Manhattan, Baxter Building.
This was once the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, symbolizing humanity's courage and wisdom in exploring the unknown.
Now?
It was merely a research department under the Frieza Group.
In the top-floor laboratory, Reed Richards was sweating profusely, frantically operating a massive holographic screen.
His rubbery body, due to excessive anxiety and tension, could barely maintain a human shape. His fingers stretched long, typing on the keyboard so fast they left afterimages.
On the screen, countless red warning windows popped up like a barrage of bullets.
Global sea level rise, tidal force chaos, abnormal tectonic plate vibrations...
Every piece of data represented a disaster about to swallow hundreds of millions of people.
"It's over... it's all over..."
Reed looked at the simulation results, his face as gray as death.
"Without the moon's gravitational pull, Earth's ecosystem will collapse within 24 hours."
Just as Reed was falling into the abyss of despair.
HUM—!
A blue portal of light opened without warning behind him.
The white figure that haunted his nightmares walked out elegantly.
"Oh my, Mr. Reed."
Frieza stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the pile of red exclamation marks on the screen, his tone relaxed.
"It seems you've also discovered our current little trouble?"
Hearing this voice, Reed shuddered and spun around as if electrocuted.
Looking at the Galactic Emperor before him, who radiated an oppressive pressure that seemed to suffocate space itself, the fear from the depths of his soul made him instinctively bow.
"Lo... Lord Frieza!"
Reed swallowed hard, forcing down the terror in his heart, and pointed at the screen.
" The situation... is extremely critical!"
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"Because the moon... because the moon is gone, the tidal lock on Earth is broken."
"If we don't take measures, the first super-tsunami will engulf the East Coast in two to three hours!"
"But that's not the worst part. The worst part is the shift in the Earth's axis..."
"Alright, alright."
Frieza waved his hand impatiently, interrupting Reed's long-winded speech.
"Save the drivel. Natasha already briefed me."
Frieza took elegant steps to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the sky which was already turning somewhat gloomy.
"This Emperor came here specifically to solve this problem."
"Solve?"
Reed was stunned, his wise eyes filled with confusion.
"My Lord, how... how can this be solved?"
"This is an astrophysical-level disaster! Unless we build a massive gravity generator outside the atmosphere, but that would take at least ten years, and Earth's current industrial capacity simply..."
"Tsk."
Frieza turned his head, looking at the smartest man on Earth as if looking at a retard.
"Mr. Reed, can your thinking not be so limited?"
"Since the problem is caused by a missing ball."
Frieza pointed a finger at the ceiling and said as a matter of course:
"Then we just go get another ball and put it up there. Wouldn't that fix it?"
Reed's mouth dropped open, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
He suspected either his hearing was malfunctioning or this alien emperor's brain circuitry was fundamentally different from carbon-based lifeforms.
"Get... get another one?"
Reed's voice trembled. He felt his worldview being rubbed into the dirt.
"From where?"
"From the solar system, of course."
Frieza wore an expression that said, Is this hard to understand?
"I recall there are quite a few balls around Jupiter, right?"
"You're a scientist. Advise this Emperor: which one has a size and mass suitable to replace the moon?"
Crazy!
The world has absolutely gone crazy!
Reed looked at Frieza's serious expression, screaming internally.
Although he had seen Frieza crush the moon with his own eyes.
But!
Destroying and transporting were two completely different concepts, okay?!
Moving a satellite thousands of kilometers in diameter from Jupiter's orbit, hundreds of millions of kilometers away, to Earth's orbit?
The energy required would be astronomical!
"What? Is it hard to choose?"
Seeing Reed silent for a long time, Frieza's gaze turned slightly cold.
"No, no, no! I have a plan! I have a plan!"
Reed quickly searched his mind for data on the major moons of the solar system.
"Ju... Jupiter I! Io!"
Reed pulled up a star map, pointing tremblingly at a yellowish satellite orbiting Jupiter.
"Its diameter is 3,642 kilometers, slightly larger than the Moon (which is 3,474 kilometers)."
"Its density and mass are also relatively close!"
"If it's Io, as long as we adjust the orbital distance, theoretically, it can perfectly replace the moon's gravitational effect!"
When it came to academic issues, Reed spoke extremely fast.
"But my Lord! Io is at least 600 million kilometers away from Earth! And its orbital speed is extremely fast, plus it has intense volcanic activity on its surface..."
"That's the one."
Frieza snapped his fingers, making the final decision.
"The color looks like a big orange. Quite festive."
"Th... that's decided?" Reed was dumbfounded.
"What else? Do we need to hold a hearing?"
Frieza scoffed disdainfully.
He raised his left hand, and the Space Stone within it erupted with brilliant blue light.
"Send me the orbital coordinates."
Reed scrambled to transmit the calculated data.
The next second.
Frieza slashed his hand violently against the void in front of him.
RIIIP——!!!
Space was torn open like a rag, revealing a massive gash.
But this gash didn't lead to any corner of the Earth.
It led to the pitch-black, freezing, dead vacuum of deep space!
WHOOSH——!
A terrifying pressure differential was created instantly.
The air in the laboratory rushed madly toward the portal, forming a massive storm.
Files, cups, and even heavy instruments on the tables were sucked into the air, flying toward the endless void.
"AAAAHHH!!!"
Reed let out a scream. His rubber body was sucked and stretched out dozens of meters, only barely avoiding being sucked away by clutching onto a lab bench bolted to the floor.
"Oops, careless of me."
Frieza stood in the eye of the storm, not a hair on his head out of place.
He frowned slightly, and a layer of white Ki suddenly exploded from his body.
BOOM!
This layer of Ki expanded instantly, forming a transparent barrier that plugged the portal's suction.
The violent wind in the laboratory stopped abruptly.
Reed snapped back like a rubber band, hitting the floor with a smack, gasping for air.
He looked in horror at the man standing on the edge of the vacuum.
That was outer space!
No spacesuit, no oxygen equipment!
He was just standing there as if nothing was wrong?!
"Alright, stay here and be a good boy."
Frieza straightened his collar and glanced back at Reed, who looked like a pile of sludge.
"This Emperor is going to pick up some goods. Be right back."
With that, he took a step forward.
His figure vanished instantly into the blue portal.