Renzo finally agreed to Richard's request. Without the Space Stone, he had no way to return home. The big-headed bastard who drank Sanlu milk powder would not respond to his plea for help. He had tried. No matter how loudly he called out, he could not go back. There was no response at all.
"Big-headed son..." Renzo muttered, his face full of resentment. He was the boss of the contemporary Zhou Dynasty, after all. Renzo was his employee. How could he not care whether he lived or died? It was completely unreasonable!
"Are we really not going to escape?" Carter sat beside Renzo. He had been thrown into Xandar's prison again, but this time he had been placed in a single cell and had not been bullied by the other inmates. Before too long, Renzo had brought him out.
"The port has been sealed off. The fleets coming and going nearby have already heard about Xandar. They would rather change course than get anywhere near this planet. How are we supposed to escape?" Renzo stared ahead with dead-fish eyes. The sky outside had darkened. The once-bustling planet had become deathly silent. Not a single light was on. It was like a dead star.
"Besides, where would you escape to? Do you have anywhere to go? Do I have anywhere to go?" In the vast universe, there were tens of thousands of planets that supported life. The distance between each of them spanned several galaxies, sometimes even dozens, and travel generally relied on wormhole jumps.
Renzo did not know Earth's coordinates at all. Even if he did, he did not have a spaceship. Even if he had a ship, its energy supply would be another major problem. If he ended up drifting halfway through space without power, he might not die, but he certainly could not fly back by himself.
Carter was chewing the meat of some unknown animal, a satisfied smile on his face. Delicious food really did awaken a universal sense of happiness.
The Kree boy had never eaten anything this good. When he had lived aboard a Kree battleship, he had survived only on the lowest-grade nutrient solution. Real food had been withheld by his superiors. In prison, he had been bullied every day, and the food he had eaten there could barely be called a meal...
"It's warning me..." Renzo felt a sharp pain in his head, spreading through the nerves in his brain. "Thanos... he's coming. He'll be here soon!" He could sense it. It was as if the aura of a true powerhouse was approaching, and the black heart was triggering the Stone's vigilance.
"Thanos... I think I've heard that name before." Carter's mouth was covered in oil. "Is he very strong? Judging by your face, you look like you're facing a powerful enemy. You didn't even look like this when you were dealing with Xandar's prison."
"Do you know Ronan?"
"Of course I do. He's a war hero of our Kree people. I once served aboard his ship," Carter said, longing filling his eyes. "A powerful man. My dream is to become as strong as him—respected by all Kree and feared by every other race in the universe."
He longed to become strong, because only the strong were respected, and only the strong had enough to eat.
Renzo sneered at Carter's childish thinking, but he did not say much. After all, the boy was his little brother.
Carter was still eating when he accidentally glanced out the window. A meteor streaked across the sky, flying straight in their direction. "Look! What is that?"
Renzo also noticed the strange sight in the sky. He frowned and said in a serious tone, "That's a person."
"That's a person?" Carter was shocked. Why had people who could fly through the sky been appearing one after another lately? Were they all stronger than Ronan?
Several meteors pierced the atmosphere and fell with trailing flames. Soon, a spaceship appeared behind them and flew toward Xandar's base. A short while later, it disappeared between the buildings, and its light went out.
"Let's go! We're taking a look!" Renzo casually called out to Carter and flew in that direction.
"Hey! Hey! I can't fly!"
...
Richard, Irani, and Roman had been waiting outside the base for a long time.
A figure wrapped in golden light arrived first. The light faded, and a heroic blonde woman raised her head proudly.
"Thanos isn't here yet?"
"Don't say that in such an expectant tone. If you want to fight in outer space, Xandar can't afford another renovation." Richard shrugged helplessly. Behind Carol, several more figures descended one after another.
"Long time no see, Kevin! Kallark!" Richard tilted his head and greeted the two who had followed her.
Kallark, with his mohawk and red cloak, crossed his arms and looked around with disdain. "So this is the Xandar you keep talking about? It doesn't look like much. It's far from your description."
Roman's face darkened. How could he tolerate someone slandering his home? He was so angry that he immediately wanted to roll up his sleeves and fight him.
"All right, all right, calm down," young Kevin said from the middle. "The top priority is killing Thanos. The conflict between you two can be dealt with later."
"Exactly!" Carol puffed out her chest. Her long blond hair fell casually behind her back, and the Kree uniform on her body was so clean that not a speck of dust could be seen. These were the members of the Ultimates she had formed. Each one possessed enough combat power to protect a planet. They were among the people standing at the very peak of the universe.
"Kill Thanos? You make it sound easy." Roman snorted disdainfully. In his opinion, these people were all bragging. Thanos was the one who led the Black Order, the force that claimed to have swept across the universe and made countless planets tremble in fear. Wherever they went, massacres followed. How had he become insignificant in the mouths of these people?
"He really isn't much to worry about," Kallark said with that same irritating expression, in a tone that made people instinctively want to punch him. "If he hadn't hidden well and evacuated before we arrived, his head would have been mine long ago."
Hearing this, the others did not refute him. Instead, they silently accepted it as fact. In their eyes, Thanos alone truly was nothing. His army, however, was extremely annoying. There were simply too many of them to kill cleanly.
"Someone's coming!" Kevin raised his head. He could feel tyrannical energy, almost limitless power, rapidly approaching them.
Renzo, who arrived late, hovered in the air and looked down at the group below in shock. Every one of them was wrapped in cosmic energy, their oppressive auras fully revealed.
Wait... what the hell was with that mohawk?
The corners of Renzo's eyes twitched. He roughly recognized the people below. The mohawk, the red cloak behind him—the Praetor of the Shi'ar Empire, Gladiator, Kallark.
The woman empowered by the Space Stone, who had once scared off Ronan by herself, had become Captain Marvel. She crossed the universe with her own body and was known as the strongest Avenger—Carol Danvers.
There was also a college student from Earth, a boy who could casually overpower Hulk and Thor but could not properly control his abilities. In the comics, he was a terrifying warrior who could face beings beyond the gods—Star Brand.
And then there was the strongest Nova—Richard.
Renzo was dumbfounded. People who had never appeared in the movies had actually gathered together here, and every single one of them was one of the top warriors in the entire universe.
"Let me introduce—" Richard began, only to be interrupted.
"The Avenger from Earth, Renzo!"
Renzo stretched out his hand. Carol lowered her eyes and shook hands with him. "Kevin and I are also from Earth. We just don't know what's happening there now."
Kevin smiled shyly. "I've heard of the Avengers. I watched the footage of the Chitauri invading New York. I hadn't gained my powers back then."
Renzo nodded. Kevin was the one he cared about the most. Even in the comic universe, Star Brand was undoubtedly one of those with the highest combat power. He could confront powerful beings far beyond ordinary gods.
At that moment, the spaceship that had followed Carol also opened its hatch. Two green figures stepped out. One was a normal-sized Skrull with a lizard-like humanoid appearance, angular features, and sharp lines.
Talos, the leader of the Skrulls, said in a steady voice, "The latest news is that Thanos's Sanctuary II has arrived three galaxies away. It will reach Xandar's outer space in a few hours."
At this point, Talos paused, then added, "In addition, there are several Kree Empire warships and Chitauri forces with him. Their total strength is in the hundreds of thousands. We may... need to spend some effort and time dealing with them."
Renzo did not speak. Although he was shocked that Talos could so casually mention hundreds of thousands of enemies, what shocked him even more was the green figure standing behind him. His body was as large as a small giant's, his dark green muscles radiating immense strength, and his pupils shone with ferocity and curiosity.
"Dr. Banner!" Renzo cried out.
The one who walked out of the spaceship was Dr. Banner, who had been missing for more than two years. Shouldn't he be a gladiator on Sakaar at this time? How had he joined this Ultimates team?
Renzo's mind raced. His arrival had finally created some strange ripple effects.
"Banner?" Kallark looked at the Hulk behind him suspiciously. "Isn't your name Hulk?"
"Hulk... is Hulk! Hulk... hates Banner!"
Hulk roared angrily. The man in front of him looked familiar, but his small, violent, manic brain did not allow him to think too much. It was just the name Banner that stirred his anger and reminded him of that sad place—Earth, a place that hated him.
"I'm Hulk! Not Banner!"
Hulk rushed straight toward Renzo. His fist, which was as large as a normal person's head, smashed toward the little man who barely reached his chest, but Kallark easily stopped it.
"Big guy, calm down!"
Kallark easily took the punch. He was the one who had brought Hulk from Sakaar a few months ago. He had discovered this violent Hulk with great potential. At the beginning of their battle, Kallark had even been briefly suppressed by Hulk and hammered to the ground.
"Big guy, the sun's getting real low."
Renzo did not dodge. Instead, he gently placed his hand in front of Hulk and spoke softly. This method should work. It had been very useful for Natasha. As for Thor... he was probably just too rough.
Hearing those familiar words, Hulk's chest, which had been heaving violently with anger, gradually eased. The rage in his pupils subsided, and a trace of clarity returned.
"Hulk... no Banner..."
"Okay, okay, you're Hulk!" Renzo hurriedly soothed Hulk's emotions and stopped him from getting angry for the time being. Then he turned to the others and asked, "Where did you find Ban... Hul... him?"
The others exchanged looks without saying anything. It seemed Hulk had a close relationship with this person, perhaps even a deep connection.
Seeing the silent atmosphere, Renzo had no choice but to explain Earth's current situation: the birth of the Avengers, the Chitauri invasion of New York, Ultron's madness...
Several people listening could not help but feel a little emotional. They were from Earth, after all. Kallark, however, did not feel particularly moved. Instead, he thought it sounded like nothing more than a small skirmish.
"No wonder Hulk looked familiar to me. I saw him in the newspapers..." Kevin said in surprise. It had not even been three years since he left Earth. When the Avengers fought the Chitauri, he had seen the reports, but he had not remembered the members clearly. He had only heard of a playboy who often appeared on TV and a legendary hero. As for the rest, he did not have much of an impression.
"I didn't expect Nick Fury to be so capable. He actually built an alliance based on me." Carol hugged her shoulders and said jokingly. She had not expected that comedian to have such courage.
Renzo looked at the people joking around and felt helpless for a while, because if they were here, Thanos truly was not much of a threat. For them, perhaps only a Thanos who had mastered all six Infinity Stones would be enough to make them take things seriously.
Sure enough, in the vast universe, there were always some powerful people who did not appear in everyone's sight, silently guarding planets from the shadows.
"This will be an unprecedented war," Talos said in his hoarse voice. "The three former empires, plus the Black Order and Chitauri mercenaries, will all take part. Although our numbers are far smaller, the only one among them who can truly be considered an enemy is Thanos."
Yes, they did not think the so-called Obsidian Five would be their opponents. As for the Chitauri mercenaries, they only needed to destroy their mothership. None of the Ultimates present truly cared.
Renzo looked at Hulk, who was sitting silently on the steps of the spaceship, sulking with his cheeks puffed out. Clearly, Renzo's earlier words had made him angry.
"I'm sorry," Renzo said, sitting beside Hulk apologetically. "I shouldn't have confused you with Dr. Banner."
"Hmph!" Hulk turned his head stubbornly and refused to look at him.
"But you and Dr. Banner can't be separated from each other. You are you. Banner and Hulk are the most powerful combination in history!"
"Yes Hulk, no Banner!" Hulk roared at Renzo like a child. The huge sound almost ruptured Talos's eardrums.
"Keep your voice down, big guy!"
"Hmph!" Hulk turned away and ignored the bad man.
"Maybe after this battle, I can take you back to Earth..."
"No Earth! No!" Hulk suddenly became emotional, as if the word Earth possessed a strange magic that could make an already irritable giant even more irritable.
"No, no, no. Everyone on Earth welcomes you. They... they like Hulk!"
"Earth doesn't like Hulk! Earth hates Hulk! Hulk hates Earth too!" the simple-minded Hulk shouted angrily, pounding the steps beside the spaceship wildly. Talos's heart ached at the sight.
"Be careful, big guy! You couldn't afford to pay for that spaceship even if we sold you!"
Renzo glanced at Talos unhappily. Using money to measure a comrade was simply shameful!
Talos sensed Renzo's gaze and stared back at him. Why should he be afraid of someone under Nick Fury?
"What about Natasha? Do you hate her too?"
Renzo finally dropped this bombshell. As expected, Hulk was stunned by it. His strangely wise eyes filled with confusion. Both Banner and Hulk had complicated feelings toward Natasha. They loved her, but it was a different kind of love.
Hulk did not know whether he should return to Earth. Earth hated Hulk, but Natasha liked him.
Seeing this, Renzo took advantage of the opening and pressed on. "There's also Steve, Stark, Barton, Thor... They all like Hulk, don't they? Steve lets you smash things as much as you want. Remember?"
"I like them..." Hulk said angrily. Renzo was overjoyed when he heard this. He knew Hulk had agreed to go back.
"Then—"
"Stop coaxing that big kid of yours. Thanos is coming!"
Kallark raised his head with a serious expression. The others around him immediately stood ready. Cosmic energy appeared around them. Talos also hurriedly hid inside the Nova base with Roman, Irani, and the others. For a battle at this level, they were better suited to watching from the sidelines. They were best at collecting people afterward.
Hulk also raised his head and roared fiercely, the sound deafening.
The moment Renzo looked up, he saw dozens of massive planet-level warships breaking through the atmosphere like a flock of birds. The most eye-catching among them was Sanctuary II, standing majestically in the center. Its enormous hull was almost twice the size of the surrounding ships.
This was the first time Renzo had ever seen such a scene. In comparison, Supergiant's battleship looked like a child's toy.
Just as several people prepared to rush forward and wipe them all out in one strike, a brilliant beam of light shone straight down.
A powerful figure gradually emerged from the light...
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