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Thanos had never encountered such a difficult opponent.
His own strength was mediocre, and his combat experience was abysmal, yet with the Reality Stone in his hand, he was surprisingly able to fight him to a standstill.
When did such a peculiar fellow appear in the universe?
Thanos didn't understand this question, nor did he want to.
All he needed to know was that the Reality Stone in the opponent's hand was what he needed, and that was enough.
Having obtained the power stone from Ronan and donned the Infinity Gauntlet he had acquired from the Dwarves in advance, Thanos had taken the first step towards his ideal.
And now, the Reality Stone in the hand of the boy opposite him was the second step he was about to take.
So no matter what, Thanos would not back down; once the plan began, there would be no turning back.
Facing the opponents who suddenly came to disrupt his plans, Thanos had no mind to deal with them, and a single blast from the power stone destroyed the incoming spaceship.
"Ahhh!!! Thanos!!!"
The gem wielder opposite, seeing his companion's spaceship destroyed by Thanos, was stunned for a moment before letting out a roar.
His eyes were bloodshot, no longer as calm as he had been at first, and he furiously unleashed the full power of the gem on Thanos.
Seawater surged to the sky and poured down on Thanos.
But Thanos paid no mind to this seawater.
The power stone granted Thanos the ability to control all power in this world; the vast expanse of seawater, though seemingly mighty, was merely a matter of one punch for Thanos.
Purple energy covered his fist, and his left hand, bearing an Infinity Stone, struck forward fiercely.
Boom!!!
With one punch, all the seawater evaporated, and the surging energy engulfed the boy opposite.
However, that boy was also a tenacious fellow.
He forcefully burst out of the immense energy and attacked Thanos again.
He grabbed Thanos's waist, and the two began to exchange punches and kicks in mid-air.
They fell from the sky, landing on a small island below.
From space to a planet, and then from the planet's sky to its surface.
Their battle had been going on for a long time, and under such high-intensity combat, even though both their physical conditions were already at a cosmic level, they still felt fatigued.
Thanos gasped a few times but quickly recovered.
In contrast, looking at the boy opposite, he seemed utterly exhausted, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.
"It looks like you can't beat me."
Thanos slowly walked towards him.
The boy, who called himself Aquaman, showed expressions of anger and unwillingness on his face and charged at Thanos again.
He threw punches and kicks at Thanos, using his unsophisticated fighting style.
Thanos symbolically exchanged a few blows with him, then directly caught his swinging fist and distorted it forcefully.
"Ahhh!!!"
Thanos's immense strength caused the boy opposite to feel pain; although his arm was not yet broken, he still let out a cry of agony.
"Overestimating yourself leads to this outcome, but I must thank you for delivering the Reality Stone to me. I will grant you a more dignified death."
Thanos forced the opponent to his knees and easily removed the ring from his right hand.
But just as he removed the ring, Thanos heard a familiar voice:
"Father!!!"
"!"
In that instant, Thanos froze.
He turned to look aside, and not far away, from the wreckage of the crashed Milan, Gamora was struggling to crawl out and said to Thanos:
"...Enough, isn't it?"
"Oh, my daughter..."
Thanos looked at Gamora with eyes full of pity, "You shouldn't have betrayed me."
Gamora said nothing, merely staring at Thanos with a complex gaze filled with hatred and some inexplicable emotion.
Thanos was about to speak to his daughter, but suddenly, an enraged red figure ran out from the spaceship wreckage, dagger in hand, charging towards Thanos:
"Thanos!!! Pay for my wife and daughter!!!"
"I don't know you."
Thanos said softly to the reckless man charging at him, and he threw a punch at that person.
He didn't use much strength, nor did he even use the power stone; just one punch sent the charging Drax tumbling to the ground.
Ignoring Drax, Thanos looked at his daughter and was about to continue walking towards her.
But one after another, troublemakers appeared.
"I am Groot!"
Groot the tree-man ran out from somewhere, creating long vines to try and bind Thanos.
Rocket, the small raccoon with a jetpack, and Star-Lord, with jet boots, attacked Thanos separately; they grabbed Thanos's body, grabbed his gauntlet, trying to remove Thanos's gauntlet.
The wielder of the Reality Stone, who had recovered some strength, also immediately ran to Thanos's side, continuing to grapple with Thanos, trying to remove the gauntlet.
However... none of them were a match for Thanos.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!!!!
One punch, two punches, three punches; in just a few blows, Thanos knocked all of them to the ground one by one.
With no more obstacles, Thanos finally walked in front of his daughter and extended his hand to her:
"Gamora, come back with me."
"Heh, I will never... never be able to go back with you."
Standing in front of Thanos, Gamora suddenly gave a mocking smile, and then, to Thanos's astonishment, she turned into red ashes and dissipated before his eyes.
"?!"
This scene made Thanos freeze; he suddenly thought of something and immediately looked at his hand.
The power stone, which should have been there, and the Reality Stone, which he had just acquired, had both vanished.
Only an Infinity Gauntlet remained, devoid of any stones!
"Heh heh."
When Thanos discovered this, the 'Aquaman' whom he had defeated earlier, revealed a mocking smile on his face, and then his body transformed into a red light, dissipating before Thanos's eyes.
Subsequently, the Guardians of the Galaxy also vanished under the red light, just like him.
Except for Drax.
"This...?!!"
It wasn't just the enemies before him that turned into red light and dissipated; everything around him—the seawater, the island, the sky... all transformed into illusory red light.
When the red light completely faded, the surrounding scene appeared before Thanos.
This was not an island at all; it was a cliff by the sea.
The boy who had been fighting him stood together with Thanos's daughter, Gamora, and the companions Gamora had found.
In their hands, they held a special spherical orb, within which the faint glow of the power stone was visible.
And the boy who called himself Aquaman tightly clutched his right fist, with the Reality Stone above it emitting a dazzling light.
Maintaining the power of the Reality Stone, he spoke words of unclear meaning to Thanos:
"Thanos, when did you get the illusion that I wasn't using Kyoka Suigetsu... cough... the Reality Stone?"
Kevin folded his arms and said with a smile to Thanos.
Then, he swung his right hand down, and endless earth surged from the ground.
They formed a cage that tightly bound Thanos's body, and the moment they touched Thanos's body, they turned into metal, completely immobilizing him.
...
Upon seeing the water in the sky and the moon-like sunlight shining through the water, Kevin suddenly wondered if, in some sense, the Reality Stone was similar to Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu?
Could he, then, replicate Aizen's classic move?
Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu manipulated the enemy's five senses; Kevin, of course, couldn't manipulate Thanos's five senses, but he could create a scene that would feel real to all of Thanos's five senses.
Of course, everything created by the Reality Stone was real, not an illusion; this ability was even more powerful than Kyoka Suigetsu.
Using the 'illusion' created by the Reality Stone, Kevin had the illusory versions of himself and the Guardians of the Galaxy fight Thanos.
While the real him and the Guardians of the Galaxy were in a heated battle with Thanos, they tried to take Thanos's power stone.
This was not easy.
Because the powers of the stones would cancel each other out, Kevin's Reality Stone alone could not affect the power stone in Thanos's hand.
Getting close to it would be very difficult, even more difficult than imagined.
But fortunately, luck was on their side.
Star-Lord was also a top-tier thief in this world, with Kevin assisting, Groot helping from the side, and Gamora, who understood Thanos's habits, in charge of commanding.
The power stone was thus smoothly stolen by Star-Lord.
To be honest, the smoothness of it all was almost unbelievable; Kevin even had some doubts, wondering if he had misunderstood something, and if the result of him obtaining the power stone was actually an illusion created by Thanos.
However, thinking that this was only the Thanos from the "what if" series, and not the Thanos from the movie universe or comic universe, it didn't seem strange that he could achieve this much.
After all, in the "what if" series, Thanos could even be defeated by his own Black Order; is that even possible in the movie universe?
Anyway, regardless, the plan succeeded; the power stone in Thanos's hand was placed inside the orb, and Thanos himself was completely sealed by the sturdy metal Kevin created, with only his head remaining exposed.
Thanos was not foolish; upon seeing the special spirit orb in the hands of Kevin and his group, he instantly understood everything.
"So... everything was fake after all."
Thanos murmured to himself.
Kevin tossed the spirit orb in his hand, slowly exhaling:
"You are very strong, truly, but unfortunately, I have more tricks up my sleeve, especially since I have friends helping me, and you don't."
Star-Lord and the others risked being turned to ashes by the power stone to help Kevin, and this had already earned Kevin's recognition.
In this universe, Kevin was willing to be friends with them.
Or rather, they were already friends.
Thanos merely sighed at his words, with no fear of death in his eyes.
His gaze shifted to Gamora in the crowd and he asked:
"Are you also going to oppose me, daughter?"
"I was never your daughter! Never!"
Gamora drew a metal longsword and held it to Thanos's neck:
"You are not my father at all; my father and mother were killed by your own hands! You are my enemy!"
"Then why don't you strike, daughter?"
Even with Gamora's weapon at his vital point, Thanos remained calm.
Kneeling on the ground, he looked up and met Gamora's gaze, his eyes surprisingly holding a hint of 'benevolence'.
A benevolence that disgusted Gamora.
Yet, it was precisely this gaze that prevented Gamora from immediately striking down Thanos.
Yes, she just couldn't immediately strike.
"Because I wanted to see remorse in your eyes, but now..."
Swish—!
Gamora exerted force with her hand, and the blade, made of an unknown material, instantly severed Thanos's head!
Kevin: "!!"
Kevin was startled, and the Guardians of the Galaxy also widened their eyes at the sight.
Thanos... just died like that?
Seeing the purple potato's head rolling in the blood on the ground, Kevin had a surreal feeling.
Truly, if the Reality Stone wasn't in his hand, Kevin would genuinely have believed this was an illusion created by Thanos.
Just like the illusion he created for Gamora in the movie.
(The Overlord of the Universe, just died in Kevin's hands, but this is not the end; there are even more powerful enemies on Earth awaiting him.)
"..."
I heard that, thank you.
The Watcher's 'timely' narration finally made Kevin understand why Thanos died so easily.
It turned out that Thanos wasn't the final Boss of this universe at this stage; the final Boss at this stage was on Earth!
Thanos... he was just a minor, transitional Boss!
It makes sense; this is the Thanos from the 'what if' series, and the power levels in this series are inherently unscientific.
Ant-Man could wipe out the Avengers, Captain Carter could fight Infinity Ultron to a standstill, and Thanos was instantly defeated by Infinity Ultron.
So, is it really that hard to understand that Kevin leading the Guardians of the Galaxy killed Thanos now?
Kevin was deep in thought, staring at Thanos's corpse, but then he heard Gamora's crying.
This crying brought Kevin back to reality, and he looked at Gamora.
Gamora, who had personally killed Thanos, was now kneeling on the ground, crying with her face buried in her hands.
Perhaps Thanos was the enemy who killed Gamora's parents, but so many years of upbringing, so many years of familial bond, were not false.
Gamora hated Thanos, wishing she could kill him with her own hands.
But somewhere deep in her heart, perhaps she also implicitly regarded him as her father.
The feeling of personally killing one's own kin is not easy to bear; when the great revenge is exacted, when the obsession that has weighed on her heart completely disappears, it is not difficult to understand why Gamora would lose emotional control and cry bitterly.
Looking at Thanos's corpse on the ground, Kevin sighed softly. He turned to Star-Lord and said:
"Peter, go comfort her. Rocket, Groot, help me clean up Thanos's body; this is a bounty, after all."
"Oh, now you've got my attention."
At the mention of bounty, Rocket's eyes immediately lit up, and he immediately helped Kevin collect the body with Groot.
Finally, only Drax, who didn't know what to do, looked left and right, then looked at the deceased Thanos, and silently returned to the Milan.
His enemies were Ronan and Thanos; Drax had originally wanted to kill these two enemies himself, but they both died at Kevin's hands.
With his great revenge avenged, Drax didn't know what to do, and seeing that everyone else had things to be busy with, he simply returned to the ship to wait for them.
The Guardians of the Galaxy team packed up, preparing to return.
Kevin finally had free time to organize his current skill points.
Ronan, Thanos, important characters in the Marvel World; even though this was a 'what if' world, Kevin killing them could still earn him corresponding skill points.
Although not many, the two of them together contributed seven skill points to Kevin.
Ronan two, Thanos five.
And this was not the end; the Black Order, including Nebula, should also give him some skill points.
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