "He not even in this universe right now."
"The Skrulls are nothing to fear. No matter how powerful they may become, in the presence of Superman, they are nothing more than weaklings—utterly insignificant."
With absolute confidence, Anton continued, "Once Superman returns, the Justice League will wipe out every single threat to humanity on this planet."
"If I'm not mistaken, Superman is an alien."
By this point, Tony no longer doubted Superman existence in this world.
After everything he had experienced over the past two years, after witnessing the emergence of multiple Justice League heroes, no new superhero could surprise him anymore.
"Why should we trust an alien?"
"Relying on an alien to save Earth—don't you find that ridiculous?"
He questioned Anton.
"Asgard is beyond Earth, and Thor is also an alien. Why, then, have we formed a strategic alliance with him?"
Anton countered.
"Besides, can you guarantee that you alone can deal with the Super Skrull?"
"Moreover, Superman may be an alien, but there one fundamental difference between him and Thor—he grew up on Earth.
Until he was eighteen, he believed he was human."
"Even after gaining his powers, despite his confusion, he never revealed his identity, nor did he ever harm humanity or threaten Earth."
"Superman is worthy of trust!"
"That why, like Batman, he is the Justice League greatest trump card!"
As he spoke, Anton turned to the President and said, "Mr. President, I am now the leader of the Men in Black and an official member of the Justice League.
My responsibilities are the Justice League responsibilities… I can give you a 100% guarantee that the Skrulls do not pose an absolute threat to Earth."
"Not an absolute threat?"
Mr. President picked up on the implication. "You mean that until Superman returns, we have no way of restricting the Skrulls actions?"
"They possess shapeshifting abilities that are nearly impossible to detect. Identifying them is extremely difficult."
Anton shrugged helplessly. "I suspect they've already planted spies within the White House, but we have no way of exposing them.
No existing test can distinguish them from humans. The only option we have… is to wait."
"Wait…?"
The President frowned. "How long?"
"A month. Maybe two."
Anton gave an estimate that was anything but definitive. "I promise that within this period, the Justice League will develop a reliable technology to identify Skrulls disguised as humans.
Once that happens, they will have nowhere to hide, and we will emerge as the ultimate victors..."
"But until then, we must remain vigilant!"
The President exchanged a look with John Keller. The room fell into a heavy silence.
"Wait a minute."
Tony, ever the contrarian, spoke up again. "If what you're saying is true—that the Skrulls are evolving and that Super Skrulls have already emerged—
then doesn't that mean we might be facing multiple Super Skrulls? What stopping them from continuously replicating Earth super-powered individuals and assembling an entire army of Super Skrulls?"
"That possibility cannot be ruled out."
Anton did not deny it.
In fact, that was exactly what he believed.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought up Superman in the first place.
As powerful as Captain Marvel was, even she couldn't fight off an army alone—let alone an entire Justice League.
And the Justice League combined strength far exceeded just "a few extra hands."
Against the full force of the Justice League heroes, even Captain Marvel would struggle.
But an entire army of Super Skrulls—each possessing the abilities of Earth mightiest heroes—that was something Anton truly feared.
In the comics, only one Super Skrull had ever appeared: the soldier Kl'rt. But in this altered world, if one Super Skrull could exist, why couldn't there be more?
Unless the creation of Super Skrulls required some unique, uncontrollable force…
But that wasn't the case.
From what Anton knew, the Super Skrulls were an evolved form of the Skrull species—just like how Captain America,
after taking the Super Soldier Serum, transcended human limits and became an equal match for nearly anyone in battle.
Creating a Super Skrull was a matter of technology.
And strictly speaking, there was no reason that technology could only be used on Kl'rt alone.
"Then doesn't that mean our current security is completely compromised?"
The President frowned deeply, hesitation flickering in his eyes.
Anton description of the situation had given him a profound sense of crisis.
"As far as I know, Colonel Rhodes is trustworthy. I suggest assigning him to personally protect you for the time being."
Anton proposed, then added, "In any case, once the Justice League makes a breakthrough in detecting Skrull shapeshifting, we'll be able to strike immediately against those infiltrating human society."
"At this point, we have no other choice."
The President nodded.
He decisively accepted Anton suggestion.
After all, even if he didn't, he had no real power to change Anton course of action.
The Justice League, despite its close ties with the military, was still an independent organization—ultimately accountable to no one.
Only Anton Men in Black had an actual duty to handle extraterrestrial threats.
"Alright then, I'll head back to make preparations regarding Superman return and the Skrull technology research…"
Anton said, turning to look at Tony.
"What?"
Tony raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling like he was being set up.
"You're not expecting me to get involved in this, are you?"
Anton smirked. "You were the one who insisted on coming to Washington with us. And now you want to back out? What wrong? Getting cold feet?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not afraid of anything."
Tony scoffed, momentarily at a loss for words. Annoyed, he added, "Fine. I'll assist with the experiments—but I want full authority over my part of the research. I'm not letting any of you push me around."
"In the Justice League, we believe in democracy."
Anton shrugged. "Whoever makes the most sense, we listen to them."
"Oh, please. Don't you all just listen to Batman anyway?"
Tony was taken aback.
Curious, he couldn't help but ask.
The Illuminati he had recently founded and structured—perhaps it could benefit from some of the Justice League internal mechanisms, refining it further.
"Of course not," Anton replied. "But you're not entirely wrong either."
"In the Justice League, no one is more reasonable than Batman."