Chương 115: Chapter 115: Luke's Retaliation 

After sending the cosmic freeloader, Galacta, back to her invisible ship on his roof, Luke finally returned to his own apartment. 

"Man, it feels like I've been running around forever, but it's only been a few hours?" 

Luke glanced at the wall clock, genuinely surprised that the day wasn't over yet. 

Shaking his head, he sat down on his incredibly comfortable, albeit slightly dusty, sofa and began to carefully consider his next move. 

The primary reason he had abruptly returned to Earth was that the overly formal, suffocatingly respectful atmosphere of Asgard's royal court made him incredibly uncomfortable. He felt significantly more relaxed lounging in his own modest apartment. 

However, he knew perfectly well what awaited him. During the Nine Realms Summit, Odin had officially, publicly declared Luke the absolute, sovereign Lord of Midgard (Earth). It didn't take a genius to realize that the moment he stepped foot back on the planet, he would be facing an absolute political nightmare. 

Every single major world power, intelligence agency, and secret organization on Earth now knew that a single individual possessed absolute, legally recognized cosmic authority over their entire planet. 

But Luke wasn't particularly panicked. He now possessed the absolute, overwhelming personal power and military force to completely ignore or crush any national government that dared to challenge him. The only real issue was that being constantly harassed, monitored, and pestered by politicians and spies was going to be incredibly annoying. 

Just as Luke was brainstorming the most efficient, terrifying way to convince the various world governments that he genuinely didn't care about ruling them and just wanted to be left alone to play video games... his cell phone suddenly rang. 

Ring... Ring... 

Before he could even pick it up to check the caller ID, a second call immediately interrupted the first. Then a third. Then a fourth. Within seconds, his phone was practically vibrating off the table with a relentless, non-stop barrage of incoming calls from unknown international numbers. 

Luke scowled deeply, staring at the frantic phone. 

Dozens of high-level, international calls flooding his personal number simultaneously was absolutely not a coincidence. Clearly, the intelligence agencies had already leaked the information regarding Odin's grand announcement. And if they were already aggressively calling his personal, highly secured cell phone, there was absolutely no doubt that his apartment building was currently surrounded by dozens of elite covert surveillance teams. 

Luke's expression darkened. He leaned back into the sofa, his eyes cold. 

A dozen standard Shadow Ninjas silently materialized from the darkness behind him, dropping to one knee. 

"Go out there and capture every single idiot who is currently monitoring my apartment. Bring them all to me!" Luke ordered coldly. 

Instantly, the Shadow Ninjas melted into the floor. Hundreds of additional red eyes ignited within the room's shadows as a massive wave of Shadowkhan aggressively surged outward, completely ignoring the fact that it was broad daylight outside. 

In the various unassuming, seemingly empty apartments and parked surveillance vans surrounding Luke's building, the highly trained elite operatives immediately noticed the massive, unnatural surge of shadow activity on their monitors. 

They reacted instantly. 

Some operatives, realizing their cover was blown, executed emergency egress protocols. Within seconds, they stripped off their tactical gear, threw on casual civilian clothing, and attempted to casually walk out the front doors of their safehouses. 

However, the absolute microsecond they opened the doors, they were violently grabbed by the throat by waiting Shadow Ninjas and dragged into the darkness. 

Other operatives decided to hunker down. They frantically hid their surveillance equipment and attempted to act like completely ordinary, mundane citizens watching television or cooking lunch. 

But the shadows in their rooms suddenly writhed and expanded. Shadow Ninjas materialized directly beside them, casually holding up the hidden sniper rifles, directional microphones, and encrypted communicators the operatives had just tried to conceal. 

Some of the more fanatical, highly trained spies, recognizing the signature, terrifying Shadowkhan constructs and realizing capture was inevitable, immediately drew hidden cyanide capsules or combat knives, intending to commit suicide to protect their agencies' secrets. 

But the Shadow Ninjas were impossibly fast. Before the spies could even raise the blades to their throats or bite down on the capsules, the ninjas violently blurred forward, delivering precise, bone-shattering strikes that instantly knocked them unconscious or dislocated their jaws. 

However, one specific intelligence agency—a notoriously arrogant one—believed they were significantly smarter than the rest. 

Rather than deploying physical agents to the immediate vicinity, they had set up a highly advanced, encrypted, remote electronic surveillance net. They were currently sitting comfortably in a highly secure, heavily fortified black-site bunker several miles away, smugly watching the Shadow Ninjas capture the other, 'inferior' agencies on their remote camera feeds. 

Idiots, the lead analyst sneered. Our remote signal is untraceable. 

But the very next second, a massive, sparking Sling Ring portal violently tore open directly in the center of their secure command center! 

A colossal, terrifyingly massive, heavily armed alien robot stepped through the portal. 

"DECEPTICONS! MOBILIZE!" Megatron roared, his metallic voice echoing with absolute, tyrannical authority. He had finally been permitted to assume his true, towering Cybertronian form. 

Behind him, Barricade and several other Decepticons smoothly transformed from their vehicular modes, heavily armed and ready for violence. 

But they weren't alone. As they stepped through the portal, it appeared as if they were wearing pitch-black cloaks. In reality, hundreds of Shadow Ninjas were physically clinging to their metallic chassis, using the Decepticons as heavily armored transports! 

"We found you, you pathetic, cowardly little flesh-bags," Megatron sneered sadistically at the terrified analysts. He casually raised his massive fusion cannon and violently smashed the primary surveillance monitor into sparkling shards. 

Following Megatron's lead, the massive squad of Shadow Ninjas immediately detached from the Decepticons and violently swarmed the room, aggressively subduing every single operative. 

Back in his apartment, Luke calmly popped the tab on an ice-cold can of Coke and took a long, refreshing sip, watching as the Shadowkhan continuously dragged unconscious, bruised, and bound secret agents into his living room and dumped them in a growing pile on the floor. 

If they have the absolute audacity to spy on me, they need to understand that absolutely nowhere on this planet is safe from my retaliation. 

A few blocks away from Luke's apartment building, Barricade—having transformed back into a sleek, heavily modified police cruiser—idled casually on the side of the street. 

Suddenly, the cruiser's doors swung open. To the absolute, mind-boggling shock of the surrounding pedestrians, a seemingly endless, impossible stream of identical, pitch-black ninjas began pouring out of the car! It was like a terrifying clown car of death! 

The Shadow Ninjas completely ignored the screaming, panicking pedestrians taking photos with their smartphones. They moved with terrifying, synchronized precision, completely surrounding a completely mundane-looking office building. 

Inside the building, the operatives of a highly classified European intelligence agency were currently panicking. 

"Damn it! Our intrusion detection algorithms didn't pick up a single ping! How the hell did they find us?!" the lead tech analyst screamed, staring at the live security feeds showing the building being completely surrounded by the shadow army. The other operatives in the room looked pale and terrified. 

Suddenly, all the monitors in the secure room dissolved into static. A deep, highly distorted, mechanical voice crackled through the room's speakers. 

"The global communication and data networks of your primitive planet are nothing more than our personal playground. Aside from a few highly isolated, air-gapped mainframes physically guarded by your pitiful AI constructs, there is absolutely nowhere in your digital infrastructure we cannot go," Barricade's voice mocked them over the intercom. 

After a few seconds of sinister, mechanical laughter, Barricade continued. "However, while my Decepticon brethren and I are primarily restricted to dominating your digital networks... the Master's Shadowkhan are absolutely free to roam the physical world. And right now... they are coming to collect you." 

The exact microsecond the announcement ended, the heavy, reinforced steel doors of the office were violently blown off their hinges! 

A massive, overwhelming tidal wave of absolute, pitch-black shadows violently surged into the room, rapidly crawling across the floor, the walls, and the ceiling! 

The terrified operatives frantically jumped onto their desks, desperately trying to avoid the advancing darkness. But the shadows simply slithered up the legs of the desks like living serpents. 

Watching the encroaching wave of darkness completely swallow the room, the operatives felt an absolute, primal terror grip their hearts. 

"What... what are they going to do to us?!" one operative screamed in panic, completely unaware of the horrors that lurked within the Dark Dimension. 

"I don't know! God, I don't know!" a female operative shrieked hysterically. 

Suddenly, her scream was abruptly, violently silenced, cut off mid-syllable. 

"Jennifer?!" an operative yelled her name, but realized the rest of the room had suddenly gone terrifyingly quiet. 

"What the f—" 

Before the operative could finish his curse, he suddenly felt dozens of freezing, unnaturally strong hands violently grip his ankles! He was instantly yanked backward. He felt cold hands clamp down on his legs, his stomach, his chest! A hand violently covered his mouth, another clamped over his nose, and a final pair of hands plunged his eyes into absolute darkness! 

Within seconds, the entire busy office was completely, terrifyingly silent. 

A few moments later, the office doors opened again. The Shadow Ninjas casually strolled out, effortlessly dragging the unconscious, tightly bound bodies of the elite operatives. 

"Man, these fragile little flesh-bags pass out way too easily. It takes all the fun out of it," Barricade complained over the Decepticon comm-channel. 

A Shadow Ninja standing near the cruiser crossed its arms and shot the car an incredibly judgmental, highly annoyed glare. 

"Okay, okay! Fine! I know the spooky intercom announcement was entirely my idea! But you have to admit, it was highly effective! I guarantee these idiots will absolutely never dare to spy on the Boss again, right?!" Barricade chuckled mechanically. He scanned a nearby, heavy-duty pickup truck and smoothly transformed his alternate mode to match it. 

"Toss the trash into the cargo bed," Barricade ordered. 

The ninjas unceremoniously tossed the unconscious operatives into the truck bed, then melted back into shadows, physically clinging to the truck's chassis. 

"Ugh. Having them crawl all over my frame feels like I'm wearing a suit of incredibly creepy, freezing cold armor," Barricade muttered. "Alright, my sector is clear. Returning to base." 

High in the sky above the city, Blackout—in the form of a massive, heavily armed military transport helicopter—was currently hovering over another identified safehouse. Dozens of Shadow Ninjas were actively base-jumping from his cargo bay, utilizing specialized shadow-gliders to silently descend upon the target building. 

"Don't get cocky, Barricade. You were specifically assigned the closest targets precisely because you're a ground-bound, wheeled inferior," Blackout mocked over the comms. "Bragging about finishing first when you had a massive logistical advantage is pathetic." 

Ever since the Decepticons had arrived on Earth roughly six months ago, they had been subjected to a highly traumatizing existence. They were either actively used as heavy labor/transport vehicles by Luke, or firmly confined within the magically shielded walls of Kamar-Taj, forced to experience the modern human world entirely through the internet. 

After rapidly realizing exactly how absurdly, terrifyingly dangerous this specific universe was (filled with literal gods, reality-warping sorcerers, and cosmic warlords), the once violently aggressive, warmongering Decepticons had experienced a profound, collective shift in personality. They had effectively transformed from bloodthirsty conquerors into highly cautious, slightly cynical, incredibly tech-savvy shut-ins. Currently, they spent their days helping the Kamar-Taj sorcerers fix their smartphones, upgrade the Sanctum's Wi-Fi routers, and occasionally repairing lightbulbs. 

Their personalities were significantly more relaxed and far less murder-obsessed than their cinematic counterparts. 

"I still finished first! I am the absolute fastest!" Barricade argued defensively. 

"Sure you are. The absolute fastest to prematurely discharge your duties," Blackout replied dryly. 

"CLEAR THE COMM CHANNEL!" Megatron's furious, booming voice suddenly cut through the banter. "Maintain operational discipline! Use a private frequency for your pathetic squabbling!" 

Megatron was currently highly annoyed. His assigned target was located significantly further away than the others. Furthermore, because neither he nor Luke had ever actually physically visited the specific target location, he couldn't simply utilize his Sling Ring to open a portal directly there. He actually had to manually fly there! 

Additionally, because only a handful of Decepticons had been authorized for this specific operation, Megatron—being the fastest flyer among them—was forced to act as the designated long-range delivery boy. 

I really need to convince Luke to summon Starscream or one of the other Seekers to handle these menial, long-range fetch quests, Megatron grumbled internally. 

Suddenly, his internal threat-detection radar flared violently! 

Several highly advanced, supersonic surface-to-air missiles had just broken the cloud cover, accelerating aggressively toward him! 

Ah. Found them. The arrogant 'World Police.' 

Megatron had anticipated fierce resistance the moment he traced the surveillance signal back to a highly classified, heavily fortified black-site military base hidden deep within an unpopulated desert. After all, only one specific superpower possessed the arrogance and resources to operate massive, illegal black-sites on foreign soil. 

Megatron snorted dismissively. Regardless of the universe, these pathetic, fleshy humans always relied on the exact same, primitive ballistic weaponry. 

He didn't even bother deploying his primary plasma cannons. He casually raised one metallic hand and smoothly channeled raw magical energy, manifesting a highly complex, glowing Kamar-Taj shield array directly in front of him! 

Dozens of localized, hyper-concentrated lightning bolts violently erupted from the magical array, effortlessly intercepting and prematurely detonating the incoming missiles several kilometers away! 

Watching the pathetic, fiery explosions blooming in the distant sky, Megatron shook his head. Primitive, predictable tactics. 

His massive thrusters flared brilliantly, aggressively accelerating his flight speed. Continuous sonic booms echoed behind him as he rapidly closed the distance. Shortly after, the sprawling, heavily fortified military base came into view. 

While a large, highly aggressive part of Megatron desperately wanted to unleash a full-scale orbital bombardment to return the favor for the missile attack, he restrained himself. He explicitly remembered Luke's absolute, primary objective for today's operation: this was strictly a 'Show of Force' designed to completely terrify the national governments by demonstrating the sheer, overwhelming power of the elite Shadowkhan. Megatron was forbidden from actively participating in the slaughter. 

Observing the massive lines of heavy tanks and armored personnel carriers actively forming defensive perimeters within the base, Megatron casually executed a sharp, high-speed aerial drift directly over the compound, unceremoniously dumping a massive payload of dark shadows from his cargo bay. 

The shadows didn't deploy parachutes or gliders. They simply plummeted straight down from an altitude of several hundred meters like massive, incredibly heavy meteors! 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 

Massive plumes of dust and debris violently erupted outside the primary walls of the base as the heavy impacts cratered the desert floor. 

For several tense seconds, there was absolute silence. The heavily armed soldiers nervously peeked over the reinforced concrete walls, wondering if the bizarre, plummeting objects had simply shattered upon impact. 

Suddenly, the heavy, terrifying sound of massive, metallic footsteps echoed from within the dust clouds. 

Six colossal, terrifyingly massive, heavily armored entities—standing well over two meters tall and completely encased in hyper-dense, pitch-black exoskeletons—slowly marched out of the dust, advancing directly toward the base! 

"OPEN FIRE!" The base commander, terrified by the hulking monstrosities, screamed into his radio. 

Hundreds of soldiers instantly pulled their triggers! A deafening, absolute storm of high-caliber machine-gun fire and armor-piercing rounds violently tore into the advancing Crab Ninjas! 

However, the devastating barrage was entirely useless! 

The armor-piercing rounds, capable of effortlessly tearing through light vehicles and human flesh, simply sparked and ricocheted harmlessly off the Crab Ninjas' incredibly dense exoskeletons, failing to leave even a microscopic scratch! The massive, relentless storm of lead didn't slow their terrifying advance by a single inch! 

Realizing standard ballistics were completely ineffective, a frantic heavy-weapons specialist hoisted an anti-tank rocket launcher, acquired a lock on the leading Crab Ninja, and fired without hesitation! 

The armor-piercing rocket screamed toward its target! 

The Crab Ninja didn't bother dodging. It simply raised its massive, spike-like left stinger and violently swatted the incoming rocket exactly like a baseball! 

KABOOM! 

The rocket violently detonated mid-air! A massive fireball erupted, and the concussive shockwave violently blew the surrounding dust away! 

A second later, the pitch-black figure of the Crab Ninja strode completely unbothered straight out of the raging inferno, accelerating its heavy charge directly toward the massive, reinforced concrete perimeter wall! 

Observing the rapidly approaching, unstoppable juggernaut, the soldiers on the wall braced themselves. 

The Crab Ninja didn't even attempt to slow down. It lowered its heavily armored shoulder and violently slammed directly into the steel-reinforced concrete! 

CRUNCH! 

The soldiers standing on top of the wall felt a terrifying, massive jolt, as if the wall had just been struck by a runaway freight train! Several soldiers lost their footing and nearly fell off the edge. 

A brave, slightly reckless soldier cautiously peeked his head over the edge to inspect the damage. 

He stared in absolute, mind-boggling horror. The Crab Ninja had completely, violently punched a massive, jagged hole directly through the nearly one-meter-thick, reinforced concrete wall! 

While the soldier was still paralyzed by terror, the other five Crab Ninjas arrived at the perimeter. Completely ignoring the massive breach their comrade had already created, they each chose a separate section of the wall and violently smashed their way through, instantly creating multiple massive breaches! 

The structural integrity of the wall completely failed. Massive, jagged cracks aggressively spread across the concrete before the entire section violently collapsed inward! 

Completely ignoring the agonizing screams of the unfortunate soldiers violently crushed beneath the falling rubble, the Crab Ninjas locked their glowing red eyes onto the heavily armored tank battalion desperately trying to reposition within the base, and aggressively charged forward! 

"REVERSE! REVERSE! LOAD SABOT ROUNDS!" the tank commander screamed in sheer panic, desperately ordering his driver to retreat while frantically trying to load an armor-piercing shell. 

However, the Crab Ninjas were terrifyingly fast for their size. Before the heavy tank could even begin to reverse, the lead Crab Ninja violently crashed into it! 

The commander stared in absolute horror as the massive, pitch-black monstrosity loomed over his vehicle. He desperately ducked back into the hatch. "We'll be fine! We'll be fine! We're inside an M1 Abrams! The frontal armor is equivalent to 720 millimeters of rolled homogenous steel!" he frantically babbled, trying to reassure himself more than his terrified crew. 

Just as the crew began to feel a tiny shred of hope... 

SCREEECH! 

The Crab Ninja's massive, hydraulic right pincer violently punched straight through the heavy composite armor like it was made of cheap tin foil! The pincer easily breached the crew compartment and clamped securely around the screaming commander's neck! 

"I—" 

Before the commander could even utter his final words, the Crab Ninja casually flexed its pincer. 

SNIKT. 

The commander was instantly, brutally decapitated. 

"AGGGHHHH!!!" The tank driver shrieked in absolute, primal terror! Blinded by panic, he violently slammed his foot onto the accelerator! The massive engine roared, and the tank aggressively lurched forward! 

The Crab Ninja casually flicked its pincer to fling the blood and gore away. Watching the terrified tank attempting to flee, it aggressively charged forward, intercepting the vehicle and violently slamming its massive shoulder directly into the tank's flank! 

CRASH! 

Even the massive, seventy-ton main battle tank was violently knocked completely off its treads by the devastating impact! 

The Crab Ninja loomed over the crippled, immobilized metal box. It looked down at its massive, hydraulic pincers, feeling a very strong, highly satisfying urge to systematically dismantle the tank piece by piece to see what was inside... 

Hovering high above the base in his Cybertronian form, Megatron watched the absolute, one-sided massacre with immense satisfaction. Observing the Crab Ninjas casually tearing modern main battle tanks apart with their bare hands, he was genuinely impressed by their terrifying combat strength. 

However, his optics suddenly locked onto a group of high-ranking military officers desperately sprinting out of a command bunker toward a waiting evacuation helicopter. 

I absolutely cannot let the primary targets escape. 

Megatron immediately dove toward the helipad, aggressively deploying the final payload of elite Shadowkhan from his cargo bay. 

These shadows also plummeted to the earth without slowing down, but unlike the heavy Crab Ninjas, they landed with terrifying, silent grace, kicking up absolutely no dust. 

As they stood up, the terrified officers got a clear look at their new executioners. 

Six terrifying, four-legged creatures wielding massive, razor-sharp scythes (Scythe Ninjas), and six bizarre, serpentine entities possessing long, hyper-flexible tentacles (Squid Ninjas). 

Without waiting for the officers to issue an order, the elite security detail guarding the helicopter immediately opened fire! 

However, the Scythe Ninjas—despite appearing significantly less heavily armored than the Crab Ninjas—simply blurred into motion. They casually spun their massive scythes at terrifying speeds, effortlessly deflecting the incoming hail of bullets! 

Their four spiked legs dug into the concrete, launching them forward with unpredictable, erratic speed! They instantly closed the distance to the guards. A series of blinding, cold flashes of metallic light illuminated the helipad! 

In an instant, the heavily armed security guards were violently, perfectly sliced into multiple neat, geometric pieces. 

The guards collapsed to the ground, their faces frozen in expressions of absolute terror. They didn't even have time to scream before their eyes completely lost focus. 

Stepping casually over the dismembered corpses, the Scythe Ninjas slowly turned their glowing red eyes toward the paralyzed, completely defenseless officers. They slowly, menacingly dragged their blood-stained scythes across the concrete floor. 

Hearing the terrifying, metallic screeching of the blades, the officers trembled violently. A large, dark stain rapidly began to spread across the front of the commanding general's trousers. 

Suddenly, several heavy armored personnel carriers aggressively crashed through a nearby fence, desperately attempting to rescue the high-ranking officers! 

However, the Squid Ninjas—who had remained completely silent and motionless until now—violently sprang into action! Their serpentine bodies coiled tightly before violently launching them forward with terrifying speed! They aggressively intercepted the APCs, their massive, hyper-flexible tentacles violently whipping out to tightly wrap around the heavy vehicles! 

As the Squid Ninjas violently contracted their massive, hyper-muscular bodies, the reinforced steel of the APCs groaned and screeched in agony! Within seconds, the heavily armored vehicles were violently, brutally crushed into unrecognizable, compact cubes of twisted metal! 

The only sign that anyone had been inside was the thin stream of crimson blood slowly pooling beneath the crushed wreckage. 

"And that concludes the primary objective," Megatron nodded in satisfaction. He immediately initiated a rapid descent. 

He initiated his transformation sequence mid-air, shifting from his sleek Cybertronian jet mode into his massive, towering robot form, crashing heavily onto the concrete directly in front of the terrified, paralyzed officers, the impact throwing them violently to the ground. 

"Now then. I formally request that you accompany me," Megatron rumbled. 

Surprisingly, he didn't deploy his fusion cannon or energy sword. Instead, acting with the terrifying, mocking elegance of a twisted gentleman, a small, highly complex mechanical appendage deployed from his chest armor, currently holding a Kamar-Taj Sling Ring! 

Megatron casually dragged his metallic finger through the air. A massive, sparking magical portal instantly tore open in front of the officers. 

"Your ultimate destination, and your supreme judge, awaits you on the other side."