When T'Challa, the new king of Wakanda, appeared on the screen, the audience was amazed. Everyone was most impressed by Wakanda because of its vibranium. The extraordinary metal that was incredibly strong and possessed unique energy-conducting properties.
The shield in Rogers' hands, Black Panther's suit, and even Vision's synthetic body were all made from vibranium. Its defensive capabilities and overall performance were astonishing.
But as everyone continued watching, T'Challa led his aides into view, and the audience suddenly realized something. T'Challa was the King of Wakanda.
"There seemed to be many buildings behind the statue earlier."
"That's right. I almost forgot Wakanda is an actual country."
"Black Panther is incredibly powerful."
"So Rogers believes Wakanda can find a way to remove the Mind Stone from Vision?"
"Well, it's hard to say why Rogers has so much confidence in Wakanda."
T'Challa, wearing a black trench coat, walked across the grass. Beside him was a bald female warrior, dressed in battle armor and carrying a silver spear.
"The Kingsguard and the Dora Milaje have been alerted," she reported.
T'Challa asked, "And the Border Tribe?"
The female warrior replied, "Those that are left."
T'Challa thought for a moment before saying, "Send word to the Jabari as well. M'Baku likes a good fight."
The female warrior nodded. "And what of this one?"
The two headed toward a small wooden cabin, and a lone figure was tending a haystack.
Looking at him, T'Challa said, "This one may be tired of war. But the White Wolf has rested long enough."
The guard placed the long case onto the haystack, and the figure walked over. It was Rogers' old friend, Bucky. The man who had undergone the same super-soldier experiments. No one knew why he was living here, though the peaceful surroundings suited him.
Bucky stopped beside the case, and his left arm was still missing at the shoulder. Tony had destroyed it with his chest-mounted repulsor cannon. He opened the case, and inside was a brand-new metal left arm. It was forged from vibranium and radiated immense power.
Bucky looked at the arm and simply asked, "Where's the fight?"
T'Challa answered calmly, "On its way."
Bucky's appearance still left some viewers unable to accept him. After all, he had killed Tony's parents. Whatever the circumstances, that fact could never be changed.
"Sigh... I really don't want to talk about this again."
"I still remember the tears in Tony's eyes."
"It was heartbreaking."
"How did Black Panther know Thanos was coming?"
"Wakanda is the source of vibranium. Can Thanos even destroy vibranium?"
"Hey, Thor was forging a weapon. Why didn't he ask Wakanda for vibranium?"
"Vibranium is extremely durable, but that doesn't necessarily make it suitable for Thor's weapon."
"It seems Earth's forces at the time weren't just the Avengers and the Masters of the Mystic Arts."
"There were plenty of people preparing for the coming battle."
"The only ones who weren't prepared were the world's governments, right? Honestly, I have no words."
The Wakanda scene didn't last very long before a new scene appeared. With a slight camera shake, the interior of the alien spaceship came into view.
"It's him! That squid-faced Sorcerer!"
"What's he doing? Operating on Strange?"
"Wow, he can remotely manipulate objects. He'd probably make an incredible surgeon."
"He must be trying to remove the Time Stone!"
The audience in the livestream was stunned.
Strange was surrounded by countless elongated metallic needles. Each one was as thick as a chopstick, its razor-sharp tips all aimed directly at him. They could pierce him at any moment.
Strange slowly opened his eyes. Looking around, anger appeared on his face. Yet he couldn't move; only his eyes could shift. The entire surrounding space had been sealed by the countless needles.
Ebony Maw stepped in front of Strange. Looking down at him, he said calmly, "In all the time I've served Thanos... I have never failed him."
Ebony Maw stared at Strange, his expression cold enough to send chills down anyone's spine. "If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan... with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person... there would be judgment."
Strange made a horrifying discovery. The silver needles surrounding him were rapidly closing in. The moment they touched his skin, Ebony Maw showed no intention of stopping.
A sharp spike pierced into Strange's flesh, and a burst of white light flashed at the point of contact. As the needles dug deeper, Strange's face twisted in agony. The pain was excruciating.
Ebony Maw spoke calmly. "Give me... the stone."
Strange clenched his teeth, doing everything he could to endure.
The viewers watching couldn't help but grimace. It looked unbearably painful.
"Damn, why does this guy have so many needles?"
"He's like a terrifying acupuncturist."
"It hurts just looking at it."
"A normal injection already hurts, let alone dozens of those."
"If the Ancient One were still alive, this probably wouldn't have happened."
"The Ancient One could see the future. Didn't Strange foresee this? Or did the Ancient One already witness this possibility?"
"You're not wrong, but what they see is only one possibility among countless futures. It doesn't mean it'll definitely happen."
Inside the spaceship, more than a dozen crystal spikes pressed against the Eye of Agamotto. However, the Eye of Agamotto sensed the danger. Tiny magical circles appeared one after another, blocking the crystal spikes from penetrating it.
Ebony Maw chuckled softly. Just as he had said, before reaching Thanos, he intended to extract the Time Stone. He had plenty of patience.
Above them, Tony looked down, thinking of a way to rescue Strange. Suddenly, the Cloak of Levitation floated upward. The corner of the cloak gently tapped Tony.
Lost in thought, Tony was startled, and he nearly fired his repulsor instinctively. Fortunately, when he turned around, he realized it was Strange's cloak, so he let out a sigh of relief and said, "Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?"
After he finished speaking, a webline descended nearby. Parker slowly lowered himself from above, hanging upside down in his Iron Spider suit. As he arrived, he said, "Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty..."
Tony was startled and turned around. "What the..."
Parker quickly interrupted. "I know what you're gonna say."
Pointing at him, Tony snapped, "You should not be here."
Parker immediately raised his hands. "I was gonna go home."
But Tony cut him off. "I don't wanna hear it."
Parker continued anyway. "But it was such a long way down, and I just thought about you on the way..."
Tony sighed helplessly. "And now I gotta hear it."
"...And kinda stuck to the side of the ship."
Tony didn't want Parker getting involved. He was still too young.
Parker pointed at his suit. "And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way."
Tony was speechless, so he muttered, "God damn it."
Parker defended himself. "So, if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."
Tony immediately pointed at him. "What did you just say?"
Realizing he had gone too far, Parker quickly backed down. "I take that back. And now, I'm here in space."
Tony walked over and said firmly, "Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be."
Tony's face became serious, and his voice turned solemn. "This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me?"
The more Tony spoke, the more frustrated he became. They were about to face Thanos, an enemy already wielding multiple Infinity Stones. Parker was still just a kid.
Tony tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't pretend you thought this through."
Parker pursed his lips. Then he answered, "No, I did think this through."
Tony refused to accept that, so he interrupted him. "You could not have possibly thought this through."
Parker looked Tony straight in the eyes. Then he said sincerely, "You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man... if there's no neighborhood."
Tony paused, staring at Parker in surprise.
Parker's confidence immediately faded. "Okay, that didn't really make sense, but you know what I'm trying to say."
Tony gritted his teeth, then nodded. Walking to the side, he pointed downward. "Come on. We got a situation. See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."
Parker crouched down, biting his lip as he thought. "Um... Okay, okay... Uh... Okay."
Parker stood up excitedly. "Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"
Tony frowned at him, so Parker then began explaining his plan to Tony.
"Tony just didn't want Parker in danger."
"The gear is made for Spider-Man."
"Both of them are chatty."
"Magic Floating Cloak: Can you stop talking! It's so noisy!"
"Parker, who has a strong desire to survive!"
"Tony and Parker are standing together, two sets of nano armor in the same frame, it's so beautiful."
"I'm just curious, what method Parker has come up with!"
"Alien? What movie is this, never heard of it."
"Will it work? I wonder how long Strange will last!"
"The Time Stone cannot be lost!"
Below the ship, more and more crystal needles were inserted into Strange's body and the severe pain kept eroding his nerves. He couldn't stand it any longer as he cried out in agony. But his whole body was immobilized again, unable to move at all. The excruciating pain nearly broke him.
Ebony Maw looked at the screaming Strange, and he said, "Painful, aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sound behind him; Ebony Maw slowly turned around. He saw Tony standing on the console with hand pulsers aimed at him.
Ebony Maw showed neither surprise nor panic; he calmly finished what he was saying: "Could end your friend's life in an instant."
Tony said, "I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."
Ebony Maw waved his hand, and several huge steel blocks inside the spaceship were manipulated by his telekinesis. They floated in the air, and they could smash into Tony at any moment.
This time, the audience became anxious.
"It's over, why did Tony go straight up?"
"He can't beat him. Back on the street, Tony was almost beaten by Hulk."
"I really thought there was some big plan!"
"Strange: I'm dying from the pain, can you guys hurry up!"
"Too reckless, a little too reckless. After all, this is still that monster's territory."
"Tony could have handled it another way."
"As long as he distracts the other party, I think there's still a chance to save Strange."
In the Training Ground.
The number of superhumans had grown as nearly twenty people had gathered, which is seven or eight more than before. When they saw Tony jump straight down to confront Ebony Maw, many people cried out in alarm.
Ren narrowed his eyes, and he said, "Tony is so wise. Would he really make such a low-level mistake? What a bunch of brainless idiots."
The meaning behind Ren's words was obvious. In his eyes, quite a few of the superheroes behind him didn't seem to have any brains at all.
Elenora touched her chin. "But what method could he be using? To be honest, if it were me, I probably couldn't come up with a particularly effective solution."
However, the superhumans who had just joined were becoming increasingly dissatisfied. They criticized Tony's actions, believing he was being far too reckless. They thought Tony's actions would only cause the Time Stone to fall into the enemy's hands.
Ren frowned. He threw a punch at the ground beside him, and the hard marble floor shattered instantly. The training ground immediately fell silent.
Without even turning around, Ren said calmly, "Be quiet. Otherwise, next time my fist will land somewhere else."
The few people looked at the shattered floor, and they shivered.
On the screen.
Ebony Maw manipulated those massive steel blocks. Looking at Tony, he said, "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."
No one doubted Ebony Maw's strength. When he said those words, very few people thought he was joking.
But Tony smiled and said, "Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies."
As soon as the words fell, small missiles popped out from Tony's shoulders, and they struck the spaceship wall behind Ebony Maw. Amid the explosion, the ship's hull was blown open.
Because the spaceship was already flying through space, once the wall was breached, a massive pressure difference formed immediately. Everything nearby was violently pulled toward the opening, and objects were sucked out through the breach.
Ebony Maw was the closest. The elegant villain who had been confidently delivering his speech lost his balance and was instantly sucked out through the hole in the spaceship.
Not only Ebony Maw, but Strange and the giant crystal needles were also affected. They were suddenly pulled toward the breach. But the Magic Floating Cloak quickly flew over to wrap itself around Strange, and one end latched onto a protrusion inside the spaceship.
But the tremendous force of the decompression made Strange lose his grip, and he was launched straight toward the opening.
Parker leaped over. With a flick of his wrist, a strand of spider silk shot toward Strange. When the web attached to a sharp metal protrusion, Parker pulled on the web, but the metal support snapped. Parker, together with Strange, was dragged toward the breach by the violent airflow.
This heart-stopping scene made everyone's heart leap into their throat. In the vacuum of space, there was simply no chance of survival.
Just as Parker was about to be sucked outside, suddenly, from behind the Nano Spider Suit, six slender, curved spider legs unfolded. Just like real spider legs, they instantly dug into the hull around the edge of the breach. The speed at which they were being pulled slowed dramatically.
Parker exclaimed, "Yes! Wait. What are those?"
He didn't even know his new Spider Suit had this function, but the six spider legs pulled both him and Strange back. As the spider legs exerted force, they generated an enormous pulling force on both Parker and the web. Their bodies were instantly dragged away from the breach. At the critical moment, Strange was also pulled safely back into the spaceship.
Tony rushed over and nozzles extended from both wrists. A large amount of rapidly expanding sealing compound sprayed out and quickly sealed the hole completely. The rescue operation was finally over.
Seeing Strange safe, the audience finally breathed a sigh of relief. The tense scene just now had left many people's faces flushed.
"Success!"
"You scared me to death just now! I thought both of them were going to die!"
"Wow! The Nano Spider Suit has spider legs? That's awesome!"
"Isn't this basically the Eight Spider Lances with spirit bones attached?"
"If Heaven had not given birth to my little Spider, the Spider Clan's night would have lasted forever!"
"Awesome!"
"That scene was way too thrilling! Without those spider legs, both of them would've been sucked right out."
"What was Tony spraying just now? It looked like foam."
"It's not foam. How could it be foam? That's nanotechnology!"
"Didn't he have a nano storage capsule? It's probably stored in there."
"If they can eliminate one of Thanos's subordinates now, the pressure in the battle against Thanos later will be reduced a bit."
Essen Heavy Industries Group.
When they saw the spider legs that popped out of the nano spider suit, Astor and his group of partners were amazed.
Astor envied, "The application of nanotechnology is so extensive! It's a sacred technology for creative minds! You can make whatever you want!"
Everyone nodded. Just these spider legs alone, without nanotechnology, they would have to be attached externally. They would be ugly and inconvenient. But nanotechnology solves all of these problems perfectly, without sacrificing performance.
A person said helplessly, "Unfortunately, our application of nanotechnology is still far too limited. Tony's technology is at least several generations ahead of ours."
After witnessing so many incredible feats, they no longer tried to analyze every technology. Instead, they simply admired Tony's armor. There was no other choice as many aspects of the technology were beyond their understanding. They could only comment alongside the ordinary audience.
In the Administration.
When the Director saw Ebony Maw being sucked into space, then freeze into an ice cube in the blink of an eye, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He then stood up and walked to the blackboard. He wrote beneath the Time Stone: Not yet acquired.
"Considering the current offensive and defensive power provided by the Infinity Stones, it's fortunate that none of them have been stolen. Right now, the Time Stone and the Soul Stone are still safe. It all depends on whether Thanos can obtain the Soul Stone."
The crowd nodded. This was good news.
Darwin's expression relaxed slightly. "They only need to pilot the spaceship back to Earth and reunite with Rogers and the others. Then everyone can concentrate their forces."
Tonio agreed. "That's right. With their team, plus the people of Wakanda guarding the Stones together, the two Infinity Stones can definitely be protected."
Humanity on Earth was not completely helpless, so that made everyone feel a little more at ease. But what happened next made the Director frown. Even the dozen or so Councilors of the Supreme Court found it unacceptable.
After pulling Strange back, Parker fell into the corridor. As the spider legs on his back automatically retracted, he reached out for a handshake. "Hey, we haven't officially met."
However, the Cloak of Levitation didn't seem interested in shaking his hand. After pausing for a moment, it turned around and flew back toward Strange.
"Cool," Peter said.
Tony walked past Strange toward the controls. When Strange got up from the ground, he said, "We gotta turn this ship around."
Tony scoffed. "Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan."
The Cloak of Levitation floated behind Strange. "No, I want to protect the stone."
Tony walked over to the massive star map display. "And I want you to thank me. Now, go ahead. I'm listening."
Tony didn't even turn around, and his tone was dripping with sarcasm.
Strange calmly replied, "For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"
Tony couldn't accept that, so he turned back toward Strange. Angrily, he said, "Who just saved your magical ass? Me."
Strange walked toward Tony while blood trickled down his face."I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet"
The exchange between the two was full of hostility.
Tony adjusted the massive control console and said lightly,"Admit it, you should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused."
Strange answered directly, "Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."
Tony pointed at the spaceship, furious.
"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut... billions of miles from Earth with no backup"
Parker raised his hand from the side. "I'm backup."
Tony immediately rejected that. "No, you're a stowaway. The adults are talking."
Strange frowned. "I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. What is he, your ward?"
Parker hurriedly replied, "I'm Peter, by the way."
As he spoke, he walked over and shook Strange's hand, looking as cheerful as ever.
Strange replied calmly, "Doctor Strange."
Parker paused. "Oh, you're using our made-up names. Um..."
He quickly corrected himself. "I'm Spider-Man, then."
Strange glanced at him before walking back toward Tony. At that moment, the spacecraft announced its course adjustment.
Tony folded his arms. "This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot."
Strange asked, "Can we control it? Fly us home?"
Tony didn't answer immediately. Instead, he slowly paced around the cockpit, deep in thought.
Strange frowned. "Stark?"
Tony answered, "Yeah."
Strange repeated, "Can you get us home?"
Tony replied calmly, "Yeah, I heard you."
Crossing his arms, Tony looked around the spaceship with a grin. "I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should."
Strange answered solemnly, "Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."
Tony immediately interrupted, "What? No. It's you who doesn't understand..."
Tony pointed at Strange. "That Thanos has been inside my head for six years. Since he sent an army to New York, and now he's back. And I don't know what to do."
His voice was filled with anger and determination.
"So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his... but you saw what they did, what they can do."
Tony clenched his teeth. "At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor."
Tony stared directly into Strange's eyes, completely unwavering. "Do you concur?"
Strange thought for a moment, then he nodded. "All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand..."
Then he pointed at Tony and warned him, "If it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't, because the universe depends on it."
Tony nodded firmly. "Nice. Good, moral compass. We're straight."
Tony patted Strange on the arm, then he walked over to Parker and patted him on the shoulder. "All right, kid. You're an Avenger now."
Parker's face instantly lit up with joy. Joining the Avengers was one of his greatest dreams.
But the audience in the livestream, along with the Administration and the High Council, felt their hearts sink after hearing that decision.
"Tony and Strange are taking the Time Stone straight to Thanos."
"They're changing the battlefield and walking directly into a deadly trap?"
"Isn't that... far too reckless?"