Chapter 85: Defense Nodes

While Artanis and his allies were fully occupied battling Dagon, the Avengers also began to mobilize.

After receiving the Aeon Crystal from Artanis, Tony Stark deliberated for only a brief moment before deciding to place his trust in the stranger. After all, given the power Artanis had already displayed, he could have easily eliminated Tony without resorting to such elaborate deception. Tony pressed his finger against the projection at the center of the crystal, and his consciousness was swiftly drawn into its depths. There, the memories stored by Artanis explained exactly what was transpiring.

Within these memories, Artanis provided a brief overview of the Protoss Empire and the impending crisis facing Midgard. To prevent Tony from being corrupted by dark entities, Artanis did not explicitly detail the evil gods lurking behind the scenes, though Tony, having grasped the gravity of the situation, deduced it on his own. Artanis went on to reveal the existence of R'lyeh and the dark power erupting from the depths of the Atlantic, further explaining the classification of power levels and their potential consequences.

Level ten power is sufficient to destroy a continent, level eleven can shatter a planet, and level twelve can obliterate an entire star system. As for demigods, the most powerful among them are capable of destroying entire galaxies. By this standard, the combined arsenal of all mankind failed to reach even a level ten threshold. Thus, the eruption of a level ten dark force in the Atlantic posed a catastrophic threat to Midgard.

Finally, Artanis shared their plan. The Protoss Empire maintained a communication relay on the moon. Tony and his team were tasked with establishing defensive nodes along the coasts of every continent on Midgard, while simultaneously constructing energy transmission hubs at the centers of those continents. Once connected, these nodes would draw energy from the lunar relay to generate a planetary shield, protecting the world from the fallout of high-level cosmic combat.

After the memory transfer concluded, Tony felt overwhelmed. The defensive shields needed to be anchored along the continental shelves; while they might cover some coastal waters, they could not protect every island, which would inevitably lead to territorial disputes and political infighting. Furthermore, this intervention by an extraterrestrial civilization would surely invite suspicion regarding their true motives.

However, time was of the essence. Tony realized that Artanis’s abrupt disappearance meant that the situation at the source of the dark power had likely deteriorated further. He immediately contacted Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. A global catastrophe of this magnitude could not bypass S.H.I.E.L.D. Although the internal issues within the agency remained unresolved, Tony believed that in the face of such an existential threat, even the infiltrators from Hydra would be forced to cooperate.

"Director Fury, I need your help," Tony said, arriving at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base in his armor to find Fury at the command center.

Fury’s expression tightened; he knew that for Tony to appear so suddenly and with such a demeanor, something grave had occurred. Tony provided a concise briefing and presented the Aeon Crystal for review. Since Artanis’s previous appearance, Fury had learned of the Protoss Empire through the Skrulls, making him even more informed than Tony. Even so, he remained hesitant. The task was monumental—something beyond the capacity of the United Nations, let alone S.H.I.E.L.D.

But soon, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s internal systems triggered a level-one alert. High-energy signatures and spatial fluctuations were detected in the Atlantic, and a hundred-meter-high tsunami, seemingly frozen in mid-air, was discovered at the periphery of the region.

Nick Fury immediately authorized the operation. The Bermuda region was too close to the American mainland to ignore. Even if other nations resisted, the United States had to act; the eastern seaboard was the heart of the nation. After ending the call, Fury used his clearance to contact the United Nations, briefing the representatives of the Security Council on the emergency and displaying the satellite imagery of the frozen tsunami. Though the representatives were stunned, the earlier discovery of Odin’s scrolls had prepared them for the possibility of such events. They quickly relayed the information to their respective heads of state.

With the United States on the front lines, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were already deploying to establish the defensive nodes. These nodes required nothing more than a pillar inscribed with specific patterns—be it concrete or wood—so long as they bore the seal left by Artanis. Once activated, these nodes would automatically link into a continuous line. Because of this, the placement required precise calculation, a task Jarvis had already completed for the Americas. As for the energy hubs, any facility capable of providing at least 5,000 kilowatts of power within a one-kilometer radius would suffice, provided the seal was inscribed at its highest point. This was easily achievable for major powers, and smaller nations could combine multiple power plants to meet the requirements.

European nations began their own deployments immediately. Thanks to the European Union, countries lacking supercomputers did not need to worry about the calculations for their defensive nodes. The UN disseminated the information to all member states, including the required patterns for the nodes and energy hubs. While many nations were skeptical, the sight of the five permanent Security Council members establishing their own defenses caused panic among smaller island nations. Since the nodes required a continental shelf to function, oceanic islands could not be protected, leading these states to frantically petition larger nations for refuge.

This news inevitably leaked to the public, sparking unrest in many smaller countries and widespread panic in the coastal regions of even the major powers. Governments quickly issued emergency regulations, published the locations of the nodes, and took steps to suppress alien conspiracy theories online to maintain social order.

This tension was most acute on the U.S. East Coast, as the primary battlefield had been identified as the Bermuda Triangle. Global leaders watched the American response closely; if the defensive nodes proved effective, it would go a long way toward calming the global situation. To expedite the construction of the U.S. defensive line, the military deployed various advanced assets to transport and install the pre-fabricated node beacons across the country. As for Mexico and South America, S.H.I.E.L.D. and local agencies managed the installation, prioritizing critical locations and sacrificing some coastal areas to save time.