PFC Chapter 4216 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (23)
Chapter 4216 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (23)
Chapter 4216 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (Part Twenty-Three)
The news of Loki's arrest for destroying the Skrull hatchery made the front page of the interplanetary news network the following morning. The interplanetary community was in an uproar.
What does it mean to provoke the powerful? What does it mean to strike a snake at its vital point? What does it mean to be arrogant and domineering? Even though Loki used to be a notorious fraudster, now everyone has to express their admiration when they mention his name.
That's right, Loki, who is usually best at making a quick getaway, didn't run away this time. Using Asgard's signature weapon, the infamous power of lightning, and his status as an Asgardian prince, he stormed into the heart of the Skrull Empire without any concealment, wiping out the Skrulls' newborn population for the next decade or so, and then just stood there, waiting for someone to come and capture him.
This goes beyond mere arrogance. Even the bravest Asgardian warriors might fantasize about how many robots they'd annihilate in a direct confrontation, like breaking a Skrull's nose; Loki, on the other hand, used a Flying Thunder God Technique followed by a super assassination, nearly tearing the Skrull Empire apart.
Schiller sat in the tavern reading the newspaper. Whenever there was such startling news, the tavern was the best place to gossip. And with the lifting of restrictions on Cross II, the construction workers flocked to the tavern, each with a beer, and began chatting about the matter.
Previously, when they were within the territories of the three great empires, they wouldn't dare speak so freely, as they might be caught on camera. But now, in the Milky Way galaxy, they no longer need to worry about the three great empires and can discuss it at length.
Most of these opinions were gloating. The three great empires rarely had true fanatics; over the years, they had done their share of misdeeds in private, and no one was blind to that. Finally finding an opportunity to ridicule them mercilessly, interstellar society almost immediately erupted into a sea of merriment.
Of course, the lingering power of the three great empires still existed, so everyone only dared to gloat in private. However, the nature of Loki's actions and the final verdict are indeed worthy of discussion.
Early the next morning, Polaris shot down from the building like a rocket, shouting, "Schiller!!!!"
"I heard you, why are you shouting so loudly?" Schiller made Polaris a cup of honey water and then said, "You drank so much yesterday, doesn't your head hurt this morning?"
Polaris seemed to only just realize what was happening, and her features immediately scrunched up. She waved her hand and said, "Good heavens, you should have just left me with a headache."
She picked up the honey water, gulped it down, wiped her mouth, sat down on the bar, and said, "Did you see the news? Loki really pulled off something big this time. My God, he actually blew up the Skrull Empire's incubation facility! That's their lifeline!"
“I saw it,” Schiller said, “but that’s not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is that he didn’t run away after he did the bad thing…”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was about to ask you,” Polaris said. “Even if that place is Skrull’s hometown, he shouldn’t be unable to escape, right? He’s very good at escaping; even my dad might not be able to catch him.”
“He did it on purpose,” Schiller said. “If it were just a hatchery that was blown up, how long would it take to rebuild it with Skrull technology? It would just be a loss of some population. But if he hadn’t run away, the Skrulls would have had to capture him first, then lock him up, and then figure out how to try him. The key is that they might not even be able to get him tried, and there would be a lot of wrangling around.”
“Oh, I see, this is how they buy time for the Skrulls.” Polaris snapped his fingers and said, “But whether this matter can be judged or not is not up to them. If this is not handled properly, the Skrulls and Asgard will have to fight again.”
“Oh, right,” Polaris said as if she had just remembered, “Loki has been captured, why hasn’t Thor reacted? Knowing his usual temper, wouldn’t he have stormed into the Skrull Empire’s capital to demand his release?”
"Of course, it's because the two of them agreed on it. If they resort to force, it won't take long. They'll have to go through legal procedures and file a lawsuit in the interstellar court. That way, they can get the most attention."
“That’s true,” Polaris nodded. “What if the Skrulls wanted to fight them by force?”
"Do you think they're stupid? Who would want to fight the Asgardians? We lost last time, and if we lose again, the empire will truly be finished."
“Just think about how difficult their situation was,” Peter said as he came downstairs. “If they declared war directly, they couldn’t win; if they didn’t, it would be shameful; if they went through legal channels, it would play right into Loki’s hands; if they didn’t go through legal channels, they dared not execute him privately. Loki really gave them a huge dilemma. But they also deserved what they got.”
“I’m afraid they’ll retaliate in kind,” Polaris said with some concern. “We can destroy their hatcheries, and they might be able to too… But we weren’t hatched from eggs either, and Earth isn’t afraid of them.”
The Arkham Knight, still somewhat sleepy, came downstairs and said, "I've been listening to you guys talk about aliens all morning. What's wrong with them this time?"
Polaris excitedly recounted the whole story to him, and the Arkham Knight said with some surprise, "You mean such a large empire, whose members are oviparous?"
“That’s right, but that’s not surprising. If dinosaurs had developed civilization back then, we would be oviparous now.”
“Uh…” The Arkham Knight didn’t know where to begin his rebuttal.
“But actually, the Skrulls should have some spare egg cases,” Schiller said. “It’s just that the thawing process might be complicated, and the hatchery would have to be rebuilt. The key issue is that they don’t know how Loki got in, and they probably won’t dare to incubate the eggs until the security breach is resolved. In short, it’s a lot of trouble.”
“They probably won’t be in the mood to wreak havoc in the galaxy now,” Peter said. “But there’s also the possibility of escalating their retaliation. What do you think, Doctor?”
"They won't give up attacking our portals. Loki's antics have only deterred them from coming up with any other schemes. As for those jammers, we'll have to find them ourselves."
Just then, they suddenly heard the sound of a large spaceship engine. Everyone looked out the window and saw a huge cargo ship anchored near the planet.
A short while later, a group of people walked in. Leading them was Star-Lord, followed by several members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. After entering, Star-Lord first stepped forward and shook hands with Schiller, then sat down with an air of nonchalance.
“The goods are here,” Star-Lord said. “We raided the Skrulls’ armed base near Sparta, then found a cargo ship and brought everything over.”
"Has the trouble over there been resolved?"
"Pretty much. They were at a critical juncture when something happened in their capital, forcing them to hastily withdraw their troops. The Spartan Empire didn't gain much, but it didn't suffer any losses either, so it managed to weather the storm."
"Thank you for your hard work. Do you need this cargo ship urgently?"
"No rush, this is a Spartan cargo ship. We've done them such a great favor, it's only right that we lend them a ship. Please use it."
"Okay, Peter, send a message in the group: anyone who needs equipment support should come to the Centaur Tavern. We've got a decent batch of weapons that are perfect for dealing with the robots."
“Oh, right,” Star-Lord said, “these weapons aren’t clean. I mean, the operating system is still Skrull Empire, there might be backdoors in it. You’d better get someone to clean them.”
“Don’t worry, Jarvis already washed it inside and out when you brought the cargo ship over.” Schiller handed beer to the Guardians of the Galaxy and then said, “Yondu has moved over with his Raiders crew. Go see him when you have time.”
"Why did he come here?" Star-Lord asked, somewhat surprised. "I've tried to persuade him to move here countless times before, but he absolutely refused. How did you convince him?"
“Appeal to his emotions and reason with him,” Schiller said with a smile. “He should be working with the Grandmaster on the underground casino right now. Just a short walk from here, you’ll see the entrance.”
Upon hearing that Yondu had also arrived, Star-Lord couldn't sit still any longer. He quickly finished his beer and dragged the others outside.
Less than half an hour after they left, another group arrived—the Robins from the Schiller Universe. They teamed up with Scarlet Spider and Riley, and the group seemed to get along quite well.
“You must have done it, right?” Tim said, staring intently at Schiller.
"what do you mean?"
"Of course it's about the attack on the Skrull capital. I don't believe it was all Loki's idea. Of course, I'm not saying he's a good person, but such a big commotion was definitely your doing."
“You underestimate him. Loki has always been good at making a splash.” Schiller began serving them according to their menu, then said, “Besides, it was the two great empires that attacked Asgard back then, so it’s perfectly normal for Loki to want revenge…”
"Then who spread the rumors about him and the Sorcerer Supreme?"
Polaris, standing next to him, spat out a mouthful of wine.
"You mean him and the Sorcerer Supreme? But they... oh wait... it seems they also... um, I mean... actually... my God! They... my God!"
“Just a trick to get away,” Schiller said, putting Polaris’s empty beer mug in the sink. “If someone’s brother was the King of Asgard and his love interest was the Sorcerer Supreme, and you were a juror, what would you say?”
“I don’t think this is a trick Loki would come up with,” Tim scoffed, then said, “First of all, if someone’s brother is the God-King of Asgard, his partner could never be the Sorcerer Supreme. Thor would never agree to Loki and Strange having any relationship beyond partnership, absolutely not. So this rumor could never have come from Loki.”
“Wait,” Polaris interrupted, then said, “why would Thor disagree?”
"Because if Loki gets hurt in this relationship, Thor might not be able to protect him, and Strange seems very much the kind of person who would hurt his lover."
“Good heavens,” said Polaris, “it turns out that the love and hate in our universe are just as intense.”
As she spoke, she reached for her glasses and glanced at Arkham Knight. Arkham Knight simply took a sip of his coffee and said, "You're only finding out now? I haven't even asked you what Magneto and Professor X are all about."
“That’s a bit too complicated,” Polaris said. “You’ve only known Batman for a few years, but they’ve been locked in a love-hate relationship for most of their lives, not even counting the time they’ve spent traveling through time. I can’t explain it clearly.”
“Couldn’t it be from Strange’s biography?” Schiller asked again. “Maybe he was trying to rescue Loki this way.”
"Do you want to hear what you're saying? If the Sorcerer Supreme wanted to save someone, would he need to spread rumors?"
Just then, the tavern door was flung open, and a figure in a red cloak appeared in an instant.
"Schiller!!!!!"