My family runs an adventurer's guild.

But now Attilan has moved to the moon, more than 300,000 kilometers away from Earth. Living on the moon sounds romantic at first, but in reality, getting a match, a needle, or a bottle of wine has become extremely difficult, and even water and air have become scarce and precious resources.

Aside from the relatively free sunlight, the moon is practically devoid of anything, making it even more miserable than living in Antarctica—don't forget, because the moon lacks an atmosphere and cools down extremely quickly, the temperature on the moon can be even colder than in Antarctica during the night!

Not to mention that the days and nights on the moon are very long, with each day lasting fourteen Earth days and each night lasting fourteen Earth days, which coincides with the lunar cycle observed on Earth. Therefore, the temperature difference on the lunar surface is terrifyingly large.

Meanwhile, in order to keep the high-tech facilities left by the ancient Kree running, the lower-class Inhumans had to endure extremely heavy and dangerous labor, mining resources on the moon. Living such a poor life and working so hard, they were naturally full of resentment.

This is basically Stalin's Soviet labor camp, isn't it? It's the Gulag, the most brutal type of labor camp from World War II!

But what crime did these aliens commit to deserve such suffering?

In short, these unfortunate, lower-class people are generally a bit confused—they are not the Indian Shudras who have been brainwashed by Hinduism for generations, whose spirit of resistance has been extinguished, and who only think about reincarnation and enjoying happiness, but are new modern citizens influenced by modern thinking!

To make matters worse, just like the emperors and nobles of ancient feudal kingdoms, the Attilan Inhumans had a very clear hierarchy.

Although this country was once regarded as the magical Atlantis and the beautiful Shangri-La, the lives of the Inhumans are actually far from harmonious. Instead, they practice a strict caste system similar to that of India, as well as a forced marriage law that is severely lacking in humanity, similar to that of the Coordinators in Gundam SEED.

In the Inhuman society of the entire Attilan moon city-state, marriage partners are determined by genetic matching, and each member's "caste" is determined by the genes awakened by the Terrigen Crystal Mist. The treatment and rights between members of different castes are vastly different.

Those Inhumans with the least genetic damage and the greatest potential for superpowers were assigned to the "Royal Family." Through long-term scientific breeding, the royal family's genes have reached their optimal level, and their superpowers are the most powerful, naturally allowing them to enjoy the best treatment and the most abundant resources.

For example, on the moon, where all kinds of living resources are so scarce, and even water and air are precious, the Inhuman royal family members can still keep pets... Meat that even the lower-level Inhumans can't afford is used by the royal family to feed dogs—you can imagine how hateful that would be.

Those members of the Inhuman race with the most severe genetic damage, the lowest potential for superpowers, or even those suffering from genetic diseases, will be demoted and relegated to the lowest caste, even if they were royalty before awakening. They will receive very limited resources, with rations for everything from the air they breathe to the water they drink. Furthermore, they will lose most of their rights, including freedom of marriage and some personal rights, and will bear far more obligations.

Basically, they sleep less than dogs, eat less than cats, work more than oxen, and can easily have an accident and lose their lives if they're not careful...

Therefore, before being discovered by Earth, Attiland, a microcosm of society with only 1400 inhabitants—smaller than the British wizarding world in Harry Potter (based on the objective logic of international Harry Potter fans, and assuming Hogwarts admits 40 to 60 students per year, the entire British wizarding world in Harry Potter should only have 5000 to 9000 people, at most no more than 20,000)—had accumulated class contradictions to the point of near-explosion, and could turn into a revolution at any moment due to the extremely harsh living environment.

In the future, the main villain in the Inhumans series, the king's brother Maximus, will claim to be the political representative of the lower-class Inhumans and attempt to break the inhumane caste system, putting pressure on the powerful and noble royal and elder classes to seize power.

Of course, in order to win more supporters, his slogan was not to directly abolish the caste system, but to "conquer the earth" and fight for more living space for the Inhumans!

According to Maximus, Earthlings are extremely weak. They have no superpowers whatsoever, and even the most incompetent superhuman could easily subdue them. Earthling governments are composed of mediocre and useless people, all fat, big-eared, and incompetent bureaucrats who are full of lies.

Moreover, in his view, Earthlings' technology was extremely backward, at least incomparable to the Kree technology acquired by the Inhumans. Even the most powerful nations on Earth, despite investing heavily in the most advanced space technology, could only send a few humans to the moon in a disposable spaceship for a few days, plant a flag, and then hastily leave. In contrast, the Inhumans could travel between Earth and the moon using their spatial abilities.

If that's the case, why would these powerful and noble alien races choose to remain holed up in this cramped, barren lunar base instead of conquering such a resource-rich and fertile land on Earth, with such a large population that could serve as servants?

What? Earth's environment isn't friendly enough for the modified Inhumans, and they're prone to getting sick if they live there long-term?

That's ridiculous! When the British ruled India, did they move the entire country to the South Asian subcontinent and abandon Great Britain?

After the military conquest of the Earth colonies is completed, most of the Inhumans can still return to the lunar city of Attilan. They can simply send a few Inhumans to act as colonial officials to oversee things on Earth, and then have the Earth colonies continuously pay tribute to the lunar city of Attilan. Even if this makes the rule unstable, when a rebellion breaks out in the colonies on the ground, the Inhuman army can simply be dispatched from the moon to quell the unrest.

Of course, there are a total of seven billion humans on Earth, and there are indeed many powerful individuals among them. It is probably unrealistic for Attilan and his mere 1400 Inhumans to conquer the entire Earth and become a giant overnight. Let alone conquering seven billion people by force, even if all the humans on Earth surrendered without resistance, these 1400 Inhumans simply could not manage them!

However, it doesn't matter. The seven billion Earthlings are not united; instead, they are divided into hundreds of hostile nations, as well as various organizations and forces. The Inhumans, who are launching a counterattack from the moon, can easily sow discord among them, using their strength against them, and win the final victory with very little effort.

Moreover, one must eat one bite at a time. The Inhumans' conquest goals don't need to be set too high from the beginning. As long as they capture a country or even a major city on Earth, all 1400 Inhumans can become officials, every household will have servants, and everyone will become a superior person...

Basically, it was similar to Hitler's rhetoric in his speeches before World War II, but even more direct and impactful—living in pre-World War II Germany, without propaganda and incitement, one probably wouldn't have quickly grasped how small and resource-scarce the "homeland of the Germans" was.

However, staying in Attilan, just looking out the window at the desolate lunar landscape reveals just how terrible the Inhumans' current living conditions are.

Then, war and chaos have always been stepping stones to power. Once war breaks out, the Inhumans' currently stagnant class structure can change. At the very least, after seizing territory on Earth, Attilan's resource scarcity can be greatly alleviated.

Even if the caste system cannot be abolished, the lower-caste members of the Attilan city-state would have ordinary people to enslave and exploit—ordinary people to serve as the untouchables in the Indian caste system. Lower-caste individuals could still rise above others, standing above those even lower in rank.

As for his brother Maximus, as a representative of the people and the leader of the pro-war faction, even if he cannot become king for the time being, he can at least rise to a higher status.

Due to the hardships and frustrations of real life, Maximus's radical advocacy of foreign expansion won countless supporters as soon as it was put forward.

Black Bolt, the Inhuman ruler of Attilan, and his elders were both perplexed by Maximus's "living space theory" and the notion that "Inhumans are born noble," yet they were powerless to change it.

—Because the intense resentment of the lower-class Inhumans is real, and Black Bolt and the elders have long ignored their demands, it was too late when the public outcry was finally aroused.

As the ruler of the Inhumans, Black Bolt was well aware that the Inhumans did not choose to live in seclusion out of a love of peace. On the contrary, back on Earth, the Inhumans had considered conquering the planet...

However, Earthlings are not lambs to the slaughter. They were driven to desperation by Earthlings and forced to move repeatedly in order to avoid being domesticated and dissected like livestock, eventually ending up on the moon.

Putting aside other considerations, if the Inhumans were to retreat into seclusion, the sorcerer order of Kamar-Taj might offer assistance. However, if the Inhumans were ambitious enough to conquer Earth, then the Ancient One, their former neighbor, alone could easily crush these 1400 self-important Inhumans.

After relocating to the moon, the lunar city of Attilan acquired the technology left behind in the ruins of an ancient Kree laboratory, possessing a stealth force field that could protect it and hide it behind a shield, ensuring it would not be observed by astronomical telescopes on Earth or in orbit.

However, in actual combat, most of the Inhumans can only rely on their individual mutation abilities. They have never truly mastered the technology left behind by the ancient Kree. They can only barely use a part of it, knowing how but not why.

Especially in terms of weaponry, the Inhumans of Attilan only possess some light equipment left behind by the Kree, such as energy guns. As for heavy weapons such as large spaceships and satellite cannons, they are completely lacking—therefore, the captain of the Attilan royal guard has to use his bare feet to destroy human lunar exploration rovers to prevent their city from being exposed to Earthlings.

In short, if it's a one-on-one or small-unit battle, the Inhumans can barely hold their own against elite human forces, such as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. However, when faced with large-scale battles involving massive armies and artillery fire, they don't have many options.

Not to mention that there are so many superheroes on Earth today, and many stronger than the Inhumans.

Therefore, Maximus's advocacy of invading Earth and gaining living space through war, in the current reality, is simply dragging the entire Inhuman race down with them.

However, most humans are short-sighted, and the Inhumans are no exception.

They found the hardships of their present lives more unbearable than the distant risk of defeat, and longed for some kind of better change.

After all, the moon is far too barren compared to Earth!

Life on the moon is incredibly tough for ordinary Inhumans!

The Inhumans, having migrated from Earth, are well aware of its abundant resources and yearn to conquer their homeland—even if they cannot, returning to their past lives would be desirable…

By this time, it was too late for the slow-witted Inhuman ruling class to try and soothe the people with religion and tradition at the last minute.

In this situation, even if Black Bolt could thwart Maximus's hundred attempts to seize power, the resentful populace would still support Maximus.

The Inhumans only numbered 1400, which was far too small for a society. The consequence of mass killings and bloody suppression would be the collapse of the entire society!

Moreover, within the city-state of Attilan, the young Black Bolt is not a very authoritative king. His superpower (creating a shockwave-like effect whenever he speaks) is powerful but often goes out of control, even accidentally killing his parents.

This forced Black Bolt to remain silent year-round, appearing cold and stern in the eyes of the people. He also lacked a pioneering spirit and basically never brought any benefits to the people. It is conceivable that such a king, who lacked presence, could not possibly be loved by the people.

His brother Maximus, however, was ambitious and eloquent, and under his instigation, many of the Inhumans were already demanding the expulsion of their king.

As time went on, even some of the Inhuman elders who thought themselves very powerful were misled by Maximus's instigation and bewitching, and actually believed that the Inhumans were powerful enough to easily sweep away the resistance forces on Earth, and then enjoy power and wealth on Earth.

If that's the case, why do they continue to live in seclusion on the moon? Wouldn't it be much more enjoyable to be a kingpin on Earth?

Thus, the conservative rulers, led by Black Bolt, became increasingly unpopular in the small town of Attiland, and their opposition grew.

Just as an Inhuman civil war, or rather a "village-level coup," was about to erupt in this small city-state with only 1400 inhabitants, Iron Man Tony Stark arrogantly descended upon the moon with four magnificent space landing ships, using dazzling explosions and terrifying magic to open the "gates" of Attilan.

—Alright, everyone, stop spouting nonsense about conquering the Earth. Let's just kneel down and admit defeat to the Earthlings on this moon!

And don't even mention the sacred and inviolable motherland, or the need to shed the last drop of blood for the ancestral land—when the US and the Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War space race and the Apollo moon landing, these alien races were probably hiding in some corner of the Himalayas, pretending to be Shangri-La!

What kind of ancestral land does the moon belong to the Inhumans?

Even according to the rule of the Age of Exploration that "whoever discovers it has the right to claim it," the first person to plant a flag on the moon was the American!

As for the class conflicts within the Inhuman race, they became meaningless after the surrender.

Moreover, by backing down, the awkward situation of the Inhumans not daring to appear in the sight of ordinary people for many years was initially resolved, and an opportunity was provided for them to return to Earth in a reasonable and legal way. Those Inhumans without superpowers or those who posed little threat could return to Earth to live, no longer having to stay in the hellish place of Attilan to be oppressed and to collect resources like laborers for meager food.

Even those powerful superhumans can board the train of humanity's expansion into the universe and realize their self-worth in a wider world.

Therefore, after their initial, instinctive, and intense reactions, the 1400 Inhumans of Attilan have now largely stabilized and are willing to contribute their strength in this new era in exchange for better treatment. They don't seem like the type to turn into terrorists...

As for that delusion of conquering the earth, let it drift away with the wind, as if it never existed!

Chapter 294, A Worldline That's Unrecognizable (Part 2) - Second Update

On the other hand, not only were the Inhumans, who lived in the lunar city of Attilan and were not well-informed, stunned and at a loss by the sudden arrival of the human space fleet (the Dark Elf space landing ship that the Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark copied and modified with the Reality Stone); even ordinary humans in the Marvel universe on Earth seemed unprepared, both mentally and organizationally, for suddenly entering the space age.

Before the Battle of New York broke out, S.H.I.E.L.D. and its various supernatural events were still a secret to most people.

Ordinary Earthlings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at that time were unaware of the existence of aliens, vampires, Norse gods, sorcerers, and so on; at most, they regarded them as urban legends and myths. Iron Man, Tony Stark, was the first superhero to publicly reveal his identity.

(If we disregard Captain America, who has been frozen at the bottom of the sea for decades... but whether Captain America from the pre-World War II era, who was resurrected, should be considered a war hero or a superhero is questionable—he fought on the battlefield, not in the city.)

However, since Iron Man Tony Stark takes a technological approach, he doesn't break through the common people's perceptions. To ordinary people, Tony's Iron Man suit seems to be no different in essence from modern weapons such as advanced jet fighters and cruise missiles.

However, after the Battle of New York, the supernatural events that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been trying so hard to keep from the public could no longer be concealed.

The inhabitants of Earth in the Marvel universe have finally learned of the existence of aliens and are horrified to discover that they are not friendly and could invade Earth at any time.

Next, Phil and his fellow visitors from another world made a grand entrance onto Earth, showcasing the existence of dragons, orcs, and a fantastical magical otherworld. They generously offered to teach magic to Earthlings, which reassured the anxious public that friendly otherworldly beings did exist in the multiverse. Furthermore, their exploration of this otherworldly realm attracted a large following among fantasy story enthusiasts.

On the other hand, the other party seemed to inadvertently reveal that some cat-people had once disguised themselves as ordinary cats and visited Earth. This made some already hypersensitive Earthlings even more suspicious. They looked at their own pet cats and stray cats on the street, as well as pet dogs and stray dogs, with strange eyes, as if each one was a spy from another world... As a result, various cruel and bloody incidents of cat and dog abuse exploded globally, leaving countless cat and dog lovers in tears and furious.

Next, a pessimistic prediction by a future Japanese man (Satoru Suzuki) about the end of the world in the next century sparked a great reaction around the world. London experienced a second alien invasion, while Stark Industries immediately launched a counterattack plan for interstellar colonization.

—In just one short year, the humans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe first jumped from the Earth Age into the Interstellar Age amidst the Chitauri invasion of New York and the dust and fire of collapsing skyscrapers, then suddenly entered the Multiverse Age and the Magic Age from the Tech Age, and then sounded the horn to march into space and colonize other planets... Such rapid changes in the situation are truly dazzling.

People from the future, people from another world, aliens, and people with superpowers have all come out, but most Earthlings don't have the same imagination as Haruhi Suzumiya.

Throughout human history, from the emergence of primitive civilizations to the 21st century, there seems to be no instance of such rapid and dramatic transformation. The resulting global clashes of ideas and ideological confusion are almost inevitable.

To sum it up in one sentence, the situation changed too quickly, and I couldn't keep up.

Then, because he couldn't wrap his head around it, and with the mastermind behind the scenes adding their own agenda, a lot of hilarious and absurd bizarre incidents ensued.

For example, although there is no science fiction novel called "The Three-Body Problem" in this Marvel universe, Tony Stark's space fleet and alien colonization plan still sparked a huge discussion on the internet around the world after it was announced, and brought up similar dark forest theories.

This rule is derived from the following two premises:

First and foremost, survival is the primary need of civilization.

Secondly, while civilizations continue to grow and expand, the total amount of matter in the universe remains essentially unchanged.

Therefore, we can infer that this universe is probably a dark forest, where every civilization is a hunter with a gun, and every civilization is in danger of being destroyed by other civilizations. Once they discover each other, they will engage in a duel, and only one side can survive, or neither side can survive...

Therefore, some pessimistic netizens believe that humanity should not try to actively contact extraterrestrials, because if they are unlucky, they may be immediately attacked, threatening the safety of Earth and leading it into the abyss of destruction. The consequences would be severe and the losses would outweigh the gains.

To put it more extremely, we should not believe in any extraterrestrial civilizations, nor should we have any contact with other extraterrestrial civilizations!

Every extraterrestrial civilization harbors ill intentions; we must be vigilant and prepared to strike first at any time!

Getting back to the main point, the two arguments above used to prove the Dark Forest theory do have some merit to a certain extent.

However, it is utterly absurd to deduce such a cruel "Dark Forest Law" based solely on these two points.

At least in the Marvel universe, the reality is quite different—long before humans were Homo sapiens, the Kree sent recruiters to Earth to modify humans and create Inhuman cannon fodder. However, after the recruitment program was abandoned, they simply left, completely ignoring the primitive humans on Earth, abandoning even the Inhumans they had created, and not even bothering to burn the Earth to a glass sphere.

Then, under the leadership of the two god-kings, Bauer and Odin, the Asgardians conquered the universe five thousand years ago, setting foot in the nine kingdoms, including Earth. However, Odin, the god-king, not only did not destroy Earth, but also did not interfere with it much. Apart from a few extraordinary individuals on Earth, most Earthlings were simply unaware of the existence of Asgard, their "suzerain state."

Then, in the 1980s, the infamous space pirate Yondu visited Earth. Also, Carol Danvers, who grew up during the Vietnam War, had contact with the Skrulls and Kree, who were at war, around the same time on Earth.

Even in the 21st century, when the Marvel Cinematic Universe officially launched, Star-Lord, an Earthling, was still wandering throughout the galaxy, and his origins were actually widely known. Captain Marvel, on the other hand, was serving on an alien planet, where many people also knew of her Earthly origins.

Therefore, it's clear that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Earth, the innocent little rabbit, has already been visited by countless wolves, and its coordinates are no longer a secret. If the Marvel Universe truly followed the Dark Forest theory, how could Earth, whose coordinates have been exposed for countless years, have survived until now?

Even if it wasn't completely destroyed by a two-dimensional foil, it should at least have been burned into a glass ball by the concentrated fire of the space fleet that came from somewhere, right?

In fact, even Thanos, the "Director of the Cosmic Planning Committee" in Avengers: Infinity War, after obtaining the six Infinity Stones, merely snapped his fingers and wiped out half of the Earth's population. He never intended to burn the entire Earth into a glass sphere.

The story of Guardians of the Galaxy and the legend of Star-Lord are the greatest irony of the Dark Forest Theory—according to the Dark Forest Theory, Star-Lord's multi-species adventure team could never have been formed in the first place. Even raccoons and tree-men would fight to the death the moment they met.

As for the bustling, brightly lit space trading ports, the advanced interstellar trade and employment contracts, the mercenaries and brokers who roam the stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these are things that simply cannot exist under the Dark Forest Theory.

Therefore, it is clear that, at least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the seemingly reasonable Dark Forest Theory is actually absolutely invalid.

Why is this happening?

Aside from the possibility that "different screenwriters have different ways of thinking," there is also a basis in reality—the biggest flaw in the "Dark Forest Theory" is that it treats every civilization in the universe as a hunter with a gun. At the same time, it presumptuously overestimates the range of the "guns," assuming that each hunter's bullets can hit other opponents, and that the hunters have enough ammunition to use recklessly.

In reality, the universe is far from crowded. According to early 21st-century astronomical research, the Hubble Space Telescope alone has confirmed the existence of over 200 million galaxies in the known universe (the Milky Way being just one of them), with each galaxy containing anywhere from hundreds of millions to trillions of stars. Faced with such a vast number of stars and even more planets, no civilization, unless it has developed to the point of utter depravity like Beta (and without encountering setbacks or having its backbone broken), could possibly experience resource shortages.

Moreover, war is always an extremely costly affair. Even if a civilization possesses a space fleet, it is impossible for it to be so militaristic, constantly sending fleets to roam the universe and spending vast sums of money just to sweep away and destroy any other civilizations it discovers along the way.

Just like the Spanish Empire in the early Age of Exploration, even with its invincible fleet that dominated the world, and without any international law to bind it, the Spanish court couldn't possibly send them to patrol the four seas, bombarding and setting fire to every port within the sailors' sight, in order to destroy the seafaring capabilities of Africans and Pacific islanders and prevent their maritime industries from developing and threatening Spain's maritime hegemony... The reason is simple: cannonballs, warships, and sailors don't come for free. If they were to spend money so recklessly, Spain's finances would go bankrupt!

Moreover, war is an extension of politics, with the goal of gaining benefits and preventing risks. The former considerations often outweigh the latter. If war cannot bring benefits but can only burn money to buy peace, then once the purse strings are empty, there will be no way to deal with the risks.

Throughout Earth's history, while brutal massacres and genocides have occurred from time to time, in many cases the goal of war has not been destruction, but rather conquest, enslavement, assimilation, and unification... Wars waged solely to flaunt violence and burn through cash are, in most cases, condemned as shameful acts.

After all, competition between civilizations has never been a simple zero-sum game of life and death; violence is just one of the means of competition.

Even militaristic powers like Nazi Germany and Japanese militarism didn't completely wipe out the occupied territories and then retreat without taking anything! If war were fought according to the Dark Forest theory, the people within their countries who didn't benefit from the war would rise up in rebellion!

Which country would willingly and frequently initiate a war of aggression that yields no benefits from it?

Even if they win, the people will probably complain a lot, just like the Boer War fought by the British Empire back then.

The absurdity of the Dark Forest Theory lies in its transformation of the inter-civilizational struggle across the universe into a brutally simplistic survival game, completely obliterating civilizations' ability to interact and forcing each civilization to adopt an extreme attitude of distrust, rejection, avoidance, and certain destruction towards everything around them. It's as if civilizations were born solely to kill each other, rather than to improve their own lives.

But in reality, the vast universe is not a narrow game map, and the competition between civilizations is not a battle for survival.

If, in the universe, there truly existed a race that strictly adhered to the so-called Dark Forest Theory, lacking any concept of diplomacy and resembling different players in a killing game, knowing nothing of interaction or communication other than mutual slaughter, then they probably wouldn't even have been able to leave the tribal era and form civilized nations, let alone leave their planetary cradle and venture into the vast universe…

Only the weak, lacking self-confidence, maintain a constant, hypersensitive vigilance, always fearful of the strong and eager to strike first. Those who are truly confident and strong, however, only pay attention to other strong individuals and don't concern themselves excessively with those insignificant little guys.

As the king of beasts, the tiger might think about how to fight the jackals, but how could it possibly care about the ants under its feet?

Therefore, the Dark Forest Theory forcibly imposes an extreme weak mentality onto the strong, ultimately leading to a ridiculous conclusion.