"I actually agree. We shouldn't make too much of a fuss. I know this all too well—once the situation descends into chaos, we might fall apart from within before anyone else even attacks us."
"If the cost is that high, I'd rather not do it," Nick said after thinking it over. He was still fairly cautious, after all. He was the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick might have been ruthless, but when it came to safeguarding humanity, he had a decent grasp of the greater good. Or rather, even villains shared the same interests in this regard, so long as they still wanted to live on Earth.
Schiller tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention. "Don't you find it a little strange? Their fleet has already lost many escort ships, yet they still haven't left. Why?"
"That's true." Loki thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, their Sanctum-class Ships have a highly advanced intergalactic jump system. If they wanted to leave, they should be able to get away quickly."
At that moment, Peter's voice came through the phone Stark had set on the table. "We just saw smoke coming from the rear of that huge ship. Blue Spirit says it looks like their engine overheated."
"An overheated engine wouldn't be smoking," Loki said with absolute certainty.
"It's very possible that their engine is damaged." Stark picked up the phone and asked Peter, "You said earlier, how many escort ships should that fleet have at full strength?"
"Blue Spirit said seventy-two. Why?"
"How many are left now?"
Peter, hiding behind the asteroid belt, stared at the cluster of massive ships. He said to the people beside him, "Help me count them. How many escort ships do they still have?"
After they finished counting and checked the figures, Peter said, "Twenty-three remain..."
"Just