Frozen City

"Finally... are we there?"

After the final spatial jump ended, The Other slumped in his seat and stared at the flight route map above the console, muttering to himself.

Since his birth, he had never attempted more than twenty consecutive spatial jumps. Even with a brief rest in between, The Other's body still had not recovered.

"Yes, we've arrived, Lord The Other. If you wish to keep trying, Woz thinks you can continue experiencing spatial jumps in the simulation chamber aboard the main ship."

"No, no, I don't want to experience it. I don't want to experience it." The Other shook his head like a rattle drum, unfastened his seat belt, and stretched his body. His gaze instinctively fell on Beckett, who showed no hint of discomfort, and he secretly clicked his tongue. As expected of His Highness Beckett. He wasn't affected at all.

"Woz, how long until we reach the vicinity of Tofa Star?"

Beckett kept tapping at the holographic screen before him with his right index finger. Watching the rapidly shifting data, he asked in a grave voice.

"Following your orders, His Highness Beckett, Woz has found the most suitable location near Tofa Star to conceal the fleet. At our current speed, we are expected to arrive in three minutes."

As Woz finished speaking, the display before Beckett abruptly changed, and the image of Tofa Star reflected in his eyes.

"Open Bay One. Prepare the light battleship."

After pondering for a moment, Beckett glanced at The Other behind him, who was still stretching, and gave the order.

"Understood. The light battleship is ready. Two squads of Chitauri soldiers, twenty-four personnel in total, have entered standby. Woz is establishing a connection network. Network architecture complete. Data transmission beginning."

Only after a progress bar appeared on the holographic screen did Beckett rise and head toward Bay One. Seeing this, The Other hurriedly picked up the Azure Scepter he had tossed onto his chair and followed. As Beckett's loyal servant, he considered it an honor to participate in this mission.

Not only could he show off in front of His Highness Beckett, but he might even leave an impression on Lord Thanos in the future. It was killing two birds with one stone.

"Lord The Other, Woz advises you to fasten your seat belt."

"What?"

Before The Other could react, the battleship shot into the vast universe under Woz's control. Its speed was so great that The Other, still caught up in his excitement, promptly had an intimate encounter with the floor. The impact left stars dancing before his eyes, while Beckett, seated beside him, did not sway in the slightest.

"Woz, if we enter Tofa Star like this, won't we be discovered?"

The Other got to his feet as though nothing had happened and looked at the view ahead, which had already broken through Tofa Star's atmosphere. There was some concern in his voice. The Kree Empire's reputation in the universe was far from good these days.

"Please rest assured, Lord The Other. Using the key provided by Lord Thanos, Woz has altered Tofa Star's Planetary Defense System. We will not be discovered." Rewriting programs was something Woz, a combat support Artificial Intelligence, had done plenty of times. No matter how secure the Kree's Planetary Defense System was, it could not withstand a traitor among their ranks.

A traitor who had explained everything to Thanos in crystal-clear detail.

That traitor was why Thanos knew Astra had perfected an energy amplification formula.

Could the Kree really have traitors like that?

Didn't they have some Supreme Intelligence known as the AI God? With that so-called god watching over them, how could traitors still emerge?

The Other was even more confused after hearing this, but knowing that the more he said, the more mistakes he might make, he chose to shut his mouth and wait calmly for the battleship to land.

"His Highness Beckett, according to information from Tofa Star's Planetary Defense System, Doctor Astra, who possesses the energy amplification formula, was kidnapped earlier this morning. He has now been transferred to Tofa Star's wartime command base."

"Someone moved before us? Skrulls?"

Beckett, who had cloaked the light battleship and the two squads of Chitauri soldiers in the desert, raised an eyebrow at this. He pressed the silver bracelet on his wrist, and the figure of a blue robotic cat immediately appeared before Beckett and The Other.

"Yes. Based on the available information, it was a Skrull called Magma."

Magma? Beckett tossed the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hand as he narrowed his eyes at the skyscraper in the distance. That was the wartime security base described in Woz's files.

"This distance should be about right."

Then Beckett tossed the Casket of Ancient Winters at The Other's feet and ordered with his hands clasped behind his back, "Begin."

"Yes! His Highness Beckett!"

The Other's voice carried excitement he could barely suppress after receiving the order. He casually adjusted the Casket of Ancient Winters with his left hand, and the Azure Scepter clenched in his right suddenly blazed with brilliant light!

"Freeze over!! Tofa!!!"

The tip of the scepter pressed against the casing of the Casket of Ancient Winters. An incomparably dense force of frost erupted from within it, pouring endlessly into the desert beneath Beckett's feet!

With the Casket of Ancient Winters at its center, bitter frost spread at a speed visible to the naked eye, swiftly covering every corner of the desert and continuing to extend outward!

"Although Father looked down on this Casket of Ancient Winters, its effect is still fairly good."

Beckett looked with satisfaction at the world of ice sculptures gradually appearing before him, then strode toward the distant wartime command base.

In Laufey's hands, the Casket of Ancient Winters was said to possess enough power to freeze an entire world. Though Beckett believed that claim was greatly exaggerated, it did not stop him from using it to freeze one of Tofa Star's main cities.

Beckett could not use magic and therefore could not activate the Casket of Ancient Winters, but the scepter in The Other's hand could.

On Jotunheim, The Other had been specifically responsible for collecting the bodies of the Frost Giant guard corps. The Azure Scepter in his hand contained a vast amount of energy transformed from Frost Giant corpses. That energy was the key to opening the Casket of Ancient Winters and freezing the city beneath Beckett's feet.

The prosperous city became a paradise for the Frost Giants amid the endless energy flowing from the Casket of Ancient Winters. Bone-piercing cold and dense magic swiftly seized every corner of the city.

Beckett saw with his own eyes that a Kree squad had discovered his utterly undisguised infiltration. Yet before they could even raise their weapons, the magical energy erupting from the Casket of Ancient Winters turned them into lifelike ice sculptures...

"His Highness Beckett, Woz has temporarily blocked all means of communication between this city and the outside world. They are expected to recover in three minutes."

This was what stealth was supposed to be.

Beckett swaggered to a stop before the towering skyscraper, a disdainful smile curling across his lips. "Three minutes? Enough."

Thanks to reader 20190522004829165 for the tip~