After hearing Tony's words, Karl simply picked up his teacup, took a sip, and responded calmly.
Both men then looked toward Wanda and the others, who were currently playing with Red Crystal and little Morgan.
Soon afterward, Tony led Pepper, Howard, and Maria out of the living room.
Under Haohan's guidance, they headed toward the research laboratory to receive injections of the standard Kryptonian Warrior Gene Serum.
After Tony and the others left, Yan and Black Phoenix immediately snuggled back into Karl's arms.
Karl smiled faintly and kissed Yan, Black Phoenix, and Hela on their foreheads.
Far away, across the cosmos—
The destruction of the Kree Empire quickly spread throughout the universe.
The two other major interstellar powers, the Skrull Empire and the Shi'ar Empire, soon detected the complete disappearance of the Kree star system.
The leaders of both empires were stunned.
No one had expected the Kree Empire to collapse so quickly.
After launching investigations, they soon discovered what had happened.
The Kree Empire had dispatched a fleet toward Earth in an attempt to avenge Carol Danvers.
Shortly afterward, that fleet vanished.
Then an enormous cosmic energy fluctuation erupted within the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Not long after that—
The Kree home system ceased to exist.
To outside observers, the conclusion seemed obvious.
Someone had destroyed the fleet.
Then they had traveled directly to the Kree Empire and annihilated it.
Neither the Shi'ar nor the Skrulls believed there were any meaningful survivors.
As a result, both empires immediately issued emergency directives.
No unauthorized personnel were allowed to enter the Milky Way.
Under no circumstances were they permitted to provoke Earth.
The Skrull Empire was especially alarmed.
After learning that the individual responsible was the same person who had previously killed numerous Skrulls on Earth, the Skrull Emperor nearly broke into a cold sweat.
A direct imperial decree was issued:
No Skrull was ever to approach Earth again.
Violators would be executed immediately.
After all, the Skrull Empire and the Kree Empire had fought each other for countless years.
Their military strength had always been relatively balanced.
If someone could destroy the Kree Empire within such a short period of time—
Then the same fate could easily befall the Skrulls.
A few dead soldiers meant nothing.
The survival of an entire civilization was what truly mattered.
Across the universe, countless civilizations, cosmic organizations, and powerful entities received news of the Kree Empire's destruction.
Many were shocked.
Others became cautious.
Some immediately thought of the Celestials Karl had previously killed.
A growing number of cosmic beings began preparing for future turmoil.
To them, it felt as though a storm was gathering across the universe.
Meanwhile—
Three figures appeared within the ruins of the former Kree star system.
Celestials.
Unlike the Celestial Karl had previously encountered, these three were clearly warriors.
Each carried colossal weapons.
Each wore armor far thicker and heavier than that of the Celestial Karl had killed.
Their purpose was obvious.
Capture Karl.
Or eliminate him.
After arriving, the three Celestials silently examined the remains of the battlefield.
They sensed the lingering energies.
Then exchanged glances.
A moment later, they collected samples of the residual energy scattered throughout the ruined galaxy.
After completing their task, the three Celestials departed.
Karl, however, knew nothing about this.
At this moment, Tony and the others were still undergoing serum injections inside the laboratory.
Morgan was being happily cared for by Red Crystal and the others.
Like May and the rest before them, Tony's group required twelve hours for complete genetic fusion.
Meanwhile, Karl was relaxing comfortably in the living room.
Holding his beautiful companions in his arms.
Suddenly, he lowered his gaze toward Yan.
"Yan."
"Do you miss home?"
Yan blinked in surprise.
Karl had suddenly remembered something.
Unlike many of the others around him, Yan had not been created through the system.
She truly originated from another universe.
Somewhere in that universe, Queen Kesha and the other angels still existed.
So Karl became curious.
Yan remained silent for a moment.
Then she gently rested her head against Karl's shoulder.
"A little."
"I suppose I do."
"When I disappeared, Her Majesty and the others must have been worried."
A trace of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.
"But I can't leave you now."
"And even if I wanted to..."
"I don't think I can return."
There was obvious regret in her voice.
Karl gently stroked her hair.
"There will be an opportunity someday."
That was all he said.
Yan smiled softly.
The topic ended there.
Time passed quietly.
Before anyone realized it—
An entire week had gone by.
Tony, Pepper, Howard, and Maria had successfully completed their serum integrations.
Karl also had Haohan manufacture several Stellar Energy Converters for them.
Meanwhile, Karl spent much of that week researching the Cursed Arsenic Stone.
He tried thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
Then hundreds of thousands of methods.
Every attempt failed.
The mysterious Law Fragment hidden within remained inaccessible.
Eventually, Karl handed the stone over to Haohan for further analysis and deduction.
At the same time, the two Skyblade VII warships finally exited wormhole space.
Ahead of them lay a new star system.
One discovered by Haohan.
According to the scans, the system contained almost no planets.
Approximately eighty-five percent of its mass consisted of stars.
Most importantly—
There was no intelligent life present.
To Karl, it was the perfect harvesting ground.
Soon, he left the warship and entered space personally.
Working together with Haohan, he began collecting the stars.
The dimensional space opened.
One star after another disappeared.
According to Haohan's calculations, the system contained approximately one billion stars.
This wasn't even considered a large stellar cluster.
If it had been a major stellar region, the number could have exceeded ten billion.
Yet even one billion stars represented an astonishing amount of energy.
Karl unleashed his full power.
With Haohan's assistance, he could collect nearly one hundred thousand stars every second.
The stars vanished visibly throughout the system.
Entire stellar regions disappeared.
One after another.
At that rate, gathering all one billion stars required only around seventeen minutes.
Howard and the others were completely stunned.
Even Tony stared in disbelief.
They had never imagined someone could harvest stars on such a scale.
After all the stars were transferred into dimensional space, Haohan immediately activated the Infinite Concept Energy Formula.
The stellar energy began circulating.
Refining.
Converting.
One day later—
The results appeared.
100,000,000,000 Stellar Units.
One hundred billion Stellar Units.
Even Karl's eyes brightened slightly.
This amount of energy was enough to keep Haohan operating at maximum computational output for approximately 1,157 days.
More than three years.
Three full years of uninterrupted operation at thirty thousand computational frames.
The equivalent output was comparable to a pseudo-Single-Universe-level powerhouse continuously releasing power for years.
Karl smiled.
Then he immediately reinforced the dimensional space.
Using both the Space Stone and the Soul Stone, he strengthened the surrounding spatial structure.
If the dimensional space collapsed, the resulting losses would be enormous.
At the same time, Haohan reinforced the dimensional barriers using its own methods.
Only after completing all safety measures did Karl prepare to leave.
Then—
Something appeared.
Three enormous figures materialized within the star system.
Each one was the size of a planet.
WHOOSH!
Karl's eyes narrowed instantly.
Without hesitation, he summoned Ganata.
The two appeared outside the warship.
The newcomers were members of the Celestials!
...
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