The cold and invisible "gaze" of Watchers Council continues to envelope the earth, like an invisible, constantly scanning tights covering the entire planet. For the vast majority of life on earth, this gaze is insensible, but the secondary effects it brings - perturbations in the energy field, abnormalities in the information background radiation - keep the world's sensitive instruments and supernatural beings in a low and inexplicable state of tension.
Xiao Han, who was in the eye of the storm, felt increasingly irritated. The feeling of being watched everywhere but with nowhere to focus was as constant as background noise, unable to be shielded or dispelled. Although he still basked in the sun every day, his aura became obviously lowered, and his eyes that occasionally glanced at the sky were obviously displeased. Happy, who occasionally came to deliver things, was so scared that he almost dropped his ice cream on the ground.
Tony·Stark was keenly aware of this change. He did not dare to ask directly (for fear of becoming a punching bag), so he could only monitor the energy readings around the villa through Friday around the clock. The reading curve was more "uneven" than ever before, like a volcano that might tremble slightly at any time.
"Friday, analyze this energy fluctuation pattern, does it sound like... some kind of early warning?" Tony stared at the screen, frowning.
"It's impossible to determine, the boss's fluctuation lacks aggressive direction, and is closer to... a continuous stress reaction or a state of high boredom." Friday analyzed, "But its energy base level is rising extremely slowly, and it seems to be an unconscious accumulation."
Tony felt his scalp numb. Unconscious energy accumulation? This didn't sound like good news. He just hoped that those alien Watchers who didn't know where they were hiding would get out of here and stop irritating this man.
However, things backfired.
Inside the Shi'ar Empire reconnaissance ship, Captain Varick received new instructions from the home planet. The instructions did not come from "Theoretical Sages" (they are still on the way), but directly from the higher-level military command.
The content of the command made Varik's pupils shrink:
"Based on the 'Silent Eye' protocol observation data and the latest risk model assessment, the target individual has extremely low tolerance for non-emotional system observation, and there is a risk of unpredictable reactions. Order: Under the premise that your ship maintains an absolutely safe distance, try to make a one-time, low-intensity, pheromone-rich friendly contact. Purpose: Test the target's reception and reaction mode of clear non-offensive civilization signals, and evaluate the possibility of establishing a preliminary communication channel. Contact method: launch an 'information pod', containing Shi'ar Empire Basic Contact Codex and a statement of peaceful intention (friendly energy signature processing), make it slowly drift to the low-Earth orbit of the target planet and release friendly pheromones. Closely monitor the target's reaction, and if any signs of hostility appear, terminate immediately and evacuate."
Varik feels a little thorny. This order seems reasonable, but in fact it is very risky. Using pheromones and code to contact an existence that can modify the rules of physics at will? This is like using a toy horn to test a sleeping dragon!
But the military orders are like mountains.
He took a deep breath and gave the order, "Prepare the 'Messenger' class information pod. Load Basic Contact Codex and the peace statement. Modulate the energy signature to the lowest aggressive spectrum. Launch orbit calculation: ensure that the pod slowly approaches the earth's low-Earth orbit and automatically releases pheromones upon arrival. It is unpowered throughout the entire process to avoid any maneuvers that may be misunderstood as an attack."
"Understood, Captain."
A pod that was only the size of a football, with a smooth silvery surface and engraved with the Shi'ar Empire eagle emblem, was launched silently and floated towards the earth along a carefully calculated and slow parabola.
Its speed is very slow and its energy response is extremely weak, just like an ordinary piece of space junk. The information contained inside it is not technological data or weapon blueprints, but a set of standardized greetings, self-introductions (emphasis on the glory and order of Shi'ar) by the Shi'ar Empire for the first contact with civilization, and a statement expressing willingness for peaceful exploration, and is encoded through a special energy field into pheromones that are considered "friendly" and "open".
In Shi'ar's opinion, this is the safest and most harmless way of contact.
Almost at the same time as the pod was launched, on Malibu Beach, Xiao Han's eyes suddenly opened.
He felt a new, unfamiliar energy signal again! Although it was weak and slow, it was approaching the earth! And its energy characteristics were the same as the previous distant Watchers!
These bugs! There's no end!
First you looked at it from a distance, and now you start throwing things here?!
That cold, ubiquitous gaze had already made him extremely unhappy, and now this specific, directed "throwing" behavior instantly ignited the irritability he had accumulated for several days!
He didn't even bother to analyze what it was and whether it was a threat.
He only knew that this thing came from the same place as that annoying gaze, and it was getting closer!
That's enough.
The red light in his eyes flashed away.
There is no earth-shattering Heat Vision, nor is there a fist that spans space.
He just blew gently in the direction of the slowly moving pod with great impatience.
Freezing Breath.
But this time, it is not a wide-area freeze, but an absolute zero invasion that is controlled to the extreme, spans a long spatial distance, and is accurate to the atomic level!
The slowly drifting "Messenger" pod suddenly condensed into a dead gray ice cube from the outside to the inside without any warning. The precise instruments inside, the stored information, and the pheromones ready to be released... all molecular movements were completely stopped within a trillionth of a second, reaching the theoretical absolute zero.
Then, the ice cube seemed to be pinched by an invisible hand. After a slight pause, it Oblivion silently turned into the most basic particles and dissipated into the vacuum of the universe without leaving any trace.
From launch to disappearance, the entire process was so short that it was not even enough for the Shi'ar reconnaissance ship's sensors to complete a complete scan.
On the bridge, all Shi'ar officers and soldiers froze.
Captain Varick looked at the signal sign that suddenly disappeared on the screen, and his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat.
He didn't even detect any form of energy attack! It was as if the pod had been wiped directly from the universe's ledger!
"Report... report to the home star!" His voice was trembling for the first time, "The contact attempt failed! The information capsule... was completely erased! No attack trajectory and energy signature were detected! The target's reaction... incomprehensible! Extremely dangerous! It is recommended... it is recommended to cancel all contact plans immediately! Repeat, cancel all contact plans!"
Shi'ar The reconnaissance ship, like a frightened rabbit, began to quietly retreat at maximum speed, even consuming precious energy to perform short-distance, irregular jump maneuvers, just to stay away from that terrible direction.
On Earth, only a handful of beings captured that moment of precise intervention that spanned astronomical units.
Strange suddenly woke up from meditation and felt an extremely terrifying and cold "will" that instantly penetrated the dimension and swept into the deep space, and then retracted instantly.
Heimdall's eyes showed an unbelievable look for the first time.
Princess Shuri's instrument exploded a Vibranium sensor again.
Tony·Stark watched as the small light spot representing the unknown alien signal suddenly disappeared on the screen, and the man downstairs just seemed to... blew a breath?
"Friday... what... just... happened?"
"An unresolved extra-distance energy intervention was detected. Sexual doubt seems to be... extreme low temperature? The target... has disappeared."
Tony slumped in the chair, feeling like he was about to have a heart attack.
An attempt to make contact that was regarded as "friendly" by the other party ended in complete Oblivion.
Xiao Han's mood did not improve. Eliminating a specific target did not eliminate the ubiquitous cold gaze. On the contrary, it made him feel more irritable because he "took action" again.
The air pressure around him seemed lower.
All Watchers understand one thing: any form of "contact", regardless of intent, is, at this stage, a suicidal act.
This existence refuses communication, contact, and any form of "interference."
He only wanted one thing - absolute silence.
And this seems to be becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
In the distant deep space, the "Silent Eye" launched by Watchers Council still records all this coldly and faithfully, transmitting the data back to the core of the parliament.
A new evaluation is being generated:
The target has absolutely zero tolerance for "contact" behavior.
Recommendation: Extend the "Silent Eye" agreement indefinitely and suspend all forms of active contact attempts.
Reassessment of risk level: extremely high (and continuing to increase).