Noticing that the surrounding magnetic field had returned to calm, Polaris clapped her hands in satisfaction and continued her hauling work.
On the other side, the Dorian General was flabbergasted, "What's happened? The teleportation portal has been interrupted. Who did it?"
The monitoring personnel shook their heads. They were standing near a gate-shaped device, which was necessary for initiating the teleportation portal.
The device was massive, much larger than their several Battleships, and parked next to this gate-like device was a spaceship nearly the same size as the portal itself, a Zitari Will-class Battleship.
The limitation of Zitari's teleportation portal was that they first needed to create a physical gate, large enough to accommodate Battleships. Furthermore, this kind of portal could only be used a few times before it was scrapped, and yet cost approximately the same as a Battleship.
Most civilizations at the Zitari's level use this type of teleportation portal. In comparison, Earth's system, where a tiny creature could wave its hand to create a portal the size of the moon, sounded like myth to these civilizations.
Dorian was baffled. So, he could only command, "Reinitiate the teleportation portal and try again."
After Polaris had cleaned up the last remnants and was thinking of returning to Earth to check for any leftovers, she felt a change in the magnetic field again.
For mutants that were born and lived in magnetic fields, this feeling was similar to a fly buzzing annoyingly close to your ears. It didn't bite, but it was extremely bothersome.
Polaris shrugged, shivered in the cold, and waved her hand impatiently. The surrounding magnetic field calmed once more. But just as she was poised to commence her journey again, that same strange sensation returned.
Polaris had a short fuse. The continuous failures of the wormhole had already tested her limits, but she knew better than to vent her anger on Stark and the others, so she'd held it in.
However, with the inexplicable magnetic fluctuations this time, she lost her temper.
Polaris spread her arms, her hair flying wildly while the magnetic field rapidly changed. A large area's magnetic field was forcibly condensed.
It was then that Polaris realized that someone else seemed to be trying to open a spatial tunnel here. She frowned, directed her senses towards the location of the anomaly, slowly closed her eyes, reached out a hand, clenched it fiercely into a fist in mid-air.
"Boom!"
An extremely bright light erupted at the edge of the Zitari star system, and the giant portal exploded into fireworks.
The destruction brought about by the explosion of this massive device was tremendous. The Will-class battleship, which was ready for teleportation near the portal, was affected and pushed far away, its bumpers flying off.
Luckily, Dorian and his researchers had retreated inside the battleship, thus evading an instant death from the explosion. However, the shock of seeing the giant teleportation portal explode right before their eyes was unparalleled.
Dorian panicked. If six regular Battleships were lost, he could still accept it. However, the explosion of the Zitari Empire's teleportation portal and one of the three existing Will-class battleships being damaged was unacceptable. If he were to return to the mother planet now, his fate would surely be tossed into the gladiatorial arena.
With the situation having escalated to this point, Dorian had no choice but to fight at any cost. Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he ordered, "Capture the ship! Control this Will-class Battleship and take it away!"
His decision was resolute, and thus, before most of the people on the Will-class Battleship could react, Dorian's subordinates had taken control of the large spaceship. Just as they were about to throttle up and leave, a crisp, frigid female voice echoed in their ears:
"Where do you think you're going?"
A small figure with green hair next to the giant battleship appeared like a dust speck in the cosmos.
Then, the dust speck swept a big ear across the battleship, causing it to spin wildly and fly out of the star system.
Upon seeing the spinning Will-class spaceship on the magic screen, Loki took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
She dialed Stark's number and said, "My target selection was poor. You guys cause a lot of damage to civilizations from the technology side."
Stark saw Polaris disappearing from the monitor, but judging by Loki's tone, he could guess what Polaris had gone to do.
Loki's point was valid: Clearly, the Zitary were not a civilization that had transcended the control of the magnetic field. Their space travel technology still relied on considerations of magnetic fields and stances. Against mutants like Polaris or Magneto, who had a natural affinity with magnetism, they were virtually powerless.
Even a strength-based superhero like Spider Man could cause irreversible damage to their metal Battleships, let alone, Earth had many more monsters yet to unleash. If the Hulk had come earlier, with a swift kick, the Zitary would have been sent rolling back home—physically rolling back.
"What now?" Stark asked.
Loki thought for a while and said, "The civilizations on the tech side won't work. I'll go find those on the magic side. You wait, I'll go summon some more people."
In the space not far from Earth, the debris of the exploding spaceship had been mostly cleared. Strange returned Spider Man's soul to his body. Peter was still very confused, unaware of what had occurred.
Turning around, he saw Shiller's Death Stare, Peter stuttered, "Um, Doctor, I promise, I'll definitely go to bed early next time!"
Shiller scoffed and gestured to Earth. Disheartened, Peter left. Moments later, a scream echoed from Earth, "My game console!!!!!"
In the vastness of space, Shiller and Strange remained unmoved. Squinting his eyes, Shiller turned to Strange and asked, "Why did the Zitari suddenly invade? Are you hiding something from me?"
"I don't know either," Strange vehemently denied.
"Oh, really? So, you suddenly left Earth just to enjoy the view?" Shiller continued to probe.
Finding it impossible to brush off Shiller's assertion, Strange responded, "Stop asking, anyway I can't tell…"
Based on Earth's current position, it should still be pre-dawn in New York, or in other words, bedtime.
Shiller, still dressed in his pyjamas and holding a pillow, took a deep breath. He forced a smile and declared,
"If that's the case, then I'll go back to sleep."
Strange also managed to put on a forced grin, "Go ahead, good night."
However, Shiller didn't move. Instead, his usual composure faltered for a moment. When he eventually regained his demeanor, his facial expression had completely changed, his gaze turned cold and ruthless.
Strange took a step back, raising his hands to plead, "No, don't, Shiller…"
In an instant, an Umbrella Knife appeared in Shiller's hand. The New Yorkers, who were looking at the starry sky, noticed the silver blade and shiny rings appearing repeatedly amidst the fireworks.
Stark held his aching head as he watched the scene unfold on the monitors. He dialed S.H.I.E.L.D's Sky Carrier. Natasha, who was in her room, took a puff from her cigarette while watching the light show through her window. Before Stark could utter a word, the female agent interjected,
"Hmm… I know, you want S.H.I.E.L.D to send someone to mediate, but…"
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Natasha glanced at the horde of mages flying outside. Leading the charge was Mage King, who waved his hand and declared, "The Supreme Magician has been gone for too long, he must be in a tough battle with those aliens. We should help!"
"Alright! Let's go!"
With that, they shot across the sky like shooting stars, disappearing into the distance. Natasha took another puff and said,
"Stark, has anyone ever told you…"
"What?"
"Your plans are like your… um… physical attributes. Short, but eventful."
In the midst of space, Shiller backed away slightly as his knife attack was blocked by a magical shield. Watching the mages materialize behind Strange, he snapped his fingers. The towering figure of Khonsu appeared behind him, followed shortly by Moonlight murderer Jack.
Strange also took a step back, snapping his fingers in response. The mages behind him all revealed their magical tools,
Upon seeing this, Shiller snapped his fingers again. Pikachu, shimmering in yellow light, appeared behind him. Right after, there was Grant Ward, transformed into Yellow Lantern.
In an instant, a collision occurred, and dazzling lights erupted. The void above Earth was bathed in a spectacular fireworks display.
The good thing about magic is that it doesn't produce physical collisions or debris, so it won't cause any harm to Earth. But the dazzling display of lights makes the battle captivating, even to the average person.
Earth's atmosphere had mostly shifted from a tense, on-the-brink-of-disaster mentality, to a popcorn-in-hand, enjoy-the-show mindset.
It was reminiscent of the boy who cried wolf. At first, those three alien ships had a profound impact on humanity, but soon after, they blew up like fireworks. Just as people were starting to question what was happening, three more ships of the same kind appeared, ramping up the tension again. But once again, all three blew up.
Next, the wormhole was about to open. Everyone was terrified at the prospect of even more large, dangerous ships emerging, but then the wormhole blinked twice and suddenly disappeared, just like a fart.
Now, there were no more wormholes and the ships were all gone, leaving a group of superheroes fighting in the void of space.
At the height of the battle between Shiller and the mages, Loki picked up her magic wand. At the tip of the wand, a flicker of light revealed a silhouette. Looking at it, Loki declared,
"I am Loki, the Crown Princess of Asgard, currently planning to counterattack the Fairy Palace…"
"If you're willing to help, once I overthrow Thor's regime, I will share half of the Nine Realms with you to rule together!"
"Malekith, Leader of the Dark Elves, join me!"