As Lin Rui made his way back towards the underground hangar at the SHIELD division, Captain Rogers, who had been upstairs discussing the establishment of the Earth Federation with representatives from several major nations and powerful forces, received the message sent by Lin Rui.
After glancing at the message content, Captain Rogers's serious expression relaxed, and he slowly stood up from his chair.
The alarm that had just sounded hadn't been hidden from the representatives present in the meeting room. The reason for SHIELD's alarm had immediately been presented before them.
Upon learning that unidentified extraterrestrial Spaceships had appeared beyond Earth once again, tension gripped the room. They could only look towards Captain America, Steve Rogers, seated at the head of the table.
When Steve Rogers stood up from his chair, all eyes were on him. Earth had encountered extraterrestrial civilizations more than once recently, and each time, SHIELD had taken action to resolve the situation. So, there was an expectation that they would have a solution this time too.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please do not be alarmed. The Spaceships currently outside Earth belong to a cosmic gang of space pirates..." Rogers began to speak, unhurriedly.
Whoosh!
Before Captain Rogers could finish his sentence, there was already a collective intake of breath and suppressed commotion from below. Clearly, the term "space pirates" was something everyone understood.
It was a group akin to cosmic pirates, and Earth could expect trouble with such a group's attention. However, the chaos in the meeting room only lasted for a brief moment. Soon, everyone quieted down, their eyes fixed on Rogers.
They had seen SHIELD's methods in dealing with extraterrestrial civilizations and even terrifying extraterrestrial lifeforms in the past. Although they didn't understand where SHIELD drew its tremendous strength to deal with such crises, they believed that SHIELD would have a way in this situation as well.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down after the initial panic, Captain Rogers, who had stood up earlier, didn't continue speaking immediately. He remained silent for a couple of seconds. In those two seconds, Rogers surveyed all the representatives in the meeting room.
Finally, he cast an extra glance at the representative from China, Captain Cheng Jianyu. Of all the representatives, Cheng Jianyu had remained the calmest during the brief chaos.
"This gang of space pirates has some connection with Star-Lord, who just left. They shouldn't be here to cause trouble for Earth. Phantom Knight, a member of our League of Defenders, coincidentally knows the leader of this gang, so we'll have Phantom Knight negotiate with them. Rest assured, this gang of space pirates won't pose a threat to us," Captain Rogers continued as he withdrew his gaze.
A week ago, when the two Spaceships that had rushed Earth with Dormammu's doppelgänger landed at the SHIELD New York division, the qualified forces and nations gathered to discuss the formation of the Earth Federation had already learned that one of the Spaceships belonged to SHIELD and their allied forces.
The other belonged to a cosmic mercenary squad.
This squad was composed of various alien races, including some Earthlings. Moreover, this squad held a friendly attitude towards Earth. Therefore, when the Aurora had ascended from the base and pierced through the Earth's atmosphere, these representatives were not surprised.
Upon hearing Rogers explain that the space pirates now appearing in extraterrestrial space were somehow related to the friendly Interstellar mercenary squad that had visited earlier, and that the enigmatic Phantom Knight knew their leader, everyone felt relieved.
Of course, they remained cautious, but they couldn't predict how effective their vigilance would be.
"Phantom Knight again, I'm starting to suspect that this enigmatic Phantom Knight might be an undercover agent placed on Earth by another extraterrestrial civilization. Haha..." After hearing Rogers' explanation, a representative from a certain country chuckled, attempting to dispel the tension with a low-level joke.
However, as this representative finished his joke, he noticed that the atmosphere around him didn't develop as he had expected. Instead, it grew somewhat solemn. Thus, his laughter gradually turned dry and awkward, eventually falling silent.
"As a member of the group proposing the formation of the Earth Federation, Phantom Knight stands at the pinnacle in terms of both strength and thinking. Earth should consider itself fortunate to have such a pioneer," Captain Cheng Jianyu of China suddenly spoke up amidst the gradually awkward atmosphere in the meeting room.
Regardless of whether China had fully investigated Phantom Knight's true identity, what they could confirm was that Phantom Knight had done everything for the sake of protection.
From initially safeguarding a single city block to now uniting globally recognized influential countries and powers to establish the Earth Federation, Phantom Knight had undoubtedly been working tirelessly, achieving things that others in the room couldn't.
"Well, now that Phantom Knight knows the leader of this gang of space pirates, we'll leave this matter to him. As for us, let's continue our meeting. We were discussing the retention of rights among the various nations and powers after the establishment of the Earth Federation..."
...
As the meeting continued upstairs, with everyone in the room reassured by Captain Rogers's explanation, another Spaceship ascended from below at the SHIELD base. It was the E Grade Spaceship.
Since Yondu had come looking for Star-Lord, Lin Rui wasn't going to let them waste any more time on Earth, so he took the Spaceship directly to meet them.
The E Grade Spaceship hovered above the base for a moment and then, amid the roar of its engines, sped into the high sky. Although it wasn't as fast as the Aurora, it quickly pierced through the Earth's atmosphere and disappeared. This time, there weren't as many people on the E Grade Spaceship. Apart from the basic super soldiers for piloting, Lin Rui didn't bring anyone else along.
In the sight of countless satellites, the highly anticipated Spaceship from SHIELD, born on Earth, appeared in outer space in front of everyone. Some basic flight data and aerodynamic information about the E Grade Spaceship were revealed, leaving everyone watching fully satisfied.
Previously, due to the urgency of the situation with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Lin Rui had directly used the power of the Magic Cube to open a spatial rift for transportation.
Except for Ant-Man, Scott, the other nations and forces were unaware of how this Spaceship had appeared outside. Now, they finally had a chance to witness the true appearance of this Spaceship.
In just a few minutes, the E Grade Spaceship had already left Earth and was heading directly towards the approaching space pirates.
...