Boom!
"Are you crazy? Do you want to destroy Xandar?" Richard had only managed to say a few words when Renzo grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground. A laser struck Richard hard on his helmet.
"Damn it, do I look like a vegetarian?" Richard focused his power into his fists and punched Renzo in the abdomen, sending him flying backward and smashing through the newly repaired public restroom.
Renzo broke through the ruins nonchalantly. "Hand over the Space Stone!" Renzo could not bear it anymore. Over the past few weeks, he and Dr. Banner had still been unable to develop a spacecraft capable of crossing a wormhole. To guard against the two of them, Xandar had closed all its ports.
Dr. Banner did not even have a research subject he could use as a reference.
This had finally triggered Renzo's anger. He was determined to beat Richard severely.
"I said, don't even think about it. Before Xandar is completely rebuilt, if you want to leave, find a way on your own. Xandar will not give you any help!" Richard said righteously, completely placing the blame for the enemy army's arrival on Renzo's head.
Renzo was too lazy to waste words on this guy. These people had done it all on purpose. Whether it was Rhomann or Richard, they all wanted to tie him to Xandar's broken chariot and bind the Infinity Stones to Xandar.
Once the outside world learned that Xandar had at least two Infinity Stones and the protection of the Ultimates, those people's greed would turn into fear and dread.
It was just like ordinary children going to school. Classmates who were not very familiar with you and had always been at the bottom, similar to yourself, would not earn your admiration or respect if they suddenly got good grades on an exam. Instead, you would immediately question whether they had cheated.
But if a classmate who had always had excellent grades became even more outstanding, no one would question whether they had cheated. People would only think that they had worked harder, were smarter, and respect them more.
This was jealousy and human nature. Xandar wanted the outside world to think it was "cheating," making other planets feel fear. At the very least, they would appear respectful on the surface.
Richard could not withstand Renzo's continuous attacks. He could only watch helplessly as his unmatched attacks passed through Renzo's body. His fists struck Renzo's iron-like body, making his bones tremble slightly as pain spread up from his hands.
Renzo grabbed Richard's head with his backhand and pushed him forward, flying several hundred meters. The biting wind tore across Richard's body, and the roaring hurricane made it difficult for him to open his eyes. Renzo inserted two fingers into the eye sockets of Richard's helmet, then slammed his other hand into the side of Richard's face.
Boom!
Richard felt pain explode at the back of his head. Then a roaring sound came from above him, as if the sky were collapsing. Rocks and heavy objects smashed down on him one after another.
Renzo blurred and avoided the falling stones. The enormous stone head of the newly rebuilt Nova Hero statue buried Richard alive.
"This is the consequence of angering an honest man." Renzo stared coldly at the collapsed ruins as one hand emerged from the cracks between the rubble.
"I want to warn you. I am only temporarily trapped here. I don't want to fight you. That does not mean I am not your opponent." Renzo grabbed the hand and pulled the injured Richard out of the rubble. "Put away those little schemes of yours. Although my world does not have the technology for cosmic navigation, we have the smartest people in the universe."
He was talking about Stark. Once a genius who had accepted the curse of knowledge was no longer blocked by the technological gap, there would be no boundaries left for him. Technology would become divinity.
In the future of Stark's comics, he transformed himself into an intelligent being and led a group of intelligent beings across the universe. He was worthy of being called one of the smartest people in the universe.
Renzo had always believed that Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards, was somewhat unworthy of his title. Although he was indeed better than Stark in some areas, the price for obtaining such a super-high IQ was super-low emotional intelligence. In the movies, he had killed his teammates with a single sentence. In the comics, he was the first to become a zombie and even convinced the others to turn into zombies.
Renzo truly hated this character. Aside from being the smartest character, he was also brainless.
"Do you understand, Richard Rider?" Renzo said Richard's full name. "Return the Space Stone to me immediately. I don't think you want to see Xandar turned into a pile of ruins again."
Renzo gently bent down, took one of Richard's hands, and brought it to his ear. "Rhomann's life is not valuable, and neither is yours. Carol will not give up the Infinity Stones for a comrade, and she will not harm the planet that gave birth to her."
"You need to think clearly about which is more important: the Space Stone, or every life on Xandar."
Renzo exerted force with his hand and instantly crushed the dazed Richard's wrist. His painful wails reached Renzo's ears, and he was thrown to the ground like a dead dog.
Renzo released the mind control on Richard. "And the Power Stone too. I hope to see both of them tomorrow. You don't want a big green guy smashing Rhomann's head."
Renzo flew away. This was his last patience and tolerance for Xandar. He had been trapped here for too long. Thanos would definitely not invade Earth after being severely damaged, but the process of collecting the Infinity Stones could not be delayed.
That Thanos was powerful—so powerful it felt unreal. He had actually killed Gladiator and knocked Hulk unconscious.
Renzo had discussed it with Dr. Banner. That form of Hulk had never appeared before, and the angrier he became, the stronger he grew.
"Hulk is like a child who can't grow up. Anger is the only catalyst. I don't know what he's done with my body over the past two years. Well... maybe I have some impression. I only remember my pants being gone."
"Putting that aside, I feel that after I woke up, a 'lock' in my body seemed to have opened." Dr. Banner picked up the instrument beside him with both hands. His face turned red, and he held it for more than ten seconds before putting it down.
"It would have been impossible for me to lift something this heavy before... Don't laugh. I am me, and Hulk is Hulk. I'm just a scientist. I don't have much strength."
"You could say that while Hulk's strength is growing, mine is growing as well."
"Like a crow feeding back?"
"Uh... more like... growing together."
Renzo fell into deep thought. This was a bit like the setting of the earliest version of Hulk. The angrier he got, the larger he became. But feeding that strength back to Banner... could it be that once Hulk became powerful enough, Banner would also become Superman?
"Mr. Renzo..." Carter came forward flatteringly. "Look... can you take me away too?"
"You? Why should I take you away? A skinny Kree boy who can't fight, can't fly a spaceship, and doesn't understand scientific research. You're useless except for using your skin color to attract hatred."
Renzo directly exposed Carter, easily seeing through his little thoughts.
He wanted to find someone to rely on and live an ordinary life? Sorry, but everything had a price. Equivalent exchange was the only rule in the world.
Carter was not embarrassed at all that his thoughts had been revealed. He still shamelessly followed Renzo. "I can lift the spear, and I can also be a combatant." He turned his head and pointed at Dr. Banner. "I can protect him."
"Protect him?" Renzo smiled, and Banner smiled too.
...
One day later.
At the port.
"I knew you would come." Renzo folded his arms, his face full of teasing, and tilted his head to look at Rhomann behind Richard. "Look at him. See how happily he's smiling."
"****" Rhomann Dey's face stank as he kept cursing Renzo for his shamelessness. Renzo had actually threatened them with the lives of Xandar, but they had accepted the threat, completely forgetting how they had used shameless methods to imprison Renzo.
This was the weakness of human nature and its most biased point.
People always tried to remove themselves completely from the bad things that happened, as if they were the most innocent one. Even when they were the culprits behind everything being destroyed, they kept shouting, "Throw away whether it was carried out or not. Is he right?" What were they shouting? "I didn't say I was right." "What is your attitude? Even if I'm wrong, what kind of attitude is that?"
Renzo summed it up like this—there was no one normal in a little fairy's family.
Evil people could only be punished by evil people. They wanted to imprison Renzo and his group and lock the Infinity Stones firmly in their hands. In that case, they could not blame Renzo for destroying Xandar. He had that ability.
"Here." Richard placed the blue Stone into Renzo's outstretched palm, his face pulled long. He was not even wearing the Nova-logo toilet helmet. "I hope you leave here as soon as possible!"
Richard bit down hard on the word "hope," practically gritting his teeth.
"And the Power Stone. I remember what I told you very clearly yesterday." Renzo smiled and said, "Don't be too greedy. The Power Stone belongs to Xandar. You have no right to take it away!"
Rhomann Dey really could not stand Renzo's greed and cursed, "A mere intelligent life, a man-made thing, dares to resist human beings? Believe it or not—"
Before he could finish speaking, Carter, standing to the side, swung his spear and struck Rhomann in the stomach, knocking him away.
"This thing is so heavy. It's really hard to use." Carter complained, completely ignoring Rhomann and Richard, as if he had merely swatted a fly.
Richard's face darkened. Irani, standing behind him, grabbed Rhomann, who wanted to fight Renzo. His pupils shone with hatred. If Renzo had been weak, he would already have been cut into pieces by these people.
"You guys go up first," Renzo said without turning back. Seeing this, Dr. Banner pulled the arrogant Carter away and boarded the spacecraft. He also wanted to check whether any time bombs or other devices had been installed on the ship, just in case.
He did not trust aliens, just as civilians did not trust Hulk. He was full of suspicion and doubt, always feeling that the other party might pose a threat to his life.
"I don't want him to come out. After all, I was trapped inside for more than two years," Dr. Banner muttered to himself as he walked. Carter did not understand what he was talking about at all and thought this was a common problem among scientists—too much stress.
"Richard, take back that ugly face you're making." Renzo smiled and patted Richard on the shoulder, then leaned close to his ear and whispered something.
Richard's expression suddenly changed. His pupils widened abruptly, as if he had heard some major news.
"Is everything you said true?" Richard asked seriously, pointing his finger at Renzo's face. "If you lied to me, I'll make sure you enjoy being the prison's 'group favorite'!"
"It would be an honor!" Renzo smiled. Richard could not say anything more. He took out a ball-like object from his arms. "Take it. I hope I never see you again."
"Same here." Renzo took the orb, weighed it in his hand, and quietly opened it. A faint purple light shone on his face. This time, he finally saw clearly that the real Power Stone was inside.
"Bye-bye!"
After obtaining the items, Renzo immediately boarded the spacecraft. He scanned the hull with the Mind Stone and found that they really had not done anything, so he felt relieved and let Dr. Banner start the spacecraft.
"Why did you give him the Power Stone? Who will protect Xandar?"
Rhomann was so angry he could barely stand. He grabbed Richard's sleeve and questioned him.
"There's a reason I did this. Xandar won't need to worry about outside invasion in the short term... no, not for the next ten years. Our prestige has been demonstrated this time. They fear us and the Nova Corps."
Richard looked at the spaceship as it gradually turned into a small dot, mixed feelings filling his heart.
"I hope you weren't lying to me... and if it's true... I hope you can get rid of this trouble and save Earth."
"How were they willing to hand the Power Stone over to you? Although I've only been with them for a few short weeks, it's obvious they're the kind of people who will do whatever it takes to protect their planet."
"As extreme as Stark?"
"It feels even more extreme than Stark."
"The mustache is still arming the entire Earth with armor, but that's nothing compared to them."
Renzo lowered his head and played with the orb in his hand. Carter, standing beside him, was very curious and wanted to reach out to touch it.
Snap!
"Don't throw your life away. This is the most destructive of the Infinity Stones. Don't even touch it. If you stand even a little closer, you'll be wiped out by its aftermath." Renzo taught this little guy, who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth, a lesson and asked casually, "Where are you going? Should I take you to Kree territory?"
"I'm not going back. I want to follow you," Carter said righteously, rejecting Renzo's suggestion.
"Looks like we'll have to throw him onto some unknown asteroid along the way. Let's just hope there aren't any beasts on it." Dr. Banner joked as both hands operated the console. These things were no longer that novel to him. The past few weeks of research had allowed him to figure out how to use them.
He just could not build them.
"Then where are we going next? Back to Earth? I don't know Earth's coordinates—damn! Earth's coordinates aren't recorded here!" Dr. Banner yelled. What kind of broken spacecraft was this? It did not even have navigation.
"To Asgard!" A voice suddenly reached Banner's ears.
"What are you going there for? Looking for Thor?" Banner asked in surprise. "But I haven't seen him in a long time."
"Yes, but we should postpone the reunion." Renzo held the Space Stone and pointed it at the space in front of the spacecraft. Endless galaxies and dazzling asteroids appeared across the vastness of space. Not far away, a cluster of meteorites could be seen drifting through the desolate void.
A massive portal opened in front of the spacecraft, and Renzo and the others rushed in.
__________________________________________
You can read early chapters on Patr*on. If you enjoy my work and would like to support me, consider becoming a patron. My Patr*on username is Renzo28557.