The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 3709 Doomsday (2)

Chapter 3709 Doomsday (Part Two)

“Although the matter is already settled, I still suggest you consult with the human governments,” Schiller said. “Obviously, now is not the time to appease people, but at least you should put on a show. I believe that governments of all nations will be willing to actively support your efforts to defend the Nine Realms.”

“We’ll have a meeting at the United Nations,” Strange said. “The biggest point of contention will probably be the location of the troops. I’ll give them three options, the other two being near Earth and near the Sun. They certainly won’t agree to either, so Uranus will be the best choice.”

Schiller nodded, offering no objection. Strange and Loki exchanged a glance. Strange then asked, "Don't you have anything to say about protecting the Nine Kingdoms?"

“I guess you want to ask me if I have a final solution,” Schiller said. “I can tell you I do. You know me, the solution will definitely work, it’ll just be a bit exciting. If you’re really that useless and let them come to our doorstep, then don’t blame me.”

Loki's Adam's apple bobbed, then he said, "With this final safeguard in place, we're relieved. Please promise me you won't activate your plan unless it's absolutely necessary, okay?"

“Don’t worry,” Schiller nodded. “I also hope I’ll never need my solution. But given the current situation…”

Strange quickly interrupted him, saying, "We'll do our best. Things certainly won't get that bad, right, Loki?"

Loki nodded vigorously, looking at Schiller with very sincere eyes. Schiller shrugged and said, "I hope so."

Loki left looking worried. Strange, however, seemed unconcerned. He remained seated on the sofa, drinking, and said, "How was Steve's birthday? It's a shame I missed it."

“Actually, it’s not bad,” Schiller said. “His son caused a little trouble, but it was quickly resolved. The good news is that, after this incident, the stronger mutants have decided to stay on Earth temporarily, for at least a year or so. This should also be beneficial for protecting the planet.”

"Another Omega-level mutant?" Strange scoffed. "The existence of the Nine Realms isn't just protecting Earth, it's protecting the universe. If we let all these guys out, who knows what kind of chaos the universe would descend into."

“Those three great empires have probably already used their strategic weapons,” Schiller sighed. “We really shouldn’t push them too far. We hope they weaken through prolonged attrition rather than find themselves doomed and self-destruct, dragging the entire universe down with them.”

"The situation is still under control for now," Strange said. "The fighting is quite intense in the Centaurus system, the Large Magellanic Cloud has been largely unaffected, and the Andromeda and Milky Way systems are even more stable. However, we must be wary of the three great empires resorting to desperate measures."

"You've been staying in Kamar-Taj lately, but you haven't been communicating with Asgard all the time, have you? You've contacted Yinglong?"

“Of course,” Strange said. “I’ve contacted all the demons originating from Earth. But as you know, their forms of existence are completely different, which makes them completely uninterested in wars between intelligent life forms. The Chinese government, on the other hand, says they have some preventative measures in place.”

"Like driving the Earth around?"

"More or less." To Schiller's surprise, Strange didn't deny it, but confirmed it, saying, "I can only be sure that they are indeed researching underground shelters and planetary engines, but I don't know exactly how far they've progressed. They seem to have conducted experiments on one of Jupiter's moons, but I haven't heard of any moons growing legs and running away."

“They also have the Dark Elves’ concealment technology. If a satellite were to go out for a stroll, you wouldn’t be able to detect it,” Schiller said after thinking for a moment. “Actually, it wouldn’t be impossible to install an engine on Earth, but I don’t agree with using only technological means. It would be better to use a magical defense network.”

“This is extremely dangerous,” Strange said. “The magical defense network is a static network. To transform it into a powered system requires sophisticated experiments and extensive testing; it cannot be done overnight. Rushing into this project could damage the existing magical defense network as well. Kamar-Taj will not take such a risk.”

“You probably don’t know them very well,” Schiller said, referring to a certain major Eastern power. “In most things, they appear very conservative, which can mislead you into thinking they are all extremely conservative old fogies who would rather not do anything risky. But from some of their actions, you can see that they are not conservative at all; on the contrary, they are radical to the point of being crazy. Although Kamar-Taj is within their territory, the Hong Kong Temple, which is actually connected to the magical defense network, is located on the very edge. If they were to tamper with the magical defense network in the central area, would you be able to detect it immediately?”

Strange fell into deep thought, then said, "No, I would definitely sense if they tampered with the magical defense network. Besides, they shouldn't have the talent for that. Even if we take a step back, the energy required to conduct such an experiment is enormous. Back then, we borrowed a huge sum from all the demon gods in the universe to transform the magical defense network into what it is today. Where would they get so much energy?"

Why do you think they absolutely had to mine Jupiter?

Strange became restless. Schiller rested his finger on his chin and said, "I suspect they've already mastered nuclear fusion technology. What they need is the vast amount of helium-3 on Jupiter. If nuclear fusion were used for power generation, the United States would only need 25 tons of helium-3 per year, and the entire world would only need 100 tons. The Moon, which is closer to us, is estimated to have about 3.5 million tons of helium-3, enough to power the entire Earth for 7000 years. If used only for ordinary power generation, and even with the energy needed for high-energy research, the Moon's resources would be more than sufficient. So why are they going to such lengths, going to Jupiter to mine it?"

Strange's fingers trembled slightly as he said, "It can't be because there isn't enough helium-3 on the moon, can it? More than 300 million tons isn't enough, what on earth are they trying to research?!"

"Of course, another possibility is that the moon is closer to us and there are alien races on it. If they were to mine it on a large scale, it might cause problems with public opinion. Mining Jupiter has a higher technical threshold, and even if other countries' governments are dissatisfied, they can't say anything, since it's technology they developed themselves. This would reduce international pressure. They are used to adopting this policy."

“No, that doesn’t make sense,” Strange said. “If all other countries didn’t have the technology to mine Jupiter, that would make sense too. After all, whoever figured it out first gets the first slice of the pie, and other countries can’t say anything even if they’re envious. But Roxon Corporation was already able to mine Jupiter long before them, and they had already publicized it. In other words, countries all over the world know that there are companies in the United States that can mine Jupiter.”

"Never mind where the resources extracted by Roxon Corporation go. As long as the US Congress knows that an American company can extract resources from Jupiter, they will do everything in their power to stop China from doing so. No matter why, Americans just think that the whole universe is their living room, and no one can touch what they have touched."

"While lunar mining may face public pressure, no one will go to great lengths to stop it. It's a pie that everyone can have a piece of; it's just a matter of time."

"But Jupiter is a cake that only China and the United States can get their hands on. Given the Americans' obsession with zero-sum games, they will definitely do everything in their power to block it. And so far, the only country that can rival China in technology is the United States. Given the choice between being verbally condemned and actually confronting the United States head-on, they probably won't choose the latter."

"But since they made this choice, it proves that they are willing to go head-to-head with the United States if they have to get something from Jupiter. They wouldn't take this risk if it weren't of great value."

Strange had already stood up. He said, "I need to find out what they're doing. Hopefully, they're not really planning to put a planetary engine on their heads."

After Strange left, Schiller returned to his office. Since it was still early, he planned to go to the cafeteria for a coffee, only to run into Steve, who was returning from his morning run.

“You won’t have many days of peace and quiet left, Captain,” Schiller said with a laugh. “The United Nations will soon be calling you to a meeting, asking you to represent all of humanity in negotiations with Asgard.”

"What is it now?" Steve asked while eating his sandwich. "I heard things haven't been peaceful in the universe lately. Is Asgard going to war?"

"On the contrary, they want to strengthen the defenses within the nine kingdoms, so they plan to station troops in the solar system. Although it's called a garrison, no more than ten people will actually come. The location is Uranus, and a group of frost giants will also be there. They will probably sign some kind of contract with humanity. The United Nations will send you to make an appearance and ask for some benefits."

“It sounds like a mess,” Steve said, frowning.

“It gets even more chaotic.” Schiller snapped his fingers and began to count down, “Three, two, one…”

"Schiller!!!" Strange's roar echoed throughout the restaurant. He jumped down from the portal in mid-air, panting, "You have no idea what I just saw!!!"

Schiller quickly covered his mouth and, together with Steve, dragged him upstairs. Once in the office, Strange caught his breath, his fingers trembling as he said, "They've hollowed out the Himalayas!!!"

"The Himalayas? That's a good choice," Schiller nodded. "The monks fly around there every day, haven't they noticed?"

"Do you remember the project they helped us build? Those two villages, the lab, and Kamar-Taj..."

Schiller thought for a moment. He remembered that around the time they were preparing to cultivate magic mushrooms, a Chinese engineering team carried out a major renovation of the area, and after a period of construction, a high-speed rail line was built there.

"At first, they only said they wanted to build a laboratory. They dug a cave halfway up the Himalayas to store Chiyou's body. I agreed. Later, they said they wanted to help renovate Kamar-Taj, and I thought it was indeed too old, so I agreed. Then they said they wanted to modernize the village, and I thought it would improve the villagers' living standards, so I agreed. Finally, they said the transportation was too inconvenient and they wanted to build a high-speed rail, and I thought that made sense, so I agreed."

"So, over these past few years, they've managed to slip in some personal agendas?"

"They smuggled in some legitimate engineering work along with their own agenda!!" Strange roared, his fingers clenched. "They hollowed out the entire Himalayas! Not just the mountainside, they dug down over 2000 meters into the ground!! Now the entire Himalayas are just an empty shell!!!"

"Like a balloon?" Schiller thought for a moment, then chuckled at his own analogy, finally saying, "The point is, what they put inside, isn't it?"

“They put a sun in there! I’m not kidding!” Strange grinned. “It’s a giant nuclear fusion reactor, and they’ve covered it up with a shielding layer so that neither the mages nor the magical defense network can detect the energy changes inside. The crucial point is, if they have such shielding technology, then we have no idea what they’ve built on their land. The one under the Himalayas is probably the smallest one!”