As the saying goes

Natasha and Bucky maneuvered the spaceship forward, occasionally firing to destroy asteroids and clear a path for flight.

Suddenly, the alarm blared, and the spaceship's control screen flashed a dangerous red light. Natasha's expression changed slightly, and she reacted instantly, pulling up the control stick to ascend.

"Sir, we've been targeted!"

As Bucky finished speaking, a series of red beams enveloped the spaceship's original location, shattering a large area of asteroids. Immediately afterward, four black fighter jets swept past, closing in on Russell and his group.

The four fighter jets are incredibly fast, and their unique T-shaped construction style makes their fuselages slender, allowing them to maneuver effortlessly through the asteroid belt. Moreover, their wings are strong and sharp, so when they encounter asteroids that block their path, they can simply hit them without causing any damage to the fuselage.

"This asteroid belt is sparsely populated, and the unknown forces hiding here must have something to do with it. It's such a coincidence that I ran into them. What bad luck." Russell shook his head slightly, instantly understanding the situation.

The spaceship fired and shattered the asteroid, which was detected by the enemy. In order to prevent their location from being exposed, they resorted to this murder to cover it up.

"BOSS!?"

Natasha urged anxiously, and the spaceship's energy shield, having withstood several attacks, dropped to an extremely dangerous level.

Russell stood up, shoving Natasha aside, and personally piloted the spaceship, accelerating away from the asteroid belt. "Natasha, make contact with Zereel and have the three warships move closer to the outer edge of the asteroid belt."

"Clear!"

Russell piloted the spaceship, and its speed immediately increased several times over. The asteroids turned into dense afterimages and moved rapidly backward from both sides.

In the blink of an eye, the spaceship burst out of the asteroid belt, pursued relentlessly by four fighter jets.

The next second!

The four spaceships simultaneously slowed down and turned tail without a word. Directly ahead, three giant warships opened their main and secondary cannons, and the muzzles, fully charged, lit up with honeycomb-like spots of light.

Russell's spaceship flew behind the three warships and the counterattack began. Dense beams of light of varying thickness rained down, instantly clearing the energy shields, and the four spaceships turned into cosmic dust.

The spaceship entered the middle of the three warships, and Russell, with a group of men, strode into the control room. Zereel immediately offered the captain's seat, bowing and saying, "My master, I am a step late and have startled you."

"Let the naval guns clear the way, I want to see who's in the asteroid belt!"

Russell sensed the scent of treasure; his intuition told him that there must be an incredible treasure hidden in the asteroid belt, otherwise the other party wouldn't be in such a hurry to kill him to silence him.

As the saying goes, the Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure belong to the virtuous. There is no such thing as first come, first served. Only by comparing who has the greatest virtue can we determine who is the true owner of the treasure.

Moreover, simply taking a beating without fighting back is not Russell's style.

He's petty; if someone hits him, he has to hit back, and he can't let it go overnight, otherwise he won't sleep soundly.

"Understood!"

"Oh, right, turn on the detector. If there are too many of them... then forget it!" Russell added, just to be on the safe side.

The saying "When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail" is true, but as the old saying goes, "Take a step back and the sea and sky will broaden," "A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan," and "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles."

One should adhere to one's inner principles and not betray one's conscience for the sake of temporary gain.

Meanwhile, deep within the asteroid belt, on a black warship, a group of people who were about to go back to sleep were awakened by an alarm.

"Chief, the four fighter jets we sent out have been shot down. The enemy is approaching us, along with three large warships... The enemy came prepared. The previous ships were just decoys. We have likely been exposed long ago."

The leading man was clad entirely in black armor, with a pale face and pointed ears. He was Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves and the ruler of Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Realms.

At this moment, the Dark Elves leader's face was ashen as he stared at the three approaching red dots on the screen. He slammed his hand on the control panel: "How could this be? Could they be Asgardians?"

"No, the style of the warship doesn't seem to be from Asgard ..." said a tall Dark Elves, Malekith's second-in-command Algrim.

"Hmph, the Asgardians are cunning and treacherous. They conquer the Nine Realms under the guise of peace. There's nothing they won't do!" Malekith said hatefully. The Dark Elves' homeland, Svartalfheim, was destroyed by the Bifrost strategic weapon of Asgard.

"Chief, what should we do?"

"Fight back! The Asgardians are closing in, we have no way out!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—

With a dense beam of light clearing the way, the three warships successfully pierced through the asteroid belt. Russell looked at the lone warship opposite him, filled with doubt.

There are too few warships!

According to his calculations, the place where such a tremendous treasure was buried should reasonably have at least three to five warships.

"My lord, after multiple reconnaissance missions, we can confirm that the enemy has only one warship." A Chitauri soldier confirmed this repeatedly before reporting the news to Zereel, who then relayed it to Russell.

"Real?"

"Yes... yes."

"What are you waiting for? Fire!"

"..."

Zereel looked aggrieved. He had ordered the firing, but Russell insisted on confirming it repeatedly, and now he was being blamed. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, but he dared not be angry or speak out.

Three warships lined up and fired simultaneously, blinding flashes of light as they blasted asteroids into fragments.

The Dark Elves swiftly retaliated the moment the asteroid was cleared. Despite having only one warship and relatively weak main and secondary guns, their advanced energy shield technology allowed them to remain undefeated, managing to fight to a draw against three opponents.

Inside the control room, Zereel was both surprised and furious to notice Russell's disapproving gaze. Despite being outnumbered three to one, they had failed to take down their opponent. He angrily issued the order, "Charge the flagship's main gun and show the enemy our true firepower."

As the order was given, the bow of one of the three warships opened to the sides, revealing a menacing, dark cannon barrel. At the apex of the main gun, two enormous, gleaming black metal spheres were the cannon's built-in energy reactors.

Russell: "..."

That's right, this imposing and brutally beautiful flagship main cannon is the ancient giant cannon that Russell found in the lost ruins... Just kidding!

[Item Card: Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon (A powerful beam ion Ion Cannon that has participated in numerous interstellar wars and is invincible in every battle)]

Boom!!

A beam of silvery-white light erupted, instantly shattering the energy shield of the Dark Elves warship, penetrating its hull, and its momentum continued, carving a path through the asteroid belt before disappearing into the void.

The next second, countless beams of light fell, leaving numerous wounds on the surface of the Dark Elves warship.

"My master, where did you find such a giant cannon? Its power is truly terrifying. I guarantee that the destructive power of this ship's main gun is among the most powerful in the entire universe." Zereel lowered his eyes and offered a subtle compliment.

"Ah... it's alright!"

"My lord, your flagship is under construction, and I plan to equip it with this naval cannon. What do you think?"

(一`一)

Upon hearing Zereel's words, Russell hesitated. He vaguely remembered that when he first obtained this Item Card, he had said that his interstellar warship would never be equipped with this despicable crystal.

One should not break one's word, but Zereel also said that, among all civilizations in the universe, this naval cannon is one of the most powerful. To abandon the most powerful main gun just to save face would be neither reasonable nor ethical.

But he's a man of principle, how can he go back on his word... I'm so conflicted.

In the end, Russell decided to save face; a real man would never be swayed by temptation.

"Don't ask me about such trivial matters. Just handle it yourself. Hmm... do it well!" Russell coughed lightly. Zereel was a smooth talker and a master at understanding people's hearts, so he would definitely understand what Russell meant.