area51novel Chapter 140 Tiger Talisman
Chapter 140 Tiger Talisman
After Kovis Greif knelt down, the resistance of the entire Dark Star flagship ended.
The fluctuations of the Mind Stone had enveloped the entire ship, from the hangar to the bridge, from the engine room to the turret control room. Every Chitauri still standing on the two-kilometer-long warship lost the will to resist at the same time.
The remaining eighteen warships that refused to obey took a little longer, about forty minutes. The Holy Lord didn't subdue them one by one; Wanda handled them alone. She started from the bridge of the Dark Star flagship, using the Mind Stone as a relay node, and pushed the energy wave outwards for 30,000 kilometers.
More than four thousand people.
After the entire fleet was reorganized, Wanda returned to the bridge, where Thanos was standing in front of the holographic projection, showing Shendu the reorganization plan for the entire fleet. He was very skilled at this, after all, he was the one who originally built this army.
"With the flagship 'Sanctuary' as the command center, the Dark Star fleet will be incorporated into the main force. The escort ships will be reorganized and their command will be entirely under your direct control." Thanos drew several lines on the projection with his finger. "The supply line will be drawn from the local resource station on Titan, enough to sustain the operation for six months."
The Holy Lord didn't look at the formation plan. He sat on the bridge command seat, his gaze fixed on Thanos: "You chased something before."
Thanos turned off the holographic projection: "Three years ago, I sent Corvus Glaive and Black Dwarf to a planet called Olympia to carry out a cleansing mission."
Wanda leaned against the control panel on the side of the bridge. When she heard the word "cleaning," her lips twitched, but she didn't say anything.
Thanos continued, "There is a race living on that planet, not many, about eight thousand people. They call themselves the 'Eternals'."
"The mission failed?" the Holy Lord asked.
"Black Dwarf was pierced twice, and Corvus Glaive broke three ribs." Thanos stated matter-of-factly, "After they withdrew, I went there myself."
Wanda raised an eyebrow. This was something new. Thanos rarely took action himself. Everyone in the fleet knew that if Thanos decided to act on his own, it meant that the opponent's strength had exceeded the Black Order's ability to handle the situation.
"Did you win?" Wanda asked.
Thanos did not answer this question directly.
"Their leader is called Icarus. I fought him for about two hours, and I had the upper hand, but I couldn't kill him." Thanos paused for a moment, "because he possesses a very special power. It's not cosmic energy, not magic, and not technology; I can't find a corresponding category."
The Holy Lord tapped his finger lightly on the armrest; he had some impression of this race.
Thanos looked at him: "That aura of power overlaps with some of the power you possess."
The bridge was silent for a few seconds.
"How much overlap?" the Holy Lord asked.
Thanos considered his words and said, "One-tenth, or maybe less."
"Location."
"Olympia is on the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. It would take about four days for a hyperspace jump from Titan." Thanos walked to the star map control panel, pulled up a large star map, and marked a red dot on the outer edge of a dense star cluster: "It's right here, but these are coordinates from three years ago. Whether they're still there now is another matter. The Eternals have a habit of migrating."
Wanda leaned over and glanced at the star map. The location of that red dot was far from the known major interstellar routes, hidden at the intersection of three nebulae. Normal travel routes would not pass through that area unless one actively sought it out.
Why do they live in such a remote area?
Thanos replied, "The Eternals don't participate in interstellar affairs. They had probably been on that planet for thousands of years before I approached them."
"Since you have the upper hand, why didn't you continue?" the Holy Lord asked.
Thanos remained silent for a moment. He had to answer this question honestly; the Mind Stone left him no room to lie.
"Because Icarus displayed that power towards the end of the battle," Thanos's voice lowered. "It was only for a moment, but the intensity of that moment was enough for me to reassess the odds of winning the entire battle, and I chose to retreat."
Wanda turned to look at the Holy Lord.
Thanos's willingness to admit his choice to retreat speaks volumes. This giant purple figure is not afraid of death; the word "retreat" is extremely difficult for him to use.
The Holy Lord stood up: "Prepare the fleet, target Olympia."
Thanos accepted the order, and Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight followed him out, leaving only Shendu and Wanda on the bridge.
Wanda waited until they were far away before speaking, "Master, that aura Thanos was talking about..."
"The Tiger Talisman, another power I lost," the Holy Lord said calmly.
The Holy Lord walked out of the bridge, and Wanda followed. Every so often in the corridor, Chitauri soldiers could be seen standing against the wall, their eyes having changed from fear to emptiness, and in a few hours they would become obedient. This was the standard procedure for the Mind Stone, and Wanda had seen it far too many times.
"Master," Wanda called out from the corridor.
The Holy Lord did not stop, but tilted his head slightly to indicate that he was listening.
"What do you plan to do with people Thanos can't defeat?"
Shendu's answer was concise: "If Thanos can't be defeated, what does that have to do with me?"
Wanda smiled.
As the fleet began to turn around, the scene along Titan's orbit was quite spectacular. The engines of more than twenty warships lit up simultaneously, their blue propulsion lights illuminating the entire night hemisphere of the gray planet.
Wanda stood on the observation deck of the Sanctuary, watching the fleet formation complete. Proxima Midnight walked up from behind, carrying two cups of the Chitauri's standard ration drink, which tasted somewhere between engine oil and expired milk.
"Want a drink?" Proxima Midnight asked.
Wanda took it, smelled it, and wrinkled her nose: "Is this what you usually drink?"
"These are the conditions on the warship."
Wanda put down her cup: "How are you feeling right now?"
Proxima Midnight's expression was hard to describe. The stiffness on her face was still there, but it was a little better than it had been a few hours ago.
"There are voices arguing in my head," Proxima Midnight said. "One says I should kill you, and the other says I should obey, only the second one is louder."
"Give it time, the first sound will soon disappear." Wanda said this, picked up the drink and smelled it again, this time pinched her nose and took a sip, her expression contorted for two seconds, and then handed the cup back to Proxima Midnight.
"It's confirmed, it smells like engine oil."
Proxima Midnight's lips twitched. Was this a joke? She wasn't sure herself.
The hyperspace jump was initiated six hours later. When Wanda returned to Shendu's side, Shendu was sitting on the bridge command post, resting with his eyes closed.
Thanos stood to the side, communicating with Kovis Grif, the Chitauri commander who, after being transformed by the Mind Stone, was actually more efficient than before. His judgment remained intact, his loyalty was at its peak, and he no longer wasted time on internal debates about "whether he should obey."
"First jump window confirmed. Countdown to hyperspace entry for the entire fleet." Kovis Greif's voice came through the comms, his tone completely different from before.
Thanos glanced at Shendu.
The Holy Lord, without opening his eyes, said: "Jump."
As the entire fleet entered hyperspace, Titan's orbit became empty again. Only the wreckage of the escort ship, broken in two, remained, slowly tumbling and falling into Titan's atmosphere.