"Within your body lies dormant power beyond comprehension, and the Infinity Stones merely accelerated the activation of the power already within you."
"What you should be doing now is striving to re-sense the critical point of that power, rather than placing your hope for growth on the Infinity Stones."
"Growth and breakthroughs achieved through external forces will make your body fragile and your heart weak."
"You cannot become dependent on the Infinity Stones, because your power is still far from reaching its limit…"
Will the Infinity Stones make my heart dependent?
Submerged in a Nutrient Pod within the Dark Order base, Beckett's eyes were tightly shut, his mind filled with images of his past self with hair flying in the wind.
That state, that is power that rightfully belongs to me… So why can't I touch that critical point?
According to his adoptive father, Thanos, he had shown signs of reaching that critical point at the age of seven. But why, after so many years, did he instead feel completely unable to sense the existence of that power?
Growing weaker as he got older?
That reason made no sense at all.
His current combat power in his normal state was countless times higher than when he was young; fighting six Hela with one hand wouldn't be a problem.
Or, is my training still not enough?
Beckett, still in the Nutrient Pod, opened his eyes and stepped out of the pod, dripping wet.
"His Highness Beckett, your dinner is ready."
The robotic cat, Gates, who respectfully handed him a towel, smiled and rummaged through his abdominal pocket for a long time before pulling out the prepared black combat suit and silver armor.
"Lord Thanos sent a message, asking His Highness Beckett to head directly to the warship port after dinner."
"I understand."
After putting on his clothes and armor, Beckett walked to the dining room. The Other, who had been signaled by Thanos to leave the main hall of the Dark Order base, was sitting at the dining table with the scepter in his arms, gazing longingly at the food on the table.
"His Highness Beckett!"
"After you finish eating, don't return to Chitauri Prime yet. Come with me."
"Yes, His Highness Beckett!"
Upon hearing this, The Other felt confused but didn't dare to ask any questions. He quietly ate the meal prepared by Gates, the base's capable housekeeper, with a look of contentment.
After eating his fill, Beckett took The Other to the warship port on the other side of the Dark Order and boarded his adoptive father Thanos's exclusive warship.
"Father."
"Lord Thanos."
Thanos, seated on the hovering control throne, glanced at his adopted son who had appeared before him. He then signaled to Ebony Maw, who was standing at the warship's main console: "Depart."
"Yes, Lord Thanos."
Glancing at Beckett and his notoriously sycophantic subordinate in the Dark Order behind him, Ebony Maw activated the warship's space jump device.
Thanos's exclusive flagship, with its massive body, instantly disappeared from the sky above the Dark Order base…
…
Universe, B48 system, Planet B48.
Astra, wearing a green helmet, sat listlessly in the planetary prison, staring at the night sky outside the window, a licorice stick with an extremely bitter taste in his mouth.
This was said to be a specialty of Planet B48, the only planet in the entire universe protected by a Cosmic Energy Tower that produced this stuff. Its effect was to prevent anyone who ate it from telling lies.
Of course, for Astra, this was utter nonsense. After eating at least a basketful of the grass, he had found no trace of it having any truth serum effect.
When he needed to lie, he lied just as much.
"Kree, the King wishes to see you."
His idle time didn't last long, as Astra was greeted by a member of the Planetary Security Force of Planet B48.
"I told you—forget it, do whatever you want." Astra, having given up all pretense, decided to abandon any thought of further defending himself.
There was no point when the people of Planet B48 had caught him red-handed in their heavily guarded sacred land.
The chains made of special metal scraped against the transparent, reflective crystal walkway with a piercing sound. The blue-skinned Astra stood out conspicuously among the tall, blonde, blue-eyed inhabitants of Planet B48.
"Your Majesty, the prisoner has been brought."
Pushed into the center of the royal palace by two members of the Planetary Security Force, each over three meters tall, Astra faced the white-haired old man on the throne again. He pouted and simply slumped to the ground, the chains clattering loudly as they hit the floor.
"Outsider, I, in the name of the Lord of Planet B48, will question you one last time."
"Now, tell me, why did you appear in our people's sacred land—the Cosmic Energy Tower?"
"I've said it many times, I really don't know how I appeared." Astra, numb, stared blankly at the crystal floor, which reflected his unshaven, dejected face.
"How many more times do you want me to say it? Huh?"
"At first, I was on the Skrull Empire's U40 Planet watching two perverts fight. Their left and right punches were incredibly powerful, and they were almost tearing the entire U40 Planet apart."
"They were fighting like crazy, completely disregarding my life. What could I do? I could only run!"
"I ran and ran, and then, I don't know what happened, but a light suddenly appeared before my eyes. Like a robot, I was sent to your sacred land without any ability to resist."
"And then, you guys caught me and threw me in prison."
Astra, once again reiterating that he wasn't joking, emotionally recounted the events that had transpired on U40 Planet.
He had visited the sacred site of B48 Planet once before, but that time he had appeared inexplicably after an experimental accident, and in a strange spiritual form that no one could detect.
This time, however, he had arrived in person.
"Since that's the case, take him down and proceed," the Lord of B48 Planet, whose expression was as calm as an ancient well, waved his hand, having completely lost patience with Astra.
"All outsiders who covet our clan's ultimate treasure meet only one fate."
"Wouldn't it have been simpler to do this earlier? Honestly, what a slowpoke old man." Having completed his revenge, Astra was quite resigned to his own fate. Whether he lived or died didn't matter; his heart had died long ago with his family.
"King! Our planetary defense system has detected a massive warship that has broken through the cloaking barrier we set up. It has entered the B48 star system and will reach the main star in thirty minutes."
Just as Astra was preparing to peacefully await his death, an alarm suddenly sounded above the magnificent crystal hall.
Enemy attack, an invasion was underway.
Thanks to [Old Cat at Home] for the tip~
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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