"This thing..."
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly. To be honest, the appearance of a living creature on the Destroyer meteor was far beyond his expectations.
Moreover, it reminded him of the alien creature, Zero.
Back then, Zero had said that it had already sent a signal into outer space. Its brothers and sisters now knew of Earth's existence and its coordinates.
Zero believed it wouldn't be long before they arrived.
"Could it be..."
"These are that thing's brothers and sisters?"
"Or even... its parents?"
Alex stroked his chin, and the smile on his face gradually widened.
"Things are getting more and more interesting."
———
Meanwhile...
[The White House]
President Rick Archibald cleared his throat, signaling for the cameras to return to him.
Facing the cameras, Archibald said, "It is with regret that I announce that the Independence mission has failed."
"The Destroyer has about thirty-two hours left before it enters the atmosphere."
"When that time comes, I promise that the Federation will do everything possible to attack the Destroyer and minimize the damage."
"And besides us, other countries are also taking action."
"So, to everyone watching, there is no need to lose hope."
At that moment, a reporter asked, "Mr. President, in the face of such a severe disaster, has the Federation considered contacting Homelander and asking him to take action?"
Immediately, the other reporters joined in.
"That's right, Mr. President. Homelander still hasn't appeared. Does that mean he can't deal with this crisis?"
"Mr. President, please tell us."
"Will Homelander help?"
Faced with the barrage of questions, Rick Archibald was clearly prepared.
He raised a hand, palm down, signaling everyone to quiet down.
After the reporters stopped asking questions, he said,
"At present, I can't disclose too much."
"I can only say that I have tried to contact Homelander and have actively sought talks with him."
"But so far, things have not gone very well."
"However, I believe Earth is Homelander's home as well. No matter what, he won't simply stand by and do nothing."
"Especially since Homelander has now been promoted from Army Colonel to General."
"So I believe we should continue to have hope in him."
"Wouldn't you agree?"
It was impossible to tell whether Archibald's last sentence was directed at the audience watching on television or at Homelander himself.
In any case, after saying that, he left, and the Secretary of Defense took over the rest of the press conference.
Back in his office, Archibald sat down as a general and several senior officials entered.
"Mr. President, what should we do now?", the general asked.
Archibald said, "I've already announced that Homelander has become a general. Later, I'll personally take his medals and other items to his base and officially award him his rank."
"If he's willing to accept them, that means there's still room for negotiation."
"And if there is, then at the negotiating table, we'll probably have to accept any condition he puts forward without reservation."
Several officials couldn't help changing expressions.
The general said gravely, "Mr. President, if that's the case, he'll definitely ask for outrageous terms."
"Even so, we have no better choice."
"Even if he wants to be president, I'll have no choice but to give him the position."
Archibald clasped his hands together.
"It doesn't matter. Right now, the Federation's safety and Earth's safety are what matter most."
"Everything else is secondary. Everything else can be conceded."
"But giving something up doesn't mean we won't have a chance to take it back."
"What do you think, General?"
The general nodded solemnly.
———
[Eden Base]
Alex put down his phone. The livestream chat had already descended into chaos.
People had little confidence in the "future" the president had described.
Some were even cursing Alex in the chat, blaming him for not stopping the disaster.
Alex simply smiled it off.
The moment he learned the Destroyer was about to arrive, he had made two plans.
The first plan was to negotiate with the Federation. If they agreed to his demands, he would stop the Destroyer from crashing into Earth.
With his current strength, it wasn't a problem at all. If he wanted to, he could shatter that meteor at any time.
Unfortunately, Archibald hadn't even accepted his very first condition.
That meant there was no point discussing the rest.
So now, Alex intended to activate his second plan.
In fact, he had already done so.
On the rooftop, he turned around and saw that within the Absolute Domain, Angelina had already completed the She-Hulk Gene Enhancement.
Now, with the She-Hulk genes active, she stood over two meters tall, and her build was much more muscular than before.
Her skin had turned green, radiating unmistakable power.
Overall, in terms of pure strength, She-Hulk was still inferior to the original Hulk.
However, after transforming, She-Hulk didn't lose her reason.
Just like Vera, although Angelina had become a giantess, she remained fully rational and could even use her shadow manipulation ability while in her She-Hulk form.
That was the value of Gene Enhancement.
It didn't replace your original genes. Although the bonuses it provided were additive rather than multiplicative like the Divine Strength Bracers, they were still far more valuable than other types of Gene Capsules.
Alex withdrew the Absolute Domain and floated into the air until he was slightly higher than Angelina.
"How does it feel?"
"Incredible."
Angelina stopped manipulating the shadows and repeatedly looked at her hands.
"I can feel an endless stream of power inside me."
"It even gives me the illusion that I could pry the Earth off its axis."
"That is power, Lina," Alex folded his arms with a smile, "Right now, on this planet, you're the strongest superhuman besides me."
That wasn't an exaggeration in the slightest.
She-Hulk made Angelina bulletproof and capable of withstanding missiles. If she unleashed her full strength, she could easily destroy an entire city.
Combined with her shadow manipulation ability, Alex really couldn't think of anyone besides himself who could stand against her.
Of course.
Although Angelina had become an immensely powerful superhuman, second only to Alex, the gap between them was still so vast that it was almost unimaginable.
However, as Alex's absolutely loyal servant, Angelina wouldn't feel hopeless because of her master's strength.
"Looks like I'll have to find someone to make you a suit that can change size along with your body."
"Otherwise, you're going to go through a lot of clothes."
Alex snapped his fingers.
"Oh right, don't you have the Shadow Robe? Just wear that from now on."
Besides automatically adjusting to the wearer's size, the Shadow Robe granted the abilities Mist Form and Shadow Concealment.
Wearing it would further improve Angelina's stealth and survivability.
Angelina nodded.
"I'll go put it on."
After returning to her normal size, she covered her chest and walked into the building.
Just then, Alex heard the sound of helicopter rotors.
"Our guests have arrived."
He smiled.
Several armed helicopters were heading toward Eden Base.
Inside one of them, Archibald wore a grave expression.
In truth, even though he had already prepared himself to give up the presidency, he had very little confidence in this negotiation.
Last night's talks had made Archibald realize something.
Perhaps Homelander could no longer be regarded as a human being.
At the very least, Homelander himself regarded himself as a god.
"A god..."
Archibald rubbed his face.
"Perhaps we've been wrong from the very beginning."
"We only ever saw Homelander as a madman, as an overgrown child, but we never considered that he was a god."
"Even after the last incident, when I knew even nuclear weapons couldn't kill him, I still instinctively thought of him as a person."
"Not as a god."
"To a god, humanity's fate truly doesn't matter."
"Just as we don't care how the ants in an anthill are doing."
"So how does one persuade a god to act?"
After thinking from that perspective, Archibald reached an answer.
"A sacrifice."
He smiled bitterly.
"I just hope this god doesn't have too large an appetite."
Just as they were approaching Eden, the helicopter radar sounded an alarm.
"Fast-moving flying object detected."
"It's directly ahead. Intercept imminent."
"Prepare for combat."
The pilot's warning came through the headset.
The next second, Archibald saw a strange creature descending from the sky.
It was a harpy, possessing both human and eagle features.
It stopped in front of the helicopter formation, raised a hand in a gesture for them to stop, then pointed toward the ground before descending first.
"Mr. President?"
The pilot could only ask for Archibald's instructions.
Archibald asked, "Can you tell where that creature came from?"
"According to the radar trajectory, it came from our destination."
"Is that so?"
The president had a bad feeling, but still said, "Land. Let's see what it wants."
The helicopters landed, and soldiers jumped out, raising their rifles at the harpy.
Then the harpy's body began to change.
Its feathers retracted, and its talons became human feet.
Very quickly, a young man wearing nothing but a pair of shorts appeared before Archibald.
He raised a hand and walked forward.
"Stop! Don't move!", the soldiers shouted.
The young man smiled, "If I meant you harm, you'd all be corpses already."
"I've come on my master's behalf with a message for the President."
Archibald's heart sank, but he still asked, "And who is your master?"
"Homelander."
"Mr. President."
Hearing those words, Archibald felt his heart sink even further, but he nodded.
"Let him come over."
A moment later, the young man arrived before the helicopter cabin and saluted the president.
"Former Private Second Class Levin reporting, Mr. President."
Archibald looked surprised, "You're a soldier?"
"Then why are you following Homelander?"
Levin smiled, "Probably because when I was paralyzed, Homelander gave me the chance to stand again."
"The military, on the other hand, just gave me compensation and sent me home."
Archibald said nothing more and simply asked, "What does Homelander want to say?"
Levin nodded slightly, "My master asked me to tell you this, Mr. President: go back."
"While there's still time, go be with your family."
"And pray that after the apocalypse comes, your family will enter heaven."
Archibald gave a bitter smile, "He won't even hear my request? He won't even see what I can offer him?"
Levin sighed softly, "My master said you've already missed your chance."
"And he will only give you, give humanity, one chance."
"Goodbye, Mr. President."
"I wish you a pleasant day."
After saying that, short gray-white fur sprouted across his body. His muzzle extended forward, and claws grew from his hands.
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a werewolf and dashed away.
Archibald felt nothing but bitterness.
"I really underestimated him."
"He actually has servants who can freely transform between a harpy and a werewolf."
"How many other hidden cards does he have that I know nothing about?"
"I actually believed all this time that he was just an arrogant madman."
"In the end, I was the arrogant one."
The president suddenly felt utterly helpless.
He had prepared for the worst and was even willing to surrender the presidency.
Yet the other side had no intention of meeting him at all.
Nor did he care what the Federation was willing to offer.
His refusal was absolute.
"One chance."
"He only gives humanity one chance."
"As expected of a god."
Archibald shook his head with a bitter smile.
The soldiers all looked toward the president.
One young soldier cautiously asked, "Mr. President... is the end of the world really coming?"
Archibald looked at him and said in a deep voice, "Until the very last second, never give up, son."
"Let's go."
"If the god has no wish to see us mortals, then all we can do is go back."
"And see what we mortals can still accomplish."
The soldiers nodded and returned to their helicopters one after another.
The helicopters took off again, turned around, and flew back toward New York.
———
Thirty hours passed in the blink of an eye.
[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]
"We can already observe the Destroyer from the ground."
"My God, it's so enormous. The sense of oppression is unbelievable."
"The end of the world is almost here. Everyone should just go home, reunite with your families, and say your goodbyes."
The staff at the workstations had long since lost the will to work.
Some were contacting their families, some were crying with their heads in their hands, and others sat blankly in their chairs.
Director Stephen sat in his office, looking at the large screen as he blew on his coffee.
On the screen, outside the atmosphere, a gigantic dark mass hung in the sky.
Within the shadow, mountain ranges, craters of all sizes, and vast canyons could vaguely be seen.
On that day, the Destroyer entered low Earth orbit.
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