Chapter 52: The Xenomorphs will forever be the friends and brothers of the Asgardians!
2023-07-20 Author: Great Demon Spirit
"We finally caught a captive this time. Let's take it back and interrogate it properly. We need to find out the details of this race!"
On a life-sustaining planet, the ground was pockmarked with craters, and a bone-chilling cold permeated the air.
Four Frost Giants had employed some special means to cripple a Xenomorph.
On a planet engulfed in the flames of war, trying to outmaneuver a Xenomorph without using magic or technology was no easy feat.
The Xenomorphs were far too adept at using complex environments for combat. Any single one of them possessed terrifying patience and was a master at seizing fleeting opportunities to strike. Since the war began, countless unlucky Frost Giants had fallen victim to their ambushes.
Even if the Frost Giants could defeat the Xenomorphs, capturing one alive was incredibly difficult. This creature was simply too ferocious. As long as there was the slightest possibility of victory, it would not accept any form of threat, enticement, or persuasion to surrender. Once it confirmed its own demise was certain, it would use its last ounce of strength to charge forward in a suicidal attack, willing to sacrifice itself if it meant splattering its enemies with its blood.
During this period, the Frost Giants had come to truly understand the madness and terror of this race.
Of course, they were also powerful. In the first few days of the war, they had managed to inflict a three-to-one loss ratio against the Frost Giants, killing and capturing several hundred of them.
"Heh, we're already familiar with their tactics. The casualties for their species are mounting. Now, ten of them can't even trade for one of us. They'll suffer more deaths in the future and won't be able to hold out for long." A Frost Giant looked down at the Xenomorph. "I refuse to believe that such an extreme and insane race could have a large population."
It was only logical that the more a species specialized in frenzied combat, the more casualties it would suffer in various situations, leading to a smaller total population.
Besides, if the Xenomorphs on the battlefield were this insane, could their "civilians" who hadn't joined the fight also be this hysterical?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Not a single Frost Giant would believe it.
"Idiot! Even a twenty-to-one exchange rate is a failure for us Frost Giants! We are on the verge of defeating the Asgardians and ruling the Nine Realms. How can we afford to suffer such heavy losses against an unknown race like this?"
"Alright, all of you, shut up!"
Just then, a Frost Giant wearing a long robe pulled down his hood and shot a cold glance at the others. This was clearly a Frost Giant who had mastered both divine power and magic. "The higher-ups are paying close attention to these creatures. They wish to make them our vassal race, so you'd best watch your mouths."
"But none of them have been willing to communicate with us. If we hadn't confirmed that they possess extremely high wisdom, a complete social structure, and a hierarchical order, I would have suspected they were just uncivilized, primitive creatures," the first Frost Giant to speak grumbled.
In the next moment, his mouth was frozen shut by terrifying magic.
"Even if they were primitive creatures, they still possess extraordinary value and are fully qualified to become one of us, let alone the fact that they are not!"
The leading Frost Giant maintained a powerful output of divine power, ensuring the Xenomorph on the ground remained frozen.
They had no choice. They had long since determined that this creature's resistance to temperature was far too strong, so much so that it astonished the Frost Giants.
Take the bipedal Xenomorphs, for example. According to the Frost Giants' assessment, this type of Xenomorph should be the second-to-last tier in Xenomorph society, only one level higher than the ones that crawled on all fours.
But even a creature like this could withstand temperatures of minus one hundred degrees Celsius!
And this was only the weakest of the second-to-last tier Xenomorphs. There were others at the same level that were clearly much stronger, possessing immense strength, some even more powerful than weaker Xenomorphs from a higher tier.
This was simply terrifying.
It was said that someone from the higher-ups had managed to attack a Xenomorph with flame magic. It took a temperature of eighteen hundred degrees Celsius just to show signs of melting the body of one of the weakest, second-to-last tier Xenomorphs.
This meant that Xenomorphs had the ability to engage in landing operations on the vast majority of planets in the universe. At most, their combat power would be slightly reduced by extreme temperatures.
It was no wonder the Frost Giants were tempted. Who wouldn't want this race of insane, highly disciplined, self-mutilating, suicidal, adaptable beings that also possessed tactical thinking capabilities? Even the God Race would be willing to accept the Xenomorphs as a vassal race.
Moreover, there were clearly many powerful individuals among the Xenomorphs—imposing and robust figures capable of engaging Frost Giants in melee combat. Even if there were only a few hundred of them, it was still an astonishing number. It proved that this race had a high ceiling and was capable of producing powerful individuals.
Several Frost Giants scrambled to hold down the Xenomorph.
"Hey! I've grabbed its inner jaw! We don't have to worry about it killing itself now," one Frost Giant said happily, prying open the Xenomorph's mouth and letting another one restrain it.
Similar incidents were gradually becoming more common across the various battlefields.
Everything should have gone smoothly. Unfortunately for them, they weren't just facing Xenomorphs.
*Swish!*
From a distance, Fandral shot down a Frost Giant with a single arrow.
From the sky above, a small aircraft descended. A heavily armored Thor dropped from the heavens and knocked another one over with his axe.
Dozens of Xenomorphs leaped down as well.
"Damn it, why are the Asgardians here?!"
The other Frost Giants fell into chaos, looking helplessly at the large group of Xenomorphs surrounding them.
Without Thor and his companions, they could have relied on their divine power over ice or their magic to freeze these Xenomorphs, kill a batch of them, and then retreat at their leisure.
If things went a little more smoothly and they didn't encounter any of the stronger Xenomorphs, they could have wiped out all several dozen of them.
As a large number of Xenomorphs charged forward, Thor's blood boiled with excitement. He had barely seen any action since the war began and was about to charge in with his weapon. But at the very moment he moved, a strong Xenomorph pushed him to the ground, pinning him completely.
After the few Frost Giants were crippled and knocked unconscious.
"The war has only been going on for a little over a week, and the Xenomorphs' losses have already reached over twenty-seven hundred. I'm worried that if this continues, given their fierce and fearless nature in battle, they might all die for Asgard!"
Fandral was shocked by the Xenomorphs' ferocity and reliability, but he was also deeply worried about their staggering losses.
Too many had died. Who knew what the master of these Xenomorphs would think when he heard the news?
Would he be furious? Would he think the Asgardians were deliberately sending the Xenomorphs to their deaths?
It was highly possible. Never mind what the Xenomorph's king would think; Fandral just had to put himself in his shoes to feel a pang in his heart. If he had such fine comrades under his command, who fought so madly and desperately on the battlefield, the heartache would surely kill him.
Thor also hesitated.
The more he thought about the problem, the more his head ached. He couldn't help but scratch it, feeling as if his brain was about to grow.
"Back then, I just mentioned borrowing some troops. I originally only planned to act with a small squad, but Du Wa generously lent me an entire legion, and he never said a word about how I should lead them..."
Thor looked down at the Xenomorph on the ground. It was recovering from being frozen but had clearly suffered severe physical damage from the divine power and magic particles. He felt even more guilt.
A team was generally composed of thirty to fifty Xenomorphs. It was obvious that this Xenomorph was the last survivor of its team.
The Asgardians had always praised and supported all forms of magnanimity, grandeur, and bravery. Now, encountering these Xenomorphs, they found that all the fine qualities of the Asgardians were a damn perfect fit for them. The Xenomorphs had even raised the ceiling for these qualities, inspiring the motivated Asgardians to fight to the death.
Look at them! Even these members of an alien race were charging to the front lines for your territory and people, fierce and unafraid of death, courageous in their sacrifice. You Asgardians pride yourselves on being brave and magnanimous, don't you? How can you not be ashamed?
"These casualties are truly too high. Du Wa fulfilled his promise and already lent us a full contingent of five thousand soldiers a few days ago, but I can't continue to lead them like this. I've decided to withdraw with the Xenomorphs to Asgard to regroup, and if possible, have them formally withdraw from this... huh?"
Thor was utterly ashamed. The more he recognized their excellent qualities, the more shame he felt. But before he could finish his sentence, a Xenomorph walked up, cupped his face, and covered his mouth.
If anyone else had dared to do this to Thor, even a Thor who had lost his divine power, he would have fought them to the death, and the other Asgardians would have angrily drawn their weapons.
But no one present felt that this was wrong. Or rather, they thought that for this Xenomorph to treat the son of Odin this way was indeed "rash" and "impolite," but as a reliable and loyal comrade-in-arms, it wasn't a problem at all.
Back when the Warriors Three and Thor used to drink together, they had done things like throwing their arms around each other's shoulders and cursing at each other. This was nothing compared to that.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The strong Xenomorph shook its head, expressing its refusal.
Everyone else looked at Thor.
Thor carefully observed the strong Xenomorph's tone and movements, trying his best to translate. "This... I guess it's probably saying that they will absolutely not withdraw before the war is over. The Alien Expeditionary Force will dedicate everything here. This is Du Wa's command..."
"As expected of Thor, to understand so much from just two syllables! But, are you sure you're not just doing a reading comprehension exercise?"
"Damn it, I said it was a guess! A guess!! The Xenomorph language course is not yet complete—no, it has barely even begun! Our scholars were so inspired they went to the battlefield, let alone developing a new language course! The fact that I can barely understand their meaning in context is already incredible!" Thor roared.
It was just like the Flora Colossus from Planet X. Those humanoid tree people only ever said that one phrase, over and over again. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were constantly introducing themselves.
But when combined with context, expression, body language, and mental fluctuations, that repeated phrase could convey countless meanings. Those who had studied the language could understand what the members of this species were expressing.
Right now, their research into the Xenomorph language hadn't even begun, and most Asgardians were completely unable to understand it.
The group fell silent, looking at the Xenomorphs, not knowing what to say.
"But, but then again, this exaggerated death rate... The war has only just begun..." Thor stammered.
"Without the help of the Xenomorphs, the number of fallen Asgardians would at least double! And that's just the data on paper. The boost they brought to our people's morale, helping us move past the negative impact of Odin's passing—these things are immeasurable. Without them, the situation we face would be even worse. Laufey might have seen our poor performance and acted personally long ago, abandoning the border planets and attacking Asgard directly."
It was normal for wars between advanced civilizations to become protracted affairs. Take the Kree and the Skrulls, for example. Those two interstellar empires had been locked in a bloody war for over a hundred million years and still had yet to determine an outcome. They were still fighting to this day.
This was based on the fact that both empires had vast populations; the Kree Empire alone had over 30 billion people.
But it was also because they were generally of mortal flesh. Once stripped of their high-tech equipment, the people of these two races would die instantly when exposed to the vacuum of the universe.
The World Tree Divine Race, who were much stronger than these two interstellar empires but had infinitely smaller populations, wouldn't fight for a hundred million years, but ending a world-level war in just a few days was unrealistic.
Unless a Skyfather-level powerhouse personally entered the fray from the very beginning, with one side wiping out the other, ending the war with absolute might.
But now, Odin was ostensibly dead, and Laufey, full of suspicion, was unwilling to make a move. The war had to continue.
The more the Asgardians learned of the Alien Legion's bravery and sacrifice, the more they were inspired, and the more they felt a sense of guilt.
"Back home, the controversy in public opinion is growing. Many of our kindred are already openly expressing their dissatisfaction, questioning why the Vanir, our distant relatives, didn't send troops to join the war immediately, while a race from Midgard is sacrificing their precious lives and making such astonishing sacrifices..." Fandral said to Thor in a low voice.
Thor remained silent, boarding the starship with the Xenomorphs.
He was truly in a difficult position now. The Xenomorphs were incredibly useful and could greatly help Asgard, but fighting like this was tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
These soldiers were borrowed. If they all ended up dead, what would he use to repay the debt?!
Du Wa trusted him so much that he didn't even send a trusted subordinate to command these Xenomorphs, leaving their command entirely to him.
Even so, Thor was well aware of how these Xenomorphs came to be, through Facehuggers parasitizing different hosts. As an individual who had been parasitized himself, he was crystal clear on the Alien species' method of reproduction and had therefore deliberately handed over all captives to the Xenomorphs to handle.
They had just boarded the starship when an encrypted communication from the rear came through.
"Heimdall? Is there a problem with the Rainbow Bridge, or has something major happened in the Nine Realms?" Thor's expression was grave.
"Something major has indeed happened, and I felt I should inform you... I saw Du Wa gathering a new army, and he called out to me to open the Rainbow Bridge."
The normally cold Heimdall showed a rare, subtle fluctuation of emotion. His eyes could see through most regions of the Nine Realms, so he had naturally witnessed the Xenomorphs' method of reproduction, but matters of morality and perception were none of his concern, and he didn't care.
However, after Du Wa had sent five thousand troops at two different times, things had been quiet for two days. Then, as if sensing the war was not progressing well, he suddenly sprang into action, relentlessly forming a new Alien Legion and calling out across space, wanting to continue sending the Expeditionary Force.
He was like a war maniac, a World Tree arms dealer, a universal mercenary wholesale center.
Heimdall didn't understand it, but he was profoundly shaken.
What could he say? Was he shocked that Du Wa was so insane as to constantly send his subordinates to a divine battlefield to fight and die for Asgard?
But on second thought, if any random Xenomorph on the battlefield was this ferocious, it was understandable that their leader, Du Wa, would be extremely belligerent. Otherwise, how would Du Wa be qualified to earn the favor of the Xenomorphs?
Hearing this, Thor instantly felt a warm current surge into his chest and rush to his brain, making his eyes turn red.
"Du Wa, my good brother! I never thought that when I was in a difficult situation, you would be the one to help me without counting the cost or the losses! I will acknowledge you as my brother for life! The entire Asgardian race will also remember this forever!"
Thor swore that in the future, if even a single Xenomorph was in trouble on some planet, as long as it sent out a message and a passing Asgardian learned of it, that Asgardian would do everything in their power to rescue it!
This... this is what you call friendship!
(end of chapter)