Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics
Chapter 4675 - 3751 Doomsday (7)

Chapter 4675: Chapter 3751 Doomsday (7)

Although the Milky Way is relatively remote and the surrounding area is quite desolate without any decent civilizations, the Nine Major Kingdoms are still quite famous in the interstellar realm. To constantly monitor Asgard’s movements, the Three Great Empires have established outposts on the edge of the Milky Way. If they want to send people to the Milky Way, they would directly teleport to the outposts.

However, upon arriving at the Milky Way, they cannot directly enter the Nine Major Kingdoms, because the dimension they can teleport to is a relatively desolate one with basically nothing there.

The structure of the Nine Major Kingdoms is quite special. Anyone using teleportation technology can only enter Asgard. In other words, people outside the Nine Major Kingdoms have no way to teleport directly to places like Midgard or Vanaheim; they must go through Asgard for transit.

To teleport into Asgard, one must obtain the approval of the current Divine King of the Aesir. This does not mean they’ve applied some protective Magic to Asgard; it’s simply the nature of the World Tree. This kind of protection comes from the rules of the cosmos, and even the Three Great Empires cannot bypass it.

If they don’t use teleportation technology and try to directly fly in, they’ll never be able to enter the true range of the Nine Major Kingdoms because they can’t access the dimension where the World Tree resides, only circling in this desolate dimension.

The interstellar civilizations that received Loki’s invitation, if they wish to come, must reply in advance to gain teleportation permission. If their ships aren’t on the approved whitelist and insist on jumping in, they’d have to bear all consequences.

Problems occur if the Superluminal Engine malfunctions due to interference from universal rules, causing ships to jump into some extremely dangerous dimensional pockets, where they are likely doomed. There are some perilous regions within the Nine Major Kingdoms that even Odin wouldn’t easily tread, let alone Thor going to rescue them.

However, the whitelist verification system of the World Tree is quite outdated, requiring verification one by one and only in designated areas. This means that everyone arriving near the Milky Way has to wait a bit before queueing for the jump. When Asgard last summoned various civilizations for a gathering, many civilizations complained about this point: In this age, is the bandwidth still so low? It’s like building a massive house with a thousand-square-foot area but setting up only a one-meter-high door where everyone has to crouch to enter.

Complaints aside, there’s nothing to be done. The Three Great Empires all crouch to enter, so others can only line up obediently.

Usually, the Three Great Empires are at the front of the line. They generally only come for significant matters and are relatively important, plus their engine efficiency and safety are better. If those smaller civilizations came first, and the engine encountered issues blocking the entrance, no one would be able to enter.

It’s about the same today. The Three Great Empires are still the earliest to arrive, each dispatched a main battleship and several escort ships, lining up in the order of Skrull Empire, Kree Empire, and Shi’ar Empire to undergo whitelist verification and prepare for teleportation.

Though all three empires possess Superluminal Engines, the manifestations of their teleportation vary slightly. In short, the Skrull Empire blinks with a flash of white light and a "buzz," the ship vanishes; the Kree Empire flashes blue light twice, silently, and then disappears; the Shi’ar Empire radiates golden light from weak to strong, with a faint hum, and then vanishes.

The Skrull Empire’s main battleship, first in line today, disappeared with a "buzz" after waiting a few dozen seconds for authentication.

Seeing it leave, the Kree Empire moved forward a bit, preparing to teleport. But as soon as their double flash turned on, there was another "buzz," and the Skrull Empire’s ship returned.

The Supreme Wisdom controlling the ship was utterly baffled. What the heck, buddy, are you a dog sent flying by a revolving door? Why did you just jump back?

Although not in a hurry, they quickly retreated to maintain a safe distance. Even though the two are at war, they can’t fight at the doorstep of the Nine Major Kingdoms, or else what if Odin comes out to intervene?

The Supreme Wisdom retreated, turned around, and saw the Skrull Empire’s fleet also retreating, flashing their lights, indicating for the Kree Empire’s fleet to go first.

The Supreme Wisdom couldn’t figure it out. After all these years of fighting, now they remember to be polite and courteous?

They assumed maybe the opponent’s fleet was too old and the teleportation system malfunctioned. Since they all needed to get there eventually, it didn’t matter who went first, so they stepped forward to prepare for teleportation.

Behind them, the Shi’ar Empire also felt confused. What are you two doing? One moment forward, one moment back; are you trying to jump in three quick steps?

The Kree Empire jumped, and the Shi’ar Empire, not thinking much, stepped forward as well. Initiating the teleportation system, the golden lights lit up. Just then, they saw the double flash ahead, and the Kree Empire had returned.

The Shi’ar Empire projected a symbol of a question mark from the Ferocious Feather Tribe language above their ship. Although they have a radio communication system, no one wanted to be the first to open the line due to ongoing war, so they resorted to emoticons for communication.

The Kree Empire flashed their lights again, silently stepping aside to let the Shi’ar Empire go first. The captain of the Shi’ar Empire thought similarly to the Supreme Wisdom, believing these two old adversaries’ ships were malfunctioning. It didn’t matter who entered first, so they might as well go first.

Only Mystique, disguised as the first mate, sensed something was off. The Skrull and Kree Empires are veteran mechanical empires; she’d never heard of a teleportation system malfunctioning before. However, if it’s not a ship issue, then could Asgard be having problems? It seemed unlikely.

In the two seconds she pondered this, the captain had already initiated teleportation, and smoothly and steadily jumped over.

Mystique breathed a sigh of relief, it’s nothing after all, right? She thought there was something wrong with Asgard. It turns out those two mechanical civilizations are unreliable, screwing up even such a basic teleportation... Wait, what’s that?

The spaceship command room has a 270-degree transparent porthole, the glow of the teleportation engine faded, and everyone instinctively glanced forward. Asgard’s Sky Island remained mysterious, magnificent, and beautiful—but what was that blue sphere next to the main island??!

Mystique, standing behind the Captain, didn’t see it clearly. Just as she was about to take a closer look, the Captain slapped the teleportation button with a bang, and "swish," the fleet jumped back to the entrance.

The fleets of the Three Great Empires looked at each other in disbelief.

In the command room of the Shi’ar Empire’s flagship, the Captain looked as if he’d seen a ghost, but felt relieved to find they were back. Mystique too belatedly realized what she had just seen.

Could that be her beloved home planet?

So that’s why the fleet from the Skrull Empire and the Kree Empire jumped back the moment they went over. This is truly like seeing a ghost!

The Captains of the fleets sent by the Three Great Empires are certainly no pushovers. At this crucial moment of interstellar warfare, regardless of what Asgard called them over to discuss, they had to be on guard. Not only against Asgard but also against the other two Empires. Those entrusted with initial missions at this time were the elite of the elite.

The most impressive thing about this group was their familiarity with the cosmos. Which regions are safe, which are dangerous, which civilizations can be bypassed through, and which should be quickly avoided or fled at first sight, are not only in their brains but engraved in their instincts. The Captains of the warships from the Three Great Empires reacted faster than anyone. Upon seeing Earth, they instantly initiated a reverse teleportation and returned immediately.

Though a bit embarrassing, at least their lives were intact. Besides, they weren’t the only ones embarrassed; all three had jumped back?

The Three Great Empires are far from foolish. The moment they saw Earth, they realized the opponent’s intentions—it’s a clear attempt at extortion!

Asgard widely invited us over; we thought he was finally willing to help one side. When they sailed over boldly with their ships, Earth laid there claiming your fleet caused irreversible radiation damage to it. What can you do?

Earth wants compensation; if they don’t pay, the Asgardian brutes will rush out and beat them up. Where would you go to reason then?

The Captain of the Shi’ar Empire was livid, and the two scoundrels ahead of him were even worse. You know what it is over there when you went to check; wouldn’t you die if you warned me?! Pretending your engine was broken while faking reverse gear—isn’t it just to avoid being the only one scared?

Just then, Mystique’s communicator beeped. She glanced at it, saluted the Captain, and said, "Captain, communication team reports, Asgard is calling. Shall we take it?"

"Take it! I want to see what tricks they’re up to!"

Though he spoke toughly, when Loki’s face appeared on the screen, the Captain still struggled to muster a smile and said, "Good morning, Your Royal Highness. We..."

He hadn’t finished speaking when Loki interrupted, impatiently saying, "What are you doing blocking the entrance? There are more guests behind, can’t see the entrance is full? Hurry up and come in!"

The Captain was stunned, isn’t... you don’t even bother pretending in a trap now? What kind of attitude is this???

"Did the three of your ships break down together?" Loki frowned deeply, "Whatever, move your fleets to the other side first, don’t block the way here. Then I’ll send battleships to pick you up."

After speaking, Loki hung up the communication. The Captain was puzzled: if Asgard wanted to use Earth for extortion, why not let their fleet in? If only people were allowed to enter, then even if Earth is very close to Asgard, there’s no way to extort. What impact could a few individuals have on Earth?

Meanwhile, Mystique had figured it out; this was a double-bind plot. If you bring your ship into the Nine Major Kingdoms, Earth can come over to extort; but if you don’t, the battleship is pointless. Who can escape if something goes wrong then?

Even if these are elites with single combat strength unable to defeat an Asgardian General, and even escape is impossible. Abandoning warships with offensive, defensive, and retreat capabilities renders one completely powerless.

This strategy doesn’t quite seem to be something Asgard would come up with. Mystique reckoned it must be from the human side, utterly cunning. But she liked it.