At the interstellar military headquarters of Kree, imperial elites appointed by the Supreme Intelligence stared at the holographic images before them.
The devastating flood has paralyzed hundreds of cities already, causing astronomical losses, leaving everyone's faces grim.
"The scale of the flood created by the enemy is increasing exponentially," said the commander of the Kree fleet with a darkened face, asking his colleagues, "My fleet has been continually attacking, but to little effect, so... do you have any good ideas now?"
"Is the Supreme Intelligence still out of contact?" asked another imperial elite.
"The Supreme Intelligence lost contact after the initial data upload, possibly due to landslides caused by the flood. The temple is damaged, and the photonic neural cables underneath are severed, cutting off our means of communication," said a tall, slender blue woman with arms crossed coldly. "We must consider the worst-case scenario now."
"Technicians observed that the scale of the enemy's flood is increasing exponentially," said a commander holding a high-tech war axe. "If we don't stop it, the flood will completely submerge this planet in ten days."
"Not even ten days," the tall, slender woman continued, "In fact... in no more than three days, the entire Kree planet will be completely paralyzed."
"We don't even know which civilization the enemy comes from, or their identity!" a burly high-ranking official slammed the table in frustration, "Who angered this mysterious individual!?"
"It was the Second Guardian, Meiss," someone said, "But he died three hours ago. The enemy threw something from the sky, directly destroying the entire second anti-air military defense area. The aftershocks of the quake are still spreading across the planet, and detectors indicate something underground is moving upwards."
"What!?" The original fleet commander furrowed his brows deeply, "You're saying the thing they dropped is alive? And it's still able to move after such a violent impact?"
"At least that's what the detector shows," the person shrugged.
"Commander, our defense systems have completely fallen, and our communication with the Supreme Intelligence is cut off. Currently, the probability of stopping the enemy from destroying this place is only 0.035%... Should we..." a slightly frail Kree tentatively said.
"Should we what?" the fleet commander asked.
"Should we... tactically retreat..." the Kree bit his teeth, but before he could finish, the tall, slender woman bluntly spoke for him.
"Nonsense, of course we should evacuate," she said coldly with arms crossed. "Actually, the best solution now is to surrender or find out the reason for the enemy's attack, but... heh, I guess you'd rather die than agree. Since that's the case, we better evacuate quickly."
"Alisu! Don't forget you're just the head of the Supreme Research Institute!"
Holding a high-tech axe and with a burly stature, a senior member of the Kree angrily roared, "Do you think everyone is only thinking about fleeing like you? There are countless Kree citizens on this planet... They won't like a leader who would abandon them at any moment!"
"You talk as if it's noble," Alisu directly said, "If you truly consider the welfare of these Kree citizens, then you might as well join me in surrendering to that individual. Maybe we could save these Kree citizens. I am willing to give up my dignity for their lives, can you?"
"What a joke!" the other party stood up abruptly from his chair, "The Kree Empire never surrenders!"
"Even if the enemy possesses four Infinity Stones?"
Alisu looked at the burly Kree leader as if looking at a fool, "Just because our Kree civilization's territory is vast and slightly more advanced in technology than other star civilizations, do you really think we rule the galaxy? Have you heard of the Celestials?"
"Alisu! You..."
"Shut up."
Before the other could react further, the fleet commander suddenly stopped him and then frowned deeply at the woman, "Exalted researcher, the Infinity Stones and Celestials you mentioned are..."
Alisu glanced at the fleet commander, walked over to the console and pressed a few buttons. Soon, a holographic image was displayed in front of the senior officials, which was essentially similar to what the Collector showed the Guardians of the Galaxy in the original story, explaining the origin of the Infinity Stones.
The Kree female scientist briefly introduced the Infinity Stones as six singularities formed by the residual energy from the universe's big bang, each corresponding to a certain universal truth. She mentioned how an ancient celestial being once used the power of one Infinity Stone to destroy an entire planet with a single strike, and the video showed a celestial being holding a staff, obliterating an entire planet's surface.
After watching the video, the entire conference room fell into dead silence.
"So..." the fleet commander's blue face almost turned completely black, "Just one Infinity Stone has the power to destroy a planet, and our great Kree civilization has inadvertently offended a monster that possesses four of these things?"
"Is the power of these things really that strong?"
The burly Kree senior with the axe started to hesitate, seemingly looking for an excuse, "If they are really that powerful... then why didn't we collect them to fight against the Nova Corps? Or are you exaggerating the power of these stones?"
"The Infinity Stones are infinitely powerful, but extremely difficult to wield perfectly," Alisu looked at him lightly, "Moreover, the location of each Infinity Stone is very secretive, and the Supreme Intelligence is not willing to waste the empire's military power to look for such things."
"Wait a minute..." another Kree senior couldn't help asking, "You said an Infinity Stone can destroy a planet instantly, but this guy obviously has four Infinity Stones... and he hasn't destroyed this place instantly, does that mean he can't use the power of these stones?"
"Why don't you go and try?" Alisu coldly said to the senior, "You pilot a spaceship, try to provoke him, insult him, and then see if he can indeed destroy the planet beneath our feet with one strike."
The other party shrank his neck and said no more.
However, after listening to the conversation, the battleship's commander-in-chief began to seriously contemplate.
He had been ordering the fleet to attack the enemy and had personally witnessed the attack. After watching the video about the Infinity Stones, he realized that the enemy could undoubtedly use the power of these four stones. After all, the enemy had come alone to destroy the world, obviously fearless.
He was indeed aware of the Infinity Stones, as were many present.
However, everyone had only heard about them and had no idea how powerful they were until today.
Knowing the power of these stones, he faced two options.
Either evacuate quickly, as there were still many ships at Kree, which could potentially transport civilians and minimize casualties. But this wouldn't solve the problem if they didn't understand why they were targeted, as the enemy could continue to destroy planets.
The Kree civilization had many colonies, but they couldn't withstand such devastation.
Alternatively, as the chief researcher suggested, they could try to understand the enemy's motive. Whether it was a simple hatred for Kree civilization or something else, understanding the reason might lead to negotiation, even if it meant losing some advantages.
After years of development, many high-ranking Krees had become arrogant. They obeyed the Supreme Intelligence's commands but were inherently proud and reckless. Now, with communication to the Supreme Intelligence temporarily severed, their true nature was revealing. He couldn't afford to make foolish mistakes like them, as the fate of the Kree civilization could rest in his hands.
With this heavy responsibility in mind, the fleet commander seemed to have made a decision and suddenly looked up at the chief researcher, Alisu.
"Alisu, I have a task I'd like to entrust to you," he said seriously, "I want you to take over and help evacuate the Kree civilians from this planet. I'll give you the necessary authority. You're right, we need to understand why we're being targeted, and for that, I plan to meet them in person."
The room erupted in chaos at his statement, with his aide protesting, arguing that anyone could go in his place. But the commander insisted that to solve a problem, one must show sincerity.
Just then, the communication device on the table suddenly rang loudly, surprising everyone with the news that communication with the Supreme Intelligence had been restored.
~~~
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