Chapter 359: The Glorious Event (34)

After a warm and friendly conversation with the Kree descendant Pian, Pian successfully added a dark and heavy chapter to the Kree debt with his abhorrent attitude.

The details need not be recounted; by the time the talk ended, the Kree owed humanity over 150 ships, with clear IOUs in hand.

Steve became the representative of human civilization, working with Charles to handle diplomatic affairs in the Andromeda Galaxy, while Stark, Peter, and Magneto oversaw mineral extraction.

As soon as Charles finalized the agreement, they immediately began operations, using mining weapons aboard their ships in tandem with Magneto and Polaris's magnetic fields to maximize extraction efficiency—in short, emptying an entire planet within days.

Oh, by the way, don't forget the once-most-advanced sulfur dwarf civilization in this galaxy—what became of them after the black hole exploded?

Because the core star region of Andromeda offered an exceptionally habitable environment, Magneto specifically used a magnetic field to shield this area during the super black hole's jet eruption.

But the sulfur dwarf civilization was far from the core region, yet closer to the super black hole—they didn't enjoy the same luck as other civilizations.

The sulfur dwarfs controlled over 1, 00 resource planets; most planets in their ruled region produced molten steel, and those that didn't were mostly gas giants providing auxiliary resources.

Due to their proximity to the super black hole, all of the sulfur dwarfs' armed fleets were annihilated when the jet erupted, and hundreds of planets along the jet's path were completely erased.

Rebirth: The Age of Wave Riding

Even more fatal: the two star regions with the highest population density lost their stars entirely due to this cosmic disaster.

Originally, most sulfur dwarf populations lived on planets too close to their stars, with surface temperatures averaging around 500 degrees; the race evolved under such conditions and possessed extremely high heat resistance, able to move freely in hundreds-of-degrees environments without discomfort.

But likewise, they were a heat-tolerant but cold-intolerant race; since their homeworld and all colonized planets were high-temperature worlds, they had never experienced the extreme cold of a dead sun, and within roughly ten days, over half their population in this densely populated region perished.

Logically, the population shouldn't have declined so rapidly—but even more fatal was the fact that the sulfur dwarfs were entirely dependent on stellar energy; their civilization was highly advanced, with sophisticated technology for extracting energy from stars, so every facility on their planets was powered exclusively by stellar energy, with all core systems, wiring, and pipelines designed specifically for stellar energy extractors.

After the stars went out, every energy-requiring facility on their planets shut down—including those regulating oxygen and rare gases.

The sulfur dwarfs were called "sulfur dwarfs" because they needed to breathe a special sulfur-scented gas that greatly enhanced their physical condition and generated "molten fire energy," boosting their strength.

Without breathing this gas, they wouldn't die immediately—but they would deteriorate rapidly; combined with the deep cold of space, their entire civilization collapsed within mere days.

With their fleets destroyed, they had no large ships to mine resources from gas giants; though their homeworld still held abundant resources, the technology to extract them had been lost through countless technological iterations—they possessed advanced high-power equipment but couldn't even produce a single basic electrical generator.

The drawbacks of overly rapid civilization development and excessive reliance on specialized materials became glaringly obvious: after losing energy and weaponry, their civilization's flame was extinguished within days.

Stark witnessed all this without sympathy, but he grew more vigilant—such a tragedy must not be repeated in human civilization; the speed of development must be balanced with its breadth.

Yet despite his vigilance, the Glory Alliance selected a planet in the heart of the sulfur dwarfs' former domain—the one richest in mineral resources—and built there an energy hub capable of providing heat.

The hub's power output was modest, but it shone brilliantly—literally a beacon in the cosmos.

The three planets this week were close together; after their stars went dark, eternal night blanketed their skies—and now, a bright star appeared in the heavens. The sulfur dwarfs naturally saw it.

At that moment, humanity's righteous rescue ships arrived in time.

Human civilization, as a kind and just civilization among cosmic societies, expressed profound sympathy and regret for the sulfur dwarfs' plight; moreover, humans had just constructed an energy hub on a neighboring planet capable of supplying the heat and gas essential for sulfur dwarf survival—and it was now open for immigration.

Normally, humans accepted only noble investment immigrants—but given the exceptional circumstances, adhering to the principle of rescuing and resettling all disaster victims reasonably, human immigration ships now accepted labor immigrants: simply put, if you could mine, you could board.

By now, the sulfur dwarfs had passed through the panic phase of mass population loss; all they wanted was to survive at any cost. Though many resisted, determined to stay and rebuild their homeworld, most chose the fastest path to survival: boarding humanity's immigrant ships.

The energy hub built by the Glory Alliance was deliberately designed: its heat radiation formed a perfect circle—only those residing within the circle would avoid freezing to death.

But human civilization was so backward that the vast quantities of molten steel could only be converted into negligible heat; if miners didn't work hard, the heat zone would shrink, and those living in the outer rings would freeze to death.

Of course, the closer to the core, the warmer and safer one was—but to prevent the circle from shrinking toward their own positions, the dwarfs began exploiting each other in layers.

Inner-ring dwellers exploited outer-ring dwellers; outer-ring dwellers exploited those even farther out, squeezing every ounce of labor to expand the heat zone and ensure their own safety.

The plan devised by a few members of the Glory Alliance, whose moral boundaries had long been tested, ensured humanity didn't even need to raise a whip—the sulfur dwarfs would turn their knives on their own kin.

But the outer-ring dwellers were not passive victims; they labored hard, yet their gains enriched the inner rings. Oppressed and exploited, they erupted in rebellion within days, turning their entire race into a blood-soaked wasteland.

At this point, humanity wisely and generously opened upward mobility channels: if your performance was good enough, you could replace an inner-ring resident and take their place; if your performance was poor, you'd be relegated to the outer rings, where temperatures fluctuated wildly and heat supply was cut daily.

The Glory Alliance didn't want to rely on manual mining—it was merely that molten steel was a uniquely special metal, requiring sulfur dwarfs to channel their innate molten fire energy into their pickaxes to extract it; thus, they had no choice but to temporarily conscript the sulfur dwarfs as miners. After all, reviving a civilization demands sacrifice from the current generation.

After the major civilizations of Andromeda were fully disarmed, they lost nearly all capacity to leave their planetary surfaces; thus, complete initiative rested with humanity. Following several Glory Alliance meetings, most policies were finalized and implemented, and within a short time, stability returned to the galaxy.

The symbiote Blue Spirit was deeply impressed; in his long life, he had witnessed countless forms of civilization, yet humanity's wisdom in sociology and interpersonal dynamics still ranked among the highest.

They could accurately identify the critical points in complex relationships and maximize their own advantage amid chaos—though this was partly due to the flexible moral boundaries of several Glory Alliance members, the greater reason was that humanity had spent centuries investing too many skill points into struggle.

With the affairs of the Andromeda Galaxy settled, Peter, Steve, and Charles—the three whose moral boundaries had not been tested—remained behind to continue spreading humanity's gospel.

Stark returned because the construction of the Solar System could not proceed without him; mining was done, next came construction—he had to oversee it.

Strange returned because the Sanctum Sanctorum's workload was overwhelming—he had to supervise it personally.

Shearer returned because he still had a mess to clean up: Asgard's family affairs.

In Arkham Sanatorium's office, Loki sat across from Shearer. After removing her hood, the overlapping halos behind her glowed dazzlingly; Shearer blinked, then pulled out a medical file. Loki stared at it and asked: "I've noticed you've been writing this lately—what is it?"

"It's your medical file."

"Mine? What illness do I have? I'm perfectly fine." Loki asked, puzzled.

"Your Asgardian psychology research is virtually nonexistent, so none of you believe you have mental illness—but in my view, every single one of you is severely unwell."

Loki pursed her lips, wanting to refute but unsure how to begin. Shearer began listing them one by one: "Thor showed signs of possible mania; Hela the same; you suffer from emotional disorder and likely anxiety as well…"

"I…"

"Let's first discuss how these mental illnesses arose."

"But I don't…"

"Every psychiatric patient believes they're not ill."

Shearer twirled his pen, gestured for calm, and said: "Alright, let's assume you're ill—just hypothetically."

"First, I believe your mental illness likely stems from prolonged discrimination and bullying. Asgard's social environment has consistently rejected you, imposing immense psychological pressure that distorted your mental development…"

No sooner had Shearer finished than a new halo flared to life behind Loki. She looked back, bewildered, and asked: "I've always wanted to ask—what are these halos?"

Shearer smiled, as if his suspicion had been confirmed: "You said the first halo appeared when you became female; the second when Hela pursued you despite knowing you'd changed gender; the third when Hela and Balder clashed over you…"

Loki still looked confused—she saw no pattern. But Shearer said: "Just now, diagnosing your mental illness was an experiment—and now, the results match my prediction…"

"So what are these halos?"

"You may call them 'Political Correctness Halos.'"