Yun Chen and Carol had already left Attilan for quite some time.
Yet the Inhumans remained silent long after their departure. The overwhelming power they had witnessed left them stunned, and it took a long while before anyone dared to speak again.
Gradually, the tension began to fade.
Some people shook their heads and tried to brush off Yun Chen's blunt words from earlier.
"Gods always look down on mortals," one elder said calmly. "To beings like them, humans and ants are no different. There's no reason for us to take it personally."
Many nodded in agreement.
But one person remained deeply dissatisfied.
Black Bolt.
The king of the Inhumans clenched his fists as resentment flickered in his eyes. He had always believed himself extraordinary. Among the Inhumans, he was undoubtedly one of the strongest.
In his heart, he had always assumed that he would stand at the very peak of his race.
Yet tonight, in front of the entire city, he had been overshadowed completely.
No.
Not just overshadowed.
Ignored.
The man who called himself the emperor of Krypton had looked down on the Inhumans entirely.
Black Bolt could not accept that.
Seeing the king's silent anger, one of Attilan's elders walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"You shouldn't take it too seriously," the elder said gently. "Your future achievements will be brilliant. The power of your voice alone can create explosions like nuclear weapons."
He smiled reassuringly.
"When that day comes, no one will dare underestimate you. Even the man we saw tonight might not be able to suppress you."
Black Bolt crossed his arms and looked away.
His expression softened slightly, though the frustration remained.
Not far away, Medusa stood quietly beside her sister.
Crystal had fully recovered thanks to Yun Chen's intervention, but Medusa herself seemed strangely distracted.
Her gaze drifted toward the night sky where the black figure had disappeared.
"He said someone would come for me one day…"
Medusa shook her head and laughed softly.
"Perhaps he was just joking."
Far beyond Earth, in the endless depths of space, the atmosphere inside the Kree fleet was suffocatingly quiet.
The massive warships drifted silently near the edge of the solar system.
Inside the flagship's command chamber, a blue-skinned Kree officer finally broke the silence.
"The mission to retrieve the Inhumans has failed," he reported quietly. "All Kree forces deployed on Earth have been annihilated."
He paused before adding the final detail.
"The enemy responsible was Kryptonian Superman… and the imperial traitor Carol."
The room fell silent again.
No one dared to respond.
Strangely, there was no visible anger.
The Kree officers knew the truth.
They understood the terrifying difference in power between themselves and the Kryptonian emperor. Any rage would be nothing more than meaningless frustration.
Still, the mention of Carol ignited bitter resentment.
"That woman betrayed the empire," one officer growled. "She must have seduced that Kryptonian with her beauty."
"Exactly," another soldier spat. "The greatest weapon the Kree Empire ever created has been handed over to the enemy."
"Damn traitor."
The fleet had already accepted one fact.
This operation was effectively over.
If Earth only had Carol Danvers defending it, the Kree might have found a way to deal with her. After all, the empire had already studied her weaknesses.
Dr. Minerva had nearly killed Carol once before.
But the appearance of the Kryptonian emperor changed everything.
That variable had never been part of the plan.
Suddenly, a holographic projection flickered to life in the center of the cockpit.
The Supreme Intelligence.
The massive artificial mind that ruled the Kree Empire appeared in the form of a glowing face made of cascading data streams.
"Immediately withdraw from the battlefield," the Supreme Intelligence ordered.
The Kree officers straightened instantly.
"Yes, Supreme Leader!"
However, Accuser Mywell did not move.
His expression twisted with frustration.
"Supreme Leader," he said slowly, "even if the mission has failed, we should at least make Earth bleed."
He stepped forward, his voice rising with fanatic intensity.
"Our fleet still has thirty interstellar warships. Even if Kryptonian Superman intervenes, we can still cause enormous destruction to the planet."
"It will be a final strike."
"A lesson the galaxy will never forget."
The Supreme Intelligence remained silent for several seconds.
Then the holographic face turned toward Mywell.
"Your proposal has been rejected."
A pause followed.
"However, Earth will not escape punishment forever. When the war with the Skrull Empire ends, the main forces of the Kree Empire will return."
Its voice carried absolute certainty.
"At that time, both Earth… and the Kryptonians… will be destroyed."
Mywell's eyes darkened.
"That's too long," he said coldly. "I want revenge now."
He smiled grimly.
"Forgive my disobedience, Supreme Leader. I will carry out my own plan."
The Supreme Intelligence responded without emotion.
"You have been removed from the imperial command structure."
"Your fleet is no longer part of the Kree military."
Mywell laughed.
"Then history will remember my glory instead."
The Supreme Intelligence's final words echoed through the chamber.
"No. It will not."
Its tone was calm.
"My calculations predict a near 100 percent probability that you will die in the solar system."
"Your fleet will be destroyed."
"Good luck… Accuser Mywell."
The hologram vanished.
Quantum communication ended with a sharp electronic tone.
Inside the cockpit, the Kree officers exchanged uneasy glances.
But military discipline forced them to obey their commander.
The fleet engines ignited.
The Kree warships accelerated toward Earth.
"For the empire," one soldier whispered.
The engines roared as the fleet pushed deeper into the solar system, hoping to break through any potential blockade.
What they didn't know was that Yun Chen had no intention of confronting them personally.
In fact, the situation was far worse for the Kree fleet than they realized.
Long before the battle at Attilan, the Kryptonian lunar base had already detected their arrival.
Yun Chen had issued a direct order.
Destroy the Kree fleet.
And eliminate its commander.
The task had been assigned to the Kryptonian forces stationed in the solar system.
"Commander Mywell, we have a problem!" a Kree officer suddenly shouted.
Warning alarms screamed across the cockpit.
Every warship displayed a flashing threat alert from the starboard side.
Through the observation window, the officers saw something horrifying.
Brilliant beams of energy streaked across the darkness near Uranus.
The artillery fire slammed directly into the Kree fleet.
Boom!
Multiple warships erupted into fiery explosions.
"What?!" Mywell roared in shock as he leapt to his feet.
"That's impossible!"
He stared at the incoming barrage in disbelief.
"We were only passing near Uranus! How could someone prepare an ambush here?"
"Earth doesn't have this kind of technology!"
One of his subordinates turned pale.
"It's… it's the Kryptonians."
Mywell's face went white.
"Krypton?"
Until now, he had only heard of Kryptonian Superman.
He had never imagined that Krypton itself had rebuilt an army.
Outside the windows, sleek and narrow spacecraft began emerging from the darkness.
Hundreds of them.
Kryptonian combat ships.
"They're… everywhere," a soldier whispered.
Mywell clenched his fists.
"Krypton… is truly rising again?"
For a moment he remembered the Supreme Intelligence's prediction.
Complete failure.
The fleet would never even reach Earth.
Before he could react—
CRACK!
A terrible tearing sound echoed through the flagship.
The thick armor plating of the battleship split open like paper.
A figure stepped through the hole.
A woman.
She tore apart the ship's hull with one hand and calmly entered the command chamber.
Her expression was cold.
"My name is Faora," she said calmly.
Her eyes swept across the stunned Kree officers.
"This appears to be the most important ship."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Tell me… which one of you is the fleet's supreme commander?"
....
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