Marvel's Kryptonian Scientist Chapter 347 347

"I spent a lot of ti on the run, and during those years I read quite a few books," Bruce Banner said thoughtfully. "One series, in particular, left a lasting impression on . A science fiction trilogy called Rembrance of Earth's Past."

He leaned back in his chair.

"In the first novel, The Three-Body Problem, an alien civilization sends sophons to Earth to lock down humanity's scientific developnt. Their goal is simple: prevent any aningful advancent so that centuries later, when their invasion fleet arrives, humanity won't be capable of resisting."

Banner paused, considering the comparison.

"From a strategic perspective, it's actually a brilliant move."

His expression darkened.

"And what's interesting is that we're experiencing the exact opposite scenario."

"The foundations of science aren't being suppressed. They're accelerating. Research is advancing at a ridiculous pace. It's almost as if soone is deliberately feeding us the answers."

Banner folded his arms.

"I can't shake the feeling that sothing is pushing humanity forward."

The concern in his voice was unmistakable.

"The question is who. And more importantly... why?"

Fundantal science ford the backbone of every technological revolution on Earth.

When a breakthrough occurred at a critical point, entire industries could leap forward overnight.

At the mont, however, Banner had no evidence that anyone was manipulating events behind the scenes.

Scientific progress was generally considered a good thing, after all.

Without proof, there was no reason to mobilize the full resources of S.W.O.R.D. and launch a massive investigation.

Part of him still hoped he was simply overthinking things.

As a result, he limited himself to conducting a few small-scale inquiries.

Drex Valen found Banner's suspicions intriguing.

The problem was that the Marvel universe contained enough world-ending crises to fill a library.

Even he couldn't imdiately identify what event this might be connected to.

More importantly, the universe itself had changed.

His existence had altered the tiline repeatedly, creating ripple effects that interacted with influences from countless parallel realities.

The result was a world evolving in unpredictable directions.

At this point, it could mutate so far from the original tiline that even the people who had written the stories would fail to recognize it.

Earth.

United Nations Headquarters.

The organization was gradually transforming into sothing larger.

What had once been the United Nations was beginning to resemble the foundation of a true Earth Federation.

More and more countries believed that global cooperation shouldn't remain an exclusive ga played by a handful of major powers.

If humanity was going to unite, then every nation needed a seat at the table.

So political leaders had even begun arguing that the Earth Federation should eventually replace the United Nations entirely.

The idea had gained trendous montum following humanity's encounters with extraterrestrial threats.

Alien invasions changed perspectives remarkably quickly.

The Zerg infestation alone had caused enough chaos.

The creatures had infiltrated human society, disguising themselves among the population. Humanity could only identify them using specialized detection equipnt developed by Umbrella Corporation.

The permanent mbers of the Security Council had all co to the sa realization.

The era when a few powerful nations could dictate the future of the world was ending.

Humanity faced threats far larger than any individual country.

The Saiyan crisis remained unresolved.

(Drex had honestly forgotten about that one.)

The Chitauri's mysterious benefactor was still lurking in the shadows.

The Kaiju civilization traced back to that sa hidden force.

Earth was standing in the path of dangers unlike anything it had faced before.

Drex could hear discussions about all of it.

Technically, he could hear conversations happening anywhere on the planet.

Superman's super-hearing was absurdly broken.

Distance didn't matter.

Even conventional physical limitations didn't seem to apply.

Fortunately, he kept it switched off most of the ti.

Otherwise, the constant flood of information would be unbearable.

"Humanity united..."

Drex tapped a finger against his desk.

"Interesting."

For a brief mont, an outrageous idea crossed his mind.

What if humanity truly united?

What if Earth beca a vast interstellar empire?

And what if he positioned himself at its center?

The thought spiraled further.

Create an Astral Realm.

Manufacture cosmic horrors.

Give humanity impossible enemies to struggle against.

Then allow civilization to grow stronger through the conflict.

If mankind eventually learned to crush those threats, the dangers lurking elsewhere in the universe would seem insignificant by comparison.

The idea sounded amusing.

Right up until he considered the consequences.

The closer Drex ca to multiversal levels of power, the more he appreciated just how terrifying certain concepts truly were.

So things were dangerous simply because they existed.

If he repeatedly invoked certain entities associated with the Astral Realm, there was a non-zero chance they might actually notice.

And if beings on that level managed to lock onto this universe...

Things could beco very real, very quickly.

An imagined threat might stop being imaginary.

A fictional realm could beco an actual dinsion.

Even if such entities were restricted by the dinsional laws of the Marvel universe and unable to physically enter reality, their influence alone could be catastrophic.

Corruption.

Madness.

Spiritual contamination.

Entire civilizations twisted beyond recognition.

The universe could end up becoming a nightmare-infested reality every bit as infamous as the zombie universes scattered throughout the multiverse.

No.

That idea belonged firmly in the category of things not worth experinting with.

Still, humanity moving toward greater unity wasn't a bad thing.

At the very least, resources could be distributed more efficiently.

The disparity between different regions of the world remained staggering.

A middle-class child in the United States, from birth through college graduation, could easily consu more resources than an entire family in so impoverished nations might earn in a lifeti.

The imbalance appeared everywhere.

So examples were obvious.

Others were invisible unless soone examined the numbers closely.

Developed countries consud several tis more electricity per person than developing nations, and many tis more than the poorest regions on Earth.

Food consumption revealed an equally dramatic contrast.

In wealthier countries, diets contained far larger quantities of beef, dairy products, eggs, and other resource-intensive foods.

Producing those foods required enormous agricultural input.

Vast amounts of grain were converted into at through livestock production.

The average annual at consumption in so developed nations exceeded one hundred and seventy kilograms per person.

And those nations weren't even necessarily the world's largest consurs.

In practical terms, the food resources used by a single citizen of a wealthy country could sotis rival the annual consumption of an entire family elsewhere.

The contrast extended beyond consumption itself.

Food waste was another major factor.

Many people imagined waste occurring at the dining table, but much of it happened long before als reached custors.

Restaurants frequently discarded edible ingredients during preparation.

Premium cuts of at were trimd extensively for appearance and texture.

Vegetables were often reduced to their most aesthetically pleasing portions.

Fruit displays were assembled using only selected sections to ensure visual consistency.

Dessert shops discarded significant amounts of chocolate and other ingredients rather than risk quality inconsistencies.

Custors rarely saw it.

But behind kitchen doors, enormous quantities of perfectly usable food vanished every day.

Viewed from a global perspective, the scale was staggering.

The amount of food wasted annually by a relatively small collection of wealthy Western European nations could theoretically feed vast populations elsewhere in the world.

And that was only one example of how unevenly humanity's resources were distributed.

If the species truly intended to face the stars together, that imbalance would eventually need to be addressed.