Manhattan, Baxter Building.
This was once the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, representing humanity's courage and wisdom in exploring the unknown.
Now?
It is merely a research division under the Frieza Force.
In the top-floor laboratory, Reed was frantically operating in front of a massive holographic screen, sweat pouring down his face.
Due to excessive anxiety and tension, his elastic body was struggling to maintain its human form. His fingers were stretched out long, creating afterimages as they hammered the keyboard.
On the screen, countless red warning windows popped up like a barrage of bullet comments.
Global sea level rise, chaotic tidal forces, abnormal crustal plate tremors...
Every piece of data represented an impending catastrophe that would swallow hundreds of millions of lives.
"It's over... everything is over..."
Reed looked at the simulation results, his face ashen, like a dead man's.
"Without the moon's gravitational pull, Earth's ecosystem will collapse within 24 hours."
Just as Reed was sinking into the abyss of despair—
Buzz—
A blue portal opened behind him without warning.
The white figure that haunted his nightmares, causing him to wake up screaming, stepped out elegantly.
"Oh dear, Mr. Richards."
Frieza clasped his hands behind his back, looking at the pile of red exclamation marks on the screen with a relaxed tone.
"It seems you've also noticed the current trouble?"
Hearing that voice, Reed shuddered violently, turning around as if he had been electrocuted.
He looked at the Emperor of the Universe before him, who exuded an oppressive aura that suffocated the very space around him. The terror, originating from the depths of his soul, made him instinctively bow low.
"L-Lord Frieza."
Reed gulped, forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart, and pointed at the screen, saying, "The situation... is extremely bad."
"Because... because the moon is gone, Earth's tidal lock has been broken."
"If we don't take action, the first wave of super-tsunamis will flood the East Coast in two to three hours."
"But that's not the worst of it, the most terrifying thing is the axial tilt..."
"Alright."
Frieza waved his hand impatiently, cutting off Reed's long explanation.
"You don't need to tell me these trivialities, Natasha has already reported to me."
Frieza took elegant steps toward the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the sky, which was already beginning to look gloomy.
"I came here specifically to solve this problem."
"Solve it?"
Reed froze, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Lord, how... how can this be solved?"
"This is an astrophysical-level disaster. Unless we can build a gigantic gravity generator outside the atmosphere, but that would take at least ten years, and Earth's current industrial capacity simply..."
"Tch."
Frieza turned his head, looking at the smartest man on Earth with the expression one reserves for an imbecile.
"Mr. Richards, must your thinking be so limited?"
"Since the problem arose because a sphere is missing..."
Frieza pointed a finger toward the ceiling and stated matter-of-factly, "Then why don't we just go grab another sphere, bring it here, and put it in place?"
Reed's mouth dropped open, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
He suspected his hearing system was malfunctioning, or perhaps the monster emperor's thought process was fundamentally different from that of carbon-based life forms.
"Gr-grab one?"
Reed's voice was trembling, feeling as if his entire worldview was being dragged across the floor.
"Where would we get it from?"
"From the Solar System, of course."
Frieza wore an expression that clearly asked, "Is this difficult?"
"I recall there being quite a few spheres around Jupiter, no?"
"You are a scientist. Advise this Emperor on which one has the most suitable size and mass to replace the moon."
Insane!
This world has absolutely gone mad!
Reed watched Frieza's serious expression, his mind screaming internally.
He had personally witnessed Frieza crush the moon but destruction and transportation are entirely different concepts, aren't they?
Moving a satellite several thousand kilometers in diameter from Jupiter's orbit, hundreds of millions of kilometers away, to Earth's orbit?
The energy required for that would be an astronomical figure.
"What's wrong? Is it hard to choose?"
Seeing Reed remain silent for a long time, Frieza's gaze slightly chilled.
"No! I have a plan! I have a plan!"
Reed quickly searched the data of the Solar System's major moons in his mind.
"Ju-Jupiter's moon... Io!"
Reed brought up a space map and, trembling, pointed to a bright yellow moon orbiting Jupiter.
"Its diameter is 3,642 kilometers, just slightly larger than the moon (3,474 kilometers)."
"The density and mass are also quite close."
"If it's this one, as long as the orbital distance is properly adjusted, it can theoretically perfectly replace the moon's gravitational effect."
When discussing academic matters, Reed's speech sped up considerably.
"But Lord Frieza, Io is at least 600 million kilometers from Earth at its closest. Furthermore, its orbital speed is extremely fast, and its surface has violent volcanic activity..."
"That's the one."
Frieza snapped his fingers, making the final decision immediately.
"The color looks like a big orange, it's quite festive."
"Th-that's decided?" Reed was dumbfounded.
"What else? Do you expect me to hold a hearing?" Frieza sneered dismissively.
He raised his left hand, and the Space Stone in his grasp erupted in a brilliant blue light.
"Send me the orbital coordinates."
Reed hastily transmitted the calculated data.
The next second, Frieza slashed sharply at the void in front of him.
Sizzle!
Space was ripped open like a piece of cloth, creating a massive, jagged tear but this opening did not lead to any corner of Earth. It led to the dark, cold, silent depths of outer space.
Whoosh—
A terrifying pressure differential instantly formed. The air in the laboratory rushed frantically toward the portal, forming a massive vortex.
Papers, cups, and even heavy equipment on the tables were lifted off the ground and sucked into the endless void.
"Ah!!!"
Reed let out a scream.
His elastic body was stretched tens of meters long by the suction, and he desperately clung to the lab bench bolted to the floor to avoid being pulled away.
"Oops, I was careless."
Frieza stood in the center of the vortex, not a single strand of his hair out of place.
He frowned slightly, and a layer of white aura erupted from his body.
Boom!
This aura instantly spread out, forming a transparent barrier that blocked the portal's suction.
The fierce wind in the laboratory abruptly stopped.
Smack!
Reed snapped back like a rubber band, falling to the floor and gasping for breath.
He stared in horror at the man standing on the edge of the vacuum.
That was outer space!
No protective suit, no oxygen equipment!
Yet he stood there completely unfazed?
"Alright, you wait here patiently."
Frieza straightened his collar and glanced back at Reed, who looked like a pile of mud.
"I am going out to pick up some goods, I'll be right back."
Having said that, he stepped forward.
His figure instantly vanished into the blue portal.