Chapter Twenty: The Strange Mushroom

When the Skrull Empire was exploring the universe, they stumbled upon a peculiar mushroom on a remote planet. Soon after, everyone who had set foot on that world contracted a strange virus. Skrull scientists, upon analysis, discovered an uncanny fibrous sensation within the afflicted. As the Skrull Empire began to study the virus, it seemed to breach containment and began to spread rapidly.

All those infected developed a fibrous texture throughout their bodies, and within hours, clusters of mushrooms would sprout from their heads. These mushrooms released even more spores, and before long, several outlying colonies of the Skrull Empire were overrun by the mushroom virus.

Initially, this phenomenon was not taken seriously. However, after several colonies suddenly lost contact, a fleet of warships crewed by mushroom people attacked the Skrull garrison. Only then did the Skrull Empire realize that those infected had become mere puppets of the enemy, and the warships themselves were overrun with fungal growth. The Skrull Empire immediately mobilized its forces to confront the advancing mushroom horde.

“General, our ships are approaching the jump point. Should we initiate the jump at once?” a Skrull signal officer asked the supreme commander of the expedition, Admiral Angus. Angus glanced at the starmap, his brow furrowing. He had been ordered to lead the fleet in a decisive strike against the mushroom people. This jump point was the last before reaching their current territory, and on the far side lay a military base built by the Skrull Empire. Beyond the base, only an outpost separated them from the infected zone. Yet a persistent unease gnawed at Angus.

“Soldier, communicate with the military base again and confirm the enemy’s movements,” Angus said, rubbing his brow. Perhaps it was merely lack of sleep, but caution seldom goes amiss.

“Yes, sir.” After a moment, the signal officer received a reply through his earpiece. “General, confirmation received—no enemy detected.”

Angus let out a breath and gave the order: “All fleets, proceed through the jump point.” Ships are at their most vulnerable immediately after a jump, and his insistence on confirmation was to ensure no ambush awaited them.

Tragically, just as his fleet emerged from the jump, they were met with a ferocious assault from the mushroom fleet. The military base had long since fallen; those communicating with them had been mushroom-controlled imposters. The Skrull had not anticipated that the mushroom people retained the innate talents of their species.

Word soon reached the Skrull Empire of the fleet’s annihilation and the mushroom people’s talent for deception. Major General Angus managed, with his last strength, to relay the message back to the Empire. Panic swept through the Skrulls—these mushroom people possessed formidable intelligence, and their previous display of stupidity had been nothing but a ruse.

On the other side of the world, the monks of the Sanctum of Mind also discovered the mushrooms, and with them, the presence of dark magic. They immediately transmitted a distress signal to the Starborne Empire—it was clear this was a test from the God of Darkness.

The Starborne Empire was astounded upon receiving reports from within Skrull territory. Having obtained a sample of the mushroom, their engineers uncovered its secret: though each mushroom appeared to be a tangible organism, in truth they were aggregations of countless dark curses. Upon infecting a living being, the curse would drain vitality into the dark dimension, converting some of it into further spread—a most wicked form of sorcery.

To purge this corruption, the Starborne Empire dispatched the Eighth Legion of the Expeditionary Army, authorizing the use of all classes of weaponry—under no circumstances could the forces of the God of Darkness be allowed to expand beneath their very noses.

Meanwhile, the Starborne Empire sent a message to the Skrull Empire, stating in essence: the mushroom people have been corrupted by the God of Darkness, and we will assist you in resolving this crisis. The Skrulls, upon receiving this promise, felt a measure of relief. After all, their fleet had been wholly destroyed and, according to current intelligence, likely transformed into a mushroom fleet.

Eighth Legion, Starborne Expeditionary Army.

Tassadar stood gazing at the starmap, marking the infected worlds with special emphasis. This outbreak of darkness was abrupt and strange. Within the Empire, suspicions arose that it might be the handiwork of the Fanged King—a contingency laid long ago, much like that Dark Temple: a bomb set to detonate the moment any living being stepped inside.

“The fleet is ready and awaits your command, Executor,” said Vice Commander Copofel, approaching Tassadar and nodding in salute.

“Then let us begin. Set course for the site where the Skrull fleet was attacked.” At Tassadar’s command, the mothership released a surge of immense psionic energy. Amid a blaze of blue light, his fleet arrived at the Skrull military base.

“Sensors detect cloaked units, hostile ships identified. Warning—high-energy signatures detected!” No sooner had the mothership arrived than it encountered an ambush by the mushroom fleet. The former Skrull warships were in the process of being converted. Upon spotting the sudden arrival of the mothership, they immediately launched an assault.

“Activate the invulnerability shield. Let the carriers have a taste of battle,” Tassadar ordered calmly. The mothership’s shield repelled any attack, and the carriers lurking below bared their fangs.

Countless drones swarmed toward the mushroom legion. In the heart of each carrier, the psionic focus core began to channel energy—a barrage of blue beams tore through the blackness of space, reducing mushroom ships to ash. Their attacks failed even to ripple the mothership’s shields.

The vast mushroom horde was soon swept away by Tassadar’s command. Yet, viewing the aftermath, Tassadar grew more suspicious. If this was truly the work of the God of Darkness, could it really be so easily undone?

The fleet moved into orbit over an infected world. Scans revealed complete contamination—every lifeform had been converted to mushrooms. Gazing at the lifeless planet, Tassadar ordered the carriers to burn the surface until all infection was purged. Minutes later, the fleet set course for another world. In this way, the carriers burned their way through the infected planets, and Tassadar’s doubts grew ever deeper, until at last they arrived at the source of the infection—the world known as Hellstar.

“Warning! Psionic surge detected at level twelve! Warning! Unknown spatial anomaly detected! Warning! High-energy signature detected!” As the ship’s alarms blared, a faint smile crossed Tassadar’s face. The God of Darkness had finally revealed his hand.

A crimson beam struck the mothership’s shield. Sensing that the shield could not withstand prolonged assault, Tassadar instantly ordered: “All batteries, target the source and fire at maximum power!” Dozens of blue beams lanced toward the ground. The crimson beam dissolved, coalescing into a red shield that deflected every carrier’s main cannon.

“So, the Starborne Empire sends only a green youth like you?” A voice, unknown to all, pierced the void and reached Tassadar’s ears.

“Of course, I am no match for your longevity, Fanged King,” Tassadar replied impassively, activating the fleet-wide psionic broadcast. The Fanged King, now at psionic level twelve, could speak through the void—something Tassadar could not yet achieve.

“Hahaha! Boy, honeyed words will not save your life. Since your arrival, I have sealed this region of space. Your distress calls will not reach beyond. You’d best resign yourself to returning to Kalah’s embrace, hahahaha!” The Fanged King’s wild laughter resounded again. After the carriers’ barrage was blocked, the red shield split into an equal number of energy beams that shot back toward the carriers.

“It seems you know us well, Fanged King. Since that’s the case, why not join us as a guest on Aiur?” Tassadar ordered the mothership to activate its invulnerability shield, blocking the Fanged King’s assault.

“Hmph! You think you can detain me? Don’t delude yourself. Break!” The invulnerable shield was shattered by the Fanged King’s sudden strike. Five carriers were struck before they could react, but Tassadar swiftly initiated mass teleportation, rescuing all personnel to the mothership.

“So, you wield a relic’s power against us, Fanged King. Truly worthy of your reputation,” Tassadar remarked, quickly realizing that with the Mind Gem, the Fanged King found it effortless to break psionically-formed shields.

“As long as you know. Prepare to die!” The Fanged King gathered another potent crimson beam and hurled it at the mothership. Tassadar promptly activated the time bomb; the beam froze in the grip of a temporal field, suspended motionless in the void.

“Not bad. I underestimated you. But such power means nothing before me, hahahaha!” The Fanged King unleashed a flurry of crimson beams, encircling the mothership. Once the temporal field failed, they would strike instantly—and with space sealed, there was no escape.

“You still have much to learn, Fanged King.” Tassadar activated the mothership’s black hole generator; the immense gravitational force shattered the spatial lock and drew in every hostile beam. With a blink jump, Tassadar fired a purification beam at the Fanged King’s location, then leapt away from the planet.

As the black hole devoured the Fanged King’s attacks, it gradually dissipated. The Fanged King was stunned—the Starborne Empire now possessed such a fearsome weapon! A moment of hesitation, and a massive blue pillar of energy crashed down upon him. Realizing his defenses would not hold, the Fanged King hastily used the Mind Gem to open a wormhole and escape.

The ensuing explosion engulfed the entire planet. Under the full might of the mothership, a tremendous shockwave tore at the world’s core. In an instant, the planet detonated, vanishing along with the schemes that had plagued its surface.