Not far away.
Peter, who had just been entangled in a fight with Felicia, was now frozen in place like a wooden dummy.
The red and blue mask on his face had been ripped halfway, revealing his young, tear-streaked face.
Clatter!
The web-shooter on his wrist fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
"Mr. Stark..."
Peter's voice trembled, thick with sobs.
"My Spider-Sense... it stopped."
"It's not ringing anymore."
"Because it thinks... we're already dead, right?"
Peter looked at the sky, the huge void making him feel an unprecedented sense of suffocation.
Uncle Ben always said, with great power comes great responsibility.
For this responsibility, he dared to face Rhino and dared to save people amidst a hail of bullets.
But now, this responsibility was too heavy. So heavy that even the Planet couldn't bear it, let alone him, a tiny Spider-Man?
"I can't save everyone... I can't even save myself..."
Peter's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the rubble, weeping uncontrollably like a helpless child.
Opposite him, Felicia, clad in a tight black leather outfit, had her sexy red lips wide open, unable to close them for a long time.
She looked up at the figure high in the sky.
The man wearing a white suit, as elegant as a nobleman.
Although she had long witnessed Frieza's power, and had even experienced his conquest in bed, only at this moment, witnessing a celestial body turn to dust at that man's fingertip did Felicia truly understand what kind of terrifying existence she had attached herself to.
"Is this... the cosmic emperor?"
Felicia muttered to herself, the fear in her eyes gradually replaced by a twisted fanaticism.
She instinctively squeezed her legs together. Not only to suppress the shiver brought on by fear, but also due to a biological instinct of submission and worship toward an absolute powerhouse.
"It seems my choice was correct. Being the pet of a monster like this, even if only a cat, is a hundred thousand times better than being one of these soon-to-be-extinct humans."
—
In a corner of the battlefield, within the ranks of Frieza Force.
Erik was floating in mid-air, watching the meteor shower of fire, his expression utterly spectacular.
It was shock, dread, and, even more so, the ecstatic joy of schadenfreude.
"Charles! My old friend!"
Erik turned, roaring wildly into the mind of his old friend, who was sitting in a wheelchair, via Telepathy.
"Did you see that?!"
"This is the power of Lord Frieza! Is this the god you once wanted to resist?!"
Erik pointed at the sky.
Although Charles couldn't see his movement, he could feel the madness in his emotion.
"I ask you, was the decision I made wrong?!"
"Was it wrong for me to bring our brothers to surrender, to be Lord Frieza's dog?!"
"If I hadn't been clever, if I hadn't brought you bunch of fools to kneel down sooner..."
"What would have turned to ash wouldn't just be the moon, but all of us! The entire Earth!"
"Charles! You should thank me! You should kneel down and kiss my boots! I saved the Mutants!"
The more Erik spoke, the more excited he became. The twisted sense of pride born from fear distorted his aged face.
Behind the ruins not far away, Charles gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly, his fingernails even piercing the leather surface.
He raised his head, looking at the sky that had completely lost its moon.
Although Erik's words were harsh and full of servility, Charles had to admit... Erik was right.
Even adding a hundred more X-Men and a thousand more Avengers...
Before this demon who could crush a satellite like a balloon, they were just a joke.
"Hoo..."
Charles let out a long, heavy breath, as if expelling a lifetime of pride and persistence.
"You are right, Erik."
He replied in his mind, his voice aged and exhausted.
"Compared to dignity, survival is paramount."
"Fortunately, we have already knelt."
At this moment, this old man who had fought for the Mutant cause his entire life, completely lowered his head.
Beside him, Reed, long known for his intelligence, was now staring at the Portable Analyzer in his hand, his eyes dull like an idiot.
On the screen, the value representing the energy burst was "∞".
Infinity.
This exceeded the measuring range of Earth's instruments.
"Conservation of Mass... Conservation of energy... In front of this person, physics is a joke."
Reed gave a miserable laugh, casually tossing the priceless analyzer onto the ground.
"Calculations? Deductions? What's the point now?"
"Compressing energy vast enough to destroy a Star System into a human-sized body..."
"This isn't science at all."
"This is a miracle."
Reed turned his head to look at his wife, Susan, who was trembling while tightly hugging their two children.
He was immensely grateful for his previous decision.
Surrender.
What a wise and magnificent decision it was.
If they hadn't surrendered, his wife and children would probably have become cosmic dust, just like that unfortunate Captain Marvel.
"It's alright, Sue."
Reed walked over, embracing his trembling family, his voice low.
"As long as we obey... as long as we are obedient... we will survive."
—
High in the sky.
Frieza was enjoying the tranquility of this moment.
The tranquility caused by the silence of countless beings paralyzed by extreme fear.
[Ding! Detected that the Avengers have completely lost their fighting spirit!]
[Fear Points +100 Billion!]
[Ding! Detected that global surviving humans have developed a Slave Mentality!]
[Fear Points +200 Billion!]
...
The numbers on the System Panel once again saw a surge.
Although there was still some distance to go before reaching the unlock condition for the Final Form—1 Trillion, this act of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys was clearly highly effective.
"Oh ho ho ho..."
Frieza slowly descended until his toes touched a piece of protruding rubble.
He adjusted his tie and elegantly surveyed his surroundings. He looked at the Superheroes who were slumped on the ground, their eyes hollow.
"It seems everyone now has a preliminary, objective understanding of my strength."
Frieza smiled, his voice like a spring breeze, yet it sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"In that case, the current situation is very clear."
Frieza spread his hands, preparing to deliver the final verdict.
Right at this most critical moment, Steve's voice came through, clear and strong.
"Stop dreaming! We will absolutely never submit to you!"
The next moment, the man who had been sitting slumped in the corner stood up.