Chapter 917: Having Been Here (Part 2)

The sun is always bright; even across ten thousand miles, when its light shines upon Earth, it still brings warmth and life.

But if you observe this vibrant, mature star up close, you feel its surging heat and the awe-inspiring power of nature.

Above the Mercury Base, the sun appears larger; this blinding light grows dim before abilities and technology beyond human limits, and from this perspective, more mysterious and beautiful patterns become visible.

Standing on the roof of the Mercury Base, watching the surging solar particles, Stark turned to Shi Ler and said, "Who do you think is right—the Skrulls or the Kree?"

"The Skrulls say they only wanted to build the universe; they were the ones giving, yet received nothing in return. Instead, they suffered devastating losses in the thousand-year war. The Kree are shameful thieves and traitors."

"The Kree believe the Skrulls' aid to other civilizations threatened their survival space; they stole Skrull technology merely to protect themselves. Their so-called grand ideals are just excuses for hegemony."

"They each cling to their own version. Who do you think is right?"

"Perhaps they're both right?" Shi Ler also looked at the sun. "Impure ideals and impure beings are destined to produce tragedy."

"The Kree and Cotati's greed for technology and resources, combined with the Skrulls' arrogance in believing they alone could determine the universe's direction, together forged this tragedy."

Shi Ler suddenly smiled, as if recalling something amusing, and turned to Stark. "I'll ask you this: what if one day, an advanced civilization like the Skrulls appeared above Earth, revealing their boundless power..."

"They tell humanity: join a competition; the winner gets their resources and technology. What do you think humans would do?"

Hearing this, Stark wore an extremely complex expression—helpless, absurd, almost funny. "Though this hasn't happened, I can already imagine it."

"The first to leap up won't be those debating whether to join or not—it'll be the skeptics."

"We'll question: is their tech really that strong? What's the real purpose of this competition? Is it a conspiracy? Are they hiding some ulterior motive against humanity?"

Stark couldn't help but let out a scoff. "Though we're poor, incredibly weak, nearly useless, we never stop suspecting every intelligent lifeform wants to harm us."

"After a storm of debate, factions will emerge: those who want to join, those who refuse, and those who pretend they never heard. But you can bet every faction will argue, fight, and bicker endlessly in every possible form."

"If the powerful civilization gives a ten-year deadline, they'll argue for ten years. If it's a hundred years, they'll argue for a hundred."

"And humans aren't just suspicious—they're forgetful."

"By the time these aliens arrive to inspect the results, humans may have already forgotten them entirely."

Shi Ler crossed his arms. "Really? That's all you can think of? From your own perspective, how would you respond?"

Stark paused, then spoke: "You hit the core. If a strange alien group appeared above Earth demanding we compete, my first thought wouldn't be how to win—or even how to join."

"I'd think: if their tech is this advanced, and they've already arrived in ships with equipment, why bother with a competition? Why not just keep them? That way, we get the resources and tech we want without playing their game."

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he added: "If the Kree could seize Skrull warships, why didn't they just do that from the start? Why enter the competition at all?"

Immediately after saying this, Stark froze, rubbing his chin. "Of course, this must be because I've spent too much time with you. Like ink staining white silk, my moral Dixian has slipped—this is all your fault..."

"If you've caught this mindset from me," Shi Ler said, "shouldn't you dig deeper into your own inner answer?"

Stark frowned, thinking. "... y inner answer? What else could I possibly feel... Well, when you first proposed this scenario, my initial reaction wasn't this conclusion."

"When you said they revealed boundless power, my first thought was: really?"

Stark continued: "What does 'boundless power' mean? Massive ships? Advanced propulsion? Starship weaponry with overwhelming firepower?"

"And after raising those questions, my first thought was: can't I build it myself?"

"Someone else's resources and tech are still theirs. They give us a ship, and when it breaks, we have to beg them to fix it. They give us energy, and when it runs out, we have to beg them for more."

"I'd rather be poor than a beggar."

"The path of exploration has no end. What they call 'boundless power' is merely a small hurdle on the road of scientific discovery. They've moved faster than me, but that doesn't mean they'll go farther."

"If the Kree had thought like you, they wouldn't be locked in such a stalemate with the new Skrull Empire today."

Shi Ler concluded: "In this scenario, you've already realized: only deeper greed can defeat greed; only greater arrogance can defeat arrogance."

"Humans will never be satisfied. You promise one ship, we want ten. You promise ten ships, we want to swallow their entire fleet."

"Humans aren't thinking about how to win the competition—they're thinking about how to destroy it."

"The moment we sit at the table, the only goal is to crush every opponent—including the dealer. No one gets to walk away untouched."

"What makes you reject help from a higher civilization isn't restraint or reason—it's the arrogance that you'll one day surpass them. As a surface-dweller, you already look down on interstellar civilizations."

"Alright, I admit it." Stark nodded. "I'm arrogant. So what if they're Skrull scientists? What has Arngael even accomplished?"

"The so-called top Skrull scientists worked in my lab for years. The only halfway decent result they produced was applying Dark Elf light-shielding tech."

Stark touched the eye section of his mask. "So far, this tech only lets us look at the sun without being blinded. To achieve instant cooling and heat shielding, we still have several major technical hurdles to overcome."

"The Skrull genius scientists aren't that impressive. The so-called three great cosmic empires are merely older, faster-developing civilizations."

"A hundred-year gap? I just work a little harder. A thousand-year gap? All humanity's genius scientists work a little harder. A ten-thousand-year gap... I'll admit, Peter did pretty well—the villain scientists and Spider-Men across the multiverse made significant contributions."

Beneath his mask, Stark smiled. "How absurd it sounds—most humans today can't even leave Earth, yet I dare say we'll catch up to—and surpass—the three great empires."

"Fireflies dare challenge the moon's brilliance only because they don't know its radiance. But now, we not only know the moon's radiance—we've stolen a ship and smashed it straight into the moon's face."

Stark shook his head, looking at Shi Ler. "You're fueling this greed and arrogance. You've given these tiny fireflies the means to blow up the moon too soon, stripping us of all reverence..."

"But sometimes I wonder—what exactly are you trying to achieve? If you don't have a grand enough goal, all your actions against these cosmic empires are pointless."

"Given the current trajectory, even without their accidental wealth, humanity will steadily advance and one day reach the stars to challenge these titans."

"But I don't want to challenge them," Shi Ler said, shaking his head. "Defeating them, conquering them, destroying them—that path is doomed to end in ruin."

"I'm willing to aid Asgard not just because they're the Lords of the Nine Realms and can protect humanity, but because they've already reached the end of that path."

"They've already tested it for us—it doesn't work. The Twilight of the Gods may come from some unknown mysterious force, or perhaps the universe's own will."

"But whatever the cause, ever-growing power, endless war, and chaos only lead to destruction. With Asgard as a warning, humanity doesn't need to walk that road again."

"Then what do you want?" Stark asked.

"The Skrulls' ideal is noble, but it seems destined to end in tragedy."

"Giving away limited resources without expecting return weakens you. But if you demand return, hearts inevitably fall into calculations of gain and loss, forgetting the original ideal."

"The more you care about profit, the more you forget your purpose. Eventually, you lose all support—and to restore your glory, you're forced back onto the path of conquest and destruction."

"It sounds like a dead end. But that's only under the assumption of limited resources. What if resources were infinite?"

"But the universe's mass is fixed," Stark emphasized.

"Exactly. That raises another question: once productivity reaches its limit, and all cosmic resources are maximized, are there enough resources to sustain all civilizations?"

Stark shook his head. "Civilizations keep being born, demanding more resources. If every civilization could develop peacefully to its peak and never perish, the universe would eventually run out."

"You say the path of conquest and destruction won't work. Is this one guaranteed to?"

"Not guaranteed," Shi Ler replied, surprising Stark with a blunt negative. "But if you won't let me take this path to its end, you'll never convince me it won't succeed."

"Then again, if I truly climb to the peak, gather every intelligent lifeform across all universes, and seek the ultimate answer for all civilizations—and still fail—I'll already have found a reason to comfort myself."

"After all, those who walk this path already learned from the fall of a titan: winning isn't about reaching the end."

"Only by trying do you know how vast the sky is, how boundless the sea. The outcome isn't always what matters—it might just be... having come."