AHumanMadeMOFO

Chapter 294: Let It Cool Down

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" After hearing Josh reveal many secrets about his universe, Starscream felt excited, but being a schemer, he couldn't just take Josh's words at face value.

"Don't rush. We can take it one step at a time. I'll give you Vibranium first, and you give me some common Cybertronian technology, like the faster-than-light engine... Then I'll tell you where the AllSpark and Megatron are. You get the AllSpark, I get Megatron. After that, we can talk about the next step... How does that sound?" Josh said slowly.

"Very reasonable. I’ll have someone prepare the technical data right away." Starscream thought about it and felt this deal made sense—trading in stages meant he wouldn’t lose too much. He immediately called a soldier to prepare some standard Decepticon tech data.

At the moment, he was in the Skull Fortress in Kaon City, which Megatron had built long ago.

Although the biggest and best city on Cybertron was once the capital of the Council of Elders, and later the capital of the Autobots, Iacon, Starscream still preferred the Skull Fortress, which represented power and fear.

Truth be told, he and Megatron shared similar views on the matter.

"By the way, you just mentioned that you recently sent two people to Earth? Who did you send and why?" As Starscream prepared the tech data ready, Josh asked casually.

"Oh, Bounce and Shatter. We recently received word that some defeated Decepticons had escaped to Earth, so we sent two scouts to check it out!" Starscream didn't think much and answered directly.

Wait a minute—Shatter and Bounce?

"Did those two scouts also happen to take out an Autobot named Cliffjumper?" Josh asked, tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Huh? You even know that?" Starscream was again shocked by Josh's words.

He was a human from another universe, yet knew so much about this one—even the name of a low-ranking Autobot who died. This mysterious feeling was even more intense than when he faced the Fallen.

Of course, this was just about mystery. The Fallen’s powerful presence was something Josh didn’t have—at least, Starscream couldn’t feel it from another universe.

Still, it felt pretty cool to show off from another universe.

But at that moment, Josh wasn't really enjoying the bragging. Instead, he focused on what Starscream had just said.

Well, well... Shatter, Bounce and Cliffjumper.

So this wasn’t the main Transformers movie universe—it was the prequel Bumblebee universe.

Cliffjumper… poor guy.

But wait, in the Bumblebee movie, when the Autobots lost and fled Cybertron, Starscream showed up—in his comic book version. So did Shockwave and Soundwave.

Then Josh figured it out. Transformers can change their appearance depending on which vehicles they scan. In the big movies, even Shockwave later looked more evil. Soundwave was a satellite in the first movie, and later became a Mercedes.

So Starscream's current look... well, it's acceptable... No, actually, it still feels wrong.

"By the way, Starscream, is this your original form?" Josh asked.

"That's right. When I need to fight, I can scan a Cybertronian jet and transform, but when there's no battle, I prefer to use my original form. In fact, most of us Transformers are like that. Why is that? Is there a problem?" Starscream nodded.

"No problem. I just think your original form looks a little less powerful. And I should remind you that vibranium is difficult to transform, so you'd better choose a good alternate form before using it," Josh said with a shake of his head, not wanting to push the issue.

"Of course I will. The stuff is ready, let's make the deal!" Starscream was no longer curious as a soldier brought over a large storage device as he had ordered.

"We were on Earth, so we know some Earth languages. I had all the data translated using one of the most widely spoken languages on Earth in the early 19th century—something called French. Here's the complete list of data. What do you think?" Starscream placed the list and the storage unit on the trading console.

In the Transformers universe, Cybertron had long since made contact with Earth, but the connection wasn't constant.

Because of the war, the Decepticons hadn't paid much attention to Earth lately, so it wasn't surprising that they were over a hundred years behind on Earth updates.

On the contrary, Josh appreciated how careful and prepared Starscream was—he hadn’t even asked him to translate it.

No wonder Starscream was so ambitious, but Megatron never got rid of him. It wasn't just that he was strong—he was good at the details, too. He really was a good second-in-command.

"Of course, no problem. Let's swap!" Josh glanced at the list and was very pleased, so he placed twenty canisters of vibranium on the console—the same kind used in Black Panther and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

"Wait, just this little bit of vibranium? Isn't that too little?" Starscream was clearly unhappy with the amount.

"Oh? How much do you want?" Josh raised an eyebrow.

Twenty canisters of vibranium wasn't much—just enough to make a couple of shields or coat Starscream's body.

"I gave you the best Cybertronian technology. Some of it is super rare in the entire universe! Based on that, I should get at least ten thousand units!" Starscream pointed at the vibranium, his electronic eyes spinning as he made a huge request.

Ten thousand units would not only coat him, but allow him to build additional armor and even raise a powerful army.

"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes spin when you're lying?" Josh couldn't help but laugh.

Sure, if you go by value alone, the Cybertronian technology might be worth what Starscream asked for.

But don’t forget—right now Josh had the upper hand in information and control of the deal.

Was the Cybertronian technology important to Josh? Yes, it was. But it wasn't irreplaceable.

Because in the Marvel Universe, there were civilizations more advanced than Cybertron—like the Kree Empire.

And in the future, Josh's trading system could easily connect to even more advanced worlds than Cybertron.

By comparison, vibranium—nearly impossible to reproduce and with an unknown true source—was even more valuable.

So, of course, Josh didn't want to waste too much vibranium on technology he might be able to get in the future by other means.

And Starscream? If he wanted vibranium, the AllSpark, the Matrix of Leadership, and other things—could he get them without Josh?

He might. But it would be incredibly difficult.

So where did he get the confidence to bargain like that? And charge such an outrageous price?

Josh felt he had to come down hard on that attitude. If he didn't, Starscream would get too cocky.

So Josh called off the deal right then and there.

As the screen faded to black, Starscream froze.

Wait, what? No trading allowed?

I mean, I just threw out a high number—you could have just made a counteroffer!

And what did the human say about his eyes spinning when he lies?

Damn... no wonder his plans were always seen through by Megatron, Soundwave, and Shockwave.

So that's the problem. Looks like he really needed to work on that.

But now wasn't the time for reflection. Getting the vibranium was the top priority. With it, Starscream was sure he could easily defeat Shockwave and Soundwave and take full control of the Decepticons.

And once he had the AllSpark, he could rule Cybertron completely—becoming the true Emperor of Stars.

And the Fallen? Hm. That would depend on whether the leadership module and the Staff of the Prime, as that human mentioned, really existed.

For the sake of his glorious future, Starscream had to swallow his pride and began spamming Josh.

Meanwhile, Josh, having severed the connection, casually stepped out of his study to check on his wife and children.

To him, Starscream was someone who quickly forgot lessons and needed to be taught the hard way. So Josh completely ignored the calls from the other side and decided to leave Starscream hanging for a few days.

If Starscream stayed stubborn, even better. He was destined to fall anyway—though that might take a few decades, since based on the info, the Transformers universe’s Earth was still in the 1980s.

But Josh didn't care. In his own universe, the age of superheroes was still more than seventy years away.

"Daddy, Carol's bullying me!" Just as Josh stepped out of the main castle, he saw Carol pinning her big brother Mike down on the lawn. Seeing Josh, Mike quickly called for help.

Too bad he called to the wrong person.

Josh just glanced over, then looked up at the sky and pretended he hadn't seen anything.

Even though it looked like Carol was picking on Mike, Josh knew better—it was probably Mike who had picked on her first.

As the kids got older, their personalities became clearer.

Both were super smart, but Mike was playful and energetic, while Carol was more calm and quiet.

But that was just the surface. Carol might seem calm and gentle most of the time, but only if you didn't make her angry. Once she was angry—well, Mike's current state said it all.

The problem was, Mike's favorite pastime was teasing his sister. And even after getting "beat up" every time, he never seemed to get tired of it.

So for Josh, this kind of scene was nothing new. He just pretended not to see it.

"Carol! Mike! Are you two fighting again?" But while Josh could pretend to ignore it, Margaret wouldn't. She had just stepped outside after putting Ben down for his nap, and the moment she saw the two little mud monkeys rolling around in the grass, she got upset.

With her was Carter—not because Josh invited her, but because Margaret had.

Although Margaret came from a wealthy background, she never liked the fake smiles and backstabbing of high society. Before meeting Josh, she had been a total homebody with very few close friends.

That's why she appreciated Carter's straightforward personality. After Josh and Margaret's wedding, the two women had gradually become best friends.

Now, when Carter wasn't on a mission, Margaret often invited her over to hang out.

Soon, Margaret was pulling the kids aside and scolding them.

But she wasn't angry about Carol holding Mike down—she was just upset that they were fighting again.

Although nothing had been decided yet, there were already some future plans for the children.

Carol was most likely going to be the top candidate to become the future Queen of the United Kingdom of Austria—even though that so-called union was still just a distant dream due to many complicated reasons.

As for Mike, he was set to be Josh’s heir to the title of Earl of Sulawesi.

Whether the children would actually follow this path in the future was up to them, of course.

Josh was a very open-minded father, especially since he and Margaret no longer had to worry about aging. Whether the children wanted to inherit or not didn't really matter.

Forcing them might even ruin everything one day.

But just because they wouldn't be forced to inherit didn't mean Margaret would go easy on them. She was still strict when it came to discipline.

Especially since Josh, as their father, didn't seem to have any sense of it at all: "They're such adorable kids. They remind me of me and my brother," Carter said, walking over to Josh while Margaret scolded the two troublemakers.

"Now that you mention it... Mike even shares your brother's name," Josh replied with a grin, then teased, "The only difference is Carol's not as wild as you were."

Carter's words reminded Josh of how she and her brother used to be. Mike—Carter’s brother—loved to mess with her when they were young, and always got “beaten up” in return.

"So you're saying I was a savage?" Carter rolled her eyes.

"I Wouldn't dare," Josh chuckled, quickly changing the subject, "By the way, how's your brother doing lately?" Josh

"I was just about to talk to you about that," Carter's expression turned serious. "MI6 wants to recruit him."

Chapter 293: Trade Conditions

Looking at Starscream on the screen, Josh frowned slightly.

It wasn't because of the guy's arrogance, but because he was trying to figure out which version and timeline this Starscream came from.

The way he looked now, Josh had never seen him before - his whole body was thin and tall, completely different from the Earth-style jet form shown in the movies and cartoons.

In fact, he looked more like the Fallen from the second Transformers movie.

Wait, the Fallen?

Thinking about the movie series, Josh suddenly remembered what the Autobots looked like when they first landed on Earth in the first movie—before they scanned any vehicle forms. That was very similar to how this Starscream looked now.

That meant the guy on the screen was most likely from the movie universe, just at a point before he reached Earth.

Which also explained why Josh didn't recognize him until he said his name.

"Starscream, huh? Acting all high and mighty—does Megatron know you're so arrogant?" Josh asked, pretending not to be impressed.

"Huh? How do you know Megatron, you little bug?" Starscream's arrogant face froze for a moment as he angrily questioned Josh. But after saying that, he quickly calmed down and returned to his usual mocking tone.

"Heh, no matter where you heard that name, it doesn't matter. Megatron has been missing for over ten thousand years, so now I rule Cybertron!"

Yeah... that sudden change of mood was definitely Starscream's style.

But missing for over ten thousand years?

Heh. That confirmed it.

"Oh, really? Then tell me—do you dare say you rule Cybertron before the Fallen or Shockwave?" Josh tapped him on the chin and asked again, testing him.

"You damn bug, do you dare challenge me? I could send someone to Earth right now and tear you apart!" Starscream exploded in anger.

But as soon as he finished, he saw the look on Josh's face, like someone watching an idiot, and realized there was a huge flaw in his threat.

If the information he'd received when the trading system linked with him was real, then this human in front of him wasn't even from the same universe. Even if Starscream blew up his own Earth, it wouldn't matter to Josh.

"Hmph! Human, if you beg me for mercy, I might forgive your insult... Otherwise, don't even think about getting anything from me!"

Even though he knew he'd messed up, Starscream would never admit fault to a tiny human. And as for the trade? He didn't believe for a second that Josh could have anything he wanted.

But what he didn't know was that Josh had already found out everything he needed just from this short exchange.

Yes—this Starscream was definitely from the Transformers movie universe.

Megatron might be missing, but Shockwave was still around—the highest-ranking military commander of Cybertron.

So even though Starscream had served as the leader of the Decepticons for the past ten thousand years, even earning a fancy title like "Emperor Starscream", the truth was—he was never really able to rule like Megatron.

Not even after leading the Decepticons to finally defeat the Autobots during that long war.

Not to mention the Fallen—that ancient force that lurked in the shadows above them all.

It was clear now: Josh's two seemingly simple questions had hit Starscream where it hurt most, which was why he became so angry and unintentionally revealed valuable information.

But even as he provoked Starscream to get what he wanted, Josh didn't forget the primary purpose of the trading system.

Looking at Starscream's arrogant attitude, he knew the guy wouldn't budge unless he saw something really tempting.

So Josh casually placed a container of vibranium in the trading window.

Starscream, who had just been looking down at Josh, needed only one glance at the description of the metal before his glowing red eyes locked on it like a hawk.

Was there really such a crazy metal in this world?

Oh right — this human wasn’t even from his universe.

If he could use that insane metal to upgrade himself…

Forget Megatron, Shockwave, or the Fallen—he’d crush them all!

He didn't even need much. Just a thin coating of Vibranium on his body would be enough... But just as Starscream was getting lost in his power-hungry fantasy, Josh removed the Vibranium from the display.

Snap.

There went Starscream’s dream—crushed in an instant.

At that moment, Starscream really wanted to curse him, maybe even insult his whole family.

But even though Starscream was arrogant and liked to act big, he wasn't stupid.

Now he clearly understood that Josh was no ordinary human being, and that this trading system wasn't nearly as simple as he'd first thought.

He held back his anger, his glowing red eyes flickering rapidly as his mind raced, trying to figure out how to trick Josh into giving him some Vibranium.

Money?

Absolutely not. Anyone who had access to a material like Vibranium and could trade across dimensions wouldn't be moved by something so basic.

Beauty?

Cybertronians had genders, but their physical forms made it impossible to appeal to human desires—unless they went to Earth and kidnapped someone; but if Josh didn't care about money, he probably didn't care about beauty either.

Power?

Hmm... Maybe. If Josh's world had lower-level technology, Starscream might be able to tempt him with some basic Cybertronian technology.

"All right, I know what you're thinking," Josh said casually, seeing the look of hesitation on Starscream's face. "Actually, getting Vibranium from me is pretty easy..."

"Heh, dear sir, let me just say—I'm actually a very friendly guy," Starscream said, his tone suddenly much more polite. "I love working with humans, doing business with them. The Decepticons and humans? We're practically family! We visited Earth a long, long time ago, you know. I just adore Earth culture. I was just... uh... rehearsing a play! Yes, rehearsing a play, that's all!"

"We even sent two ambassadors to Earth recently!"

Look at that.

Now that was what I call shameless flip-flopping.

No vibranium? You're just a simple bug.

But show a little? Suddenly you're a noble sir.

Josh figured that of all the Transformers, there probably wasn't another one as shameless as this guy.

Loved humans? Sent ambassadors to Earth? Yeah, right. Maybe he meant spies. Josh mocked him silently in his heart.

But he didn't really care about all that nonsense. What mattered now was getting the most out of this deal with Starscream.

"No need to use the same tricks you used on Megatron and the Fallen on me, Starscream. My terms are simple—Cybertron's complete tech database, the Space Bridge, and information on Omega Supreme... as well as the Fallen and Megatron," Josh said bluntly, laying out his demands.

The moment he mentioned the first item—all of Cybertron's technology—Starscream's face began to twist.

By the time Josh finished listing the rest, Starscream's jaw nearly hit the floor.

Was this human insane?

He had to be.

Or did he think Starscream was an idiot?

What kind of confidence did this guy have to believe that Starscream would trade all of Cybertron's technology for Vibranium?

Sure, Vibranium was impressive—maybe even enough to help him really rule Cybertron—but just that, in exchange for all of Cybertron's technological heritage? That was a rip-off of galactic proportions.

And the rest? The Space Bridge? Omega Supreme? The Fallen and Megatron?!

Who did Josh think he was, offering those as if they were goods at a market stall?

"Oh, and if you're interested," Josh continued calmly, as if he hadn't just said something outrageous, "I'm also willing to trade for Shockwave, Drill Bit, Soundwave, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee... even all the Transformers, alive or dead. Though, of course, none of them are worth as much as the first three."

Just when Starscream thought Josh was completely insane, Josh went even further.

"Human! I admit your Vibranium is valuable to me, but that doesn't give you the right to play games with me!" Starscream glared at Josh, his glowing red eyes seething with rage; if Josh had been standing in front of him, he would have been torn to shreds.

"Tut tut tut, calm down, our mighty and noble Emperor Starscream," Josh replied, completely unfazed by the fury on the other side of the screen.

"Heh... fine, I'll bite. Let's hear what other nonsense you've got," Starscream sneered, his anger barely contained.

"Vibranium is just a base level offer. I don't even care if you take it for free," Josh said, still calm. "What I really want to trade with you for... is something else. Something that will make you more than just the ruler of Cybertron. It will make you the ruler of the entire universe."

His tone was so calm, so cold, that for a moment Starscream felt the same pressure he had once felt when standing before the Fallen.

"What... what is it?" Even as he doubted him, Starscream couldn't help but ask.

"The AllSpark, the Matrix of Leadership, the staff of Quintessa... and-Unicron.

Josh spoke slowly, clearly, each name like a hammer blow to Starscream's CPU.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The AllSpark has been missing for tens of thousands of years. Megatron disappeared trying to find it! How could a human from another universe know where it is? As for the Creator and Unicron, they're nothing but old legends—completely made-up stories!" Starscream snapped back right after Josh finished.

Josh, however, didn't seem to be bothered at all and calmly replied, "Heh, wasn't the Fallen just a legend before he returned?"

When it comes to Transformers history, Unicron aside, the Fallen appeared much earlier than Quintessa, the supposed creator.

In the movies, the very first Transformers were the Seven Primes, including the Fallen; these first-generation Transformers didn't even have the ability to transform.

During the first prehistoric civil war on Cybertron, the Fallen defeated and killed the other six Primes.

He himself was then exiled to another dimension, leading to the sudden disappearance of Cybertron's leadership and the end of the war.

Not long after, Quintessa appeared. She was incredibly powerful, but had no real connection to Cybertron.

She was actually more like the Quintessons of the comics—a true invader from the outside. (TL/N: The rulers of the Quintesson Empire, the Quintessons were an ancient enemy of the Cybertronian race, having enslaved Cybertron and sold off its citizenry as slaves)

She defeated the early Transformers and made them her slaves. Then she began to study the AllSpark.

Using the AllSpark and the first generation of Transformers as models, she created a second generation—one that could transform and work better as a tool.

This second generation included more familiar names like Optimus Prime and Megatron.

But under Quintessa's rule, Cybertron was being drained of resources, and she didn't want that to happen. She knew that Cybertron was originally created by a supreme being—The One. (TL/N: The One, also known as the Source is the sentient core of the universe is an extradimensional entity from before time, in whom Order and Chaos exist in perfect harmony. It created Unicron (boo!), then cut him in half to make Primus (yay!).

To restore its power, she needed an equally powerful power source.

And that was none other than Unicron.

So she created a new batch of Transformers and sent them with her staff to drain Earth's energy.

These became the Twelve Knights featured in Transformers 5.

What Quintessa didn't expect was that the Twelve Knights would betray her.

They hid on Earth for thousands of years until Merlin accidentally found them.

She tried to hunt them down on Earth, but something worse happened—because of the energy crisis, both the Autobots and the Decepticons rebelled and managed to drive them off Cybertron.

With her gone, Megatron and Sentinel Prime led their factions into the Second Great Civil War.

This war not only caused the AllSpark to disappear again, but also completely destroyed Cybertron.

It was during this chaotic time that the Fallen returned from the other dimension.

So even though the Fallen appeared earlier, that doesn't mean Quintessa was older than him.

Chapter 292: A New Trading Dimension

"Huh? So you know about symbiotes?" Yuri asked, surprised to see Josh's expression.

"Yes, I know about symbiotes, but the ones I know seem a little different from these," Josh said, frowning at the three symbiotes in front of Yuri.

"Besides, is it really okay to just leave them out like that?" Even though Josh knew Yuri was good at mind control, he still warned him out of instinct about how dangerous symbiotes could be.

"Ah, I see now. The ones you know of must be the primitive type symbiotes. If they are, then yes, they are dangerous. But these are from the Justice Faction, so you don't need to worry," Yuri explained quickly.

But...

Primitive type? Justice Faction? What kind of nonsense is that? Josh couldn't help but wonder.

Wait a second... Factions? Symbiotes of Justice? Venom?

Josh suddenly remembered the movie Venom 2, which had just come out before he crossed over, and the parasitic seed inside the cop.

"Can you tell me more about the Primitive and Justice factions?" he asked after thinking about it.

"Of course," Yuri nodded. "Actually, symbiotes are quite intelligent, but they have no culture of their own. When they are born, they don't understand good or evil, and they just act on their instincts and desires. If no one teaches or guides them, they stay that way. From an ordinary human point of view, that behavior looks evil. And when they connect with an evil or spiritually weak host, they easily fall into evil ways. That's what we call the primitive faction.

But if a symbiote meets a kind and good host soon after it's born, then it will be influenced by that host and tend to do good things. Coincidentally, the original hosts of these three symbiotes were from the Pangorian race—the civilization that built that spaceship—and they’re a very kind and just race..."

"So that’s how they became justice-type symbiotes? That sounds like raising kids!" Josh raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that," Yuri nodded. It really was like raising human children—they’re shaped by the people around them. "I found these three through telepathy, and after reading their memories, I learned all this."

Toughness, patience, courage, and one more—light.

No wonder their names sounded like something out of a knight's code.

"What a shame..." Josh said as he looked at the three symbiotes and shook his head.

"Shame? Why?" Yuri asked, confused.

"...Shame they're not a good match for me... I mean, I don't think 'justice' suits me very well," Josh admitted honestly.

Yuri was speechless. From a general point of view, neither of their actions were pure evil, but they definitely weren't the good guys either.

If Josh or Yuri bonded with them, the symbiotes might one day see what they were doing and decide to leave.

So compared to that, the primitive or even slightly evil symbiotes might actually suit them better.

Especially since Yuri had read the memories of the three symbiotes—their former hosts, the Pangorians, were basically a saint-like civilization before they were destroyed.

That made things a little awkward.

Of course, this wasn't really a problem for Yuri. With his mind control abilities, dealing with these symbiotes was easy.

But for Josh it wasn't so easy.

"Actually, I think they can still be used," Yuri said, stroking his chin. "Even if you can't use them directly, you could have some idealistic people who are easy to manipulate use them to work for you. Also, I can try to create new symbiotes based on these three."

"Good idea!" Josh quickly understood.

Basically, it was about manipulating people with a strong sense of justice to do his work—just like what he did with Carter.

Even though it was a solid plan, Josh was a little disappointed that he couldn't use the symbiotes himself.

Aside from a few obvious weaknesses, they were nearly perfect living weapons.

In the end, Josh only took one—Patience. The other two, Toughness and Courage, were left with Yuri for further study, to see if they could create new primitive symbiotes or modify the ones they had.

Why did he choose Patience? Because it was blue—which matched Josh’s taste. Low-key and not flashy. White and red were too eye-catching. Simple as that.

"Oh right, besides the symbiotes, I also found something else in their memories," Yuri said after finishing the symbiote talk. He then told Josh what he had learned from their memories about the Celestials, the Eternals, the reason for the extinction of the Pangorians, and the shard of Knull on the ship.

So that's how it is!

After hearing Yuri's explanation, Josh suddenly understood why a single alien spacecraft had attracted big names like Odin and the Ancient One.

Turns out it involved the Celestials and Knull, the god of the symbiotes.

Damn, now that’s some serious trouble.

Josh scratched his head, feeling the weight of it all.

"From what I saw in the symbiotes' memories, we don't really have a way to destroy the Knull shard. Even the Pangorian technology couldn't get rid of it completely. But the anti-barrier device I just built works a lot like the prison system on their spaceship—it can hold it. Unless you have a better idea, let's just keep it locked up for now. Or we could store it in system inventory. It may sound dangerous, but considering we can trade it, that means our system and inventory are way more advanced than it is," Yuri said.

"Yes, that's all we can do for now. We'll deal with it properly when we find a better solution," Josh nodded.

"Oh, by the way, do you want the Pangorian ship?" Yuri asked just as Josh thought the discussion was over and was about to hang up.

"Hmm? Don't you want to study it?" Josh asked, surprised at Yuri's offer. With such advanced technology, he thought Yuri would definitely want to dig deeper.

"I do want to study it," Yuri admitted, "but to be honest, that Kree ship you mentioned earlier was still manageable—its tech has some similarities to human technology. But the Domo and this Pangorian ship… their level of technology is way beyond what I can understand. And it's completely different from our human system.

If either of them had a complete foundational tech system on board, I could try to crack it. But the problem is, one’s just a transport ship, and the other’s a prison ship—both are practical ships, and they don’t have the kind of base-level tech data I’d need to learn from. There's just no way to even begin to study them."

Yuri sighed a little. "Besides, my energy is limited. Between the Eternals you sent me and the Kree tech, I’m already swamped. I don’t have the time to explore an entirely new system."

Was Yuri a brilliant all-around scientist?

Absolutely.

But no matter how skilled he was, he was still human—not a god.

With a gap that big and technology that didn't follow the same system, there wasn't much he could do.

Even Josh, who usually didn't care about technology, could understand that.

"But I have no use for this thing," Josh said. If even Yuri couldn't do anything with it, what could he do?

"I just said it can’t be researched right now. I never said it couldn't be used. I already gave you the key to operate it, remember?" Yuri replied.

Josh suddenly got it.

That’s right—they didn’t know how to fly the ship, but those symbiotes definitely did.

Still, to hand over such a high-tech ship to someone else to control? Josh looked at the container containing Patience and frowned slightly. (TL/N: Bro is sooooo paranoid)

But since Yuri said so, he figured he'd at least take the ship and store it for now.

After ending the call with Yuri, Josh still hesitated, wondering if he should give the symbiote to Carter.

After all, Carter was already strong enough—giving her a symbiote might make her harder to control.

He shook his head and stored the symbiote in the system inventory, deciding to wait and see. He didn't really need it right now anyway.

With the Yuri conversation done, Josh turned his attention back to Cailin to talk about the Jade Record.

"Perfect timing—I just brought Imhotep back to life. As an ancient Egyptian, I don't think anyone is better suited to study it than him," Cailin replied quickly when Josh explained.

"Be careful. This guy's not exactly the obedient type," Josh warned.

"Haha, don't worry. A man who would give up everything for a woman might be a bit ambitious, but he's easy to control. Besides, both the Book of Amun-Ra and the Book of the Dead are in my hands now. He won't cause any trouble. And if he does... well, we have our emperor to deal with it," Cailin said casually.

"Good. By the way, about the Book of Amun-Ra and the Book of the Dead..."

Seeing how confident Cailin was, Josh didn't push any further. Things were different now. With the Dragon Emperor behind her and the countless legendary items and resources of the Mummy Universe at her disposal, she wasn't someone he could easily control anymore.

Still, he couldn't help but be interested in those two famous magic books.

"Already prepared. These two are replica editions—I’ve had them tested. While they don't have the amplification power of the originals, most of the spells in them can still be cast with regular magic," Cailin said as she handed the two books to Josh.

They were, of course, copies—not the real deal.

Considering how powerful the original books were, it would have been surprising if she'd handed over the real ones so easily.

Josh wasn't thrilled, but he wasn't complaining. After all, the Jade Record he'd traded her was only a copy. (TL/N: Man, I forgot what name I used before for this(Jade Record), and now I can't find the chapter where this interaction happened. If anyone remembers, please comment so I can fix it.)

There was no denying that while Josh had profited greatly from his early investments, his relationship with Cailin wasn't as deep as the bonds he had with early powerhouses like Daenerys and Yuri.

And as the number of people he dealt with grew, this kind of detached partnership would only become more common.

He glanced at the system—less than two months remained before the next dimensional beacon would appear.

But strangely, what weighed more heavily on his mind... was that Margaret was about to give birth.

The problem was that he didn't quite dare return home.

What if some loose ends hadn't been tied up?

What if the Ancient One or Odin had tracked him down in Europe?

Still, worried or not, he couldn't just stay away.

After another week in Chennai, Josh finally gave in to his longing for home and returned to Europe, hoping that luck would be on his side.

Sure enough, just three days after his return to Neuschwanstein Castle, Margaret gave birth.

This time, not twins—just one very healthy baby boy.

Ben Kahn. That was the name of their new son.

Surprisingly, the entire process—and the days that followed—went smoothly. No unexpected visitors, no magical alarms.

This slowly calmed Josh's paranoia, and he settled into a peaceful domestic life with Margaret and the baby.

Two months passed like that, and soon it was time for the next dimensional beacon to refresh itself.

As usual, Josh locked himself in his study to prepare.

The moment arrived—and this time, the system was faster than ever.

Within seconds, the search completed.

Then…

A jagged, mechanical face appeared on the screen, glaring at him.

Josh frowned deeply.

"What is this thing? A dimensional trading system? And the other party is... a human worm?" the mechanical face said in a raspy, venomous voice full of contempt.

"You're... a Cybertronian?" Josh asked, staring at the familiar angular face.

“Oh? The little insect actually knows of Cybertron? Hahahaha! That's right! Standing before you is the mightiest ruler of the universe—Starscream, king of the Cybertronians! Bow before me, little bug. If I'm pleased, perhaps I'll throw you a gift."

Josh stared, a little speechless.

Starscream?!

What, did he actually succeed in taking over from Megatron, or was he just talking out of his metal ass again?

Josh wasn’t buying it—not one bit.

Starscream’s bragging came with a giant grain of salt.

Announcement

Rant incoming—please bear with me!

I’m sure all of you have noticed that this month, I was very inconsistent with my upload schedule, and on some days, I didn’t even upload. This was due to several reasons that led me to this decision.

The first reason is that I am a computer science student, and next month, my semester is coming to an end. This means there have been many submissions, and there will be more in the coming days. Because of this, I have been very busy and will continue to be for a little while.

Before this month, I had been consistently uploading chapters daily for three months straight without any breaks. On a daily basis, I translated at least two chapters, but on some weekends (due to college), I translated 10–20 chapters. This has burned me out quite a bit—I’m literally stretched in all directions trying to balance my life, college, religion, and work duties.

The third reason is that I am a Muslim, and this is the month of Ramadan. Because of this, I have been very busy, and with Eid (Happy Eid in Advance) coming up in a few days, I will be even busier.

So, because of all these factors, I will be taking a teeny-tiny, 10-day break to recover and complete all my pending work before resuming daily translations again. Please don’t forget me and continue to wait, so that once again, we can enjoy the translations together!

TLDR:

I've been inconsistent with uploads due to my semester ending (tons of submissions), burnout from daily translations, and Ramadan + Eid preparations. I'll be taking a short 10-day break to recover and catch up on work. See you soon—don’t forget me!)

Chapter 291: Three Symbiotes

Aside from the fact that the Ancient One was still on King George Island trying to convince some Eternals to clean up Josh's mess.

After Josh emptied the place, he stored everything, along with Ophelia and the others, in his system inventory—officially revealing his "space" ability to his subordinates.

He then used a teleportation rune to return to the Falklands. Compared to the timespace belt, this mage-made item was much more reliable. While it still caused mild dizziness, the side effects were a lot milder-although, unfortunately, it was a one-time use item.

Back on the Falklands, he wasted no time. After releasing his people, he immediately ordered the VTOL to take off and leave.

At that moment, he felt like someone who had just committed a crime—thrilled by the excitement but also deeply anxious.

Even though he had used his stealth cloak throughout the operation, completely covering his tracks—which was a major reason why even the Ancient One and Odin hadn't noticed his actions—he wasn't entirely sure he could truly fool those two powerhouses. Naturally, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the scene of the crime as possible.

But instead of heading straight back to Europe, he went to India first, hiding out in Chennai, which was occupied by the U.S. military.

Over the past month, following Josh's earlier chaos in New Delhi, Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union had taken control of different parts of India, claiming to be victims and acting through the United Nations.

The British controlled several states along the west coast, while the U.S. occupied the east coast. The Soviets, on the other hand, had taken over the northern states.

It was clear that the Soviets had been tricked once again by the Anglo-American alliance. They weren't even given a single point of access to the coast. With Afghanistan and Pakistan between them and India, their previous ability to reach the region had only been possible because of temporary diplomatic arrangements made by the U.S. and Britain.

The moment those two decided otherwise, Afghanistan and Pakistan would immediately cut off Soviet access to India. At this time, both countries were still firmly aligned with the Western powers. Afghanistan, in particular, was ruled by King Zahir Shah and his predecessor Nadir Shah—both staunch allies of Britain and the U.S., making the situation vastly different from what it would become later in history.

For the Soviets, their control over northern India was essentially an isolated enclave.

Still, they weren't sitting idly by. They were actively involved in Bangladesh, which had emerged during the turmoil in India. If they succeeded in bringing Bangladesh into the Communist bloc, it would be Britain and the U.S. who'd have a headache.

This made the Bengal region particularly volatile in recent times.

But none of this bothered Josh.

Once in Chennai, he locked himself in a mansion his organization had secured in advance. After setting magical traps around his room, he began to consider what to do with the stolen goods.

The easier items to handle were those taken from the Domo—including the Broken Steel Sword and the countless treasures Makari had collected over thousands of years.

A preliminary magical scan revealed that only a handful of these items, including the Broken Steel Sword, had traces of supernatural energy. The rest were merely ordinary artifacts, relics from various human civilizations.

Although they were valuable, they weren't particularly remarkable. He could simply let experts examine them later.

The real challenges, however, were in the Tama itself, the five Inhumans and their ship, and the unidentified ship he had dug up from the glacier.

No doubt, studying or even using those three ships was far beyond his own abilities.

Among all his potential trading partners, only Yuri had the skills to handle this.

The Tama and the Inhumans’ ship weren’t too much of a concern. One was based on Eternal—or rather, Celestial—technology, while the other was of Kree origin. At least there were some clues to follow, and theoretically there wouldn't be too much risk.

But the last ship, the one dug out of the Antarctic glacier, made Josh uneasy.

First, there was that initial energy storm.

Then, there was the question of why Odin, the Ancient One, and the Eternals had all shown up—and were even fighting.

Since Josh had been watching from a distance, he couldn't determine their allegiances.

But one thing was certain: their fight was most likely because of this ship.

Therefore, even though he had managed to take possession of it, he hesitated to bring it out. Who knew what kind of trouble might be lurking inside?

After some thought, Josh decided to contact Yuri.

"You don't have to worry too much. Thanks to the vibranium you provided, I have finally perfected the Reverse Iron Curtain device. This is going to be a great test run. Even if something comes out of that ship, I'll have more than enough time to react," Yuri said casually after hearing Josh's concerns.

The so-called Reverse Iron Curtain wasn't an anti-Iron Curtain device. Instead, it was an inward-facing containment system.

The original Iron Curtain was designed for external defense.

But this Reverse Iron Curtain was built for internal security.

In other words, it was a high-tech prison.

Yuri had come up with this idea for a simple reason—over the years, Josh had sent him far too many strange and dangerous items. The number of dangerous experiments Yuri had conducted with these materials had only increased.

Ordinary containment labs built with conventional materials and technology were no longer adequate.

More than once, test subjects had nearly escaped.

Recently, Yuri had even used genetic engineering to create a daughter, only to discover that her psychic abilities far surpassed his own.

Though he was thrilled, he couldn't ignore the lingering sense of caution in his mind.

It was then that he decided to create a powerful containment system based on Iron Curtain technology.

Until now, he hadn't been able to complete the project due to material limitations.

But after Josh smuggled large quantities of hidden vibranium from the remnants of Wakanda and traded an initial batch to Yuri, the Iron Curtain prison was finally complete.

"You’ve got something like that? Can you make one for me?" Josh's eyes lit up.

Given the nature of the Marvel world, Josh knew he would eventually have to deal with all sorts of supernatural entities—many of which would be difficult or inconvenient to kill, but too dangerous to leave unchecked.

A secure prison like this would be invaluable.

Even if he didn't use it for that purpose, building a high-security laboratory—just like Yuri's—would be just as practical. It would certainly be more reliable than simply relying on vibranium walls.

"Of course! All the specs are in here. As for the necessary industrial equipment, you should have everything on your side. Overall, it's not too difficult to build—just resource intensive, but that shouldn't be a problem for you!" Yuri didn't hesitate and immediately handed Josh a data disk.

Although this internal defense system was extremely valuable and had taken considerable effort to develop, Yuri was far more eager to get his hands on the three alien ships Josh had mentioned.

He was even willing to postpone his plan to activate the time machine and return to his original era.

After all, despite his vast collection of advanced technology and military might, Yuri's reach was still limited to Earth. At most, he had managed to establish a few experimental bio-domes on the Moon. True interstellar travel was still beyond his reach.

But with these three ships, everything would change.

Even if he could only completely reverse-engineer the Inhuman ship designed by Kree, it would greatly advance his space warfare program.

Not to mention the genetic potential of the Inhumans themselves.

The deal was quickly struck.

Afterwards, Josh began sorting through Makkari's collection.

Naturally, the entire process took place within his system inventory.

He still vividly remembered how quickly Makkari had snatched back the Broken Steel Sword the last time he had retrieved it. Until he had completely eliminated that problem—and dealt with the remaining Eternals—he wasn’t about to take anything out of storage again.

Thinking about it, he felt a bit regretful.

If Odin and the Ancient One hadn't shown up on King George Island, he wouldn't have left so abruptly. He would have at least dropped a few Ivan bombs to see if he could wipe out those pesky Eternals.

What Josh didn't know was that while he was sorting through his collection, the Ancient One had actually paid him a visit.

After dealing with the Eternals—sending them back to the U.S. through a portal—and seeing off Odin, she decided to check in on Josh.

She even considered quietly teaching him a lesson.

However, she almost triggered the magical traps Josh had placed around his estate.

But the Sorcerer Supreme was still the Sorcerer Supreme. Though the magical systems of their worlds were vastly different, she noticed the traps just before she stepped into them.

As she marveled at the intricacy and ingenuity of these enchantments, she was once again reminded of how many secrets Josh kept.

Even with the Time Stone, she could only see the tip of the iceberg.

Ultimately, she resisted the urge to punish him—or dismantle a few of the traps for research—and slipped away as quietly as she had arrived.

Meanwhile, Josh remained oblivious, concentrating entirely on studying Makkari's collection.

It had to be said—Makkari had gathered some truly impressive treasures.

Aside from a few weapons that emitted unusual energy signatures, what caught Josh's attention the most was an emerald tablet.

It was also Makkari's most prized possession.

This artifact was none other than the legendary Emerald Tablet of Ancient Egypt.

In Earth's ancient mythology, alchemy was believed to have originated in Egypt.

The Egyptian Pharaoh Hermes, his mythical father, the god Thoth, and his eldest son, the high priest Tat, were later merged into a single figure in legend—Hermes Trismegistus, the "Threefold Hermes".

Together they condensed the knowledge of alchemy into thirteen statements inscribed on an emerald tablet.

This was the Emerald Tablet.

In other words, the Emerald Tablet represented both the origin and pinnacle of alchemy.

The powerful, mysterious energy emanating from the tablet suggested that the legend surrounding it might not be just a myth.

After all, this was the Marvel Universe—a place filled with gods and divine beings.

In his previous life, Josh had dismissed beings like the Asgardians as nothing more than powerful aliens.

But he couldn't deny that many of them possessed abilities traditionally associated with gods.

The problem was, he couldn't read the ancient Egyptian writing on the tablet. And he certainly wasn't going to take it out and give it to someone to translate. Who knew if Makkari had tampered with it?

But just because he couldn't get it out didn't mean others couldn't help him.

Alchemy felt too mystical to be connected with technology, so instead of contacting Yuri, Josh reached out to someone from The Mummy universe—Cailin, who shared a cultural background with his own world.

But before he even had the chance to call her, Yuri contacted him again—just hours after their last conversation.

"Did something go wrong with the ship?" Josh asked immediately, feeling a little tense.

"Hahaha, relax. There is a small problem, but nothing serious. Allow me to introduce three guests from your world—Resilience, Patience and Courage!" Yuri chuckled and gestured to the table in front of him.

Only then did Josh notice what lay on the table—three blobs, each a different color: red, blue, and white.

They trembled slightly, like... jelly? Slime?

"What are they?" Josh was momentarily stunned, not realizing that these creatures were actually symbiotes, similar to Venom.

And that was because, unlike the menacing and sinister appearance of Venom, Carnage, or other symbiotes he had seen in the movies of his past life, these three exuded a bright and even endearing aura.

This was the key difference between Primal symbiotes—those that leaned toward evil—and Purified symbiotes, which had been influenced by kindness.

"They call themselves symbiotes," Yuri explained. "Apparently, they give their hosts extraordinary abilities. But there were supposed to be four of them—one golden, named Light, which woke up early due to the ship’s automated defense system.”

"What?! Those are symbiotes?" Josh was stunned.

How could he not know about symbiotes?

But he had never seen symbiotes that looked so... good?

Weren’t symbiotes supposed to be like Venom—oozing with sinister energy?

Still, everything Yuri had described fit the characteristics of symbiotes perfectly.

And considering that Josh had never mentioned symbiotes to him before, Yuri had no reason to make something like this up.

Which meant... they were indeed symbiotes.

Chapter 290: Stealing Everything

When Ancient One said that this was just a powerful symbiote, but its previous host came from a civilization that had been seeded by a Celestial and was destroyed because of the Celestial's birth, Odin immediately understood why Ikaris, under this symbiote’s influence, harbored such deep hatred for gods.

The symbiote itself had a simple mind, but as a symbiote, it could share its host’s memories and be influenced by the host’s emotions.

And its previous host had an unshakable grudge against the Celestials and the Eternals, as they were responsible for the destruction of their entire civilization. It would be strange if they didn’t hate them.

"Also, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I saw you all in its memory fragments!" Ancient One looked at Gilgamesh, implying that the civilization of the symbiote's previous host was actually the target of their last mission.

"What? You saw us?" Gilgamesh was confused. They had never encountered this thing before.

"...I forgot to explain. Originally, this wasn’t something we were supposed to say, but it doesn’t matter now..." Ancient One glanced at the bodies of Ajak and Sersi, which had been gathered by Makkari and Phastos, and then revealed the true mission of the Eternals—how their memories were erased after every mission.

"No, that’s impossible!" Gilgamesh remained calm, but Makkari and Phastos were visibly shaken. "And you’re only a little over five hundred years old. How could you possibly know all this?"

"I’m just telling you the truth. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." Ancient One didn't care about their doubts.

So what if she was only five hundred years old? She had seen countless dimensional beings, frequently traveled through the multiverse, and knew far more than they did.

And what good was their long lifespan? They were brainwashed every single time.

"I know this is hard to accept, but I can prove she’s telling the truth," Odin said, patting Gilgamesh on the shoulder.

Gilgamesh nodded. In fact, after hearing Ancient One’s explanation, he was already seventy to eighty percent convinced.

Over the past few hundred years, he had spent a lot of time with Thena, who suffered from "Mahd Wy’ry." He had seen many things she wrote and drew—things that once seemed incomprehensible. But now, everything suddenly made sense with Ancient One’s explanation.

Mahd Wy’ry wasn’t a disease—it was the resurfacing of erased memories.

Even so, Makkari and Phastos still couldn’t accept it right away.

"They’re right. I remember now—Pangoria, the civilization that was destroyed because of us..."

At that moment, Ikaris, who had been restrained by Ancient One and grieving alone, opened his eyes and spoke.

As the strongest Eternal, Ikaris' memories were more complete than Thena’s. He even remembered the name of that civilization.

Just then, a small golden orb suddenly emerged from Ajak’s chest and floated in the air for a moment before flying toward Gilgamesh, startling him.

Before it could reach him, Ancient One caught it with magic.

"What is this now?" Gilgamesh asked, frustrated.

"If I’m not mistaken, this represents your leader among the Eternals and serves as a tool to communicate with Arishem," Ancient One explained before looking at Gilgamesh. "If you receive it, how will you report the situation to Arishem?"

"...I don’t know." Gilgamesh hesitated, his expression darkening.

"Of course, we have to ask Arishem for the truth!" Phastos said, clearly displeased.

"It doesn’t really matter. You can just report the situation honestly," Ancient One smiled. "And you can also tell Arishem that Ikaris is in a special condition, so I will take him to Kamar-Taj for imprisonment."

Hearing Ancient One’s request, the Eternals had no objections. They had never liked Ikaris, and without Ancient One and Odin’s help, they wouldn’t have been able to deal with him anyway.

After considering the situation, letting Ancient One take Ikaris away was the best option.

As for the symbiote, no one mentioned it—it was Ancient One’s spoils of war.

"There's one more issue we must handle!" Seeing that everyone agreed, Ancient One nodded in satisfaction before her expression turned serious.

"What issue?" Odin asked.

"Although this symbiote is not a fragment of Knull, that doesn’t mean Knull’s fragments don’t exist. There's one locked inside the spaceship beneath the ice, and this symbiote was actually its guardian," Ancient One revealed another shocking truth as she played with the symbiote in her hand.

This explained why Mander, the Inhuman skilled in telepathic communication, had sensed that the spaceship beneath the ice was a prison when he tried to connect with it.

The one who had sent him that message was none other than the symbiote in Ancient One’s hands.

A symbiote created by Knull, serving as the guardian of a Knull fragment—it sounded absurd, but it wasn’t.

As mentioned before, symbiotes were originally a simple-minded species. They would naturally take on the tendencies of whatever host they bonded with.

In the beginning, when Knull created them, they were influenced by his evil nature and acted accordingly.

But after Knull was defeated a second time, his connection with the symbiotes was completely severed, leaving only his largest remaining body fragment.

Without Knull’s control, the symbiotes began searching for new hosts. Some bonded with good individuals, some with evil ones, and some with those who were indifferent, creating differences among them.

Regardless of their host’s nature, most symbiotes had no interest in Knull’s destructive ways.

Over time, they collectively turned against Knull. Countless symbiotes surrounded his largest body fragment and built a prison around it, trapping him inside.

As the prison grew larger, it eventually became an entire planet—Klyntar, the symbiote homeworld and Venom’s place of origin.

Even then, many symbiotes aligned with the forces of good continued to roam the universe, using their connection to Knull to track down his scattered body fragments.

The one inside the spaceship was one of those fragments.

However, the spaceship itself didn’t belong to the symbiotes but to the previous host of this symbiote—the Pangorian civilization.

Pangoria was an incredibly advanced society, on par with the Kree and Shi’ar in technological development.

Yet, despite their advancements, they were a peaceful people who valued nature and had no interest in expansion. Because of this, they remained mostly unknown in the universe.

But just like Krypton in DC and Asgard, which Surtur would one day destroy, no matter how advanced a civilization was, it was powerless against a planetary-level catastrophe caused by a Celestial's birth.

And so, Pangoria was effortlessly erased from history, leaving almost no trace. Only a few survivors managed to escape.

This prison spaceship was one of their remnants.

The Knull fragment inside had been captured long ago by Pangorian heroes and their symbiote partners.

However, after tens of thousands of years, those heroes had long since perished, leaving only a few symbiotes and the imprisoned Knull fragment. The ship remained locked under the ice in Antarctica for thousands of years—until Josh’s robots reactivated it.

In other words, the symbiote in Ancient One’s hands, along with the ones still in hibernation aboard the spaceship, all belonged to the faction aligned with good—though due to the destruction of Pangoria, this “goodness” did not extend to gods.

"So, what do you think is the best way to handle this?" Odin asked, looking at Ancient One.

On the surface, he was inquiring about the disposal of the Knull fragment, but in reality, he was thinking about claiming a share of the spoils.

After all, he had contributed to subduing the symbiote just now.

"You can take half of the symbiotes from the ship. As for the ship itself and Knull’s fragment, I will seal them away. How about that?" Ancient One immediately replied, fully aware of Odin’s intentions.

As for the Eternals? They were just machines—staying alive was already a blessing.

And the Inhumans? What Inhumans?

…Wait. Inhumans?

Ancient One suddenly froze.

Where were the five Inhumans? What about their ship? And—where was the Domo?

"Where is your Domo?" Ancient One turned to Phastos and asked.

"The Domo should be right…" Phastos and the remaining Eternals were momentarily stunned by the question. Without thinking, Phastos pointed toward the wreckage of the Domo.

But as their gazes shifted, all they saw was a massive crater where the Domo had crashed.

The ship itself? Gone.

Not just that—the Inhumans, their spaceship, and all the excavation machinery had also disappeared without a trace.

(Because of the battle, they had moved several kilometers away from the original excavation site.)

"This is bad!" Ancient One suddenly realized what had happened. Without hesitation, she opened a portal and stepped through.

Odin and the Eternals exchanged glances before following her.

On the other side of the portal was the bottom of the excavation site’s ice pit.

But now, apart from endless white ice, there was nothing else to be seen.

"What happened here?" Odin and the Eternals, seeing the empty space beneath the ice, were utterly confused.

"…It seems we underestimated the Pangorian civilization. Perhaps they had spatial teleportation technology we were unaware of," Ancient One muttered, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache.

In truth, she already knew exactly what had happened.

But there was no way she could say it out loud.

She hadn’t expected that little bastard to be so bold.

Stealing right under her and Odin’s noses—unbelievable.

That’s right—all that talk about Pangoria’s advanced teleportation tech?

Complete nonsense.

The real story was much simpler.

While they had been busy ganging up on Ikaris, Josh had entered the site, and in a ridiculously short amount of time, had looted nearly everything—including the Inhumans, their spaceship, and even the Domo itself.

And at this very moment, he was already on an island, popping champagne with Ophelia and Vito, celebrating his successful heist.

…Just as Ancient One and Odin had discussed earlier, the moment Josh arrived and saw Odin facing off against Ikaris, he had only one thought: Nope.

No matter what the fight was about, a battle between Asgard’s strongest and the most powerful Eternal was not something Josh wanted any part of.

And so, he had immediately prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to leave, Josh noticed Ophelia and her team’s actions.

And that gave him an idea—one that led him to take a risk.

Sure, he couldn't interfere in a battle between Odin and Ikaris.

But did that mean he couldn't take advantage of the situation?

Recently, Abbendis from the Warcraft universe had sent him a bunch of magical tools, including various magical traps.

These tools were actually leftover stock from the Abbendis family's mage offerings and some merchant guilds on their territory.

Most of them were just functional items with no offensive capabilities. Their effects were simple, but due to the materials used, they were absurdly expensive—mostly unwanted by anyone except mages and alchemists who liked to tinker with odd experiments.

But to Josh, these so-called useless magic trinkets were absolute treasures.

For example:

A stealth cloak that could only be used once but provided near-perfect invisibility.

A minor stasis trap that could paralyze someone for a few seconds.

Single-use teleportation runes.

A transformation wand that could temporarily turn people into random small animals.

And those were just the normal ones.

There were also some… less conventional ones:

A slime bomb that made the target stink for days.

A potion that turned people green when consumed.

A powder that made grass sprout from a person’s head.

And so on—an endless collection of bizarre, absurd items.

As for the high price?

Josh had more money than he could ever spend—what did he care?

Gold and silver, the hard currencies of Azeroth, were abundant.

Little Abbendis, though still young, used his status as a count’s son to obtain these magic tools.

Since they had no lethal capabilities, the mages and merchants simply assumed the kid was up to some mischief and sold them to him at a reasonable price.

And the little guy?

He immediately traded them with Josh in exchange for snacks, drinks, and gaming consoles.

Thanks to these special magical tools, Josh decided to take a gamble.

Ophelia and Vito had originally planned to steal just a few things from the Domo.

But Josh?

He wanted everything—the Domo, the spaceship beneath the ice, everything that could be taken.

After all, both ships weren’t that large.

His system’s inventory could fit them with no problem.

And so…

That was how Ancient One ended up in her current awkward situation.

The Eternals were still somewhat convinced by her words.

After all, the facts were right in front of them—the ships were indeed gone.

Their only confusion?

The Pangorian ship vanishing made some sense…

But how the hell had their Domo disappeared?

As for Odin, who had been around for centuries and seen it all?

He didn’t believe a single word Ancient One said.

But, having known her for hundreds of years, he was tactful enough not to call her out.

After all, neither the ships nor the symbiotes were of much value to him.

Instead, he saw an opportunity—Ancient One now owed him a favor.

Ancient One understood this as well.

For now, she could only brush the matter aside.

But in the future?

She was definitely getting back at that little bastard.

__

TL/N: Until now, I used to translate two chapters of 1,000 words each daily, but from now on, each chapter will be 2,000–2,500 words, so only one chapter will be posted per day.

Chapter 289: The God of Symbiotes? (2)

Gilgamesh, struggling to hold on, was momentarily stunned by the attack. But when he looked toward its source and saw Odin, he let out a hearty laugh.

Odin smiled slightly in response. Though he had no love for the Eternals or the Celestials behind them, he appreciated Gilgamesh's straightforward and warrior-like nature.

They had arm-wrestled, wrestled, and even had drinking contests multiple times in the past.

Unfortunately... he was old now.

For a brief moment, he found himself lost in memory.

But his fighting instincts never faded. Even in that fleeting pause, he had already summoned Sleipnir, his eight-legged steed, and charged toward Ikaris, Gungnir in hand.

A thousand years ago—no, even just a few hundred—Odin wouldn’t have needed Sleipnir. He could have fought Ikaris directly.

But now age had caught up with him. Without Sleipnir's help, he wouldn't be able to unleash his peak strength.

And this time, he wasn’t just facing Ikaris—he was facing a strengthened version of him.

"God? You deserve to die too!”

Ikaris, who had just been repulsed, froze for a moment when he saw Odin. But his expression quickly changed to a snarl. With a cold cry, he brandished his arm-blade and lunged at Odin in a furious charge.

Spear and blade collided violently, unleashing a shockwave that instantly carved a massive crater into the surrounding ice, shaving off more than ten meters in each direction.

Sleipnir howled in pain and staggered back several paces. Odin, however, gripped the golden reins tightly and channeled divine power into his steed to calm it.

Ikaris, lacking a solid footing in the air, was sent flying even further. Unlike Odin, who was unharmed except for his horse's exhaustion, Ikaris' arm-blade had been deeply pierced by Gungnir's edge.

But in an instant, his golden flesh rippled like liquid, seamlessly repairing the wound.

—Troublesome as always.

But if they had killed him once before, they could do it again.

Odin let out a low grunt at the thought, then urged Sleipnir forward, charging at Ikaris once more.

Scoffing, Ikaris met him head on.

But this time...

"Ancient One! Now!" Odin suddenly bellowed.

His cry caught Ikaris off guard for a moment. And in that split second, deep crimson tendrils erupted from the void around him, ensnaring his limbs in an unbreakable grip—just like Phastos’s earlier device.

These were the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, a binding spell derived from the extradimensional god Cyttorak and cast by the Ancient One.

In Avengers: Infinity War, even Doctor Strange—who had only been Sorcerer Supreme for a few years and was still relatively inexperienced—had used this spell to restrain Thanos’s left hand, preventing him from wielding the Infinity Stones. That moment had given the Avengers a chance to subdue Thanos—if not for Star-Lord’s impulsive mistake, the entire battle could have ended differently.

And Strange was but a novice compared to the Ancient One.

Of course, Ikaris was no Thanos.

As the strongest of the Eternals, Ikaris, in his normal state, could overpower a Thanos without the stones.

Though both were Eternals, Ikaris and his kind were fundamentally different from Thanos and his brother Starfox.

Ikaris and his fellow Eternals were among the first generation created directly by the Celestials.

Thanos, on the other hand, was a descendant of an offshoot of Eternals—those who had awakened their own will and betrayed the Celestials long ago.

Strictly speaking, Ikaris and his kind were the ancestors of Thanos.

Among the Earth’s Eternals, only Ajak—who was now dead—had known this truth.

But no matter how powerful Ikaris was, escaping the Ancient One's spell was no easy task.

The moment he was bound, Odin’s spear thrust forward, piercing straight through Ikaris’s heart.

Yet Ikaris did not fall.

The heart was not a vital organ for an Eternal.

In fact, as artificial constructs, Eternals had no true weaknesses—unless they were dismembered or had their energy drained like in the film, they simply would not die.

As before, the golden energy that coated his body immediately attempted to repair the damage.

But neither Odin nor the Ancient One were going to sit back and let that happen.

Divine power erupted from Gungnir, attempting to drive out the golden energy that was healing Ikaris.

At the same time, the Ancient One appeared behind him, pressing both hands against his head. Magic surged from her fingertips, flooding into his mind—stimulating his consciousness, forcing his very soul to awaken.

Yes, even as a construct, Ikaris still possessed a soul.

He was, after all, a creation of the Celestials.

Through the combined efforts of Odin and the Ancient One, the golden substance was gradually removed from Ikaris' body. At the same time, Ikaris' consciousness returned to clarity, stimulated by the Ancient One's magic.

“What exactly is that thing?”

As the golden substance was fully extracted by the Ancient One and sealed in a magical cage, Gilgamesh approached Odin and stared curiously at the writhing mass.

“That is Knull—an ancient dark god, an entity on par with the Celestials, and the creator of the All-Black, the Necrosword,” Odin said solemnly, watching the golden sphere struggle violently within the magical prison.

Long ago, when the universe was still in primordial chaos and the Celestials had just begun creating life, darkness—just as it did with the Dark Elves who despised the light brought by Odin’s father to the Nine Realms—already lurked in the void.

That darkness was Knull.

The act of creation awakened him from his slumber. Driven by his hatred for all life, the first thing Knull did upon waking was forge the Necrosword and immediately behead a Celestial—the severed head would later become Knowhere, as seen in the movies.

But the Celestials were many, and Knull was quickly defeated and cast back into the void.

But he did not give up.

Within the Abyss, using the blood of fallen Celestials, he reforged the Necrosword, creating a new species—Symbiotes, the progenitors of beings like Venom.

With his new weapon and his new army, Knull once again rampaged through the universe.

"You must be joking! A being on a par with the Celestials, so easily defeated?" Gilgamesh's eyes widened in disbelief.

"If this were the true Knull, we would not have stood a chance," Odin said with a faint smile. “But this thing is only a fragment of him—an entirely different matter.”

As it turned out, after Knull's second uprising, he faced the combined wrath of the Celestials and many of the ancient primordial gods. This time, he suffered a far worse defeat—losing the Necrosword and having his very soul shattered.

The being before them was but a small fragment of Knull's physical body, which for unknown reasons had drifted to Earth tens of thousands of years ago—long before Odin himself had unified the Nine Realms, when Asgard was still ruled by his grandfather.

The story of Knull had been passed down from Odin's ancestors; he himself had never encountered the dark god directly.

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, might have recognized Knull—had his memories not been wiped.

Odin had encountered fragments of Knull before. He knew firsthand how devastating they could be—entire civilizations had been wiped out because of them.

However, just as Odin and Gilgamesh were deep in discussion, the Ancient One noticed something amiss.

"Wait... this isn't Knull. It's just a powerful symbiote."

Using her magic to peer into the creature's soul, the Ancient One discovered a shocking truth.

"What?! It’s not a fragment of Knull? Just a symbiote? Then why is it so hostile to the gods?" Odin asked in disbelief.

“Because its previous host belonged to a civilization on a planet that was seeded with a Celestial embryo,” the Ancient One said coldly.

Seeded with a Celestial?

At her words, Ikaris, who had been lost in guilt over his rampage, suddenly stiffened, his eyes going blank again.

Before he could lose control again, the Ancient One slapped him across the head, snapping him out of it.

Chapter 288: The God of Symbiotes? (1)

A massive dragon, over fifty meters long from head to tail, soared rapidly through the sky.

Sitting on the bony spikes of its neck was a lone human—none other than Josh.

After Ophelia's team left, Josh had paced the VTOL for over an hour, unable to sit still. In the end, he decided to investigate personally.

With all communications cut off, the anxious wait was unbearable. Besides, if whatever was on the buried ship turned out to be a real threat to Earth, hiding in the background wouldn't keep him safe. He'd have to face it eventually.

Besides, Josh believed he had plenty of ways to protect himself. Even if things went badly, he'd have plenty of time to escape.

But with flights grounded over King George Island and no desire to go inside a giant squid, how would he get there?

His answer came quickly—Daenerys’ three dragons.

Long before developing the Dragon Serum, Josh had worked with Daenerys and Yuri to attempt cloning dragons using technology.

However, whether due to the limitations of Yuri's knowledge or the unique nature of dragons as magical creatures, each experiment ended in failure. The cloned dragons either suffered genetic collapse in the embryonic stage or were born as mindless, deformed beasts.

For now, cloning dragons remains an unsolved problem.

On the other hand, enhancing ordinary creatures with dragon DNA—much like the Super Soldier program—had yielded promising results.

As long as a creature's genetic base was strong enough, dragon DNA could further enhance its abilities. However, there was a clear upper limit—none had surpassed the strength of Daenerys’ three dragons.

In Game of Thrones, the three dragons might not have seemed all-powerful. Two of them, Viserion and Rhaegal, even met rather pitiful ends.

But there was an overlooked fact; throughout the entire series, those dragons were still juveniles and malnourished.

In a way, Daenerys—who raised them—was also their biggest limitation.

Her imprisonment of Viserion and Rhaegal had stunted their growth and damaged their minds. Dragons weren't mindless beasts; they were highly intelligent creatures, sometimes surpassing humans in wisdom.

However, in this timeline, due to the influence of Josh and the Dimensional Trading System, Daenerys valued her dragons above all else.

They had access to abundant food, complete freedom to patrol their territory, and even received specially crafted food supplements from Yuri.

Last year, when Josh obtained the Pool of Eternal Life from the Mummy Universe and gave Daenerys a share of it, the dragons experienced a second growth spurt, becoming much larger than they had been in the original timeline.

Because of this, Josh had to adjust the supply of the Pool of Eternal Life several times. Of course, it wasn't free; Daenerys had to provide dragon blood on a regular basis in exchange.

A little blood loss was nothing to dragons, especially when the Pool of Eternal Life more than made up for it.

Now Daenerys' dragons had grown many times larger than in the original story.

The one Josh was currently riding—measuring over fifty meters—was Rhaegal, the green-bronze dragon and the most mild-tempered of the trio.

Unlike the original timeline, where Daenerys struggled to fully control her dragons and often faced rebellion, things were different now.

Daenerys had long since become a ruthless and iron-fisted empress. Her three dragons, influenced by her commanding presence, were as obedient as kittens in her hands.

After giving detailed instructions, she handed Rhaegal over to Josh.

To be honest, despite Daenerys' repeated reassurances, Josh was still a little apprehensive when he first released Rhaegal. Not that he was afraid, but dealing with an unruly dragon was going to be a problem.

Fortunately, Daenerys had done a thorough job. While Rhaegal was clearly impatient with his temporary master, he still obeyed every command without question.

And when Josh offered him a small bucket of Fountain of Youth as a treat, Rhaegal instantly warmed up to him.

As you'd expect, dragons never bow to anyone... unless they're well fed and well cared for.

Rhaegal was incredibly fast. He hadn't quite broken the sound barrier, but he was close. In just an hour, he had flown from the Falklands to King George Island, arriving only about ten minutes after Ophelia's team, despite their head start of over an hour.

But such speed made for a rough ride.

Fortunately, Josh was no ordinary man. As they soared above the sea, he easily conjured a barrier of water around himself, shielding himself from the freezing temperatures and harsh winds.

"That's the kid you’ve been keeping an eye on? Impressive. He even managed to get himself a dragon. Maybe I should have Thor befriend him," Odin remarked from a distant mountain, his sharp gaze fixed on Josh the moment he arrived.

Hearing this, the Ancient One's expression darkened slightly. Thor making friends with Josh? She could already imagine Thor being tricked and happily handing over his gold while thanking Josh for the opportunity.

Knowing Josh’s personality, Loki would probably get along with him much better.

But she had no interest in getting involved in the Asgardian family drama. Instead, she shifted her focus to Ikaris.

"Do it. The Eternals won't last much longer," she instructed.

"You're not going to warn the boy? He's capable, but this upcoming battle is not something he can interfere with," Odin asked, slightly surprised.

"No need. Once we intervene, he'll leave on his own," the Ancient One replied.

Having watched Josh for so long, she knew he wasn't the type to put himself in unnecessary danger. The moment he saw Odin and herself entering the fray, he would slip away without hesitation.

"All right then, let's get started."

Odin nodded, then turned his gaze to Ikaris. His expression turned cold as he raised Gungnir, the Eternal Spear. A powerful beam of energy shot forward, striking Ikaris just as he was about to decapitate the weakened Phastos. The force of the blast sent Ikaris flying back several feet.

"Odin! Hahaha, I knew you'd come!"

Chapter 287: The Eternals! The Celestials! They Must Die! (2)

"Shit!"

The Inhumans who had been watching the battle cursed in unison.

For the Domo was heading straight for them.

Fortunately, Makkari reacted instantly, dragging them away before they were crushed.

But The Domo wasn’t so lucky—it slammed into the ice with such force that the entire George King Island trembled.

Yet none of the Eternals had time to worry about the fallen ship.

As powerful as the attack had been, it was unlikely that Phastos had died.

The real issue was the origin of that energy blast.

“What the hell is down there?” Ajak asked Makkari, her expression grim.

She hadn’t had the chance to descend into the ice pit earlier—before she could, Ikaris had gone rogue.

But now, she needed answers.

Makkari quickly gestured, explaining what she had seen below.

A ship, much older than the Domo, had arrived on Earth long before the Eternals. It had been buried under the ice for countless millennia.

That alone was concerning.

But given the sheer power of the attack that had just been unleashed—stronger than The Domo's own weapons—it was clear this civilization was incredibly advanced.

Ajak's uneasiness increased.

She was already disturbed by Ikaris' sudden outburst.

Thena’s rampage in the past had been triggered by human warfare—there had been a reason behind it.

But Ikaris? His outburst had come without warning.

And now, with the attack from the unknown ship, Ajak couldn't shake the feeling that the two events were connected.

She turned to the Inhumans, hoping to get more information from them about the buried ship.

But before she could speak, another change occurred.

From the opening in the ice—blasted apart by the ancient ship—something golden floated up.

A sphere.

It hovered in the air for a brief moment before shooting directly toward the restrained Ikaris.

"Makkari! Stop it!" Ajak shouted.

Without hesitation, Makkari sprang into action, her speed blurring as she lunged at the sphere.

Yet—she missed.

By the time she realized what had happened, the orb had already reached Ikaris.

It wasn’t that the sphere was faster than her.

It had teleported.

However, the teleportation seemed to have come at a cost.

With their enhanced eyesight, the Eternals could see it—after the teleport, the sphere was ever so slightly smaller than before.

But none of that mattered.

The sphere had achieved its goal—it had reached Ikaris.

Before the horrified eyes of the Eternals and Inhumans, the golden orb melted like liquid, seeping into Ikaris' body and completely enveloping him.

In an instant, his entire form glowed with a radiant golden sheen, resembling a Saint Seiya Knight clad in divine armor.

And when the fusion was complete, the dull, lifeless look in Ikaris' eyes changed.

Yet—perhaps it changed too much.

His gaze swept coldly over the Eternals before him. Then he spoke:

"Eternals. Celestials. All must die."

Clearly, the consciousness within him was no longer his own—it belonged to the entity inside that sphere.

The moment the words left his mouth, “Ikaris” transformed into a golden streak of light, shooting straight toward Ajak, who had been observing from a distance.

At some point, his arm had morphed into a blade.

Strike the leader first.

Before anyone could react, the once-proud leader of the Eternals, Ajak, was decapitated in a flash of gold.

With a fluid motion, he reversed his grip on the blade and slashed sideways—his former lover, Sersi, was cleaved in half.

Blood painted the ice.

The Inhumans, however, were left untouched.

Makkari lost it. Gilgamesh lost it. And Phastos, who had just emerged from the wreckage of The Domo, lost it.

Without hesitation, the three unleashed their full power upon “Ikaris.”

The battlefield, already chaotic, erupted into an even greater storm of destruction.

—

At the edge of the icy plains, on a small hill, a group of twenty people lay prone, watching the battle unfold in the distance.

One of them couldn’t help but whisper, “Are we even supposed to be involved in this fight?”

It was Vito speaking.

The group consisted of Ophelia, Vito, and Squad One of the Jedi Knights—who had struggled their way out of the belly of the giant squid and rushed here.

“There’s no way,” Ophelia shook her head. "Even with vibranium armor, we wouldn't last long. This is a whole other level of combat."

“But… we can do something else.”

Vito turned to her, intrigued. "Like what?"

Ophelia pointed to the wreckage of the Domo that had crashed into the ice.

“The ones fighting right now—those should be the Eternals our boss told us about. That means the triangular ship that just went down is The Domo, their spaceship."

Vito's eyes lit up. “You mean—”

Ophelia nodded.

“Whether it’s the Broken Steel Sword that was stolen from our boss, or the Eternals’ collection, it should all be on that ship.”

There was no hesitation.

Silently, Ophelia and Vito led their group to the Domo.

—

Meanwhile, on another desolate mountain peak, a lone figure in a yellow robe frowned as she watched “Ikaris.”

She was deep in thought.

It was the Ancient One.

As she pondered, a beam of light descended nearby.

When the glow faded, a man stood there, gripping the Eternal Spear—Gungnir.

Odin.

“I never expected that thing to appear on Earth,” Odin said as he approached, speaking like an old acquaintance. “What do you intend to do?”

The Ancient One’s eyes remained serious.

"I don't know. It doesn’t exist within the flow of time. But we cannot allow it to grow any further."

Odin nodded. "Agreed. In that case, shall we join forces?”

Just as the Ancient One was about to respond, her gaze snapped toward the sky.

“Wait… Why is he here?”

Odin followed her gaze.

Through the distant clouds, the massive silhouette of a dragon was slowly emerging.

Chapter 286: The Eternals! The Celestials! They Must Die! (1)

TL/N: Sorry for no updates in the last two days; had some stuff to deal with IRL.

__

Ajak frowned when she saw the two dying Inhumans and immediately stepped forward to heal them.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ambur and the others became suspicious.

They had no idea how they had suddenly escaped the deadly ice pit and the terrifying enemy, but when they saw Ajak and Sersi dressed similarly to Ikaris, they instinctively remained cautious.

Ajak, however, ignored them. As the leader of the Eternals, she wasn't as friendly as in the movies. Normally, she wouldn’t save someone just because they were dying—whether human or Inhuman made no difference to her.

But since Ikaris was the one who almost killed these two, she made an exception.

"Don't worry, Ajak will heal your teammates," Sersi reassured them.

Even though they were still skeptical, they relaxed when Ajak used her powers to stabilize the two nearly lifeless Inhumans.

"Are you Inhumans too?" Ambur asked after seeing that his friends were safe.

To her, anyone who looked human but had special abilities was probably another hidden group of Inhumans.

Ajak didn't answer, and Sersi only shook her head slightly.

The Eternals knew all about the Inhumans—this misunderstanding had happened before, centuries ago. But the Inhumans from that time had long since turned to dust, while the Eternals remained unchanged.

"You lasted this long—that’s a miracle. Rest now, leave the rest to us," Sersi said gently, but her worried gaze was already focused on the excavation site.

The fierce battle was causing the ice to continually collapse, widening the battlefield. The broken robots and machines around the pit were being buried under the falling glacier.

At this rate, the entire ice field might be destroyed.

A streak of black flashed by, and Makkari appeared beside Ajak, using sign language to report the situation.

"Then I'll leave it to you," Ajak nodded.

The battle below was not going well. Gilgamesh, the second strongest Eternal with incredible strength and durability, could hold off Ikaris. But since he couldn't fly, he had to endure not only Ikaris' attacks, but also the constant bombardment of falling ice.

Makkari wanted to help, but the narrow space below also restricted her speed.

So, they decided to lure Ikaris to the surface, where they could take him down properly.

But that meant Ajak and the other non-combatants had to move even further away. A few hundred meters wasn’t enough distance to escape the shockwaves from such a high-level battle—especially since they were now carrying five burdens.

Ajak had no objections. When Thena lost control in the past, it had already caused enough chaos—let alone Ikaris now.

Ambur and the others felt dizzy again. By the time they regained their senses, they were already at the edge of the ice field, more than a kilometer away from the excavation site.

Now they finally understood how they had escaped the pit earlier—it was the work of this woman.

Her speed was terrifying.

What was even more frightening was that they hadn't felt anything despite moving at such an extreme speed.

But their confusion was quickly put aside.

Because shortly after they were relocated, a loud explosion came from the excavation site.

A figure burst out of the ice, sending shards flying everywhere.

It was Gilgamesh.

Yes, the inability to fly and the lack of long-range attacks were the main reasons why Gilgamesh was weaker than Ikaris.

But not being able to fly didn't mean he couldn't jump.

With enough strength, his jumping ability was also greatly enhanced.

The movies didn't show it, but in reality, Gilgamesh could jump quite high. He wasn't as extreme as the Hulk, who could leap several kilometers, but a few dozen meters was no problem for him.

As he shot up from beneath the ice, another figure immediately followed, flying out of the ground and hovering in the air, looking down at Gilgamesh.

For Gilgamesh and Makkari, it was a relief to move from the cramped underground space to the open ice field.

But for Ikaris, who could fly, it was equally liberating.

In this situation, if Ikaris stayed in the air, Gilgamesh wouldn’t even be able to touch him.

But the Eternals had planned for this.

One moment, Ikaris was floating high in the sky. The next, a thick golden beam blasted him down onto the ice.

Before he could get up, Makkari was already there, using her incredible speed to push him across the ground.

Each time Ikaris tried to counter, Makkari effortlessly dodged and returned in the next split second to press him down again.

She couldn't do much damage, but she made sure he couldn't get up.

Seizing the opportunity, Gilgamesh rushed over, pinned Ikaris to the ground, and began delivering powerful blows to his head.

When Thena lost control in the past, Gilgamesh hadn’t gone easy on her either—he had knocked her out with a single punch.

So against ikaris? No need to hold back.

After all, the Eternals didn't have many powers, but they were extremely durable. Without vibranium, Uru metal, or special cosmic energy weapons, they were almost impossible to kill.

However, as the strongest Eternal, Ikaris could take more hits than Thena.

Even after Gilgamesh's relentless assault, he didn't lose consciousness. Instead, he found an opening and blasted Gilgamesh away with his heat vision. Then, with a single blow, he sent Makkari flying as she tried to restrain him again.

But this brief counterattack did not free him.

In the next second, another massive beam shot down from the sky, slamming him back into the ice.

Then golden constructs formed in the air and surrounded him. From them, glowing golden ropes shot out, binding him tightly—just like how Ebony Maw had restrained Thor in Infinity War.

Ikaris struggled, channeling his energy to break free.

But it was useless. These restraints were absorbing his cosmic energy, strengthening themselves while making it even harder for him to escape.

Clearly, this device was specifically designed to subdue Eternals.

And on Earth, there was only one person capable of creating something like this.

Phastos, of the Eternals.

Sure enough, after Ikaris was bound, a massive triangular spaceship descended from the sky-The Domo, the Eternals' spaceship.

The earlier energy bursts and the current restraints had all come from this ship. Or rather, from Phastos, who controlled it.

"Haha, are you enjoying the gift I have prepared for you, Ikaris?" Phastos grinned in the control room, watching Ikaris struggle below.

Even though the Eternals were a team—practically family—Ikaris' arrogance and overwhelming popularity with women had always been a sore point.

Among the five female Eternals, four—excluding Makkari—had shown interest in Ikaris at some point, even Thena before she lost control.

Naturally, this caused some resentment among the other male Eternals.

Aside from Kingo, who admired Ikaris, the now-deceased Druig, Phastos, and Gilgamesh had all found him insufferable.

However, after thousands of years of devotion to Thena, Gilgamesh finally succeeded in winning her over after her battle with Mahd Wy'ry. With that, his resentment faded.

Phastos, on the other hand, held no such restraint.

In the past, he had no excuse to act. But now, with a justified reason to suppress Ikaris, the big guy was overjoyed.

But nothing ever goes as planned.

Just as Phastos was celebrating, disaster struck.

From beneath the ice where the ancient, long-frozen ship lay, a beam of energy erupted, far more powerful than the ones the Domo had fired earlier.

It tore through the Eternals' spaceship, piercing it from end to end.

Inside, Phastos was thrown to the ground by the impact.

The Domo, its structure compromised, plummeted to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

Chapter 285: Eternal vs. Inhumans (2)

"We have to think of something or we're all dead!" Ambur said. Running was out of the question—they were trapped at the bottom of an ice pit. The ropes they had used to descend were still there, but it would take at least ten minutes to climb back up. Ikaris, on the other hand, could fly. He'd kill them a dozen times over before they got halfway down.

"What can we do? We can't even hurt him! Why the hell does such a monster exist on Earth?" Nur became increasingly frantic, his eyes darting around in desperation.

And then his gaze landed on the vibranium cutter that Ellis had thrown away earlier.

A sudden idea struck him.

That cutter had been able to slice through the hull of that strange spacecraft… So what about this seemingly invincible man?

Without hesitation, Nur sprinted over, grabbed the cutter, and charged at Ikaris.

At that moment, Ikaris had already beaten Ellis to the brink of death and was about to finish him off. When he saw Nur rushing in, he immediately fired a beam of heat vision.

Nur instinctively raised the cutter in front of him as a shield.

The vibranium blade was large, even bigger than Captain America’s shield—though much thinner since it was designed for cutting.

But it was enough.

Nur braced himself, expecting to be burned through... but to his shock, the blade absorbed the heat vision effortlessly.

His eyes widened in disbelief and excitement.

Ambur and Alvak, watching from a distance, also realized the significance of this discovery. And lucky for them... there wasn't just one of those cutters lying around.

For the first time, they had a chance.

Ikaris, still in his berserk state, paused for a moment when his attack was blocked. But then, without hesitation, he lunged at Nur.

If heat vision didn't work, he would simply resort to brute force.

A devastating blow came down. Nur had no choice but to raise the cutter again like a shield.

He wanted to counterattack, but that simply wasn't an option. He wasn't a melee fighter, and Ikaris was superior in every way - strength, speed, reflexes. Even with his new “shield,” all he could do was barely hold his ground.

But every blow from Ikaris sent shockwaves through the Cutter. Cracks began to appear on the vibranium blade.

Vibranium was strong, but not indestructible. It had limits.

If Thanos could shatter Captain America’s shield with an uru-forged weapon, then Ikaris—one of the most powerful Eternals—could definitely break this thinner blade with his fists.

And he was about to.

Just as Nur's cutter was about to shatter, Ambur and Alvak arrived, each wielding a cutter of their own.

Ambur rushed forward, using her cutter to block Ikaris' next attack and shield Nur.

Alvak, on the other hand, swung his cutter like a massive blade, aiming for Ikaris.

Sensing the danger, Ikaris twisted his body to avoid it. But he had already committed to his attack and couldn't completely avoid the blow.

The blade grazed his arm.

A thin, shallow cut appeared.

A single drop of golden blood welled up…

…and, under the three Inhumans' stunned gazes, slowly dripped onto the icy ground.

Golden blood—something only gods were said to possess.

Even Ikaris, lost in his berserk rage, froze for a few seconds as he noticed the thin cut on his arm. But soon the golden glow returned to his blank, white eyes, and he charged the Inhumans once more.

Thus began another battle—three warriors against one, much like the legendary "Three Heroes vs. Lü Bu."

Even though they now had vibranium weapons capable of injuring Ikaris, the trio remained at a complete disadvantage. Aside from Alvak, the other two weren't adept at melee combat, especially against someone as versatile as Ikaris.

And while the vibranium cutters were lightweight due to their material, their design and size made them ill-suited as weapons.

With Ikaris now aware of the threat, it became nearly impossible to score another hit. At best, they had bought themselves a few more moments before the inevitable.

If this dragged on, they would be the ones to fall—none of them had the unwavering will of Captain America or Captain Carter to fight Ikaris for an entire day.

Just as despair set in, a massive figure descended from the sky like a god of war.

With a single devastating punch, he sent the unprepared Ikaris crashing into the icy ground, embedding him deep within the frozen earth. The impact shook the entire pit.

"Looks like I made it just in time!" The newcomer grinned at the battered and exhausted Inhumans.

But to them, his so-called friendly smile was anything but reassuring.

After all, there was only one person on Earth capable of taking down Ikaris with a single blow.

Gilgamesh—the strongest among the Eternals in sheer physical might.

"Stand back! He's coming!" Gilgamesh's grin vanished in an instant, his expression turning stern as he fixed his gaze on the crater he had just created.

The next second, Ikaris shot out of the pit and charged at Gilgamesh. The two collided, slamming into the icy walls with such force that the collapsing ice buried them both.

The sheer force of their collision far exceeded the beating Ikaris had given Ellis earlier.

And this was only the beginning.

Before the three Inhumans could even react, Ikaris was sent flying out of the rubble—this time, it was Gilgamesh who had launched him.

Though Ikaris was the more powerful Eternal overall, in terms of raw strength, Gilgamesh reigned supreme.

But the real problem wasn’t who was stronger—it was that the sheer scale of their battle was making the ice pit increasingly unstable. It wouldn't be long before a complete collapse buried everyone inside.

Just as the Inhumans began to panic, a flash of light streaked past them.

And the next thing they knew, they were standing on solid ground, hundreds of meters away from the excavation site.

Even their two near-dead teammates had been safely transported out and were lying nearby.

There was only one person fast enough to pull this off.

Makkari.

But she had moved so quickly that none of them had even noticed her presence.

As the three Inhumans stood in stunned confusion, two more figures appeared behind them—

Ajak and Sersi.

The Eternals and the Inhumans—Earth's two most powerful groups—had finally crossed paths.

Chapter 284: Eternal vs. Inhumans (1)

Sizzle!

Beneath the ice, golden rays cut wildly through the frozen layer. Nur had to dodge the attacks while avoiding the massive chunks of ice falling around him.

The excavation shaft wasn't very large, only a few dozen square meters, leaving Nur little room to maneuver. It was a difficult situation, but fortunately he wasn't alone.

A powerful figure shot into the air like a cannonball, heading straight for Ikaris. It was Ellis, a physically enhanced Inhuman.

However, such a direct attack was nothing to Ikaris. With just a slight twist in the air, he easily dodged, causing Ellis to miss and crash into the ice wall, creating a deep hole upon impact.

As Ellis stumbled out, dazed, he was met with another blast of Ikaris' golden heat vision.

Fortunately, Ellis was physically stronger. Though Ikaris' heat vision was powerful, it wasn't at the level of Superman's. The searing rays made Ellis scream in pain, burning his skin badly, but they weren't powerful enough to pierce him instantly.

Still, it was only a matter of time. Ikaris had almost limitless energy, while Ellis' endurance had its limits.

But the other Inhumans weren't going to stand by and watch. Just as Ikaris was concentrating on "roasting" Ellis, a lean figure suddenly fell from above and landed directly on his back.

It was Alvak, who had originally been standing guard above the mine.

When Ikaris entered the ice shaft, Alvak hadn’t noticed right away—not because he was careless, but because he was alone and had to monitor all directions. Most of his focus was on the ground, not the sky.

On top of that, Ikaris had appeared suddenly, moving with incredible speed and making no noise as he flew. In the time it took Alvak to lower his head, look up and turn around, Ikaris had already entered the shaft.

However, the sounds of battle and his comrades’ shouts quickly alerted him. He immediately slid down, arriving just in time to see his allies being overpowered.

Without hesitation, he leapt into the air and landed on Ikaris, who was acting purely on instinct due to the Eternal Madness.

Despite his slim build, the force of his landing made Ikaris stagger slightly, interrupting his attack on Ellis and giving the others a brief moment to recover.

But Alvak didn't stop there. After landing, he wrapped his left arm around Ikaris' neck while his right hand slashed the dagger at his throat.

Then came an awkward realization—no matter how much he slashed, he couldn’t even scratch Ikaris’ skin.

It was expected. Alvak’s dagger wasn’t made of vibranium or any other high-grade metal—just a strong alloy. There was no way it could cut through the body of an Eternal.

Ikaris didn't want to give him time to think. He reached out to grab Alvak, but Alvak was as slippery as an eel, twisting and slipping from his grasp.

If Ikaris weren’t as strong and durable as he was, he might have already been taken down by Alvak’s grappling techniques—just like how a certain Black Widow would do in the future.

But even in his berserk state, the "Little Superman" reacted instinctively—plummeting straight toward the solid ice below.

At this speed and height, Ikaris, being an Eternal, would be completely fine. But Alvak? He would not be so lucky.

At the last moment before impact, Alvak was forced to flip backwards, separating from Ikaris. The remaining force of the fall sent him rolling for a dozen meters before he finally came to a stop. He lay there for a while, struggling to get up—his body was now riddled with fractures and bruises.

If not for the enhanced physique granted by Terrigenesis and the sturdy uniform he was wearing, he might have ended up crippled or dead.

On the other hand, Ikaris slammed into the ice with full force, creating a deep crater.

But in the next second, he stood up unharmed and floated back into the air. His golden eyes locked on the wounded Alvak and prepared to fire.

Before he could, a barrage of energy bolts struck his face and torso.

Ambur and Nur had recovered in the short time they had and drawn their weapons—sleek, sci-fi-looking pistols, remnants of Kree technology.

Though not the most powerful weapons, they could easily penetrate the armor of a military vehicle.

But against Ikaris? The blasts barely made his head tilt, as if they had only annoyed him. They couldn't even mess up his hair.

"Shit, is this guy even human?" Nur muttered in disbelief.

"I've never seen a human who can fly without wings and is completely bulletproof," Ambur said with a forced grin.

"Could he be one of us? He doesn’t seem right—looks like he’s gone berserk!” Nur dodged Ikaris' heat vision with a dive and yelled at Ambur, who had taken cover.

"I don't know! But someone this strong definitely isn’t an ordinary human. And right now we should be thinking about how to escape, not trying to figure out what he is!" Ambur shouted back.

"Can't you use your powers to control him?" Alvak, who had used the distraction to escape, now crouched beside Nur.

"No use! Ambur and I both tried—our powers don’t work on him!” Nur snapped.

Ambur’s mind control and Nur’s hypnotic gaze were incredibly effective against normal beings.

But Eternals weren't normal beings. Even if they could reproduce, that didn't change the fact that they weren't truly biological in the same sense as humans.

Their abilities were completely useless against Ikaris.

"Damn it, just die already!"

Ellis, now recovered, charged at Ikaris again.

But this time, the enraged Ikaris, irritated by the repeated attacks, didn't even bother to dodge. Instead, he threw a punch of his own.

Their fists collided.

A loud crack rang through the air.

Ellis let out a scream as he was sent flying.

Did he really think that his enhanced strength could take on an Eternal? Even among the Eternals, Ikaris wasn’t the strongest—Gilgamesh was the real powerhouse, a being who could literally arm-wrestle Odin. If Ikaris didn’t fear him, why would he be afraid of some Inhuman?

Trying to match Ikaris in raw power? Unless you had a vibranium shield like Captain America, that was nothing more than a death wish.

By the time Ellis struggled to his feet, his right arm—the one he had used to clash fists with Ikaris—was completely limp, rendered useless.

But the berserker Ikaris showed no mercy. He charged through the desperate gunfire of Nur and the others, pinned Ellis to the ice, and pummeled him relentlessly. Within moments, the strongest physical enhancer among the Inhumans was battered and bloodied, barely clinging to life.

The other three could only watch helplessly. They had no way to intervene.

Chapter 283: The Eternal Madness! (2)

"It is possible that another alien race, like the Kree, sent those machines here to dig up something. This energy storm may have been triggered by whatever they uncovered." Nur shrugged.

Since Attilan originally belonged to the Kree, much of their critical knowledge had been passed down to the Inhumans, giving them a greater understanding of galactic affairs than Earth's people—though much of that information was thousands of years outdated.

Even so, this knowledge was kept strictly within the royal family. The lower-class Inhumans were unaware of it, since maintaining control over their origins and history was one of the foundations of the royal family's rule.

"You may be right," Ambur nodded. "But we need to go down and take a closer look to be sure."

With that, the team donned their protective suits, left the ship, and began to examine the excavation site.

"Aside from numerical designations, there's little information. All data has been completely wiped out by the energy surge—nothing can be retrieved," Nur reported after examining the deactivated robots and equipment. "The design style is similar to Earth's technology, but that doesn't prove anything."

Just because Arabic numerals were used didn’t necessarily mean these robots were of Earthly origin—Attilan itself used Arabic numerals.

Who could say whether an alien civilization had borrowed Earth's resources to build these robots?

Under normal circumstances, these robots would have had manufacturer markings, specifically the logo of America's Robotics Corporation from I, Robot World.

However, when Josh purchased them, he naturally made sure that any potentially misleading information was removed.

As a result, Josh's robots were stripped of all identifying marks except for their numerical designations. Their internal data was the only thing that could reveal their origin.

The drilling equipment was even more ambiguous—it was custom-made by Yuri for Josh, with no identifying labels at all.

With all the data in the robots and machinery erased by the energy surge, the Inhumans had no way to determine their source.

"In that case, we'll have to go down and take a look," Ambur said, nodding as she turned her gaze toward the central drill shaft.

"Whoa—going down is gonna be tricky. This shaft clearly wasn't designed for humans," Alvak whistled, baring his teeth as he examined the nearly vertical, perfectly smooth walls of the drill hole.

This kind of shaft was made specifically for robotic descent.

For Josh’s robotic exploration teams, a 30-meter drop was nothing—they could rappel down in under a minute. After all, robots, especially military and engineering models, were built to be extremely tough. Even if they fell from 30 meters, they wouldn’t necessarily break.

And if they were made of super-alloys like Sunny, they’d be even more indestructible.

So for robots, this was a simple task.

For humans, however, the difficulty increased exponentially.

Fortunately, these weren't ordinary humans. They retrieved special equipment from the ship and prepared to go down the shaft, leaving Alvak on the surface to keep watch.

After about ten minutes of effort, the four finally reached the bottom.

"Sh*t! You were right—there’s no way Earth’s people have this kind of technology!" Ambur gasped, staring at the partially exposed spaceship embedded in the ice. Only about a third of it was visible.

"Yes, this thing is definitely the source of the energy storm," Nur confirmed, holding up a beeping instrument that showed fluctuating readings.

"But how do we get in? There's no visible entrance!" The burly Ellis ran his hands over the hull, searching for seams or openings, but finding none.

"I can feel it... There's something alive inside. I think I can try to communicate with it!"

Mander, who had been silent since the descent, suddenly spoke up.

"You're serious? Something inside is still alive?" Ambur and Nur exchanged stunned looks.

They had scanned the surroundings earlier—the ice encasing the ship was at least ten thousand years old. Under normal circumstances, it should have been buried deep within the Antarctic ice sheet.

Only glacial movement over the past century had brought it to this place.

"Yes, and... not just one," Mander confirmed with a nod.

This...

Ambur frowned, lost in thought.

Her concerns at this moment weren't much different from what Josh had considered when he first discovered the site.

A spaceship buried for over ten thousand years... with living occupants... and technology far beyond anything Earth possessed.

If whatever was inside had hostile intentions, Earth's fate was of little concern. But if it threatened Attilan—that was a disaster.

Should she let Mander try to communicate?

She hesitated.

Mander also looked at Ambur and waited for her command.

"Let him try. Given the current situation, we—like those robots—don’t seem to have any other way to deal with this spaceship," Nur urged.

"Not necessarily. Look at this!"

At that moment, the burly Ellis spoke up.

Everyone turned to see that Ellis was now holding a cutting tool. It wouldn't turn on, but he had simply dragged the blade across the hull, leaving a visible scratch.

It was shallow, but it was proof enough that this cutter was capable of penetrating the exterior of the ship.

"So it’s not that these robots had no way in—it’s that they were too capable, which triggered the ship’s automatic defenses," Nur remarked, raising an eyebrow. He then pulled a dagger from his waist and took the cutting tool from Ellis.

With a firm squeeze, the thin blade remained perfectly intact. The dagger, however, didn’t fare as well—it didn’t snap, but a large chunk was chipped off.

The sight made all four of them tense.

Nur's dagger was made of the finest metal in Attilan.

"Incredible metal... Relying on others isn't as good as relying on ourselves. Shall we try this first?" Nur suggested, waving the cutting tool.

"No! We can't go in there!"

Mander suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong?" The other three were startled by his reaction.

"The thing inside... it's warning me. Whatever's in there is extremely dangerous. This isn’t just a spaceship—it’s a prison!"

Mander was trembling all over, barely able to stand.

"Hey, calm down, man! Maybe whatever's in there is just trying to trick you?" Nur quickly stepped forward to support him.

But before he could reach Mander, two golden beams pierced straight through him.

The sudden attack stunned everyone.

What had just happened?

Following the beams to their source, they saw a strikingly heroic young man floating in the air.

Before the remaining three Inhumans could question his identity, his eyes glowed again, firing another set of beams—this time at Nur.

Fortunately, Nur reacted swiftly, leaping aside to evade the attack.

There was no doubt.

In the Antarctic, someone who could fly and shoot energy beams from their eyes could only be one person—

Ikaris, the "Superman" of the Eternals.

But why did Ikaris attack them if they were here for the same purpose?

Because...

"Quickly! Gather Gilgamesh, Phastos and Sersi! Only together can they stop Ikaris!"

From a distant hill overlooking the excavation site, Ajak ordered Makkari while tending to her own wounds.

Ikaris hadn’t just attacked the Inhumans—he had also attacked Ajak.

The reason?

Just moments ago, Ikaris had suddenly succumbed to Mahd Wy’ry—the Eternal madness.

After wounding Ajak, he had immediately flown to the ship's location.

Ajak was already struggling when Thena had suffered from Mahd Wy’ry. Now, with Ikaris—arguably the Eternals’ most powerful warrior—falling victim to it, things had only gotten worse.

Makkari understood the gravity of the situation. Without hesitation, she activated her speed and sprinted toward the Eternals' North American stronghold to fetch reinforcements.

But even with her incredible speed, bringing others back was another challenge altogether.

Would those Inhumans still be alive by the time she returned?

Chapter 282: The Eternal Madness! (1)

A small aircraft flew slowly over the glaciers in the center of King George Island.

It was the ship of the Inhumans of Attilan.

“Mander, can you locate the core of the energy outbreak?” asked a fair-skinned young woman with red hair, sitting in the co-pilot seat. She turned to a middle-aged man with some Asian features sitting behind her.

This woman was Ambur, a member of Attilan's royal family and the leader of this investigation team. She possessed abilities related to mind control and mental calming.

In Josh's past life, she was relatively unknown to Marvel fans because of her era. However, if one mentioned another identity of hers, many would understand—she was the future queen of Black Bolt, Medusa’s mother, and also the cousin of Black Bolt’s mother.

Like the old European royal families, Attilan’s royals practiced close-relative marriages. However, due to the diverse and powerful nature of the Inhuman genes, such marriages rarely resulted in genetic disorders. Instead, they increased the likelihood that their non-human genes would become dominant.

In a sense, the non-human traits of the Inhumans could be considered genetic mutations. But for the Attilan Inhumans, who no longer considered themselves human, these mutations were actually a blessing.

“Around ten kilometers southwest,” Mander said after closing his eyes for a brief moment to sense the energy.

Mander was the royal advisor to the Inhumans, with limited precognition and telepathic abilities. He was also the father of Karnak, the future Royal Advisor under Black Bolt's rule, who inherited his abilities.

Due to the intense energy storm, even with advanced Kree technology, the Inhuman ship could only maintain basic flight functions, making long-range scans impossible. However, Mander was able to point them in the right direction.

"There is a faint psychic presence in this area. It should be the cause of this energy burst. But for some reason I have a bad feeling about it," Mander frowned.

"A bad feeling? Are you serious? Mander, try using your precognition—see if this trip is safe or not!” a burly white man exclaimed in alarm.

His name was Ellis, a member of the Royal Guard. His ability was simple—enhanced physical strength, making him an expert in close combat. He was essentially the team's tank.

"Sorry, I already tried... but I can't see anything," Mander shook his head.

"Don't worry, Mander. The energy field could be interfering with your abilities. It's already weakening, so it should be gone soon," the ship's pilot reassured him.

This man was Nur, the team's driver, observer and recorder. He could record and project images with his eyes, and his gaze could also make people dizzy. He was also the vice captain of the team.

"Nur is right. Relax, Mander. Even if something happens, I’ll protect you,” said a lean man flipping a dagger in his hand.

That was Alvak, the team's scout and assassin. He had enhanced speed and reflexes, as well as expert marksmanship.

Of course, his speed was nothing compared to the Eternal Makkari or the future Quicksilver. He was only about two to three times faster than a world-class sprinter, and his energy consumption was significantly higher.

However, against ordinary humans, this speed was already incredibly powerful.

"Alright, enough talk. We've arrived... It looks like this energy outburst was caused by someone!" Nur said as the aircraft hovered over the excavation site. He observed the scattered technical equipment and the motionless robots lying on the ground, recording everything while informing the rest of the team.

"I don't think so. They must have dug up something… But… robots? Has Earth's technology really advanced this far?" Ambur frowned as she looked at the many deactivated robots lying on the ground.

Despite living on the Moon, close to Earth, and having advanced technology, the Inhumans preferred to stay isolated and rarely paid attention to what was happening on Earth—unless humans attempted a lunar landing.

So, even though Josh had kept his robotic technology highly classified, even if he had made it public, the Inhumans wouldn't have known about it unless they actively visited Earth.

But now, seeing these robots scattered across the excavation site, Ambur felt a growing sense of crisis.

If Earth's technological progress continued at this rate, it might not be long before it posed a real threat to Attilan.

It seemed that when she returned, she would have to have a serious discussion with Agon and Rynda about how to deal with Earth's rapid technological advancement.

Agon and Rynda were the current king and queen of Attilan, as well as the parents of the future Black Bolt.

At the moment, they were both very young, just in their early twenties. They had been married and on the throne for only a few years.

The reason they had inherited the throne so young was that Agon's parents had grown tired of the monotonous life on Attilan. When their children came of age, they abdicated and took Attilan's only spaceship capable of interstellar travel and vanished into the cosmos.

Although the Inhumans had taken control of Attilan and inherited much of the Kree technology, they were only able to use it rather than fully understand or replicate it. As a result, they lacked interstellar travel capabilities, except for a few leftover Kree starships.

And ever since the previous King and Queen left with Attilan’s only deep-space vessel, the Inhumans were left with just three planetary shuttles—one of which the team was currently using.

As for the whereabouts of the former king and queen, no one knew. They could be enjoying their freedom somewhere in the universe—or, given how dangerous space was, they might have already perished.

Since Agon and Rynda were still young, they hadn't planned on having children, which meant that Black Bolt's birth was still a long way off.

Which was probably for the best, because once Black Bolt was born, his parents would be on a countdown to disaster.

"They may not be creations of Earth’s humans," Nur interjected as he stabilized the spacecraft. "I paid some attention to Earth’s major wars over the years. While those conflicts advanced their technology, it's impossible that they could have reached this level. And look at this place—does it seem like a place humans visit often?"

"You mean...?" Ambur asked, looking at him.

Chapter 281: The Giant Squid (2)

"Even the Inhumans, who usually stay out of world affairs, were drawn here. That means they’re probably not the only ones," Josh muttered, watching the radar screen as the Inhumans' aircraft disappeared into the energy field surrounding the island.

He hadn’t encountered the Ancient One yet, but given his knowledge of Kamar-Taj, he was sure she wouldn’t have missed this event.

However, based on what he knew from the movies, she would probably stay out of it.

That was what Josh thought.

Of course, if he had known that the Ancient One had covered for him several times, he might not have hesitated so much. He probably would have just charged in with Ophelia and Vito.

"Boss, let me go!" Vito volunteered immediately, noticing Josh's hesitation.

As Josh's personal bodyguard, Vito was beginning to feel that his importance was diminishing, and that gave him a sense of crisis.

If ever there was a time to prove his worth, it was now.

"Leader, we want to go too!" As soon as Vito spoke, the Jedi Knights standing guard nearby also stepped forward, eager for action.

"Boss, it's been a long time since I had a chance to do something myself. I want to have some fun as well." Ophelia ran her fingers through her hair and blinked with a playful smile.

“...Since all of you are so eager, it would be unreasonable for me to hold you back. Take these—each of you, one dose. Use it when necessary, and above all, prioritize your safety!”

Josh glanced at his loyal subordinates before entering the cockpit of the VTOL. When he returned, he was carrying a box. Opening it, he revealed a row of syringes filled with dark red liquid—

The same dragon serum that Vito had used a month ago when they wiped out the last remnants of Wakanda.

There was no shortage of this serum. It only took a small amount of blood to make a single dose, and with the regenerative abilities of Daenerys' three dragons, Josh had already stockpiled quite a bit. He even had some permanent versions.

However, because of the serum's sheer power, he had rarely distributed it, except for early experiments and the time Vito used it in battle. Letting so many people have it now was a rare move.

But the current situation left him no choice.

"Heh, I love this stuff," Vito grinned as his eyes lit up.

The transformation was painful—the dragon’s powerful genes tore at the body—but the overwhelming strength it granted was intoxicating.

The others had seen the effects of the serum before and were visibly pleased. It was indeed a great advantage.

And like Vito, none of them cared about the pain.

There was no need to mention Ophelia. As for the Jedi Knights, they had gone through extreme selection to enter the Jedi Academy.

Over the years, Josh's orphanages in various countries had taken in hundreds of thousands of children. Most of them were ordinary children who would never come in contact with Ouroboros, let alone the Jedi Academy.

Most would eventually join the Continental Group or settle in Austria as normal citizens.

Only a few thousand were recruited by Ouroboros each year.

And those who made it to the Jedi Academy were even rarer. Including the current first batch, fewer than 200 people had ever made it in.

Even fewer had graduated—only 24.

They were truly one in a million, and every one of them was invaluable.

Each of them had undergone brutal training to become elites. A little pain? That was nothing.

Of course, becoming a true Jedi warrior meant skyrocketing in status, immediately rising to the top ranks of Ouroboros.

Soon, Ophelia, Vito and the Jedi Knights were fully equipped and ready to go.

However, even though the energy field covering George King Island was weakening and would likely disappear soon, flying in a VTOL was still too risky.

A ship would be too slow and would also be affected by the energy field.

So…

“Boss, is this thing really reliable?”

Standing at the open hatch of the hovering VTOL, Ophelia looked down at the massive figure below with an expression of disbelief.

Behind her, Vito and the once-excited Jedi Knights were frozen in place, their faces stiff.

“Relax, it’s perfectly safe… Besides, you can directly command it through a psychic link. In the Antarctic environment, this is far more useful than a boat—and it’s much faster too,” Josh said with a dry laugh.

Although he reassured them verbally, he wasn’t entirely confident himself.

But trusting Yuri’s expertise, he still made the promise.

What lay before them wasn’t an uncommon sight in the real world. In fact, it was something extremely common—

A squid.

But while a squid itself was nothing unusual, its size was another matter entirely.

Who the hell had ever seen a squid over a hundred meters long?

Yet this very creature was second only to the Dreadnought-class warships in the Soviet Navy's Red Alert universe.

That’s right—this was the Giant Squid.

Of course, calling it a "Giant Squid" was technically incorrect because its real-world counterpart was not a squid at all but the colossal Humboldt squid, an invertebrate even larger and more formidable than the giant squid.

To be precise, it was a squid, not a cuttlefish-two entirely different creatures.

In the real world, an adult Humboldt squid only grew to about ten meters.

But in the Red Alert world, after it was discovered and captured by the Soviets, it was genetically enhanced to ten times its original size, over 100 meters long.

Moreover, through psychic conditioning, it became a monstrous sea beast capable of taking on Allied warships—even aircraft carriers.

And the mastermind behind this biological weapons program? None other than Yuri.

In fact, many of the Soviets’ cutting-edge weapons were Yuri’s creations.

Because it was a living organism, controlled by psychic influence, it was completely unaffected by the energy field.

Additionally, during its enhancement process, its jet propulsion ability was specifically boosted, allowing it to reach an astonishing speed of 200 km/h.

Thus, even though they were currently at the edge of the energy field, the trip of 500 kilometers to George King Island would only take about two hours.

Of course, there were still challenges.

The Giant Squid was designed to combat large surface ships and submarines, not to transport people.

Attempting to modify it for transportation would disrupt its biology and weaken its combat capabilities.

Moreover, since it was traveling underwater, the extreme pressure and environmental effects would be unbearable for an ordinary human.

However, given the circumstances, they had no choice but to use it as an improvised transport submarine.

Fortunately, Ophelia and the others were all super-soldiers. Equipped with full-body vibranium suits, they would be able to withstand the conditions without compromising their combat effectiveness.

In the end, though clearly reluctant, Ophelia and her team took the plunge—diving into the ocean and entering the Giant Squid’s body…

Chapter 280: The Giant Squid (1)

Since regular drills and tools were completely ineffective against the spaceship, Josh ordered the robotic exploration team to gather vibranium weapons from the military robots at the site and attempt to cut through the ship's hull.

This had an effect, but instead of cutting through the hull, the threat of the vibranium seemed to trigger the ship's defense system.

"Alert! Alert! High-energy fluctuations detected on the ship's hull!" The exploration team’s scanning system issued a sharp warning.

"Commander, the energy fluctuations from the ship exceed our monitoring range. Should we activate the emergency protocol—Zzzzt!" The on-screen command robot’s report was abruptly cut off as a powerful energy pulse flashed across the area. Josh’s VTOL immediately lost all contact with the robotic units on George King Island.

"What just happened?" Ophelia exclaimed in shock.

"This is bad," Josh said with a frown. "That spaceship must have released an energy pulse strong enough to disable all the robots' electronic systems."

He had originally used robots to explore the ship to avoid endangering personnel, but had overlooked the possibility of an EMP attack. Though, to be fair, the technology of the i, robot universe was highly advanced, and military robots were designed with EMP protection in mind. If even the most advanced military and command robots were knocked out, it meant that the energy pulse from the ship had exceeded their defensive limits.

"Commander, according to high-altitude scans of George King Island, an energy pulse beyond our system's detection limits erupted 23 seconds ago, covering the entire island and extending 500 kilometers into the sky. Our satellite system can no longer monitor anything on the island," confirmed the command robot aboard Josh's VTOL.

The powerful energy field had not only severed Josh's connection to the robots, but had probably also rendered the remote detonation mechanisms of the two nuclear bombs useless. If they were to be detonated, someone would have to activate them manually inside the energy field.

In fact, it wasn't just Josh who noticed the disturbance. Governments around the world that had the ability to monitor such phenomena quickly detected the intense radio waves caused by the energy explosion on George King Island.

However, with the current technology available to Earth's nations, it would take days for any of them to reach the remote island in Antarctica. Even the closest force, the British Navy stationed in the Falklands, would take at least a day or two to arrive.

This meant Josh didn’t have to worry about interference from Earth’s governments in the short term.

However, an energy pulse of this magnitude didn’t just attract the attention of world powers—it also alerted hidden supernatural beings on Earth.

Of course, it wasn't easy for even supernatural beings to travel such a great distance.

So in the immediate aftermath, only four groups had the ability to respond quickly.

The first to arrive was, unsurprisingly, the one who constantly kept an eye on Josh and monitored Earth as a whole—The Ancient One.

The second group to arrive were the Eternals, who had recently become paranoid after the disappearance of two of their companions. However, not all of them came—only the fastest, Makkari, along with Ikaris and their leader, Ajak, whom Ikaris had brought along.

The third group was a bit more unusual - they were the Inhumans from the Moon. With their access to Kree technology, they quickly detected the anomaly on Earth and sent a five-member team to investigate.

As for the fourth group, they didn't physically arrive, but instead observed from a distance. This was Heimdall, the gatekeeper of the Asgard, who reported the situation to Odin.

However, even Heimdall couldn’t detect the presence of the Ancient One. But Odin could.

After confirming that the Ancient One was also on the scene, Odin chose to remain a spectator. The Ancient One, upon noticing Odin’s watchful gaze, simply ignored it.

Among these four groups, the Ancient One and Odin were undoubtedly at the top. The other two groups had no idea that they were even present.

But Ajak, having lived on Earth for over 7,000 years and having interacted with both sides before, knew that with their personalities, Odin and the Ancient One were surely watching. Since they chose not to reveal themselves, she pretended not to notice.

Ajak and her two companions were unique in their existence, making their arrival undetectable to anyone but the Ancient One and Odin.

However, because they landed directly on George King Island, they were unaware of Josh, who was hiding on the Falklands.

The Inhumans were in a similar situation.

But the three Eternals did notice the Inhumans’ arrival.

For some reason—whether arrogance or simply underestimating Earth's forces—the Inhumans didn’t activate any cloaking technology like the one used in Attilan.

As a result, even Josh, hiding on the Falklands, was able to track their movements.

This meant that, despite having superior technology and superpowers, the five Inhumans stood out the most among all the visitors to George King Island.

Chapter 279: The Spaceship in the Ice (2)

"Commander, the tactical team has reached the designated location. The signal source is buried thirty meters under the glacier ice. Should we break through the ice to investigate?"

By the time Josh returned to the VTOL, the command-type robot on board had already reported in.

"Can you identify what it is?" Josh asked.

"Yes, Commander. Based on preliminary scans, it appears to be a spaceship—230 meters long, 23 meters wide, and 15 meters tall.”

As the Command Robot reported, it operated the VTOL's control panel and projected a holographic image of the ship in front of Josh.

"It's beautiful..." Josh’s eyes lit up as he saw the ship’s design.

It was a sleek, futuristic, cone-shaped vessel, perfectly matching his taste. Its overall shape was somewhat similar to a Star Wars Star Destroyer.

Of course, it was only similar in appearance—the style and scale were completely different. Unlike a Star Destroyer, this ship didn't have an unnecessary tower at the back.

But as impressive as it looked, Josh remained cautious.

This ship was clearly not of Earth. That raised several crucial questions—what civilization did it belong to? Why did it crash on Earth? And most importantly, could it contain anything that posed a significant threat to the planet?

These were all concerns that Josh needed to address.

“Commander, should we proceed with ice breaking?” the command robot asked again.

"How long will it take?" Josh inquired.

"The VTOL has no special drilling equipment on board. Using the tools available from the industrial robots, the process would take about 25 hours."

Twenty-five hours? That was too long.

"What about using this model?" Josh provided the specifications for an advanced drilling system he had purchased from Yuri.

It was designed for mining, but it should still work for this situation, right?

"It can be used. The industrial robots will need minor modifications."

The command robot quickly ran the calculations and confirmed the feasibility.

"What is the most efficient setup? How many industrial robots will we need?"

Josh had plenty of both drilling equipment and robots stored in his systems warehouse.

"With an additional 200 repair robots, the operation can be completed in five hours."

Josh didn't hesitate.

He got out of the VTOL and deployed three more transport VTOLs, hundreds of industrial robots, and a full set of advanced drilling equipment. To reinforce security, he added another 1,000 military robots.

Including the original units, the total number of military robots on the island reached 1,500—enough firepower to wipe out a small nation in this era.

Still, Josh wasn’t taking any chances.

After thinking for a moment, he brought out two Tsar Bomba nuclear warheads.

"While drilling, position these two nukes in the most strategic locations. If anything uncontrollable is discovered, detonate them immediately. I don't want anything that could threaten the Earth to escape from King George Island. Do you understand?"

Josh pointed to the warheads, his expression stern.

"Understood, Commander," the command robot saluted. "However, this will extend the preparation time."

"Also, Commander, please move to a safe distance. If these nukes are detonated, the entire island will be affected."

“That goes without saying!” Josh rolled his eyes, climbed into the VTOL, and flew away from King George Island.

The two Tsar Bomba warheads he had deployed were Yuri-manufactured three-stage bombs. While they weren’t as powerful as the original Tsar Bomba, each still had a yield in the megaton range—far beyond anything the U.S. or Soviet Union had developed in this era.

King George Island was only about 2,000 square kilometers in size. If both bombs went off, the entire island would be engulfed in nuclear fire.

And the ecological impact?

Come on, if this spaceship trapped under the ice was really a threat to the Earth, who would care about the ecosystem of a single island?

Roughly twenty minutes later, Josh’s VTOL arrived at the Falkland Islands, landing on a relatively flat hillside—completely unnoticed by the British forces stationed there.

Meanwhile, back on King George Island, under the command of the lead robot, the deployed units began setting up the drilling equipment and beginning the excavation.

Josh monitored everything remotely.

Three hours later, two more VTOL aircraft arrived in the Falklands, but they hadn't come from King George Island. Instead, they had approached from the north.

When the planes landed, Ophelia, Vito and a squad of elite troops disembarked.

"Boss, did you find anything interesting again?" Ophelia asked curiously as she entered the VTOL's command room, glancing at the drilling operation displayed on the screen.

"It's quite interesting. Take a look."

At Josh's signal, one of the robots activated the holographic display and projected the scanned image of the ship once more.

"Another alien spaceship?"

Ophelia and Vito exchanged glances and spoke in unison.

Having followed Josh for so long, neither of them were strangers to alien appearances. They had even interacted with Mar-Vell when she came to Earth. So, with just one look, they could tell that this ship wasn’t of Earthly origin.

"Exactly. But judging by its design, it doesn't resemble anything from any known civilization."

Josh shrugged.

Originally, he had only a vague understanding of certain alien civilizations in the Marvel Universe. But after meeting Mar-Vell, he had managed to extract a considerable amount of information about intergalactic powers from her.

Still, this spaceship didn't belong to any civilization he knew of.

That only added to the mystery surrounding it.

"Commander, we've reached the ship's depth. However, upon closer inspection, its outer structure is extremely advanced. With our current technology, we can't locate any visible entrances."

After five hours of excavation, the drilling team had finally reached the layer of ice surrounding the ship. But now a new problem had appeared.

The ship’s technology was clearly highly sophisticated—perhaps even surpassing that of the Kree.

The robots were unable to detect any visible seams or access points on its surface.

“Use Vibranium. Try to force it open from the outside!"

After a brief moment of thought, Josh decisively gave his next command.

Chapter 278: The Spaceship in the Ice (1)

Boom! With a loud explosion, the snow-covered valley echoed as a cliff opened like a massive door, revealing a deep, dark room inside.

A squad of military robots, waiting outside, quickly moved in tactical formation and entered.

"Area secured!" A few minutes later, after scanning the entire space inside the mountain, the robots reported back via communications.

Shortly after, a rugged, futuristic-looking armored off-road vehicle approached from the distance and stopped in front of the mountain.

It was a Multi-Purpose Infantry Vehicle.

Of course, reality wasn't like a game where such vehicles could be instantly modified to fit different roles. Any modifications still required a proper workshop.

But that didn't stop these vehicles from being a common standard for both the Allies and the Soviets in the Red Alert world.

Yes, in this real-world setting, multi-purpose infantry vehicles weren’t exclusive to the Allies—both factions had their own versions, just like jeeps.

The reason was simple. In a real-world power struggle, aside from top-secret advanced technologies, most conventional weapons and equipment were quite similar between the factions.

This similarity was more about function rather than appearance.

For example, if one side developed an assault rifle and it proved effective, the other side would create its own version.

If one side invented a rocket launcher, the other side would follow suit.

The designs and performance might differ, but the function remained the same.

Infantry vehicles were no exception.

Just because the Allies built a multipurpose infantry vehicle didn't mean the Soviets wouldn't do the same.

In fact, the Soviet infantry vehicle was bulkier than the Allied version, but its durability was unmatched.

It performed excellently in any terrain, desert or mountain, and came with well-equipped internal facilities.

The only drawback? Comfort was not its strong suit.

Josh, rubbing his sore waist as he stepped out of the vehicle, couldn't help but think about that.

Looking around at the desolate, snow-covered landscape, he had to admit—the Wakandans were really good at hiding things.

Right now, he was on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, which was technically part of the Antarctic region.

For the past month, Josh had traveled all over the world—Europe, Africa, North and South America, and now Antarctica.

His mission?

To recover the Vibranium that former Wakandan kings had hidden in secret locations around the world.

A month ago, after capturing the remaining Wakandan forces, he had obtained the Wakandan Royal Vibranium Box—a micro-map of the Earth that marked a total of 23 hidden Vibranium storage sites scattered across the globe.

With each site discovered, Josh's system storage saw its Vibranium stockpile grow exponentially.

Now, forget just fulfilling Yuri's order—he had more than enough Vibranium to handle ten times the amount if needed.

Even if Yuri had that many orders, Josh wouldn't take them all. This advanced metal was a limited resource—once used, it couldn’t be replaced, at least until its true origin was discovered.

Since vibranium came from a meteorite, that meant there had to be more of it somewhere in the universe. But finding its exact origin in the vastness of space was nearly impossible.

Even though Josh now had an extended lifespan, compared to the universe itself, he was still insignificant.

The Vibranium cache on King George Island was the final hiding spot—and also the largest.

Since the robots had already checked the interior, and previous recoveries had gone smoothly, Josh felt at ease as he entered the mountain.

Inside, rows of long metal Wakandan-style storage crates filled the space.

To be honest, they looked a lot like coffins.

Not that Josh minded—after all, not only was the Vibranium stored inside, but even the crates themselves were made of the precious metal.

With a simple touch, all of the crates were absorbed into his system storage, greatly increasing his Vibranium supply.

This final stash contained the most Vibranium of all the hidden locations.

After finishing the collection, Josh exited the mountain and signaled the robot soldiers to clean up.

"Cleaning up" meant blowing up the cave.

Since the site contained more than just Vibranium—there were also various Wakandan-style artifacts—Josh didn’t want anyone in the future to connect this place to Wakanda. Destroying it all was the best solution.

It was impressive how all the Wakandan storage sites were in remote, uninhabited locations, making Josh's job easier.

King George Island, for example, had been discovered by Europeans in the 17th century, but no one lived there because of the extreme cold. It would be at least another decade before countries began to establish research stations.

At this point, the only visitors were the occasional whaling ships that came to the surrounding waters during the Antarctic summer in January. Otherwise, no one ever set foot here—well, except for the numerous birds.

Thinking about it, Josh recalled the countless penguins he had seen on the beach and the terns soaring through the cold sea breeze.

"Commander, the system has detected an unusual signal from the center of the island!"

Just as Josh was about to get into the infantry vehicle to leave, the scanner robot on the vehicle suddenly reported.

"How far?" Josh frowned.

An unknown signal in this desolate, frozen wasteland? This was how horror movies started.

And in Antarctica, of all places? Wait—Alien vs. Predator?

No, that didn't make sense. He'd never heard Mar-Vell mention anything about a Yautja-like civilization in this world.

If Predators existed here, they would’ve definitely clashed with the Kree by now.

“Not far—about fifteen kilometers,” the scanner bot replied.

"Send a squad of robots to check it out."

Even though it seemed suspicious, Josh decided to investigate.

As for himself, he ordered the robot driver to take the multi-purpose infantry vehicle back to the VTOL stationed outside the valley.

That way, even if the robot squad encountered any problems, Josh could escape at any time.

And in the worst-case scenario, he still had his teleportation belt.

Chapter 261: The Eternals Are Nothing Special! (2)

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Patel.

Once Patel understood the full situation, he knew Nehru’s career was over.

And worse, the newly independent, still-unified India was in deep trouble.

He made the smartest decision possible.

He stripped Nehru of all authority, placed him under house arrest, and ordered the military not to resist any actions by the U.S., Britain, or the Soviets.

This was, without a doubt, the right move.

In this era, no single country could take on all three superpowers.

The last people who tried—Hitler and the Red Skull—had long since turned to dust.

Though this decision shattered India’s dream of becoming a global power, at least the country wouldn’t have to suffer massive losses.

In a way, Patel had unknowingly fulfilled Gandhi’s ideals.

Meanwhile, another unexpected event occurred.

Shortly after the New Delhi incident, West Bengal declared independence.

But at this point, India had no time to deal with it.

Thus, Bangladesh was born decades earlier than in the original timeline—but instead of being based on East Bengal, it was now led by West Bengal.

The new leader of Bangladesh could hardly believe how smoothly things had unfolded—it felt like a dream.

...

Mumbai, India.

Kingo stood by the window of his mansion, gazing at the chaotic streets below, his brows tightly furrowed.

The armies of the three great nations were about to arrive in India to enforce sanctions, and the government had chosen a policy of non-resistance.

In a metropolis like Mumbai, this was no longer a secret.

This had plunged people from all walks of life into panic.

Kingo, who had lived here for nearly a century, felt deep sympathy but chose not to interfere—even though he was still considered a close friend of Nehru.

He always remembered the words of Ajak, the leader of the Eternals.

The Eternals should not interfere with the natural development of humanity.

Besides, he lacked the power to change anything.

While each Eternal possessed a unique ability, the truth was that, apart from a few exceptional warriors like Ikaris, the rest had combat strength only on par with enhanced super soldiers.

This was due to the fact that the Celestials used high-quality materials to create them.

Take Ajak, for example—despite her formidable healing abilities, she was utterly helpless against the Deviants. She had to rely on a weapon to defend herself.

For most of her time on Earth, she needed the protection of Ikaris.

This disparity led to the fatal disagreement between them—when Ikaris decided to kill her, she had no way to resist.

Kingo’s own combat abilities, while not as weak as Ajak’s, were only slightly above average among the Eternals.

His power allowed him to fire energy blasts from his hands.

Sounds impressive—like a powerful ADC in a battle. (TL/N: ADC (Attack Damage Carry) is an archaic term used to refer to a champion that deals strong, continuous damage with their basic attacks and scales with attack-related stats - i.e. attack damage, critical strike chance and attack speed. This is League of Legends)

But in reality, for his blasts to have real destructive force, he had to charge them for a long time.

Otherwise, his regular shots were only as strong as high-caliber rifle bullets.

In ancient times, his "infinite ammo" ability might have made him a conqueror.

But in the modern era?

One powerful artillery shell could send him flying.

So, aside from exceptions like Ikaris and Thanos, the so-called Eternals weren’t all that special.

Just as he was sighing at the chaotic scene outside, his butler walked in.

"Master, there’s an American lady downstairs asking for you."

An American? A woman?

Kingo was surprised.

His current identity was that of a high-caste Indian film star, though he had close ties with the West—mainly the British.

Although India's film industry was booming in this era, it was still influenced primarily by Britain rather than Hollywood.

The term "Bollywood" hadn’t even been coined yet.

So why was an American looking for him?

"Did she say what she wants?" Kingo asked.

"She claims to represent Stark Pictures and wishes to discuss a film collaboration with you."

Kingo's eyes lit up.

Stark Pictures?

"Invite her in immediately!"

The reason he chose to live as a film star was simple—he loved acting.

In movies, he could experience countless different lives.

And Hollywood, the pinnacle of filmmaking, naturally fascinated him.

Especially Stark Pictures—a true industry giant.

Soon, the American woman mentioned by the butler arrived in the reception hall, accompanied by two stern-faced bodyguards.

She was a beautiful blonde, and thinking about the rumors of Howard Stark’s colorful private life, Kingo couldn’t help but feel that this was very much like Stark.

"Mr. Kingo, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Natasha Romanoff, a business manager from Stark Studios. I'm here because our company is working on a movie and we'd like to invite you to be a part of it," the woman said with a smile, getting right to the point.

"Oh? What kind of movie is it?" Kingo asked with interest.

"The movie is called Eternals. The story takes place over 7,000 years ago, where a powerful race, led by a strong figure named Bruce Wayne, arrives on Earth..." As Natasha explained the plot, Kingo’s expression completely changed the moment he heard the first word.

"Ms. Romanoff, how do you know about the Eternals?" he asked seriously.

"What?" Natasha looked confused at his question.

Seeing her reaction, Kingo frowned. Could this just be a coincidence?

"Oh, sorry, my English isn’t very good. I meant, do the Eternals really exist in this world?" Kingo quickly adjusted his expression and smiled, but his thoughts had already drifted to his fellow Eternals.

When was the last time he had seen them?

"Mr. Kingo, you must be joking. This is just a fictional story. There’s no way something like the Eternals actually exists. Unless… you’ve seen them before? Or perhaps… you are one of them?" Natasha’s smile widened as she skillfully led his thoughts in the direction she wanted. Then, without warning, her expression shifted, and she dropped her act.

Before Kingo could react, she was already in close range.

Several small, button-like devices flew out and attached themselves to Kingo’s body.

The next second, a powerful electric current surged through him, making his body convulse and collapse onto the ground.

"Tsk, electrocuting someone really feels satisfying. No wonder the boss likes to use this method so much. But is this guy really an Eternal? He doesn't seem all that special," Natasha said smugly as she watched Kingo twitching on the ground.

But her smile faded quickly when she noticed that Kingo wasn't completely unconscious. He was still struggling to get to his feet.

After all, the body of an Eternal was much stronger than that of an ordinary human. The powerful current, which could knock out a full-grown bull, had only left him momentarily weakened—it hadn’t made him lose consciousness.

But for Natasha, that short moment was more than enough.

In the next second, a thin, drill-tipped chain dropped into her hand from her waist. Without hesitation, she drove it straight into Kingo's shoulder.

Kingo screamed in pain as Natasha skillfully threaded the chain through both of his shoulders, completely restraining him.

The chain was made of vibranium—there was no way an Eternal could break free from it.

And with his shoulders pierced, any large movement of his arms would cause him unbearable pain, making it impossible for him to charge and fire his energy attacks. His fighting ability was completely neutralized.

Kingo’s mansion had plenty of guards, but because he was an Eternal, they were usually just for show.

But now, for the first time, he realized how much he needed them.

Unfortunately, they were useless.

At the same time Natasha attacked him, another team had already infiltrated the mansion and silently taken out the guards.

In no time, Kingo was stuffed into an ornate container, loaded onto a truck parked at the entrance, and driven away.

With the current chaos in Mumbai, no one would notice the disappearance of a famous movie star for a while.

And even if they did, no one would care.

After all, even the Prime Minister himself was struggling to survive—who would bother worrying about a mere celebrity?

Chapter 260: The Eternals Are Nothing Special! (1)

The investigation team from Britain, America, and the Soviet Union was attacked in New Delhi. The head of the British delegation was killed, while the American and Soviet members were captured. Instead of rescuing them, the Indian military went to the extreme of bombing the hotel in an attempt to cover up the scandal.

This incident quickly became headline news across Western countries.

Originally, if things had gone according to Nehru’s plan, with all investigation members dead, he could have blamed the attackers and sacrificed a few low-level soldiers as scapegoats to appease the three nations.

The appearance of Apocalypse Tanks also gave him a reason to shift the blame onto the Soviet Union.

Even though India would still face international criticism, the country itself wouldn’t suffer too much damage.

However, for this plan to work, Josh and Voyant, two key figures, couldn’t leave New Delhi alive.

But things didn't go as planned.

Just as Nehru sent out his fabricated reports to the three governments, Josh and Voyant, through their intelligence channels, informed the White House and the Kremlin that they were safe and revealed the truth of the attack.

Both countries immediately shared this information with Downing Street.

With that, Nehru’s once-decent image among the three nations’ leaders was completely ruined.

In the media, India was portrayed as the new face of evil.

People in all three nations demanded severe punishment for India.

The British reaction was especially strong. Churchill, though no longer Prime Minister, rushed to the U.S. as soon as he heard the news.

Although he had been removed from office near the end of the war, he remained active in politics as leader of the Conservative Party and as a member of Parliament.

Churchill had always opposed India’s independence.

Ironically, during World War II, he was the first to promise post-war independence for India.

Of course, his agreement was purely a strategic move to keep India loyal to Britain during the war.

Otherwise, with Britain already struggling in Asia, an Indian rebellion would have made things even worse.

As the war neared its end, Churchill completely changed his stance. Instead of supporting independence, he took a firm position, ready to use force if necessary.

However, he didn’t expect to be removed from power before he could act.

When the Labour Party took over, they turned his temporary promise into reality.

This frustrated Churchill greatly.

And he wasn’t the only one—many British citizens were also unhappy.

Despite Britain’s struggles in World War II and the economic difficulties that followed, the country had only recently lost its position as the world’s leading power. The British people still held onto their national pride.

Over the years, Britain had lost many of its colonies, and the government’s failures in suppressing revolts further weakened its authority. The Wakanda War was won, but at a huge cost. Meanwhile, the loss of colonial resources had plunged the economy into crisis, causing Prime Minister Attlee's popularity to plummet.

But in the end, Attlee was the Prime Minister, not Churchill.

The Labour Party controlled the government, not the Conservatives.

So, no matter how much Churchill opposed it, India’s independence had already become a fact.

However, this crisis in India made him see a new opportunity—an opportunity for Britain to return.

Of course, Churchill knew that things had changed. Britain could no longer dominate India as it once did.

Given the shifting global power balance, it was clear that the leading superpowers were now the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Without their approval, Britain couldn’t achieve much.

If Britain wanted to return to India, the opinions of these two giants were crucial.

Of course, for Britain, the most important factor was America's stance.

When Churchill arrived at the White House, Truman was already furious over the India incident.

The previous UN investigation had already been an embarrassment for the U.S., but India’s military bombing a hotel made things even worse.

In this situation, it didn’t matter that Josh was a powerful billionaire in American high society and the actual head of the CIA.

Even if he had been just an ordinary official, the U.S. would still have to act.

Otherwise, how could it maintain its position as a global superpower without becoming a laughingstock?

Despite Truman's calm and mild-mannered public image, he was ruthless at heart.

Once he understood Churchill’s intentions, they quickly came to an agreement and drafted an initial plan.

At that moment, the Soviet leader also called the White House.

After hours of discussion, the three sides finalized the plan—though they all chose to ignore the mysterious "Soviet" super tank that had appeared during the New Delhi incident.

Of course, immediate action was taken only by the U.S. and the Soviets, since Churchill, not being Prime Minister, couldn’t make decisions on behalf of Britain.

But when he returned with the plan, the Attlee government had little choice.

Refusing would not only mean missing out on potential benefits but also offending both the U.S. and the Soviets.

Attlee wasn’t foolish enough to reject it.

As a result, the British Pacific Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which had been operating in Southeast Asia, set sail for the Indian Ocean.

The Soviets were even more direct—massive mechanized units gathered in Kyrgyzstan, then moved through Afghanistan and Pakistan, advancing toward northern India through Kashmir.

Even with India's poor intelligence capabilities, an operation of this magnitude couldn't have gone unnoticed.

But by that time, Nehru had already lost control.

Soon after international pressure mounted, he was stripped of power and placed under house arrest.

Although he had been the most powerful figure in India, he did not rule the country alone.

Another man held almost equal authority

Chapter 259: Apocalypse! (2)

The first victims were the outdated Indian tanks forming the blockade around the hotel—eight old Sherman M4s.

These WWII-era tanks, once considered formidable, were now nothing more than outdated relics on the verge of obsolescence. Against the 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns firing armor-piercing rounds—several decades ahead in technology—they were nothing but paper targets, instantly shredded beyond recognition.

As for the unfortunate Indian soldiers caught in the hail of bullets, there wasn’t even a chance to find intact body parts—only scattered pieces of flesh remained.

Next, the artillery positions became the target. If even tanks couldn’t withstand the barrage, what hope did these lightly protected guns have?

Worse, the Indian soldiers had stacked their ammunition dangerously close to the artillery. A single burst of gunfire set off a chain reaction, causing massive explosions that sent entire cannons flying into the air.

Such devastating firepower and brutal battlefield carnage were almost unheard of in the Asian theater, terrifying the Indian soldiers into a complete rout. Officers screamed for order, but it was pointless—the officers themselves were fleeing faster than their troops.

Seeing the Indian army collapse in mere moments, the Apocalypse Tank ceased fire. In an act of utter defiance, it arrogantly rolled northward right under Nehru’s nose, moving at a seemingly slow yet unstoppable pace.

Everything in its path—houses, vehicles, walls—was effortlessly crushed into rubble. Nothing could stand in its way.

"Call the air force! Stop that thing at all costs! And get me a photograph of it—those damn Soviets owe us an explanation!" Nehru roared at his trembling secretary, who was still cowering on the ground.

Why blame the Soviets?

Because emblazoned on the Apocalypse Tank’s hull was a large, unmistakable hammer-and-sickle emblem.

Even though the sudden appearance of a Soviet super-tank in New Delhi was absurd, and Nehru knew there was a high chance this was a setup, he didn’t care.

That emblem gave him the perfect excuse to push the blame onto the Soviets.

In his mind, nothing would serve as a better bargaining chip in future negotiations.

But there was one crucial detail Nehru overlooked—whether he even had the qualifications to negotiate with the Soviets in the first place.

Did he really think they were the kind of people who would sit down and talk things out?

Of course, Nehru had no such standing—but Josh did, at least to some extent.

"Mr. Kahn, please believe me—that absolutely isn’t ours!"

Meanwhile, Claire Voyant wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, her voice filled with anxiety as she spoke to Josh.

As a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer, Claire Voyant was well aware of the Red Army’s actual tank inventory.

Yes, after the IS-3, the Soviets had indeed developed various heavy and even super-heavy tank projects.

But Voyant was absolutely certain—none of them included anything remotely like the behemoth they had just witnessed.

Although, admittedly, the tank’s design did look distinctly Soviet.

Besides, most of the Soviet super-heavy tank projects had already been scrapped.

The recent war between Austria and Yugoslavia had proven something crucial: Austria’s mass deployment of AMX-30 main battle tanks had forced militaries worldwide to realize that traditional classifications of medium and heavy tanks were becoming obsolete.

The era of the main battle tank had officially begun.

Among all the nations reacting to this incident, the fastest, without a doubt, was the United States—Austria’s "big brother."

With the AMX-30 main battle tank as a template, America had already entered the prototype testing phase for its own new-generation main battle tank.

Soviet military experts weren’t fools either. They had immediately halted all heavy tank production and research, shifting their focus toward developing more versatile main battle tanks.

It could be said that, due to Josh’s influence—along with Austria’s—the world’s military weaponry had advanced at least twenty years ahead of schedule.

However!

The appearance of this super tank on the streets of New Delhi had already surpassed the conventional military role of a tank.

To Voyant, that monstrosity disappearing into the distance wasn’t a tank at all.

A "steel fortress" would be a far more fitting description.

Even though she wasn’t a technical specialist, as an intelligence officer, she knew enough about military technology to understand one thing—she had absolutely no idea what kind of engine could power such a colossal war machine.

But that wasn’t even the biggest issue.

The real problem was—why the hell was it painted with their national emblem?!

This was definitely bad news.

The Soviet Union was already under constant pressure from the Western world. If this thing became the centerpiece of Western propaganda…

Voyant couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences.

"As someone who personally witnessed this event, of course I believe you, Ms. Voyant… But given the current situation, you should understand how the higher-ups will spin this story. There’s nothing I can do to change that," Josh said solemnly, his gaze fixed on the departing Apocalypse Tank, wearing an expression of helplessness.

'Tsk, boss’s acting skills are getting more and more refined. If he went to Hollywood, he’d definitely win an Oscar.'

Vito, standing next to him with an equally serious expression, couldn't help but admire Josh's flawless performance.

There was no doubt—only Josh could have brought out an Apocalypse Tank in this world.

And in fact, this tank was specifically prepared as the escape vehicle for the First Jedi Knights.

Given its sheer power, even the United States of this era would struggle to counter it—let alone the Indian army.

Josh had no doubt that the Indians lacked the capability to stop it effectively.

Once the tank reached the mountains of Nepal in the northeast, its 24 operators only needed to hold out until Josh arrived for extraction.

At that point, he would simply store the entire tank in his system inventory—perfectly clean.

As for the Soviet emblem on the hull?

That was just Josh’s personal touch.

After all, an Apocalypse Tank without a Soviet insignia wouldn’t feel complete, would it?

And so, the chaos in New Delhi came to an end, following the Indian army’s crushing defeat and the massive unrest sparked by the tank’s rampage.

Of course, the turmoil was only over in New Delhi.

For the entire Indian nation, the real show was just beginning.

(A/N: Historical Note: Some argue that the capital at the time was simply "Delhi," but according to available records, the British began building New Delhi in 1911, and by 1931 it had already replaced Delhi as the new administrative capital.

When India gained independence in 1947, New Delhi remained the capital, though it wasn't officially called the "national capital" because India hadn't yet become a republic.

It was not until 1950, after the formal establishment of the Republic, that New Delhi was officially designated as the capital.

Functionally, however, New Delhi had served as the capital since 1931-unrelated to the conflicts of the 1960s.)

Chapter 258: Apocalypse! (1)

(TL/N: I am so stupid. Yesterday, I translated the chapters but forgot to post them. So today, here are 4 chapters for you.)

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the roar of cannons and thick smoke, the once luxurious palace-style hotel quickly turned into a pile of rubble.

Standing on the top floor of a house across the street, Claire Voyant's expression was somber.

If Josh hadn’t prepared a secret escape route in advance, they would have been buried in that destruction.

That’s right—a secret passage.

Earlier, when Claire Voyant led her team back into the hotel in a panic, hoping to join forces with Josh’s group to break through the attackers’ blockade, Josh, who had already realized the hotel was cut off from the outside world, suddenly led them to a storage room in the basement. After moving some supplies aside, a hidden passageway was revealed.

The moment she saw the passage, Claire Voyant finally understood how Josh had managed to investigate everything over the past few weeks without ever leaving the hotel.

Following the passage, they easily avoided the attackers' search and moved to this safe house.

After escaping the hotel, Voyant originally wanted to go straight to Nehru.

But Josh stopped them, saying their whereabouts had to be kept secret.

And then, just moments later, the hotel was bombed.

Seeing how Nehru was even willing to bomb the hotel, Voyant could no longer predict what would have happened if she had gone to meet him.

In fact, her experiences during the UN investigation had already caused her to lose any goodwill toward that country.

India had always had more men than women, so in many places, men simply couldn’t handle seeing a woman.

If she hadn’t been a trained agent with good reflexes and weapons, she might have ended up as just another helpless victim.

And now, after everything that had happened, Claire Voyant’s hatred for Nehru—and the entire country—ran deep.

“This time, I really have to thank you, Mr. Kahn. If not for you, we would all be dead,” Voyant sighed, suppressing her anger as she sincerely thanked Josh.

"No need to thank me. Right now, when it comes to India, we’re allies. What we should be focusing on is how we're going to report this when we get back," Josh said seriously.

"You're right. Nehru will have to pay for this," Voyant replied, her expression just as serious.

While they discussed how to deal with Nehru, on the roof of another building near the hotel, Nehru's face was just as grim.

He knew exactly what he had done and the consequences he would soon face.

But at this point, there was no going back.

As soon as the smoke cleared, he immediately ordered the army to begin a "rescue operation.

In reality, this was just an excuse to search for the bodies of the UN representatives and the attackers.

For Nehru, the best outcome would be if they were already dead.

If not... then his men would finish the job.

Only then could he think of a way to cover up the truth.

But this idea was only a fantasy.

Not only had Claire Voyant and Josh escaped long before the hotel was bombed, but just as the search team approached the ruins, one of the soldiers—who had particularly sharp hearing—suddenly picked up the low, rumbling sound of an engine coming from beneath the debris.

Before anyone could react, the deafening roar of the engine grew louder.

The next second, with a massive explosion, a section of the hotel's southern ruins was blasted open from the inside.

Then a monstrous steel beast charged out.

The so-called "rescue workers" who failed to dodge in time were instantly crushed into pulp beneath its massive treads.

As the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the terrifying war machine finally revealed itself to the Indian army.

Two massive 125mm cannons, four Mammoth anti-air missiles, eight dual-mounted 14.5mm heavy machine guns, and four enormous tracks supported its colossal frame—40 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 12 meters high—covered in 16 layers of reinforced steel armor, equivalent to 1600mm of protection.

This was a true superweapon.

Its name; Apocalypse.

Yes, this was the Apocalypse Tank from the world of Red Alert—the undisputed king of land warfare.

Unlike in the game, where a wealthy commander could mass-produce them, in the real Red Alert universe, Apocalypse Tanks were never standard weapons. They were ultimate land-based fortresses, deployed only in key strategic locations or by elite frontline forces.

While the Soviet Union in Red Alert had over 100,000 regular tanks, the total number of Apocalypse Tanks never exceeded a thousand due to their extreme cost.

But their sheer power was unquestionable.

With enough supplies, a single Apocalypse Tank could take on an entire Allied infantry brigade—complete with heavy artillery and air support.

Against the outdated Indian army? Forget a brigade—this thing could tear through all the forces stationed around New Delhi without breaking a sweat.

"Destroy it! Destroy that tank, now!"

On the rooftop, Nehru's mind went blank as he heard the tank's engine roar. Panic swept through him and he frantically ordered his troops to attack.

The soldiers, members of the capital's elite guard, reacted quickly. Artillery of all sizes immediately opened fire on the Apocalypse Tank.

But the most powerful weapons available to them were just some old British six-pounder guns and 5.5-inch (140mm) howitzers left behind by the British before their withdrawal.

These were formidable weapons in their time, used by the British to break through fortifications and even counter German Panther and Tiger tanks during World War II.

In fact, they were the same weapons used to bomb the hotel earlier.

But against the Apocalypse tank?

They were utterly useless.

The shells either bounced harmlessly off the tank's thick armor, landing among their own troops and causing friendly fire, or exploded with barely enough force to scratch the paint.

The Indian soldiers were dumbfounded.

And the Apocalypse Tank was never one to take hits without striking back.

It didn't even fire its main cannons.

Instead, its eight dual-mounted 14.5mm heavy machine guns came to life, unleashing a deadly hail of bullets.

Originally developed by the Soviets in the 1950s, the early versions of these guns had been used for anti-tank warfare during World War II.

By the 1990s, they were still powerful enough to destroy armored vehicles and light bunkers—against infantry, they were absolute killing machines.

And now, in 1948 India...

Chapter 257: Bombing the Hotel (2)

The Special Forces had already placed powerful explosives underground, cutting off Raju and Bheem's escape route.

Seeing this, both of them were stunned.

In that brief moment of hesitation, the hidden snipers fired again.

This time, the shots came from different angles than before, avoiding Bheem completely.

Now, with Bheem in front of him, Raju had no room to dodge—unless he used Bheem as a shield.

But even though he realized this, he refused to do it.

Bang! Bang!

Two bullets hit him—one in the left leg, the other in the right side of his waist.

Yet, the snipers remained unseen.

After all, their training had taught them one thing; if a gun can solve the problem, there’s no need for close combat.

Especially when they were armed with vibranium-alloy equipment.

A relentless hail of gunfire tore through the two men, turning them into lifeless, bullet-riddled husks. Only after their demise was confirmed did the four shadow warriors, identical in appearance to the decoy agent, finally emerge from the darkness and surround the two blood-soaked bodies.

...

Outside the hotel, while Raju and Bheem were carrying out their infiltration mission, the reinforcements called for by Nehru had arrived.

However, the first wave consisted only of the New Delhi police force and the security personnel from the Prime Minister's Office—this was the capital, after all, and these were the only armed forces readily available.

The military, stationed in remote areas, couldn't possibly respond as quickly.

Yet, despite the growing crisis, even Nehru himself wasn’t sure why he had summoned the army. Firepower alone wouldn’t solve the problem.

A British investigator was dead. Inside the hotel, representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States remained trapped, along with countless foreign dignitaries and elites.

Ordering the army to storm the hotel with heavy artillery?

Wait… bombing the hotel?

As soon as the thought took root, it spread through Nehru’s mind like wildfire.

Under normal circumstances, issuing such an order would have been sheer madness.

But this was no longer a normal situation.

The representatives of three powerful nations held damning evidence that could bring about his downfall. With Richard, the British delegate, already dead, Nehru was facing an inevitable setback.

Whether or not he managed to eliminate the assailants inside and rescue the hostages—including Josh, the lead U.S. representative, and the Soviet delegation—his fate was sealed.

So what difference did a few more deaths make?

Josh’s relentless pressure had already driven Nehru to the brink.

His last shred of rationality barely kept the madness at bay.

And then, the final straw was laid.

The hotel’s main doors suddenly swung open, and two bodies were unceremoniously tossed out.

"Go check that out!" Nehru yelled at the New Delhi police commissioner standing beside him.

Judging by their clothing, the bodies appeared to belong to ordinary Indian citizens. Yet an unshakable sense of dread gripped Nehru's chest.

The commissioner wasted no time in sending officers to retrieve the bodies.

Strangely, the enemy did not fire at them. The bodies were carried back without resistance.

And when Nehru finally saw their faces, he almost fainted.

Raju and Bheem.

His two most trusted warriors.

For years they had been instrumental in his rise to power, their unmatched abilities making them national symbols of strength—much like Captain America.

In private, Nehru had often boasted that if the two had been given the chance to fight on the European front, Captain America would have been nothing.

But now, the very heroes he had once prided himself on lay lifeless before him, slain within the walls of that cursed hotel.

"When is Kaul arriving?" Nehru’s voice was ice-cold as he addressed his secretary.

"According to his last report, General Kaul will arrive in thirty minutes," the secretary promptly responded.

Brij Mohan Kaul—Chief of Staff at Army Headquarters and Commander of the Fourth Delhi Guards—Nehru’s close confidant.

"Tell him that if he’s not here in fifteen minutes, he can start looking for a new career… perhaps in a fishery," Nehru growled through gritted teeth.

"Understood!"

Never before had the secretary seen such unrestrained fury on Nehru’s face. Without another word, he stormed off to make the call.

Even in peacetime, the Indian military was known for its sluggish bureaucracy. But in the face of Nehru's threat, they dared not delay.

Ten minutes later, Kaul and his troops arrived and quickly surrounded the hotel.

Yet upon hearing Nehru’s next command, General Kaul was dumbfounded.

"Flatten the entire hotel!" Nehru roared, pointing to the building.

"Prime Minister, please reconsider! We cannot do this!" Kaul protested.

He wasn’t just a mindless soldier—blindly obeying orders was not in his nature.

He came from a middle-class Brahmin background, belonging to the same lineage as Nehru. In terms of social standing, he was even a notch above Nehru.

His rise to power was largely due to his early investment in Nehru—long before the latter had made a name for himself.

With a clear mind, he fully understood who resided in that hotel and whose prestigious family owned it.

This wasn’t a place that could simply be bombed on a whim.

If he gave that order, his own career would be finished as well.

So he couldn't understand what kind of madness had possessed Nehru.

No matter who these attackers were, they must have had a purpose. Wouldn't it be easier just to give in to their demands?

As one of India’s elite, he knew that as long as no one died, any problem could be negotiated away.

But Nehru was well aware of all this too.

The issue was that he couldn’t fulfill the attackers' demands—because they had never made any in the first place.

Every negotiator he had sent was gunned down at the hotel entrance without a word.

This made it clear that the assailants weren’t looking to negotiate. Their sole objective was to eliminate the American and Soviet representatives inside.

And if they succeeded, Nehru would still have to face the wrath of all three nations.

No matter what, he was doomed.

So why not take matters into his own hands and have the hotel reduced to rubble?

At least that way, he might take out a few of the attackers and buy himself some leverage.

But no matter how he ordered it, General Kaul stood firm in his refusal.

Frustrated, Nehru had no choice but to turn to another officer—Major General Sam Manekshaw, who had just been promoted as Director of Military Operations.

Unlike the opportunistic Kaul, Manekshaw was a pure soldier—a man who would one day become a legendary military figure in India’s history.

Without hesitation, Manekshaw accepted Nehru’s command and ordered the artillery strike on the hotel.

And with that single shot, the entire world was left in utter shock.

“…Has Nehru lost his mind?”

Inside a civilian house just dozens of meters from the hotel, Claire Voyant and Josh—both of whom should have been inside the hotel—stood at the window, watching the rising smoke with wide eyes.

Chapter 256: Bombing the Hotel (1)

The hotel where Josh and his team stayed was the most luxurious in the area, as grand as a palace.

Due to the strict social hierarchy in the region, there were no other buildings within 20 meters of the hotel, and no tall structures beyond that.

This made the hotel an excellent stronghold.

Like the Gurkha soldiers who met a tragic end, Raju and Bheem, the two local superhumans, tried to break through from around the hotel.

But they failed just the same.

The attackers who had taken control of the hotel had unbelievably good shooting skills.

Raju didn't even get a chance to draw his bow before he was forced to retreat, narrowly avoiding being shot.

Bheem was even worse off—he got shot in the shoulder. If not for his quick reflexes and tough body, he would have been finished.

Realizing that a frontal assault was nearly impossible, the two decided to enter through the sewers.

But they weren’t sure if the sewers were guarded.

Were there guards at the sewer entrance? Yes, but only at the hotel’s internal sewer exit, where a single guard was stationed.

The sewers in this area were too dreadful. Even the elite Special Forces, trained from childhood to endure hardship, were unwilling to go in, so they posted only one guard at the internal sewer entrance. (TL/N: Bro probably lost a bet)

That’s right—this "attack" on the hotel and Josh wasn't from an enemy force. It was orchestrated by Josh himself as a test for the elite Special Forces unit he had just ordered to undergo a graduation evaluation. (TL/N: In this chapter author is referring to them as 'special forces' instead of Jedi Knights)

This ambush was another grand plan by Josh, following the previous attack on the UN investigation team.

With only one guard at the sewer entrance, the two superhumans saw an opportunity.

While the Special Forces avoided the sewers, the two locals had no such reservations. They entered the filthy underground passageway and soon reached a spot just below the hotel, separated from the guard by nothing more than a manhole cover.

The sewer entrance was located next to the hotel basement’s utility room.

Even though a thick manhole cover and the noise from the utility room made it difficult to hear, Raju, with his sharp senses, pinpointed the guard’s position by detecting his faint breathing and footsteps. (TL/N: Real Life PUBG)

In the next second, Bheem used his superhuman strength to smash open the manhole cover. At the same time, Raju drew his bow and aimed at the startled guard.

Whoosh!An arrow shot out from Raju, the local version of Hawkeye, striking the special forces soldier right in the face.

The soldier clutched the arrow, covering his face as he fell straight backward.

They did it! Raju and Bheem exchanged glances, their faces filled with joy.

But their celebration was short-lived.

Bheem stepped forward to examine the fallen attacker, hoping to finally uncover their identity. Until now, none of the assailants had shown their faces—all those who appeared were tightly wrapped up.

However, just as Bheem flipped the body over, a sharp blade suddenly plunged into his heart without warning.

"Ah!!!" Bheem roared in pain and rage as he kicked the "corpse" in front of him with all his strength, sending it flying.

"What happened, Bheem?" Raju, who had been checking the nearby hallway, was startled and quickly turned back.

With his sharp eyes, he immediately spotted the dagger lodged in Bheem’s chest. His pupils shrank in shock.

At that moment, a sudden crackling sound filled the air. Four bullets from an unknown source blocked Raju's path.

Raju's flexibility was extraordinary. He twisted his body in an almost unnatural way and narrowly dodged three bullets. However, the fourth one grazed his outer thigh, leaving a bloody scratch.

But there was no time to worry about the injury. After dodging, he rolled over to Bheem's side.

"How are you, my brother?" Raju asked, his voice shaking as he reached for the dagger in Bheem's chest, ready to pull it out.

"Heh heh heh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. As long as the dagger stays in him, he might survive a few more minutes. But if you pull it out... heh heh!"

A chilling voice came from the other side.

Raju turned his head and saw the "corpse" he had shot earlier slowly rising to its feet. The full-face mask was completely intact, with no sign of an arrow wound.

Even if they had been slow to realize it before, Raju and Bheem now knew—they had walked into a trap.

The enemy had anticipated their entry through the sewers and had set up an ambush.

What’s more, their strength was beyond anything Raju and Bheem had imagined. Even now, Raju could only see the single opponent in front of him, while the others who fired the shots remained completely hidden. He could only guess their positions from the trajectories of the bullets.

But what use was that?

Bheem’s heart had been pierced. His tough body kept him alive for the moment, but with the medical technology of this time, there was no way to save him.

And after their brief exchange, Raju had no confidence in taking on four enemies alone.

Not to mention that there were probably more of these powerful fighters inside the hotel.

When did they provoke such terrifying enemies?

"Brother, there's no other way. You must escape and report this to Nehru!"

As the "corpse" drew a long blade and stepped toward them, Bheem leaned close to Raju and whispered.

"No, my brother! I will not leave you behind!" Raju was stunned.

"Enough! I know my condition. I have no chance to survive!" Bheem smiled bitterly. The wound in his heart made it difficult for him to speak. His only option was to use his last ounce of strength to buy Raju some time.

Raju knew it too. In the end, he could only nod sadly and accept the plan.

Bheem stood in front of him, bracing himself to shield Raju while he escaped.

"A true warrior. But unfortunately, even if you try to run, you have no chance."

The masked enemy sighed and shook his head. Then he pulled out a detonator.

Boom!

A powerful explosion shook the hotel, and smoke and dust filled the sewers.

Chapter 255: Won't you let people live in peace? (1)

“Nehru, I believe we need a proper explanation for this matter.”

The British representative spoke, his usual gentle smile now completely gone. His gaze toward Nehru was ice-cold.

Don’t be fooled by his gentlemanly appearance—he’s an elite from MI6. Who knows, maybe his codename is even 007.

Claire Claire Voyant and the young girl beside her, Ella, also looked at Nehru with hostility.

"Explain what? The attack on the UN investigation team has nothing to do with us! As for our financial and troop movements, that’s an internal affair, a military secret!” Nehru gritted his teeth and refused to back down.

“So, you’re saying you refuse to provide a proper explanation for this?” Josh, sitting at the head of the table, glared at Nehru with a serious expression.

Inside, he was already celebrating, but he made sure not to show it on his face.

No matter what Nehru chose, Josh had already won.

"I've said all I have to say! This is a military matter. It was just a coincidence that we were in the same area. These documents prove nothing!"

In the end, Nehru decided to withstand the pressure from the three countries. If necessary, he could always sacrifice some of the people named in the documents.

"Very well. In that case, I have no choice but to report everything to the White House." Josh’s face remained expressionless.

"Hmph! Do as you please!” Nehru turned away with a cold face. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here at all.

“Alright then, gentlemen, you’ve seen Nehru’s attitude. He has no intention of cooperating with our investigation. Given that, I see no reason for us to stay in India any longer.”

Josh watched Nehru leave, his face full of "regret".

"Mr. Kahn is right. There may be no direct evidence, but Nehru's attitude makes it clear that this matter is closely connected to the Indian government. I will send a telegram immediately to report this to Downing Street. Mr. Kahn, may I take these documents with me?" the British representative asked Josh. (TL/N: Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer)

"Go ahead," Josh said with a wave of his hand.

“In that case, I’ll return to report my findings. This time, we truly owe you our thanks, Mr. Kahn. Without your help, we wouldn't have had a single lead," Claire said with a smile as she stood up, her attitude completely different from when she arrived.

However, in her mind, the threat level of the CIA had risen by at least two levels.

To gather such detailed intelligence in such a short time—America’s intelligence capabilities were far more terrifying than she had expected. It was clear that her homeland needed a stronger intelligence agency to compete.

Right now, the intelligence agencies in her country were too divided, their resources too scattered.

Josh had no idea what Claire Voyant was thinking, but he had expected that the CIA’s efficiency in this matter would make the Soviets wary.

What he didn’t expect was that Claire Voyant’s report after returning home would accelerate the Soviet effort to merge its intelligence agencies, ultimately leading to the creation of the KGB.

That’s right—at this point in time, the KGB didn’t even exist yet. It wouldn’t be formed until 1954, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Security Ministry, and other intelligence agencies were reorganized.

Of course, in this world, perhaps Leviathan would be part of the mix as well.

It seems it’s time for our Soviet comrades to return to the fold, Josh thought as he watched Claire Voyant leave.

Just then, he noticed that the young girl, Ella, suddenly turned around and winked at him.

Josh was completely taken aback.

What was that about?

Before he could think further, gunfire and chaos erupted outside the hotel.

Moments later, Claire Voyant and Ella rushed back in, guns in hand.

Josh’s bodyguards, led by Vito, along with the American investigation team’s security personnel, immediately stepped in front of Josh, aiming their weapons at the two women.

"Don't shoot! It wasn't us! It was Mr. Richard—he and his escorts were shot as soon as they left the hotel. The attackers have taken control of the lobby. Damn it, this must be Nehru’s doing! He’s trying to stage another attack to get rid of us!” Claire Voyant quickly raised her gun, signaling she meant no harm, and shouted at Josh.

She was referring to Richard, the British investigator—the friendly gentleman who always wore a smile.

But now he was riddled with bullets and lying dead at the hotel entrance.

“Put down your guns… Damn it, the phone lines have been cut!” Josh first ordered his men to lower their weapons and not to make things difficult for Claire Voyant and Ella. Then, he calmly walked to his desk, picked up the phone, and cursed in frustration when he heard nothing but static.

He turned to Claire Voyant and asked, "How many attackers? Can you identify them?"

“I don’t know how many. I saw three besides the two guarding the lobby, but I’m sure there are more. As for their identities… we can’t confirm yet. But Nehru left just moments before the attack—it can’t be a coincidence!” Claire Voyant said angrily.

What she didn’t know was that outside the hotel, Nehru himself was watching the entrance with a look of deep anxiety.

Just as he had left the hotel, Nehru hadn’t gone far. The moment he heard gunfire from inside, he immediately ordered his driver to turn around and head back.

And when he returned, the first thing he saw was Richard, the British representative, riddled with bullets and lying dead on the ground.

His mind instantly went blank.

There was no doubt about it—the attackers’ true targets were the three-nation investigation teams inside the hotel.

First, the UN investigation team had been ambushed. Now, the follow-up three-nation delegation was under attack, and the British team leader had been killed on the spot.

Was the world just not going to let little India catch a break?

If the entire investigation team perished here, there wouldn’t be enough water in the Ganges to wash away the suspicion.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Nehru immediately ordered his guards to storm the hotel and help.

As the Prime Minister, Nehru’s personal security detail was both highly trained and well-equipped.

People often underestimated Indian forces because, in Josh’s previous life, the Indian military had become the butt of countless jokes. But that didn’t mean they lacked elite troops.

Among India’s most famous forces were the Gurkha mercenaries from Nepal.

Back in the early 19th century, after Britain’s failed invasion of Nepal, the British began recruiting Gurkha soldiers into their ranks. Over the next 200 years, Gurkhas fought in nearly every British war. Though they had suffered defeats—their bravery and ferocity remained legendary worldwide.

After India gained independence, it inherited 80% of Britain’s Gurkha forces and continued the tradition of recruiting them into its army.

However, given the overall state of the Indian military, even the fiercest Gurkhas couldn’t avoid being dulled over time.

That being said, Nehru’s personal guards were still the elite Gurkhas trained under British command. Having received a Western-style education, Nehru favored them highly, making them a key part of his security.

Unfortunately, as formidable as these Gurkhas were, they were still just ordinary people.

And what Nehru didn't know was that the "attackers" who had taken control of the hotel were no ordinary fighters.

They were an entire class of super soldiers.

Yes, a class—not in the military sense of a squad, but an actual classroom of students.

Of course, it wasn’t one of those oversized classes with 40 or 50 students, like in some densely populated countries.

But still, there were twenty-four of them.

That was the number of attackers.

Meanwhile, Nehru's Gurkha security team had only twenty men.

The outcome was decided in an instant.

The twenty Gurkha guards, weapons in hand, barely made it to the hotel entrance before they were all down within twenty seconds.

And during the entire exchange, only two enemy rifles had been fired.

Nehru felt he was losing his mind.

He immediately called the army for reinforcements while desperately praying that Josh and Claire Voyant could hold on inside the hotel. At the same time, he sent people to find the two “superheroes” who had been monitoring the hotel.

Raju and Bheem.

But in reality, Nehru didn’t even need to send for them—Raju and Bheem had already reacted the moment the attack started and had moved into action.

What they didn’t expect, however, was that this entire attack was a trap specifically set for them.

Chapter 254: Won't you let people live in peace? (1)

"I had no intention of informing you, because unfortunately, the information my subordinates secretly gathered showed that the previous attack was closely linked to certain individuals within your government. However, since you are here now, you might as well explain the issues in these documents to us."

As Nehru entered, Josh calmly gestured to John Stern, who then placed several documents in front of those present.

Claire Voyant and the British representative immediately picked them up with curiosity.

They wanted to see what kind of evidence Josh had. After all, they had been investigating for a while but hadn’t found anything substantial.

However, as they read through the documents, their expressions became more serious.

The evidence was too complete. It detailed the financial transactions and personnel movements within Nehru’s government, all meticulously recorded.

And the final destination of these movements was exactly the area where the UN investigation team had been attacked.

Although there was no direct proof that Nehru’s government was behind the attack, if the data was accurate, it was enough justification for the three countries to take action. For the UK, US, and Russia, actual evidence wasn’t necessary—they just needed an excuse to justify their actions to the public.

Josh’s ambiguous "evidence" was perfect for them.

The only question was—was this information real?

Judging from Nehru’s dark expression, the answer was clear. The details in the documents were completely accurate.

The only false part was the target of these personnel movements. They weren’t aimed at the UN investigation team but at a town in Kashmir, where several pro-pakistan leaders lived.

Kashmir was a vast region, covering 170,000 square kilometers, similar in size to Sulawesi.

However, the land was not rich, and its population was sparse, much like many Central Asian countries.

At the time, it had around five million people—less than half of Sulawesi’s population before Josh took control.

Most of the population was nomadic, with 77% belonging to the green faction, leaning towards Pakistan.

Kashmir had no major cities, and even Srinagar, the former capital, had only a few hundred thousand inhabitants.

A town with more than ten thousand people was considered large.

But now, that town had completely disappeared.

Without a doubt, it was the work of the Indians.

And it wasn’t their first time.

In fact, the first major conflict between India and Pakistan began when, after the Mountbatten Plan was introduced, pro-India factions in Kashmir, with Indian support, systematically massacred nearly 200,000 pro-Pakistan green faction members.

Although Nehru hadn’t directly ordered it, he was aware of the situation and chose to turn a blind eye, covering up his subordinates' actions.

Previously, Ophelia had taken advantage of this, launching an attack on the UN investigation team while the Indians were carrying out their own operations.

Now that Josh had uncovered this evidence of Indian troop movements, Nehru was faced with a dilemma.

Should he admit that his subordinates had carried out a well-organized massacre against the green faction in Kashmir?

Are you crazy?

Does he still want to be the Prime Minister?

Does he still want to unify the country?

India isn't even completely united yet. The Mountbatten Plan may have separated the Indian and Green factions, but it was only a rough division.

In reality, there are still many princely states and tribes of the green faction in India.

If this is exposed, the whole country will be thrown into chaos.

Pakistan will have a legitimate reason to send more troops into Kashmir.

And the international image Nehru worked so hard to build will collapse completely.

The end result? India will fail to unify, Nehru will be forced to step down, and both he and his country’s reputation on the global stage will be completely ruined.

After all, this is a massacre we’re talking about.

This isn’t some distant future where history can be rewritten at will.

World War II just ended not long ago, and the world is still extremely sensitive to such issues.

Even Josh and the Dutch only carried out forced relocations in Java.

When the Americans killed a few hundred people in the Vietnam War, international criticism came down like a storm.

Let alone a massacre of 200,000 people?

If things go wrong, this could lead to charges of crimes against humanity.

That is something Nehru cannot accept.

But if he refuses to admit it, he won’t be able to explain why, at the exact time of the UN investigation team's attack, so many Indian forces were moving in the area.

And that means facing the wrath of the three most powerful nations in the world—Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union.

What the hell is he supposed to do now?

Chapter 253: South Asian Superhero's (2)

She was known as the "Black Robe Heroine" and reportedly possessed a mystical bracelet. (TL/N: I couldn't find exactly whom the author is referencing here, but she is probably an ancestor of Ms. Marvel.)

In fact, the two Indian superheroes had fought against her before—and nearly lost.

Unbelievable. A female superhero from Pakistan, a country known for its strict religious conservatism? That sounded like something only Marvel writers could come up with.

But none of that mattered to Josh. His goal was simply to stir up trouble for India.

Pakistan’s affairs had nothing to do with him. In fact, if Pakistan’s superhero was stronger, that was even better.

Besides, this wasn’t the first time India’s superheroes had lost.

According to Ophelia's information, Raju supposedly inherited the legacy of Rama, a legendary hero from Indian mythology, and was skilled in archery.

Bheem, on the other hand, was believed to carry the lineage of King Bhima, known for his immense strength and unbreakable body.

In short, they were basically India’s version of Hawkeye and Captain America.

This combination of heroes was no joke—an ordinary army might not even be able to deal with them.

Logically, with powerhouses like these, the British shouldn’t have been able to continue ruling India.

But the reality was that they did—for more than twenty years.

The reason was simple; the British had supernatural beings of their own.

Of course they did. After all, they had been the world’s most powerful empire for nearly a century. In this particular world, it would be ridiculous if they didn't have at least a few superpowered individuals.

According to intelligence reports, the British hero who defeated the two Indian superheroes was a knight clad in black robes.

After that battle, it seemed some sort of agreement was reached. Raju and Bheem never again attacked British forces or openly disrupted British rule in India.

Unlike the two Indian heroes, Josh was much more familiar with this British superhuman.

The Black Knight, huh?

Tsk, if Josh remembered correctly, the inheritor of the Black Knight title in the Eternals movie was played by Kit Harington. (TL/N: The name of the character mentioned is Dane Whitman)

Of course, based on timelines, that particular inheritor wouldn’t even be born for several more decades.

“Well, I’m bored anyway—might as well play with these two Indian superheroes for a bit. And just in time, the first batch of Jedi Knights has graduated!"

Josh put down the intelligence report and pulled a satellite phone from his system inventory. Then he dialed a number.

"Master!" The voice of his butler, Jia Ying, came through from the other end.

“Send the first Jedi squad to New Delhi… This mission will serve as their graduation test.” Josh gave precise instructions.

After finishing the call, Josh put away the satellite phone and stepped out the door.

"Boss?" Vito, standing guard, looked surprised to see him emerge.

"Notify the British and the Soviets. We’re going to see Nehru. It’s about time we laid our cards on the table.” Josh waved a file in his hand.

This wasn’t the intelligence report on the Indian superheroes—it was something Ophelia had compiled over the past few days. It contained evidence pointing to various Indian extremist factions, as well as Kingo Sunen's involvement.

In truth, the names listed in this file carried far more political weight than a mere movie star like Kingo Sunen.

But precisely because of that, no one would suspect that Josh’s real target was a minor actor.

After all, in this era, movie stars weren’t held in very high regard.

Before long, representatives from the British and Soviet investigation teams arrived at the hotel.

Even though Josh had been keeping a low profile these past days, neither the British nor the Soviets dared to underestimate him.

While he wasn’t as publicly famous as someone like Howard Stark, within the world’s political elite, Josh was far more influential.

"Miss Voyant, long time no see."

When the group arrived, Josh greeted the Soviet delegate first. She was none other than Claire Voyant, head of the Red Room—someone who had clashed with Ophelia multiple times and had even met Josh in person before.

Standing beside her was a cold-faced young woman with traces of Asian heritage.

Clearly, another product of the Red Room.

“Long time no see, Mr. Kahn. How’s Dottie doing in America? I miss her very much." (TL/N: For those who forgot, she is Dottie Underwood, the first Black Widow who chose to stay in USA.)

Claire Voyant greeted him with a smile, but if she hadn’t been grinding her molars while speaking, Josh might have actually believed her sincerity.

Josh wasn't the director of the CIA, but anyone at a certain level could see how much control he had over it.

No one really minded, though, because in the U.S., this was pretty normal.

As long as the CIA's actions benefited the country and didn’t seriously threaten the interests of those in power, no one cared.

It was the same with Hoover and the FBI.

The only thing people didn’t know was Josh’s true identity as a Hydra member.

The Soviets had a similar understanding of Josh.

Because of that, the failure of Leviathan in the U.S. was naturally blamed on him.

Especially Dottie’s defection—it had put Claire Voyant in a tough spot, earning her quite a few scoldings from her superiors.

So she absolutely despised the CIA. And Josh, as one of its top operatives, even more so.

But hatred was one thing—she couldn’t actually do anything to him.

Even though Soviet and American intelligence agencies battled for decades, their fights rarely reached the highest levels.

For example, assassinations usually stopped at mid-level operatives. Going after high-ranking officials was practically unheard of.

This was an unspoken rule between great powers—no one wanted to live in constant fear of being killed.

Josh had already moved past that danger zone, so at most, Claire could throw a few verbal jabs. Anything more would be crossing a line.

“Heh, I’ll be sure to pass on your concern to Dottie, Ms. Voyant. She misses you too, actually." Josh grinned, then glanced at the girl standing beside her. "Pretty girl. If she’s by your side, I take it she’s your chosen successor? What’s her name?”

With the way the Red Room operated, almost every Black Widow resented them—it was just that most had no way to escape.

If given a chance, except for the ones fully brainwashed, most would turn out like Natasha Romanoff.

At Josh’s question, the girl’s pupils flickered slightly, but she remained silent.

"Hmph! Her name is Ayla. Mr. Kahn, let's get to the point," Claire cut him off, clearly not willing to waste time talking.

The British representative, meanwhile, simply stood by, smiling as he watched the two exchange words, not saying a thing.

“No rush, Ms. Voyant. The main guest isn’t here yet. We'll talk when he arrives." Josh continued to smile.

"Boss, Prime Minister Nehru has arrived!" Just then, Vito came in to report.

"Well, speak of the devil." Josh raised an eyebrow.

"Hahaha, Mr. Kahn, I hear you have some important leads. How could you not invite me?"

Nehru entered with a big smile.

Josh, of course, hadn’t invited him.

But he showed up anyway.

Chapter 252: South Asian Superhero's (1)

"You noticed it too. Have Ophelia look into these two. The fact that India has people like them and our intelligence system knows nothing about them is not a good sign."

Leaning back on the sofa, Josh took a sip of ice-cold Coke as he spoke.

The Coke was from his system’s storage.

Although the Indian government had arranged for them to stay in New Delhi’s finest hotel—one that claimed even its bathwater came from deep underground—Josh had no interest in testing that claim. Even though his body could resist most contaminants, the thought still made him uncomfortable.

So, he had already made up his mind; when it came to food and drinks, he would rely on his system’s supplies and only pretend to eat and drink outside.

The two men he and Vito were discussing were part of the team assigned to guide and protect them in India—two seemingly unremarkable middle-aged Indian men.

But with their instincts, Josh and Vito could easily tell there was something special about them.

In fact, Josh had a strong feeling that these two were far stronger than the average super soldier.

That strange gut feeling surprised him, but at the same time, it made perfect sense.

If Europe and America could have so many superheroes and ancient legacies, why couldn't India?

Even though modern India had little to do with its ancient civilization, it was still the same land. It made sense that some traces of those ancient traditions remained.

As long as it wasn’t as outrageous as another certain ancient civilization, Josh could accept it.

But this realization also served as a wake-up call for him—his intelligence network had been too focused on the Western world, neglecting other regions. The fact that India had people of this level and he had no clue about them meant his intelligence system needed improvement.

It seemed that once this mission was over, he would have to expand the scope of the CIA.

The fact that Nehru had sent such individuals to monitor him was also telling.

Clearly, Nehru saw Josh as a serious threat.

And he wasn’t wrong. After all, someone capable of pulling off the "One Island, One Nation" stunt was far from harmless.

Nehru was genuinely worried that Josh would stir up trouble during the investigation, sabotaging India’s relationships with Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union.

Although India had gained independence, it was still unstable internally.

When India joined the United Nations in 1945, it did so as a member of the British Commonwealth—not as a fully independent nation.

It officially gained independence in 1947.

But at that time, it wasn’t yet the Republic of India—it was the Dominion of India.

Why? Because there were still numerous princely states within its borders.

According to the Mountbatten Plan, these princely states had the freedom to join India or Pakistan—or even remain independent.

But for a leader like Nehru, a fragmented India was unacceptable.

So, between 1947 and 1950, he used assassinations, bribes, and military force to eliminate all princely states—except for Kashmir.

Finally, in 1950, he proudly declared the establishment of the Republic of India, officially sweeping the feudal princely states into the dustbin of history.

Right now, India's problems aren’t just about Kashmir—there are still many princely states left.

If Josh found a loophole in this case and shifted the blame onto Nehru, leading Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union to interfere, India might end up in a "one princely state, one nation" situation. Nehru would have nowhere to cry.

Of course, this was unlikely, but Nehru couldn’t take any chances.

Unfortunately for him, Josh had no interest in those princely states. They were nothing but a bunch of useless weaklings.

On the other hand, the Bengali independence movement was much stronger than these scattered princely states.

What Nehru couldn’t have predicted was that Josh and John Stern’s U.S. investigation team was nothing but a cover. The real CIA operatives had already infiltrated India before the attack even happened, "investigating" (A/N: or rather, framing) the case.

Yes, that’s right. The CIA started investigating before the incident even took place—because, in a way, the CIA had orchestrated it.

In fact, the CIA and Hydra—the ones behind the attack—were the same people.

That’s the benefit of having multiple identities.

When they were doing the dirty work, they were Hydra. But with a quick outfit change, they became the CIA.

Playing both the competitor and the referee—who wouldn’t be scared?

"Boss, do you want me to test them out?" Vito asked.

"No need. We don’t have to do anything. We’ll just wait for Ophelia’s report. Let them keep watching if they want to," Josh waved him off.

"All right then," Vito shrugged.

Sigh. As the boss’s influence kept growing, there were fewer things for him to do. That wasn’t a good sign.

While Nehru was growing increasingly anxious, the British and Soviet investigation teams arrived in India and actively participated in the case.

Meanwhile, the U.S. team, led by Josh, barely made any moves. After checking into the hotel, Josh kept a low profile and rarely showed up, leaving John Stern to follow the British and Soviet investigators.

Of course, during that time, John had a few romantic encounters with some Indian beauties—but that wasn’t worth mentioning.

During this time, Ophelia worked efficiently and soon dug up information on the two men following Josh, along with some details about Pakistan.

And sure enough, those two men could actually be considered "superheroes" of India.

They weren’t new figures, either—they had been around for more than twenty years.

One was Alluri Sitarama Raju.

The other was Komaram Bheem.

(A/N: Yes, these are the heroes of the Indian blockbuster RRR, which reportedly broke box office records).

Over twenty years ago, these two emerged as leading figures in India’s anti-British resistance. According to rumors, their greatest feat was taking down an entire armed British regiment—just the two of them.

It was absolutely absurd.

But what was even more ridiculous was Pakistan’s own "superhero."

That’s right—India wasn’t the only one with super-powered individuals. Pakistan had one too.

And she was a woman.

Chapter 251: India (2)

Young men were always too impulsive. Even when no outsiders were present, one shouldn't wear their emotions so openly.

Still, Josh didn't reprimand him too harshly.

Despite his relatively low rank of major, this investigator had an impressive background.

His name was John Stern, the youngest son of Judge Gary Stern—one of the Council’s most powerful figures.

During the previous Chadwick Rebellion, the Council had passed from the Thomas era to the current power struggle between Josh and Hugh Jones. However, this did not mean that the influence of the other Council members had diminished.

Their status ensured that they still held considerable sway within the Council.

One such person was Gary Stern. In recent years, as American politics had changed, he had risen from a state court judge to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

While he was still far from becoming Chief Justice—after all, that was a lifetime position, more secure than even the U.S. presidency, with only 13 individuals holding the title since the country’s founding—being one of the nine justices meant he had already cemented his authority within the American judicial system.

Moreover, the current Chief Justice, Frederick Moore Vinson, was no younger than Gary Stern. If Vinson were to pass away, the Council's influence could very well help Stern secure the top position.

With such a powerful connection, Gary Stern’s youngest son, John Stern, had naturally seen his status within Hydra rise as well.

Even though Josh was one of the two most powerful figures in the Council, he couldn’t treat John Stern like an ordinary Hydra member.

However, John Stern was no spoiled rich kid.

Despite Hydra being a villainous organization, its upper ranks were primarily composed of old-money aristocrats and elite families. As a result, their standards for educating and disciplining their heirs were far stricter than those of ordinary wealthy households.

They exemplified elite education at its finest.

It was rare to find incompetents in their ranks. If someone did prove to be useless, they would be cast out of the family long before they could ever become a part of Hydra. Even the direct descendants of Council leaders had to pass rigorous tests before being allowed entry.

"Yes, sir!" Upon hearing Josh’s reminder, John Stern immediately adjusted his expression, his demeanor turning serious, shedding all traces of his earlier arrogance.

Despite Josh looking even younger than him, John knew better than to show any disrespect—this was a man on the same level as his father, a true powerhouse.

Before departing, his father had specifically instructed him: Watch Josh, learn from him, speak less, and do even less.

For this trip to India, John knew his role—gain experience and take credit where he could.

Of course, if he got the chance to experience India’s local culture along the way, that wouldn’t be bad either.

The plane soon landed at the airport.

The Indian delegation was already waiting.

They treated this investigation mission with great caution.

While India often became the butt of jokes online in later years, it was undeniable that, aside from the world’s top superpowers, it was indeed a regional powerhouse with considerable influence.

A major reason for India’s rise as a regional power was its first leader—Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

By comparison, India’s founding father, Gandhi… well, it was best not to comment on that.

Nehru understood that, under normal circumstances, India could afford to offend any one of the five great powers without facing catastrophic consequences.

But this time he was dealing with three at once.

That was a serious problem.

As a result, he personally came to welcome the representatives of the investigation team.

It was Josh’s first time meeting this legendary figure.

However, instead of thinking about Nehru’s governance and policies, Josh’s mind first drifted to the scandalous rumors about Nehru and Lady Mountbatten…

The craziest part was that Mountbatten himself knew about it.

Josh couldn’t help but think, This guy really knows how to play the game.

Meanwhile, Nehru, looking at the young and imposing Josh, sighed inwardly.

Clearly, the Americans were truly angry about this incident. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent someone with a personal grudge against India to lead the investigation.

Nehru wasn’t stupid. Because of the situation in Java, he had frequently criticized this young American tycoon—who also happened to be a Dutch count—on the international stage.

To handle Josh’s arrival, Nehru not only received him personally as a show of sincerity but also arranged for two legendary Indian figures to keep an eye on him, ensuring he didn’t cause any trouble.

"Boss, the Indian government has assigned us some guides and security personnel... and they're not just ordinary people," Vito said with a grin after checking the hotel for any security threats.

Chapter 250: India (1)

"Kingo Sunen III, the Indian movie star... We only managed to find him because he's too famous. Honestly, I think his grandfather Kingo Sunen and his father Kingo Sunen II also fit your criteria, but they've been dead for a long time," Ophelia said.

"...Have you ever considered that all three of them are actually the same person?" Josh crossed his legs and smiled.

Just as he expected, Ophelia was talking about Kingo Sunen—the Eternal who had spent centuries in Bollywood, blending in as part of a famous film industry.

Heh, India, huh? Not long ago, because of the Java situation, India had already made it onto Josh's personal blacklist. This was the perfect time to get even.

"If I remember correctly, India and Pakistan are still fighting in Kashmir because of the Mountbatten Plan, right?" Josh asked.

"Yes, but by the end of last year, both countries had taken the dispute to the UN. The UN set up a special committee, but they're still at war. If someone adds just a little spark, it'll explode immediately," Ophelia replied, immediately understanding what Josh was planning.

"I want you to arrange an incident where Indian forces clash with UN personnel. Make sure the attackers are linked to Kingo Sunen so that he becomes an internationally wanted criminal. Any problems with that?" Josh asked after a moment of consideration.

"Not at all. This will be easy!" Ophelia replied quickly. It wasn’t hard to pull off, and whether India believed it or not didn’t matter—the key was making the UN believe it.

"Also, I want you to meet with the Bengalis—West Bengal, specifically—on behalf of the Council," Josh said.

The Bengalis were one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Indian subcontinent.

They had established their own kingdom as early as the 9th century, but in the 16th century, they were absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Then, in the 18th century, when the British took over India, Bengal became a British colony.

During the 1947 Partition under the Mountbatten Plan, Bengal was split into two—West Bengal went to India, and East Bengal (East Pakistan) was given to Pakistan.

The problem was that Pakistan was in the west, while East Bengal was on the other side of India, making it a separate territory.

So in the 1970s, East Bengal decided to declare independence and eventually became Bangladesh.

However, because of West Bengal, Bangladesh continued to have territorial disputes with India even after independence.

Now that Josh wanted to stir up trouble in India, why not take advantage of the still-unstable political climate and push for West Bengal's independence?

After all, the combined population of East and West Bengal was massive—larger than Pakistan at the time.

The only issue was that they were extremely poor.

They lacked food and weapons.

But were these really problems for Josh?

Of course not.

The only thing was, this couldn't be done under the name of the CIA or Ouroboros.

So the blame would have to go to the Council.

But since Josh was one of the top figures in the Council and Hydra specialized in these kinds of operations, there was no issue at all.

As long as India fell into chaos, Josh could cause all kinds of trouble while capturing Kingo Sunen, and no one would even care.

-------------------

In July 1948, the First Indo-Pakistani War was raging on, just as it had in the original timeline.

In the original history, India and Pakistan fought three major wars, with countless smaller regional conflicts. Even in the 21st century, tensions between the two nations remained unresolved.

At first, the main point of contention was Kashmir, but over time their disputes expanded beyond that.

In most of these conflicts, India has generally had the upper hand.

Even in this alternate world, the situation remained the same.

To achieve its strategic goals, India was playing a cunning game—on one hand, it was requesting UN mediation, while on the other, it continued large-scale military operations in Kashmir.

Despite gaining independence from British rule after centuries, India had certainly inherited some of Britain's more unscrupulous tactics.

Of course, from a national perspective, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

A country that values its reputation too much can easily suffer losses.

For centuries, Western nations have maintained their dominance in global affairs not only because of their military might, but also because of their willingness to play dirty when necessary.

But India's call for UN mediation led to an unexpected incident.

A UN investigation team, while observing the battlefield, was attacked in a suicide bombing. Four UN officials were killed—two Americans, one Soviet, and one British.

This immediately escalated the situation.

Judging by the circumstances, the attack was unlikely to be an accident or a case of mistaken identity. It appeared to be a premeditated assault.

At that time, the UN team had displayed not only the UN flag, but also the flags of the U.S., the U.K., and the Soviet Union.

Since the UN flag was relatively new and not widely known, UN officials often displayed the flags of these three great powers to assert their authority.

In this era, those three flags carried far more weight than the UN flag itself.

Despite these precautions, the attack still occurred.

Both India and Pakistan were so alarmed that they immediately declared a ceasefire, while the UN was furious.

The three nations affected quickly began assembling a "peacekeeping" force to be deployed in Kashmir, along with intelligence personnel to investigate the attack.

In the U.S., the responsibility naturally fell to the CIA, with additional involvement from Army Intelligence—especially since one of the two Americans killed was a U.S. Army colonel, while the other was just an ordinary politician.

"Such a pity. These two had promising futures ahead of them," said an Army intelligence investigator aboard a flight to New Delhi. Though his words carried a tone of regret, he couldn't quite hide the schadenfreude on his face. (TL/N: Schadenfreude is a German word that means feeling joy or pleasure when someone else experiences misfortune. It's often thought of as deriving pleasure from someone else's discomfort or gaffes.)

The reason was simple: this investigator was a member of the secretive Council, while the two deceased Americans had belonged to political and military factions opposed to the Council's influence.

Although the attack was originally orchestrated by Josh to create chaos in India and weaken his position, eliminating a few political rivals in the process was an added bonus.

"Better fix your expression—we’re about to land," Josh, sitting beside him, said calmly while closing his file on the Indo-Pakistani War.