Of course—
Not killing him recklessly didn't mean Alex wouldn't kill him.
If Galactus truly refused to back down and insisted on targeting Earth, then Alex would have no choice but to eliminate him.
Fortunately, Galactus wasn't that stupid.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Very quickly, the scattered particle stream re-condensed.
Another Galactus reappeared before Alex.
"It seems I underestimated you,"
Galactus said, looking at Alex with renewed respect.
"However, you have earned your planet a chance to survive."
"No,"
Alex corrected calmly,
"it's not that I earned Earth a chance to survive—it's that you don't have the ability to consume it."
"There's a difference."
Galactus didn't deny it, merely shrugged.
"You really don't like being beneath anyone, do you?"
"Since you're already here, it'd be a waste to leave without learning something. I have a few questions."
Alex waved his hand.
An aerial palace materialized out of thin air.
It was created using the Reality Stone—luxurious, majestic, and imposing.
Two chairs appeared inside the grand hall.
Alex gestured politely toward Galactus.
"If I refuse to answer,"
Galactus said dryly,
"you won't let me leave easily, will you?"
He wasn't stupid.
"You invaded my planet and lost,"
Alex replied matter-of-factly as he sat down across from him.
"Do you really think it's appropriate to leave without paying any price?"
"…Fair enough."
Galactus nodded.
This cosmic heavyweight was easier to talk to than Alex had expected.
Of course—
That was only because Alex had the strength to back it up.
"I'm curious about something,"
Alex said seriously.
"When you decided to consume Earth, did you know that there's a Celestial sleeping inside it?"
"That's not something I concern myself with,"
Galactus replied indifferently.
"So—you didn't know?"
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"I don't need to know."
Galactus's tone remained completely unconcerned.
From that attitude alone, Alex sensed something important.
It seemed the Celestials didn't rank very high in Galactus's eyes.
Which meant—
If Alex could defeat Galactus head-on, didn't that also mean he had the strength to directly confront a Celestial?
"You don't seem to care at all that if I hadn't stopped you, consuming Earth would've meant killing a Celestial."
Alex decided to spell it out.
"So what?"
Galactus replied flatly.
"I was hungry."
The utter lack of concern was blatant.
At this point, Alex had a much clearer idea of where the Celestials actually stood.
"All right, I should be going."
"Since Earth is off limits, I'll need to find another planet immediately."
"Being hungry is not a pleasant feeling."
After answering a few more questions about higher-level cosmic beings, Galactus stood up.
Whoosh!
His form dispersed into a vast particle stream, merging with the surrounding cosmos.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Under Alex's gaze, the endless particles flowed away in the opposite direction.
Alex waved his hand.
A purple energy sphere enveloped him and transported him back to Krakoa.
The Galactus crisis was officially resolved.
---
Afterward, Alex spoke with the Silver Surfer, learned the coordinates of his homeworld, and used the Infinity Stones to send him back.
As for the surfboard?
Naturally, Alex kept it without hesitation.
---
"Alex, you should now be able to control the surfboard."
Hank truly delivered.
In just ten days, he had completely "cracked" the Silver Surfer's board.
As he spoke, Hank took out a sleek, high-tech device and handed it to Alex.
It resembled a wrist-mounted bracer.
Alex didn't hesitate and put it on his right wrist.
Tap tap tap!
Hank immediately began operating the control terminal.
Soon—
Beep!
A faint blue glow flickered on the device around Alex's wrist.
"All right, Alex. Give it a try."
Alex waved casually at the surfboard.
The board immediately flew over and hovered in front of him.
He stepped onto it smoothly.
This time was different.
The moment his feet touched the board, it automatically began transforming.
Silver material wrapped around his feet, locking them in place as though fused to the board.
Humm—!
At the same time, an immense surge of cosmic energy flowed up through his feet.
"It worked!"
"That's fantastic!"
Alex's eyes lit up with excitement.
He immediately tested absorption.
The cosmic energy flowing from the board entered his body without any resistance.
Full absorption.
One hundred percent.
"This thing is incredible."
After testing it for a bit, Alex couldn't help feeling genuinely thrilled.
With the surfboard, his rate of absorbing cosmic energy had increased by twofold.
Which meant—
His overall growth speed had become three times faster than before.
"It's a shame my current capacity caps out here."
Alex sighed internally.
The surfboard could absorb far more cosmic energy, but he could only handle three times his previous limit.
That was his current ceiling.
"Hank,"
Alex said after calming down,
"can you add an invisibility module to the surfboard?"
Absorbing cosmic energy was Alex's primary growth method.
Which meant he'd need to stand on the board almost all the time.
Frankly, the visual was… odd.
But more importantly—
If Alex was constantly riding the board, anyone with half a brain would realize how important it was to him.
And although the Silver Surfer's appearance had been brief, plenty of people likely noticed it.
Alex didn't want unnecessary attention.
"Of course. That won't be a problem at all."
Hank agreed without hesitation.
With his current level of technology, making the surfboard invisible was trivial.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~