Chapter 39 - The War Begins
The radar base trembled under the weight of its own alarms.
The wailing sirens were so loud they could shatter eardrums.
The operators inside scrambled in chaos, their screens flooding with warnings as an unprecedented fleet appeared within range.
A voice finally broke through the confusion.
"Commander! We have detected a massive number of starships approaching!"
The operator's hands trembled as he struggled to keep up with the endless flood of enemy signals.
"Their numbers—it's too many! We can't even get an accurate count!"
For a moment, silence gripped the control room.
Then—
BANG!
The Chitauri commander slammed his fist on the table, his sharp gaze locking onto the chaotic screen.
"Send an urgent message to headquarters! Evacuate immediately!"
But before his orders could be fully relayed—
BOOM!
A light blue beam pierced through the sky, cutting through the atmosphere like a divine execution.
It was too fast, too precise.
Before anyone could react, the beam annihilated the entire radar base in one devastating strike.
The explosion didn't stop there.
The energy dug deep, burrowing into the planet's core.
BOOM!
Then, in a single catastrophic instant—
The planet T874 was obliterated.
It didn't just break apart.
It was erased, reduced to cosmic dust.
And in the wake of its destruction, tens of thousands of starships emerged from the shadows, blinking into existence across the star field.
A dark tide of warships, their metallic hulls gleaming under distant stars.
And they weren't alone.
More wormholes ignited across space, releasing wave after wave of reinforcements.
The three empires had arrived.
And they had come for war.
Their target?
The Dark Quadrant.
---
Above the Symbiote planet, the scene was vastly different.
Temple-One loomed over the barren world below.
The once pitch-black Symbiote landscape was gone, replaced by barren rock and dust.
But not entirely.
Lin Fan had only taken half of the Symbiotes.
The rest remained, undisturbed.
Lin Fan knew better than to strip the planet completely.
The creatures had a connection—a tether to something far beneath the surface.
And if he took too many…
Something might wake up.
"Master."
Ebony Maw's voice cut through his thoughts.
Lin Fan opened his eyes.
"We have received an urgent message," Ebony Maw continued, his tone sharper than usual.
"A combined legion from the three great empires is attacking the Dark Quadrant."
Lin Fan's gaze darkened.
The three empires had actually moved first?
He had expected retaliation.
But this?
This was bold.
No—more than bold.
It was reckless.
Even knowing he had the power to destroy entire fleets, they had still chosen to launch an invasion?
Something wasn't right.
Lin Fan exhaled slowly.
Then, he rose from his throne, his steps slow but deliberate.
A war was coming.
And war meant opportunity.
He turned to his subordinates.
"This battle will be their lesson."
His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it.
"No matter how many ants attack an elephant, the elephant will not fall."
Then, with a single wave of his hand—
"Prepare for war."
The command room erupted.
"Give them destruction!"
The warriors roared, their voices echoing in unison.
"Give them destruction!"
"Give them destruction!"
The energy in the room shifted.
This wasn't forced loyalty.
It wasn't the result of oppression.
It was real.
The Symbiotes had changed them—body and mind.
Their fanaticism was not fear-driven.
It was absolute devotion.
And that made them far more terrifying than any army before them.
Lin Fan watched, his expression unreadable.
White Symbiote tendrils slithered across their skin, expanding, hardening, transforming them into towering warriors of destruction.
Their muscles thickened, their frames grew, and the M-shaped black insignia of Majin Buu burned into their backs.
And this wasn't just happening in the command room.
Across the entire ship, the transformation spread like wildfire.
Millions of Vanguard troops and Chitauri warriors were changing.
One by one.
And when the war began—
The universe would never be the same.
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