Chapter 544: Chitauri's Misfortune (1)
Lady Loki, who had just finished convincing people, switched her perspective and glanced at the Eye of Magic left nearby on Earth. To her surprise, Earth nearby was completely empty, with no Chitauri warships or shadows in sight.
Frowning, she picked up her staff and gently tapped it in the air, creating an illusion that floated before her. It was a Chitauri, but unlike the others, this one had a more refined appearance, with stronger external bones and a more robust physique.
"Dorian, the Grand General, didn't we agree on a specific time? Why hasn't your army arrived yet?" Lady Loki inquired.
"We did send three warships into the battle just now! But they lost contact moments ago. Let me check..." Dorian replied nervously, wiping his forehead and pointing to his nose while repeatedly calling out to the communication device, but there was no response.
Lady Loki, skilled in bargaining, pretended to be displeased and said, "Even in Chitauri civilization, I'm not limited to choosing you as my partner. I believe the Royalist Faction and the Grand Prince should also be interested in entering the Nine Realms."
"Wait a moment; it will be resolved soon!" Dorian, the so-called Grand General, wiped his forehead and nervously gestured towards his nose. He continued shouting into the communication device, but still, no one responded.
Lady Loki, losing her patience, remarked, "I must have made a mistake! Initially, I wanted to cooperate with the Chitauri because of your formidable warships. What else could catch the eye of the Asgardians?"
"Even the warships pale in comparison to our long-range sailboats. In Asgard, sailboats are merely the lowest tier of spaceship. Above them, there are several levels of warships, not to mention the Bifrost."
Lady Loki's words carried a sense of pride, and Dorian couldn't argue. The level of Chitauri civilization was incomparable to Asgard's, even though Asgard primarily relied on individual combat; their military facilities were top-notch.
"You better hurry; I'm running out of patience. If you can't do it, I'll contact the Royalist Faction right now. With a royal relationship, they should be able to mobilize a warship, right?""If you can't handle the feeble Humanity, how can you expect me to assist in the Restoration? You don't even have this capability, yet you want me to work for you for nothing?"
"Wait!" Dorian shouted loudly. He said, "I can mobilize a warship. I have the authority!"
"Yes, that was before. But don't think I'm unaware. After you were excluded from the power center, your authority became meaningless. Can you infiltrate the control center to command the troops?"
Dorian took a deep breath, calming himself slightly, and said, "I can't infiltrate, but I have people inside the control center..."
"Now, three warships, two of them are nearby our homeworld, performing security duties. Only one is farther away. As long as I can divert that more distant warship and return within the specified time, no one will notice."
"Very well, you'd better hurry. Earthlings have probably already noticed your warships. Ordinary Humanity might not recognize them, but Earth has the Supreme Sorcerer and other alien creatures lurking. If they report this to my elder brother, we're all in trouble."
"Don't worry!" Dorian gritted his teeth. "Don't forget our previous agreement. I'll help you counterattack the Immortal Palace, and you'll help me overthrow the royal family and make me the Emperor of the Chitauri."
"Didn't you already witness my power before? The Chitauri's royal family, or even the Grand Prince, couldn't withstand a single blow from me."
Lady Loki adjusted her hair and said to the person across from her, "Hurry up; if you delay any longer, you'll find Bifrost hovering above your head."
Lady Loki ended the call and then dialed Stark's phone again, saying, "Don't worry, I had them send a warship over. This time should be problem-free."
Stark opened his mouth to suggest a modification to the plan, but after some thought, he realized that diverting all Chitauri forces here could lead to a direct conquest of Chitauri itself.
Thinking this, Stark didn't pursue Strange's betrayal. He quickly operated the console and connected to the Avengers' base communication.
Before he could speak, Steve on the other end hurriedly asked, "What's going on? What's going on? Has the plan changed? Where are the warships? How did they disappear as soon as they appeared?"
Natasha, also by the phone, added, "I saw it too. Those warships seemed to explode. Director Nick just asked me if he could go pick up the wreckage."
Stark had intended to ask them to calm the public's emotions, but Nick's question left him speechless.
Watching several spaceships explode near Earth, Nick Fury's first thought was to salvage the wreckage.
However, it had to be acknowledged that his approach made sense. Chitauri technology was indeed less advanced compared to the Kree and Asgard, but it was still far ahead of Earth's civilization.
Moreover, being less advanced had its advantages. The science and technology of Kree escort ships were challenging to decipher due to their superior materials science. Asgard's science and technology were also incompatible because Asgardians had exceptional individual qualities, and their development path in science and technology was entirely different and unsuitable for Earth.
However, according to the materials provided by Lady Loki, Chitauri civilization seemed to be at the right level for Earth to learn from. Stark retracted the words he was about to say and pondered for a moment before speaking:
"I've ordered Mercury Base to urgently assemble recycling robots, but the debris generated next might be even more significant, and the robots may not clean it all up. If we can't clean it up completely, it might affect the arrival of other spaceships."
"Here's the plan: Steve, contact Professor X and check if Magneto is available..."
Steve hesitated for a moment, not understanding why the situation had taken this turn, but he instinctively picked up another phone and called Charles. After hanging up, he told Stark, "Magneto is not available, but his daughter Polaris is."
"Alright, that works too. Have those mutants with symbiotes take her to the temporary base I've set up, and then gather the wreckage in the vicinity. I'll send the recycling robots to pick it up."
"In addition, for the debris closer to Earth, already captured by gravity, let Nick's helicarrier handle it. Remember, we must ensure it doesn't fall and cause any damage."
Before hanging up, Stark sighed and said, "Tell him to clear out some warehouse space; in the coming days, we might have more materials than he can imagine."
When Stark said this, neither Steve nor Natasha realized the severity of the problem, and they didn't particularly emphasize it to Nick.
They simply contacted Professor X again and, following Stark's plan, had Polaris go into space to collect the wreckage of the exploded spaceships.
This was Polaris's first time undertaking such a significant mission. She had long envied the mutants with symbiotes who could participate in various Avengers missions.
Now, for the first time, she was taking on such a massive task, and she felt it was a reward for her hard work and study.
After this period of learning, Polaris had improved significantly. It was easy for her, a previously underperforming student, to boost her grades, especially since she possessed powers almost identical to Magneto's.
Once in space, several symbiote-wearing mutants brought Polaris to the temporary base Stark had constructed. Upon entering the base, Polaris waved her hand and said, "You can go back; I can handle this."
With that, she began to examine the displayed map and surveillance screens. In reality, both Polaris and Magneto could use their magnetic forces to survive in space. However, they stayed in the base because they needed to follow the marks on the map provided by Stark and move the wreckage to designated locations.
The format of the map clearly showed how worried Stark was that Polaris might not understand it. The map was three-dimensional, centered around Earth, with each piece of debris precisely marked. It even had icons, and the target locations were displayed on another three-dimensional map, showing where each corresponding piece of wreckage should be moved.
In essence, even an ordinary student without space operation training could understand this map. It was fundamentally similar to playing an online game mission—just go where the highlighted points are.
Realizing that this was no problem for her, Polaris rolled up her sleeves and prepared to show her skills.
She flew out from the top of the base, and by looking down, she could see the map. The surroundings were the vast emptiness of space.
With a wave of her hand, the scattered debris around her began to fly at an incredibly high speed. It followed her designated path but stopped abruptly, completely defying the laws of normal object movement.
Next, Polaris created a magnetic force cage similar to what Magneto had done before, enveloping the pieces.
Then, her eyes emitted a different kind of light, and a tiny dot of light appeared above the cage.
The dot of light blinked a few times but then went out. Polaris furrowed her brow and attempted to create another dot of light, but it still didn't work. Stark connected through the communication device he had on her ear and asked, "What are you doing? Can't you just move the stuff over directly?"
"That would be too slow," Polaris replied. "I saw Magneto create a wormhole; do you know what a wormhole is? It's a kind of portal that allows for instant transportation."
"He can create a wormhole?!" Stark raised his voice. "What else can't he do?"
Polaris snorted, appearing quite proud, but after a moment, she looked a bit distressed. "I don't know why, but I tried to mimic his actions, and it didn't work. In theory, my powers should be sufficient."
"Do you understand what a wormhole is?" Stark asked.
"I've read the basics in textbooks, but the theoretical parts are too complicated, and I don't understand them at all."
Stark rubbed his chin and asked, "How large can your wormholes theoretically accommodate?"
"In theory, they can be infinitely large, but there are many limitations in practice. The one Magneto created was for transporting parts to Repair Sky Island, um... it was about one-tenth the size of Earth, roughly."
Polaris spoke hesitantly because she had no understanding of this matter. But Stark knew that it was definitely not Magneto's limit.
Anyone with even a bit of strategic vision could see how crucial it was to have a portal that could be used at any time during interstellar warfare.
And Humanity's portal construction required almost no external conditions; it only needed a person to go through it. In addition to Magneto's wormhole, there were also sorcerer's portals of various sizes and specifications. They could choose which type to use.
Stark realized that his step-by-step plan seemed a bit conservative.
It appeared that Humanity could skip the space development and construction phase entirely and directly enter the interstellar raiding phase. Or rather, the two phases could run concurrently—some people would go out to plunder while others stayed home to build. How efficient would that be?
While Stark was refining his plan, on the other side, after Polaris attempted to open a wormhole several times without success, she could only resort to a more straightforward method and drag these resources to the vicinity of Mercury.
Following the marked locations by Stark, she shuttled back and forth, watching as the area near Mercury gradually became busier. This kind of work still gave her a sense of accomplishment, even though she was just a laborer. Polaris was quite satisfied with the results of her first mission.
The debris near Earth was slowly decreasing, and after working tirelessly for a while, Polaris was almost finished. But just as she was about to make her final trip, she saw a golden spatial rift appearing not far away.
Although Polaris had limited academic knowledge, she had a natural sensitivity to changes in magnetic forces and gravitational fields. She noticed changes in the gravitational field around her and immediately stopped her actions.
Seeing the magnetic field around the rift changing drastically, Polaris furrowed her brow, extended her hand, and with a finger clench, the rift, which had been partially open, closed with a "whoosh."
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