Chapter 918: The Space Dominator's Debut (Patreon)

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"I have no interest in the new Skrull Empire either. I absolutely won't go back," Schiller stated firmly.

"But I also don't want such a thing to happen. Even if we need space for the development of our civilization, it's not a reason for humanity to provoke a large-scale war among the three major Empires," Schiller added with conviction.

"You should all know that my relationship with Gana is good. Among those who followed Gana, the one he trusted the most was me."

"Now that things have come to this point, I can be candid. The reason he could disregard authorization and board the Polar Star was because I stole my father's, the Deputy Supreme Commander's, identity authentication. That's how he succeeded in carrying out his plan to steal the spaceship."

"His trust in me exceeded anyone else's because he believed that without me, his plan would never have succeeded. He firmly believed that I was on his side, so he didn't guard against me. But I saw him as nothing more than a useful fool."

Schiller narrowed his eyes and continued, "You should know that there's a device on the Polar Star that connects to the Skrull Empire. To prevent Gana from making a foolish move one day, which could attract the Skrull fleet, I tampered with that communication device to make sure Gana couldn't easily control it to send signals."

"But to be prepared for the day when I might need it, I disassembled and hid its crucial components. Even though the Polar Star has crashed, the communication device is still intact. Therefore, we can use this communication device to send a signal to the Skrull Empire."

"Are you suggesting..." Alengel furrowed his brows, seemingly realizing something. He said, "Every Skrull Empire spaceship has a special identification code. If we use the Polar Star's communication device to send a message to the Skrull Empire, they will undoubtedly think that the information is coming from the Polar Star."

"Correct. We can disguise it as an incident of Skrulls fighting over control of the spaceship, and both sides can step back. It won't escalate this war into an interstellar conflict," Schiller explained.

"I understand. The Kree Empire doesn't really care about this star port itself; it's all about saving face. As long as there's a reasonable excuse, they actually don't want to engage in warfare with the Skrull Empire," Barack chimed in.

Schiller nodded, saying, "Exactly. For a Space Empire, war must be pursued for interests. Without the Black Box, their interest in starting a war is to save face. But if we have the Black Box, both sides will have a reason to negotiate instead of going to war."

"In that case, let's begin," Talos said, nodding.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the Solar System, beyond the orbits of Pluto and Neptune, a peculiar star port floated silently in space.

What made it peculiar was that it should have been a spherical star port resembling a celestial body, but it had been split in half. One half was connected with various mechanical structures, while the other half was encased in a Magic Shield emitting a mysterious glow.

Several spaceships were parked on the mechanical star port's pier, while on the Magic Shield star port's pier, several sleek Blinkmagic-shining spaceships were also stationed.

Inside one of the chambers of the mechanical star port, Stark was adjusting the controls for the star port's docking pier and asked, "Where's Schiller? Has he returned?"

Peter, who was engrossed in examining design blueprints, replied without looking up, "Not yet. He seems to have gone to meet those Skrulls, saying something about getting them to cooperate with the plan."

"Who knows what he's up to? It seems like this star port isn't his ultimate goal. I have a feeling he has bigger ambitions."

"Not his ultimate goal?!" Peter exclaimed, looking at Stark in disbelief. "We've even managed to acquire a whole star port!"

"While Dr. Schiller said that this star port is somewhat outdated, that's only in comparison to the Kree Empire, which is one of the most advanced civilizations in space."

Peter sighed and glanced back at the design blueprint, saying, "To make modifications in here, we would either need to adapt it to star energy or Ark Reactor functionality, but both options would significantly reduce its efficiency."

"After all, even a small part of this place's modifications would require several hundred years of development in human basic industry. Although we've pieced it together now, truly building it ourselves..."

Peter shook his head and didn't continue, but Stark, unfazed, said, "As long as it works, don't you remember? The first generation of Mech armor was also assembled by me from scrap parts in a junkyard."

He had just wanted to use this topic to educate Peter not to lose heart and to strive to catch up with advanced civilizations despite the gap. However, at that moment, Schiller walked in and said, "Well done, everyone. If you have the time, would you like to accompany me on a trip to the Large Magellanic Cloud?"

"Go to the Large Magellanic Cloud?" Stark turned his head with some confusion, scrutinizing Schiller from top to bottom. "You're not planning to go back like one of those deranged serial murder case culprits, to revisit the crime scene and observe the expressions of the victims and investigators, are you?"

Schiller paused for a moment, then looked up at the ceiling's pattern and said, "...Of course not."

Stark widened his eyes in mock horror and said, "You actually want to do that?!! Seriously? Peter! Peter! Go to the room next door, stay away from this guy!"

Peter thought they were joking and shrugged, saying, "Doctor, even if you want to taunt them when you go back, shouldn't you ensure your own safety?"

"We've smashed their star port, and they're probably furious. If we return now, we might be attacked."

Schiller rolled his eyes and said, "Don't you pay attention to news in the space at all? Anyway, I'll make a phone call to Loki, the Radiance Alliance, and prepare for a meeting."

After a while, in the Sanctum Sanctorum's office, Loki walked out of a portal looking a bit travel-worn, indicating he had just returned from interstellar travel. He said, "The latest news is that the Kree Fleet has officially entered the Spider Nebula and is preparing to organize defensive lines."

"There's also some activity on the Skrull side. I infiltrated their capital planet and found that the population there is celebrating their victory. They believe that their military operation this time achieved remarkable results and humiliated the Kree."

"Has the news spread?" Stark asked.

"Of course. The information flow in the interstellar society is much faster than you imagine. The first star port exploded less than two hours ago, and in the thriving star regions, many more forward-thinking civilizations have begun preparations for war."

Loki took off his coat and hung it on a nearby rack before sitting on the sofa. He took a sip of water and continued, "Just about two hours ago, the capital of the Kree Empire lowered its flag to half-mast in mourning. At the same time, they released a statement demanding an explanation from the Skrull Empire. If there's no response within a day, they will retaliate without restraint to respond to the Skrull Empire's attack."

"Skrull Empire's officials seem to be investigating the cause of the incident. About an hour ago, they stated that it was an accidental accident and expressed willingness to negotiate with the representatives of the Kree Empire."

Stark raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked, "Why does the Skrull Empire seem so weak? Aren't they planning to go for a direct fight?"

Loki shook his head and said, "Don't you think this looks like a trap? Humanity's complex history of warfare hasn't shown you enough conspiracies?"

"Skrull Empire believes that the Kree Empire must have been prepared in advance and staged this attack using an old star port as bait, justifiably initiating the Resurrection operation, and finally provoking a war, ambushing the Skrull Empire, catching them off guard."

"Oh, I see!" Peter raised his hand. "Skrull Empire thinks that the ship that crashed into the first Kree Empire star port was arranged by the Kree themselves, like a staged accident?"

Loki nodded and said, "Correct. So they are reluctant to start a fight. Maybe they'll send a few fleets over, only to face a million-strong starship army on the other side. Losing fleets isn't a big deal; the real fear is a drop in morale."

"These two nations with centuries-old grudges are unwilling to lose face in any matter. Once they concede to the other side, their own people are likely to become resentful."

Stark looked at Schiller with a mischievous grin and said, "Looks like they can't afford to fight now. Your perfect Abacus plan might fall through."

"But it's not a complete loss," Stark added, leaning back on the sofa. "At least, we have the star port and spaceships, and there's progress on the mutant issue. You shouldn't feel too disappointed..."

"Laugh all you want, no need to hold back," Schiller muttered, then looked at Stark. Stark, with a radiant smile, said, "I've never been this happy since we got the star port. Wise men may have a thousand plans, but there's always room for error. Hahaha!"

Schiller shook his head and said, "Tony, have you noticed something?"

Stark stopped laughing, took a deep breath, and then asked, "What's the matter?"

"In the entire plan, there's a position for which there's a more suitable candidate, but that candidate hasn't appeared at all."

Stark paused for a moment, but in reality, he wasn't thinking at all. He was still reveling in the joy of the recent success. So, he casually asked, "Which position? Who's the better candidate? Who hasn't appeared?"

But after he asked that question, his highly perceptive mind had already provided him with the answer. He suddenly froze in place and then looked at Schiller, slowly uttering a name:

"…Magneto?!!!"

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 919: The Grand Debut of the Space Overlord (Part 2)