After making two more warp jumps, the spacecraft arrived in the outer space surrounding Hala.
"Unknown vessel, immediately identify yourself. Your countdown begins now and failure to comply within ten seconds will result in immediate destruction."
"10... 9... 8... 7..."
The moment the ship entered Hala's orbital space, it received a transmission from the Kree over the public communications channel.
"Looks like we're getting a fireworks show as soon as we arrive."
Daniel grinned at everyone aboard the ship. The atmosphere inside the spacecraft was relaxed. Aside from Yon-Rogg, who kept his head lowered, everyone else wore smiles.
"Let's head outside."
Daniel turned to Carol. She gave a simple nod, and the two of them flew into open space.
One golden figure, and one silver figure, they stood silently before the spacecraft.
Daniel couldn't help glancing sideways at Carol. Her golden hair stood upright, radiant energy surrounding her entire body. She looked remarkably similar to a character from one of Daniel's favorite anime when he was a child in his previous life.
The moment they came to a stop, dozens of missiles streaked towards the spacecraft.
"Wow, the Kree really know how to welcome guests."
Daniel spoke to everyone through his communicator. Talos' laughter echoed through the comms.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing the expressions on the Kree's faces in a moment."
Talos said with obvious satisfaction. The Kree had always been the ones invading other people's planets, and now someone had come knocking on their own doorstep.
Hopefully they'd enjoy it.
At this point, Talos found happiness in every bit of misfortune that befell the Kree. The more miserable the Kree became, the happier he felt.
The screen clearly displayed dozens of incoming missiles racing towards the ship and the intelligence system was issuing frantic warning alerts, yet Talos wasn't nervous in the slightest.
Instead, he felt completely relaxed, because with Daniel and Carol here, what was there to worry about? He could just let those two handle everything.
...
Red light flared in Daniel's eyes as his heat vision destroyed half of the incoming missiles and Carol unleashed blasts of energy, wiping out the remaining half.
Fortunately, there happened to be an even number of missiles, otherwise, it would've been difficult to divide them equally.
One missile might actually have slipped through and struck the spacecraft.
Daniel and Carol really calculated things that precisely, they had to split the work fairly, otherwise, Carol would never stop complaining.
Both of them loved scenes like this and more importantly, crushing weak opponents was incredibly satisfying.
After all, why did so many people create alternate accounts just to stomp beginners in MOBA games?
The silent vacuum of space suddenly erupted into chaos as missiles exploded in place, blooming into blazing fireballs.
It looked like water splashing into hot oil as flames burst outward in every direction, filling the darkness with a dazzling inferno.
"These are the best kind of fireworks," Daniel sighed with admiration.
"There he goes showing off again."
"Tch."
Carol scoffed, curling her lip in open disdain as a dismissive laugh escaped her.
"I've seen scenes like this countless times."
"What an uncultured fool."
Daniel turned to look at her.
"You mean you've seen yourself getting chased by explosions countless times?"
...
Meanwhile, inside the Kree council chamber. Ronan and numerous Kree officials were holding a meeting; they were discussing military operations beyond the empire.
"The Accuser Fleet is ready to deploy at any time! We are the Empire's sharpest spear! And we have never known defeat!"
Ronan slammed his universal weapon against the floor.
"Really?" Someone immediately retorted.
"Then who was it that came crawling back in disgrace a month ago, after an entire fleet had been wiped out? The Empire hasn't suffered losses that severe in nearly a century."
Ronan slowly turned toward the speaker, his expression ice cold and his eyes razor-sharp, as though he wanted to tear the man apart.
That incident was a thorn buried deep in his heart, a forbidden topic.
The official who had spoken showed no fear whatsoever, meeting Ronan's gaze directly.
"What? Am I wrong?"
"I already told you, Yon-Rogg betrayed us. The moment our fleet exited the jump point, we were met with devastating bombardment."
Ronan deliberately avoided mentioning that their entire fleet had been annihilated by only two people. Instead, he dumped all the blame onto Yon-Rogg.
After all, Yon-Rogg was almost certainly dead by now, and even if he somehow returned alive, he'd never be allowed to speak.
Ronan hated Yon-Rogg to the core. If not for Yon-Rogg, his elite warriors wouldn't have been destroyed, his influence wouldn't have been crippled, and his authority wouldn't be questioned now.
In the past, who would have dared contradict him or even look him in the eye? Being an Accuser had become much more difficult than before.
On that day, only Ronan and his deputy had escaped alive, while everyone else had met an unfortunate fate.
His deputy had served beside him for more than ten years, and their fortunes were tied together. If Ronan fell, his deputy wouldn't fare any better.
The deputy was capable and absolutely loyal, so Ronan had kept him.
As for the soldiers currently under his command, they were all fresh recruits who had never experienced real combat and still needed a great deal of training.
Ronan wasn't about to pass up a single opportunity to wage war, so he had to train his troops as quickly as possible.
Once his power recovered...
Heh...
Ronan silently promised himself, "One day... I'll settle every last score with all of you."
At present, too many people restrained him. Above him stood the Supreme Intelligence, while around him were numerous officials of equal rank, and there were always people opposing him.
Under these circumstances, he could never accomplish his ambitions.
Ronan wanted the glory of the Kree to spread across the entire cosmos, but now even the Supreme Intelligence's attitude had become ambiguous.
Within the Empire, there were still idealists who advocated peaceful coexistence with other races.
Heh.
Ronan utterly despised such people. In fact, he found himself increasingly agreeing with the theories of that Mad Titan.
The universe's resources were limited, and to make the best use of those limited resources, the Kree should be the ones to possess them all.
The Kree were the noblest race in the universe.
"The Empire should be led by me. I am the most qualified person to steer its future."
For the first time, a trace of dissatisfaction toward the Supreme Intelligence, whom he had always revered began growing inside Ronan's heart.