Chapter 4718: X-Men: Fierce Battle (Part 26)

"How is the situation on the front line?" The local Captain America sat up from the hospital bed. He tore off the gauze wrapped around his head in a few quick motions; he had indeed been injured there before, but it had healed before he even came out of the operating room.

"Which front line are you referring to?" Nick asked, "Manhattan is fine now. The roads have all been repaired. As for the solar system..."

Nick shook his head, and Captain America knew the situation was bad. Fighting in space was not the same as fighting on Earth. Space was a three-dimensional environment. The so-called Jupiter line did not refer to a single line, but the entire orbital path of Jupiter. That was a three-dimensional space surrounding the sun. To blockade an army over such a large distance, the power required was unimaginable.

The reason they were able to do it was mainly due to the mutants' powerful strength, and Stark secretly mixing in, using a mechanical army to block the opposing mechanical army, which was the only way they could form a stalemate.

But the problem was that the Shi'ar Empire's army was still coming through the portal in a steady stream. If this continued, no one could hold out. The solar system seemed very large, but in the face of an army of this level, physically filling the solar system was not difficult. By then, let alone Jupiter, even the moon would be filled with people. That would truly be beyond saving.

So the most urgent problem now was to close the sun's portal as quickly as possible. But this seemed like an impossible task to complete. First, they couldn't manipulate the sun, let alone go deep into the sun's core. Second, they couldn't understand that portal, and had no clue how to close it.

Captain America closed his eyes, thought for a while while lying on the bed, and then said: "I think, it's still the Avengers..."

Nick knew what he wanted to say. He thought for a moment and said: "You can serve as the final insurance, but before that, I think we can still make a little effort in another direction."

Captain America looked at him, and at this moment, Black Widow also walked in, followed by the rest of the Avengers. They intended to hold a short meeting in the hospital room.

"Is the Shi'ar Empire a monolith?" Nick threw out the question first.

The local Iron Man shook his head and said: "They are the antonym of a monolith; they are a scattered mess. Of the three major empires, the other two are highly centralized militaristic societies; only they are loosely organized."

"What kind of system do they have?" Spider-Man asked with some curiosity.

"Aristocratic republic. But the Emperor also has considerable power. In general, it's..." Iron Man gestured with his hands, "swaying between the two sides."

"Understood." Black Widow nodded and said, "Then will the interests of their Emperor and the nobles be consistent this time?"

"I'm afraid so, of course." Hawkeye sighed and analyzed, "This is not a short-term plan. From sending materials and technology, to opening the portal, to the army pressing down. If there were internal differences and contradictions, they would have erupted long ago. But the fact is, they succeeded."

"That's right." Nick nodded and said, "I believe that before they successfully take Earth, their interests are indeed consistent. Although I don't know what's so good about Earth, since so many alien civilizations want it, they must want it too."

Captain America heard the subtext in his words and said: "It's like that before they take it, but what about after they take it?"

"That certainly wouldn't be consistent," Hawkeye said again, "How could such a divided system suddenly unite when grabbing spoils? They'd probably fight until their brains were out just to occupy a little more."

"Wait," Black Widow looked at Nick and said, "You don't mean you want to let them take Earth first and then have them turn on each other? What kind of crappy plan is this?"

Nick shook his head and said: "You don't understand this. Grabbing spoils can only be done in advance; the earlier, the better. If you wait until you've actually won the battle to start grabbing, there won't be anything left."

"You guys are indeed good at this aspect," Winter Soldier quipped, "If you hadn't gone to grab that Orchis factory, the mutants would have been taken down by now."

The local Iron Man looked away. He could certainly understand what Nick meant. There was actually a paradox in this, which was also the famous "picking peaches" theory.

"Opening champagne at halftime" was always used to describe celebrating victory when things hadn't fully succeeded yet. However, if you weren't the first to get the results, how could you prove that the victory had anything to do with you?

In a situation of multi-party competition and maneuvering, it didn't matter who contributed the most effort to the matter; what mattered was who seemed to enjoy the fruits of victory.

For example, when fighting a war, everyone was grabbing territory. The one who looked most like the winner wasn't necessarily the one who fought the most battles, but it was definitely the one who grabbed the largest territory. This could be called a certain kind of consequentialism, but it had always occupied an important position in game theory.

If saying it like this wasn't obvious enough, it could also be said that everyone wanted to "pick peaches". It didn't matter who planted the tree; what mattered was who finally picked and ate the fresh and delicious peach.

And to have the freshest and most delicious peach, one had to pick it early. Waiting until the peach was red to pick it was already too late. Some people picked while the peach was green, some picked while the peach was still small, and some even started picking when the fruit was only the size of a thumb.

This led to the fact that even though everyone could have eaten peaches if they had just waited for them to fully mature, they plucked all the small fruits off the tree just to be the first person to pick a peach, finally ruining what should have been a natural success.

The Orchis factory incident was just like that. After the assault team was wiped out, the Mother Mold's consciousness had basically awakened. They didn't need to do anything; just wait for Nimrod to be produced, and the mutants would be doomed.

But instead, everyone wanted to pick the peach that was the factory. Anticipating that you would make a move, I had to make a move earlier than you. In this state of competition, it was impossible to consider the reality of the situation. Even if the mutants had only lost one assault team, rather than being wiped out, the threat still existed, and they could only cover their eyes and grab it regardless.

"The Shi'ar Empire will be the same." Nick said, "The human nature of intelligent life is common. As long as they are not united, there will definitely be a situation of striking first. It will be too late to make a move after taking Earth."

Captain America thought for a moment and said: "That is to say, as long as we make them feel that victory is in sight, Earth is no longer a concern, and now they should consider how to divide the solar system, they will fight among themselves?"

Nick nodded and said: "That's it. By then, the portal will no longer be our obstacle, but their death warrant. An army cannot be commanded by multiple forces; otherwise, it's impossible to have strict orders. By then, them sending troops and messages through the portal will instead be a disturbance. Maybe we can really slowly nibble away at this army."

"But this is based on the foundation that the Shi'ar Empire itself is not united," Black Widow said, "If they are that kind of autocratic country, it won't work, right?"

"They aren't," Iron Man said, "Although their Emperor acts very aggressively, he is constrained a lot by the nobles..."

Before he could finish speaking, he seemed to receive a communication, went out for a while, and came back with a pale face, saying: "A rebellion has broken out in the Shi'ar Empire, and their Emperor is dead."

Everyone perked up, and Captain America stood up directly and said: "They are in civil strife? Could it be that they already want to make a move to grab the spoils?"

Iron Man closed his eyes in pain and shook his head: "A general under D'Ken usurped the throne. He killed almost all the nobles and became a tyrant himself."

"How could it be just right..."

Iron Man thought for a moment and said: "The specific situation is not yet known, but I guess, perhaps this can also be considered grabbing the fruits of victory in advance. It's just that it wasn't a grab between the Emperor and the nobles, but the military, which had been suppressed all along, making a move."

"Oh god, they won't become a militaristic state too, will they?"

"Hard to say." Iron Man sighed and said, "Although the military might also really want to take Earth, maybe we can send someone to talk to him. After all, he just ascended the throne and his position is unstable; maybe we can rely on a transaction to make him withdraw his troops."

Nick clearly thought of this too. In any case, the outbreak of turmoil was beneficial to them; it meant a change in the situation, and it also meant they had new opportunities.

"What's the background of this new Emperor?" After Nick left, Hawkeye looked at Iron Man and asked, "You didn't say some things, did you?"

Iron Man was almost hopeless. He sat on the hospital bed next to him, then leaned against the wall and said: "I don't know much about his background. But the background of the two people under him is truly a joke."

"Tell us," Black Widow said, "It can't be worse news than this."

Iron Man reached out and projected onto the wall; on the screen were the tall Nimrod robot and Mephisto with a face like Schiller's.

Dr. Banner said in shock: "How could it be them?!"

Captain America covered his forehead: "It really is them!"

Others looked at him, and Captain America said: "I said it long ago. The Shi'ar Empire's understanding of the Avengers is abnormal. Although there might be an inside man, if it weren't for someone who had been fighting alongside the Avengers for a long time, or someone who knew us very well, they couldn't have passed on so much intelligence. It must be an important person on our side."

"This war has been someone's plan from the beginning." Captain America continued.

"Then what exactly does he want to do?" Hawkeye narrowed his eyes, "What is the point of tossing and turning like this?"

"I can probably think of a few points," Dr. Banner pushed his glasses and said, "First, destroying the Orchis factory is the most important thing. This kind of thing specifically used for genocide shouldn't exist at all. Blowing it up is the best, and blowing it to smithereens. No one should think about picking up parts to make a second generation."

As he spoke, he glanced at Iron Man, while Iron Man looked away, not meeting his eyes. Banner rolled his eyes slightly and continued: "Also, this can make us more united. At least the two Avengers teams have to be more united. If superheroes can't unite, not only fighting on their own, but even thinking about harming each other, then what is the point of communication between multiverses? We can't lose the confidence to explore outward just because we are not united at this stage."

This was agreed upon by most people. The matter of their two universes was not big, but not small either. If there couldn't be a perfect result, then many universes on the sidelines might feel that the multiverse was a dark forest, full of man-eating beasts everywhere, and thus think about hiding themselves, or simply attack when they meet people from other universes. That would be too terrible.

Things had already reached this point, and the two of them at least had to set a good example. The Shi'ar Empire's invasion created an opportunity for them to fight side by side, and they performed quite well. This at least showed the multiverse that although there might be some small friction between us, when a great enemy is at the door, we will definitely prioritize the big picture and never fail to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. There is no need to close the country because of fear.

"Of course, I personally think this helped the mutants improve their status. It made human governments realize that mutants can also be considered the final insurance for defending the solar system. At least for the sake of this, give Krakoa some respect."

"I also feel that's about it," Black Widow said, "What I'm more curious about now is how the current situation will end. Magneto is dead, after all." ===== CHAPTER 4719 =====