Chapter 336: S: The Grand Event of Glory (XI)

"I actually think we shouldn't make too much noise—I understand this well. If things spiral out of control, we might collapse from within before anyone else even attacks us."

"If the cost is this high, I'd rather not do it," Nick said after thinking it over; he was naturally cautious, after all, he was the leader of S. . . . . .

Though Nick was ruthless and cunning, when it came to human security, he was still relatively principled—or rather, even as a villain, as long as he wanted to live on Earth, his interests aligned on this point.

Sheer tapped on the table, drawing everyone's attention, and said, "Don't you find it strange? Their fleet has lost many frigates, yet they haven't left here—why is that?"

"That's true," Loki mused. "If I remember correctly, their Temple ship should have a highly advanced interstellar jump system—if they wanted to leave, they could do so quickly."

At that moment, Peter's voice came from Stark's phone on the table: "We just saw smoke coming from the rear of that large ship—Blue Spirit says it looks like their engines are overheating."

"Overheating wouldn't cause smoke," Loki said firmly.

"Their engines are probably damaged," Stark suggested. He picked up the phone and asked Peter, "Earlier you said, how many frigates were supposed to be in full complement?"

"Blue Spirit said seventy-two. Why?"

"How many are left now?"

Peter, hiding behind the asteroid belt, stared at the fleet and said to the person beside him, "Help me count—how many frigates do they still have?"

After counting and cross-checking the numbers, Peter said, "Twenty-three left…"

"Just as I thought," Stark stood up, took several pens from a nearby holder, and placed the longest one in the center. "This represents their flagship—the Temple ship."

"These pens represent the frigates. How would you arrange them to best protect the flagship?"

Nick stroked his chin. "If it were me, I'd prioritize protecting the vital sections… Oh, I get it—their frigates have suffered heavy losses because their engines have likely been targeted."

"Their frigates are guarding the most critical engine section. When the attack came, most frigates couldn't escape, which is why they lost so many—if they were evenly distributed, they wouldn't have lost more than half."

"Exactly. Combined with the smoke we saw earlier, I suspect their frigates didn't fully protect the engines—the engines are probably damaged and temporarily unable to jump."

Nick shook his head. "We don't have enough intelligence—this is all speculation. Without concrete evidence…"

Peter's voice came through the speaker: "I just discussed it with them—we're planning to board those ships."

"That's far too risky," Stark immediately stopped him.

"You're not adults—you want to sneak onto alien ships? No. Pull back first. We'll devise a proper plan—any boarding mission will be ours, not yours."

At that moment, Blue Spirit took the phone from Peter and said, "Hello, I'm Symbiote Cosmic Agent Blue Spirit. Though our hosts are minors among humans, symbiotes are seasoned interstellar travelers."

"Many of my previous hosts were totem spirits from the Andromeda Alliance, and I inherited some of their magical abilities—including the power to generate an invisibility field, allowing us to infiltrate most starships."

"Since symbiotes can't move independently without a host, and the universe is full of unpredictable dangers that could kill our hosts, we've used this ability to sneak aboard other species' ships as stowaways—we're very experienced at it."

"But this is different—you're entering an enemy vessel. If caught, the consequences could be catastrophic…"

Blue Spirit hesitated, but Venom interrupted impatiently: "Listen, I've got a plan."

"This isn't something a plan can fix…"

"I've got twelve backup plans."

Venom continued: "You're overlooking one thing—there must be Kree aboard these ships. They're definitely the ones operating them."

"So what?"

"Any intelligent species has management weaknesses. Just like on a human cruise ship, not every employee in every department knows each other. The larger the ship, the more departments and crew, the easier it is to slip in unnoticed."

"I just saw a frigate at the rear of the formation move beneath the large ship. It disappeared for a while, then reappeared."

"I suspect there's a supply entrance there. Let's first make contact with those smaller frigates and see if we can hitch a ride into the larger ship by following them."

Stark remained concerned, but Loki spoke up: "Actually, Cosmic Agents are powerful—especially the oldest among them. He was created by N'Kal himself, a second-generation lifeform in the universe, of extremely high tier."

After a long pause, Stark said, "Fine. But you must promise me—you won't engage the Kree. We only want intelligence. If anything goes wrong, prioritize your safety first…"

"Understood. Wait for our good news!" Peter hung up.

At that moment, Shearer's phone rang. He glanced at the group, then left the lab. The others narrowed their eyes, exchanging suspicious glances.

A moment later, Shearer returned, put down his phone, and before anyone could ask, said, "Alright, let's discuss—if our assumptions are correct, how do we consume these ships?"

"The Kree civilization is highly advanced, and their leader is a sentient being with near-omniscient intelligence in the digital realm—don't even think about trying to seize control permissions…"

Loki hesitated, as if struggling to find the right words: "I advise you not to target the Temple-class ships. First, it's extremely dangerous. Second, even if you capture one, you likely won't be able to crack it."

Seeing Stark's expression, she added, "I'm not saying you're not smart—I'm saying the industrial gap is too vast. Even you, with all your lab's advanced equipment, might not be able to unscrew a single bolt on their ship."

"Worse—they don't even use screws. The Kree use a unique casting technique where structures and weapons are monolithic, requiring no assembly. Their entire ship is a single, seamless model with no joints—you bring it back, you still can't dismantle it."

"How do you know so much?" Strange asked, puzzled.

Loki sighed. "So far, the Kree have had three Temple-class ships: Temple 2, Temple 3, and Temple 4…"

"What about Temple 1?"

"Temple 1 was the first ever built. At that time, their technology wasn't fully refined, but completing such a massive vessel greatly boosted their morale. So they proudly paraded it across the galaxy—until they encountered the Allfather."

"We weren't at war with the Kree then, but when a fleet suddenly appeared near the battlefield, anyone would be on guard. The Allfather reacted instantly—he struck with a single bolt of lightning, and the Kree's Temple 1 was instantly destroyed."

"The Allfather completely shattered their entire ship. I'd never seen such a massive vessel before, so I left the formation and flew close to the wreckage to examine it—that's why I know so much."

"So does that mean the Kree are weaker than the Asgardians?"

"It's hard to compare. Asgard is a classical militaristic civilization—our leader is simply too powerful. But the Kree's strength lies in their civilization's structure and sheer military numbers. Even the Allfather would need time to destroy all their ships."

"Even if you can't dismantle them, couldn't you just use them?" Nick asked.

Loki shook her head again. "Forget about the Supreme Intelligence denying you access permissions—if cornered, he'll order the ship to self-destruct. More importantly, where would you get the energy to power such a massive vessel?"

To make sure they understood, Loki snapped her fingers. "Can you move your home planet, Earth?"

"If you can't, then you can't power a planet-sized warship. A planet-sized warship is literally a planet—the energy required to move it is the same as moving a planet."

Nick grimaced. A massive pie sat right in front of them—but they couldn't eat it. It was agonizing.

But Stark seemed more accepting—he was more professional, and thus understood that civilization doesn't advance overnight. Every small improvement accumulates over time; you can't swallow an elephant in one bite.

"Still," Loki mused, "those frigates should be useful to you. From what I know, because they focused so heavily on planet-sized warships, the frigates were never upgraded. Except for the few elite ones, the standard frigates are essentially equivalent to human starships—solid engines and hull designs."

After a long silence, Shearer finally spoke: "We need the frigates—but we can't leave their planet-sized warships intact."

Shearer, who knew the plot, understood better than the others: the Kree had always intended to invade Earth. He didn't believe they just happened to be nearby when the battle erupted.

These blue-skinned aliens had clearly been lurking near the galaxy all along. What are the odds that the residual shockwave from a godly battle just happened to fry their engines? It's because they were too close.

"Temple-class ships have extremely high defenses—hard to destroy. Back then, the Allfather was at his peak, wielding Gungnir, and Temple 1 wasn't as sturdy as later models—so one strike was enough."

"Do you know what humans are best at?" Shearer asked Loki.

"What?"

"Explosions."

"You mean nuclear bombs?"

Loki shook her head. "The Kree civilization evolved gradually too. Their mastery of radiation and nuclear fission is no weaker than humanity's—they understood this power tens of thousands of years ago. Human nuclear weapons probably won't destroy their ships."

"Humanity's expertise in explosions isn't just about nukes. More importantly, we've always held a firm belief."

beqege.

"What's that?"

"Yield is the solution to every problem. If it doesn't work, you just need more yield."