At Roman's words, a trace of surprise flashed through Nova Prime's eyes. She had vaguely heard of Earth before—a backward civilization located in the Solar System, under Asgard's protection.
The Nova Corps archives contained rough records about the Nine Realms. They had once been among the first pioneers of space, their footprints scattered among the stars, and they knew quite a bit about various civilizations.
Moreover, Asgard had once enjoyed a glorious history. If Odin had not halted his conquests back then, if he had continued expanding and pressing forward, perhaps Asgard might already have stood alongside the present three great empires.
However, Odin had his own difficulties as well. The Aesir had poor reproductive capacity and a small population. Combined with Asgard's devastating war against the Dark Elves, they simply could not sustain Hela's ambitions of conquest.
Rather than gamble Asgard's future, it was better to remain secure in one corner of the universe, use the Nine Realms as a foundation, recuperate and build strength, then consider other matters after recovering.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that line of thinking, but Odin had overlooked one point. After Asgard defeated the Frost Giants and became the ruler of the Nine Realms in one stroke, an overly peaceful environment and comfortable lives had caused his people to lose their vigilance and drive.
A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. Earth's civilization, once in its primitive age, underwent a technological explosion and developed a technological civilization with limitless potential. Meanwhile, after Asgard sheathed its swords and stored away its weapons, its progress ground to a halt.
"The Tivan Group voluntarily withdrew from Knowhere. After that, Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire dispatched the Necrofleet to protect it. But when the peace treaty was torn up, that warmonger