On this day, Alexander Pierce felt tremendous pressure. His hair, which had already been a bit graying, turned completely white from the stress.
Just when they were already in chaos at home dealing with the Extremis virus outbreak in Los Angeles, news came from London.
Black mist had descended upon London.
This wasn't a reenactment of history, nor was it a revival of classic British charm—it was an unprecedented disaster.
Within the mist, countless skeletal warriors appeared.
Although their individual appearance wasn't as tough as the Chitauri soldiers from the New York incident, and their weaponry wasn't as high-tech…
They wielded nothing but bone swords, slashing and hacking indiscriminately.
But the destructive power of those bone swords was shocking—one strike could split a car in two.
While their bone arrows weren't flashy, their piercing power and force were so great that even Hawkeye or Barton would have to concede.
The police system collapsed instantly.
Those Royal Guards who were always so good at bullying civilians and shooing away tourists…
Faced with the sudden attack of the skeleton army, their first reaction was to run.
Though they carried guns, the guards weren't issued live rounds—that was regulation.
And their bayonets, which worked well to intimidate tourists, were completely useless against skeletal warriors.
Let alone fighting them—most didn't even dare to try!
As the defense forces collapsed, the city was soon swallowed by a dark tide.
Tens of thousands of undead warriors marched through the streets, advancing like a plague.
Wherever they went, pedestrians were hacked down, cars were shredded—leaving a scene of ghostly devastation.
Eventually, when the city's defenses had fully failed, the military was called in.
And only then was the advance of the undead army slightly slowed.
But soon, the military discovered something even more terrifying.
They weren't just facing over ten thousand skeleton soldiers.
They were facing a constant ten thousand skeleton soldiers.
These skeletons, even if blown into pieces by cannon fire and crushed, would still reform from the black mist and rejoin the assault.
This was practically an undefeatable Scourge.
The only silver lining: their numbers weren't increasing—they stayed fixed at around ten thousand.
Had the people they killed risen as skeletons to join them, the military would've broken down in despair.
"They can't revive endlessly—keep firing! Hit them hard! I refuse to believe we, the living, can be beaten by a bunch of bones!"
The top brass gave the order, and all kinds of weaponry—tanks, jets, heavy artillery—were unleashed in a furious barrage.
Unfortunately, the black mist disabled visual targeting systems, and rendered infrared and satellite guidance useless. The entire bombing operation turned into blind firing, as if they were bombing with their eyes closed.
No one could tell how many skeletons were hit—or how many innocents.
This was a disaster, and extraordinary means had to be taken.
At one point, the military had even considered dropping a nuke in the city center.
After all, there's nothing a mushroom cloud can't solve.
When nukes become the answer, people stop asking questions.
Just like how Alexander Pierce had once planned in New York.
Fortunately, London's brass were more rational—not as reckless as Pierce.
They only sent in jets and tanks while coordinating evacuation efforts.
But the deployed forces didn't fare well.
Because, in the darkness, airborne units appeared.
These creatures, resembling the legendary gargoyles, not only flew at high speeds but also moved incredibly agilely.
The fighter jets that dared to enter the black mist had nearly all failed to emerge successfully, with most of them crashing inside.
The tanks didn't fare any better.
A massive demon-like figure roamed the mist, attacking with impunity—one could take on an entire tank battalion with ease.
In the end, the brass had no choice but to call Alexander Pierce for help.
"Old Pierce, send someone over to help us—we're doomed here!"
"I've handled things in Britain for you. Do you Americans want to live in peace? All these little guys here, I've been keeping them in check. Without me, they would have caused chaos long ago!"
"Don't say anything—just send help! Get those Avengers or whatever Guardians to hurry up!"
And that's how Alexander Pierce ended up with a head full of white hair overnight.
Alexander Pierce was also extremely worried.
Britain asked him to send superheroes for help, but Alexander Pierce couldn't do it!
When the Avengers were first formed, he still had some influence, at least back then, Nick Fury still listened to him on the surface.
But now, with the Avengers merged into the Great Wall Guardians, their new leader didn't care about him.
Not long ago, when the Guardians offered to help with the LA situation, Pierce had rejected them.
Now, how could he ask them for help?
When he finally decided to shamelessly ask, he was told:
"The Guardians have gone to Asgard! When did they leave? Why didn't they report to me?"
Alexander Pierce slammed his hand on the desk in anger. "Asgard, huh? Quickly send planes to bring them back!"
The secretary reporting to him couldn't help but break into a cold sweat, with black lines appearing on his forehead.
"Um, sir, Asgard isn't on Earth, we can't send planes there to bring them back!"
It was then that Alexander Pierce realized—Asgard, Thor's homeland, one of the Nine Realms, was many light years away from Earth.
Planes and rockets were out of the question.
"Can we contact them?"
The secretary shook his head again. "No contact."
"Completely MIA?" Pierce's headache worsened.
On one side was a desperate Britain, begging for help. On the other—a team of lost-in-space superheroes.
"I suppose we could contact the Security Council and ask them to coordinate with China…"
A thought struck him.
China had dragons.
Over a decade ago, the world had faced a terrible crisis.
It was China's people who stepped up and helped humanity survive.
But that story had been classified and buried by global governments.
Those Chinese heroes were forced to sign agreements never to leave their homeland again.
Otherwise, they'd face global hostility.
Those people could resist, but they didn't want to make enemies of the world. For the sake of unity, they stayed contained.
"If we now invoke world peace to guilt them into action—they'll respond."
Pierce thought. But that also carried a risk.
It's easy to invite gods—harder to send them away.
Having sealed them within China's borders, releasing them now could backfire.
"All this… just to save Britain? Is it worth it?"
After weighing it, Pierce decided no.
"Tell them: the Guardians are on a secret mission. We don't know where they are."
"And tell them to have faith—God hasn't abandoned Britain. They'll pull through. We stand with them."
The subtext: we can't help you—good luck.
Anyway, Alexander Pierce didn't want to deal with it anymore. They could barely take care of themselves, let alone help with anything else.
"Also, if they're short on weapons or supplies, we can offer support, free of charge... no, no, no, support at cost price!"
"You understand what I mean by cost, right?"
The secretary nodded, "We'll quote in U.S. dollars, settle in British pounds."
The exchange rate of pounds to dollars is roughly 1.13:1, meaning a profit margin of about ten percent.
The exchange rate meant a tidy profit—and Britain would owe them a favor.
Back in London, the brass cried upon hearing Pierce's reply.
"If God hadn't abandoned us, why is this black mist here?"
What nonsense.
"The Guardians might be in space, but China still has people! Why won't anyone let them act?"
The senior military official slammed his cup down in frustration.
When disaster strikes, the people who are suffering and those just watching from the sidelines always feel differently. Their perspectives are completely different.
Britain had once believed, like the Americans, that sealing China's heroes was for the world's good.
But now, looking back, they saw how foolish that was.
"Maybe… we should ask China for help?"
"We can't rely on others forever. True strength comes from within."
"Too bad… we don't have our own superheroes."
In the comics, there is a British Captain, very strong and skilled in combat.
Not the Captain Carter from WandaVision, who only had a pretty face and two assets, but was ultimately wiped out by Scarlet Witch.
But rather, a legendary British figure, the one blessed by the wizard Merlin, adviser to King Arthur—yes, Saber.
In the Fate series, Merlin appears as a female mage too.
But in this film universe, that Captain Britain doesn't exist.
No superheroes were coming. James Bond wouldn't cut it here.
So, the military could only throw more weapons and lives into the black mist.
London is the capital, with a large population, government officials, and the royal palace. It's a place where, no matter what, they cannot resort to mushroom bombs.
Even if the person in charge stood up and shouted, "Fire at me!", the senior military officials wouldn't dare to follow through.
If they actually did that, they would have to apologize to the entire nation of Britain.
But the problem was, the military's attacks weren't having any effect. The black mist really seemed like a bottomless pit. No matter how much force they threw at it, it would just swallow it up.
At this point, the military desperately wished for a hero to step forward to defend London, to defend Britain.
Just as the military and the people of Britain hoped for a hero to appear, a blonde-haired girl, with a spiky hair on her head, suddenly appeared.
[Ding! Special card effect activated, sending the top-tier girlfriend card 'Legendary Queen'...]
[Queen Girlfriend has been delivered, please check!]
Saber stood on the prairie outside London, her hands resting on the hilt of her sword, gazing at the black mist in the distance. Her hair and clothes fluttered in the wind.
Her arrival wasn't summoned by Su Ye, but clearly linked to his system.
Earlier, because he triggered a special card, he had entered the Holy Grail world instance.
Now that the instance had ended, he brought his abilities with him, but the people from the instance didn't come out with him.
Originally, Su Ye thought he would need to use the Reality Stone to materialize them, like projections.
But when Britain was in crisis, Saber auto-triggered the special card and came to the real world.
And she wasn't alone.
As golden light shone on her Excalibur, a dozen figures appeared behind her.
The closest figure to Saber was a girl holding a giant staff and dressed in magician's attire. She was the court magician Merlin, who held both the titles of mentor and prophet.
Behind her were the Knights of the Round Table, who had fought alongside Saber for many years.
"My King!"
When the Knights of the Round Table saw Saber again, all of them knelt on one knee in reverence. Even Mordred, the rebellious knight who had once backstabbed Saber in the name of rebellion and perished with her, knelt devoutly on the ground.
The past has its causes and effects.
But for them now, cause and effect no longer mattered.
They were not alive, but merely a will and lingering regrets. All they could do now was follow their King's lead and save the people of Britain, just as they had done in the past.
"Will you still follow me to save these people?"
Saber's voice was not loud, but everyone heard her clearly.
"We obey your command, my King!"
The group all clasped their fists and bowed.
"Good, then let's depart!"
The golden-haired Saber and her Round Table Knights once again charged across Britain's soil.
However, no one recognized them anymore.
But they didn't care.
As long as they could fight together again—even if it meant vanishing afterward—it was worth it.