Shiller shook his head, seemingly disagreeing as he said, "Although Thanos' belonging to the Titan Clan makes him a better fighter than most races, he still can't compare to Odin, the Divine King of Asgard. As with all Divine Kings, the older they get, the stronger they become. Even if Odin abdicates, Thor is still there. If Thanos can't seize the opportunity to wage a blitzkrieg, the more he drags it out, the less chance he has of winning."
"To be honest, as a Pope to him, your act of tossing the Dark Quadrant out into the cosmos actually helped him a lot. He was previously troubled by the strength of his subordinates; wanting to expand outwardly and to consolidate internally. Progressing forward one step only to retreat half a step backward to take a look isn't a good strategy," Loki, after pouring himself a glass of wine and taking a sip, analyzed.
"He forgot his greatest advantage, which is wisdom. When he was still weak, he used this wisdom to trick many resources, which led to the establishment of the Dark Quadrant." Loki continued.
"But his territory, population, and powerful subordinates dulled his eyes, making him feel that by simply relying on the infertile land that he developed over more than ten years and a few subordinates, who weren't even as strong as him, he could defeat the old empires."
"Previously, he even confessed to me that he had contemplated finding the Infinity Gauntlet, and with a Divine Artifact, he could wipe out enough population to make room for himself. When he brought it up, he found it laughable himself. After all, 90% of the Kree Empire population are robots, if he kills half, they could be replaced within three days."
Dr. Strange and Shiller both shook their heads, Shiller sighed and said, "To seek interstellar hegemony, a Strong Artifact, a powerful subordinate, or even an army, none of these would help."
Noticing that Shiller was about to start explaining, Dr. Strange and Loki were both all ears. The doctor's viewpoints were always eye-opening for them; perhaps this time would be no different.
"In every society, there are classes." Shiller started, throwing out a conclusion, "Within a group composed of intelligent beings, a class system is almost inevitable. It is unrelated to the amount of resources, the strength of the race, and even who is just, and who is evil."
"Ultimately, the final outcome of any society's development would be a fixed class system; the countries on Earth are like this, the system in Asgard is like this, and so is the Interstellar Society."
"Just killing half of the population, but not changing the class fixation problem, wouldn't create new openings in a society. The key is not the population but the fixed classes."
Shiller lifted his eyes to look towards the void and thought for a while, then said, "If Thanos really acquires the Infinity Gauntlet and eliminates a sufficient amount of people, apart from weak civilizations like humans whose productivity is low and still developing that can be chaotic for a while, there wouldn't be the significant restructuring of the Interstellar Society that he imagines. He wouldn't be able to instill fear, nor would he be able to conquer the cosmos."
"Not to mention empires like the Kree Empire which already has thousands of years of interstellar colonization under their belt, having become accustomed to a scenario where there are only minimal members of the main race, and they rule the empire using robots which are expendable materials that can be replenished at any time. For them, this would just be a minor shock."
"Even for those medium-sized civilizations, after losing half their population, an emergency mobilization would ensure that the remaining half of the population could still maintain at least 70% of their survival materials, mining machinery, and military defense facilities."
"Losing half the population instantly is terrifying, but which civilization that has developed to the point of interstellar colonization hasn't experienced such natural or man-made disasters? Solar flares, planetary explosions, and the fallout from war like thunder falling from the sky; the cosmos is full of danger. Any civilization that can't stabilize its society during emergent situations would have long been eliminated and wouldn't have any voice in the Interstellar Society."
"In the Interstellar Society, every civilization is like a person, and Thanos killing half the population is like cutting off one hand from each person."
"Although a civilization loses a hand, its opponent also loses a hand. Under these circumstances, they are still evenly matched, and neither can destroy the other or their social structure."
"This is equivalent to there still being balance within all the civilizations in each class. Everyone goes home to lick their wounds, busy with self-preservation, which causes a societal tightening, without any chaos ensuing."
"When there's no chaos amongst the individuals, the number of individuals won't decrease, the positions in each class won't open up, and with enough individuals in each class, previous stability will be maintained, and the system won't collapse."
"Thanos has weakened the Interstellar Society, but it's a fair weakening that's as good as no weakening. Once he tries to insert himself, he will find that there's still no place for him, and if he tries to force his way in, he will still be surrounded by enemies."
"Moreover, as civilization's production and defense capabilities decrease, their vigilance rises. Pardon my words; such a move is just like arousing the snake by hitting the grass, simply the most foolish approach."
"When everyone has had one hand mysteriously chopped off, they will definitely be scared and will then come up with all ways to self-defend."
"And if they realize they don't have the ability to self-defend after being disfigured, and there is still a mysterious and formidable foe, who once chopped off their hands lurking in the unknown, they wouldn't choose internal strife, but would set aside their grudges to band together to confront this enemy."
"The thing members of the same class hate most is not their feuding peers, but outsiders. Once there are outsiders, they will definitely unite to share a common hatred, even if they once bore irreconcilable grudges."
"If Thanos is strong enough, perhaps he can unify the cosmos after a long period of annihilation, but he is one of the few intelligent beings in the cosmos and chose the most foolish path. There are ten thousand other methods that could be more efficient."
Both Dr. Strange and Loki fell into deep thought. After a while, Loki asked first, "So in your opinion, how should one break the fixed class system in the Interstellar Society?"
"This isn't easy." Shiller provided a descending tone, saying, "It's very hard to break the fixed class system in any society, especially when it's from the bottom up. Generally, violent rebellion is the best approach, but clearly, we don't have that power."
"Even Asgard wouldn't have the power to contend with the Three Great Empires head on, not to mention you still have a score to settle. Humans don't have the power, Thanos and his Dark Quadrant lack development time. Even if we three combine our powers, it might suffice, but how many members of the main race would have to die?"
"Thus, we have to adopt a more tactful approach, akin to using four ounces to move a thousand pounds, to carve out a stage for ourselves on the Interstellar Society."
Observing the light in Shiller's eyes, Doctor Strange had a premonition. He asked, "So, you already have a plan?"
Shiller nodded, showing a smile as he said, "Don't forget, we still have a trump card up our sleeves."