hotmtlnovel Chapter 3729 Doomsday (22)
Chapter 3729 Doomsday (22)
Chapter 3729 Doomsday (Twenty-Two)
Ultimately, the three empires made their decision and announced their withdrawal. Just as they were preparing to withdraw from the Feather Star System in an orderly manner, the energy monitoring stations that the three empires had deployed inside the system suddenly emitted sharp explosions.
"Warning! Warning! The rate of increase in the cosmic energy level exceeds the predicted standard by 28.3 times! Warning!"
"Quickly! Report to His Majesty! The energy level near Earth is rapidly increasing; we suspect it's the work of some mutant! Hurry!"
"Your Majesty! A phoenix! It's a phoenix!"
If the Phoenix had previously terrified the Shi'ar Empire by merely revealing some of its aura, this time, the Phoenix had truly unleashed its full power.
An invisible energy wave rippled outwards from the Earth, instantly turning the area into a sea of fire. There is nothing combustible in a vacuum, yet the flames persisted, gradually consuming everything—matter, dark matter, space, time…
The supreme rulers of the three empires were no longer composed. The Skrull Emperor cried out in panic, "Withdraw!! Withdraw immediately!! Retreat quickly!!!"
Even the supreme intelligence couldn't resist replacing the automatic evacuation procedure and began withdrawing troops outwards with maximum efficiency.
Lilandra's side was even more frantic. The noble elders were already wailing in despair, but he had to pretend to suppress his panic and keep issuing evacuation orders: "First, get the capital, Mengyu Star, out of here, then have the main warships evacuate in order. Those escort ships that can't leave shouldn't go; they can be revived later!"
But things aren't that simple. The three great empires had previously deployed numerous containment devices here, and these devices take time to deactivate. Even the most efficient devices from the Kree Empire require at least 2-3 seconds to unblock. The Phoenix's power can destroy a galaxy in just two seconds.
The warp drive is unusable, and relying solely on the engines to fly outwards means navigating a system surrounded by gravitational traps. Although they know which route they can take, there are only two options left. With so many warships and planets, how can they possibly evacuate so quickly?
At this point, the downsides of the Skrull Empire's desperate reinforcements became apparent. The temporary troop deployment was outside the tactical coordination of the three empires, and the extra warships, lacking proper storage areas, were all crammed into the original Skrull Empire's territory, causing excessively high warship density. Unfortunately, that area happened to be one of the escape routes.
Now that the Phoenix is about to erupt, the Skrull Empire will definitely send its warships out first. But they have 700 billion troops stationed here, with millions of warships, equipment, facilities, and temporary factories of all sizes. Even at the fastest speed, it would still take several minutes to evacuate. This is assuming the Skrull Empire has undergone highly mechanized modernization, with supercomputers calculating the optimal evacuation plan and ensuring its resolute execution. Any mishap will multiply the time required.
However, that route had already been blocked, and the remaining two great empires couldn't force their way out, so they had to take another route. But this other route required the Shi'ar Empire to evacuate its own capital and those important resource planets. These planets had no propulsion and could only be towed away by warships, which couldn't move very fast and were extremely large, thus blocking all the Kree Empire's warships.
Although this Phoenix eruption was much slower than before, in less than 10 seconds, the Phoenix Fire had already burned everything within a radius of about twenty astronomical units centered on Earth. Dozens of capital ships of the three great empires were burned.
"Well done, Qin. Take it slow like this. Try to control the phoenixes and don't let them burn too fast. That way, they'll start to have internal conflicts and fights."
“Don’t worry.” Jean Grey’s voice was slightly breathless, clearly indicating that controlling the phoenix wasn’t so easy. She said, “After my training in the Andromeda Galaxy, I feel I’m getting more and more comfortable with it.”
Controlling the phoenix isn't about how to make it destroy, but about controlling the direction and speed of its destruction. It's similar to driving an out-of-control truck; the difficulty isn't how to accelerate, but how to control its deceleration and prevent it from crashing into other things.
However, Jean Grey has been practicing in the Andromeda Galaxy, which is different from Earth; it's very spacious and allows the Phoenix to unleash its power appropriately. These things become more proficient with practice.
She now controls the Phoenix Flame, spreading it outwards at a relatively slow pace. Wherever it passes, the three great empires tremble in fear. Whether it's a capital ship with its shields activated or an extremely massive gas giant, this thing is less of a flame and more of a curse; once it touches you, it cannot be extinguished and will instantly burn you to ashes, leaving no chance for rescue.
The other two great empires were in a better position, as they were mostly robots controlled by a central AI and didn't experience excessive fear. The Shi'ar Empire, however, was different. They were carbon-based lifeforms more like humans, possessing all the emotions humans have. Furthermore, they were a syncretic nation with diverse races, their unity was questionable, and they were terrified of the Phoenix. Under this extreme pressure, many warship captains went insane.
I don't care about retreat orders or how friendly forces are being redeployed; I just don't want to die. Whoever runs the slowest gets to be in the front row!
Many of the Shi'ar Empire's ships began darting aimlessly through space, desperately trying to escape, squeezing into any available space and retreating from any planet they encountered. The previously orderly evacuation of the other two empires was disrupted, and ultimately, everyone was in complete chaos.
"Lilandra!!!" Emperor Skrull roared into the communications channel, "Can't you control your people?! They've completely disrupted our evacuation plan and damaged two of our ships!!!"
"I can't control them!" Lilandra screamed uncontrollably. "They're afraid of the Phoenix, do you understand?! People killed by the Phoenix can't be resurrected!! They're afraid of death!!!"
"Calm down," the Supreme Intelligence tried to reassure him. "At least get your people to stop. Our warships can take care of towing them out..."
“Impossible!” Lilandra said. “You robots don’t understand at all. We are afraid. When people are afraid, they lose their reason and can’t hear what others are saying. They’ve completely gone mad!”
"Then you at least need to take some measures!!!"
"What can I do? I..."
"This is bad." The Supreme Intelligence's tone turned somber. "Phoenix..."
His words came to an abrupt halt. Because in that very instant, the Phoenix had unleashed its full power. In a mere fraction of a second, the entire galaxy was razed to the ground; everything that hadn't escaped was reduced to ashes.
The entire galaxy fell into a deathly silence.
This was also the first time humanity had witnessed the Phoenix unleash its full power. Black Bolt couldn't help but ask Professor X, "Just how much does Her Majesty the Queen of the Shi'ar Empire love you that you would allow her to protect Jean Grey during such a tragedy?"
Professor X simply smiled and remained silent. Black Bolt looked into those bright, clear blue eyes and sighed, "Lust is a double-edged sword."
"I'm sorry, this is the longest I can control it." Jean said somewhat dejectedly as Logan helped her back. "This power is too violent. It will inevitably go out of control as soon as it is used, without exception."
But cheers erupted in the operations room. Steve rushed over and hugged her, then said, "Do you know what you've done, Ms. Grey? If Jarvis's intelligence is correct, you've annihilated the Supreme Intelligence, one of the three great empires' leaders!"
"What?!" Qin's eyes lit up instantly. "The Supreme Intelligence didn't escape?!"
"Yes, the Kree Empire was the slowest to retreat, and the Supreme Intelligence was also the furthest from the edge of the star system. He was probably so busy deploying troops that he didn't pay attention to the situation on your side. The warship where his mainframe was located was directly destroyed by you!"
"But he's an electronic life form, shouldn't there be a backup?"
Jarvis nodded and said, "Of course, there are other masterminds in the capital of the Kree Empire, but as far as I know, it's not easy to build a mastermind capable of accommodating his level of command. He's been severely weakened this time."
“More importantly, the Kree Empire suffered the greatest losses this time, and they won’t let this go easily,” Nick Fury said as he walked in. “They had absolutely nothing to do with this; they were just here to provide support and played the biggest role in the war, but in the end, they became the ones who suffered the most losses. The Supreme Intelligence won’t let this go.”
“We’re not going to see them fight amongst themselves again, are we?” Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I bet the three of them are arguing like cats and dogs right now."
"Lilandra!!!" This time it was the Skrull Emperor and the Supreme Intelligence who roared together. They were both about to lose their temper with this stupid woman.
"Why are you yelling at me!" Lilandra said. "What does your slowness have to do with me? Do you want to pin the blame for your failures on me?! You're dreaming!"
"If it weren't for you..." Emperor Skrull had a bellyful of words to say, but couldn't utter a single one. Facing Lilandra, he felt like a scholar encountering a soldier—unable to reason with him.
If you try to reason with her, she'll vent her emotions; if you vent your emotions to her, she'll turn around and talk about gains and losses. It's like casting pearls before swine when Emperor Skrull and the Supreme Wisdom try to talk to her.
"Forget it." Emperor Skrull decided not to live the life he hated. He said, "What's our next step? Should we continue fighting the Nine Kingdoms?"
“We must fight,” said the Supreme Intelligence. “These damned humans have already started celebrating their victory. What will interstellar society think of us if we don’t take further countermeasures?”
The combined population of the three great empires was indeed substantial, numbering in the hundreds of billions. However, comparing it to Earth reveals that this is not actually that large. One Earth can support 70 billion people, so 100 Earths would amount to 7000 billion. The population of the three great empires was roughly equivalent to 100 Earths, which is relatively small compared to their colonial territories.
The total interstellar population is even greater, conservatively estimated at tens of trillions. The combined population of advanced civilizations with interstellar colonization capabilities is far greater than that of the three great empires. Although each of them is relatively small, many are highly advanced, technologically sophisticated, and ancient, making them a major headache for the three great empires.
Interstellar resources are finite; if you have more, I have less. Many advanced civilizations are not to be underestimated, and they'll seize any opportunity to take a bite out of the three great empires. Therefore, the three great empires still need to pay attention to the interstellar landscape.
“Then let’s fight,” said the Emperor of the Skrull Empire. “The three of us will temporarily cease hostilities and mobilize our armies to march toward the Nine Kingdoms.”
(End of this chapter)