章 487: Chapter 333 S: Glorious Event (13)_1
Inside the underground experimental base of S.H.I.E.L.D., a man with brown hair and green eyes steps forward and shakes hands with Shiller, saying, "Long time no see, Shiller. We haven't heard from you since you left the University of California. Unexpectedly, we are meeting here."
"Indeed, it has been a long time. I thought you would leave the University of California shortly after I transferred to Harvard, but unexpectedly, you stayed for so long. Bruce, how have you been recently?" Shiller laughed and shook hands with Bruce Banner.
Shiller's identity in Marvel once taught at the University of California, where he and Banner were colleagues. However, Shiller left after a short time, while Bruce Banner is still a professor at the University of California.
"Not bad, just after you left, I have to pay for each therapy session." Banner laughed and slightly adjusted his glasses.
Actually, they are not the only ones in this room. Stark is standing aside, but he is busying himself, and Shiller and Banner are ignoring him.
When Shiller made way for Banner to enter the lab, Banner glanced at Stark, rolled his eyes, and then turned to the experimental table.
Shiller went to Banner's side, looked back at Stark, and asked, "You two don't get along well?"
"You should ask who would get along with Stark? At the last global forum, he talked for three and a half hours, belittling existing theories of physics..." Banner adjusted his glasses again. Since he didn't lower his voice, Stark heard everything clearly.
Stark let out a short snort from his nose, took a pile of documents, and strode out of the laboratory. Banner, however, had a puzzled expression as he watched Stark's retreating figure, saying, "What's wrong with him? In the past, he would storm up to argue with me for hours."
"People always have to grow up," Shiller shrugged, and then asked, "Was it S.H.I.E.L.D. who asked you to come? Who else did they call?"
"For now, it's just me. Originally, they had contacted Reed Richards, but his third close-to-earth research hasn't been completed yet. It's still hanging in the sky, so at the earliest, it will take half a month for him to come back."
Banner took a glance at Shiller and asked him, "You were the earliest among us to arrive, do you know any inside information? S.H.I.E.L.D.'s move this time is big, it seems like they want to gather all the physicists in the world..."
"I am not here earlier than you, I am now a psychological consultant of S.H.I.E.L.D., all I can tell you is, this is indeed a big move, if I am not mistaken, someone is giving a speech at the World Security Council right now..."
"In conclusion, the fact that mankind is not alone in the cosmos has been confirmed. Unfortunately, what is waiting for us is not a friendly Close Encounter of the Third Kind, but aliens with technology unimaginably advanced and whose intentions are unclear..."
Steve was standing on the podium at the center of the semi-circular seats of the Security Council. Accompanying his speech, a picture of the Kree Starship taken by Eddie was displayed behind him.
Every facet of Eddie's photographic skills is flawless, enabling him to become a renowned reporter. This picture he took was extremely good. The center and upper part of the screen are dominated by an incomparably huge starship craft, twinkling faintly in the vast universe, while the lower part of the screen shows the relatively minuscule Cosmic Special Agents. The two sides of the screen are filled with countless escort ships.
Although they had no idea how Eddie had managed to capture the image of Kree's remaining escort ships filling the screen exactly, based solely on this photograph, this fleet does not look at all like a defeated army that had lost a large portion of its escort ships and had been forced to flee home. Instead, they resemble a poised force ready to invade other civilizations.
Steve also looked back at the picture, silently applauding Eddie's professional level in his heart, and continued to speak with a calm tone, "This is a civilization that is unimaginable for humanity. What follows will be my introduction of the Kree and their starships…"
Nick was sitting in the audience. He noticed as Steve went on, the faces of the council members became increasingly serious, even turning somewhat pale. Even Pierce, who always had a good poker face, looked very solemn now, seemingly shocked.
As Steve said earlier, the World Security Council already knew about the existence of aliens and somewhat understood Asgard. However, their imagination regarding aliens was rather limited. After all, for many years, humans have been working in isolation, and there isn't a clear understanding of how far alien technology can develop. But now, the evidence is right in front of them.
How advanced would a civilization that could transform a planet about the size of the Earth into a planet warship be?
Before seeing real evidence, no one could imagine. But now, they have seen it. Not only have they seen it, but they also know that the fleet of this civilization's starship is currently located on the edge of the Milky Way.
It's like some game's tutorial for new players, giving you a sword and letting you kill a chicken, telling you that you have mastered the whole gameplay, and now go save the world. Excitedly, the player leaves only to come face-to-face with a high-level ancient god that has grown over a hundred and eighty arms...
Right now, human civilization hasn't even left the novice village, and the tutorial isn't finished yet. However, the final boss is already squatting at the door. Even with a high level of composure, panic is inevitable.
According to the script, Steve's speech lasted more than two hours. Even Steve felt his mouth dry and his head dizzy after delivering such a long speech. He didn't fully understand the professional terms concluded by Stark, and most of the time, he was merely parroting the script while dealing with a variety of strange questions from the audience. If it weren't for his professional training, he would have collapsed.
As he left the podium for backstage, he wiped the sweat on his forehead. He wanted to find Nick, but saw that Nick was speaking with a black-haired man in uniform. Steve recognized that man, he was Zhengxian, Director of SWORD. Every time they came to a meeting at the Security Council, Nick was always with him.
Steve guessed what they must be talking about, so he didn't plan on joining the conversation. Instead, he walked alone through the backstage. Just then, the white-haired Pierce stopped him, walked forward, and shook hands with Steve, saying, "Long time no see, Captain America, how have you been lately?"
"Good, but a little busy."
"Really? Are you busy dealing with anything related to alien invasions?"
"Not really, Director Nick's Superhero Squad plan isn't going smoothly. Although we've located quite a few people, we don't even have a decent base yet. I have to keep running around looking for a place..."
"Also, back-end supply is a problem. If it all falls on S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick will have to worry about next quarter's funding again."
Pierce was all too familiar with this tone of voice. He immediately gripped Steve's hand and said, "The Superhero Squad plan? Actually, I love this plan. When Nick first proposed the idea, I told him I would support him wholeheartedly."
"Captain, are you free later? I've arranged to play golf with a few members of Congress. They and their family members are all your fans. If they could meet you in person, they would be beyond thrilled."
"Oh, don't say that, Director Alexander. We all depend on these hidden heroes..."
"They would love to chat with you about this. Nick must be waiting for a while, let's go first."
Pierce and Steve quickly crossed the backstage. Nick and Zhengxian sat by the window at a coffee table, watching the two figures walk farther and farther. Nick picked up his cup and said, "Well, let's follow what we just discussed. As for those formalities, we'll have to wait for the official negotiation."
Zhengxian raised his cup, clinked it with Nick's, and said, "It's settled, then. If anything changes during the official negotiations, we'll connect at any time…"
With that, he got up and left. Nick pulled out his phone and called Strange, asking him: "How are the mages arranging things? How many can be deployed? Our scientists are basically gathered now, and can start work at any moment…"
"Listen to me, the plan has changed." On the stairs in front of the gate to the Karmajit Palace, Strange was walking down while holding his phone, saying, "Originally, we expected to find 20 mages to open portals. But Wong just told me that the Grand Mages of Karmajit have developed a type of large-scale portal…"
"A large-scale portal? How large?"
"So far, if we use all of the energy from the mages of Karmajit, plus the energy from Earth's magic defense system, we can open a portal that's a bit larger than the Moon."
"That big?!" Nick exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, I was also quite shocked. However, Karmajit is the magic holy land of Earth after all. Those who can become grand mages here are all knowledgeable scholars. They don't fall behind human scientists, it's just that their research is focused on magic."
Strange sighed and said, "The story has to start with the Holy Sanctuary…"
Originally, as an ancient magic holy land, the magic technology of Karmajit hadn't changed for thousands of years. This is the most practical and stable method to control magic that generations of mages had explored, and it was sufficient to protect the Earth.
However, recently, times have developed too quickly. First of all, there was the transition of the Supreme Magician position. The Ancient One is starting to visit Karmajit less and less, with most matters being presided over by Strange.
While they are optimistic about Strange's potential, his current magic level leaves much to be desired. Without the powerful protection of The Ancient One, the grand mages feel a sense of crisis.
Moreover, as the Holy Sanctuary continues to grow, the number of customers and the scope of services are increasing. The mages are almost rubbing portals into existence.
Temple Guardians and grand mages have suspension rings to help them easily open portals, while it's more laborious for other mages. Given the large volume of daily business, Karmajit quickly changed from a magic holy land to a hardcore, overtime-heavy place, with all the mages panting from exhaustion.
Demand always promotes the progress of production power. In the period since the Holy Sanctuary opened for business, magic portals have undergone several generations of upgrades and have become more energy-efficient and stable.
However, individual portals are never as useful as fixed large-scale ones. As a result, the grand mages of Karmajit are working overtime to research large-scale portals that can be permanently fixed in the cosmos.
Originally, mages needed to be extremely careful when using power because the essence of Marvel magic is borrowing. If they borrow too much and can't return it, there will be big trouble.
However, the previous event with Nal serving up a feast led The Ancient One to splurge on a sumptuous meal for all mages at Karmajit. Not only did everyone have their fill, but a lot of energy was also stored in the central nexus of Karmajit. The mages used this energy to research better magic technology, and the results were exceptional.
Apart from the sufficient energy, there was also support from the Demon God's tech. Problems with energy utilization? Just call Mephisto. Space stability not good enough? Call Modu to ask Dormammu. Instability during portal transit may cause things to get stuck? Yank on a crimson band and ask Setorak…
As Stark was climbing the technology tree, Karmajit was also busy lighting up magic skills. The speed of both is not slow, and even contains a hint of competitiveness.
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