Chapter 31: The Mist of the Future

After dutifully submitting to the judgment of the Interstellar Court, the Judgement Vessel returned the two representatives to their respective empires, then lingered in the center of the Milky Way.

Originally, according to the Star Spirit Empire’s plan, the Judgement Vessel, serving as a mobile court, was to wander between several major galaxies, with its first stop intended for Andromeda. However, upon discovering numerous alien races within the Milky Way, the Star Spirit Empire realized that wars were unlikely to erupt in the other galaxies for the time being and decided to keep the court stationed in the Milky Way.

Exploring the Milky Way proved fascinating. The Star Spirit Empire encountered an empire much like itself—the Observer Empire. The similarities were striking: the Observer civilization possessed formidable technological prowess, shared parallel philosophies and histories with the Star Spirit Empire. Yet, after failing to elevate a primitive civilization, the Observers adopted a more conservative stance, abstaining from any inter-civilizational conflicts, existing solely to observe and record.

Blessed by the God of Death, the Observer civilization could glean insights from the souls of other races, undetected by those races themselves. Upon meeting the Star Spirit Empire, the Observer Empire joined the Interstellar Court, choosing to serve as its chronicler. Together with the Star Spirit Empire’s Preservationists, they established the Cosmic Archive on the planet Zaku. Beyond this, the Observer civilization declined involvement in any other affairs.

Later, the Star Spirit Empire discovered Asgard and, after reaching an accord with King Bor, established friendly cooperation, and Asgard joined the Interstellar Court.

The Star Spirit Empire also encountered the Dark Elves, who, through mysterious means, forged Aether particles—the Reality Stone—from the liminal space between existence and nonexistence. However, they were not themselves the guardians of the Aether. After consulting with Asgard, the Star Spirit Empire sealed the Aether within the cosmic interstice using the Cosmic Cube.

That same year, the Star Spirit Empire came upon the Celestials conducting experiments on Midgard. Following a series of “friendly” negotiations, the Celestial host joined the Interstellar Court.

After the Celestials departed Midgard, the Star Spirit Empire met a human blessed by the Eternal God and formed a collaborative bond with Agamotto, the contemporary guardian of the Time Stone, inviting him to join the Interstellar Court. Through exchanges with Agamotto, the empire intensified its surveillance over the multiverse.

As human civilization had yet to arise, Agamotto established the lineage of the Sanctum Sorcerers to guard the Time Stone.

Sensing the fluctuations of the Time Stone, the Dark God seduced one of Agamotto’s apprentices, transforming him into Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension, to seize the Time Stone. Thus, the Sanctum Sorcerers began their million-year struggle against the Dark Dimension.

Having witnessed that the Time Stone, Space Stone, Power Stone, Reality Stone, and Soul Stone were all within the Milky Way, the Star Spirit Empire inferred that their own Mind Stone must also reside there, and intensified their search. Yet they found nothing. When asked when the lost relic might be recovered, Agamotto replied cryptically that the time had not yet come, compelling the empire to abandon hope of retrieving the artifact anytime soon.

In the New Divine Era, year 100, all members of the Celestial host vanished mysteriously, prompting the Star Spirit Empire to launch an investigation.

The Sixth Legion of the Star Spirit Expeditionary Force, upon receiving orders from the Council of Light and Shadow, immediately dispatched its executor to the Milky Way.

“Lieutenant, has the Prophet sent any guidance?” Executor Ratiemor asked his adjutant.

“Sir, the Prophet has not relayed any useful intelligence,” the adjutant replied, his expression twitching at the thought of the Prophets.

The so-called Prophets were a new group who emerged after the Star Spirit Empire’s encounter with Agamotto. Originally ascetic Nerazim, after learning the ways of time from Agamotto, they too gained the ability to glimpse the future. This required a special energy supply, and the empire’s engineers swiftly designed ships—the Prophet Vessels—tailored for them.

“In that case, let’s proceed to the target location. I hope the Prophet’s score has begun its symphony.” Executor Ratiemor sighed at the increasingly enigmatic Prophet pilots. Though they could indeed foresee the future, their utterances were always cryptic—speaking of destinies, spatial strings—never plainly, as if all had learned Agamotto’s eccentricities.

Drawing a deep breath, Ratiemor cleared his mind. “Coordinates confirmed. Initiate warp.”

At his command, all ships followed the flagship into transit. Since the target location lay beyond the psionic matrix’s coverage, the fleet could not arrive instantly, but the flagship’s formidable psionic power ensured arrival within ten minutes.

Blue light flashed, and the Sixth Legion arrived in this void, only to be stunned by the scene before them.

“What is this? The Celestials’ remains?” Ratiemor could hardly believe his eyes. The Celestial host were all beings of demigod strength—what enemy could have torn their heads asunder and left them adrift in space, with no companion to bury them? With all Celestials out of contact, a terrifying conjecture surfaced in his mind: could they all be dead?

The fleet’s sensors confirmed his fears. “Detected probable Celestial remains, commencing data comparison. Identity confirmed, member information updated.” The ship’s sensors validated the identity, yet Ratiemor found it even harder to accept. “Any word from the Prophet?” he asked after a moment, turning to his adjutant, who hastily contacted subordinates and returned with new information: “Sir, the Prophet says her strings have snapped.”

“Understood. Leave this place immediately. We must report these findings to the Council.” Ratiemor swiftly issued orders, and the expeditionary force departed as quickly as it had arrived.

Star Spirit Empire—Aiur—Council Hall.

Though the Council of Light and Shadow had moved its headquarters to Ulna, the Council Hall on Aiur retained its function for emergencies. Upon receiving Ratiemor’s report, the Council convened swiftly on Aiur.

“It’s almost unbelievable—the Celestials’ bodies cast into the cosmos like this. It’s astonishing,” Councilor Felton remarked, still unable to accept the news. As one acquainted with demigod powers, he could not fathom that the Celestials’ disappearance was due to murder.

“Yet the fact remains—the Celestials have vanished, leaving only a corpse behind,” Councilor Hawthorne replied coldly. “As long as they possessed the Power Stone, they could not be defeated. But as far as I know, the Power Stone has also disappeared.”

“Could this be another plot of the Dark God? Has the Power Stone fallen into enemy hands?” Councilor Adeline asked nervously. The power of the Infinity Stones was overwhelming, and the presence of all six in the Milky Way gave the Star Spirit Empire an uneasy feeling.

“Unlikely. We have detected no energy fluctuations from the Power Stone. If the enemy had confronted the Celestials directly, alarms would have been triggered. The only explanation is that the Celestials themselves did not activate the Power Stone,” Councilor Horn, who had studied the Power Stone for some time, replied.

“We’ve only found the remains of one, haven’t we? We cannot determine the fate of the others. For now, let’s consider them missing,” Councilor Felton said uncertainly.

“We must heighten our vigilance. Perhaps we can ask the Observers if they’ve discovered anything,” Councilor Walter said with concern.

“We have already inquired of the Observers. They claim they do not know how the Celestials disappeared,” Kamala appeared before the Council of Light and Shadow, and the elders greeted her respectfully.

“In that case, we can expand our exploration of parallel universes. Perhaps there, we might find some clues,” Councilor Jessica suggested, earning the elders’ approval.

The disappearance of the Celestials sounded an alarm for the Star Spirit Empire—an enemy hidden in the shadows was watching this universe, perhaps not only this one.

After its punishment, the Kree Empire indeed resumed hostilities with the Skrull Empire. Although wary of the Interstellar Court, as long as their conflict stayed within the bounds of law, their battles continued unabated. The Skrull Empire, having rebuilt its fleet in the intervening years, engaged the Kree in open warfare after the Kree declared war.

To aid their governance, the Kree developed a super-intelligence—the Supreme Intelligence—to help manage their empire. Unbeknownst to the Kree, its creation was influenced by the Brood Queen, and the Supreme Intelligence’s management style closely mirrored that of the insectoid Brood. Thus, the Kree Empire became a puppet in the Queen’s hands.

Beyond these two empires, a consortium of interstellar civilizations formed the Shi’ar Empire—a commercial union. As a multi-ethnic commercial republic, the Shi’ar Empire was not pleased to see the Kree and Skrull perpetually at war, knowing that conflict severely hindered commerce. As a newly risen empire, the Shi’ar devoted itself to mediating the Kree-Skrull conflict, though with little effect.

Meanwhile, in the darkness, the Dark God’s sinister reach began to extend toward a race descended from humanity—the Eternals.