Chapter 1962

Shiler was currently in a massive temple.

Although it was called a temple, it looked more like a functional residence built by modern people, just with some temple-style additions. Various decorations and ancient symbols and characters were carved into the walls.

In the very center of the temple was a massive crystal pillar, the same kind of red crystal Stark had once discovered underground, only much larger than the underground one, and the red light was much more dazzling.

Surrounding the red crystal was a piece of technological equipment that clearly looked like a modern invention. A glass dome emitting blue light covered the crystal, with energy extraction devices connected to the ceiling and floor above and below it.

Shiler had understood the story of the Hwei people earlier than anyone else.

When Shiler obtained the first totem pole fragment, he discovered that the characters and symbols on it were not simple. They didn't look like the common script of a primitive civilization at all; they were already highly abstracted and generalized, which meant that the civilization that manufactured such totems must have been highly developed long ago.

Shiler knew that in the vast universe, humans were a relatively young civilization. People often said that human civilization had just stepped out of the cradle, but in the eyes of many highly developed interstellar civilizations, humans who still needed to rely on Earth's resources were completely unborn, still in their mother's womb.

But this civilization, which called itself the Hwei, was not like that. They had established developed cities and a mature civilized society millions of years ago.

And just as the others had speculated, the Hwei were a highly developed magical civilization, or rather, an energy civilization. They had been favored by the heavens from the moment they were born.

Just like the oil humans possessed, beneath the surface of the Hwei's mother planet was a substance known as Hwei crystal—the very same red crystal before Shiler.

But unlike oil, the energy provided by this crystal was naturally symbiotic with the life born on this planet. The Hwei could replenish their physical strength through the energy in the crystals; crystal powder could be widely added to food and beverages, and could also be used in industrial manufacturing, medicine, and even agriculture.

Shiler looked at the group who had jumped down from the ceiling and arrived in the temple, and said, "What a lucky civilization. Their science had just begun when they discovered ether elements."

Iron Man and Batman both knew what he was referring to. Ether elements were a universal material and energy envisioned by ancient philosophers. Simply put, anything that couldn't be observed or utilized was an ether element; it was both a reactive element and a medium, the highest manifestation of all elements, and also their foundation.

During his investigation, Lord Batman hadn't seen the natural manifestation of Hwei crystals with his own eyes, but he had seen samples in a research institute and found basic theories describing this crystal in a school.

"But this isn't normal," Stark spoke up. "Perhaps a civilization might luckily find a relatively universal energy source or material on their home planet, but it would never be so perfect and compatible. This doesn't conform to the laws of natural evolution."

Lord Batman turned to look at Stark. He found Stark's tone very firm, as if he had truly conducted an investigation. Loki also nodded and said, "Since I reached adulthood, I have been roaming the universe with the All-Father. Those high-level interstellar civilizations were all, without exception, very lucky, possessing quite good starting points."

"But no civilization has ever found a truly perfect, omnipotent natural energy source or material. Even if there were one that could barely be called omnipotent, the difficulty of mining it would be unimaginably high."

"Possessing perfect materials and energy isn't strange," White Tank also spoke up. "But they already possessed perfect energy millions of years ago; how could their current civilization have developed to be about the same as humans? There isn't any record of them exploring outer space on this planet."

"That is exactly the problem," Lord Batman said, lowering his eyes. "I have reviewed the research reports on this crystal. Its energy storage efficiency is extremely high; it doesn't even need any artificial adjustment or compression. Just by simply placing it in a rocket, it's enough to fly the rocket to Mars."

Eddie was stunned for a moment before saying, "Fog?"

Everyone looked at him. Eddie sighed and said, "I didn't go looking for clues, nor would I research them, but Venom told me that the fog isn't a natural phenomenon. The way the factors of the fog connect is very special, like a web woven from chains."

"I think you've already guessed it," Shiler smiled and said. "The fog is intercepting exactly everything that possesses Hwei crystal energy."

"The fog isn't naturally formed either," Bruce sighed, then began to pace around the crystal in the center of the temple, saying as he walked, "Whether it's the red crystal or the fog sealing the red crystal's energy, both were artificially deployed."

Just then, Thor seemed to remember something and made an "Hmm" sound. The others all looked at him.

Thor recalled for a moment and said, "Do you know how the Kree and the Skrulls started fighting?"

The people from other universes present didn't know who he was referring to, so Thor chose to start from the beginning.

"The old Skrulls—at that time they weren't an empire yet, they could be called interstellar idealists. They scattered the seeds of life throughout the universe while selecting civilizations with potential to support."

"But this kind of thing is a gamble. It's not that the civilization receiving support will necessarily develop well, and the resources they can return to the old Skrulls are also very limited. After millions of years passed, their resources also dwindled."

"At the time, they had their eyes on the Kree and another civilization, but they only intended to help one of them, so they had them each build a structure, and they would help whoever built it better."

"In the end, the civilization other than the Kree won. But they were already living on the same planet; one civilization receiving help would inevitably destroy the other. To survive, the Kree launched a war in advance, turned against the Skrulls, and opened the prelude to a thousand-year war."

"And what I want to say is that the Skrulls didn't just do this one thing. Many times, they didn't clearly state to the ground civilization that they were aliens coming to help them, but rather descended as divine revelations in another form, allowing backward civilizations to obtain resources."

"According to what they said themselves, this was to adapt to the development methods of each civilization. Those who believed in gods were given oracles; those just beginning scientific development were given 'accidents'; those already relatively advanced were given rational communication. Theoretically, this was relatively reasonable, but in reality, it wasn't that beautiful."

"Some civilizations took this as a natural phenomenon that would always exist, so they over-relied on heaven-sent resources, leading to long-term backwardness in energy and materials science. Some civilizations were insatiable; after developing, they followed the channel through which the resources descended to find the Skrulls, wanting more."

"And the later Skrulls, because they couldn't support the massive output of resources, had to start harvesting the civilizations that had already developed, causing the local people to complain bitterly."

"And a portion of the Skrulls discovered that those civilizations that had once viewed them as gods had almost no complaints when being harvested, nor would they make a big scene. So, for personal gain, they treated these civilizations even more crazily."

"I once heard an old Skrull say that in the later stages, they would treat a certain planet completely as farmland, drop a few machines, and directly brainwash the leaders of the indigenous creatures, letting them command their subordinates to operate the machines to mine resources, and then hand over everything on the planet."

"To the entire Skrull Empire, this bit of resources didn't count for much, but if it went into an individual's pocket, it was also a considerable fortune. Some even used this to carve out territory and call themselves kings, exploiting them without restraint, which once triggered large-scale condemnation from interstellar society."

Finally, Thor threw out his conclusion: "I suspect that the planet where the Hwei people are is one of the farmlands of a high-level civilization."

The two Batmen present and the Batman outside the screen all frowned. It wasn't because Thor's conclusion was so shocking, but mainly because this big guy didn't feel that his style was a bit off?

At this time, Thor was still dressed as a God King, and because he had been attending a celebration before coming, his attire was exceptionally exaggerated.

Over his soft armor, interwoven with bright silver and bronze, he wore a deep blue robe, and over the robe was a cloak inlaid with various gems. On his head, he wore a crown inlaid with various gems, his golden hair braided, and seashell decorations inlaid between the strands of hair.

"Is there something wrong with a classical kingdom king like you, who looks like he should appear in a medieval oil painting, talking full of interstellar civilization?"

Thor and Loki seemed to have adapted to this prejudice. Loki sighed and said, "Why do humans always feel that the God race should appear in mythology books, and their daily work is to huddle in a temple on some mountain waiting for humans to make wishes?"

"The God race, born with powerful energy capable of summoning wind and rain, according to common sense, should also have a more developed civilization and higher interstellar social status than humans. To take a step back, at least we live long, so we should be more advanced, right?"

"Because the God race in our universe really doesn't do any proper work," Lord Superman snorted and said. "I've heard Diana complain enough about the mess on Mount Olympus. Aside from who gave birth to whose child, it's that child growing up and finding them here."

"So you are also a developed interstellar civilization?" Bruce raised an eyebrow and asked.

Loki nodded and said, "Sorry, but we do indeed have organized starships, planetary supply bases and stellar energy sources spread across the universe, and all kinds of charging armor and weapons."

"Then what about humans?" Lord Batman frowned and asked.

He was actually asking, if there was such a powerful civilization around Earth, what room for survival did humans have?

Loki and Thor looked at each other, their gazes falling on Shiler and Stark respectively.

"Although I really don't want to say it, you humans are truly a magical race. 99% of your members are weak and not worth mentioning, and you're always thinking about infighting. But there are always those 1% of outrageous existences who are not only powerful enough but also exceptionally united."

Thor also sighed lightly and said, "As long as your race can continuously produce rule-breaking powerhouses, protecting, helping, or even farming you is, to us, more beneficial than harmful."

"Even if one powerhouse appears every ten thousand years, the Nine Realms can fiercely brush up their presence in the interstellar space, letting those who are eager to move weigh their options. This can greatly help foster the glorious reputation of Asgard."

"Especially..." Thor hesitated, glanced at Shiler, and then said, "Human powerhouses are always exceptionally... I find it hard to say. In short, all teleportation gates in interstellar society now, as long as they detect humanoid organisms, have to go through two extra security checks."

"And everything is because of..."

Shiler and Loki instantly raised their hands and pointed at each other.