Interstellar war.
The terrifying phrase echoed in everyone's ears, like a lingering nightmare.
"We just went through a war, and now another one is starting?"
"What's going on, Loki?"
Ben helped Loki up. Loki first glanced warily at Steve, confirmed he wasn't holding his hammer, and then breathed a sigh of relief.
However, his steps still shifted slightly towards Ben.
He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, then spoke:
"It's the Chitauri."
"The Chitauri War Lord is under Thanos. They detected the energy signal from the Cosmic Cube and are bringing their army to attack Earth."
"War is coming!"
Loki's voice was a little flustered.
"Calm down!" Ben steadied him. "How did you know?"
"I encountered them on my way to Earth," Loki said, still shaken. "They were like locusts, attacking every active object. I barely escaped with my life, thanks to the durable engine of the ship Looma built..."
Ben wasn't surprised by this.
The Chitauri were warlike.
This was evident from their leader's title: War Lord.
The only crucial point was this:
"Their marching speed is far slower than ships equipped with Tetramand engines," Ben said, crossing his arms. "Where did you encounter them?"
Loki recalled for a moment and then gave a coordinate.
He then breathed a sigh of relief himself, saying a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, I got too worked up. By that calculation, it'll probably take about a year for the Chitauri army to reach Earth."
"Too worked up? I think you mean too scared?"
Tony didn't spare him any face.
He turned and said, "It looks like we have enough time to prepare for this war."
About a year was enough time to do a lot.
Captain America felt even more exhausted. At this moment, he absolutely hated Nick Fury.
"What can we do?"
Ben lowered his head, deep in thought.
Originally, in the movie, the Chitauri invasion started in New York.
The Cosmic Cube was a door; it could be opened from this side, and it could be opened from the other side.
But in reality, it wasn't something just anyone could do, otherwise, Thanos wouldn't have had so much trouble finding the Cube.
At that time, it was because Loki joined Thanos's side that he helped the Chitauri open the portal. Now that Loki was one of them, the Chitauri could only attack from the sky.
With the enemy's marching route confirmed, things were much easier.
"It looks like we need to build a protective barrier that can cover the entire Earth," Ben said after some thought.
"Can we do that?"
Steve's eyes lit up immediately.
He had already experienced how strong Primus's energy barrier was.
The only problem was that expanding it to cover the entire Earth seemed a bit too sci-fi.
If Ben knew what he was thinking, he would have laughed himself to death.
Sci-fi?
Your Marvel has long since become fantasy!
"How do we solve the energy problem?"
Tony asked.
"We happen to have an Infinite Energy Cube," Ben said, taking out the Cosmic Cube. Loki's eyes flickered, and he instinctively reached out for it.
Tony, quick as lightning, slapped his hand away.
"Wait, this isn't..."
"No, we fished this out of the sea," Ben interrupted Loki's attempt to cast a spell.
Originally, he had agreed to Ben sending the Cosmic Cube to the Galactic Plumbers for safekeeping, but now it seemed that wouldn't work.
Without the Cosmic Cube, where would they find another source of infinite energy to power an entire planet's energy shield?
Therefore, the Cosmic Cube, since ancient times, belonged to Earth!
Loki rolled his eyes.
He knew what was in his own home, didn't he?
"By the time you figure out how to use the Tesseract, the Chitauri army will have already swept through like locusts."
"Then let Loki participate in the research too."
Norman made the decision.
He didn't trust Loki, but he trusted Ben.
"Besides the Tesseract, is there anything else we need to prepare?"
"I need at least four satellites as base stations."
Ben drew a simple diagram. In the picture, Earth was in the center, with four satellites dispersed in different positions, forming a tetrahedron that enclosed the planet.
"Don't worry, the Security Council will pay for it," Norman said with a smile.
Things that could be solved with money weren't a problem.
Especially when it was other people's money.
Since that was the case, Ben immediately thought, if you don't take advantage of a good deal, you're a fool, and said:
"Then I want a space station too."
He planned to bring out the Galactic Plumbers' space station.
Norman: "Consider it done!"
Ben: "The space station needs the highest grade materials, so I want Vibranium."
Norman: "Consider it done!"
Ben: "I also want mining rights in Antarctica."
Norman: "Consider it done!"
Tony: "Hold on, hold on, hold on! I seriously suspect you guys are abusing your power! What does a space station have to do with an energy barrier? And what does mining rights in Antarctica have to do with it?"
Hill sighed and said, "Do you still need to suspect?"
"Don't worry about it."
Ben pushed him away and said, "Now is the time for us to unite. Don't say things that are detrimental to unity in the future."
"Besides, building the Galactic Plumbers space station is also to counter the Chitauri army. We can't just stay behind the barrier forever, acting like scared turtles and fooling ourselves into thinking the world is peaceful, right? It's like your battle armor is to protect your body, but the weapons on the battle armor are to eliminate enemies."
Ben's words resonated with Tony and everyone else.
As for the ownership of the space station, well, that was none of their business.
"Alright, alright, alright."
Tony nodded vigorously. What a great "none of your business."
Since Ben had said it like that, what else could he do?
On the contrary, the latter part of Ben's statement served as a reminder.
Being passively beaten was definitely not his style. If the Chitauri wanted war, then he would give them war!
With the general direction of the plan roughly laid out, all parties began to take action.
Since the Tesseract couldn't be sent to Sakaar for the time being, Ben put it away, storing it in his absolutely secure backpack.
Then Norman urgently formed a technical team to build massive satellites capable of withstanding the Tesseract's energy.
The main function of the satellites would be an amplified super energy barrier launcher, powerful enough to cover the entire Earth.
Then he went to the Security Council to secure funding.
Norman found that his role as director of H.A.M.M.E.R. wasn't much like a director's at all. He was more like a public relations officer, constantly either seeking or on his way to seek funding.
"In the past, others used to come to me to scam for funding; now it's the other way around," he chuckled, shaking his head.
Hill said, "Maybe next time we should put some sponsor ads on the outside of the aircraft carrier... how about 'Yili'?"
"Forget the fake milk seller."
Everyone went back to their own tasks.
Steve watched everyone leave. He was completely clueless about these things, only knowing how to charge forward with his shield, and couldn't help much now.
After some thought, he decided to visit Bucky at Primus's sanatorium.
Bucky had recently made a friend.
That would be his fellow patient at the sanatorium, who also suffered from amnesia – Flash.
They weren't really friends, just two unfortunate patients with similar afflictions, who could barely manage a conversation in their lonely and boring hospital rooms.
Flash had been recuperating well lately.
Although he couldn't remember many things, many of his classmates had visited him, and he was slowly becoming familiar with their faces.
The one who visited the most was, naturally, Ben.
Then there was Peter.
Peter usually came after school, but sometimes he'd visit Flash wearing his Spider-Man suit.
Even though he had amnesia, Flash hadn't forgotten he was a fan of Spider-Man.
Instead, he felt like his life was complete.
"Hey, Iron Hand."
He greeted the taciturn Winter Soldier and then said, "I'm ready to be discharged."
"Your memory has returned?"
Winter Soldier wasn't surprised that Flash could leave.
He had initially thought Flash was like him, a Winter Soldier brainwashed by Hydra. Later, he learned that the other person was just a high school student who had been injured protecting his classmates.
"No, but it's okay."
Flash let out a breath and then said, "People always have to look forward. Past memories can't be recalled, but that doesn't mean the person is dead. New memories will be made."
"You're lucky to have a good friend," Flash said.
He was referring to Steve Rogers.
"I remember him. Captain America, like Spider-Man, is one of the Avengers. Do you know the Avengers?"
"I don't deserve to be his friend. I've done many bad things."
Bucky pursed his lips and then lowered his head.
"But he considers you a friend." Seeing Bucky so dejected, Flash added, "Listen, buddy Iron Hand, I've done bad things too. Among the classmates who visited me, they said I used to bully people."
"Mistakes don't disappear, so we should make amends and atone for the wrongdoings we've committed."
Flash said.
"I plan to learn from Spider-Man, help those I can, do community service, apologize to everyone I've bullied, and do my best, even if it's insignificant."
Bucky looked at him, feeling as if Flash was truly glowing like lightning.
"You can too."
"Can I really?"
"Of course," Flash nodded seriously. "As long as you're willing. Do you know what Spider-Man said when he visited me?"
"He said, 'With great power comes great responsibility,' which is why he always does good deeds."
Hearing this, Bucky asked again, "What if people never forgive you?"
"I've hurt others, and no matter how much I do, I'm not qualified to demand forgiveness. But I can't give up because of that. Spending the rest of my life doing good deeds and helping others is better than self-pity."
"Getting others to forgive you isn't the goal; making amends and atoning are."
"Besides, even if I hadn't done anything wrong, I should still do good deeds."
Flash smiled slightly.
"Because Spider-Man would do it!"
Two updates today
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