Ronan, Who Lost His Grandfather and Then His Father

The Kree Empire, Planet Hala, homeworld of the Kree.

The Kree Empire’s leader, the AI God of cosmic legend, Supreme Intelligence, resided on Planet Hala. Accordingly, the headquarters of the Kree Empire’s elite governing class—the Kree Supreme Accuser corps—was also located on this planet.

Under the leadership of Supreme Intelligence, they ruled the vast Kree Empire.

They were the true wielders of power in this enormous cosmic empire.

Every Kree who could enter the Supreme Accuser corps was a once-in-ten-thousand genius of the Empire. The corps’ stringent selection standards had also kept the number of members in this small group relatively low.

Precisely because of this, the death of every Supreme Accuser was an extremely serious matter for the current Kree Empire.

It was something worth convening a meeting to discuss seriously.

According to the Kree Empire’s calendar, the last such discussion had been two years ago.

Two years ago, Planet Hala received news of the deaths of two Supreme Accusers led by Rob. Then, seven minutes ago, Supreme Accuser headquarters received another final message sent by a member before his death.

"What happened?"

"How did Rocco die?!"

The Supreme Accuser members who had been close to Rocco were utterly baffled.

Xandar was clearly in a brief period of peace. How had he died out of nowhere?

People of the Empire, by the time you see this message, I will already be dead.

I died at the hands of Beckett, Son of Thanos—the man who killed my father.

I underestimated my enemy’s strength and overestimated my own.

I lost this battle.

This was a short video Rocco had recorded in advance after sensing that something was wrong. In the video, the Kree Empire’s frontier commander wore a grave expression, his face full of sorrow.

The murderous intent he could no longer suppress ultimately cost him his life, burying the lives of five army groups with him in the vast universe.

"Beckett, Son of Thanos…"

After Accuser Rocco’s voice and the image abruptly cut off, the enormous conference room fell into deathly silence.

At that moment, the same question flashed through everyone’s mind—why him again?

The first time they heard this name, they had paid the price of two Supreme Accusers and the legions under their command.

And this second time…

Not only had an influential frontier commander of the Empire been lost, but five entire elite army groups had been dragged down with him.

Those were forces the Kree had armed only after making a major commitment, yet under Beckett’s nearly overwhelming power, they had been reduced to cosmic dust.

"Wait for word from Supreme Intelligence."

The expressionless man at the head of the round table shut off Rocco’s final message, and his figure immediately vanished without a trace.

After such a major upheaval, Supreme Intelligence could not possibly remain indifferent.

Once there was a first and a second, there could be a third.

This was no longer something Thanos alone could resolve.

Whatever the cause of this matter might be, the Kree Empire had suffered tremendous losses. That was an indisputable fact.

The Empire’s dignity absolutely would not allow them to continue pretending that nothing had happened.

The more lice you have, the less they itch; the more debts you owe, the less you worry.

At worst, they would wage war against the Skrulls, the Xandarians, and Thanos all at once. For the Kree Empire, now a cosmic superpower, that was no problem at all.

After all, neither the Skrulls nor the Xandarians had anyone as formidable as Thanos. Even within the Dark Order, the Kree Empire believed that only its leader, Thanos, possessed the ability to threaten them.

This was also one of the key reasons why the Kree Empire had been willing to pretend nothing happened after Beckett wiped out the Accuser members the first time.

Revenge could be taken, but there was no need for it.

In Thanos’s words: Beckett was still young and didn’t know any better.

But now, the "still young" Beckett from Thanos’s mouth had once again pushed his luck and stomped all over the Kree Empire’s face. Who could put up with that?

What should one do when a "still young" child was always mischievous and troublesome?

Give him a beating.

As for Supreme Accuser Cross, he did not merely want to beat Beckett up. He wanted to beat him to death.

After all, Rocco had been his closest friend since childhood.

"Beckett…"

The middle-aged man in formal attire stood alone by the conference room’s floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the scenery unique to Planet Hala below as he sank into thought.

For a moment, he was not even sure whether he should tell Gina that Rocco was dead.

She would definitely be heartbroken.

And there was Rocco’s son, who had only just been born…

"Ah…"

A long sigh echoed through the conference room. In the end, the man named Cross decided to inform his friend’s family.

Poor Rocco’s family. They had only just buried elder Rob, and then Rocco, the pillar of the household, followed his father Rob into the halls of death.

"You… said what?"

"Rocco, he…?"

At Rocco’s home.

Just as Cross had expected, after hearing the news of her husband Rocco’s death, the black-haired woman who had been teasing the baby in her arms froze.

"Eeyaah! Eeyaah!"

The baby in the woman’s arms blinked, happily tugged on his mother’s right hand, opened his little mouth, and stubbornly tried to suck on her index finger.

His laughter rang out loud and clear.

"Who was it?" Gina let her son suck on her index finger, a trace of indescribable anger and sorrow in her voice.

"The same man."

"Beckett, Son of Thanos."

Cross sighed and walked over to gently take the baby from the woman’s arms.

This was the only bloodline his friend had left in this universe.

"Has his name been decided?"

"Ronan." The black-haired woman named Gina held back her grief, raised her head, and spoke the name of the baby in her arms.

"You still decided to use Ronan?" Cross reached out to tease Ronan’s tender cheek. The baby grinned and bit down on Cross’s right index finger!

"When he grows a little older, I will personally train him."

"If his potential meets my expectations, then I will tell him the truth."

"But if he does not meet my expectations…"

Cross did not finish his sentence, but Gina already understood.

"I understand."

"If he does not have the strength to avenge himself on Beckett, then naturally there is no need for him to know the truth."

"Eeyah, eeyah!"

Baby Ronan, unaware of what the two adults were discussing, grew excited and stretched out his hands toward his mother, asking to be held.

"It is good that you understand." Cross nodded. After handing the child back to Gina, he turned and left.

"Barring any surprises, the war between the Empire and Xandar should gradually begin to die down."

"If Ronan asks how his father and grandfather died when he grows up, use Xandar as a shield for now."

If the grown Ronan was not strong enough by then, hating Xandar was still better than hating Thanos’s son.

After all, there was still hope of wiping out the former, whereas the latter…

"Eeyah, eey…" Baby Ronan clenched his tiny fist and blinked his big eyes curiously at the uncle whose back was all that remained.