Chapter 1167: Present
After the E Grade Spaceship passed around the far side of the moon and discovered the American lunar probe, J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately sent a message back to Earth, following the wishes of Tony and Captain Rogers.
So, when the lunar probe relayed the message about two Spaceships it had detected back to Earth before the space agency personnel could recover from their initial shock, another message sent them into a state of bewilderment.
Beep, Beep, Beep!
"Why is the alarm still going off? Turn it off quickly! Those are our Earth's own Spaceships! What's with the panic?!" In the headquarters of the American NSNA, as the alarms blared due to the message from the lunar probe, a rear admiral standing behind the command center bellowed loudly.
However, despite his efforts to appear calm, the admiral's trembling voice and clenched fists clearly indicated that he wasn't as composed as he seemed. After his outburst, the rest of the staff in the command center slowly regained their composure and began hurriedly deactivating the alarms.
"SHIELD... Stark... the world is finally changing!" Observing the chaotic scene before him, the rear admiral muttered to himself while his gaze continuously flickered as he stared at the message displayed on the screen.
Apart from the American NSNA, every nation and faction on Earth capable of space exploration and operations received a message from the E Grade Spaceship.
Upon confirming the authenticity of the message, the top echelons of each nation and faction promptly convened internal meetings, each one marked by seriousness and secrecy. SHIELD and Stark now possessed Spaceships capable of traveling in space, and the leaders of these nations and factions were well aware of the implications.
As the E Grade Spaceship and the Milano swiftly approached Earth, a unique atmosphere began to spread rapidly throughout the planet. It could be said that what Captain Rogers had hoped for was now happening. However, the final direction this atmosphere would take would depend on the subsequent developments.
So, while everyone on board was contemplating the potential events that might occur upon their return to Earth, Lin Rui and Peter had already walked to the other side of the glass wall, gazing solemnly at the starry sky outside.
Their gaze was not directed straight toward Earth but slightly off-center. However, the section of the sky they were watching remained devoid of any significant activity.
"Peter, have you sensed anything?" Lin Rui asked as he looked out the window with a serious expression.
"I'm not sure, but I'm getting a vague sense of danger," Peter replied in a similarly serious tone upon Lin Rui's inquiry.
"Is it the same kind of danger as facing Dormammu?"
"It seems... somewhat similar!"
"Could it really be Dormammu?"
Hmmmm!
Just as Lin Rui and Peter were discussing quietly by the window, the direction they had been observing in the seemingly empty expanse of space suddenly emitted irregular bursts of spatial energy. Stable space seemed to be torn apart abruptly, resulting in several intermittent spatial rifts.
These spatial rifts were very small, much smaller than the spatial rifts Lin Rui had created earlier using the Magic Cube. However, from these tiny rifts, a rapidly flowing black mist, Dormammu's dark energy, began to pour out.
Although the spatial rifts were small, they were numerous, and the black mist surged out at a remarkable speed. In just a few seconds, these outflows of black mist gathered in the nearby starry sky, forming a relatively small, but still significant, dark mist mass.
To be clear, it was still much smaller compared to Dormammu's full form. In terms of volume, this condensed black mist was about half the size of a small moon.
After the black mist had gathered to this size, it stopped pouring out, and the tiny spatial rifts soon vanished. Subsequently, within the mass of black mist, rapid movements, and swirls occurred, and the face of Dormammu, deep gray in color, swiftly emerged— Dormammu's actual face.
For some unknown reason, Dormammu had managed to break away from Ancient One, Odin, and Ego's combined efforts and appeared near Earth. He positioned himself precisely in front of the E Grade Spaceship and the Milano, intercepting them.
Given the previous circumstances of Lin Rui and the others teaming up to face Dormammu, they had no chance of victory.
Phew!
After the appearance of Dormammu's face, he first glanced in the direction of Earth and then turned to the E Grade Spaceship and the Milano, which were rapidly approaching from behind. Then, the significantly reduced Dormammu didn't immediately charge toward Earth but instead lunged at the two Spaceships.
Beep, Beep, Beep!
"No!! Dormammu is really here!!" As Dormammu emerged from the spatial rift, an urgent alarm sounded within the E Grade Spaceship, and Lin Rui shouted loudly.
Hearing Lin Rui's shout, Tony and the others, who had been watching Earth moments ago, rushed over. They saw the shrunken Dormammu quickly approaching them. Although Dormammu appeared smaller and less terrifying this time, he was still more than capable of swallowing them whole.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., can we evade him?" Without bothering to question Lin Rui about why Dormammu had reappeared, Tony quickly yelled.
"We can't evade him; he's faster than us," J.A.R.V.I.S. responded immediately after Tony's inquiry.
"Damn! Our conventional laser weapons are depleted, and the other missiles won't be effective in the vacuum of space!"
During the previous battle, the E Grade Spaceship had exhausted all its combat capabilities in space. Most of the remaining weapons were designed to be highly effective within Earth's atmosphere.
Faced with Dormammu once again, did that mean Lin Rui and his team had to charge out and sacrifice themselves? This time, there were no Ancient One, Odin, or other allies to come to their rescue.
"We're out of weapons on this end too!" Without Tony needing to ask, Star-Lord's voice came from the cockpit. The situation was even worse on Milano's side.
Both the E Grade Spaceship and the Milano had depleted their weapon energy reserves, and they couldn't even activate their basic energy shields. This time, they might truly be unable to escape Dormammu.
......