Chapter 317 |
The ruins where Earth’s teleportation array was located were not very far from the ruins where Kalai’s tribe resided—only about two hundred kilometers away.
This distance was almost nothing for a high-altitude patrolling aircraft.
So shortly after Josh’s legion appeared, a nearby patrol team from the Thern Federation detected this large-scale army and immediately sent the highest alert to headquarters.
Although they were not attacked, damn it, this was a massive army, not a kindergarten bus! Even a fool would know that such a large-scale force would never just come out for a picnic!
Josh’s legion had actually detected this patrol team at the very first moment and reported it to Josh, but he completely ignored it and didn’t even put the three nations on this planet in his sights.
“All matters here are entrusted to you. I only want the results, not the process!” Inside the legion’s flagship, Josh instructed Ophelia, whom he had summoned as the legion commander, and Narassus, the deputy commander.
Although they were currently in a desert, it didn’t mean this planet had no oceans, so Narassus’ presence was necessary.
And just like on Earth, based on the intelligence Josh had collected, although this planet’s technology was decent, its level of ocean development was very low.
Therefore, it was hard to say whether the Thern crystals in the ocean would have more reserves, like vibranium.
Once the legion established a foothold on this planet, the oceanic legion headed by Narassus would be sent to explore the seas of this world.
“Yes, master!” The two women respectfully acknowledged the order.
After the briefing, Josh reopened the teleportation gate and returned to Kalai’s tribe.
“Father, is it…?” Seeing Josh, Mike couldn’t help but ask.
“That’s right, these ruins…no, this planet is very valuable. I’ve already sent Aunt Ophelia with troops to enter this world. The fleet will arrive soon, and that means our trip will end earlier than planned!” Josh said without hiding anything.
Hearing this news, Mike felt a bit regretful; he hadn’t even had enough fun before the trip was about to end.
“Father, can I stay to participate in the battle?” After hesitating for a moment, he asked Josh.
“…Okay, but you have to follow Ophelia’s orders!” Josh frowned slightly at his youngest son but eventually agreed.
“Father, I also want to…” Seeing this, Mike also wanted to ask for permission.
“You go back to Sulawesi and learn management!” Josh rolled his eyes and said.
“Father, that’s not fair!” Mike complained.
“Fair? Fine, if you can beat Ben, I’ll let you stay!” Josh said with a smile.
“Heh, I’m joking!” Mike was stunned for a moment, glanced at his eager younger brother, and decisively smiled as he went home.
What a joke—fighting this kid, winning is one thing, but losing, where would the older brother’s face be?
Although they were several years apart, they weren’t ordinary kids. The age gap was almost meaningless; after nearly obsessive combat training, six months ago when Mike sparred with the kid, he already found it very tough. Whether he could still win now was uncertain.
More importantly, if that kid kept pestering him to spar every day, that would be unbearable.
Better to go back to Sulawesi to learn management, at least he could relax and sunbathe with the girls in his spare time!
“Leader, I want to stay and fight too!” Another choice came from Yondu.
Josh did not refuse.
Soon, Mike was sent back to Earth, along with Kalai’s three siblings.
As for Josh, he continued to stay in this world, waiting for the war to end.
Although this planet was larger than Earth, due to comprehensive reasons, the population and combined strength of the three nations were not impressive. Under Ophelia’s command, in just half a month, the legion occupied most areas with minimal losses.
During this process, the mechanical legion discovered five more teleportation arrays.
However, two of these arrays were completely damaged and could not be repaired with Josh’s current capabilities. The remaining three, like Kalai’s tribe’s teleportation array, had lost their crystal energy.
Worse news was that after occupying most of the Thern crystal mines on this planet, although they obtained a large amount of Thern crystal, these crystals were basically only weapon-grade—suitable for this planet’s military weapons and vehicle power sources but basically unable to sustain teleportation arrays.
It made sense—Josh still could not determine this star system’s exact position in the universe, indicating it was extremely distant from the Milky Way, possibly even beyond the local group.
Teleportation across such distances would require astronomical amounts of energy.
The highest-quality crystal, after an attempt, only maintained two minutes before the energy was exhausted and the teleportation gate collapsed.
But after integrating some murals, reliefs, and other materials from the ruins where the teleportation gates were located, the ancient legends of this planet gradually became clearer.
The two deities, Keytli and Sharla, created this world and countless races and cared deeply for them.
Those interstellar teleportation arrays were built with the help of these two gods and served as important expansion paths for these races. The queen’s kingdom that arrived on Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago and merged with the barbarian king Conan was probably one of them.
But as time passed, conflicts and tensions among the races intensified, culminating in a world war that involved all the races on this planet.
This war not only caused the destruction and extinction of many races but also caused the two gods to become extremely disappointed in these races.
In their fury, the two gods abandoned this planet and the races they created.
Because of the war, the planet’s resources drastically diminished, and the races suffered heavy losses. They began migrating via teleportation arrays, and eventually, only a few remnants and branches without teleportation arrays remained.
After the vicissitudes of time, this led to the near extinction of ancient cultural inheritance.
“It seems the ancient civilizations on this planet have nearly exhausted the high-quality crystals that could power teleportation gates. Because of the loss of high-grade energy, even civilizations with heritage slowly lost contact with the main branches that had migrated, ultimately falling into decline…but this is not good news!” After hearing the summary of the planet’s ancient legends, Josh glanced at the dimming Thern crystal he had obtained from the ruins—probably the only remaining crystal capable of powering an interstellar teleportation array—and sighed.
“Yes, without crystals of this grade, those interstellar teleportation arrays are just decorations and can’t even maintain governance over this planet well! But if what you said about Steve Rogers leaving this planet is true, then there must be a second crystal of this grade!” Howard Duck nodded.
“Not sure, maybe he used a low-grade teleportation gate? Although those last only a few minutes, it’s enough for him to pass through alone!” Josh shook his head slightly.
That made sense, and Howard Duck shrugged helplessly.
“Now it depends on whether Narassus can bring us good news!” Since no sufficiently high-grade crystals were found in land Thern mines, Josh could only place his hope in the ocean.
If they couldn’t find crystals of sufficient quality, Josh might have to temporarily abandon this planet and leave part of the legion to continue ruling here, awaiting his unknown-time return.
“Maybe we can find some other higher-quality energy to replace these crystals!” Howard Duck suggested.
“No, the research troops have already tried. To drive these teleportation arrays, not only is massive energy needed, but this energy must have certain spatial properties. Spatial energy is not easy to find… huh? Wait!” Josh suddenly froze.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Josh’s expression, Howard Duck couldn’t help but ask.
“I just remembered, there really is an excellent energy source with spatial attributes on Earth, but it’s been stored for so long that I almost forgot about it!” Josh rubbed his forehead and said self-mockingly.
“What is it?” Howard Duck asked curiously.
“The Cosmic Cube, also called the Space Stone, the thing that sent Steve Rogers to this planet… and compared to the Thern Crystal, that thing’s energy is endless!” Josh smiled happily.
“Oh, sounds like a nice treasure!” Howard Duck raised an eyebrow at this, then drank the tea in his cup in one gulp. Having once been a heavy drinker, after frequent contact with Josh and Xu Wenwu, he had also come to like tea.
Although Peggy Carter, one of the original S.H.I.E.L.D. founders in the original timeline, was no longer there, the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters was still established at the New Jersey military base where Captain America once trained.
The defensive facilities here were very tight, but for Josh now, they meant nothing.
Because Josh arrived in the evening, he happened to see Howard Stark getting off work and being picked up by his butler Jarvis.
“Sorry, Howard!” Josh raised an eyebrow as he watched the car leave, then vanished, stepping into the elevator going underground.
A few minutes later, holding the Power Stone, he located the safe deep in the underground base where the Cosmic Cube was kept, based on the mutual sensing among the Infinity Stones.
With a pinch of his hand, the safe door turned into a heap of scrap metal.
“Beautiful baby, sorry for forgetting you for so long!” Josh smiled slightly as he looked at the crystal-clear Cosmic Cube.
“I don’t know why, but I feel restless today!” Sitting in the back seat of the car, Howard rubbed his head.
“Sir, I think you’re too tired. You haven’t had a good rest for a week now, working on that reactor!” Jarvis said through the rearview mirror, seeing Howard’s exhaustion.
“No choice, maybe that’s our only hope to surpass Austria!” Howard sighed.
Josh’s constant elevation of the world’s technology level, especially Austria’s tech level — if anyone felt the most pressure, it was undoubtedly Howard.
Because of his reputation as a genius, almost all kinds of pressure in the U.S. weighed on him.
Not to mention he was also responsible for many S.H.I.E.L.D. related affairs.
So to devote more energy to research, over the years he gradually handed out S.H.I.E.L.D.’s authority — even though it didn’t seem very wise.
But even so, he was exhausted every day.
“Compared to rest, I think what I need more is relaxation!” Just as Jarvis wanted to continue persuading, Howard suddenly perked up.
...Alright, Howard was still Howard; without a woman, he really would die.
“...If you really need it, I found a newly opened upscale club when I came...” Jarvis sighed and said.
“Good idea, let’s go there!” Howard clapped his hands approvingly.
Seeing this, Jarvis sighed helplessly, then turned the car toward the club.
After arriving, Howard was soon surrounded by a throng of women.
His fame was too great; countless women wanted to spend the night with him.
Howard didn’t hesitate and immediately picked the four prettiest ones!
Just as he was having fun, his cellphone rang — Earth’s technological history was already chaotic; although true smartphones weren’t popular yet, cellphones had appeared more than twenty years earlier.
Though expensive, for someone like Howard, it was a minor expense.
But Howard, busy at the moment, clearly didn’t want to answer. Since the phone kept ringing, he signaled one of the women assisting him to pick it up.
“Mr. Howard, you must return to the base immediately. The Cosmic Cube has been stolen!” The gentle woman pressed the answer button and put the receiver to Howard’s ear. The anxious voice of the base guard officer came through.
The Cosmic Cube stolen? Howard, who had been focused on poker, immediately exploded upon hearing this.
Without bothering to tidy up, he dropped his guard, straightened his clothes, and rushed out the door.
Right after he left, the eyes of the women inside immediately focused on the ace card left behind because he was in a hurry and forgot to clean up.
Though Howard had countless poker experiences, he always cleaned up carefully after every game...after all, playing was playing, but never joke with your own ace cards.
That was why, after all these years, he had no children.
But this time, because of the emergency, he forgot about it.
And the four women in the room clearly understood what these ace cards meant.
Though the number of aces wasn’t many, splitting them four ways, they could barely each get some. Whether this ace card would work or not depended on their fate!