Sword Pointed at the Chitauri

Nickel's death completely heralded the defeat of this Centaurian seed squad. Their new king, their strongest fighter, was already dead. The remaining warriors were no match for Beckett even in groups of three. Spreading despair and spurting blood formed a tragic melody in this primordial jungle.

Silver combat boots, gleaming coldly beneath the sunlight, stepped over exactly fifty Centaurian corpses and arrived before the escape ship's hatch.

"Woz, alter the program."

"Yes, His Highness Beckett." A beam from the wrist communicator intertwined before Beckett, forming the image of Woz, the robotic cat. Using the small device Beckett had inserted into the escape ship's console, Woz began altering the ship's backend program. Diff, the Artificial Intelligence that had spoken with Nickel earlier, was utterly powerless against Woz with external assistance. In just a few minutes, Woz had wiped it clean.

"Modification complete, His Highness Beckett."

"Inventory the supplies." Sitting atop the console, Beckett raised his chin and watched the data flicker across the display. The supplies and various information stored aboard an escape ship capable of carrying fifty people exceeded his expectations.

Beckett had no interest in Centauri Prime's civilization records, yet those made up the bulk of the ship's data. The remaining survival supplies were not much at all—at least, not in Beckett's eyes. They would not even be enough to fill the teeth of his adoptive father Thanos's Dark Order.

"Same as always. Notify Ebony Maw and have our people come here to handle the aftermath." After taking stock of the spoils, Beckett rose and left without hesitation.

"His Highness Beckett, aren't you going to read those secret histories of civilization?"

After Beckett returned to his own warship, Woz, who had already notified Ebony Maw, appeared at the console of the Vegeta. He kindly reminded Beckett that the Centaurian race had a long history, and their historical records might contain information about Planet Vegeta and the Cosmic Emperor Frieza.

"No need. Return course."

"Yes, His Highness Beckett."

Under the control of the Artificial Intelligence Woz, the warship Beckett had named the Vegeta began its return journey. Having removed his silver armor and changed into a black Battle Suit, Beckett entered the ship's training room and began his extra training for the day.

As he grew older, stronger, and more experienced, the concept of the multiverse finally took root in Beckett's mind. Whether it was the Cosmic Emperor Frieza or Planet Vegeta, neither belonged to this universe. Beckett had only confirmed this after compiling the information he had gathered over the years.

His adoptive father Thanos had also confirmed the existence of other universes beyond this one.

According to Beckett's speculation, the reason he had appeared in this universe was likely because Planet Vegeta and Titan had suffered cataclysms at the same time. Two immense bursts of energy had erupted simultaneously, blasting open a short-lived rift between the two universes. Beckett, whom his mother had placed in an escape pod, had happened to rush into that rift at that moment, falling from the destroyed Planet Vegeta onto Titan, which had suffered its own catastrophe.

In other words, if he wanted to avenge his mother, he first had to open a passage connecting the multiverse. And to create such a passage...

Beckett knew his own limits well. He had arrived in this universe by sheer coincidence, thanks to the force generated by the simultaneous destruction of Planet Vegeta and Titan. But now, even the full power unleashed by his adoptive father Thanos could not compare to the energy released by the instantaneous explosion of an ordinary planetary core.

Even power-enhancing items would not be enough. Besides, Beckett had no idea what kind of power-enhancing item could raise his strength by such an enormous margin.

Beckett had also considered simply destroying two planets and using the power generated by their explosions to open a passage, but he abandoned the idea after calculating the risks. He was still too weak—so weak that his body could not withstand a planetary explosion unharmed. That was why Beckett trained whenever he had spare time and was not on a mission. Even while traveling through space, he trained.

He had to train hard and become stronger. The road to revenge was long, but every small, steady improvement filled Beckett with satisfaction.

This was his war alone. Only he could bear it.

Without knowing the coordinates of his original universe, all he could do was improve his strength as much as possible.

Inside the gravity control chamber, sweat poured from Beckett's body. Every muscle strained against the altered force, making each step arduous. This training method had once swept across Titan, and Thanos himself had left behind memories of sweating profusely in Titan's gravity chambers as a youth.

After Thanos's improvements, the gravity training chambers that had originally been designed solely for the Eternals were also opened to Beckett as a Saiyan.

"His Highness Beckett, there is a message from Lord Thanos."

Woz's electronic voice suddenly sounded within the gravity training chamber. Beckett, who had completely lost track of time during training, reached out and opened the door to the gravity control room. In the span of a single doorway, he went from staggering steps to a vigorous stride.

"Father."

With beads of sweat still not fully wiped from his face, Beckett arrived at the warship's console. Thanos's image, clad in golden armor, stood there waiting for him.

"Training again, Beckett?" Hearing Beckett's voice, Thanos turned around. Seeing the Battle Suit on his adoptive son soaked through with sweat, affection stirred in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Stop training for now. Recover properly, then go to Chitauri Prime."

Although Beckett's constitution was unusual, caring for his adoptive son had become second nature to Thanos.

"Chitauri Prime? Father, are you ready to make a move against the Chitauri?"

Thinking of the Centaurian race that had fled earlier, Beckett immediately understood. His adoptive father's patience with the current Chitauri King had reached its limit.

"Though this race is inferior, it still has great value." Thanos shook his head. He needed to make this clear to his adoptive son. Otherwise, if the Chitauri were exterminated outright, where would he find soldiers so fearless of death?

They only needed to give the Chitauri a different brain.

"This time, your target is the current Chitauri King. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive are there. Once you reach Chitauri Prime, go directly to them. They will explain the Chitauri King's situation to you."

"Understood, Father."

Only after Beckett agreed did Thanos's image disappear before him.

"Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive?"

As Beckett had Woz change course, he stood beneath the stream of water, information about the two flashing through his mind. For his adoptive father Thanos to dispatch two Black Order at once, it was clear just how deep his anger toward the Chitauri ran.

A buddy said there was a novel on the new releases list where someone became Thanos, and another where someone was Thanos's son... (#Д)