Galactus's movements sent enormous shockwaves across the universe.
But on Earth, no one knew that Galactus was about to set his sights on the planet.
Even Karl had no idea.
He was still in Kamar-Taj, fully absorbed in his training, with no attention on what was happening beyond the stars.
So even while S.W.O.R.D. was trembling in fear and governments around the world were preparing to launch spacecraft as part of a survival-seed program, Kamar-Taj remained as calm as ever.
Just then, a streak of light appeared in the sky, illuminating the dark cosmos.
It was none other than Silver Surfer, the servant under Galactus's command.
Silver Surfer had once been an ordinary member of a cosmic civilization.
But in order to save his people, he willingly offered himself up and became Galactus's herald.
His emotions and memories were erased, leaving him almost like a machine.
His mission was to search for planets fit for Galactus to devour, then inform the life on those worlds to flee for their lives.
Leaving behind a single seed of civilization was, in itself, one last thread of hope.
And now, Silver Surfer had descended to Earth for exactly that purpose: to announce that the planet was about to be consumed.
Powerful force granted by Galactus flowed through him.
Even though Galactus was still in a weakened state, Silver Surfer still possessed terrifyingly immense strength.
Beneath his feet, the silver board released a blinding radiance.
Silver energy rippled out from the board beneath him and flowed directly into his body.
In an instant, his consciousness expanded outward, and a message was transmitted directly into the minds of every human being on Earth.
"Earth will be destroyed in eight hours."
"This is your last chance to escape."
In a single moment, the whole world fell into chaos.
Under that one mental broadcast, the entire planet went mad.
Terrible incidents broke out one after another, and crime surged everywhere.
Some governments were still able to maintain control, but others collapsed into disorder as millions tried to flee.
Every person on Earth sank into despair.
"What the hell is happening? Why does Earth suffer one disaster after another?"
"First an alien invasion, and now the whole planet is going to be destroyed? We just wanted to live our lives!"
"No, I don't want to die! I want to live!"
"Hahaha! The world's ending! We're all free now! I'm free!"
With a single thought, Silver Surfer had nearly shattered Earth's entire social order.
He had nearly crippled a civilization.
And that was without the slightest killing intent.
That was the terrifying part of a Skyfather-level being.
But his utterly undisguised presence also alerted many superheroes, who rushed to his location.
The Avengers were already in the middle of an emergency meeting.
"Tony, what exactly is going on?"
"That voice in our heads… was it real?"
Captain America looked utterly bewildered as he spoke to Tony Stark.
Tony Stark's face was equally grim. He had already thrown a billion dollars into emergency simulations and analysis.
"It should be real."
"I detected a gigantic black hole in space moving toward Earth."
"According to my calculations, Earth will soon be caught by its gravitational pull."
"And then it'll be crushed to pieces."
A simulated projection formed in front of Tony Stark.
The faces of the Avengers' members all turned green.
"Is there any way to solve this?"
"Until the final second, we can't give up hope."
Faced with this situation, Captain America spoke decisively.
Even though he understood how severe things were, he had no intention of surrendering.
"Captain, there's no hope."
"The moment I discovered it, I had J.A.R.V.I.S. begin simulations."
"I tested every technology and every weapon currently known on Earth."
"But not a single one of them could stop it."
"That's a black hole of unknown size—something that could even swallow the sun."
Tony Stark spoke with a haggard expression.
His face was lined with exhaustion. It was obvious that he had poured an enormous amount of effort into the research.
"Even so, we still can't give up."
"We still have eight hours."
"We have to do everything we can."
"Even if we die in the end, even if our civilization is wiped out, at the very least we will have fought for our planet."
"Tony, you're the smartest man I've ever met. I believe you can come up with something."
Captain America looked at Tony Stark with complete seriousness.
"I'll do my best."
"But I'll need Dr. Banner's help."
Tony Stark forced himself to steady his nerves.
Bruce Banner had no reason to refuse.
So the two of them immediately began discussing the problem in the lab.
"What about an ultra-high-yield nuclear weapon? With the technology we have now, building one shouldn't be impossible."
Bruce Banner said.
"It's useless. I've already simulated that."
"Even if we throw everything we have at it, the nuclear weapons I can make wouldn't even be enough to break through Earth's surface, much less a black hole."
"Besides, nuclear weapons don't have anywhere near that kind of destructive power in space. There's no usable medium out there."
"Whether it's thermal radiation or shockwave output, none of that can be properly brought into play in outer space."
"And more importantly, the nuke probably wouldn't even reach the black hole. It would be absorbed and crushed long before that."
"Earth's technology simply cannot face a disaster on this scale."
Tony Stark spoke in a daze.
Hearing him say that, the other Avengers were left just as lost.
Even Captain America, who had seemed so confident at first, had the expression on his face completely change.
He too felt utterly adrift.
Did they…
really have any hope of facing a disaster like this?
That was a black hole.
One of the most terrifying celestial phenomena in the universe.
How could Earth possibly withstand it?
Countless people across the planet were thinking the same thing.
If even the Avengers—the elite of humanity—felt this powerless, then ordinary people stood even less of a chance.
The people of Earth didn't know that Galactus existed.
All they could observe was that gigantic body, and that devouring maw that seemed capable of swallowing everything.
Naturally, they mistook it for a world-consuming black hole.
What they didn't know was this:
that black hole was alive.
And not only alive, but highly intelligent.
Ordinary people didn't know that.
But there were people on Earth who did.
Those people were the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.
After doing a little digging through the ancient records, they discovered exactly what was happening.
Several Master Sorcerers panicked instantly.
Galactus had come knocking on their door—what were they supposed to do now?
So Mordo and several others went straight to Karl's quarters, pounding on his door until they dragged him out from his magical research.
Karl was so irritated his nose was nearly crooked with anger.
Good grief.
was nearly crooked with anger.
Good grief.
His new spell was practically about to succeed, and now they were interrupting him?
Did they think he had no temper just because he usually kept to himself?
Without another word, Karl shot straight into the sky.
"Get lost!"
A furious roar rang out across the heavens.
In an instant, the thunderous sound echoed across the entire world.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]