Clark and Robert were unaware of the secret meeting happening at that moment. Even the Martian Manhunter, who had infiltrated the Skrulls, was not privy to it. This meeting, which involved Nick Fury and Alexander Pierce among other Skrulls, was not something that every Skrull on Earth was invited to.
For instance, the Martian Manhunter and his Skrull squad weren't involved due to their lack of high status and limited resources. They didn't have their own research institutions either, and including such a low-tier group in the meeting would have only diluted its effectiveness. For the organization's overall strategy, it was not beneficial to allow just any group into the meeting.
Compared to humans, the Skrulls were more eager to see this secret meeting against Clark and the Avengers develop, because no matter what the outcome, the Skrulls stood to gain something from it.
Additionally, even the organization being formed might end up under Skrull control. Their shapeshifting abilities were so advanced that infiltrating human institutions was effortless. The researchers, after all, lacked extraordinary powers; their strength lay in their intellect. Disguising themselves as these individuals was child's play for the Skrulls, without raising any suspicion whatsoever.
"Looks like the Saiyans are facing another powerful enemy. It's a shame the Martian Manhunter isn't here, or we would know what's going on. Should we inform Supergirl and have her check it out?" Meanwhile, in the Avengers, Tony Stark and others noticed the commotion caused by Robert and Clark battling Damian. Tony momentarily paused his work on the Extremis virus to discuss the situation.
"The battle seems to have moved into space. Could it be that the mirror dimension is breaking down, or is it no longer able to withstand the power of such a fight?" Tony Stark glanced at the monitoring report from JARVIS, hesitating as he spoke.
Tony and the others were completely in the dark about what was happening with Robert, but with Clark and Robert being Earth's strongest forces, the mirror dimension was crucial in protecting the planet from destruction. Now that there seemed to be a problem with it, Tony was worried Earth might suffer significant damage soon.
"Don't worry, it's fine." Just as Tony Stark and the others were worrying, Kara appeared at the Avengers base, speaking to reassure them.
"Do you know what's going on?" Tony immediately asked, turning to Kara.
"Yes, it's a Hell Lord who, somehow, broke through Earth's dimensional barriers. He looks powerful!" Kara nodded, explaining the situation she had observed outside the mirror dimension.
"However, no matter how strong he is, he's only prolonging his death. Both the Saiyan and Superman are working together to deal with him. He doesn't stand a chance, though his life force is quite tenacious. They're wearing him down bit by bit."
"That's good to hear. But we still need to figure out how this Hell Lord broke through Earth's dimensional rules. One Hell Lord is manageable, but if every powerful being that invades can bypass these rules, not even Superman and the Saiyan will be able to fend off every enemy," Tony said, breathing a sigh of relief but then furrowing his brows in thought.
"Why do these guys keep targeting Earth? Star-Lord once mentioned there's nothing like this happening elsewhere in the universe. What makes Earth so special?"
"This isn't something we can control. All we can do is face every crisis as best as we can. The rest is up to fate," Steve Rogers sighed quietly.
"Exactly! We have to give it our all! The Saiyan and Superman are dealing with this threat, so we need to handle our own responsibilities. We need to finish researching the flame bioweapon as soon as possible, and we should also look into how we can enhance Johnny Storm's powers..." Tony's eyes gleamed with determination, his fighting spirit reigniting. He clenched his fists as he looked at the team.
"If any of you have ideas on how to improve your own abilities, speak up. We can create specialized training rooms tailored to your needs. The previous training rooms were too generalized and didn't help you develop your full potential."
"I don't need one for now. I haven't hit a bottleneck yet. Ever since Venom consumed Carnage, it's been continuously optimizing my genetic structure. While the improvement isn't fast, it's steady..." Peter Parker shook his head and spoke softly.
At this point, Peter was probably the least concerned about his own strength among the Avengers. After Venom absorbed Carnage, it gained Hulk-like abilities, and Peter's own genetics had begun to evolve. His strength, already formidable, had seen significant growth. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to single-handedly suppress a Kryptonian earlier!
Peter Parker was now unquestionably in the top tier of the Avengers. If the Martian Manhunter fought Peter without resorting to weaknesses like fire, he would lose. Even if he used his intangibility, it would only lead to a stalemate, as his psychic powers would struggle to simultaneously affect both Peter and Venom's two distinct consciousnesses—especially with Venom's volatile mental state...
However, aside from Peter, the other Avengers weren't having as much success in strengthening themselves. Pietro and Lorna, for example, had seen their abilities evolve with help from the Ancient One and Wanda, but it had been a while since their last significant power boost.
When their powers had evolved, both were quite strong, ranking around the level of Hell Lords. But now, their foes were breaking or bypassing Earth's dimensional rules, and were at the level of lords or even beyond. Pietro and Lorna's abilities were no longer sufficient.
Susan Storm and Barry Allen were struggling even more. Susan, despite working hard to catch up, had fallen behind Lorna, whose powers had evolved.
Barry had it worse. He had once been ahead of Pietro, but now, after Pietro's sudden boost, Barry found himself left behind, his powers no longer matching the current challenges. He was among the weakest Avengers when it came to combat, especially if you excluded Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, the "old men" of the group.
Morbius, on the other hand, was doing well. With Tony Stark's help, he had overcome his vampiric nature and gained greater acceptance of his identity. He had even tapped into the essence of the Dark Dimension, making consistent progress and becoming one of the most powerful vampires in history.
"Then, I'll follow the Saiyan's method and practice my telekinesis using heavy objects," Susan said after some thought.
"Get me a heat-resistant training room and a space room while you're at it!" Johnny Storm added. "I'll wait to see what breakthroughs you make with the Extremis virus..."
"I'll need a heavy-weight training room too," Lorna said softly after glancing at Susan.
"Prepare some weighted gear for me, or maybe a gravity chamber like the Saiyan mentioned?" Pietro considered for a moment before making his request.
"I need a treadmill powered by an Arc Reactor. I've been experimenting with lightning lately, but it's not working out too well..." Barry Allen's eyes flashed as he made his request.
Being at the bottom of the Avengers in terms of power, Barry was always seeking ways to improve his abilities. He recalled that when he had touched Thor's hammer once, though he couldn't lift it, a faint glow had appeared around him, representing a third state between lifting and not lifting the hammer.
Though Barry hadn't gained any great power from that incident, it had inspired him to continue researching lightning. He was still waiting for a breakthrough.
"Alright! Reed, you continue with the Extremis virus research, and I'll handle their requests!" Tony Stark nodded and, after a quick word to Reed Richards, turned to start addressing the team's needs.
Previously, the Avengers had mostly been figuring out how to increase their strength on their own, but this process was inconsistent. Tony wanted to help more Avengers power up, as Earth was growing increasingly dangerous. He didn't want to see any of his comrades die in defense of the planet, nor did he want to feel helpless when a crisis struck, forced to watch as only Robert and Clark responded...
Thus, the Avengers began another round of intense training. Meanwhile, in space, Damian was finally obliterated, with not a trace of his consciousness or energy remaining.
"I'm not content..." Damian tried to utter these words as he died, but with no energy left and in the vacuum of space, his consciousness could not be transmitted. He perished with a deep sense of regret.
"That was tough... He was much harder to kill than any of those Hell Lords' avatars. I thought those were hard enough..." Robert remarked, looking at the space where Damian had fallen, a tinge of frustration in his voice.
He had to admit, the beings in this world had remarkably strong life forces. Compared to them, even Majin Buu's immortality seemed less impressive. Their very lives were tied to their energy, and even if their bodies were destroyed, as long as energy remained, they could return. It was enough to drive Robert crazy.
"That was the real body of a Hell Lord. It makes sense that he was harder to kill. Let's hope this was an exception," Clark said, shaking his head slightly.
"Let's go back and take a break. We've dealt with two Hell Lords this time. That human avatar might return someday, but Damian is gone for good..." Robert began flying toward Earth, muttering as he went.
"Wait, didn't we come here for something else? To investigate the disappearance of the death aura? But neither of those two guys had anything to do with it, right?"
As soon as they re-entered Earth's atmosphere, Robert suddenly remembered their original mission. He exchanged a glance with Clark, and both of them froze. In the next moment, they vanished, reappearing on the battlefield
in Africa.
"The death aura is still fading!" Robert locked onto the source as soon as he arrived, his expression hardening.
"You're back! The death aura indeed continues to fade. After you left, there was a brief lull in the battle, but it quickly resumed, and more death aura disappeared than when Superman was still here..." The voice of the Black Panther god, Bast, echoed. She remained hidden in Wakanda's divine realm, communicating telepathically.
"We'll split up. I'll try to minimize casualties on the battlefield, and you track down the source of the death aura," Clark said, surveying the battlefield before vanishing.
"This is a real headache. Who could be hiding so deeply?" Robert muttered as he began his search.
Earlier, Damian and Lazarus, the two Hell Lords, had diverted Clark and Robert's attention. But this matter couldn't be ignored. Whoever was collecting the death aura in secret was clearly up to no good. If they weren't found and stopped, and if they succeeded in achieving their mysterious goal, things could get much worse—especially if they turned out to be another reincarnator capable of bypassing Earth's rules.
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