The Babel Tower, carrying Beckett and the others, slowly landed.
With one captive in each hand, Beckett tossed the two prisoners directly out of the Babel Tower. Under the watchful gaze of his adoptive father, Thanos, Beckett walked slowly before him.
"Welcome back, child."
"Father, the mission is complete." Beckett respectfully saluted Thanos. Behind him, the two prisoners who had been thrown from the Babel Tower exchanged glances, unsure of what to say. Diana, in particular, was a broken person awaiting death.
"Well done." Thanos didn't ask where Beckett's original warship had gone. He had no interest in such tedious processes. What he saw was his son, Beckett, once again perfectly completing the mission he had assigned, bringing a lively target before him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, why am I floating????!"
After seeing Thanos, Astra, who had put away the wine bottle he found in the Babel Tower, found himself flying uncontrollably towards Thanos before he could even speak.
"Beckett, who is that woman?"
Ebony Maw, using magic to keep Astra afloat, glanced at Diana, whose face was full of vigilance, and asked.
"Just an insignificant nobody. No need to worry about her."
"Excuse me, could you please put me down before we talk? I'm really uncomfortable being stuck in the middle like this." Astra, his feet not touching the ground, felt a growing panic in his heart. He interrupted Ebony Maw and Beckett's conversation, but as he spoke, his gaze was fixed on Thanos, who stood with his hands behind his back.
Astra knew that Thanos was the true ruler here.
"I admire your courage, Astra." Thanos waved his hand, signaling Ebony Maw to let him down. Regaining his freedom, Astra stood beside Beckett, let out a long sigh, and once again felt the reassuring sensation of solid ground beneath his feet.
"Thank you for your compliment." Astra stretched his limbs and then dropped the exaggerated pretense from his face.
Even on Tofa Star, far from the Centaurus star system, Astra had heard of Thanos's formidable reputation:
Born under a cloud of guilt, a survivor of Titan, Beckett's adoptive father, the last of the Eternals Titan race in the universe. Guardian of universal order, leader of the Dark Order, the undisputed overlord of the Centaurus star system, the emperor of destruction—Thanos.
Facing such a powerful figure, even though Astra felt he had a plan, his jaw couldn't help but tremble with fear.
"It seems you know very well why I've brought you here. Now, tell me the location." Thanos's tone was calm, but it made Astra feel an inexplicable pressure. Gazing at Thanos's face, Astra suddenly felt an urge to blurt everything out, but he managed to suppress it.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that. You should also know my purpose in revealing this information to you."
The surging hatred in his heart gradually calmed Astra. His quiet words struck everyone present, except Thanos, like a thunderclap!
Yes, this so-called kidnapping operation was a charade orchestrated by Astra from the very beginning!
This was why Astra hadn't acted like a captive at all throughout the journey. He wasn't afraid of being taken to some unknown place by Beckett because he knew Beckett would safely deliver him to Thanos.
On Tofa Star, he deliberately sent away the captain of the guard so he could face Beckett, who came to kidnap him, alone. He used a plasma cannon to test if Beckett had sufficient strength. After discovering Beckett's capabilities, Astra caused no further trouble during their subsequent "journey."
Beckett frowned slightly, his gaze then falling on Astra.
"I want the Skrull Empire to be destroyed, or rather, I want the second, third, and tenth armies of the Skrull Empire to be annihilated."
Ignoring Beckett's gaze, Astra, having stabilized his emotions, stated his trading conditions to Thanos word by word.
Months ago, Astra had stumbled into a mysterious place due to a research accident and had the fortune to witness the wonders of the universe. Within that wonder, he received a gift from the cosmos.
Astra called that gift the Great Cosmic Power.
The so-called Hundredfold Energy Amplification was the effect of the Great Cosmic Power. Of course, this was only what Astra had discovered through testing, as he himself had only received a trace of the gift.
But it was precisely because of this trace of the gift that the hatred buried in Astra's heart began to grow uncontrollably. He wanted revenge, he wanted to avenge his family.
Astra viewed the Accuser Corps of the Kree Empire as corrupt. In the past, due to the issue of deploying troops against the Skrull Empire, Astra had even caused a major disturbance at the Accuser Corps headquarters on Planet Hala. It was after that incident that he left Planet Hala and came to Tofa, a reserve planet for war. In Astra's opinion, the Supreme Intelligence, controlled by corrupt and decadent nobles who blocked the path to advancement, was no longer reliable. On Hala, he couldn't even meet the Supreme Intelligence.
Therefore, after receiving a trace of the Great Cosmic Power, Astra conceived the idea of relying on a third party to help him achieve his revenge. Thanos, who had made a name for himself in the Centaurus star system, then caught his eye.
With his target set, what Astra needed to do next was very simple. Initially, he just spread the news of the "[Hundredfold Energy Amplification Formula]" around the battlefields of the two empires. Then, during inquiries from the Kree Empire's Accuser Corps, he admitted the existence of the formula and provided experimental results—a firearm imbued with Great Cosmic Energy.
After solidifying this fact in the minds of the high-ranking officials of both empires, Astra then began to contact Thanos. He believed that someone of Thanos's caliber would definitely be interested in the mysterious Great Cosmic Power. He also knew that his fabricated identity as a mysterious information broker wouldn't remain hidden from Thanos for long, but he didn't care.
He was gambling that Thanos would safely extract him from Tofa. He was gambling that Thanos would overlook his schemes for the sake of the mysterious Great Cosmic Power. As long as Thanos accepted this deal and helped him achieve his revenge, he was willing to pay any price, even if it meant facing Thanos's retribution and losing his life, he would have no regrets.
"Baltan, Gesra, Augus, Magma, I want them dead! I want them to pay the price for destroying Planet L77 back then!"
"I want to avenge my family."
"So, Thanos. Do you accept this deal?" Astra slowly walked up to Thanos, as if dark flames were burning in his eyes, and asked knowingly.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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