This day, for the entire planet of Xandar, was like the end of the world.
Everywhere was in chaos, everywhere was filled with cries of anguish.
Ronan's assault, along with Shinra's rebellion, had already been reported by various media outlets.
At this moment, it wasn't just Xandar; almost all the citizens across every planet in the Nova Empire had witnessed the scenes of war.
When Ronan's spaceship unleashed its overwhelming purple energy, breaching all of Xandar's defenses, a shadow of despair fell over everyone's heart.
The nation was about to fall!
Xandar is the capital planet of the Nova Empire. If it is truly fell, the once mighty Nova Empire, a powerful cosmic civilization, might crumble in an instant.
The Nova Empire had stood strong for so many years, holding a respected place in the universe. Its people had cultivated a deep sense of national pride and belonging.
If the Nova Empire truly fragmented, then many people—especially those who had sacrificed their lives or had ancestors who did so to build and strengthen the empire—would feel more than mere sorrow.
They might even wish for death.
For a brief moment, the appearance of Nova gave everyone a chance to regain their confidence.
Over the years, everyone knew how powerful the Nova Corps was, but no one knew that superheroes like Nova existed.
On the other hand, Shinra, with Sephiroth and others, had amassed many fans in the Nova Empire due to their overwhelming individual power.
Some of those fans were even die-hard fanatics.
Even when they saw Sephiroth and company rebelling, saw Shinra's full-blown betrayal, some dumb fans still tried to justify their actions.
Of course, these were only a minority, and the majority of Xandarians remained rational.
They had long hoped that someone as powerful as Sephiroth would emerge from the Nova Empire.
And now, they had Nova.
When Nova appeared, most of the Xandarians thought they were safe.
With Nova on their side, beating Ronan and subduing Shinra would be a piece of cake!
But their joy didn't last long before a new wave of despair crushed them.
Nova was restrained by three of Shinra's 1st special forces. In this battle, just like the legendary Three Heroes vs Lü Bu, it was Lü Bu who lost!
Meanwhile, on the other front, Ronan's Dark Aster, which was completely different from the typical Kree ships, pressed down on Xandar with a suffocating presence.
After one clash, the ship was unscathed, but Xandar's entire defense system was destroyed.
It's over!
Xandar is finished, the Nova Empire is finished!
The war between the Nova Empire and the Kree Empire, lasting hundreds of thousands of years, seemed to be nearing its end at the hands of Ronan.
It wouldn't be long before the Nova Empire became a term in history, a topic of conversation for others, and the laughingstock of the entire star system.
All Xandarians would forever be branded as the slaves of a fallen nation.
No one wanted to accept such a fate.
Some of the more hot-tempered and radical individuals had already prepared to say goodbye to their loved ones and pick up their guns to fight the Kree Empire and Shinra again.
Whether they could win or not didn't matter.
What mattered was that they showed the world the blood and backbone of the Xandarians!
At this moment, a voice suddenly appeared in their minds.
"Oh Xandar, our home planet, can you hear my call?"
It was the voice of a young woman, as if praying.
Her voice was pure and sincere, stirring a sense of warmth in everyone who heard it.
"If you've heard my call, please respond to me!"
"Our planet is suffering, our people are in pain, we need strength—strength to face the invaders who have surrounded our home, surrounded our world!"
As the voice continued, a vague image appeared in the minds of every Xandarian.
It was a rundown but clean and tidy church.
Outside the church was a desolate, barren slum, but inside the church, it was lush with greenery and the sound of birds singing.
Amidst the flowers and grass, a young girl was kneeling in prayer.
She wore a coarse, slightly faded white robe with no valuable ornaments on her.
But for some reason, upon seeing this girl, everyone had the same thought.
This was a noble and pure maiden, like an angel meant to soar freely in the heavens.
But now, this angel had willingly fallen to the mortal realm, enduring the world's suffering, yet still holding goodwill and compassion for the planet, fervently praying to the divine for the salvation of the Xandarians.
Regardless of whether the divine would respond to this girl's prayer, the sincerity of her heart was enough to make everyone feel deeply grateful to her.
Many people, under some mysterious power, had already regarded themselves as this girl's followers and immediately knelt to the ground to pray along with her.
"If you have heard her call, please respond to her! Oh Xandar!"
It wasn't until this moment that someone noticed the girl wasn't praying to a deity, but to the planet beneath their feet.
Did the planet have power? Did it have consciousness? Could it save them?
These questions filled their minds, yet their prayers did not stop.
Many questions filled their hearts, but the prayer didn't stop. On the contrary, as time passed, the number of people joining in grew.
Countless voices merged together, and countless beliefs gathered in unison.
At this moment, nearly everyone kneeling on the ground 'saw' a beam of light fly out from their bodies, converging at the location of the girl, slowly merging with some mysterious consciousness beneath the earth.
"If you have heard our call, please respond to us! Oh Xandar!"
At this moment, the prayer became the prayer of all, and the plea became the plea of all.
Everyone hoped to receive a response from the planet—to harness its power to stop Ronan's invasion.
This was a way everyone could participate in the war, a unified resistance from all the people of Xandar against the invasion.
And with everyone's prayer, some force within the planet seemed to truly awaken.
Then, just around the command center where Nova Supreme was located, and within the city that had been completely destroyed, the ground suddenly began to shake.
Then, countless black materials, even entire steel beams and girders, flew up from the wreckage and slowly gathered in midair.
This scene was not only broadcast by the media to every viewer across the Nova Empire, but also shown in the minds of those who were kneeling in prayer.
"Is this... the planet's response?"
A question formed in the minds of the kneeling crowd, quickly followed by overwhelming joy.
Such a grand display—this thing that suddenly appeared—it clearly wasn't simple!
"The planet has responded to us, granted us power to protect us, we're saved, Ronan is finished!"
People couldn't help but cheer, nearly leaping in excitement.
But in their minds, the girl kneeling in prayer showed no trace of joy.
Her prayer continued, though her face was tinged with sadness.
"Great planet, please defeat that invader and restore peace to this world. So many innocent lives have already been lost—don't let more fall into suffering."
"For all the souls touched by war, may you rest in peace. Our planet will prevail. Our nation and loved ones will remain safe."
Her prayer was no longer merely for power, but also for all the lives affected by war.
This sincerity once again cleansed the hearts of the excited crowd.
Thinking of those who had died in the capital, the people sighed and knelt once more to pray for them.
But more than that, they continued praying for the planet to give even greater strength, and quickly drive Ronan away.
At this moment, the massive orb of various metals in the sky had grown to a diameter of over a thousand meters.
Then, it began to slowly transform—from an egg to a humanoid shape, with arms, legs, a head, and even a face.
Soon, the transformation stopped, becoming a towering metal robot over a thousand meters tall.
The robot's body was primarily metal, exuding a strong sense of technology. Its limbs and head were covered in armor-like metal plating.
These large metal plates were golden in color, and with the sleek mechanical design, they gave off a sense of perfect harmony between power and beauty.
However, something that seemed a bit out of place was the robot's face, especially its large blue eyes, which appeared somewhat cute and innocent.
"Is this... a messenger sent by the planet to resolve our crisis?"
Everyone was filled with questions.
And just then, a voice echoed in their minds.
"I am Bumblebee! I will guard this place!"
Bumblebee—a towering thousand-meter Transformer—was the warrior Su Ye created to assist Aerith's performance.
This Bumblebee had initially been formed by Su Ye using Magneto's powers, gathering metal from the ruins of the city to build a body like those models welded together outside auto shops.
But in the end, it was the combined effect of the Reality Stone and the [Girlfriend Card System] that gave Bumblebee real power.
So now, this Bumblebee was virtually identical to the one from the Transformers films—aside from its massive size.
For this, Su Ye sacrificed a white Girlfriend Card and gained a "Car-Stealing Girlfriend."
"That girlfriend probably has a killer figure," Su Ye said with a grin but didn't dwell on it.
A white Megan Fox card wasn't worth fussing over—not compared to Tifa.
If they crossed paths, he might flirt a little, but if not, Su Ye wouldn't force anything.
His mentality had changed drastically since the day he first received the system.
He hadn't even made an effort to track down Catwoman all this time, which said a lot.
Anne Hathaway was probably more attractive than Megan Fox, right?
Then again, it depended on personal taste—everyone liked different things.
Su Ye didn't step in personally. To elevate Aerith's status and help her become the new Queen of Nova, he couldn't steal the spotlight.
So he only created Bumblebee and had it join the battle.
To the people of Xandar, Bumblebee was summoned under Aerith's guidance, the embodiment of their collective prayers and will.
"Go, Bumblebee! Crush that Kree dog!"
"Go get 'em, our warrior! Victory belongs to Xandar and the Nova people!"
"Go home and eat shit, Kree Empire scum! Bumblebee's gonna kick your ass!"
"Die, you motherf—!"
Amidst the roar of impassioned voices, Bumblebee raised its head, blue eyes locking onto the Dark Aster in the sky.
"Invader detected. Activating combat mode!"
As the words fell, Bumblebee's body emitted a series of mechanical clunks, and a pair of bee-like metal wings unfolded behind its back.
If it's named Bumblebee, it better have wings.
How could it be called Bumblebee if it couldn't fly?
Back when Su Ye watched Transformers, he always looked down on the Autobots.
Look at the Decepticons—they'd fight, then transform into jets and fly off in style.
Meanwhile, the Autobots could only turn into cars and chug along on the ground—they lost in terms of style alone.
Su Ye even felt that the Autobots won purely because the director wanted them to win.
The designs were problematic, the concept was problematic, and their logic was even more problematic.
As survivors of Cybertron, instead of fighting for the survival of their species, they became traitors to Cybertron, helping humans kill their own kind.
And even then, the surviving Autobots had to live a miserable life, constantly hiding from humans, fearing being captured for disassembly and research.
What was the point of it all?
Su Ye just wanted to ask—was it worth it?
He could never agree with Optimus Prime's logic, no matter how many times he saved Earth.
So, when choosing Transformers, Su Ye didn't choose the stronger, cooler Optimus Prime, but instead chose Bumblebee.
Alright, based on that choice alone, Su Ye clearly had a thing for Megan Fox.
After all, in the first Transformers movie, Megan was only 20—at the peak of youth.
If you pressed her against the hood of a car and topped off the oil with a kiss, that car would rev like thunder!
Ahem! But that's another story.
Above Xandar, when Bumblebee's wings unfurled and it soared into the air toward the Dark Aster, Ronan panicked.
Because at that very moment, the Power Stone on his ship suddenly showed signs of failure.