Don’t Ask Why, I Just Know

The two armies faced off. Without any drawn-out prelude, they immediately opened fire on each other.

In an instant, blinding light filled the depths of space!

Fighting on their home turf, the Chitauri relied on the space stations orbiting their homeworld to construct an impregnable super-defense. Though they were at a disadvantage in the number of warships, their tenacious defense still held back an enemy force several times their size.

This was a war to defend their homeworld. The Chitauri had nowhere to retreat, and their fighting style was ferocious. It was clear they were fighting for their lives.

On the other side, the Black Order’s warships began to spread out, their forward main cannons charging once more. Launch ports opened along both flanks, catapulting countless small craft that spread in every direction like a locust swarm, their target the space stations in planetary orbit.

The Chitauri depended entirely on those space stations to stay alive. Naturally, they would not stand by and watch the Black Order destroy them. Single-pilot craft surged forward, engaging in desperate battles in outer space.

Tiny specks of light suddenly flared up, then rapidly went dark again. In great numbers, they formed a curtain of light across the blackness of deep space. Only witnessing such a sight firsthand could one truly be shaken by it; no verbal description could possibly convey it.

Russell watched countless points of light representing death flash and vanish across the screen, his eyes burning with excitement. He imagined that one day, he too would command hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of massive warships, roaming freely through the boundless stars.

Just thinking about that scene made his blood boil with unrestrained pride.

In the age of cold weapons, banners fluttered amid gleaming blades and iron cavalry, devouring ten thousand miles like a tiger; in modern warfare, bullets rained down while aircraft, tanks, and aircraft carriers dominated the world with armies, navies, and air forces.

But in the era of cosmic warfare, both seemed like child’s play. Compared to tens of thousands of warships lined up across deep space, trading fire in brutal combat, their scale was far too small—so small they would not even be recorded.

Under Russell’s silent gaze, the victor on the battlefield gradually became clear. The Chitauri space stations were destroyed one after another, shattering into drifting space debris.

With their defensive line breached, the Chitauri’s momentum visibly weakened, and their attacks were no longer as decisive as before.

The Black Order army pressed forward. Dense missiles launched from both sides of the warships, while the main, secondary, and auxiliary cannons finished charging. The second wave of strikes came one after another.

Some missiles were intercepted midway, but more struck the Chitauri warships. Tremendous energy and shockwaves savagely devoured their energy shields.

Finally, after the green lights representing the Black Order flashed brightly, the Chitauri warships had their defenses torn apart. One after another, they exploded in midair, breaking apart into dull, lifeless scrap metal.

One ship, two ships, three ships…

Flowers of death bloomed one after another. Dozens of gigantic warships failed to last even a minute before they were all destroyed.

With the obstacles cleared, nothing stood before the Black Order. Their warships descended and drove straight in, beginning to deploy ground forces after entering the atmosphere…

"The war is over. The Chitauri are finished." Russell shook his head slightly, congratulating Thanos on gaining another lackey.

"BOSS, it’s already over?" Natasha had yet to recover from the shock. Her first glimpse of warfare on such a grand interstellar scale would take a long time to fade.

"Let’s go. There’s nothing left to see here."

Russell piloted the Cybertron jet fighter toward the nearest spatial node.

Quite a few ships nearby approached the battlefield, hoping to profit from the chaos and pick up a valuable part or two, such as military equipment like warship engines.

That was practically suicidal. The Black Order was ruthless and cold-blooded. No outsider would ever be allowed near Thanos’s dining table. They would not share; even if they could not finish it all, they would pack it up and take it away.

Sure enough, the opportunists had barely left the safe zone when small craft surrounded them. In the blink of an eye, they became cosmic dust.

Russell had just arrived at the entrance to the spatial node and was waiting in line when a massive flare suddenly lit up on the Chitauri homeworld’s surface. Chaos seemed to have erupted on the battlefield. More than a dozen medium warships flew out of the atmosphere, ignored the intercepting fire, and desperately broke out in every direction.

Medium warships had much weaker energy shields. Blocked by small craft, they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers and exploded into fragments one after another. Yet five luckier warships still scattered and charged toward the spatial node entrance.

"What’s going on? Who planted the mushroom?"

Russell spoke instinctively. Only when the alarm sounded did he realize something was wrong.

In the distance, a medium warship came barreling over. A sky full of gunfire battered its shield until it trembled nonstop. It was focused entirely on escaping and did not retaliate at all, crushing the ships in its way as it charged straight for the spatial node.

Russell sucked in a breath. The Cybertron jet fighter was the same size as a small craft; if a medium warship rammed it, its shield definitely would not hold. He hurriedly maneuvered the fighter aside and gave way.

The Black Order’s small craft were a little slower. By the time they arrived, the medium warship had already charged into the spatial node and Blinked away.

More than ten thousand small craft charged over. Seeing their menacing momentum, Russell raised a brow, activated the Warp Drive, and accelerated straight toward the spatial node.

Behind the Cybertron jet fighter, the ships that had obediently made way out of fear of the Black Order’s tyranny met with disaster. The small craft concentrated their fire, blasting them into fragments that filled the sky before pouring into the spatial node in a swarm.

Russell emerged from the spatial node, picked a direction at random, and began fleeing. He did not want to run, but with a pack of small craft chasing him from behind, he had no choice.

He could see it now: the Black Order would rather kill the wrong target than let one go. They gave no time for explanations. Stopping meant death.

"Why are you following me? My fighter clearly has a completely different style from the Chitauri…" Russell complained as he activated the energy shield at full power and flew toward the next spatial node.

After more than ten consecutive jumps, Russell discovered that the number of ships behind him had not decreased at all. Thanos’s lackeys were much tougher than he had imagined.

He could not shake the pursuers by continuing to fly, so Russell clicked repeatedly across the Star Map. Spotting an asteroid belt nearby, his eyes immediately lit up, and he accelerated toward it.

Old Driver had gotten tired of overtaking on curves. This time, he was going to drift through an asteroid belt.

Ahead, millions of asteroids of varying sizes sprawled across a vast expanse of space. The largest were roughly a thousand kilometers in diameter, while the smallest were only the size of fingernails. Due to the gravity nearby, these meteor-like fragments had failed to form a planet and drifted alone, trapped in orbit.

Russell did not slow down as he plunged headfirst into the asteroid belt. The small craft followed in a line, sweeping lasers across asteroids to clear a path and blasting out clusters of light.

The asteroid belt’s complex terrain had no discernible pattern. Russell weaved through it with ease, the Cybertron jet fighter nimbly evading moving boulders. The small craft were not nearly as graceful. They could destroy smaller asteroids, but could only dodge the massive ones.

The moment their formation fell into disarray, casualties followed. Some dodged boulders, some dodged their companions, only to crash into asteroids and explode into pieces.

Firework-like flashes lit up behind the Cybertron jet fighter. Russell shot them a contemptuous glance, sent the fighter rolling and diving, and burst out of the asteroid belt half a minute later.

Ahead, densely packed small craft stood ready in battle formation!

Russell: "…"

Natasha: "…"

Jason: (._.)

"Get ready, I’m accelerating!" Russell narrowed his eyes. He dodged the dense incoming beams head-on, then turned around under the trembling of the fighter’s shield and returned to the asteroid belt.

A life-or-death chase began. The Black Order’s ships surrounded the asteroid belt, but they had acted in too much haste. Russell did not believe they had enough forces to guard every corner. Ten minutes later, he found a weak point in their defenses and flew the Cybertron jet fighter out of the asteroid belt, with more than a dozen small craft close behind.

Russell targeted a lush green planet ahead and flew straight toward it. After entering the atmosphere, he turned around and fired back. Cybertron’s shield energy level was extremely impressive. It had taken quite a few hits along the way and still had plenty of energy left.

With only a dozen or so ships, Russell did not take them seriously at all. After two charges, he had beaten them into disarray, turning them into fireballs that fell from the sky.

"BOSS, what do we do now?"

"Let’s go down first. Once the Chitauri surrender, we’ll be safe." Russell sighed. Of all things, he had to stumble into something like this. He really was having terrible luck today.

"The Chitauri will surrender?" Natasha was skeptical and offered a different view. "Just now… one of their important figures escaped successfully, under our cover."

"It’s an illusion. It’s all an illusion. The Chitauri will definitely surrender. Don’t ask why, I just know."

"What? The Chitauri leader escaped?!" In the Black Order flagship’s command room, Corvus Glaive flew into a rage upon hearing his subordinate’s report. He picked up his war blade and cleaved the unfortunate man in two.

The command room instantly fell silent. Everyone trembled and did not dare breathe too loudly, afraid of following in the unfortunate man’s footsteps.

"Any other news?" Corvus Glaive’s expression was grim. He had been ordered to conquer the Chitauri homeworld. Failing to capture their leader meant this battle had been a complete waste of time.

"General, we intercepted a ship on Planet CY-27. The Chitauri leader is very likely there."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes, but the other side landed on the planet and vanished. The ground forces cannot determine their exact location."

Corvus Glaive snorted coldly. "Increase the ground-force deployment and search with all your strength for the Chitauri leader. The moment he is found, capture him immediately. If he refuses to surrender, open fire and eliminate him on the spot…"

"Dead or alive, I want to see him!"

Meanwhile, on Planet CY-27!

The Chitauri leader hid in a dense forest with his guard unit. Looking at the flashing points of light in the sky, he sweated profusely. "What’s going on? This shouldn’t be happening! I hid here ten days ago. There’s no reason I should have been discovered!"

"How about… surrendering to Thanos?"