I work as an editor at Marvel.

While Odin was furious, the message from the Celestial Court had already spread out of the Nine Realms via the faster-than-light travel route, reaching the region where Odin's power was at its peak.

Chapter 204 Xilan Civilization

In the Sylvania system, about 100 light-years from our solar system, a red giant star shines brightly and warmly. Its expanding atmosphere and intense light create a habitable zone near the center of the galaxy.

Within this habitable zone lies a terrestrial planet, on which dwells a civilization called Xilan, the only civilization in the entire galaxy.

This civilization has officially entered the mechanical age, equivalent to the late industrial age of Earth, where various consumer goods and vehicles are mass-produced on factory assembly lines.

At the same time, relying on the special particles emitted by the red giant, this planet has special resources that most planets do not have, namely a type of herbaceous plant that can acquire various properties by absorbing different particles.

Relying on this herb, Xilan, they developed a unique and extraordinary path to civilization, and they did an excellent job of balancing mystery and technology.

Unlike Asgard, which possesses overwhelming advantages due to mysterious forces, or some mechanical planets, which are dominated by technology, this is a civilization with balanced development and great potential.

The capital of Xilan is the center of global politics and economy, where the Xilan civilization's top alchemists, extraordinary ability users, and various scientists gather.

At the Xilan Observatory, countless scientists are busy at work. A few days ago, they received some regular and continuous information from space, but due to problems with the receiving equipment and technology, they have not yet been able to receive it completely, and some of the received information cannot be analyzed or interpreted.

"Prophet, do you have any idea which school of technology is more suitable for analyzing this information?" the head of the observatory and director of the Xilan Space Observation Bureau asked a man who smelled of herbs.

This person is the only one Xilan has discovered so far who has gained the ability to glimpse the future through a potion, and the title of prophet is unique to him.

The prophet Xilan shook his head, drank another bottle of potion, and then let out a burp that smelled strongly of grass. "I don't feel anything, I can only tell that this isn't the best approach right now."

The director of the Observatory scratched his bald head. He couldn't ask for anything more. The prophet had been drinking the special potion for three days and was almost numb from it, but he still hadn't found the key. There was nothing he could do. The prophet's ability worked better for specific, clearly defined things, and the more vague the information, the worse the effect.

Just then, an observer ran over carrying equipment, "Director, it looks like we've got it!"

"Really? What method did you use?" the bureau chief asked in return.

"Um...we've tried everything, and the reception hasn't been complete, but suddenly there was a picture just now. Why don't you take a look first?" The observer himself was also unsure.

This is too bizarre. It's like they used various different methods to probe the shape of an elephant, but before they could summarize and analyze the results, the elephant's shape suddenly appeared on its own, which doesn't conform to their normal understanding.

The director turned to look at the prophet, who nodded, indicating that he had no sense of danger.

Immediately afterwards, the two looked at the information on the display device. It began with a giant gate made of deep blue glass and adorned with bright jade. The surrounding environment was filled with thousands of rays of light rolling red and thousands of auspicious clouds spraying purple mist. In short, it was ethereal beyond compare.

The scene then shifts, and Yang Jian, with three eyes, appears in the center of the display device. "Civilizations that have received the relevant information..."

That's right. The information that the Xilan civilization spent so many days collecting was the message sent by the Heavenly Court to the universe. Their technology is far behind that of a first-level civilization. It is only by relying on the combination of mystery and technology that they were able to receive the message, which produced a 1+1>2 effect.

After reading the entire speech, the director of the Space Observation Bureau had only one thought: this was a huge deal. This was the first time in the history of the Xilan civilization that they had received a genuine message from outer space. From this moment on, one thing was certain: they were not the only civilization in the universe.

This is obviously something to be happy about and even celebrate. However, they also realize that the three forces mentioned in Yang Jian's speech—the multi-human united civilization, the Chitauri united civilization, and the terrorist organization Thanos—are all at a level far beyond Xilan's current level.

That evening, the Prophet, the Director of the Observatory, and leaders from various regions around the world began a secret meeting.

"Are you sure this isn't a prank?" a regional leader asked after reading the entire report.

"The probability of it being a prank is lower than the probability of us suddenly gaining the ability to travel faster than light." The director of the observation bureau said with a hint of panic, "Everyone, please pay attention to the lip movements of the people in the video and the part of the disassembly video we recorded. They are not speaking the common language of Xilan at all, but a language that we have never encountered before."

"However, anyone who is conscious and mentally sound can receive the information. We have already tested it with several people with disabilities. Whether they are deaf, mute, or blind, it does not affect their ability to receive similar information. At most, the lack of description is due to a lack of expressive ability."

As he spoke, the director of the observation bureau became a little excited and continued pointing to the paused screen, "In addition, due to technical limitations, we have not actually been able to receive all the information completely. Following this announcement was a piece of publicly available, unencrypted data. We have only deciphered a very small portion of it so far, but this portion is already astonishing enough!"

"Please look at the upper right corner. There is a number here. This is the timekeeping method of the multi-human joint civilization. Combined with some terminology in the data, although we cannot find the other party's location yet, we can be sure that this message has crossed a hundred light-years in a very short time. The specific data cannot be given yet due to the low resolution of the data, but it is definitely less than a month."

"In other words, the other party has mastered a method of faster-than-light communication, and the speed exceeds the speed of light not by one or two times, but by several thousand times!"

The meeting fell silent. The leaders present were all well-educated and understood what this meant. To put it bluntly, their side had no power to retaliate against this civilized speech.

"Furthermore, there's one more thing, everyone. This diverse human civilization dares to give the universe its time and general direction, meaning they are completely unafraid of revealing their location. What kind of audacity and courage is that? I absolutely do not believe that a civilization that has developed to this level would be unaware of the consequences of doing so! That would be utter self-deception!"

The director of the observatory kept exclaiming in amazement. He had been searching for aliens his whole life, and he had finally found them, and it seemed that he had found one of the most powerful aliens out there.

Chapter 205 The Great Selection - Faster-than-Light Communication Technology

After the director of the observation bureau gave his opinion and some evidence, the meeting continued, but the topic of discussion changed from whether the matter was true or false to how the Xilan civilization should proceed next.

That message made a lot of things clear. This multi-human united civilization was just short of declaring war on the terrorist organization Thanos. Given the vast difference in their civilization levels, they might even be completely destroyed by the aftershocks of the war.

For example, a mass weapon that misses its target and travels through the vast universe for a period of time could collide directly with the Xilan home planet. The planet might be fine, but the Xilan civilization would likely be on the verge of extinction.

"If all else fails, just join!" A voice suddenly broke the noisy meeting.

The meeting fell silent, and many leaders breathed a sigh of relief; finally, someone had brought up the topic.

"Then, leader, which side should we join?" The director of the observation bureau, now acting as a secretary, asked after receiving instructions from the other leaders.

"Let's put that aside for now. What I need to ask you is, are you sure we're somewhere between these two civilizations?" the leader asked.

"In most cases, a distance of one hundred light-years may seem long, but it shouldn't be much in the face of a civilization of this level. The only exception might be that we are in the opposite direction of the line connecting these two civilizations," the director of the observation bureau said.

The leader nodded, then looked at the prophet who had been resting with his eyes closed. In multiple-choice questions with three options, the prophet's abilities were usually very effective.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, the prophet opened his eyes and shook his head. "I have no premonition about those two forces. I can only sense a void, as if they do not exist."

“It’s alright, at least we can eliminate one option.” The leader said, crossing out the words “Chitauri United Civilization” on the paper. “By the way, the two you mentioned are the Multiverse United Civilization and Thanos, right?”

The prophet nodded.

"Alright, now we only have two options." The leader leaned back in his chair, looking inexplicably dejected. "But an even bigger problem has arisen. Even if we choose, how can we guarantee that they will accept us instead of just coming to our door and wiping us out? Also, how do we submit the application to ensure it reaches them?"

The atmosphere inside the meeting fell silent again. For the Xilan civilization, the fastest way to transmit information was through electromagnetic waves, a distance of one hundred light-years. Not to mention the various problems that might occur along the way, such as signal loss and information loss.

Even if everything is perfect, and the electromagnetic waves travel smoothly without loss, it would still take a full hundred years to reach the diverse human civilizations from here. By then, it might be too late, and the war might have already ended, the Xilan civilization might have been destroyed, and the information might not have even reached the destination.

Just as silent as the Xilan meeting room was the Chitauri Revolutionary Army Joint Meeting, where complete silence reigned and no one spoke.

After the Chitauri King's space fleet was frightened into turning tail and fleeing by the battle between Emperor and Thanos, the environment on the Chitauri planet suddenly became strange. The global situation seemed to have returned to the state of numerous countries thousands of years ago, except this time, instead of countries, there were only cities.

This chaotic international situation was clearly a step backward for the Chitauri civilization, but it was still much better than having the Chitauri King looming over them. The revolutionaries were finally able to appear openly and even gather together for meetings.

The first meeting didn't go very well.

"Comrades! Give me your opinion! If anyone has actually had contact with this multi-human civilization, step forward! What's there to hide about such a good thing!" The revolutionary army spokesperson slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

The leaders of the revolutionary army bases in the surrounding areas looked at each other, all thinking the same thing: I really haven't participated in exchanges of this level.

"Alright, alright, stop yelling. I know you're happy and looking forward to it, but we can't be too optimistic about some things." Another revolutionary army leader stood up and waved to the spokesperson.

"I just want to say one thing: why should a civilization capable of confronting Thanos head-on engage in friendly exchanges with us? Exchanges, exchanges, only exchanges are meaningful if there's a give and take. So, can anyone here help us send them a message and make our stance clear?"

The spokesperson plopped back down in his seat. Yes, let alone equal communication, they can't even do communication itself, so what kind of exchange is that?

“Um…” Mo suddenly raised his hand, and then, under everyone’s gaze, continued hesitantly, “I might have a way to reply to them.”

In a flash, a large number of people stood up.

"Comrade, you can't lie about this!"

"Comrade, how are you planning to get back? This place is light-years away!"

"You were the one talking to them, right? Why didn't you say so, comrade!"

In the midst of the chaos, the spokesperson squeezed through the back and grabbed Mo's hand, saying, "Tell us, tell us, we're all listening to you, how do you plan to do it?"

Mo was sweating profusely; he was even more nervous than when they were fighting. "Didn't everyone enter a containment site called the Cabin in the Woods a while ago using special methods? That containment site is most likely related to the multi-human joint civilization."

“I know, but we can’t get in now, can we?” the spokesperson then asked.

“We can’t get in, but those inside can get out.” Mo organized his thoughts. “The first recorded instance of a containment device being triggered in my jurisdiction was the Typical Hidden Site set up by those damned guys.”

When this child was mentioned, many people fell silent. They had thought of many ways to try to save Yin, because they couldn't let those people treat people like monkeys. But in the end, none of those methods were implemented because the cost of those methods was too heavy.

"The child has now inherited his father's name, Kayn, and he has also merged with a containment object named Rhaast. Rhaast is a Darkin or something like an Ascended being. Anyway, the situation is quite complicated, but they have reached a symbiotic agreement."

Mo continued, "In other words, he is currently the only person who is both a containment object and a triggerer. The depth of the cabin in the woods is measured twice a day. If it were Kayn, he could escape from the cabin during the interval between these measurements."

"There's also a highly free-roaming containment object named Nasus in that hut. According to Kayn, Nasus isn't actually a containment object, but rather the leader of the Ascended, or simply put, the leader of Rhaast. He was supposed to be taken back to the human civilization zone, but because Kayn and Rhaast couldn't agree on the terms, Rhaast is staying here for now, while Nasus has returned to the human civilization."

"If Kayn is willing to help and can persuade Laast, perhaps we can respond to the multi-human united civilization through him."

The revolutionary army spokesperson became agitated again, but he quickly took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Do you think they will help?"

“It’s never a bad thing to try, but even if we were to reply, what would we reply with?” Mo asked in return.

The meeting fell silent for a moment.

Chapter 206 Yang Jian: I Just Want to Take on a Follower

"What is this? A diplomatic request from the Chitauri United Civilization? Why do we need to apply for diplomatic relations? This is too humble." The Clock Tower staff looked at the information in front of them with a head full of question marks.

“Oh, that’s a civilization that Thanos conquered, and it has just gained very limited autonomy,” my colleague explained. “We can just forward things that happen in our current universe to the Heavenly Court, and that’s it. They’re in charge of expansion.”

"Well, sigh, it's pathetic that a civilization without power has to delegate even a simple application to establish diplomatic relations, and their attitude is so humble." The staff member shook his head, looking at the letter that had traveled from the Chitauri to the cabin in the woods, then from the cabin in the woods to the Ouroboros, and then from the Ouroboros back to them, and would soon be forwarded to the Heavenly Court.

If this were a civilization with faster-than-light communication technology, they could simply send a message to the Heavenly Court; there would be no need for all this back and forth.

In the Heavenly Court, Yang Jian and Wen Zhong were discussing matters together, with a star map of the entire solar system and the surrounding area in front of them.

“Mr. Wen, look at this. Our strategic depth is too shallow, almost nonexistent. In the event of a battle, we only have a small defensive perimeter of tens of thousands of kilometers before we enter the Oort Cloud. After that, the battlefield will be only one light-year away from our home. If a war breaks out later, we will be at a great disadvantage.” Yang Jian was full of worry.

A lack of strategic depth means no room for maneuver, which greatly limits the military's ability to operate and can easily lead to situations where a flanking maneuver is necessary but a direct confrontation is not an option.

“I understand, haven’t you already started working on solving this?” Wen Zhong countered.

Yang Jian said he wanted to be the spokesperson so that he could see if he could help persuade a few nearby civilizations to become his underlings. Even if those civilizations were far inferior to Thanos in terms of technology and strength, they could still serve as temporary rear bases for the Heavenly Army, thus greatly increasing the strategic depth.

"Sigh~" Yang Jian sighed. He didn't want to say more. It had been so long. If there were a civilization within 150 light-years that met the requirements, they would probably have replied by now.

There has been no movement at all so far, which means that either those civilizations do not intend to become subordinates of the multi-human united civilization, or they are primitive civilizations that have not even gone through the selection process.

"Marshal! The Clock Tower has sent a letter of request for diplomatic relations from the Chitauri Civilization," Yang Jian's soldier reported with a hint of surprise.

"Let's leave it for now and study it when we have time later." Yang Jian's expression wasn't good, for the same reason: the Chitauri were too far away from Earth.

Moreover, the space fleet built by the Chitauri king has already exhausted most of the Chitauri's war potential. The Chitauri planet is now struggling to recover, let alone take on the role of sniping.

Simply put, it's a double-edged sword—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away.

Seeing Yang Jian's worried expression, Wen Zhong didn't know how to comfort him. This kind of thing couldn't be solved in a day or two, and it was foreseeable that this problem would continue to plague human civilization for the next few years, or even more than a decade.

"Don't overthink it. The leave quota hasn't been finalized yet. The seven of us agree that military personnel should be given priority. Why don't you consider making arrangements?" Wen Zhong changed the subject.

"Come on, is there anyone in our army who isn't a soldier? At most, they're just in different roles. Anyway, our Ministry of War doesn't need any leave for the time being. Let your people go to Earth for a vacation, or consider those who were demobilized from the Underworld. After all these years, their status is still not stable, and they must be in a bad mood. They need to rest."

Yang Jian waved his hand and said that the Heavenly Court has a small population. If classified according to the occupational classification on Earth, they can all be considered soldiers, with the only difference being whether they are technical or non-technical soldiers. The ones who are in a relatively worse situation are those who were demobilized from the Underworld.

Those with strong capabilities are fine; the eight main departments and many smaller departments are fighting over personnel. But those with average or weak capabilities are helpless because they simply can't afford the benefits.