Whether or not William would become a cosmic overlord in the future was still uncertain even to himself. But one thing was for sure—if he ever truly wanted to escape, no one would be able to catch him.
He might not be able to defeat Odin or the Mad Titan in direct combat, but bullying the Skrulls—who no longer had any super-powered warriors—was ridiculously easy.
In fact, without even leaving his estate, with just a few minutes of strategic planning, over 800 combat robots completely took over the Skrull ship.
It happened so fast that Talos, lost in thought, barely had time to react before the battle was over.
By the time he snapped out of his daze, he didn't even have the chance to formally surrender.
All he could do was stand there in the ship's control room, helplessly watching as combat robots and scanning drones swept through every section of the vessel, rounding up every life form they could find and forcing them into the ship's dining hall.
Then, a golden portal appeared inside the dining hall—leading directly to a secured S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in Yellowstone Park, USA.
Under the watchful eyes of the combat robots, the Skrulls were stripped of all their equipment and metal belongings before being escorted—one by one—through the portal and into the fully enclosed detention area inside the Yellowstone base.
Since William had only built eight stealth ships, the number of stasis pods available was limited. There weren't enough to put all fifty-plus Skrull captives into cryosleep.
For now, they would simply be locked up.
With the lower-ranking Skrulls taken care of, William shifted his attention to Talos and Nick Fury.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered something—the Power Stone was currently hidden on a desolate planet called Morag.
Perhaps it was time to consider retrieving the Infinity Stone that could control all energy and power.
If he could get his hands on it—and find a safe way to use it—not only would he become immune to all physical attacks,
but he might even be able to personally hunt down and kill the Mad Titan.
The idea was tempting, but as for how to safely wield the Power Stone, William had no immediate answers.
For now, he would take things one step at a time—finding the Stone first.
And if he couldn't use it? Then he'd simply hide it away.
Of course, that was assuming he could even locate it in the first place.
Maybe he could hire Yondu—the blue-skinned Ravager who had previously provided Star-Lord with information.
If the movies were accurate, then Yondu might be able to track down useful intel once again.
As Talos and Nick Fury anxiously wondered about their fate, two golden portals suddenly appeared—one on their left, the other on their right.
A combat robot stepped forward and spoke in a mechanical voice,
"Mr. Devonshire is currently at his estate in London. He has instructed me to inform you, Mr. Talos,
that if you have any knowledge about the Orb of Power, please enter the portal on the right. Mr. Devonshire would be delighted to welcome you as a guest at his estate.
However, if you do not have any useful information, please enter the portal on the left and join your fellow Skrulls in detention—where you will await trial under English law."
"The Orb of Power?"
Talos, who had been preoccupied with worrying about his future, immediately lowered his head, digging through his memories for any relevant information.
But after a long moment of deep thought, he remained clueless and asked in confusion,
"What is it? Can you describe it?"
Nick Fury, who had also been listening, instinctively furrowed his brow—his mind immediately jumping to the Tesseract.
Since he had left Earth two months ago, Fury was still unaware that William had already half-traded, half-stolen the Tesseract from Alexander Pierce.
Talos, growing increasingly anxious, suddenly noticed Fury's contemplative expression and immediately recalled the Tesseract as well.
A thought crossed his mind—
Could the Tesseract and the Orb of Power be connected?
William's instructions were crystal clear. If someone knew what he was looking for—and where it was—then they would immediately gain an opportunity to become his "friend" and receive an invitation to his estate.
But if they didn't?
Then too bad—off to prison they went.
Even though Talos knew the Tesseract was not the Orb of Power, he still turned to Nick Fury and said,
"Nick, could the Orb of Power simply be another name for the Tesseract?"
At that moment, Fury wanted nothing more than to strangle Talos for putting him on the spot.
As Fury frantically searched for a way to respond, the combat robot spoke again.
"Apologies, Mr. Talos. Mr. Devonshire is very well aware of what the Tesseract is.
What he is looking for is a silver, baseball-sized, hollow metal sphere.
Additionally, he has asked me to inform you that if you do know where it is, it would be in your best interest to share that information now.
Because Kree Accuser Ronan is also looking for the Orb."
"Ronan..."
The moment that name was spoken, Talos's expression darkened. His entire body tensed as he gritted his teeth and demanded,
"How do I know you're telling the truth and not just trying to fool me?"
"Believe what you want," the robot replied indifferently before changing the subject.
"Since you won't share any information, Mr. Devonshire would like to know how to contact Yondu or how to hire the Ravagers."
"You want to hire the Ravagers to find the Orb of Power?" Talos asked in surprise.
"Even if you somehow have galactic currency, what makes you think that if Yondu actually finds the Orb,
those untrustworthy thieves won't just keep it for themselves—or worse, rob you instead?"
"Just tell me what I need to know. Everything else is my problem."
At that moment, William's actual voice came through the combat robot's speakers.
Hearing this, Talos finally cracked a small smile.
"How about this—I help you find the Orb of Power, and you help us deal with Ronan?"
William remained silent, prompting Talos to press the issue.
"You already said it yourself—Ronan is also looking for the Orb.
And based on what we know about Ronan, if he finds out that you are also after something he wants,
he might just bring his entire fleet to Earth to deal with you personally.
So, in reality, we could become allies. Maybe even friends."
Then, to further persuade William, Talos deliberately added,
"Just like we are with Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers.
We have worked very well together in our fight against the Kree."
That was a mistake.
The moment Talos mentioned Carol Danvers, William immediately understood—
Talos probably saw him as an equal to Captain Marvel.
Since they couldn't defeat him, and since he might help them against the Kree, Talos had instantly shifted gears—going from an enemy to a diplomat seeking alliances.
But for William, the idea of teaming up with the shape-shifting Skrulls made him instinctively uneasy.
No matter how pitiful they seemed now, in the past, Skrulls were far from innocent—
Their history was riddled with atrocities no different from those of the Kree.
Still, after a moment of thought, William sighed.
In the end, Skrulls, Kree, and humans were all the same.
When powerful, they acted without restraint. When weak, they desperately struggled to survive.
If everything was about power and profit, then there was only one rule:
Friends are determined by benefits.
So, William opened his eyes and lied with a straight face—
"Transfer full control of this ship to me.
If your star maps contain what I'm looking for, I'll consider helping you against Ronan."
(End of Chapter)
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