The violent explosion from the engine hurled Marcus directly into the lake. When he surfaced, sputtering water, he discovered the Kree warriors fleeing without looking back.
One of them carried a figure wrapped in strange energy—Carol, who had been engulfed by the power released from the detonated core.
"You think you can escape after destroying that engine?"
A blue light shot skyward from the lake as Marcus abandoned Xaku's form, transforming into pure energy as he streaked toward the retreating aliens.
Seeing the blue light rapidly approaching, Yon-Rogg and his team accelerated, rushing toward their spacecraft.
They'd had enough of this formidable opponent. Having captured the pilot who likely knew the energy core's location, they needed only to board their ship and depart.
As Marcus closed the distance, the Kree soldiers reached their vessel.
The moment the spacecraft's engines ignited, Marcus realized he couldn't prevent their escape entirely—but he was determined to leave his mark, even if it meant taking down just one more enemy.
Void energy surrounded his body as he transformed back into Xaku. During the transformation, destructive void power radiated outward.
The death and corruption inherent in void energy spread wildly as the fragments on his body disintegrated, revealing the skeletal frame wrapped in energy vessels beneath. The terrifying void energy of Vast Untime engulfed half the spacecraft in an instant.
Though Vast Untime's attack was powerful, the target was a spacecraft built with advanced alien technology. At Xaku's current power level, Marcus couldn't completely destroy it—only part of the wing sustained significant damage.
"DENY!"
Another void beam projected from his hand, striking the spacecraft's engine. The engine exploded upon impact, the blast tearing off an entire wing.
But contrary to Marcus's expectations, the ship didn't plummet. Instead, it flew erratically skyward, trailing thick smoke.
"Damn it! When we meet again, I'll tear your heads off!"
Marcus cursed angrily as he watched the vessel escape.
These warriors had slipped through his grasp, and the aircraft engine he had planned to harvest for Aya Stars had been destroyed by Carol—representing a substantial loss.
Turning his attention to the warrior he had immobilized with his Gaze ability, Marcus noted that the Kree had abandoned their comrade during their retreat, apparently assuming he was dead.
"At least I still have two sets of equipment," he muttered.
Approaching the statue-like figure, Marcus allowed Xaku's form to dissolve back into energy, returning to his human appearance.
"Let's see what you know first."
Placing his hand on the warrior's head, Marcus's consciousness transformed into a burst of light.
Using soul transfer and knowledge extraction abilities, he entered the Kree's memories, eager to learn about their homeworld.
As a mental fog dissipated, the warrior's entire life—from birth to present—appeared before Marcus like floating bubbles of recollection.
"So Hala is the Kree homeworld! I always thought their planet was simply called 'Kree.'"
In these memories, Marcus saw that Hala possessed technology far beyond Earth's capabilities. The Kree had established a vast interstellar empire. This particular warrior, named Sharo, belonged to an elite team specializing in covert operations.
Through these memories, Marcus rapidly absorbed knowledge of Kree language, writing systems, and equipment operation.
"They have universal translators built into their gear. That explains how they communicate so effortlessly."
He had assumed these aliens somehow spoke English, but the truth was that their translators converted any language into something familiar to the listener, enabling seamless communication.
After exploring Sharo's memories extensively, Marcus acquired considerable knowledge about Kree technology. Only after confirming Hala's coordinates did he withdraw from Sharo's consciousness.
"Yon-Rogg, is it? Clean your neck and wait for me."
With those words, void energy surged from his hand, gradually reducing Sharo to ash.
After donning Sharo's equipment, Marcus turned to the warrior who had been struck by his void beam and eliminated him as well.
"I wonder how much Aya Stars I can extract from this gear."
Collecting the equipment, Marcus evaluated the energy signatures, calculating potential yields.
His thoughts drifted to the explosion site, and a twinge of regret passed through him.
"What a wasteful woman, detonating something so valuable!"
Marcus then considered the information harvested from Sharo's memories.
"The Kree truly are a goldmine. If I hadn't seen it in his memories, I might have forgotten about their supreme artificial intelligence!"
The Kree Empire wasn't ruled by any individual. Its leadership came from a hyper-advanced artificial intelligence created by integrating all Kree technological knowledge—a living computer called the Supreme Intelligence.
This entity would be extraordinarily useful. Given the opportunity, Marcus wouldn't hesitate to visit Hala and potentially repurpose the Supreme Intelligence as his own command center.
Shortly after Yon-Rogg's escape, the distant roar of engines broke the silence.
Hearing the approaching vehicles, Marcus instantly shifted into void mode, vanishing from sight.
"Move quickly! Collect all debris from the site!"
A heavyset man resembling a supervisor leapt from a vehicle, shouting orders to the convoy behind him.
From adjacent vehicles, numerous rescue team members disembarked.
"Carol! Carol! Where are you?"
A Black woman called out repeatedly, searching for her colleague who had made contact shortly before.
"No need to continue looking," a gray-haired man said, examining the explosion site. "The pilot didn't survive."
Gesturing toward the blast radius, he continued, "The plane engine detonated. This Carol person would have been killed in the explosion along with Dr. Lawson."
Hearing this, the woman stared at the devastated area in disbelief. They had been in communication just moments earlier—how could they suddenly be gone?
"Consultant Stark! You should see this!"
The supervisor called to the gray-haired man, indicating a piece of spacecraft wing that Marcus had blasted off.
Old Stark approached, clearly intrigued by the unusual component.
Marcus, observing invisibly nearby, studied the gray-haired man with interest.
"Could that be Howard Stark?" he wondered, following closely behind. "It fits—Howard would be in his sixties or seventies now."
Though uncertain of the exact year, Marcus recognized the eagle emblem on their uniforms—the insignia of S.H.I.E.L.D. He had watched enough superhero films in his previous life to recognize it.
Given their affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the man being addressed as "Consultant Stark," this could only be Howard Stark. After all, future Iron Man Tony Stark never harbored positive feelings toward the organization.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~