Chapter 230: Uni-Mind — Ikaris
Ikaris's figure rushed out from the fiery explosions, resembling a golden deity stepping out of a furnace.
The dazzling light radiating from his body even overshadowed the Sun in the sky.
Lu Chen maintained his intangible state, intending to pass straight through.
No matter how strong Ikaris was, as long as his energy connection with the other Eternal was severed and he was knocked out of the Uni-Mind state, his threat level would plummet.
He had no intention of fighting Ikaris to the death here.
The truly troublesome part of the Uni-Mind was not just that it made Ikaris stronger; as long as it wasn't interrupted, the remaining Eternal would continuously transmit energy to him.
But as long as he bypassed this guy and disrupted the synchronization, the battle would be half over.
Lu Chen calmly watched as the torrent of energy, capable of melting everything, pierced through his chest and shot toward the distant horizon.
It worked.
As long as he could ignore his attacks, the initiative in this battle would...
Before the thought could finish forming, Lu Chen's brow furrowed tightly.
Something was wrong.
A few seconds after the Heat Vision passed through his body, he felt an unprecedented burning sensation.
In his intangible state, his physical body had no solid form.
Normal attacks should have passed right through without any effect at all.
But this time was different.
Those golden Universe energies were like red-hot branding irons, forcibly "glued" into the gaps between his dispersed molecules.
Under the interference of this external energy, the originally stable, free-floating molecular structure began to become extremely unstable, as if it would be forcibly torn apart and scattered at any moment.
His intangible state was being forcibly broken.
At most two seconds—no, he probably couldn't even last three seconds.
Once this time was exceeded, his body would suffer irreversible, real damage at the molecular level.
Lu Chen cursed inwardly.
This was definitely not good news.
He suddenly moved to the side, and Ikaris's gaze shifted along with him, constantly locking onto his body.
Lu Chen could clearly feel that his body was becoming loose.
Those golden energies were disrupting his control.
Two and a half seconds.
His shoulder automatically exited its intangible state.
Just as the black and gold battle armor regained its solid form, wisps of golden energy exploded across its surface.
He couldn't keep going like this.
Lu Chen immediately canceled his intangibility and teleported away from the spot a few times.
The golden beam shot past his previous position, sweeping out a blank path hundreds of kilometers long through the high-altitude clouds.
Lu Chen reappeared a thousand meters away and glanced down at his shoulder.
"Yuheng, damage report."
"Seven percent loss to the outer layer of the armor, repairs completed. No damage to the body."
"Record the energy signature from just now."
"Recorded."
Lu Chen looked up at the pursuing Ikaris, already forming a judgment in his mind.
Intangibility Conversion LV5, when all was said and done, only altered his own molecular structure.
He hadn't actually transferred his body to another space.
Compared to Uchiha Obito's Kamui, it was still quite a bit inferior.
But Ikaris's Heat Vision didn't have this property before.
During their last clash in London, let alone affecting his intangibility, it couldn't even delay him.
Yet now it could leave energy trapped within the molecular gaps.
Under the "Uni-Mind" state, this guy's abilities had been forcibly elevated by at least one tier.
Crossing from LV7 to LV8 looked like just a single level, but the gap couldn't be compared to lower levels.
"You are afraid."
Ikaris stopped in the distance, the golden light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Lu Chen glanced at him.
"You Eternal have lived for thousands of years, and all you've learned is this kind of vapid trash talk?"
"You aren't moving forward anymore."
"Because I changed my mind."
Since the method of charging straight through wasn't working, he would just lure Ikaris away from here.
He was the core of the Uni-Mind and the frontline defense blocking their way.
As long as he left, the Avengers would have a chance to reach the remaining Eternal.
Wanda, Pietro, Tony, plus Steve and the others who had finished injecting the enhancement serum—dealing with a few Eternal who still had to maintain mental synchronization wouldn't be easy, but at least they'd have a fighting chance.
He only needed to hold down the strongest one.
"Yuheng, share my movement direction with Tony, and tell him not to chase me, but to directly attack the energy nodes."
"Message sent."
The next second, Lu Chen had already appeared above the sea surface, turning around and speeding toward the open ocean.
"Want to leave?"
Ikaris's sarcastic voice seemed to ring right in his ear. The next moment, he transformed into a streak of golden light, pursuing him at an even faster speed.
That terrifying golden Heat Vision, like a spear of divine punishment, once again tore through the clouds and shot toward Lu Chen's back.
Maintaining his backward-flying posture, Lu Chen watched the rapidly approaching golden torrent behind him and crossed his hands in front of his chest.
Three giant energy shields materialized out of thin air, overlapping to block his path.
The first was a burning Shield of Flames, warping the air the moment it appeared.
The second was a violent Shield of Lightning, with countless electric snakes crazily crawling across its surface.
The third was a solid Shield of Light Energy, its pure White radiance as thick as a wall.
This was the embodiment of his elemental control abilities.
Finishing all this, Lu Chen's eyes also lit up, firing a pitch-black Heat Vision that seemed capable of swallowing all light.
This pitch-black beam bypassed the oncoming golden torrent, taking a tricky angle to precisely target Ikaris's rapidly flying chest.
Yet, facing an attack powerful enough to instantly pierce through a skyscraper, Ikaris didn't even show any intention of dodging.
He simply used his eyes, burning with golden flames, to coldly look at Lu Chen, allowing that pitch-black Heat Vision to slam fiercely into his chest.
"Sizzle!"
The pitch-black energy exploded into a cluster of black sparks on Ikaris's chest, yet it couldn't even reduce his Flight speed by a fraction.
Lu Chen's vigilance was dialed to the maximum.
Even if this body hadn't reached LV8, it was already standing at the peak of LV7.
He really had turned into a turtle shell.
Ikaris's golden Heat Vision had also arrived.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The triple shields set up by Lu Chen were as fragile as paper in front of that golden torrent.
The Fire Shield lasted less than half a second before being vaporized.
The Lightning Shield was instantly shattered, electric snakes scattering everywhere.
The Light Energy Shield merely caused the golden torrent to dim for a split second before being pierced straight through.
Breaking through the triple shields, the golden beam's power remained almost undiminished as it once again assaulted Lu Chen's face.
Too fast.
Lu Chen teleported once again, narrowly dodging the attack by a hair's breadth.
Appearing in another airspace, he glanced at the azure sea below and stopped trying any counterattacks.
Opening up distance was priority number one.
"Yuheng, amplification!"
"Yes, sir."
The energy within Lu Chen's body began to circulate, a massive surge of power instantly flooding into his entire body.
The thrusters behind him spewed a hundred-meter-long azure-blue tail flame, transforming him into a streak of light invisible to the naked eye as he rushed toward the meeting point of sea and sky.
Ten Mach.
Fifty Mach.
One hundred Mach!
"Rumble!!!"
Sonic boom clouds exploded behind him, forming a long chain of White rings. The sea surface below was forcibly plowed open into a bottomless trench by the powerful air pressure, and the seawater surged to both sides, forming hundred-meter-high giant waves.
Behind Lu Chen, that golden figure still pursued relentlessly.
That golden Heat Vision, clinging like a Shadow, shot from his eyes without a single moment of pause.
Lu Chen didn't even look back. Relying solely on Yuheng's calculations and his own combat intuition, he crazily accelerated while continuously hurling highly compressed energy bombs backward.
These energy bombs weren't expected to harm Ikaris; they had only one purpose, and that was to delay his speed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Energy bombs exploded one after another in mid-air, forming patches of chaotic energy turbulence and explosive Fire light.
Ikaris couldn't be bothered to dodge at all, directly detonating these energy bombs one by one with his Heat Vision, or smashing through them head-on with his formidable body.
Every single explosion could reduce his speed by just a tiny bit.
Yet the next second, he would catch up again.
"Yuheng, distance."
"Two hundred kilometers."
Lu Chen flicked out a dozen more energy bombs.
The golden light behind him connected into a straight line, smashing through all obstacles one after another.
"Ninety kilometers."
"Report again."
"Ten kilometers."
Ikaris shattered the final energy bomb, his speed still increasing.
"Five hundred meters."
Chapter 231: Desperate Counterattack
A distance of five hundred meters, for Ikaris who had pushed his speed to the absolute limit, was less than the blink of an eye.
That golden figure closed in almost instantly, not just with Heat Vision, but also with a fist wrapped in golden Universe energy.
Ikaris charged forward against the energy projectile he had thrown.
The Heat Vision sealed off above, and his fist blocked the retreat, giving him no chance to continue accelerating in a straight line.
Running away in a straight line was no longer meaningful.
Lu Chen knew very well that under the suppression of such absolute speed, any redundant turning was a waste of stamina.
He stopped abruptly, no longer fleeing forward, and chose to take the initiative to attack.
His body vanished, executing three consecutive teleportations.
For the first time, Lu Chen appeared on the left side of Ikaris, his fist burning with flames and lightning, carrying the whistling sound of tearing air, slamming fiercely toward the side of the opponent's face.
"Bang!"
A muffled sound rang out.
Ikaris's head only tilted slightly to the side, and his Flight trajectory did not even change in the slightest.
So hard.
Lu Chen's heart sank, and without the slightest hesitation, he triggered the second teleportation.
His figure appeared at the right-rear of Ikaris, the exact same heavy punch aimed at his heart from behind.
This time, it was as if Ikaris had eyes on the back of his head; without even turning his head, he reversed his hand and accurately grabbed Lu Chen's wrist.
"Got you."
Lu Chen vanished once again.
Three consecutive spatial jumps caused the energy within his body to drop by a notch, but now was not the time to care about the consumption.
Since he couldn't create distance, he could only use teleportation to maneuver and close in to fight.
For the third time, Lu Chen appeared directly above Ikaris, and his long-planned third punch descended from the sky, aiming straight for the top of the head.
The light on his fist was compressed to the extreme, and lightning converged forward along the armor.
As long as it hit, even if it couldn't injure him, it could smash him into the sea.
Just as the fist was swung out, Ikaris had already countered with an elbowing backhand.
Too fast.
"Clang!"
A loud crash rang out, like a heavy hammer striking an ancient bell.
The black-gold armor indented inward and then rapidly rebounded.
Even separated by the layers of protection from the nano Vibranium armor, that terrifying force penetrating through still caused Lu Chen's internal organs to suffer a violent shock, and fresh blood surged to his throat on the spot.
His entire body uncontrollably flew backward into the high altitude, instantly blasted thousands of meters away.
"Sir, the Vibranium kinetic energy absorption module has reached ninety-eight percent and is about to overload."
Yuheng's voice sounded.
"Channel all kinetic energy into the right arm."
Before Lu Chen could steady his figure and regain control of his body, that distant golden speck of light enlarged once again.
A distance of thousands of meters was, to Ikaris, likewise just a flash.
There was no time to think more.
"Release!"
Lu Chen let out a low roar, pouring all the kinetic energy absorbed by the armor during the previous collision into his right fist in an instant.
He forcibly twisted his body and threw a direct punch right at Ikaris, who was charging head-on.
The two fists collided head-on.
Bang!
The compressed air exploded on the spot, and the sea surface dented downward into a giant crater.
For the first time, Ikaris was pushed back head-on; he slid backward over a hundred meters before steadying his figure, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashing through his eyes.
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's speed of flying backward was even faster than before, his whole body tumbling in the air and smashing directly toward the sea below.
Large areas of red warnings lit up on the surface of the armor; instead of repairing the injuries inside his body, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood that had surged to his throat.
The moment that mouthful of blood left his lips, it did not scatter, but instead rapidly condensed and elongated in the air, transforming directly into three sharp blood-colored long swords under the control of his mind.
Lightning coursed along the blades, and flames spewed from the tails of the swords.
The high temperature scorched the sword bodies to make them denser, while the lightning acted like thrusters, endowing them with unimaginable speed.
"Go."
The three blood swords burning with electric fire shot toward Ikaris, who had just steadied his figure, at a speed far faster than the previous energy projectiles from three different tricky angles.
Ikaris had just raised his hand when the first blood sword already struck the center of his brow.
The second nailed toward his throat, and the third struck straight at his chest.
Bursts of fiery light exploded one after another.
Ikaris was pushed back several steps, yet there wasn't even a scratch on his skin.
But this brief pause was already enough.
Lu Chen's figure stopped the moment before crashing into the sea surface, skimming across the low altitude, and his hands slammed fiercely toward the blue sea below.
A powerful magnetic field erupted with him as the center.
The seawater below seemed to be grabbed by an invisible giant hand, beginning to violently twist and churn.
"Rumble!"
Accompanied by a deafening roar, three massive water walls over a thousand meters high rose from the ground, spanning like three steep mountain ranges between him and Ikaris.
Having done all this, Lu Chen did not pause for a moment, continuously releasing high-intensity electromagnetic pulses toward the other side of the water wall, attempting to directly interfere with Ikaris's neurons.
Ikaris, who was just preparing to close in, indeed had his figure slightly stagnate for half a second.
He seemed to be adapting to this nerve-targeted impact.
Although it was only half a second, it proved that this method was effective.
However, half a second later, the golden light in Ikaris's eyes lit up once again.
He had completely adapted to the interference of the electromagnetic pulses.
A thick, golden Heat Vision swept across.
The first thousand-meter water wall was instantly vaporized.
The second and third ones likewise failed to block it by a fraction.
Under the terrifying high temperature, the massive body of Water turned into rolling White steam all over the sky, completely shrouding the sea area of dozens of kilometers in radius.
On the sea surface, it was suddenly covered by a large patch of thick White mist, with visibility dropping to Zero.
But this patch of White mist itself became Lu Chen's best cover.
He did not try to concentrate energy for an attack again, as that was not very effective against Ikaris.
He changed his strategy, scattering the massive energy and allowing countless fine electric snakes to wander and shuttle through the entire White mist.
For a time, the entire sea of mist turned into a giant, unstable high-voltage electric field.
The power of these lightning bolts was not enough to cause damage to Ikaris, but their existence could greatly interfere with the opponent's perception and delay the time it took for him to lock onto his position.
As long as they could drag it out, waiting for Tony and the others to deal with the other Eternals and interrupt the energy connection, victory would belong to him.
However, Ikaris's countermeasure exceeded his expectations.
He did not charge into this unfavorable thunder-and-lightning mist, but instead actively retreated backward, detaching himself from the range shrouded by the White mist.
The next second, he hovered in mid-air, the golden light in his eyes shining to the extreme.
The two golden beams of light were no longer precise rays; they transformed into two giant fans of light, conducting a carpet-style sweep against the entire sea of mist below in an indiscriminate posture.
"Boom!"
Wherever the golden torrent of energy passed, whether it was the White mist or the seawater, it was vaporized in an instant.
The sea surface was forcefully plowed open, revealing the pitch-black seabed below.
Lu Chen's gaze narrowed within the White mist, and from the system space, he took out the scepter embedded with the Mind Stone.
Without the slightest hesitation, a mental energy condensed to the extreme, like an invisible sharp sword, pierced through layers of mist and shot straight into Ikaris's mind.
Ikaris, who was carrying out the indiscriminate sweeping, suddenly stiffened, and the golden light sweeping everything in his eyes also dimmed for a flash.
Right now!
The black-gold armor on Lu Chen's body began to deform at high speed.
From the back of his right hand extended a sharp blade forged from the magic metal obtained from Loki.
Massive energy was crazily injected into the blade; under the properties of the magic metal, it was further condensed and compressed, and the edge of the blade even presented a shattered luster due to the excessively high energy density.
Lu Chen's figure teleported several times consecutively, charging directly out of the White mist that was about to be completely vaporized, and appeared in front of Ikaris.
Beginning his desperate raid.
Chapter 232: Someone Is Cheating
When Lu Chen's right-hand blade was less than half a meter away from Ikaris, those already dimming eyes suddenly snapped open.
The golden light lit up once more.
"So fast?"
Lu Chen's expression changed.
The power of the Mind Stone did hit, and Ikaris's mind was suppressed, but that stagnation lasted less than a second.
The impact of the Mind Stone was, after all, too weak.
It was merely a vessel carrying the gem, far inferior to divine artifacts like the Infinity Gauntlet, and completely unable to perfectly unleash the full power of the Mind Stone.
What was even more troublesome was that the Uni-Mind enhanced Ikaris in an all-around manner.
Strength, speed, physique, ability, spirit.
There were no shortcomings whatsoever.
In a normal state, this blow would have been enough to make Ikaris briefly lose consciousness. But now, the Mind Stone could only buy him this short one second.
However, it was already enough.
Lu Chen did not hold back his momentum, instead increasing his energy output once more.
"Yuheng, coordinate with me!"
He roared, and Infinite Rage LV8 began a slow, all-around enhancement.
"Taking over auxiliary control of the armor."
The magic metal blade let out a harsh humming sound, and the layer of energy compressed to its absolute limit at the edge had already begun to spin out of control.
He had to stab it in.
Ikaris did not choose to take this long-planned blow head-on.
His figure shifted slightly, and with a hair-breadth movement, he narrowly avoided the fatal blade.
Immediately after, without a moment's pause, he swept a punch horizontally toward Lu Chen's head!
In the previous battle, he had already clearly known that Lu Chen possessed some extremely powerful self-healing ability.
Damaged organs, broken bones, or even having his body pierced through were not enough to cause this person to lose combat effectiveness.
So this time, he was going to directly blow up his head!
"Sir, reconstructing head defense."
Yuheng's voice sounded, and countless nanoparticles instantly converged on Lu Chen's head, directly forming a heavy helmet that tightly protected his entire head.
"Defense modules have been concentrated."
However, facing Ikaris at this moment, this bit of defense was far from enough; this was merely a feint.
Just at the split second before that golden fist was about to hit the helmet.
"Right now!"
"Release the armor!"
"Close-fitting protection has been disengaged."
The black-and-gold nano-armor covering his body receded like a tide, countless nanoparticles rapidly fading away in an instant, detaching from his body.
Ikaris's fist came crashing down at this moment as well.
But the tall and upright youth in front of him had disappeared.
Replaced by a short-statured girl.
Lu Chen's bones rapidly contracted, his muscles, skin, and facial features changing simultaneously. In an instant, he had turned into that girl among the Eternal who would never grow up.
Sprite.
"What?"
For the first time, Ikaris showed obvious bewilderment.
This sudden change caused a fatal deviation in Ikaris's attack.
His punch, which was powerful enough to flatten a mountain, brushed past the hairs on top of Lu Chen's changed head, ultimately striking empty air.
He had bet right!
Lu Chen did not feel a shred of joy.
This clever trick could only be used once. Given Ikaris's reaction speed, he would never fall for it a second time.
Therefore, this blade had to draw blood!
Seizing the gap before Ikaris could retract his punch momentum, Lu Chen teleported backwards several meters.
This distance was just right.
The black-gold nanoparticles had receded from his body, and the magic metal blade extending from the armor on his right hand was left alone in his palm.
The pull-back of several meters allowed the blade that had brushed past him to turn back along with the spatial jump, locking onto Ikaris's abdomen once again.
Long-range mental shock could only suppress Ikaris for a moment.
Lu Chen immediately changed his method of use.
With a flip of his left hand, the Mind Stone fell from the system space into his palm. The Mind Stone embedded at the top of the Mind Stone lit up with a dim light, and the tip of the Mind Stone aimed straight for Ikaris's chest.
He prepared to pierce the Mind Stone directly into Ikaris's body, pouring mental energy deep into his consciousness right against his body.
The black blade locked onto his abdomen, while the Mind Stone forced its way toward his chest.
The two weapons thrust forward simultaneously from left and right, completely compressing Ikaris's dodging space.
Ikaris's right fist had already missed, and with no time to readjust his posture, his free left hand violently lifted, the back of his palm slamming fiercely toward the Mind Stone.
The moment he recognized this weapon, he had already made a judgment.
Back in London, he had suffered losses from the Mind Stone.
The threat of this Mind Stone had to be dealt with as a priority.
"Clang!"
The golden palm force collided with the Mind Stone shaft, the formidable impact forcefully knocking the Mind Stone off course.
Lu Chen's left arm went numb, and the Mind Stone deviated from its original attack route.
Ikaris's body was also pulled to the side by this slap, and his abdominal defense line consequently revealed a brief opening.
Seizing the opportunity, the black blade in his right hand finally pierced through Ikaris's skin, which was comparable to divine metal.
Puff!
The magic metal blade pierced through Ikaris's abdomen, and the Fire, lightning, and radiation stored within the blade erupted along the wound into his body.
Fire scorched his flesh and blood.
Lightning shocked his nerves.
Radiation diffused outward, while psychokinesis stirred wildly within his internal organs.
The indestructible, resilient body had now become a container trapping all the energy.
"Ugh—"
Ikaris violently spat out a large mouthful of blood,
"You..."
However, that mouthful of blood had just left his lips and before it could scatter, under Lu Chen's control, it once again turned into two sharp blood-red longswords, turning around at a bizarre angle to shoot toward his eyes.
Lightning erupted from the tails of the blood-red swords, their speed spiking once again.
The two blood-red swords had already arrived before his eyes.
But the golden light in Ikaris's eyes erupted a step earlier.
Zzz!
The golden Heat Vision spewed forth, instantly evaporating that blood-red sword into nothingness.
The golden pillar of light, with its momentum unchecked, shot straight toward Lu Chen, continuing toward Lu Chen's head.
Lu Chen's body lost its solidity.
Two beams of Heat Vision passed through his face, shooting toward the distant sea surface.
Although Ikaris's current Heat Vision could interfere with intangibility, the Heat Vision did not stay within his body for long. A single short penetration was still not enough to forcibly knock him out of his intangible state.
But Lu Chen did not dare to stop.
Immediately following that, he continuously executed several teleports, putting a distance of over ten thousand meters between them in one breath, before releasing the intangibility and transformation states.
Nanoparticles re-converged and extended on his body, changing back into that black-and-gold armor once again.
The energy within his body plummeted rapidly, and a throbbing pain came from his temples.
Using teleportation consecutively in a short period of time put a heavier burden on him than he had anticipated.
Lu Chen put the Mind Stone back into the system space. Gazing into the distance at Ikaris, his brows furrowed tightly.
Ikaris looked down at his abdomen.
The wound was still there.
Golden cosmic energy seeped out from his flesh and blood, constantly clearing away the Fire, lightning, and radiation lingering in his body.
Afterward, the torn skin began to heal.
A few seconds later, the wound vanished.
Aside from the blood stain lingering at the corner of his mouth, one couldn't tell at all that he had just endured an internal energy explosion.
"Is this your plan?"
Ikaris raised his head.
His body swayed for a moment, but quickly stabilized again.
"But your tier is too low; you don't understand how powerful I am now."
Lu Chen's mouth twitched.
This definitely had Super Physique LV8.
"Damn it, are you cheating?"
The Mind Stone could only control him for less than a second, and sending the strongest energy attack into his body only made him spit out a large mouthful of blood.
"How is this still supposed to be fought?"
If they did that attack again, Ikaris definitely wouldn't fall for it. Furthermore, his own remaining energy was no longer enough.
He had to change his objective.
Winning was already unrealistic.
What he needed to do was stall.
Stall until Tony and the others interrupted the energy connection of the so-called "Uni-Mind", and the balance of victory would naturally tilt toward his side.
Lu Chen raised both hands, and the energy lines on the armor lit up once more.
"Can't kill you?"
"Then come over and try."
Ikaris wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the golden light in his eyes lit up once more.
"As you wish."
The golden figure rushed over once more.
Chapter 233: Vanguard Arrival
Meanwhile, in South America, at the center of the energy outbreak.
Tony and Wanda arrived almost simultaneously.
As soon as they got close, the lingering massive energy fluctuations made their hearts shudder.
Especially Tony, whose armor's sensors began to sound the alarm; it was hard to imagine what level of monster Lu Chen was fighting.
"The boss is over there."
Crimson light flashed in Wanda's eyes; she could sense Lu Chen's previous aura, as well as another vast energy that made her feel uncomfortable, as if it came from the depths of the Universe.
"We need to hurry!"
Pietro was already getting somewhat impatient.
"Wait, don't be impulsive yet."
Tony raised a hand to stop them, "We need to figure out the situation first. Lu's plan is to interrupt the connection, not charge in blindly."
He was just about to have Jarvis analyze the energy structure to find the best attack node, but Wanda and Pietro clearly didn't have as much patience as he did.
For them, Lu Chen's orders were everything.
The boss was risking his life up ahead, what were they waiting here for?
"There's no time to wait!"
Wanda didn't even look back.
Pietro was even faster.
"The boss said to interrupt them first!"
"Hey! You two—"
Tony only got halfway through his sentence before the two had already disappeared from his field of view.
"These disobedient kids."
Tony's face darkened, and he had no choice but to immediately follow.
In a flash, Wanda and Pietro arrived at the center.
Sure enough, they saw six people wearing strange battle suits forming a circle, hands forward, continuously transmitting their own energy to something suspended in mid-air in the center, which looked like some kind of mechanical device.
Streams of golden Universe energy flowed between them, ultimately converging into the device, and then being shot high into the air through the device, connecting with that terrifying energy source in the distance.
It was them.
Wanda didn't hesitate at all, suddenly raising her hands.
Crimson Chaos Magic energy gathered in her palms, quickly forming a highly unstable energy ball.
She didn't aim at anyone, instead ruthlessly throwing it directly at the energy transmission device in the middle of the six people.
"Stop right now!"
Being able to let the boss lead away the strongest enemy alone could only mean that the connection here was very important.
As long as it was destroyed, the pressure facing the boss would decrease.
"For the boss!"
Pietro also shouted, his figure already disappearing from the spot.
Among the Eternal, Kingo, who was standing on the outer periphery, suddenly opened his eyes.
The energy channel connected to him rapidly thinned, and the Universe energy originally converging into the distance also decreased accordingly.
He exited the mental synchronization.
The next second, a golden light bullet shot straight towards them.
Boom!
Two forces exploded in mid-air, and the violent Impact spread around.
The exploded Impact pushed outward in all directions, and all the gravel on the ground flew up.
Wanda raised her hand to block in front of her, the crimson energy forming a barrier to intercept all the Impact.
Effective!
With one person less, the energy transmission visibly weakened somewhat.
The boss's judgment was correct; there was no need to defeat these people at all, as long as they were forced out of that state, it would be enough.
Crimson energy erupted from her body; not only energy bullets, but the earth under her feet also began to shake violently, countless gravel and soil wrapped in crimson energy floating up, like an upcoming meteor shower.
"It seems there's nothing to talk about."
Tony, arriving fashionably late, looked at the already active battlefield and shrugged.
Since the fight had already started, there was nothing to hesitate about; interrupt them first.
He pointed both hands forward, his nano-armor rapidly deforming, extending four huge floating energy amplifiers from his back.
Massive amounts of energy began to gather, and the target was similarly that seemingly most crucial energy transmission device.
Kingo raised both hands, golden light flashing continuously between his ten fingers.
"Leave this place! This matter has nothing to do with you!"
He shot a series of golden light bullets at the boulder rain in the sky.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every boulder was precisely shattered in mid-air, turning into powder.
But the smoke and dust had not yet dissipated when the second cluster of crimson energy had already passed through the smoke, shooting straight at his chest.
"Troublesome woman!"
Kingo sidestepped to avoid it, and with a backhand, fired another light bullet.
Wanda braced her barrier, pushed backward under her feet by over ten meters.
The strength was very strong.
But she didn't need to determine victory or defeat with the opponent.
As long as they continued to apply pressure and let more people exit mental synchronization first, this battle would be considered won.
Wanda continued her aggressive attack, the surrounding trees and boulders turning into weapons wrapped in crimson energy, incessantly crashing toward Kingo, forcing him to continuously fire light bullets in response.
Just as he placed his attention on Wanda, a silver figure had already crossed his defense line.
Pietro's speed was pushed to the extreme, holding a Vibranium dagger tightly in his hand, preparing to stab directly at the energy transmission core.
Close, even closer!
Seeing that the tip of the dagger was about to touch the device.
It was just that little bit short!
Suddenly, a huge force struck from the side, and Pietro's entire body flew sideways out of control, as if he had been hit by a high-speed train.
Before he could stabilize his figure in the air, an afterimage so fast it was almost invisible had already caught up to him.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Storm-like fists landed on his body; Makkari, the fastest warrior among the Eternal, made her move.
Finally, with a blank expression, she kicked Pietro flying, and then with a flash of her figure, returned to her original spot, as if she had never left.
"Brother!"
Wanda let out an exclamation, the red light in her eyes intensifying even more.
On the other side, Tony's long-charged energy cannon was finally fired.
A massive blue beam of energy, carrying the momentum to destroy everything, blasted toward the device.
Right at this moment, a lithe woman holding a golden longsword appeared in front of the energy beam.
She was none other than Tina.
She didn't dodge; instead, she raised the sword in her hand, slashing down with a single stroke towards that beam of energy.
Slash!
The energy cannon, sufficient to flatten a small hill, was actually cleaved down the middle by the energy sword in her hand, dissipating toward the sides.
"Another one?"
Tony immediately gained altitude.
Tina rushed out of the smoke and dust, holding a shield in her left hand and a golden longsword horizontally in front of her right hand.
"You shouldn't have come here."
"I usually don't like meddling in other people's religious rituals either."
Several micro-missiles popped out from Tony's shoulders.
"But your ritual doesn't look very legitimate."
The missiles flew out one after another.
Tina raised her shield and charged forward, the explosions bursting sequentially on the shield's surface.
Her longsword dissipated along the way, her right hand re-condensing a spear, and her entire body directly leaped up, heading straight for Tony's chest.
So fast!
Tony sidestepped to avoid it, the spear flying past grazing his chest armor.
But the subsequent shield bash smashed onto his chest where the reactor was embedded.
A strong light lit up on Tony's chest.
The chest repulsor was fired point-blank.
Tina raised her shield to block, her whole body pushed toward the ground.
"Jarvis, analyze the material of those weapons."
Tony's tone carried a hint of surprise.
"Sir, unable to analyze. The opponent's weapons appear to be composed of pure energy."
Kingo was responsible for ranged suppression, Tina for close combat parrying, and Makkari, the fastest, was responsible for handling emergencies like Pietro.
The cooperation of the three was seamless, instantly blocking the sneak attack of the three Avengers.
On the sea surface hundreds of kilometers away.
Ikaris punched through the afterimage left behind by Lu Chen, but his movement paused for a second.
Ikaris's attack rhythm showed a trace of imperceptible lag.
Although still fierce, that terrifying momentum as if it was going to crush space itself noticeably weakened by a fraction.
It worked!
Lu Chen felt a surge of joy in his heart.
It seemed Tony and the others had already started over there and successfully interfered with the energy transmission of the Uni-Mind.
Ikaris obviously also sensed that something was wrong.
The golden Universe energy on his body, which had been extremely powerful, showed unstable fluctuations.
Ikaris abruptly turned his head, looking in the direction he came from.
He couldn't chase anymore.
As long as the Uni-Mind was interrupted, he would lose his current power.
Sersi was still in Lu Chen's hands, but as long as he protected the others, he would sooner or later be able to rescue her back.
Ikaris suppressed his killing intent, directly turning around and accelerating.
"Want to leave?"
Lu Chen panted heavily, raising a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, revealing a sneer.
"Did I agree?"
How could he possibly let Ikaris go back as desired and ruin the plan!
The energy within Lu Chen's body erupted without reservation, his speed similarly boosted to the limit, transforming into a black-and-gold stream of light that firmly blocked Ikaris's path.
"Get out of my way!"
Ikaris roared, Heat Vision sweeping across.
Lu Chen didn't dodge or evade, his body losing solidity as he passed through the beam of light.
Blocking in front of Ikaris once again, he began charging his attack.
What he needed to do was to drag this strongest guy here firmly and desperately!
Chapter 234: Full-Domain Bombardment
Bang!
Pietro lay sprawled in the pile of rubble, his chest feeling as if a massive boulder were pressing down on it; even breathing made his ribs ache with pain.
Grimacing in pain, he propped himself up halfway and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"Damn it... How can she be so fast?"
He couldn't help but curse inwardly.
He hadn't even seen Makkari's movements just now. Even though he had pushed his speed to the limit, he was still sent flying by a side-impact from her, followed by several punches.
This woman's speed defied all logic.
No wonder the boss had told them to take the potion.
If his physical constitution hadn't been forcibly boosted by a large margin by the potion, his internal organs would have been turned into mush by those heavy blows.
But if even he couldn't break through, Wanda and Tony stood no chance of getting near that device.
"Can you still stand?" Wanda asked as she retreated to his side, crimson energy crackling between her fingers.
She stared intently at the group opposite them, her eyes filled with wariness and concern.
"I won't die, my bones just hurt a bit."
Pietro cracked his neck, forcing down the discomfort in his body.
"I'm fine, let's keep going!"
Tony hovered in mid-air, his expression beneath his faceplate equally grim. If even a Speedster like Pietro couldn't even touch the edge of that device, the hope of the three of them forcing their way through was virtually non-existent.
Strangely, however, the three Eternals opposite them did not follow up on their advantage.
Makkari, clad in her red and black suit, stood in place, her hands rapidly signing a complex series of gestures.
Kingo glanced at her movements, then looked up and said, "She's asking why you are attacking us."
"For thousands of years, we and you humans have minded our own business."
Kingo spread his hands, his face full of confusion.
"You suddenly rushed in and wanted to destroy our ritual. That's not very polite."
Tony smirked, "Want to negotiate? Sure. First, stop that ridiculous ritual of yours, then we can all sit down, have a cup of coffee, and talk."
Wanda didn't reply.
She stared at the energy device in the center of the six, red light dancing in her eyes. As long as that thing was still running, the boss would have to hold off Ikaris all by himself.
She couldn't stop.
Even with Makkari standing in front of her, she had to find a way to break through.
Hovering in mid-air, Tony raised a hand, gesturing for the Maximoff siblings not to move just yet.
Although he spoke casually, his mind was racing to find a solution.
The three Eternals had already proven their strength. Kingo handled long-range suppression, Tina blocked the energy cannons, and Makkari kept Pietro completely at bay.
If they dragged this out any longer, they would only become more and more passive.
Makkari frowned, her fingers flying rapidly once again.
Kingo glanced at her, shrugged, and continued, "Makkari says if you want us to disable the synchronization, you must first hand over Ajak, Sersi, and Sprite whom you captured. Otherwise, there's nothing to talk about."
Just as Tony was about to say a few more words to stall for time, a dull rumbling sound suddenly echoed from the horizon.
Boom!
The distant horizon suddenly lit up with a blinding white light. A violent shockwave swept across dozens of kilometers, flattening patches of The Woods below, while loose gravel clattered against Tony's armor.
Wanda turned her head to look, her expression changing.
"Boss..."
That was Lu Chen's energy.
Although the other aura was weaker than before, it still felt like a towering mountain pressing down on their hearts.
Jarvis's voice came from inside the armor.
"Sir, energy analysis is complete."
"Give me the results," Tony immediately asked.
"Based on the matching energy fluctuations, one of them is Mr. Lu Chen, and the other should be Ikaris, whom he mentioned. According to the energy feedback, Mr. Lu Chen is currently at a disadvantage."
Tony stared at the flashing golden light in the distance, his fingers tightening inside his armor.
There was no time to waste on words!
If Lu Chen couldn't hold out and that monster named Ikaris turned back to join the fight, they would all be finished here.
Since a single-point breakthrough wasn't working, they might as well try a full-domain bombardment.
"Jarvis, deploy all loaded weapons."
"As you wish, sir."
The Red and Gold Armor began to transform. The shoulder plates opened, and miniature missiles popped out one by one. The gauntlets on both hands deployed outward, dozens of firing ports lighting up simultaneously, while a dense array of weapon modules rose from his back.
Tony looked at the three opposite him.
"Alright, gentlemen, if there's anything to talk about, we'll talk later."
"Jarvis, give them a big round."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dozens of miniature missiles roared out, trailing long plumes of fire like an impenetrable net of flames, interspersed with energy beams from time to time, blanketing the Eternals' position.
Kingo's face changed.
These human weapons might not necessarily hurt them, but that device was different. It was responsible for channeling the energy of the six of them and sending that power into the distance. Once interfered with, the connection would likely be severed.
"Tina!" Kingo shouted, his fingers flicking rapidly as golden energy blasts shot into the sky like a torrential rain, attempting to detonate the missiles mid-air.
But Wanda had already locked her sights on him.
"Don't even think about it!"
Wanda pushed her hands forward, her Chaos Energy transforming into countless energy blasts that blocked the trajectory of the golden shots. The collision caused wild currents of energy to surge in all directions, completely shutting down Kingo's interception.
Tina raised her right hand, and the weapon in her grasp instantly dissipated, transforming instead into a longbow taller than a person.
Tina drew the bowstring, and several arrows formed purely of cosmic energy materialized. She released her fingers, aiming at Tony in the air.
Whoosh!
The sound of tearing air was incredibly piercing.
Jarvis reacted instantly, the Nanotech Armor rapidly reassembling a heavy shield on Tony's left arm.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The arrows slammed into the shield, the immense impact pushing Tony back dozens of meters in the air.
Tony cursed under his breath, only barely stabilizing himself as his armor's thrusters fired at full power.
Just then, Pietro pushed off the ground with force, turning into a streak of silver lightning as he dashed out once more.
Makkari had already appeared in front of Wanda.
She raised her fist, but just as she was about to strike, she caught sight of Pietro rushing toward the device out of the corner of her eye.
Abandoning her attack on Wanda, her figure blurred into afterimages as she gave chase to Pietro.
Pietro heard the sound of rushing wind behind him and grit his teeth to accelerate.
Faster!
Yet Makkari, who had started later, appeared in front of him almost out of thin air.
"Damn it!"
Pietro was horrified as he thrust his dagger forward. However, Makkari ducked to dodge it, countered with a sweep kick, and then slammed a heavy punch into his abdomen.
Bang!
Pietro was sent flying backward, plowing a trench dozens of meters long into the ground.
"Again?"
He lay on the ground, feeling incredibly frustrated.
She was faster than him and had quicker reflexes. The only silver lining was that this woman's lethality didn't seem as strong as the one wielding the sword. He made up his mind to grip his dagger tightly so she couldn't snatch it away.
Chapter 235: Avengers, assemble!
Pietro grabbed his dagger and vanished once more; he had figured it out—even though he was just going up there to take a beating, aside from this woman, everyone else was slower than him, so taking a beating was fine as long as he could tie up her energy.
Just as Makkari was about to knock Pietro away, a sky full of missiles was already closing in on the device.
Within the circle, which was now down to just three people, two more figures actively withdrew from the mental synchronization.
Phastos raised his right hand and tapped rapidly on his bracer.
Complex geometric light patterns unfolded out of thin air, transforming into a massive hemispherical golden protective shield that firmly capped the top of the transmission device.
The dense barrage of missiles slammed into the shield, erupting into a deafening flash of fire as the violent Impact completely uprooted the surrounding trees.
Yet as the fire faded, that golden shield didn't even have a single crack.
Phastos, the Eternal technology master, lowered his hand expressionlessly.
Behind Phastos, a gloomy-faced young man slowly walked out.
Druig coldly scanned the battlefield, his eyes flashing with a hazy, unusual glow.
The next moment, an invisible yet overwhelmingly heavy mental storm swept violently across the entire field!
"Ugh!"
A strong sense of dizziness instantly stripped Tony of his consciousness; Tony's vision went black, and the armor lost control, plunging down from mid-air.
"Sir!"
Jarvis called out repeatedly.
Tony did not answer.
He lost consciousness, but under Jarvis's takeover, the armor stabilized once more; the repulsor cannons automatically aimed and fired at Druig, only to be blocked one by one by Phastos's shield.
Pietro also fell to the ground, clutching his head.
Fortunately, unlike Tony, his body had undergone several enhancements and wasn't knocked unconscious by that mental shock, but Makkari's punches landed on him, assaulting his physical body and consciousness simultaneously, making it hard for him to even lift a finger.
Wanda, standing to the side, clutched her head and swayed slightly.
Her mind was being frantically attacked by an external force.
After awakening, although she had always possessed the ability of Mind Control, she had rarely practiced it in earnest; now that Druig's mental power was pressing in, she could only use the clumsiest method to resist it.
She couldn't sleep.
She couldn't stop.
Her boss was still out there.
"Get out!"
Wanda raised her head, red light bursting from her eyes as Chaos Magic expanded in front of her, pushing that mental power back.
Druig stood behind Phastos, his brows furrowed.
He raised a hand to press against his forehead, continuing to maintain the mental shock.
"Let's finish this quickly."
His gaze pierced through the battlefield, looking into the distance.
"Ikaris might not be able to hold out much longer over there."
Hearing this, their expressions darkened as well.
"The connection is already unstable."
Druig said coldly, "If this drags on any longer, Ikaris will lose his power."
Tina did not answer.
They were Eternal warriors who had lived for seven thousand years.
Though usually harboring goodwill toward humans and even secretly guiding the development of human civilization, once pushed to opposing sides, they would never show a shred of womanly mercy in their strikes.
She re-materialized her longbow, drew the string, and aimed at Pietro on the ground; this speedster was a huge hidden danger and had to be eliminated first.
The energy arrow traced a fierce trajectory through the air, shooting straight for Pietro's heart!
Pietro's pupils shrank violently; he wanted to move, but the excruciating pain deep within his brain prevented him from lifting even a single finger.
Was this it?
Wanda also saw that arrow, but she was entangled by Druig's mental power, making her movements half a beat too slow.
"Brother!"
At the critical moment, a faint sound of breaking air suddenly rang out from deep within the distant The Woods.
A black alloy arrow wrapped in energy flew in at an incredible angle, slamming accurately and flawlessly into the tip of the golden arrow!
The alloy arrow was instantly shattered, but the energy it carried successfully knocked the golden arrow's trajectory off by half an inch, grazing Pietro's shoulder and driving fiercely into the mud.
Whoosh!
A red, white, and blue circular Vibranium shield spun at high speed in mid-air, carrying a dull whistle as it smashed fiercely toward Druig, who was maintaining the mental shock!
Druig raised his arm to block, forcing the Mind Control to be interrupted.
The shield smashed into the boulder beside him, cutting the entire rock in half before bouncing high into the air and returning to Steve's hand.
The mental oppression vanished abruptly; Wanda gasped heavily for breath, and Pietro finally crawled up from the mud.
"Who?!" Druig barked angrily.
Answering him was an earth-shaking, violent roar.
"Roar!"
A massive green shadow blotted out the sunlight.
Hulk raised his hands high, plunging vertically from a height of hundreds of meters with the force of a landslide, targeting none other than Druig, who had just blocked the shield!
"Hulk Mountain-Splitting Palm!!!"
Phastos, standing nearby, was quick-witted and agile; the energy gun in his hand fired several shots in an instant, energy beams slamming solidly into Hulk's chest.
Bang, bang, bang!
The beams exploded into clusters of fire against the green skin, leaving not even a single wound, instead making Hulk's eyes turn increasingly blood-red.
The two's expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly rolled away, but Hulk, in mid-air, transformed his palm into a fist.
Boom!
The earth instantly collapsed into a massive deep pit, and the Impact blasted Phastos and Druig flying simultaneously.
Kingo was just about to raise his hand to gather Universe energy to support his companion when a hand suddenly stretched out eerily from the shadow beneath his feet.
The Widow's Bite, set to its maximum gear of hundreds of thousands of volts, stabbed fiercely into his skin.
A strong sense of paralysis caused Kingo's whole body muscles to twitch, and the Universe energy he had gathered halfway directly dissipated.
Natasha gracefully rolled out from the shadows, her dual pistols locking onto Kingo's head without hesitation.
At the edge of The Woods, Steve Rogers gripped his shield and strode out.
Behind him, Hawkeye expressionlessly pulled three more arrows from his quiver and nocked them onto the bowstring.
Tony regained consciousness under Jarvis's weak electrical shock, took back control of the armor, and raised his arms once more.
Hulk raised his fist and let out a roar toward the Eternal.
Avengers, assemble!
Chapter 236: Ganging Up
Violent air currents collided frantically above the sea surface.
Lu Chen delivered a whip kick, and the resulting wind pressure stirred up giant waves below.
Ikaris raised his arm to block, but his golden gaze dimmed noticeably.
The energy connections in the rear were broken in more than one place.
Lu Chen acutely perceived the loss of energy inside Ikaris. The Universe energy, originally as vast as an ocean, now showed a visible decline.
Being chased and beaten by this guy for most of the way, that stifled grievance and anger now felt like dry firewood thrown into a raging fire, instantly detonating something that had always been hidden deep within.
Infinite Fury!
A surge of power, hot to the point of boiling, rushed from the heart to all limbs and bones, and every inch of muscle fiber in the body let out excited hisses. The fatigue caused by overload acceleration was swept away, replaced by an unprecedented strength.
Ikaris perceived the change in Lu Chen's aura and tightly furrowed his brows.
Without waiting for him to react, Lu Chen had already moved.
Without teleportation or fancy skills, Lu Chen stepped on the air mid-air, rushed forward in one step, and smashed toward Ikaris.
Ikaris's eyes narrowed as he likewise swung his fist to meet him!
Boom!
This time, it was no longer Lu Chen being unilaterally blown away.
The two fists collided solidly, bursting forth with a terrifying Impact comparable to a nuclear explosion. The sea surface beneath the two instantly collapsed into a huge bowl-shaped crater hundreds of meters in diameter, and then, monstrous waves were lifted into high altitude, falling down like torrential rain.
The figures of Lu Chen and Ikaris flew backward simultaneously, each plowing two deep trenches hundreds of meters long on the sea surface before stabilizing their figures.
Evenly matched!
Ikaris looked at his own fist in disbelief, then looked up at Lu Chen in the distance. The opponent's energy was clearly massively consumed, so why had his physical strength skyrocketed to the point where he could rival him?
Even though several people had already exited spiritual synchronization, last time in London he was not his match in pure physical clashes, let alone now when he had massive consumption while his own boost, though reduced, was still stronger than before. Could he still have a trump card?
Ikaris glanced in the direction of the South America continent, a flash of anxiety crossing his eyes. No longer lingering in the fight, he abruptly turned around, transforming into a golden stream of light, and flew rapidly toward the gathering place of the Eternal!
Lu Chen shook his somewhat numb arm, watching Ikaris leave immediately after turning around. The depressed breath accumulated in his chest was swept away, and he couldn't help grinning and laughing out loud: "Is the dignified number one brawler of the Eternal only capable of this much capacity?"
He accelerated and chased after him.
But not long after chasing out, Lu Chen discovered that his body's strength boost was dropping bit by bit.
His mood improved, his temper subsided, and the bonus of Infinite Fury actually shrank along with it.
"Damn!"
Lu Chen cursed inwardly, quickly reining in his emotions, forcibly straightening his face, and replaying in his mind the scene of being blasted by Heat Vision and dodging everywhere just now. The anger surged again, and the feeling of strength decline finally slowed down a bit.
But at this moment, Ikaris's speed was far inferior to before, at most tying with Lu Chen's Flight speed.
Lu Chen used teleportation from time to time to close the distance. The two figures, one behind the other, rapidly approached the South America landmass, and the outline of the tropical rainforest below was already clearly visible.
It was only tens of thousands of meters away from the battlefield of the Avengers.
He couldn't be allowed to enter the field and disrupt the situation.
Cold light flashed in Lu Chen's eyes, holding nothing back anymore, teleportation activated.
Swish!
Lu Chen appeared out of thin air half a meter to the left of Ikaris.
Invisible telekinesis shrouded Ikaris head-on, forcibly stagnating his forward momentum for half a second.
Lu Chen twisted his waist and exerted force, throwing a punch wrapped in fury.
Ikaris's combat instinct was extremely strong, and he forcibly twisted his body to dodge to the side.
But right on his sidestepping trajectory, Lu Chen's figure flashed again, steadily hovering directly above his head.
If it were Ikaris in the peak Uni-Mind state just now, he could naturally react to the teleportation and neutralize this combo, but now his reaction was obviously half a beat slower.
Lu Chen clenched his right fist, pouring all the fury force within his body and the kinetic energy absorbed by the armor into it, and fiercely smashed a punch down toward Ikaris's head!
Ikaris's pupils shrank violently, only having time to raise his arms to cross and protect his head.
Boom!
Dragging a golden trail, Ikaris crashed heavily into the sea below!
Huge splashes soared into the sky, as if a depth charge had been detonated in the sea.
Lu Chen turned his figure and rushed directly down along the broken seawater, not giving the opponent the slightest chance to breathe.
Deep in the rainforest on the other side.
Except for Gilgamesh, who had been closing his eyes to maintain spiritual synchronization, the remaining five Eternal members had completely exited the connection.
Although the golden halo was still weakly operating, the energy provided was less than twenty percent of its peak.
Phastos wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The technological bracer on his wrist flashed with light, once again reconfiguring into a half-person-high polygonal mechanical shield.
Druig stood in the rear, staring coldly at the surrounding Avengers closing in.
After dodging Natasha's special bullets, Kingo shook his arm, which was numbed by high-voltage current, and retreated to his companion's side.
Tina's hands condensed golden Universe energy once more, transforming it into a brilliant long sword and a round shield.
Makkari sped around the sides of several people, the fierce wind whipped up causing fallen leaves to dance all over the sky.
The six Avengers formed a semi-encircling posture, approaching step by step.
Tony hovered in mid-air, his eyes rapidly sweeping across the confronting Eternal below, and his voice was transmitted to every teammate through the communication channel: "Jarvis, tactical analysis."
"Sir, according to the previous combat records, the targets with the highest threat level are the one with group mental interference and the speedster."
Jarvis's calm voice sounded, "It is recommended to handle them first. Your air supremacy is your greatest advantage, allowing you to oversee the overall situation and provide fire support at any time."
"Alright, everyone, heard that? Group activity time is here. Quick battle, quick decision, don't give them a chance to reconnect."
"Leave that sword-wielding lady to me."
Steve stepped forward in large strides, holding his Vibranium shield horizontally across his chest, his gaze firmly locking onto Tina holding the sword and shield. He could feel that what emanated from that woman was a sharp aura born purely for combat, the strongest melee threat among them.
"That guy who gives me a headache..." Wanda's gaze crossed the battlefield, landing on Druig. She raised her hand, crimson chaotic energy lingering around her fingertips, and flames of anger burning deep within her eyes, "Is mine."
Druig felt that hostile magic energy and returned a gloomy sneer.
At the edge of The Woods, Natasha and Barton exchanged a glance, their tacit understanding unspoken. Hawkeye pulled his bowstring to the full, the arrowhead glowing with different colors of light, aiming at Kingo, the Bollywood star who was sizing them up.
The next second, Natasha's figure fell backward, like melting ink, silently merging into the Shadow beneath her feet.
Pietro glanced at his companions who had already chosen their opponents, sighed helplessly, and stretched his body which was still faintly aching. Of course he knew there was a gap between him and that female speedster, and going up meant getting beaten.
But what if he gets beaten?
The boss is fighting for his life in front, if he can't even hold down a woman, how can he mix around in the future?
This deal is worth it!
"For the boss!"
The soil under Pietro's feet exploded with a roar, and his silver-white figure darted out like lightning, shooting straight toward the direction of Makkari!
"Roar!"
Hulk seemed dissatisfied with being ignored. He scratched his head, rolled his eyes around, and finally locked onto Phastos, who was closest to him and had just been sent flying by his punch. Taking giant strides, he launched a new round of charge with steps powerful enough to make the earth tremble.
Tony widened the distance in mid-air, his repulsors fully charged simultaneously, observing the battle situation below, ready to break into the position at any time and interfere with the energy transmission device.
The battlefield instantly detonated!
Chapter 237: Melee
Steve took a deep breath, his feet planting firmly into the muddy ground.
The power in his body, stimulated by the serum, surged through his veins. He raised his left arm, and a layer of invisible halo rapidly spread outward from beneath his feet.
Alliance Ring LV4.
This was the ability brought by the Compound V given by Lu Chen.
If Lu Chen were here, he would definitely be surprised. Originally, this kind of Compound V specifically designed to strengthen the physical body only had a tiny probability of awakening superpowers other than Super Physique, but Natasha, Hawkeye, and Steve had all unexpectedly awakened other abilities.
After activating the Alliance Ring, Steve could clearly feel that within this domain, a suppression force was directly cast upon Tina right ahead. At the same time, the power weakened from her was evenly shunted to the six people he considered teammates: Tony, Wanda, Barton, Hulk, Pietro, and Natasha.
It was a wonderful experience, as if the energy flow of everyone around was connected to him.
"Feels not bad." Tony's voice sounded in the communication channel. Because his physique was the weakest, the buff he received was the most obvious. "Are you changing your class to a battlefield support now?"
Steve had no time to reply. He raised the Vibranium Round Shield, his muscles tensing as he stared at Tina a few steps away.
Weakening had its limits after all. Facing such a warrior who had lived for thousands of years, any carelessness was courting death.
He had to stall this woman. Steve calculated clearly in his mind that the murderous aura exuding from this woman was the heaviest; she was definitely the one with the strongest frontal lethality among the Eternal currently. He couldn't let her interfere with others destroying the device.
Tina moved.
The golden longsword in her hand twirled out a dazzling arc, so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible.
Steve's pupils constricted as he raised the Vibranium shield to brace against it head-on.
Clang!
The loud clash of metal made people's scalps numb.
Steve's arm sank, and his entire body was pushed sliding back three or four meters by the huge impact, plowing two deep trenches on the ground.
Before he could steady himself, the longsword in Tina's hand actually dispersed into golden light in mid-air, turning into a heavy golden halberd in the blink of an eye, taking advantage of the momentum to slash downwards!
"Changing moves so fast?"
Steve gritted his teeth, sidestepping to avoid the tip of the halberd, and threw a punch with his right hand toward Tina's face.
Tina leaned back, and the halberd turned back into a short sword, backhand slashing horizontally at his throat.
The entire set of movements was smooth and flowing, without any redundant pauses.
Steve could only retract the shield to his chest, desperately parrying with the fighting instincts he had cultivated over many years.
He couldn't fight head-on.
Steve quickly changed his tactics.
He completely abandoned offense, dancing his shield into an airtight defense and shifting entirely to defense.
His task now was to entangle Tina.
Every collision between the shield and the energy weapon made Steve's arm numb.
This woman's combat skills were as perfect as if they had been tempered on the battlefield for thousands of years; her various weapons changed infinitely and were all used to perfection.
On the other side, Hulk's big feet made the entire muddy ground shake.
"Hulk — Subdue Tiger!"
The massive green body was like an out-of-control heavy tank, carrying unparalleled momentum as it pounced head-on toward Phastos.
"What kind of monster is this anyway!"
Phastos's face turned pale, the technological bracer on his wrist flashing brightly, and triple geometric-shaped shields instantly formed above his head.
Boom!
The first layer of shield didn't even last half a second before it was smashed into pieces by Hulk's heavy punch.
Immediately following were the second and third layers.
Crack!
The light shield completely disintegrated.
Phastos sank half a foot deep into the mud, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
Hulk's fists were too heavy, feeling like a mountain collapsing down.
"What on earth did this guy eat growing up?"
Phastos cursed inwardly, not daring to hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
The technological device on his wrist rapidly reorganized, shooting out more than a dozen high-explosive energy nets in an attempt to tie Hulk down.
Hulk didn't even look, pulling outward hard with both hands.
Those energy nets claimed to be able to trap a battleship were directly torn to shreds by him.
This was simply impossible to fight.
Phastos was cursing a blue streak inside.
His proud technological creations were like toys in front of this monster.
He could only seize the gaps in Hulk's attacks, using an endless stream of Eternal technological creations to narrowly avoid those fatal heavy punches.
He tried to counterattack with high-energy rays, but hitting Hulk, aside from scorching a bit of fur, had no major effect on Hulk at all; instead, it further provoked his anger.
Phastos could only be chased around fleeing everywhere.
Kingo watched Phastos being chased and beaten, his brows furrowing together.
He had to help him.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three black special arrows tore through the air, heading straight for his eyes and throat in a pinwheel formation.
"Annoying bug."
Kingo snorted coldly, tapping his hands repeatedly. Several golden energy light bullets shot out from his fingertips, precisely blowing up the three arrows in mid-air.
Now!
In the tree shadow at Kingo's feet, a small black figure suddenly leaped out.
Shadow Walk LV4.
She held a stun baton in her hand, blue electric arcs crackling. Her movements were sharp and fierce, heading straight for Kingo's throat.
The speed was extremely fast, and the movements were extremely tricky.
But Kingo was an Eternal after all, and his physical fitness far exceeded ordinary people.
He forcibly twisted his neck to avoid it, right palm condensing a very dazzling golden light, aimed at Natasha who was close at hand.
As long as this energy bomb hit Natasha at zero distance, this body would definitely turn into charcoal.
"Go to hell!"
At the critical moment, two more arrows came whistling over.
Kingo noticed two cold points with his peripheral vision.
But in his judgment, ordinary bows and arrows simply couldn't pierce the tough skin of the Eternal. He would rather take a hit hard first than solve this troublesome woman first.
However, the arrows in mid-air suddenly lit up with a dazzling thunder light.
Their original Flight speed suddenly skyrocketed by three times!
Weapon Enchantment LV3.
Clint pulled the bowstring to the maximum in the distance; he could directly enchant various energies onto weapons.
This time, he changed the kinetic energy of the arrows through current compression, causing the speed to strike to an extent exceeding Kingo's expectations.
"What?"
Kingo's eyelids twitched, feeling a great sense of foreboding in his heart.
"Goodbye, big star."
A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Natasha's lips as she leaned her entire body backward, sinking once again into the shadow at Kingo's feet just a split second before the golden light erupted.
Boom!
Kingo's light bullet missed, and the arrow carrying thunder energy had already reached before his face.
In his haste, Kingo could only forcibly deflect his body, raising his arm in an attempt to deflect the arrow.
But Natasha, who had just disappeared, crawled out again from the shadow by his side, kicking fiercely onto Kingo's wrist!
Kingo's arm was kicked a few inches upward, and the shot light bullet completely deviated from its orbit.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two enchanted arrows directly hit Kingo's chest.
"Just this?" Kingo lowered his head and took a look; not even his skin was broken.
A trace of glee had just risen in his heart, but before he could finish rejoicing, the energy carried on the arrowheads completely exploded.
Sizzle!
The violent electric arcs, like dense little snakes, instantly crawled all over Kingo's body.
The intense feeling of paralysis caused his whole body's muscles to stiffen and freeze, letting out an angry roar.
On the high ground in the distance, Barton pulled the bowstring to the maximum, five arrows enchanted with different energies already steadily notched on the string, locking onto Kingo who was temporarily unable to move.