Chapter 1545

In the pitch-black space of the universe, countless insect compound eyes were flickering. On a planet that had already shattered by half, a giant bug with the upper body of a longhorn beetle and the lower body of a centipede was lying prone. Those terrifying eyes were even brighter than the stars in the distance.

This was the edge of a star system in its prime, occupying no important position in the universe. Its only special feature was that the Nova Corps headquarters, Xandar, was at the center of this star system, and at this moment, the terrifying hive had already devoured most of the star system.

The few remaining resistance teams of the Nova Corps were all huddled in the only remaining fleet. A man with a red cross-star on his helmet walked quickly past the door of the communication room, heading to the ship's main control room.

Just ten minutes ago, the Corps had issued an evacuation order. Defending Xandar to the death had no meaning; it would only consume the Nova Corps' effective strength faster. So although Centurion Richard Rider, known as "Nova," was unwilling to hand over the Corps headquarters to the bugs just like that, he had no other way.

More importantly, they had to use the few remaining armed forces to ensure the source of Nova power—the Nova Super-Biological Computer—would not be devoured by the bugs.

Just as Nova intended to head to the main control room to send the evacuation order, a member of the Nova Corps rushed out of the communication room. He called out to Nova and said: "We received a strange communication. They requested to speak with the Corps leader. Preliminary judgment is that it's an Order-side life. Should we connect the communication?"

Nova flicked his cape, frowned slightly, but still nodded and said: "Connect the communication."

He walked into the communication room, and soon a huge projection appeared in the center of the room. It was the face of Star-Lord Quill.

"Listen, buddy, I'm Peter Quill, this is my friend Rocket Raccoon, and this big guy is Groot. You can call us the Guardians of the Galaxy. Although I don't know what meaning this name has, anyway, we are the Guardians of the Galaxy."

"We snatched a Kree Empire frigate in the fallen zone of the Kree Empire. The frigate is equipped with full-energy annihilation weapons. Just now, my good buddy Rocket Raccoon discovered in the scan map that your fleet is in the encirclement of the Annihilation Wave. Looking at the movement of the fleet's frigates, you should be preparing to evacuate."

"We can provide fire support cover for you in the direction of coordinates 202A to 1022F. When the annihilation weapons finish charging, we will launch a flash signal to remind you. You can carry out a synchronized evacuation."

Nova frowned, just about to say something, when Rocket Raccoon jumped down from Quill's shoulder, brought his furry face close to the camera, and said: "Don't fucking ask those stupid questions that waste time! The bugs are about to eat the whole universe! All creatures with brains should unite and wipe them out first!"

"No one near the Andromeda Galaxy hasn't heard the name of the Nova Corps Space Police. You're pretty annoying in peacetime, but we must protect you, otherwise the Andromeda Galaxy behind you will also fall."

Nova, hearing this, didn't talk nonsense anymore, waved his hand and said: "Closely monitor the flash signal, prepare to evacuate from the target direction!"

The area near the large black hole at the center of the universe was already dead silent. After the Annihilation Day, even the endless stream of bugs no longer stayed here. They had long since headed toward more prosperous star sectors.

The Kree Empire bore the brunt. The three major starports had all fallen. The ship docking ports, which were originally like steel forests, now only had charred wreckage under artillery coverage. Because of the emergency charging for the planet-killer battleships, the stars had been squeezed dry of all energy and extinguished, just like the gradually extinguishing flame of civilization of the Kree Empire.

And not far from the Far-Reach Starport, the wreckage of a Skrull fleet floated quietly in space, with the corpses of a few terrifying bugs nearby. This was Magneto's masterpiece.

But looking at the current situation, this was completely unnecessary, because after the initial Annihilation Day destroyed hundreds of surrounding dimensions, the bug invasion blossomed everywhere, attacking the Kree Empire's capital star sector at an attack speed unimaginable to any civilization.

The powerful defensive forces of the Kree Empire, built entirely on mechanical civilization, played no role in defending the capital star. Within a short two days, the Kree Empire's proud planet-killer battleships were all wiped out, and the Kree Empire's supreme ruler, the Supreme Intelligence, fled in a panic.

At this time, the Skrull Empire finally realized that if they didn't gather the power of all civilizations to resist the Annihilation Wave, then the destruction of civilization was only a matter of time.

As a militaristic nation, the Skrull Empire, because it wasn't attacked at the first moment, had assembled a large number of troops in a very short time, and the arsenals in the rear were still continuously producing more super soldiers.

But just when the Skrull Empire's commander wanted to lead the troops to head toward the large black hole at the center of the universe, the palace on the Skrull Empire's mother planet received an emergency communication with the highest classification level.

Skrull Empire Emperor Dorrek VII, after connecting the communication, saw the face of Shi'ar Empire Empress Lilandra.

"Your Majesty Dorrek VII, long time no see. The situation is urgent now, please forgive me for not being able to exchange too many pleasantries. About three minutes ago, the guard team guarding the Shi'ar Empire's Great Portal discovered signs of a small-scale bug troop invasion."

"Judging by the generals on the front line, the Annihilation Wave's next primary strategic goal is the Shi'ar Empire's Great Portal. As for the reason, you should know better than me."

Dorrek VII's eyebrows immediately furrowed. He stared at Lilandra's face and said: "This is really not good news."

"Yes, although the Annihilation Wave is numerous, they lack large-scale weapons capable of instantly striking the entire universe. If they occupy the Great Portal, it's equivalent to possessing such a super-large bomb, and we must never let them succeed."

"Within the next ten minutes, I will open the high-level permissions of all Shi'ar Empire portals to the Skrull Empire's battleships. You must immediately jump to my location and defend the Great Portal with us."

Dorrek VII widened his eyes, staring at Lilandra in shock and saying: "Your Majesty the Empress, do you know what you are saying?!"

"Of course, Dorrek. You can also choose to use the permissions I opened for you to bring the Skrull Empire's army to the Shi'ar Empire, and use your planet-destroying weapons to wipe me and all the Shi'ar people on the capital star from this universe."

"But I would rather take this risk than let the Great Portal fall into the hands of the bugs. If any bug breaks into the final defensive circle, I will use my highest authority to blow up the Great Portal directly—I won't leave anything for this group of damn bugs."

Dorrek VII gasped. He looked at the resolute light in Lilandra's eyes, shook his head slightly, and sighed: "Lilandra, when we last met, I still thought you were just a stupid little girl."

"That's all in the past." Lilandra raised her tone and said: "War can completely change a person. You should have a deeper realization of this, Dorrek. Do it, the bugs won't give us more reaction time."

After Lilandra's figure disappeared, Dorrek took a deep breath, raised his head slightly, and said to the adjutant behind him.

"All troops assemble, prepare to jump, target... Shi'ar Empire Great Portal!"

The engine roar of the Skrull Empire's steel torrent was like thunder spreading across the entire universe, further inciting all interstellar civilizations to boil over. And one shocking piece of news after another kept coming, like urgent drumbeats, and also like life-urging notes.

When the news that the Shi'ar Empire had opened the highest portal permissions to all interstellar civilizations in the universe spread, everyone, in addition to being shocked, finally understood to what a severe degree the situation had developed.

And immediately after, the Kree Empire's supreme ruler, the Supreme Intelligence, uploaded itself to the interstellar public network and opened all computing power. All civilizations realized that the enemy must be unimaginably powerful.

The three major empires that used to call the wind and summon the rain and sweep across the universe—one was already on the verge of collapse, one was defending with difficulty. The three parties abandoning old grudges and joining hands proved that they had already reached the critical moment of life and death.

And when the largest pile of firewood was ignited, countless sparks naturally gathered. Soon, the horn of war spread like sea waves to all star systems. Where the light of civilization lit up, artillery was loaded, boilers were heated, and energy was gathered.

The Great Portal star sector, which had become the most prosperous region in the universe due to trade, was at this time still the brightest place in the dark universe. A lonely lamp in the afterglow of the old days was like a lighthouse in a sea of ships. Hundreds of billions of fleets were like wind and thunder, the sword's edge pointed, the cold light biting.

In front of the bright and hot red giant star, the frigate clusters swept past like swimming sharks, leaving only the brilliant wake of the engine nozzles.

Suddenly, the star's particle wind was disturbed. The Skrull Empire's Infinite Eternity-class battleships, like deep-sea whales, slowly drove out from behind the star. When the cold and hard bow of the ship revealed its true face, the scorching sun was also dimmed by it.

But at the edge of the star system where the star's light couldn't reach, endless dark limbs and compound eyes flashing with evil light were like monsters crawling out of deep-sea trenches. When they swarmed into the battlefield densely, even Dorrek VII, who was used to the meat-grinder scenes of war, couldn't help but curse a dirty word.

When this enemy, which had devoured most of the Kree Empire within a few days, revealed its true face, it brought endless pressure to all the interstellar civilization armies that were ready to go.

They were bugs, but not just bugs. They weren't that kind of primitive life that hadn't fully evolved, but terrifying monsters that had long since specialized their body structures specifically for invasion and destruction.

Giant Blade Flying Cockroaches, Light-Shooting Maggots, Blaster Nests, Acid Bug Pillars, Dark Matter Bombing Beetles, Wave-Frequency Bee Swarms...

Just in the few days of dealing with the Kree Empire, they had already evolved bug soldiers specifically targeting mechanical civilizations like the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire.

And what made people feel even more desperate was that behind these endless combat units, the Hive Super-Brain, composed of millions of nodes, perfectly controlled all bug soldiers, making them execute every tactical order without fear of death, charging endlessly, never retreating.

"... You are the only organization in the universe that has developed a super-biological computer and skillfully used the energy it provides, so you are the only force capable of breaking the Hive Super-Brain."

On the Nova Corps headquarters battleship that had successfully withdrawn from its original star system, Quill looked into Nova's eyes and said: "The Annihilation Wave is looking for a sufficiently sturdy shell for their Hive Super-Brain. Their target is Galactus."

"The large-scale attack on the Shi'ar Empire portal was just to cover up their small movements of looking for Galactus's heralds. Once they lure out Galactus and let the Hive Super-Brain parasitize the powerful Galactus, there will be no power in this universe capable of resisting them."

Quill said with a serious face: "The three major empires are all resisting the frontal attack. Now only we can stop the Annihilation Wave's crazy plan."