Xandar, Headquarters of the Nova Corps.
In the vast cosmos, among the three great empires, the Skrull Empire had already been completely dismantled by the Kree. Without the intervention of Captain Marvel, the remaining Skrulls would likely still be living on the run, hunted down relentlessly.
As for the Nova Empire, one of the three major powers, they couldn't even handle a minor Kree faction led by Ronan the Accuser. Even when Ronan's forces approached their doorstep, they hesitated to launch an immediate counterattack.
In his past life, Blake had read and watched countless movies and books about advanced civilizations. Many of these works portrayed such civilizations as peaceful, noble, and no longer reliant on material pursuits.
The more advanced a civilization became, the weaker its military strength often grew, unwilling to resort to war easily or maintain significant military power. On the surface, this seemed like a good thing—a step towards peace.
But true peace is enforced through the threat of overwhelming power. As Tony Stark's father once said, "Peace means having the biggest stick."
A great figure from Blake's homeland also said: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun!"
Though the contexts were different, the underlying principle held true. Unity and peace are often built on the foundation of strength.
Unfortunately, it seemed the Nova Empire didn't quite grasp this concept.
The Kree Empire pursued relentless militarization, while the Nova Empire had swung to the opposite extreme. This massive intergalactic empire relied solely on the Nova Corps for its defense.
Even after Ronan's blatant provocations, the Nova Empire didn't strengthen its defenses or military power. Instead, they pinned their hopes on Blake and his companions.
Their price for seeking help?
The mining rights to three resource-rich planets, a trove of advanced technological data centuries ahead of Earth, and even manpower to assist in terraforming the Moon and Mars, transforming them into secondary habitats for humanity.
These were the terms offered to enlist Blake and the others to deal with Ronan.
"With all due respect, the price you're offering should be more than enough to arm yourselves and eliminate Ronan, shouldn't it? After all, he's already lost the support of the Kree Empire," Natasha pointed out.
She, too, found it hard to understand how a massive galactic empire could be so threatened by a single fleet, to the point of fear and unrest.
"We have a peace treaty with the Kree Empire. Both sides dismantled a significant portion of their military forces. The galaxy needs peace. Ronan violated the treaty, but we cannot unilaterally rearm. Even if I believed it necessary, the elders would never approve," Nova Prime replied with a shrug, as if she saw nothing wrong with her stance.
Blake exchanged a glance with Tony, and Tony asked, "If we weren't here, what would you have done? Wait for them to attack first?"
"Ronan's forces are blockading us. He cannot breach the Nova Corps' defenses, and he poses no direct threat to our homeworld. If you hadn't come, we would've issued a galaxy-wide bounty. Though Ronan is notorious in the universe, an increased bounty would attract plenty of bounty fleets and Ravagers to deal with him."
Blake rolled his eyes, thinking, No wonder Thanos wiped you out so effortlessly in the movies.
In a universe filled with hostile forces and powerful, unpredictable third parties, putting faith in peace while cutting military strength was a recipe for disaster. If the Nova Empire didn't collapse, who would?
But seeing the utterly self-assured expression on Nova Prime's face, Blake wisely decided not to argue further.
Blake straightened up with an air of seriousness and began spouting nonsense: "Your dedication to and love for peace is truly admirable. I've heard that the Nova Corps has a certain energy-linking technology for battleships, which serves as an excellent defensive measure. I wonder if this technology is... accessible?"
He crossed his legs leisurely, his words intentionally vague yet his intent crystal clear: the current offer wasn't enough. That technology needed to be added to the deal.
This particular energy-linking technology was a core asset of the Nova Corps. Nova Prime's face showed a trace of hesitation at the request.
Apologizing briefly, she asked Blake to wait and turned to head into another room—clearly to discuss the matter with others.
Blake wasn't in a hurry. With the Space Stone in his possession, even if they refused outright, he had other ways of acquiring it.
Instead, he turned to chat casually with Tony and the others.
"I never imagined our first stop in space would involve fighting a fleet and then becoming mercenaries for an empire. We're just hillbillies from Earth!" Tony joked, a glint of amusement in his eyes. After all, this deal was incredibly profitable for them.
Forget the value of the three resource-rich planets; just the opportunity to terraform Mars and the Moon alone opened unimaginable possibilities for Earth's development. Given Earth's current technological capabilities, focusing all resources on transforming the Moon was conceivable, albeit bit by bit. But Mars? That was entirely out of reach.
"I didn't expect that either," Natasha said with a wide smile. "Who knew we'd get three planets and Mars' terraforming just from a little scuffle!"
"Oh, and don't forget," Tony added, his mind racing ahead. "Immigrating to Mars will require a lot of transport ships. Let's not waste time retrofitting; let's add another clause—have them prepare transport ships for Mars' migration."
Blake rolled his eyes dramatically and gave Tony a thumbs-up. "Trust the genius billionaire to think of everything."
Barely ten minutes later, Nova Prime rushed out of the room. Judging by the relieved expression on her face, it seemed the issue had been resolved—no doubt a testament to how much Ronan's harassment was driving them to the brink.
"The elders have agreed to your requests. However, there's one condition: this technology can only be used by Earth and its future affiliated planets. It cannot be transferred or shared with third parties in any form."
"Don't worry! This is for protecting ourselves—we'll make sure it doesn't get out," Blake assured her.
With the key issues resolved, the transport ships seemed trivial in comparison, especially since they had already given away core technology and planets.
The transfer of the three planets was swift, merely requiring registration in the Nova Empire's records. Until Blake's team sent people to take over, the Nova Corps would temporarily guard them.
As for the terraforming of Mars and the Moon, the Nova Empire would immediately dispatch teams to assess the environment and execute the plan.
When it came to dealing with Ronan, Blake and his companions were responsible for the action, but the Nova Empire would provide intelligence on Ronan's whereabouts.
Though the Nova Empire's stance on military readiness was naive, their status as one of the three major galactic powers wasn't for show.
In just a few days, news of Ronan's location reached them.
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