After a long and fruitless discussion, everyone finally had to admit that Thor's unreliable plan was the most realistic option.
But it was also the cruelest one.
If they truly abandoned their ships, Odin, Thor, and the Warriors Three could rely on their own strength to survive.But the countless warriors under their command would almost certainly die.
This was exactly why Odin and Lucy had always opposed forcing their way through the spatial barrier and jumping directly into enemy territory.
Too many sacrifices would weaken Asgard's future rule.
An hour later, Thor finally snapped.
"This won't work, that won't work—then how are we supposed to fight this war?!"
Odin raised his head sharply, his voice cold.
"Enough! This war is not like you bullying primitive worlds!"
He understood his son well.
Thor had spent centuries winning effortless victories, never suffering real defeat. He had grown used to crushing enemies who lacked technology or powerful champions.
Over time, Thor came to believe brute force could solve everything.
This war, however, was forcing him to face the true cruelty of space warfare.
Thor immediately fell silent when he heard Odin's tone.
In all of Asgard, aside from his mother, the one person he feared most was his father.
The command room quickly sank into silence once more.
After a short pause, Odin began contacting Heimdall in Asgard.
"Have the enemy warships moved?"
Although they possessed quantum entanglement communication that worked across any distance, they lacked quantum projection.
Their only way to observe the enemy was through Heimdall's sight.
Heimdall, who stood guard at the Rainbow Bridge, opened his eyes at once. He rose to his feet and gazed into a distant corner of the universe.
Moments passed.
Then the pupils in his eyes slowly vanished.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Your Majesty… I only see a little over two thousand ships. I don't know where the rest have gone. But I believe I saw something… strange."
He paused.
What he had seen was enormous—something like a meteorite, yet not quite. He struggled to describe it.
Odin frowned slightly.
"What strange thing?"
After a moment of hesitation, Heimdall replied,"They look like meteorites… but there are military installations built into them. I've never seen anything like this before."
Odin's expression darkened immediately.
Military installations… on meteorites?
What were these enemies planning?
Meteorites were unstable. A star's gravity alone could pull them apart. Even a slightly powerful attack could shatter them.
Energy supply was also a major issue.
Odin himself had once considered turning meteorites into interstellar platforms—but abandoned the idea for those very reasons.
Yet these enemies seemed technologically advanced.
Perhaps they had solved those problems.
As this realization set in, Odin's face grew grim.
He finally understood why the enemy kept delaying direct confrontation.
They were buying time—to deploy interstellar combat platforms.
After ending the call, Odin turned toward Lucy and spoke firmly.
"As King of the Gods, I order an immediate forced spatial jump."
Once Odin made a decision, he never hesitated.
Lucy instinctively wanted to object, but seeing his resolute expression, she swallowed her words and knelt on one knee.
"Yes… Your Majesty."
Hearing his father's command, Thor lifted Mjolnir in excitement.
But when he saw Odin's dark expression, he wisely held back his usual grand speeches.
…
Near the black hole.
Thanos sat upon his throne, the Mind Stone in his hand, quietly cultivating.
Suddenly, a deep-blue projection appeared in the air.
"Master, spatial fluctuations have been detected near a nearby star. A spatial rift may be opening."
Thanos opened his eyes, a faint smile forming.
"Odin… so you finally lost your patience."
He rose and turned to the three-dimensional projection.
A violent spatial rift had opened near the star.
It looked like a black wound torn into the universe—swallowing all light, revealing nothing but endless darkness within.
Yet because of the spatial blockade, the rift remained extremely small.
No warship could pass through it.
Thanos frowned.
"No… Even if Odin wanted a direct fight, he wouldn't jump straight into my face. That wouldn't be bravery—it would be suicide."
As he considered whether this was a trap, several more spatial rifts suddenly appeared across the projection.
At first, he was puzzled.
Then he smiled.
"I see. Multiple rifts at once—trying to hide your real landing point. A clever feint."
"But you've underestimated technology."
He spoke calmly.
"Reinforce the spatial blockade. Drop space bombs into every rift. Deploy cosmic floating mines outside each one."
Space bombs were special weapons that could be dropped directly into spatial rifts.
They detonated upon contact—not through physical explosion, but through spatial collapse.
They were similar to the Dark Elves' space grenades, only far more powerful.
Cosmic mines were simpler—space-based landmines that detonated on contact, their destructive power far exceeding chemical explosives.
"Yes, Master."
Deep Blue immediately began executing the commands.
As orders spread from Temple II, nearby ships began to move.
At the same time, members of the Black Order stationed in nearby star systems also took action.
After all, Odin's rifts were not limited to a single star—they appeared throughout the surrounding region.
Most of the moving vessels were auxiliary ships.
The attack and defense fleets remained stationary.
Though labeled "auxiliary," each ship was already over two hundred meters in diameter—spherical in shape, with antenna-like structures extending outward.
In space, there was no gravity, wind, or drag.
Appearance didn't matter.
Still, spherical designs were easy to manufacture and offered excellent protection for core systems, making them ideal for non-combat roles.
When these spherical ships reached the rifts, they released black spheres—each two and a half meters wide—directly into the openings.
After that, they scattered smaller black discs, each about one meter in diameter, around the rifts.
The trap was set.
.....
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