Chapter 1999 U: Beyond Major Events (88)_1

At this moment, Shiller found himself inside a vast temple.

Although it was referred to as a temple, it resembled more of a functional dwelling built by modern man, only adorned with that of a temple style, along with various decorations and ancient symbols carved on the walls.

At the very heart of the temple stood a giant crystal pillar - the kind of red crystal that Stark had once found underground. Only, this one was much bigger and its red glow much brighter than the ones he encountered underground.

Right now, surrounding the red crystal, there was a piece of technology that was evidently created by modern man. A glass enclosure emitting a blue radiance covered the crystal, and energy extracting devices connected from the top and bottom to the ceiling and the floor.

Shiller knew about the story of The Hewey people sooner than anyone else.

When Shiller obtained the first fragment of the Totem Pillar, he discovered that the text and symbols on it were not simple. They didn't seem to be common symbols used by primitive civilizations, but were highly abstract and generalized. This suggested that the civilization which produced such totems must have been highly developed a long time ago.

Shiller was clear that, in the boundless cosmos, the human race was a relatively young civilization. While people often say that human civilization has just stepped out of its cradle, in the eyes of many advanced interstellar civilizations, the human race, still dependent on the earth's resources, was as if it is not yet born from its mother's womb.

However, this civilization, which called themselves The Hewey, was not like that. Millions of years ago, they had already established advanced cities and a mature civilized society.

Just as the others had speculated, The Hewey were an advanced magic civilization or an energy civilization, receiving divine favor from birth.

Similar to the way humans possess petroleum, beneath the surface of The Hewey's mother star, there existed a substance called Hewey Crystal, which was the same red crystal Shiller was presently observing.

However, unlike petroleum, energy provided by this crystal naturally coexisted with life born on their planet. The Hewey people could replenish their energy from the crystal. The crystal's powder could be widely added to food and drinks, and it could also be used for industrial manufacturing, pharmaceutics, and even agriculture.

Looking at the people who descended from the ceiling and entered the temple, Shiller said, "What a fortunate civilization. They discovered the Ether Element just as their science was just beginning."

Both Iron Man and Batman knew what he was referring to. Ether Element was a type of universally useful material and energy conceived by ancient philosophers. Essentially, anything unobservable or unusable was Ether Element. It was the medium and reactant, the epitome of all elements, as well as their basic form.

In his investigation, Lord Batman had not seen Hewey Crystal's natural manifestation, but he had seen a sample in the lab and even found the basic theory describing this crystal at a school.

"But this is not normal." Stark spoke up, "Perhaps a civilization may have found a widely usable energy source or material on their mother star by great luck, but it never fits so perfectly and harmoniously. This does not conform to the law of natural evolution."

Lord Batman turned to look at Stark. He noticed that Stark's tone was very firm, as though he had indeed conducted some research. Loki also nodded, "Ever since I reached adulthood, I have been roaming the cosmos with the Father of All Gods. Those advanced interstellar civilizations were all very lucky and had good starts."

"But, not a single civilization has found a truly perfect and omnipotent natural source of energy and materials. Even if something could be narrowly classified as omnipotent, the extraction difficulty is far beyond imagination."

"Having perfect materials and energy sources is not unusual," The White Can started talking, "but they had perfect energy sources millions of years ago. How come their civilization is no more advanced than the human race? There are no records of them exploring other stars on this planet."

"This is exactly the problem," Lord Batman said, his eyes lowering. "I have reviewed the research report on this crystal. Its energy storage efficiency is very high. It doesn't even need any human adjustments or compressions. Merely placing it in a rocket is enough for the rocket to fly to Mars."

Eddie stopped abruptly and said, "Fog?"

Everyone turned to look at him. Eddie sighed and said, "I didn't go looking for clues and I don't study, but Venom told me that the fog is not a natural phenomenon. The way the factors in the fog are interconnected is unusual; it's like a network woven with chains."

"I believe you all guessed it," Shiller smiled and said, "The dense fog is blocking all things powered by the But heuey Crystal."

"The fog also didn't occur naturally," Bruce sighed. He began to pace around the crystal in the center of the temple, "Neither the red crystal nor the fog that blocks the red crystal's power were naturally present. They were put there by sentient beings."

Just then, it seemed Thor remembered something. He muttered, "Hmm," drawing the attention of everyone else.

After a moment of reflection, Thor said, "Do you know how the Kree People and the Skrull People started fighting?"

The people present from other universes did not understand who he was referring to, so Thor decided to start from the beginning.

"The old Skrulls, at that time they were not an empire, could be called a group of interstellar enthusiasts. They spread life seeds in the universe and selected civilizations with potential to foster."

"But such affairs were essentially a gamble. Not every civilization that received their support definitely thrived. The resources that could be repaid to the old Skrulls were limited. Over millions of years, their resources dwindled."

"At that time, they had set their sights on the Kree and another civilization, but they only intended to assist one of them. So they had them each construct a building, and whoever built better would receive their help."

"In the end, the civilization other than the Kree won. But as they were cohabiting a planet, one being aided would inevitably mean the extinction of the other. To survive, the Kree waged war early on, became enemies with the Skrull people, and thus began a millennia-long warfare."

"What I want to say is that Skrulls have done more than just this one thing. Often, they do not straightforwardly reveal to the primitive civilizations that they are aliens here to help. They instead provide them with resources in the form of divine interventions."

"As they put it, this approach matches the different civilizations' modes of development. For those who believe in gods, they provide oracles, for those just starting with scientific development, they create accidents, for the advanced ones, they communicate logically. Theoretically speaking, this makes sense, but the reality isn't so ideal."

"Some civilizations took this as a constant natural phenomenon, causing them to over-rely on these heavenly resources, which led to a long-term lag in energy and materials science. Some civilizations, due to their insatiable greed, sought out the Skrull people along the descending channels of resources, wanting even more."

"Meanwhile, the Skrulls, in their later stages, could no longer support the massive output of resources. They were forced to start harvesting the now developing civilizations, causing grievances among their people."

"A part of the Skrulls realized that those who once held them in god-like esteem had practically no complaints when being harvested, nor did they cause much trouble. Thus, for the sake of their own profits, they began treating these civilizations with even less regard."

"I once heard an old Skrull say that in their latter stages, they would treat an entire planet as farmland. They'd throw down a few machines, brainwash the natives' leaders, have them instruct their subordinates to operate machines for resource extraction, and then hand over everything on the planet."

"To the entire Skrull empire, these resources weren't much. But for an individual, they were considerable wealth. Some even carved out territories and claimed kingship with it, exploiting without limit and causing widespread condemnation in interstellar society."

In the end, Thor stated his conclusion: "I suspect that the star where the Hewey live is one of the farmlands of an advanced civilization."

Both Batmen present and the one off-screen furrowed their brows. Not necessarily because Thor's conclusion was shocking, but mainly because this big guy just didn't seem to realize that his discourse was a bit off, did he?

At this moment, Thor still donned the attire of a divine king, and because of a celebration he'd attended prior, his outfit seemed more extravagant than usual.

Intricate silver and bronze armor was overlaid with a deep blue cloak. The cloak was dressed with a cape embedded with various gemstones. Atop his head, he wore a crown adorned with all kinds of gemstones. His golden hair was braided, with decorations made of seashells woven in between.

"You, looking like a medieval king from a classic kingdom who'd appear in oil paintings, talking about cosmic civilizations – doesn't something seem wrong?"

Thor and Loki seemed to be accustomed to this kind of bias. Loki sighed and said, "Why do humans always think that the gods should appear in mythologies, and their daily work is to reside in temples on some mountains, waiting for humans to make wishes?"

"The gods, who are born with strong energies capable of controlling the elements, should logically have more advanced civilizations and higher statuses in interstellar society over humans. Besides, we have longer lifespans, so we should be more advanced, right?"

"Because our cosmic gods are indeed idle most of the time," Lord Superman scoffed, "I've often heard Diana complain about the troubles on Mount Olympus, other than who had children with whom, and that the children, when they grow up, would find their way there."

"So, you are also a developed interstellar civilization?" Bruce challenged.

Loki nodded and said, "Apologies, but we indeed have starships, supply bases on planets throughout the cosmos, a perpetual power supply of stars, and a variety of rechargeable armors and weapons."

"What about humans?" Lord Batman asked with furrowed eyebrows.

He's actually asking, if there's such a powerful civilization surrounding Earth, what room is there for humans to survive?

Loki and Thor exchanged a glance, their gazes landing on Shiller and Stark.

"Though it's extremely disappointing to admit, but humans really are a miraculous race. While 99% of you are inconsequential and always find ways to fight amongst yourselves, there's always that 1% that is extraordinarily powerful, and not to mention incredibly united."

Thor also sighed gently and said, "As long as your species can continuously produce exceptional individuals, protecting, aiding and even nurturing you would result in more benefits than disadvantages for us."

"Even if there's only one powerful individual born every ten thousand years, the Nine Major Kingdoms would have a chance to significantly establish their presence amongst the stars, reminding those with ulterior motives to think twice. This could contribute significantly to Asgard's renowned reputation."

"Especially..." Thor hesitated for a moment, glancing over at Shiller again before saying, "The powerful individuals among humans are exceptionally... It's hard to say, but currently, all transit gates in the interstellar society must conduct two security checks if they detect the presence of humanoids."

"And it's all because of..."

Pointing at each other simultaneously, Shiller and Loki both exclaimed, "