Soon, with a loud boom in the sky, the massive defensive shield capable of withstanding a planet-destroying cannon was directly shattered by the energy blast from the Power Stone.
And just as Ronan was preparing to pilot the Dark Aster and drive it toward the ground a golden light suddenly shot up from the city below, soaring into the sky.
In an instant, the golden light crossed thousands of meters and crashed directly into the belly of the Dark Aster.
Boom!
A deafening sound rang out like a great bell, spreading in all directions, nearly echoing across the entire planet of Xandar.
Even Su Ye, watching from the slums in the outskirts, couldn't help but look up at the sky.
With his eyesight, even though it was tens of kilometers away, he could vaguely make out the shape of a person within the golden light.
It was a person radiating golden light, capable of flying, and possessing incredible strength. With a single collision, they actually managed to slow down the descent of the Dark Aster—a truly powerful human.
The moment he saw that figure, he even had a suspicion that maybe it was Captain Marvel, the cosmic law enforcer, who had patrolled her way to Xandar after receiving a distress signal.
But soon, he realized something was off.
The attire and physique of the person in the golden light were quite different from Captain Marvel.
Forget about height, the most obvious thing was, he was a man.
Even though the movie version of Captain Marvel didn't have much of a chest, you could still tell she was a woman.
But the person before him was clearly male.
A man who could fly and had tremendous strength—could it be Superman?
Su Ye's mind suddenly became confused. Did Superman just enter the battle on Xandar?
Was this the continuation of the Batman DLC?
Did it just load?
This thought appeared for only a moment, and quickly, Su Ye discarded the guess.
Superman, Clark, grew up on Earth. So even if he did appear due to a DLC, it should've been on Earth, not on Xandar.
So, there was only one possibility for the identity of the guy in front of him. "That's... Nova!"
The superhero from the Nova Corps in the comics, had indeed shown up!
Su Ye had already suspected that Nova would make an appearance.
After all, the full-force assault from Shinra and the highly intelligent Ronan with the Power Stone wouldn't be something ordinary Nova Corps pilots could handle.
If the Xandar battle power was really like it was shown in the movies, then they were doomed.
Su Ye didn't even think that his own involvement would be enough to help Xandar turn the tide in such a situation.
Even though he had the Reality Stone on him, its abilities were currently locked by the system. Against someone as cunning as Ronan, he might not necessarily win.
So when the system arranged for Shinra to appear in this DLC, it couldn't have overlooked that point. It wouldn't just set Xandar up for certain death.
Now, the answer had appeared.
Nova was Xandar's hope.
In the sky, with Nova's appearance, the situation on the battlefield underwent a significant change.
Nova's power was immense, able to fly and release energy blasts, essentially comparable to Captain Marvel.
And Captain Marvel, in Avengers: Endgame, demonstrated combat power on par with Thanos.
If it weren't for the director's forced dumb-down, making Captain Marvel fight Thanos on the ground and not let her fly with the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos would have been beaten to death by the Avengers after losing the gauntlet.
Thanos' combat power was very strong, even with Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor teaming up, with a hammer, an axe, and a set of nano armor, they still couldn't do much to him.
But even the strongest man can't fight a crowd.
If the Avengers had a bit more brainpower and had the mages open portals to send away Thanos' army first, the remaining heroes would've been more than enough to beat Thanos and his Black Order.
The real issue was logic.
For the spectacle, for thrills, and to give Iron Man a sendoff, the writers deliberately ignored logic and had the Avengers fight Thanos in a poorly constructed battle.
The result? The Avengers lost face, and Tony lost his life.
If the Avengers had fought smart, couldn't Captain Marvel have just flown around the battlefield a few times and wiped out Thanos' army?
Just like what that Nova was doing now in the distance.
As he flew, golden energy continuously spilled from his body, scattering and bursting around.
Wherever he passed, Ronan's necro-ships crackled like bugs hitting an electric flyswatter, exploding mid-air like fireworks.
The necro-ships, which had already been mostly wiped out by the Nova Corps soldiers, were now completely destroyed in just moments thanks to Nova's strike.
At the same time, Ronan's Dark Aster was also forced to slow down by Nova's immense power.
Likewise, Nova's attacks on the Dark Aster were all blocked by the purple energy balls of the Power Stone.
This prevented the Dark Aster from being pierced through like Thanos' Sanctuary II in Avengers 4 by Captain Marvel.
With Nova's active participation, Xandar's side seemed to regain the advantage.
The ground-based anti-aircraft guns also charged up in that instant, preparing for a powerful salvo to let the Dark Aster know what it's like to be hit by a volley of artillery fire.
But just then, the three Shinra special forces soldiers in the sky exploded into action.
They were already strong individually—each a flying combat unit, slicing through fighter jets like chopping vegetables.
Now, with the appearance of Nova, the three of them erupted as well.
A black aura instantly appeared around them, enveloping them entirely.
Behind each of them, a single massive black wing unfolded, each about four or five meters long. Even though it was just one wing per person, their aura was overwhelming.
The three charged toward Nova like demons from hell.
In just one exchange, they sent Nova flying.
Then, the four began a fierce aerial battle, creating the feeling of "Three Heroes battling Lü Bu."
Both sides had hidden cards, and at this moment, all their trump cards had been played. Now all that remained was to see who could last the longest.
Now Without Nova's interference, the Dark Aster launched another assault on the ground, and a purple energy storm began to ravage everything.
Meanwhile, the ground cannons, fully charged, fired in unison.
Countless energy beams shot into the sky, directly targeting the Dark Aster. They collided with the energy storm swirling around the ship.
In an instant, a violent explosion of energy erupted.
Much of the city beneath the ship was destroyed by the shockwave. Only the central command room, where Nova Prime was located, remained intact.
That structure had the highest construction and defense level on all of Xandar. Not even a direct nuclear strike would guarantee its destruction.
But the rest of the city was not so lucky.
Without the energy defenses in the sky, the buildings in the city were just ordinary structures, and a single artillery shot could wipe out an entire area.
Inside the command room, Nova Prime's face was full of sorrow and rage.
"Those bastards! They've destroyed Xandar! Destroyed our nation! I'll make them pay in blood!"
But by this point, nearly all of Xandar's combat forces had already been deployed.
Most of the fighter jets in the sky had been destroyed in the first wave of the Dark Aster's energy storm and only a few remained.
Meanwhile, Nova was tangled up by those three Shinra special forces soldiers who suddenly erupted with black energy.
There was no one left to save them.
So, Nova Prime's roar became a helpless howl—loud, but ineffective.
What Nova Prime didn't know was that there was still someone on Xandar who could save them.
But this person was far away, holding a flower, quietly watching the show, with no intention of making a move.
The church where Su Ye and Aerith were located, situated in the suburban slums, was far from the epicenter of the battle, so it hadn't been affected by the explosion.
At this moment, the two of them stood together, watching from a distance, each lost in their own thoughts.
Aerith's personality was such that she didn't just care about the lives of the poor. The rich were also citizens of the planet. Everything that happened here, she felt deeply, mourning and grieving for others.
But Su Ye's feelings were more complicated.
At first, he came to Xandar with peaceful intentions, hoping to represent Earth and establish diplomatic ties with the Nova Empire.
After all, to Earth, the universe was a vast and unknown dark forest. To enter peacefully, a guide would be essential.
But his experiences on Xandar over the past few days gradually changed his mind.
The Nova Empire was an advanced galactic civilization with powerful military might and a strong reputation across the star system.
More importantly, its policies mirrored those of historical colonial powers.
They colonized, conquered, and even collaborated with Ravagers.
The proposal Su Ye had discussed with Yondu was accepted quickly because the Nova Empire was already doing such things behind the scenes.
Such a civilization, upon seeing Earth—a new territory still transitioning from planetary to interstellar civilization—would they really want peaceful coexistence?
The most likely outcome was that they would treat Earth like Africa during the Age of Exploration.
And Earth's people would be seen as slaves in their eyes.
Resources would be taken at will, and people would be sold into slavery by the pirates.
The universe is vast, and there are many who enjoy treating the people of other planets as slaves.
Even the Collector had several red-faced slave girls.
Perhaps Su Ye could use his and the Long Wall Guardians' strength to secure some rights for Earth, and then use Chinese culture to influence the entire Nova Empire.
But he suddenly didn't want to do that anymore.
Instead of going through all that trouble, why not simply demolish and rebuild everything here?
Luckily, Ronan had already done a good job demolishing things.
The next step would be rebuilding.
And the task of rebuilding would require Aerith to complete.
"Aerith!"
At the moment when Aerith was saddened for those she didn't know, or even those who had once bullied her, Su Ye suddenly spoke.
"Would you like to join me in saving Xandar and the Nova Empire?"
"Huh?"
Aerith was stunned.
She was just an 18-year-old girl who couldn't even harm a chicken. She could pray for the suffering, but saving the world—she really couldn't do that.
But Su Ye directly grabbed Aerith's hand, and the warm temperature from his hand instantly gave Aerith an inexplicable courage and strength.
"You have to believe in yourself. Remember how it felt when you were planting those flowers—feel the power that made them bloom beautifully in barren soil."
Aerith may seem weak, but she could communicate with the life force of the planet and use it to cast holy magic.
In the original, she used the life force to cast holy magic and destroyed the meteor summoned by Sephiroth that was about to destroy Earth.
Now, what Su Ye needed Aerith to do was to show her power in front of everyone who was still alive.
And the rest—he would handle.
Aerith was a little confused by Su Ye's words.
Normally, she just planted randomly, and flowers and grass would grow.
She never thought about powers or anything like that.
But after hearing Su Ye's words, Aerith began to have a bit of doubt.
Could it be that she was wrong, that such power really existed? Otherwise, why could she grow flowers in the barren slums while others couldn't even grow grass?
Perhaps there really was such power?
At this moment, under Su Ye's encouragement, Aerith started to question her own understanding and began trying to believe in the power of belief.
If you believe, it exists; if you don't, it doesn't—that's a very idealistic idea.
However, after trying, Aerith believed.
"I did it! I actually did it! I felt the planet's power—a vast, overwhelming force!"
Aerith jumped up in joy and pounced into Su Ye's arms.
Su Ye could only reach out and catch her, instinctively making a flower arrangement gesture.
Fortunately, reason stopped him before he went further, and Aerith was too excited to notice his little move.
Thus, the situation didn't become too awkward.
However, when Aerith returned to the ground, the excited flush on her face seemed to suggest that things weren't that simple.
"So, what do we do now?" Aerith asked excitedly.
Su Ye reached out and gently placed his hand on Aerith's shoulder.
"You just need to connect with your power. Leave the rest to me." Su Ye said.
"Okay!"
Aerith nodded vigorously, and following Su Ye's instructions, she closed her eyes and began to communicate with the planet.
At the same time, Su Ye waved his arm, and a red energy instantly enveloped the entire church.
In an instant, the church transformed.
The old decor vanished, replaced by a massive spherical space.
Su Ye, in the center of the space, raised his hand and put on a helmet-like device, which was a brainwave amplifier.
"Starting now, people of Xandar—forget your Nova Prime. Prepare to welcome the arrival of the Holy Maiden Aerith!"