mtl008 Chapter 4707 X Royal Clash (3)
Chapter 4707 X Royal Clash (3)
Chapter 4707 X Royal Family: Fierce Battle (Thirteen)
In fact, in most comics, the three empires are not just background characters. Not only does the Skrull Empire have a secret invasion, but the Kree Empire also makes significant appearances in the cinematic universe. The Shi'ar Empire is relatively mysterious, but this is because the mutant film and television adaptations haven't touched on Professor X's romantic history. Back then, mutants wreaked havoc in the Shi'ar Empire, and there are even characters with close ties to the Shi'ar Empire, such as those involved in sword fights.
Comparatively speaking, the Skrull and Kree civilizations have stopped pretending and are openly planning to invade Earth and occupy the Milky Way. The Shi'ar Empire is relatively more civilized, but that doesn't mean they won't cause trouble in secret.
Ironically, the US government in Marvel comics readily accepts all disasters and dangerous items of unknown origin, fearing that any force that wants to invade Earth will be neglected. They must accept everything without discrimination and spread their benefits evenly.
When Stark learned that the Redgate Orchid factory wasn't entirely made of human technology, he already had his doubts. It wasn't that humans couldn't use alien technology; after all, Earth's technological level in this universe was quite advanced, and it wasn't surprising that it could participate in interstellar society. Exchanging useful technologies with other aliens was perfectly normal.
The problem lies in the nature of the Redgate Orchid factory. It's a factory that produces superweapons, specifically superweapons designed to defeat mutants. Given the strength of mutants, a superweapon capable of defeating them would be virtually invincible throughout the universe. Why would anyone sell the technology for such a weapons production line?
Just like governments around the world, we hear about selling airplanes and tanks, but we never hear about anyone selling nuclear weapons manufacturing plants. Such things are simply not something that can be sold, not even by the three great empires.
Then there's another possibility. That is, this weapons factory is only designed for mutants, and the weapons it produces will only harm mutants and will absolutely not pose a threat to anything else. Only in this case could this technology possibly have leaked out and fallen into the hands of humans.
However, a civilization that has never had contact with mutants could not possibly possess such technology. The origin of such technology must have an extremely deep understanding of mutants and must have invested significant effort in researching how to completely exterminate them; otherwise, such technology would not exist.
Stark knew that when Phoenix went out of control, it wiped out a star system of the Shi'ar Empire. This event was a significant turning point for mutants, something that typically happens in every universe. However, because Professor X meddlesomed and refused to execute Phoenix, the Shi'ar Empire ultimately failed to take any action against the culprit.
The Shi'ar Empire is highly likely to learn from its mistakes and invest heavily in developing weapons to exterminate mutants. Only they would do such a thing, given their deep-seated hatred for mutants.
If the technology and materials were provided by the Shi'ar Empire, then they would certainly retain ultimate control of the factory. Otherwise, they couldn't guarantee the factory's successful construction, and the robots produced would, as they predicted, only exterminate mutants.
After all, humans are notoriously unreliable; you can't expect them to do anything right. If it just didn't get built or the factory exploded, that would be one thing, but if the robots went out of control and started indiscriminate slaughter, the Shi'ar Empire would be thrown into chaos. So they must have left a backdoor in the factory.
Stark had hinted many times that something was wrong with the fact that this factory could even be built. But unfortunately, researchers like Dr. Gregor, the human government, and the mutants were all very confident, believing that alien technology was merely icing on the cake and that everything depended on advanced human technology.
Stark had a good understanding of the Shi'ar Empire. He knew that unlike the other two, it wasn't as autocratic; it was a noble republic where the systems were most likely to hinder each other. This operation might be purely for revenge, but that was unlikely.
Wasting so much manpower and resources just to settle old scores is unacceptable in any country. Currently, exterminating mutants doesn't seem to benefit them much, unless they can gain some other advantage from the plan.
Having learned that this wondrous crystal material exhibits different properties at varying temperatures, Stark could roughly guess what kind of plan the Shi'ar Empire had in mind. After all, this empire's forte in their universe was teleportation technology; they wouldn't be themselves if they didn't use this technology to cause trouble.
At normal high temperatures, crystals can serve as crucial conductors, solving some previously insurmountable energy transmission problems. At extreme temperatures, crystals can transform into shimmering flakes capable of containing consciousness. So, at other temperatures, do crystals have other uses?
In Stark's view, the answer to this question was yes. From the structural diagrams of the Red Gate Orchid factory that he had seen, he had already discovered that the large-headed master mold that everyone was focusing on was actually just a smokescreen; there weren't many key structures inside.
Conversely, the ring structure supporting the master mold uses a large number of source energy crystals and its form closely resembles the frame of a portal. It's almost conceivable that, under certain conditions, it could directly support and open an extremely large portal.
However, no one has discovered this so far.
Stark didn't say anything either. Although he was annoyed by the group's slow reaction and belated realization, he chose to remain silent.
This is not the opposite of interventionism—a form of self-abandonment. On the contrary, if used properly, it might be beneficial in solving the fundamental problems of the universe.
So Stark told the local Spider-Man that if things really got out of control, like the factory going completely out of control, he was willing to intervene. This was already a significant step forward, and the local Spider-Man didn't ask for anything more.
Having received this promise, the human government began to act with greater freedom. They activated the external defenses, allowing the Avengers to penetrate deep into the core systems.
At this moment, several mutants had gathered above the Mother Model. Magneto, along with his newly assembled group of skilled mutants, arrived near the Mother Model. These individuals didn't even need a spaceship; they could traverse the universe physically, ignoring the sun's heat.
Compared to the previous raiding squad, this group was far more powerful. At the same time, they were extremely cautious, refraining from rashly attacking the large head.
"You really don't want to control the factory?" Apocalypse asked.
“I just want to get people out of trouble,” Magneto said. “Excessive greed will destroy everything, and I know that very well.”
Apocalypse didn't seem dissatisfied, but he remained silent. The other mutants also didn't speak, because when they actually stood before the Mother Model, everyone felt a burgeoning threat, penetrating to their very bones and sending chills down their spines.
Magneto also stared silently at the head. It didn't resemble a head; rather, it looked like a slowly beating heart. For some reason, he felt that the Mother Model had awakened, that some deadly threat was being conceived, and that mutants were not far from extinction.
This sense of crisis even made him want to break his original plan and completely destroy the factory. However, at the last moment, he controlled himself, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go."
They began breaching the external defense system. Numerous patrolling drones and artillery pieces were present, but they were ineffective against Magneto. The real trouble lay with the hundreds of Sentinel robots there; while not all were main Sentinels, they were all extremely powerful.
Magneto is clearly one of those mutants whose abilities have been thoroughly studied. He's appeared so often that everyone knows what he's capable of. The Sentinels aren't using ordinary artillery, but rather molecular stasis fields. This is somewhat similar to dense ice, only less long-lasting and stable, but undoubtedly Magneto's nemesis.
Magneto was struggling. He had just pushed one Sentinel robot away when another Sentinel with a force field grabbed him from behind and choked him. He tried to fight back with his abilities, but was trapped by the force field. Fortunately, Apocalypse punched him, forcing the Sentinel robot back. Magneto flicked his cloak and stumbled back a bit, looking somewhat disheveled.
“You can’t just rely on ranged attacks,” Apocalypse said. “You have to practice your hand-to-hand combat occasionally.”
“My fists and feet are no match for them,” Magneto said with a grim face. “The Sentinels are far too effective against me.”
Apocalypse didn't have time to talk to him. He grabbed a Sentinel robot that was charging at him, twisted its head off, and shook it off with a hint of disdain, saying, "Nothing special."
The other mutants were in a much better position than Magneto. They rarely appeared in public, and the civilian governments didn't consider them a major threat, so the data implantation into the Sentinel robots was insufficient. Even the main Sentinels were being pushed back by these mutants. Before long, they had broken through the external defenses and entered the core system, where the giant head was right in front of them.
“Go and pick them up,” Apocalypse said, arms crossed. “Hurry, I suspect those cunning humans have some other tricks up their sleeves.”
Magneto flew forward a little. But soon, several figures flew out from the circle in front of him.
"The Avengers!" Magneto gritted his teeth.
“Didn’t expect to see us here, did you?” Thor raised his hammer and said, “The raid team’s failure was entirely your scheme. You wanted to take advantage of the situation to send your consciousness into the factory system, control the master form, and tamper with the Nimrod’s settings. We won’t let you succeed!”
Magneto knew immediately that the other party had misunderstood, but arguing was pointless. The idea of switching consciousness was clearly Professor X's domain, and Magneto himself even suspected that Professor X might have orchestrated it. After all, the X-Men listened to him so much, and he did indeed possess such abilities.
The Avengers won't believe him if he says he's there to pick someone up. They'll just think Magneto is trying to use this to his advantage and take down the Mother Model. There's no point in arguing; they'd better just start fighting.
“You go,” Apocalypse said to Magneto, “I’ll deal with them.”
Magneto was about to leave, and Thor tried to stop him. But Apocalypse narrowed his eyes, and almost instantly transformed into a streak of light, slamming Thor into the ring behind him. With a bang, the ring shuddered violently, and Thor coughed up blood.
"Thor!!!"