The X-Men World.
Cairo, Egypt.
Ever since Mutants were exposed to global scrutiny, the public panicked and viewed Mutants as monsters. However, there was also a segment of religious people who fanatically believed that the appearance of Mutants signified the Second Coming of Christ, a symbol of God.
What else but the power of God could wipe out the World's two strongest fleets with a mere wave of a hand?
In the morning, in a small courtyard, there was a crack in the ground through which one could vaguely see a vast expanse of pyramid ruins underground.
"Devout followers!
Look at me, everyone, I have an announcement.
A few days ago, I received news that after a worldwide search, the ruins of God have finally been discovered here."
Today, a group of people calling themselves the Disciples of En Sabah Nur gathered. The leader of the cult, a man of medium build with a full beard, spoke with fervent expression, raising both hands.
"From now on, we can communicate with God up close and listen to God's teachings."
"En Sabah Nur." Hearing this news, they all joyfully and reverently uttered that ancient and noble name.
They believed in an ancient God from history, one who predated the Bible. He had ruled many places, and Egypt was one of them.
"Now, let us excavate a secret prayer chamber to get even closer to God."
Saying this, the cult leader had people move a batch of tools from a vehicle: hammers, shovels, chisels, and several handheld rock crushers.
The rock crushers were imprinted with the Umbrella Corporation logo, a giant international company involved in technology, pharmaceuticals, industry, and various other fields.
Produced by Umbrella, it was bound to be a high-quality product, helping them break through this crack faster.
A group of fanatical believers picked up the tools and worked excitedly like laborers on a construction site, widening the opening and excavating a tunnel.
Soon.
Under their energetic work.
As the Sun was about to set, they finally dug to the bottom of the pit.
A pyramid apex with mysterious patterns appeared before everyone, also exposed to the dim yellow sunlight of dusk.
Buzz!
Under the sunlight, it was as if something was awakened. The mysterious patterns on the pyramid flowed with golden light, like a divine miracle.
"En Sabah Nur, our God, may you bless us."
Seeing this, a group of dust-covered cult members stared with disbelief, dropped their tools, and knelt on the ground, ceaselessly praying and worshipping.
Twenty meters underground, a man in strange armor, pressed by a giant rock, with a blue, ancient, and majestic face, suddenly opened his eyes. His chest heaved as if he had just escaped drowning and gasped for air.
Apocalypse, one of the oldest Mutants, awakened from thousands of years of slumber.
He heard the call coming from above.
"Who is calling me?"
...
On the Moon, Black Bolt was helped to his feet by his wife. He looked bitterly at the figure in mid-air.
He had lost.
As the King of the Inhumans, he should have protected the entire tribe, yet he was defeated by an outsider in plain sight.
"You won. You proved that your Inhumans gene is superior to mine."
Clutching Medusa's hand, he sadly and with difficulty promised Ronan, "After today, my wife and I will leave Attilan and never return."
Coughing blood, his vocal cords severely damaged, the sound he squeezed out of his throat was hoarse and weak, like a frail, sick old man of seventy or eighty.
He did not want to leave the tribesmen he had protected and the homeland where he had grown up since childhood.
However, there was little room for an old King in the new King's kingdom.
An old King who had lost his throne but had once been King and was embraced by the people would not be tolerated by any ruler.
"Black Bolt, are you not a part of the Inhumans?"
Seeing the Inhumans submit with his X-ray vision, a subtle satisfaction flashed in Ronan's eyes as he turned his gaze to him.
He would not let Black Bolt leave; his value alone was not inferior to that of the entire Inhumans.
"I... I certainly am."
"Your ability is uniquely endowed; you can do things that I am far from capable of."
Ronan's eyes were deep as he praised Black Bolt's ability.
His current power was far from being able to destroy a city with a single blow, but Black Bolt could do it; a loud roar was comparable to a nuclear bomb.
Black Bolt's sonic scream was too scattered; if he could focus the sound into a line, it could easily penetrate and tear his flesh.
"Although it's like a nuclear bomb versus concentrating the entire nuclear explosion into a single energy ray attack—those are two vastly different technologies.
Black Bolt's ability is inherently like that; his throat cannot withstand that kind of compression."
However... it was still powerful enough.
He was a walking, humanoid nuclear bomb.
"But... but I still lost."
Black Bolt lowered his head and smiled bitterly.
"You lost because you weren't strong enough." This sentence made Medusa and the others' expressions strange; first, he praised Black Bolt's ability, then said his strength was not enough.
But the fact was Ronan won, so he could say whatever he wanted.
"Stay here. The Inhumans need your ability. I cannot always be stationed with the Inhumans."
"Can I really stay?"
Hearing Ronan's words, Black Bolt's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly looked up, a trace of disbelief appearing on his face.
If he could stay, he would certainly be willing.
In fact, the best outcome he had imagined was that Ronan would not kill him and would let him leave. He never thought that he and his wife could remain with the Inhumans and not be exiled.
Ronan flew through the sky, and Black Bolt and the others followed him into the city. On the streets, the Inhumans knelt on the ground, looking up with awe at the powerful and cold figure in the sky.
That was a person even capable of collapsing mountains, and from now on, he would be their new King.
Returning to the grand hall, Ronan sat down on the throne again. This time, he was the King of the Inhumans in name and in fact. Black Bolt and the others knelt on one knee, paying homage to the King.
Having received the homage of the Inhumans, all Inhumans looked up to him as their subject.
He considered this his coronation ceremony and would not bother with any complicated coronations.
"The purpose of a coronation ceremony is merely to make the subjects feel solemn and reverent, solidifying the monarchy.
The battle outside the city was more effective than a thousand coronations."
Not too concerned with rituals, the first thing Ronan did after taking power was to ask if the Inhumans' Sky Defense technology could defend against nuclear bombs.
"Your Majesty, the defensive shield above the city has always protected our Attilan from meteorite damage.
It has no problem defending against nuclear bombs."
In the hall, Black Bolt, who had transformed from King to Inhumans General under the throne, respectfully signed a series of hand gestures, and his wife still answered for him.
The Moon has been Earth's satellite since ancient times. Besides using its gravitational pull to control tides and prevent tsunamis, and contributing to the formation of seasons, it has always shielded Earth from some meteorite impacts.
Attilan is located on the far side of the Moon, occasionally struck by meteorites, all of which are repelled by the defensive shield.
The power of meteorites is considerable and may not be weaker than nuclear bombs.
"That's good then."
Receiving this answer, Ronan nodded with slight satisfaction.
Wakanda's energy shield could withstand energy attacks not weaker than nuclear bombs, but it could not withstand nuclear bombs, which was not what he wanted.
"The Inhumans' Sky Defense technology has finally solved a long-standing problem for me."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked out of the hall.
Finally, he could prepare to return to the X-Men World to officially establish a Mutant nation and harvest Ability Points from the Mutant population.
That would be a large batch of Ability Points.
Ability Points: 1.17 million.
He glanced at the panel.
"However, it seems I don't have to wait to get the Odin template in the X-Men World."
He was only three or four tens of thousands short of enough.
It was just right; once he obtained the Odin template, there would be nothing to worry about in the X-Men World.
Excluding Phoenix, who might not have been born yet, there was also Apocalypse, who claimed to be the oldest Mutant in that World.
Ronan had always been concerned that under his influence, the guy who was only remembered as being buried in Egypt but whose exact location was unknown, might emerge early.
So he would occasionally return to the X-Men World to check the progress of his plan.
At the same time, it was also to prevent Apocalypse from emerging in his absence, starting a World war, returning civilization to the Bronze Age, and disrupting his plans.
"Apocalypse's strength is beyond doubt; he possesses an unknown number of abilities.
He can manipulate his own molecules, freely decompose and reorganize inorganic matter, and destroy a city and pile pyramids with a wave of his hand.
If Phoenix hadn't erupted and killed him, no one on Earth could have defeated him."
If he obtained the Odin template, even if Apocalypse really emerged early, he would not fear him.
Where should he get the remaining twenty or thirty thousand Ability Points?
Ronan pondered.
"King, a huge interstellar fleet has arrived outside our 'Sky,' and it's targeting us!"
Suddenly, a guard rushed in to report.
"Interstellar fleet?"
Inside the hall, Black Bolt and the others' expressions changed. It was not surprising for a fleet to arrive at the Moon; the news of the Inhumans residing on the Moon was also circulated in the Milky Way Galaxy.
But why were their ship cannons aimed at them?
They were isolated from the World and never made enemies.
"Enemies of the Inhumans?"
Without haste, he activated his X-ray vision, penetrating the hall's ceiling and the Sky Defense.
Ronan saw that there was indeed a massive fleet above the Moon.
Powerful and cold warships spanned space, their dark muzzles pointed at Attilan, surrounding it in a circular formation.
"Say hello to the creations of our former empire."
Inside the spaceship, Ronan shifted his gaze from the blue Planet tens of thousands of miles away, stood with his hands behind his back, looked down, and contemptuously gave the order.
He had once visited this small star system and suffered a great loss on that blue Planet; his entire fleet was almost completely annihilated, with only him fleeing in panic. That was his shame.
The one who did that was Captain Marvel, who was now somewhat renowned in the Universe.
But today—that situation would not happen again!
He would successfully conquer the Inhumans, enlist all of them into his army, and use this force to destroy Xandar!
"Yes."
The adjutant took the order and commanded the ship cannons to fire in unison.
Boom, boom!
Attilan's Sky Defense was forced to manifest, and a high-tech city was exposed to the fleet's gaze.
Inside the city, there was a massive tremor, like an earthquake. A group of Inhumans panicked, not knowing what was happening.
"What's going on?"
"It seems someone on the Moon is attacking us!"
"Look, there's a fleet in space."
The great hall shook, and Medusa quickly used the bracelet on her wrist to project a holographic image.
It was from the guards' reconnaissance of space.
"It's the Kree fleet!"
"What do they want to do?"