Target: Astra

Beckett paid no mind to the incident involving Hela. As for the so-called three-month agreement, he had completely forgotten it after one night's sleep. It might have made those who did not know Beckett think he was arrogant, but that was simply the truth. Since Beckett had made his name, not one of his defeated opponents had ever fulfilled their declaration of overtaking him.

You worked hard, but those more talented than you worked even harder. That was what made Beckett's opponents despair the most.

"Breakfast has been prepared for you, His Highness Beckett."

With a checkered apron tied around his round waist, the blue Tanuki Robot stood before the gravity training room's hatch and bowed respectfully.

"I know."

Panting came from inside the gravity training room as the hatch opened. Scalding sweat drenched the glossy black floor. Beckett took the towel Gates held over his head and turned to wash up.

"To prevent any accidents that may arise during this journey, Gates has prepared sufficient supplies aboard the warship. In addition, Gates has also made preparations for the Chitauri army..."

The voice of Gates, the consummate homemaker, kept echoing in Beckett's ears as he arranged everything in perfect order.

After losing more than half their forces on the Bloody Plains, the Chitauri army was immediately replenished upon returning to Chitauri Prime. The Chitauri race had many flaws: their cultural level was low, most of their people lacked sufficient intelligence, and they could only carry out simple offensive and defensive orders. But this race possessed one advantage that no other highly intelligent race could match—numbers. Before leaving the Dark Order and returning to Chitauri Prime, The Other had patted his chest and proudly assured Beckett that he could restore the fleet's full complement overnight.

And he had indeed done it.

When Beckett returned to Chitauri Prime after breakfast, The Other displayed the fruits of his night of hard work before him. Chitauri soldiers clad in armor stood in orderly lines and boarded the warships assigned to them.

Since half of these Chitauri soldiers had only just been recruited by The Other and had yet to experience war, The Other spent a full minute thinking after last night's recruitment. Only then did he gather his courage and make the decision to have veterans mentor recruits one-on-one, without seeking Beckett's approval.

At first, The Other had been deeply uneasy, afraid that making a decision on his own would anger Beckett, who had always been autocratic before him. Yet reality pleasantly surprised The Other. Until they boarded the flagship, Beckett showed no anger over his unauthorized decision. Instead, he glanced at him and gave him an approving look.

The Other's heart surged with excitement. What did this mean? It meant His Highness Beckett was willing to gradually delegate command authority to him. Sure enough, singing praises worked.

A bootlicker who licked long enough ended up with everything.

"Woz, lock onto the target: Tofa Star." Seated at the control console, Beckett caught sight of The Other from the corner of his eye. The Other was obviously lost in thought, apparently imagining something delightful enough to make him grin foolishly. Beckett gave the order.

Was this subordinate of his an idiot? He repeated nothing but "Rejoice" over and over every day. If not for his somewhat special abilities and sufficient loyalty, Beckett would have kicked this irritating thing away long ago.

"His Highness Beckett, Tofa Star is currently near the battlefield between the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire. Going there rashly may result in concentrated fire from both sides. Should we send diplomatic notices to both parties to ensure the fleet's safety?"

"No. Set the route yourself and avoid the battle lines of the Kree Empire and Skrull Empire." Beckett shook his head. He was leading a team there to abduct someone, not to sightsee. According to his adoptive father Thanos, the Kree Empire currently attached extraordinary importance to Astra.

That was also why Thanos had sent Beckett to Tofa with the Chitauri army. If Beckett was exposed, the Chitauri army could provide sufficient fire cover for his retreat.

"Load the data. Keywords: Kree, Astra."

After setting the route, Beckett, seated in his mechanical chair, gave another command. Thanos had only briefly summarized Astra's situation for him yesterday. Before truly making his move, Beckett needed to thoroughly understand the specifics of his target.

His father had said that only by knowing oneself and one's enemy could one remain undefeated in every battle.

"Loading data. Data loading complete."

Name: Astra,

Race: Kree,

Age: 203 years old.

Family members: Father (deceased), mother (deceased), older brother (missing in war, presumed dead).

A stream of information collected by Ebony Maw flashed before Beckett's eyes. Intelligence work under Thanos had always been handled by this mage, who loved flattering Thanos more than anyone else.

"Presumed dead?" Beckett raised an eyebrow in surprise as his gaze moved down to the family members section. Ebony Maw rarely used words like "presumed" in his intelligence reports, because he believed it showed disrespect toward intelligence work. Something either was or was not; ambiguous information could very well lead to defeat in war.

Yet now, Beckett had found this word, full of uncertainty, in Astra's information.

"Yes, His Highness Beckett."

"Astra's parents and older brother were all officers in the Kree military. A hundred years ago, Skrulls invaded Planet L77. The commanders of the Kree forces defending that planet were Astra's parents. Because the Skrulls' attack came too suddenly, Planet L77 quickly fell. Astra's older brother, who had gone to reinforce them under orders from the Supreme Intelligence, was ambushed on Planet L77 and his entire force was wiped out. He himself disappeared without a trace, his fate unknown..."

The brutality of war was displayed vividly in this report.

"Skrulls with shapeshifting abilities?" Beckett quietly considered the information before him. Compared to the Kree who had been defeated on Planet L77, the Skrulls interested him more.

As long as they had seen someone once, Skrulls could perfectly mimic them, copying even their recent memories and their genes. Their terrifying mimicry ability had become the Skrulls' defining trait.

According to his adoptive father Thanos, the Skrulls also intended to make a move against Astra. In other words, Beckett would very likely encounter Skrulls with perfect mimicry abilities during this operation.

Interesting.

Compared with the Kree, who relied purely on technological development, Beckett was clearly more interested in the Skrulls.

"His Highness Beckett, Woz has plotted the route. In five seconds, we will reach the nearest spatial jump point. Please prepare yourself."

Beckett settled into his seat and glanced at the information displayed on the control console's screen. There would be twenty-four spatial jumps in total. Tofa Star truly was quite far from Chitauri Prime.

"Five, four, three, two, one. Spatial jump, begin."

The massive interstellar fleet instantly disappeared into the node.

Thanks to Lv_Zh___ for the tip~