Unable to Stop Galactus?

Thanos instantly understood Russell's meaning.

Although the Herald of Galactus was strong, he was definitely inferior to the one before him.

I just don't know who's stronger, Russell or Galactus?

From the depths of the whirlpool, a cold silver light slowly emerged from the water.

Silver Surfer, the Herald of Galactus.

He rose from the bottom of the Hudson River like a ghost emerging from a deep well.

His body was a solidified liquid metal, so smooth it looked as if it had been polished by the most precise hand in the universe.

The eyes had no pupils, no irises, only a swirling, deep starlight.

He was standing on a Silver Surfboard, which looked like a fragment cut from some distant Dimension, its surface flowing with energy that did not belong to this world.

As the shadow emerged from the whirlpool, the whirlpool in the river continued to spin, but it no longer expanded outwards.

The rate at which the river water was swallowed slowed down, and the curve of the river's decline gradually flattened.

The remains of docks, warehouses, and piers swept to the bottom of the river, like fragments suspended around the Silver Surfer, slowly rotated under some unseen force.

Silver Surfer stood in the center of the whirlpool, her surfboard floating above the water.

His gaze swept over the skyscrapers of Downtown Manhattan, over the crowds screaming and fleeing on the shore, over the Mutants kneeling in the streets still praying, and finally landed on the figures hovering above New York.

Silver Surfer could sense that the people above the city were likely the guardians of the Planet beneath their feet, but his eyes showed no change whatsoever.

"Listen, guardians of this Planet."

Silver Surfer spoke, and his voice didn't seem to travel through the air; it appeared directly in everyone's minds, cold and devoid of any emotion.

"The Galactus is about to arrive, and this Planet has been chosen as his prey. You have two days to prepare and leave."

As he finished speaking, the surfboard beneath his feet glowed faintly, and the vortex spun faster once more.

"Etc."

Russell's voice was calm, but his words carried an absolute, undeniable force in the air.

The Silver Surfer stopped.

He turned his head, and those pupil-less eyes fell on Russell once again.

"You still haven't told me your name?" Russell shrugged lightly.

Silver Surfer paused for a moment.

"Norlin Ryder." He looked at Russell, not realizing he'd said a bit too much, "Formerly a resident of Zenn-La, now an emissary of Galactus."

"Norlin Ryder," Russell repeated the name.

"If I'm not mistaken, you were once an astronomer who tried to save your Planet and therefore made a deal with Galactus."

Silver Surfer's starlight pupils trembled slightly, seemingly surprised that a powerful figure on this Planet knew his story.

You know me.

"I know a lot of things," Russell replied.

"I know the price you paid to become Herald of Galactus, I know you were given Cosmic Energy, and I know you found countless planets for Galactus, each of which was once as vibrant as Earth."

He paused.

I know you don't like this job.

Silver Surfer remained silent for a moment. If possible, he truly did not want to become the so-called Herald of Galactus.

"That's not important." Silver Surfer recalled the power of the Galactus and banished the distracting thoughts from his mind.

"The Galactus is about to arrive, and this Planet has been chosen as his prey. It is my duty to announce this fact."

"Your duty," Russell repeated, "Or your shackles?"

Silver Surfer did not answer.

"Norlin Ryder." Russell moved closer. "You were once someone who wanted to save your Planet, someone who was willing to do anything for that goal."

Now you're standing here, telling people from another Planet that their Planet is about to be swallowed up, do you think that's right?

Silver Surfer's starlight pupils trembled once more.

The surfboard beneath his feet began to tremble slightly, as if something long suppressed was loosening.

"That doesn't matter," he repeated, his voice even colder than before.

"I am the messenger of the Galactus, and I must fulfill my mission."

"What you must complete is Galactus's mission," Russell bluntly exposed his lie, "Not yours."

He stretched out his hand, conjuring up a tragic scene of the Planet being swallowed up.

"You served Galactus for countless years, found countless planets for him, and watched countless civilizations disappear in his devouring."

But you never stopped it, never questioned it, and never considered that perhaps you could have chosen not to do it.

Silver Surfer's surfboard trembled even more violently, and the liquid metal on his body surface began to ripple, like a pebble being thrown into a calm lake.

"I cannot defy the Galactus." His voice was filled with helplessness.

"His devouring cannot be stopped, for he is the balancer of the universe."

"The Balancer?" Russell tilted his head slightly. "Or the Ravagers?"

He moved closer again, hovering above the Hudson River, less than ten meters from the Silver Surfer.

"You saw this vortex, you saw everything you were doing."

And those destroyed docks, those people screaming on the shore—didn't they feel anything, just like the people you saw at Zenn-La?"

Silver Surfer fell silent again.

"You can continue to be Galactus's messenger," Russell continued. "You can watch him devour the Earth, and you can continue to wander the universe, searching for your master's next prey."

You can continue to deceive yourself, saying it's balance, it's order, it's the law of the universe.

He paused.

"But perhaps you have another option: you can choose not to do it."

Silver Surfer's starlight pupils suddenly contracted.

The liquid metal on the surface of his body began to fluctuate violently, as if something that had been sealed for countless epochs was breaking through a barrier.

"You..." His voice held a hint of fear, "You don't know what you're talking about. Galactus is unstoppable, he is a multiverse deity, he is..."

"He's hungry," Russell interrupted him.

"A being cursed by hunger, who was once human, is neither a god nor a law of the universe, but merely a being trapped by its own power, unable to stop devouring."

He pointed to the Silver Surfer, or rather, the Silver Surfer.

"And you, Norlin Ryder, can choose to stop."

Silver Surfer looked at Russell's outstretched hand, and in his pupil-less eyes, starlight seemed to swirl.

"Stop," he repeated.

"Yes," Russell nodded. "Stop, stop being his messengers, stop being his tools, stop being his prisoners."

Silver Surfer stood in the vortex, the surfboard beneath her feet no longer trembled slightly, and the liquid metal on her body surface no longer fluctuated.

Even if I listen to you, I still can't stop Galactus.