"Now you look more like a real soldier," Robert said, observing the commander's agitated demeanor. "But if the Kree Empire is only made up of soldiers like you, there's not much to worry about." He continued, "To be honest, if your so-called army is all you have, I find it hard to believe that the Kree Empire could become one of the galaxy's top empires."
"Your starships are impressive, but there are many powerful beings in the universe, not just me. Plenty of them could easily break through your starships, even without immense power. How exactly did the Kree manage to dominate the galaxy?"
Since arriving in space, Robert had sensed the presence of many powerful beings across the universe. While his perception wasn't perfect, he had detected numerous entities with energy far surpassing that of Clark before his coma. While energy levels (or "ki") didn't always correlate directly with strength in this world, those with such high energy were definitely not weak. This made Robert question the true strength of the Kree Empire.
The most baffling part was that the Kree Empire's technology, while advanced, didn't appear to possess the mind-blowing, game-changing weapons one might expect from a top-tier empire. Their starships were powerful enough to destroy planets, but they seemed to rely mostly on stacking energy, similar to Tony Stark's arc reactor, just on a much larger scale.
In this universe, the upper limit of technology appeared to be energy weapons—basically just "pew pew" lasers. There was no sign of hyper-advanced conceptual weapons like two-dimensional or gravitational collapse devices.
Robert's initial reason for scanning the universe wasn't to evaluate the Kree Empire's strength. He had been hoping to locate Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. As Kara's sister and the daughter of the Danvers family, Carol was technically part of Robert's extended family. Although they weren't especially close, there was still a bond. After hearing that Captain Marvel might have been taken out by the Skrulls, Robert naturally wanted to find her.
Unfortunately, he had been unable to detect Carol's energy, as if she really had been killed by the Skrulls. Strangely, he also couldn't find any trace of the Skrulls themselves. His knowledge of the Skrull invasion was limited, and he had no idea where to even begin searching for them.
Robert also considered the Skrulls' capacity for hiding. Given their shape-shifting abilities, it would be incredibly difficult to track them down across the universe. They might not have limited their infiltration to Earth. Otherwise, why had there been no large-scale Skrull invasion since their previous failed attempt?
"You have no idea of the true strength of the Kree Empire!" the commander suddenly shouted, as if Robert's comments had struck a nerve. "The Kree have never lost a war since our rise. If you insist on becoming our enemy, there's only one possible outcome for you!"
"Oh? Now you're getting tough?" Robert was surprised by the commander's sudden shift in tone. Earlier, when Robert had first appeared on the starship, the commander had been quick to surrender, even willing to die rather than implicate the Kree Empire. But now, his demeanor had completely changed.
"I don't want the Kree Empire to suffer because of me," the commander said coldly, "but that doesn't mean the Kree Empire lacks the strength to deal with beings like you."
"I see," Robert said, pretending to understand. Then, with a smile, he added, "Well, I'm curious to see what the Kree can do. After all, you are one of the galaxy's three great empires… though, wait, that's not right. The Skrull Empire is no longer a threat, isn't it? And I hear it was the Kree who crushed them. So, maybe you do have something to back your claim."
He continued, "But then again, the Skrulls' weakness is that they lack extraordinary power. If the Kree Empire also lacks such powers but has this level of starship firepower, as long as your leadership isn't infiltrated, the Skrulls wouldn't stand a chance. Unless… your leaders have already been replaced?"
"Hmm… no, that doesn't seem right either. After all, Ronan was one of your leaders, and I killed him without him transforming into a Skrull. To impersonate someone like Ronan, you'd at least need a Super Skrull. A Super Skrull would have tried to copy my powers, but Ronan didn't."
"You know all this?" The commander's eyes narrowed in shock. Robert had essentially pieced together the events of the war between the Kree and the Skrulls. The commander couldn't understand how Robert knew such classified information about the Kree Empire.
The most puzzling thing was that if Robert knew so much about the Kree Empire, why had he been unaware of their location?
"Initiating space jump. Entering the wormhole. Destination: Large Magellanic Cloud," the AI's voice chimed in, just as the ship began accelerating. A series of hexagonal frames appeared before the starship, and they plunged into the wormhole.
"This space jump is quite interesting," Robert muttered as he felt the shift in the starship's motion. The process was different from teleportation or using a portal—closer to Asgard's Bifrost.
However, unlike the Bifrost, which could open pathways anywhere, the wormhole jump had fixed routes and distances, serving as a sort of galactic highway for advanced civilizations.
This realization confirmed the strategic value of the Bifrost, which had played a crucial role in Asgard's dominance of the Nine Realms. The Bifrost allowed Asgard's armies to strike their enemies when they least expected it, giving them a significant advantage.
Even if you were aware of a coming war with Asgard, it would be impossible to remain vigilant 24/7. Meanwhile, Heimdall, the ever-watchful sentinel, could keep an eye on your every move, enabling Asgard to strike at the perfect moment.
As Robert pondered the Bifrost, the starship emerged from the wormhole, arriving in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the heart of the Kree Empire. The entire system was under Kree control, with Hala, the Kree homeworld, at its core.
"Stop! Commander Roman, halt your starship immediately!" A warning blared through the ship as they were quickly surrounded by Kree forces.
"Open fire! I've been taken hostage! Fire!" Roman screamed hoarsely, desperate to alert his comrades. His voice was so strained that it echoed painfully through the ship's corridors.
Now that they had reached the heart of the Kree Empire, Roman abandoned any hope of survival. He just wanted to ensure the Empire didn't underestimate Robert and lose more lives. In Roman's mind, every Kree life lost to Robert was a direct result of his actions.
While Roman had shown no hesitation in abandoning his comrades earlier, his softening heart now that they were back home was disorienting for the soldiers. They weren't sure which version of Roman they were supposed to trust.
"Don't worry, I won't let them destroy this starship. It's mine now, after all," Robert said with a grin, watching Roman's frantic behavior. He turned to the AI and ordered, "Full defense, fire at will."
"Yes, Lord Saiyan!" The AI responded without hesitation, fully under Robert's control as it began executing his commands.
The Kree forces surrounding Roman's ship were stunned as they watched him open fire on them. None of them could comprehend why Roman would commit such an act. Even if he were rebelling, doing so in the heart of the Kree Empire was a death sentence.
"Raise the shields! Fire back! Disable Roman's ship, but don't destroy it!" The Kree forces quickly reacted, their starships firing energy beams that collided with Roman's shields, but none managed to penetrate.
"Who are you?!" one of the Kree commanders demanded, but before they could react further, Robert's figure appeared inside their starship. He had effortlessly infiltrated their ship, and in moments, he destroyed it from within, turning the Kree vessels into cosmic dust without answering their questions.
For Robert, attacking the ships from the outside would have been slowed by their energy shields. But once inside, no material, no matter how strong, could withstand his raw power.
"Boom!"
With explosions lighting up the surrounding space, the Kree starships that had surrounded Roman's ship were obliterated. Inside Roman's ship, the commander was frantically trying to regain control, but he no longer had any access to the ship's systems. The AI ignored him entirely.
Meanwhile, the Kree soldiers aboard Roman's ship exchanged uncertain glances. Up until now, they had been in denial, hoping to delay the inevitable. But now that they were within the Kree's territory, it was clear they were close to their doom. None could imagine a scenario in which Robert would let them live.
"Roman! What are you doing?! How dare you fire back?! How did you destroy those ships? Your starship shouldn't have such power!" A voice suddenly boomed through the ship, breaking Roman out of his despair.
It was the Supreme Intelligence.
"Supreme Intelligence! It's not my ship's firepower—it's the power of the Saiyan!" Roman hurriedly explained. "I don't know where this Saiyan came from, but he's the one who killed Ronan! He appeared when we attacked Xandar and stopped us…"
"If he stopped you, why is he here? Never mind, I'll look for myself," the Supreme Intelligence replied, cutting Roman off. It took direct control of the ship's AI
.
Though the ship's control had been given to Robert, the AI had no ability to resist the Supreme Intelligence's command. The Supreme Intelligence effortlessly accessed the ship's data, uncovering the entire sequence of events from the attack on Xandar to Robert's current assault on the Kree Empire.
"Roman! If you hadn't been such a coward, none of these Kree would have died!" the Supreme Intelligence scolded coldly after learning the full story.
"It's my fault! I deserve death for my cowardice!" Roman admitted, but he quickly added, "But the Saiyan is a threat we cannot ignore. His power is beyond anything we've seen. You mustn't underestimate him, Supreme Intelligence!"
"Yes, we must use every hidden weapon at our disposal to defeat him. Otherwise, it will be impossible to kill him!" Roman finished, his voice trembling.
"Indeed, we'll need to bring out our secret weapons," Robert chimed in mockingly.
"Huh?" Roman froze, wide-eyed, as he realized the voice came from Robert himself. Looking at him in shock, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
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