And it was all black. He couldn't see what was on it.
"Looks like there was a war?"
Blaine sniffed hard and unexpectedly caught a distinct burnt smell mixed with gunpowder smoke—a scent he was very familiar with, because it was extremely similar to what lingered after his magic circles exploded.
"Could it be that these planets were once inhabited?"
"And then some unknown war ruined everything like this?"
Thinking of this, Blaine instantly became alert. At the same time, there was a trace of excitement.
The vigilance came from the unknown danger. With Blaine's current strength, he really didn't dare claim that he was invincible in the universe. If he happened to run into another universe-level boss and was killed in seconds without even having the chance to hide in the Hunter Space, he would be completely finished. Therefore, it was absolutely right to be cautious in case of such an accident.
The excitement, however, came from finally seeing traces of life. After so many days of wandering, Blaine had been truly lonely, to the point where he had dreamed of Gali more than once.
Releasing his mental power, Blaine carefully searched for any sign of living beings.
Originally, he didn't hold much hope. After all, everything here was destroyed so thoroughly that the chance of survivors was extremely slim. But with this try-anyway mentality, Blaine actually discovered something.
A person—a living person.
When Blaine focused and threw Hawkeye over, a dark planet appeared in his vision, tens of thousands of kilometers ahead.
As he approached, he saw an extremely small warship parked on the planet's surface. Blaine guessed there were probably only a dozen people aboard at most. Its size was about that of two minivans.
Compared to alien space battleships and spaceports that were hundreds of meters to several kilometers in size, even the aircraft carriers launched into space by Earth were far larger than this.
"What happened?"
"Have you already encountered aliens?"
Unexpectedly, Blaine had run into another interstellar wanderer by accident.
Subconsciously, Blaine used Hawkeye to observe the planet again.
That single glance didn't matter—a dazzling light stabbed deeply into his eyes.
"Fuck—fuck—fuck—fuck—"
"Tenth-level star core!"
"I'm rich—no, absurdly rich!"
"Well, kid, don't touch it."
Blaine's emotions were instantly detonated by the sight of the tenth-level star core. This wasn't just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—it was a once-in-several-lifetimes opportunity. The joy was indescribable. Blaine almost wanted to teleport over and grab it immediately, then clasp his hands together and worship the God of Destiny.
However, something that drove him crazy appeared in the very next second.
He never expected that the person he had just seen would take the star core one step ahead of him.
Jingle, jingle, jingle…
Because the distance was too great, Blaine rushed forward desperately. Even after using several maximum-range teleportations, he still couldn't catch up. The continuous movement and shuttling consumed a great deal of his mental and physical strength, and Blaine felt slightly overwhelmed by these few teleports.
Still, under the cover of his spiritual power, he quickly used the soul-tracking technique and planted a spiritual seed. No matter what, he had to make sure that the tenth-level star core remained under his control.
When the spiritual seed was successfully planted, Blaine tried to probe what that person—or that unknown creature—was thinking. Bursts of bell-like sounds pierced through the seed and entered Blaine's mind. It was like a piece of music, a song that had once been popular in the United States a long time ago.
Just moments ago, Blaine had thought the thing on the other person's head was some kind of helmet that supplied oxygen and nutrients. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a Walkman worn over his ears.
"That's so unprofessional…"
"Huh?"
"Could he be someone from Earth?"
"Fuck—here, this—him—what a coincidence?"
Just as Blaine landed on the ground and hadn't moved any closer yet, he was suddenly shocked. Under the combined effects of mind control and danger perception, he sensed several space battleships flying over.
Their speed was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, they landed on the planet. A group of figures disembarked—probably seven or eight in total. It was unclear whether they were human, but they were humanoid in shape.
"Why is it so lively today?"
"This is really strange."
"No one shows up when there's no star core."
"But once something good appears, you all fucking crawl out…"
Not only that, but all of them seemed to be carrying alien weapons, a type Blaine was very familiar with—because he had seen them on Earth before.
That was a long time ago, during the invasion led by Loki, when the Chitauri army descended upon Earth. These were the same weapons carried by the Chitauri soldiers.
"No way—are these guys Chitauri?"
"Didn't you lose all your vitality last time?"
No matter what, Blaine still had to go take a look.
The moment the Shadow Stealth technique activated, Blaine's body was completely swallowed by darkness. Since this region of space was already pitch black, Shadow Stealth was perfectly suited to the environment—more effective than it had ever been before.
This time, forget Black Marinated Eggs or Natasha. Even if S.H.I.E.L.D pulled out their most advanced satellites and cameras and captured images of Blaine, they probably wouldn't be able to tell where he was. Unless Blaine exposed himself, which was absolutely impossible. No surprises.
"Boy, what are you doing here?"
The leader spoke—an extremely ugly, black-skinned Chitauri. It seemed he was the captain of the group.
"Well, nothing much. Treasure hunting."
The one who replied was the "Earth man" Blaine had first discovered. Facing such a fierce, tall, and massive Chitauri, there wasn't the slightest hint of fear in his tone.
"Boy, don't talk so lightly here."
"Hand over what you found!"
"Oh? This thing?"
After speaking, the "Earth man" casually tossed away the object in his hand.
It was a metal sphere, only about the size of a fist, silvery-white all over, and otherwise unremarkable.
However, the moment it appeared, not only the Chitauri but even Blaine—who was hiding nearby and eavesdropping—stared at it without blinking.
Light flared in his eyes, and his breathing grew heavy. It was like a starving man who had gone hungry for ages suddenly facing a grand feast with a beautiful attendant beckoning him closer. Or rather, like prey that a hungry wolf had been watching for a long time—a delicious little sheep.
And that little sheep was right next to the hungry wolf's mouth.
*************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is Lord_Immortal_0170