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Chapter 373: The Power Stone and Vormir
Xandar, the capital planet of the Xandarian Civilization and the homeworld of a powerful civilization within the Milky Way Galaxy.
At this moment, however, it had been conquered by Accuser Ronan. After the great war, the land was covered in ruins and corpses.
A tall, blue-skinned Kree, holding his Universal Weapon high, roared like a deity at the weeping people amidst the ruins.
"The time has come! You should rejoice! Forsake your false god, and you shall be saved!"
Ronan raised his Universal Weapon and roared, his eyes glinting with fanaticism. The ceaseless power flowing from his hand drove him further into madness.
If he were to smash the Universal Weapon into the ground, all of Xandar would be annihilated!
The purple stone embedded in the Universal Weapon had granted him the immense power to destroy his sworn enemy!
This was the power of a god!
The civilians and soldiers of Xandar, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy who had come to help, all lay powerlessly on the ground, despair in their eyes.
Ronan, possessing the Power Stone... was too powerful!
Star-Lord gritted his teeth, a look of resolve on his face. He glanced at Gamora beside him with eyes full of love, then, gritting his teeth again, prepared to risk his life and stand up... for a dance-off.
He was going to take Ronan down with a dance-off!
Whoosh!
Just as Ronan was about to smash his Universal Weapon into the ground, and just as Star-Lord was about to risk it all and unleash his ultimate move, a massive vortex suddenly appeared, churning with dense blue mist.
Deep within the mist, a white hole, the opposite of a black hole, seemed to be spewing out matter.
A figure slowly walked out of the vortex. He had a cold, sharp gaze, a resolute face, a black overcoat, and on his hand, a golden gauntlet that seemed to possess magical power.
Ronan's eyes widened as he looked over, and he was stunned by the first glance.
On the golden gauntlet, four lights flickered: blue, green, yellow, and red.
The blue light was the brightest, but it slowly dimmed as the spatial vortex began to shrink and disappear.
"You were saying... God?"
The mysterious man walked slowly. His calm tone, however, placed an incredibly terrifying pressure on everyone present, as if a boulder had suddenly been placed on their hearts, impossible to remove.
It was also like an invisible hand was squeezing their hearts, capable of killing them with the slightest pressure.
Before this figure in black, everything present, whether living or dead, was as lowly as a reptile.
Star-Lord lay on the ground, his body trembling slightly. He swallowed hard, not daring to lift his head. The crushing pressure on his soul felt just like... facing a deity!
A true god!
Ronan slowly lowered his raised Universal Weapon. The purple light flickering from it was indistinguishable from the four lights on Tony's right hand.
Ronan panted with difficulty. In the few steps the other man took, his body was already soaked with sweat.
"Who are you? How could you possibly have..."
Ronan's voice was incredibly hoarse. His lifelong pursuit, for which he had willingly become a lackey for Thanos, had led him to obtain the Power Stone only by a stroke of luck. The immense power intoxicated him, even leading him to openly provoke Thanos.
But before this man, his pride was utterly ridiculous.
Tony ignored the battle-scarred Guardians of the Galaxy. To him, they were just a bunch of nobodies.
Tony slowly extended his hand and said calmly, "Give me the Power Stone, and I'll spare your life."
Gulp!
Everyone with any knowledge was stunned. They stared dazedly at Tony, or rather, at Tony's right hand, their hearts trembling, their souls yielding in humility.
Could those all be Infinity Stones? But, four Infinity Stones... this man had collected four Infinity Stones all at once...
Unheard of!
How is this possible!
"How is this possible!"
Ronan's eyes were bloodshot. He panted heavily like a wild bull, roaring and bellowing. His hands, gripping the Universal Weapon, began to tremble.
This terrible feeling, just like when he faced Thanos, highlighted his own weakness... No, this was even more terrifying than facing Thanos!
No one, no one had ever been able to do this!
A single Infinity Stone was enough for a mortal to achieve deification, yet this person had actually gathered four of them!
"Not giving it to me? Then die. I don't have time to waste on you."
Like a deity, Tony didn't even bother using the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. He simply thrust his left hand forward, piercing straight through Ronan's body as if it were a sheet of paper.
Blue blood sprayed out as the fear in Ronan's eyes froze for eternity. The strength he was so proud of was pathetically weak before this man.
He opened his mouth, trying to say something.
They were words of surrender. He had approached Thanos in the same way before.
But Tony had no time to listen to his nonsense and killed him outright. The Infinity Gauntlet and the four Infinity Stones had elevated his body and soul to a terrifying level.
That was the Level Seven standard.
Accuser Ronan, the sworn enemy of Xandar, the one who had single-handedly taken down the Guardians of the Galaxy, had died so simply before Tony.
Tony picked up the Universal Weapon and paused for a moment. Then, with a wrench of his right hand, he pried the purple stone from it. This Universal Weapon was also a god-level weapon, but in Tony's eyes now, it was no different from trash.
The fifth Infinity Stone, the Power Stone, was now in Tony's possession.
"Sir, this stone is the property of Xandar!"
Star-Lord scrambled up from the ground in a wretched state. Suppressing his trembling, he swallowed and spoke with a feigned air of justice.
But the faces of the Xandarian leadership instantly darkened.
Damn it, what the hell does this have to do with us Xandarians? At a critical moment like this, we might just end up offending this God of Slaughter!
Was the one who had instantly killed Xandar's sworn enemy, Accuser Ronan, someone they could afford to offend?
"Hahaha, I approve of you! You've avenged me!" the big guy Drax leaped up like a madman, laughing wildly.
"Sir, we, the Guardians of the Galaxy, would be more than willing to give you this stone as a token of our friendship!" Star-Lord Quill declared righteously.
The Xandarian leadership was about to go insane. They couldn't resist the urge to shoot this bastard dead.
Why was he playing the good guy in the name of the Guardians of the Galaxy again?
Their hearts were filled with fear. They wanted to negotiate, but upon seeing Ronan's gruesome state, they were terrified beyond belief.
"Shut up if you don't want to die..." Tony murmured.
All sound came to an abrupt halt.
An energy collar materialized around the neck of every person present and began to tighten slowly. If Tony wished it, he could kill them all.
Tony set the Power Stone into the gauntlet's thumb socket. With a click, the sound seemed to resound throughout the entire universe.
It was like the gunshot before a prisoner's execution—a sound that decided fate.
Faint, and yet... it enveloped everything.
A terrifying burden descended abruptly. The five Infinity Stones unleashed their might on the Infinity Gauntlet all at once, linking together and erupting with an unimaginably terrifying power!
Even Tony couldn't help but let out a pained growl.
His bones began to turn to dust, his cells began to explode from the violent influx of energy.
But at the same time as this destruction, an even more astonishing power of regeneration was at work. His cells and bones were restored the very instant they were damaged.
The power of five Infinity Stones was loaded onto Tony alone. Beneath his feet were endless ruins, and he stood upon the corpses of a top-tier civilization!
The fifth Infinity Stone, acquired!
The universe was now within Tony's grasp!
He had a strong feeling that he could control this universe, and he could also destroy it! If he wanted to! If he used the power in his hand to do it!
In that instant, a very small number of powerhouses in the universe sensed it—a surging power, exploding and rising at an astonishing speed!
His strength gradually stabilized, but it would never stop growing!
"There's still one last stone... Vormir..."
Tony caressed the Infinity Gauntlet, his face devoid of any emotion. It was a wooden expression, a kind of numbness.
His body began to fall backward. Just before he hit the ground, he clenched his right fist, and a spatial vortex instantly appeared and swallowed him.
The devastated Xandar was once again restored to quiet—a deathly quiet.
The energy collars around people's necks had dissipated at some point, but they still didn't move a muscle, not even daring to swallow.
Everyone was drenched in sweat, their eyes filled with deep dread.
"That man... who on earth was he?"
"Whoever he is, he's not someone we can afford to provoke. We should be glad we're still alive."
A long time later, the frozen people began to discuss in low voices.
Some of the more knowledgeable people were deeply worried.
Something big was about to happen.
Was the strange disturbance in the universe caused by that man in black? What on earth did he want?
(end of chapter)
Xandar, the capital planet of the Xandarian Civilization and the homeworld of a powerful civilization within the Milky Way Galaxy.
At this moment, however, it had been conquered by Accuser Ronan. After the great war, the land was covered in ruins and corpses.
A tall, blue-skinned Kree, holding his Universal Weapon high, roared like a deity at the weeping people amidst the ruins.
"The time has come! You should rejoice! Forsake your false god, and you shall be saved!"
Ronan raised his Universal Weapon and roared, his eyes glinting with fanaticism. The ceaseless power flowing from his hand drove him further into madness.
If he were to smash the Universal Weapon into the ground, all of Xandar would be annihilated!
The purple stone embedded in the Universal Weapon had granted him the immense power to destroy his sworn enemy!
This was the power of a god!
The civilians and soldiers of Xandar, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy who had come to help, all lay powerlessly on the ground, despair in their eyes.
Ronan, possessing the Power Stone... was too powerful!
Star-Lord gritted his teeth, a look of resolve on his face. He glanced at Gamora beside him with eyes full of love, then, gritting his teeth again, prepared to risk his life and stand up... for a dance-off.
He was going to take Ronan down with a dance-off!
Whoosh!
Just as Ronan was about to smash his Universal Weapon into the ground, and just as Star-Lord was about to risk it all and unleash his ultimate move, a massive vortex suddenly appeared, churning with dense blue mist.
Deep within the mist, a white hole, the opposite of a black hole, seemed to be spewing out matter.
A figure slowly walked out of the vortex. He had a cold, sharp gaze, a resolute face, a black overcoat, and on his hand, a golden gauntlet that seemed to possess magical power.
Ronan's eyes widened as he looked over, and he was stunned by the first glance.
On the golden gauntlet, four lights flickered: blue, green, yellow, and red.
The blue light was the brightest, but it slowly dimmed as the spatial vortex began to shrink and disappear.
"You were saying... God?"
The mysterious man walked slowly. His calm tone, however, placed an incredibly terrifying pressure on everyone present, as if a boulder had suddenly been placed on their hearts, impossible to remove.
It was also like an invisible hand was squeezing their hearts, capable of killing them with the slightest pressure.
Before this figure in black, everything present, whether living or dead, was as lowly as a reptile.
Star-Lord lay on the ground, his body trembling slightly. He swallowed hard, not daring to lift his head. The crushing pressure on his soul felt just like... facing a deity!
A true god!
Ronan slowly lowered his raised Universal Weapon. The purple light flickering from it was indistinguishable from the four lights on Tony's right hand.
Ronan panted with difficulty. In the few steps the other man took, his body was already soaked with sweat.
"Who are you? How could you possibly have..."
Ronan's voice was incredibly hoarse. His lifelong pursuit, for which he had willingly become a lackey for Thanos, had led him to obtain the Power Stone only by a stroke of luck. The immense power intoxicated him, even leading him to openly provoke Thanos.
But before this man, his pride was utterly ridiculous.
Tony ignored the battle-scarred Guardians of the Galaxy. To him, they were just a bunch of nobodies.
Tony slowly extended his hand and said calmly, "Give me the Power Stone, and I'll spare your life."
Gulp!
Everyone with any knowledge was stunned. They stared dazedly at Tony, or rather, at Tony's right hand, their hearts trembling, their souls yielding in humility.
Could those all be Infinity Stones? But, four Infinity Stones... this man had collected four Infinity Stones all at once...
Unheard of!
How is this possible!
"How is this possible!"
Ronan's eyes were bloodshot. He panted heavily like a wild bull, roaring and bellowing. His hands, gripping the Universal Weapon, began to tremble.
This terrible feeling, just like when he faced Thanos, highlighted his own weakness... No, this was even more terrifying than facing Thanos!
No one, no one had ever been able to do this!
A single Infinity Stone was enough for a mortal to achieve deification, yet this person had actually gathered four of them!
"Not giving it to me? Then die. I don't have time to waste on you."
Like a deity, Tony didn't even bother using the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. He simply thrust his left hand forward, piercing straight through Ronan's body as if it were a sheet of paper.
Blue blood sprayed out as the fear in Ronan's eyes froze for eternity. The strength he was so proud of was pathetically weak before this man.
He opened his mouth, trying to say something.
They were words of surrender. He had approached Thanos in the same way before.
But Tony had no time to listen to his nonsense and killed him outright. The Infinity Gauntlet and the four Infinity Stones had elevated his body and soul to a terrifying level.
That was the Level Seven standard.
Accuser Ronan, the sworn enemy of Xandar, the one who had single-handedly taken down the Guardians of the Galaxy, had died so simply before Tony.
Tony picked up the Universal Weapon and paused for a moment. Then, with a wrench of his right hand, he pried the purple stone from it. This Universal Weapon was also a god-level weapon, but in Tony's eyes now, it was no different from trash.
The fifth Infinity Stone, the Power Stone, was now in Tony's possession.
"Sir, this stone is the property of Xandar!"
Star-Lord scrambled up from the ground in a wretched state. Suppressing his trembling, he swallowed and spoke with a feigned air of justice.
But the faces of the Xandarian leadership instantly darkened.
Damn it, what the hell does this have to do with us Xandarians? At a critical moment like this, we might just end up offending this God of Slaughter!
Was the one who had instantly killed Xandar's sworn enemy, Accuser Ronan, someone they could afford to offend?
"Hahaha, I approve of you! You've avenged me!" the big guy Drax leaped up like a madman, laughing wildly.
"Sir, we, the Guardians of the Galaxy, would be more than willing to give you this stone as a token of our friendship!" Star-Lord Quill declared righteously.
The Xandarian leadership was about to go insane. They couldn't resist the urge to shoot this bastard dead.
Why was he playing the good guy in the name of the Guardians of the Galaxy again?
Their hearts were filled with fear. They wanted to negotiate, but upon seeing Ronan's gruesome state, they were terrified beyond belief.
"Shut up if you don't want to die..." Tony murmured.
All sound came to an abrupt halt.
An energy collar materialized around the neck of every person present and began to tighten slowly. If Tony wished it, he could kill them all.
Tony set the Power Stone into the gauntlet's thumb socket. With a click, the sound seemed to resound throughout the entire universe.
It was like the gunshot before a prisoner's execution—a sound that decided fate.
Faint, and yet... it enveloped everything.
A terrifying burden descended abruptly. The five Infinity Stones unleashed their might on the Infinity Gauntlet all at once, linking together and erupting with an unimaginably terrifying power!
Even Tony couldn't help but let out a pained growl.
His bones began to turn to dust, his cells began to explode from the violent influx of energy.
But at the same time as this destruction, an even more astonishing power of regeneration was at work. His cells and bones were restored the very instant they were damaged.
The power of five Infinity Stones was loaded onto Tony alone. Beneath his feet were endless ruins, and he stood upon the corpses of a top-tier civilization!
The fifth Infinity Stone, acquired!
The universe was now within Tony's grasp!
He had a strong feeling that he could control this universe, and he could also destroy it! If he wanted to! If he used the power in his hand to do it!
In that instant, a very small number of powerhouses in the universe sensed it—a surging power, exploding and rising at an astonishing speed!
His strength gradually stabilized, but it would never stop growing!
"There's still one last stone... Vormir..."
Tony caressed the Infinity Gauntlet, his face devoid of any emotion. It was a wooden expression, a kind of numbness.
His body began to fall backward. Just before he hit the ground, he clenched his right fist, and a spatial vortex instantly appeared and swallowed him.
The devastated Xandar was once again restored to quiet—a deathly quiet.
The energy collars around people's necks had dissipated at some point, but they still didn't move a muscle, not even daring to swallow.
Everyone was drenched in sweat, their eyes filled with deep dread.
"That man... who on earth was he?"
"Whoever he is, he's not someone we can afford to provoke. We should be glad we're still alive."
A long time later, the frozen people began to discuss in low voices.
Some of the more knowledgeable people were deeply worried.
Something big was about to happen.
Was the strange disturbance in the universe caused by that man in black? What on earth did he want?
(end of chapter)
