What Exactly Did You Save?

"Help!"

"Help!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"You have no right to decide whether we live or die! No right!"

Three months later, in the universe's Centaurus Galaxy, on Karma Planet. The peace and tranquility of this long-isolated world were brutally shattered today by an army from Chitauri Prime.

The thunderous bombardment and fearless Chitauri soldiers brought Karma Planet's Planetary Defense System crashing down. Under The Other's orders, the Chitauri, who had no concept of retreat, forcibly instilled fear in the once-fierce Karma Planet inhabitants through endless waves of soldiers.

"Quiet down, all of you! Otherwise, not even half of you will survive!"

After gathering the troops who had entered Karma Planet, The Other glared viciously at the group of Karma Planet inhabitants, most of whom stood over two meters tall. A bloody smile tugged at his lips.

Some were still cursing under their breath, while others wept with lowered heads. Yet not a single person stepped forward to surrender.

They could lose the war, but Karma Planet's pride could not be discarded. That belief had long been carved into the bones of every Karma Planet inhabitant, and no one could shake it.

"Who exactly are you?"

An elder from the Karma Planet Senate looked at these invaders, whose average height was not even that of a Karma Planet youth. Burying his hatred deep inside, he asked in a low voice.

They were still completely bewildered.

They had been considering how to ensure the future recycling of certain planetary resources when these hideous, slight-bodied invaders suddenly surrounded their planet with a massive space fleet.

It was utterly inexplicable. Had they encountered the legendary space pirates?

If they truly were space pirates, then this was going to be troublesome.

Several elders of the Senate exchanged looks, helplessness filling their hearts. Their skills simply fell short of the enemy's.

Their weapons and equipment were utterly incomparable to those of the invaders. They had no way to deal with such pure firepower suppression, not to mention that the Chitauri did not even know what fear was. Their ability to self-destruct their bodies was enough to terrify the Karma Planet inhabitants, who had not experienced an interstellar war for generations.

"We are the Chitauri from Chitauri Prime, serving the great Son of Titan, Beckett."

Upon hearing this, The Other leisurely walked up to an elder from Karma Planet's ruling class, smiling as he bared his terrifying teeth.

"Our mission is to save the planets of this universe."

"And you are the first targets we have chosen to save."

"This is your honor."

"Ha—ptooey!"

The moment he finished speaking, a mouthful of spit landed on The Other's face.

The automated cleaning system in his technological armor activated, swiftly sweeping the filth from The Other's face. But it could not wash away the surging rage and humiliation in his heart.

He was the commander-in-chief of the Chitauri army. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

"Do you see this coin? Heads, you live. Tails, you die."

The Other, who always carried coins on him, had just been about to cheat with his abilities when the sound of a warship landing suddenly rang out above him.

Looking up, he saw Beckett's flagship already looming close overhead.

The Other immediately had no time for some pointless fifty-fifty game.

Without another word, he dropped to one knee and leaned forward. His right hand rested over his left shoulder, his expression incomparably respectful as he chanted in a fervent voice.

"Great Descendant of Titan, Lord of Chitauri Prime, revered by countless beings, Thanos, Son of Thanos, Beckett!"

"This crowded planet will ultimately find liberation and salvation beneath your rule!"

Dressed in silver armor, Beckett stepped down from the flagship. Amid The Other's shamelessly fawning congratulations, he slowly walked before all the Karma Planet inhabitants gathered in the square.

His icy gaze sent an inexplicable chill through every Karma Planet inhabitant who met his eyes. They all lowered their heads, not daring to look at Beckett again, not even for a second.

"Has everyone been brought under control?"

"They have all been completely controlled by our people, His Highness Beckett." The Other rose from the ground and respectfully reported his results to Beckett.

Thanks to the Chitauri's unique half-mechanical, half-biological body structure, The Other needed only a thought to know the condition of every Chitauri soldier on the planet.

And judging from the reports he was receiving, everything had gone exactly as expected.

"Begin."

His gaze sweeping over the two groups of Karma Planet inhabitants that had already been randomly sorted, Beckett turned his back. Just like his adoptive father Thanos had done years ago, he waved a hand and began the "salvation of the planet."

Rage and wailing, screams and despair instantly became the dominant melody across the vast square, lingering beneath Karma Planet's azure skies for a long time.

"No!!!!"

"Stop!!!!"

"You butchers!!!!"

Countless cries of grief-fueled rage, mixed with universal curses, poured into Beckett's ears.

Beckett turned around to face the square, now littered with corpses. This was merely the tip of the iceberg of Karma Planet's tragedy. Not a single Karma Planet inhabitant randomly assigned to the death group had escaped death's judgment.

"This is what you call saving us?!"

"What kind of joke is this?!"

Once the task was complete, the Karma Planet inhabitants were no longer restrained by the Chitauri soldiers. Clutching the corpses of their loved ones, they glared furiously at Beckett atop the steps.

Some, driven by extreme fury, completely broke free of their fear of Beckett's cold gaze and charged straight toward him!

"You butchers!!!"

A furious iron fist shot toward Beckett's stern face. He neither dodged nor evaded, merely raising his right hand and extending one finger. The enraged fist could not advance another inch!

"Look at the people who have died on this planet! Look at the buildings you destroyed on this planet!"

"Saving us, saving us—tell me, what exactly did you save?!"

"We saved your planet's future." Beckett's expression remained blank.

He had seen such expressions countless times when he still followed Thanos. But in the end, these people would accept this painful shock, bury the past, and eventually lead their planet onto a new path of development.

"The future?"

"What if the people you killed were our planet's future?!"

"Who do you think you are? Gods looking down on us from above?! No, you are nothing! You are nothing but brutal butchers, a group of self-righteous aggressors!"

"Our future should be in our own hands, not in the hands of self-righteous butchers like you!"

"You will never, never be able to replace the rules—ugh..."

The furious questioning came to an abrupt halt as a crimson tail pierced straight through the Karma Planet inhabitant's chest.

"The wails of a beaten dog are irritating."

The tail flung the Karma Planet inhabitant's corpse down the steps. Beckett's frigid gaze swept over the crowd, who had instantly fallen silent in terror, before he turned and left.

He did not care whether this counted as salvation. This was his adoptive father's ideal, and he was merely helping his adoptive father realize it. After all, Beckett still could not see any hope of realizing his own ideals.

If you notice that I have not updated for a long time recently, do not assume I have dropped the story. It just means the review system has held it up...

I will post updates every day, but whether they get held up by review is up to fate... Yesterday, the review system delayed me for over an hour, maybe two...

It is a special period for Qidian, so I hope all my dear readers can be understanding~

We can only wait for this period to pass.

Oh, and some chapter comments in the review section have mysteriously disappeared. I reckon Qidian's backend ate them too, so dear readers, please avoid posting reviews or chapter comments that might easily provoke disputes... Discussing and speculating about the plot happily should be fine... right?

Sigh, what troubled times...