Watching Tony Stark calmly explain his potential death, everyone's mood was complex, with a hint of awkwardness.
If it were them, could they face their own deaths so calmly?
But there was no doubt, they thought Tony Stark's analysis made a lot of sense. Although it sounded fantastical, with talk of stones, cosmic resets, and resurrecting people, when linked together, many problems had a seemingly logical explanation.
"So, there's a problem. We estimated that Peter Parker would be going to college around 2017 or 2018. So we figured our annihilation would be around that time. But if you include the five years of disappearance, or slaughter, does that add another five years? For example, as Doctor Strange said, the five years of disappearance. That would push the timeline back five years. Meaning that point would be around 2022 or 2023. That's actually good news! We get five more years!" Natasha (Black Widow) said with a smile.
But her smile was a little forced.
"Yes, we've gained five years!" Tony Stark said with a slight smile.
"But Tony, Lin Feng said you were sharp-tongued, and that's absolutely right. You haven't even met Stephen yet, and you've already given him a nickname, 'The Ringmaster'? Oh, if he hears about this, he'll probably be furious, hahaha." Hawkeye Barton laughed heartily, then said.
Tony Stark shrugged. Well, he had accidentally, unintentionally, spoken his mind. He was just being himself, definitely not being sharp-tongued.
In the Asgardian palace, Thor stared in shock at what Thanos was saying. Then, he turned to his father, Odin.
"Father, is what he's saying even possible? He's talking about wiping out half the universe's life and then restarting it?" Thor asked, clearly stunned.
"It's possible," Odin replied.
"How? Even someone at the Skyfather Level can't do that," Thor said, disbelievingly.
No one could count how many lives existed in the universe. The number of habitable planets was also impossible to estimate. Even the Asgardians, with all their power, would struggle to wipe out planets one by one. They'd basically have to start at birth and work until death to even make a dent.
It was just that absurd.
Even after all his years of fighting across the cosmos, Thor felt insignificant compared to the vastness of the universe.
In the vastness of the universe, so many factions manage to coexist, primarily because the universe is simply too enormous for any single entity to conquer it all.
"Because of the Infinity Gauntlet..." Odin, the Allfather, stated.
He recalled his own youth, when he was ambitious and sought to conquer the entire universe, collecting the Infinity Stones. For example, he once possessed the Space Stone, also known as the Tesseract.
And the Reality Stone!
Why didn't he continue? First, he was severely wounded during the war with his eldest daughter. Then, he had to suppress his daughter, making it basically impossible for him to conquer the entire universe.
Secondly, the Time Stone was in the hands of the Ancient One, and he couldn't defeat her.
Not to mention, the Ancient One was backed by the Vishanti.
It could basically be understood as: he died before he could achieve his goals.
But he still had some idea about the effect of the Infinity Stones when they were brought together.
His people, the Asgardians, had a significant background. They were descendants of a very ancient god on Earth, who later evolved into the Asgardian race.
In short, they had connections and understood the Infinity Stones, which were divine artifacts born at the beginning of the universe's Big Bang. Otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically created the Infinity Gauntlet, just to collect the Infinity Stones.
If Thanos simply slaughtered planet after planet, he didn't know how long it would take. But with the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones, it might be possible.
The three mentioned actions were all feasible, including Thanos slaughtering half the life in the universe and the Avengers reviving those killed after collecting the Infinity Stones.
Naturally, this also included the action of rebooting the universe.
Of course, this would come at a huge price, such as the death of that mortal called Tony Stark.
He just didn't understand. Since the Infinity Stones were collected by Thanos first, how could the Avengers steal them? It didn't make sense.
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, the Avengers' three heavy hitters in the image closed in on Thanos, intending to end him once and for all.
At this moment, Thanos truly revealed the terrifying power of a cosmic overlord. He showed why he could become the universe's ruler, why he succeeded in wiping out half of all life in the cosmos.
Even against the enhanced might of the Avengers' three strongest members, Thanos was unfazed.
Frankly, the power the Avengers' main trio displayed after more than a decade was far beyond what they had now.
Take Tony Stark's armor, for example. It had been improved and upgraded countless times, and the combat power it demonstrated was enough to single-handedly destroy an entire army.
And Thor, though he had become a bit of a slob, his true, core power – the fundamental essence of Thor – was truly terrifying. At this point, he was displaying a horrifying level of strength.
He was several tiers stronger than the Thor who had first appeared.
Even Captain Rogers's strength had noticeably improved. After all, when he was frozen, he had only recently received the Super Soldier Serum and hadn't fully developed his abilities. But after more than a decade of honing his skills in the future, Captain Rogers's power had undergone a complete transformation, which was visible to the naked eye.
The combined strength of the three was truly terrifying.
The expressions of the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, Thor, and the others were incredibly solemn. The strength Thanos displayed at this moment could be described as more than just suppression; that was putting it mildly.
Basically, he was just beating them from start to finish!
Thanos's physical strength was practically at the ceiling of what was possible, an invincible body, terrifying power. Anyone wanting to fight him could only rely on magic.
For example, Scarlet Witch, besides the terrifying power of her Chaos Magic, the most important thing was that she was magic-based, which gave her an advantage in combat.
But at that time, Scarlet Witch couldn't fully unleash her potential. It wasn't until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, after experiencing the loss of her brother, her husband, and her children, that she finally fully entered the Skyfather Level, even being able to launch a furious pursuit across the multiverse.
For the people she loved, for the sake of being with her children, she had completely lost control.
Everyone watching this scene gasped, once again contributing to global warming.
This scene was too terrifying. The three of them, in their peak strength over the next ten-plus years, had undergone earth-shattering changes. Yet, when they actually fought, this was the result.
Completely and utterly beaten, they were helpless even when they teamed up; they were no match for him.
"Hey, Thor, give me some power!" Tony Stark said in the midst of the battle, opening the energy collector behind his armor.
Thor understood what Tony Stark was trying to do. With a roar, he drew down an endless torrent of lightning from the heavens, injecting it into the armor. The Iron Man suit then erupted with several powerful energy beams, sweeping towards Thanos.
They had never heard of or seen such an attack before.
However, even with this, they still couldn't do anything to Thanos. Thanos continuously wielded his weapon, blocking these attacks. They couldn't pose any threat to him, and he slowly approached Tony Stark.
Seeing that he was about to reach Tony Stark, Thor had no other choice. He roared and, using his Stormbreaker, launched his hammer at Thanos.
The terrifying power unleashed by the Stormbreaker made everyone's blood run cold.
But Thanos reacted incredibly fast. He grabbed Tony Stark, using him as a shield to block the blow.
Bang!
With a deafening crash, Stormbreaker was knocked away, and Tony Stark was sent flying as well.
A series of collisions followed, the speed of which was breathtaking. It was so fast that people didn't dare even breathe, fearing they would miss a crucial attack with a single blink.
The battle had been brutal from the start. To be precise, the three key Avengers figures were utterly unable to contend with Thanos.
Even the term "contend" was a generous one, a mere attempt to save face; from beginning to end, they were being utterly dominated.
"Boss, wake up!" Friday, Tony Stark's new AI, frantically tried to rouse Tony. He had been knocked unconscious.
The scene was incredibly grim. The three core Avengers had employed every tactic they could, but none of it worked against Thanos. In terms of strength, Thanos was far superior.
In terms of physical attributes, Thanos was also far superior.
And in terms of stamina, Thanos was even stronger.
Almost a perfect, all-around warrior.
Unless he ran into a Skyfather Level powerhouse like the Ancient One from the magic side. If it were the Sorcerer Supreme in his usual state, Doctor Strange and the like would just be able to take a few more hits against Thanos.
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(End of Chapter)