Chapter 1601: The Man who Chases the Sun (42)_1

Through their investigation of the celestial motion traces left within the universe, the group eventually summarized the cause of the incident. It could be roughly described as—

The Skrull Empire's Infinite-grade warship was rendered out of control after being hit by the insect race, crashing into a planet, which in turn collided with a Shi'ar Empire warship. The teleportation gate on the Shi'ar Empire warship exploded and was hit by a Cosmic Sorcerer. The blasted Cosmic Sorcerer crashed into a hive of the Insect race, which then collided with an Asgard General who was dueling it. The Asgard General was then sent crashing into a Neutron Star....

The group was speechless. Peter was the first to sigh and say: "Let's find another spaceship. At least, we need to transport the corpse of this insect race back to Earth first."

After saying this, he looked around and noticed the Skrull Empire's warship - the one that had initially malfunctioned - floating silently around the star. For some reason, the terrifying Insect race hadn't shredded this spaceship into pieces; instead, they'd seemingly abandoned it.

"Doom proposes that we should approach that spaceship. Doom has the capability to repair it to its original condition." Doom stated in his usual indifferent tone.

"It seems we have no other choice." Shiller sighed.

Peter, however, raised an eyebrow. As the person most familiar with Shiller present, he noticed that there was something off about Doctor Shiller. Shiller turned to look at him and said: "Your hunch is correct. The other Doctor Shiller has gone to receive treatment from Professor X. Don't expect much from me."

Banner and Otto, both surprised, looked at Shiller. They could hardly believe that Shiller would say something like 'don't expect much from me'. Even though they hadn't interacted much with Shiller, they did know that he wished the whole world was relying on him.

"What I'm saying is the truth." Shiller sighed again: "There is a difference among Shillers. Although I am not quite weak, but..."

It was at this point that a beeping sound came from the life-support bracelet on Otto's wrist. After glancing at it, he said, "The power for my life-support device is nearly drained. We need to find a place with an oxygen making device first."

Shiller and his grey mist lead them to the Skrull's battleship. Before entering, he used the grey mist matter to scan for dangers. After confirming that there were none, they landed on the deck.

The power system of the spaceship was not damaged, only the transmission parts had lost control. Doom and Peter discovered after a check that it could be repaired, but Banner noticed something amiss.

"Given the degree of damage to this warship, Skrull Empire's soldiers couldn't have possibly abandoned ship and fled. And why didn't the insects stay and entirely devour the spaceship? They eat everything..."

At this point, Otto, peering through a porthole at a nearby sun, seemed to notice something. His expression changed, and he shouted at the others: "Quickly leave this place, Shiller. Hurry up!!!"

"What's the matter?" Peter asked, turning to look at him.

"The Sun is going to explode!!! Let's quickly leave!!!

Upon Otto's shout, Shiller noticed that the nurturing radiance emanating from the star had gradually become cold. The shining orbs in space shifted their color from warm to silvery white, indicating the precursor to a supernova explosion.

In an instant, the grey mist spread once more as Shiller led them towards the outer periphery of the star system. By the time they had completely exited the star system, the bright silvery light had already faded, signifying the end of another star's life.

"The Skrull Empire must have struck the star while fighting with the insects, causing damage to its internal structure and accelerating the star's evolution process, knowing they couldn't fix the ship quickly enough and that the external shield was compromised and couldn't withstand the power of a solar explosion, they had to evacuate urgently."

Everyone silently observed this magnificent firework show on a small planet at the periphery of the star system. Shiller said, "Perhaps I must introduce myself properly to you. Actually, ..."

"Don't. Doctor, I just noticed that there are quite a lot of spaceship remnants near this star system. We could collect some parts and assemble a spaceship ourselves, right Doctor Doom?"

Peter turned to look at Doom, who had his eyes on the little planet beneath his feet. "Doom can make a planet engine. Add that to an external shield, and we could directly navigate this small planet out of here."

Peter nodded his approval, finding his suggestion logical. Both Otto and Banner saw no issue with it while Shiller tried to say something but Peter was already springing into action.

Both Peter and Doom could function in the vacuum of space in their normal states. Peter relied on the symbiotic Red Bee inside him, while Doom relied on his mechanical armor. However, Banner and Otto could only sustain basic life functions, and they were incapable of movement.

So, Peter and Doom split up to search for any useful wreckage parts. Shiller took Banner and Otto in another direction to search, and they agreed to meet back on the small planet if they found engine parts.

Half an hour later, the group returned empty-handed, looking at each other. In the entire star system, they had found all the parts of the spaceship—but not the engine.

If there was a member of the team that wasn't a scientist, they definitely would've started complaining by now. But the scientists in this team were not only academically proficient, they had also gone through hardships. They were all about stretching the limits.

Not any ready-made stuff available? It didn't matter; everything could be crafted on the spot. Who wouldn't be able to hand-craft a spaceship engine?

A quality necessary for any great scientist is the ability to face failure fearlessly. Failure is more common than success on the path of scientific research. Any scientist that has made their name on this path has unusual perseverance, the courage to face countless failures, and no fear of starting afresh.

Under normal circumstances, this is a good quality. But in life, there will always be some not-so-normal situations.

"Bang! Crash!"

"Cough… cough cough… Damn it, what on earth is this?!!"

Peter coughed vigorously, waving his hand to disperse the black smoke emitted from his mouth. He stared at the engine which had operated for only a few seconds before exploding into two halves, he was puzzled.

"Doom thinks there is a problem with the magnetic field of this planet." Doom reached this conclusion and continued, "Apart from the problem with the test site, we couldn't find any issues related to the manufacturing process. Our design ideas and practices are all correct."

"I think, maybe we should..."

"Wait, what's that?" Banner looked into the distance with a frown, spotting some bright red dots at the end of the dark universe space.

"Those are the damn bugs' eyes! They're back; we have to get out of here!" Peter glanced regretfully at the parts scattered on the ground but showed no sign of dismay.

"Sorry, Doctor, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again." Peter didn't seem to care about what Shiller had said before, that Shiller was not one entity, but still considered Shiller a whole.

Shiller tried several times to explain but failed. Sighing helplessly, he finally uttered, "Alright, let's go."

Shiller transformed back into the gray mist, dragging the few of them away from the clutches of the returning Insect race. Peter, Doom, and Banner, with The Hulk inside him, all had the capability to fight the bug tribe, but their main priority was to charge their life-preserving devices while ensuring the intactness of the bug's corpse in their possession.

The way to charge life-preserving devices was found easily enough - just find a normal star system and sunbathe awhile. The insect corpse was in perfect condition, free from harm.

The only issue was that during their interstellar journey, they failed to find a single spaceship they could operate, or the materials needed to make one.

This whole way, they kept flying thanks to Shiller. Every planet they landed on saw them quickly relocating due to sudden star explosions, unexpected meteor showers, crust splits, satellite derailments, sudden bug attacks, errant weapons, and more.

After finally finding another planet, Shiller was on the verge of exhaustion. Leaning against a standing stone pillar, he huffed out, "I can't fly anymore."

Peter looked at him incredulously. Shiller shook his head and clarified, "The gray mist isn't tired, but I am. Mostly, I'm mentally exhausted."

At this, everyone looked at him shockingly. Shiller took a deep sigh and said, "I've told you, I'm not avaricious, risking my life over money. I just want to find a safe place to stay quiet; I..."

"Buzz—buzz—"

A sharp vibration came through. Peter's Spider-sense went off; as he turned, he saw two humanoid insects appear through a dark purple portal behind.

The leading one had green skin, antennae on its head, and wings on its back. It was the mastermind behind the insect tribe's invasion: the Annihilator.

"Those damn gods...whatever, we'll settle with them later, first let's...Humans??!!!"

"Prepare for battle!" Peter shouted.

Shiller had to turn back into the gray mist. But seeing Peter and Doom smoothly take flight, and Banner and Otto ready to attack from the ground, he asked in his mind, "Gray mist, how do I normally fight?"

"You usually do not fight." replied gray mist bluntly.

"Then how do you usually fight?"

"I do not usually fight either."

Silent for a moment, Shiller heard the gray mist say, "But I have seen a very capable Shiller fight before. Do you want to try imitating him?"

"How does he fight?"

"No matter what he comes across, he just attacks."

"Alright, I'll try."

In an instant, the gray mist gathered around Shiller, forming a dense fog. Shiller moved at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye, appearing in front of the Annihilator.

A huge sword, made of the mist, surged towards the Annihilator like a crescent moon. The Annihilator turned its head and quickly dodged to the side.

Shiller was indeed trying to fight as best as he could, and the gray mist was also giving its full cooperation. But what they hadn't considered was what would happen if the attack missed its target.

After missing the Annihilator, the massive sword didn't turn or dissipate; instead, it directly slashed towards the teleportation door the Annihilator had used.

The Annihilator was horrified. Before it could get another word out, the huge sword made of gray mist particles chopped the teleportation door, causing a space explosion due to a dimensional transfer structure imbalance. The explosion swept across the entire star system in an instant.

Endless ripples spread out, and everyone around, Cosmic Sorcerers, The Annihilator, Ravenous, Doctor Doom, Spider-Man, even Banner and Peter down on the planet, failure to even scream, were all blown away by the huge explosion.

The only one not blown away, Shiller, looked around the suddenly empty universe space. He asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"I guess that counts as me winning...right?"