"These aliens are too weak. What made them think they could invade Earth?"
Peter Parker said with his hands on his hips, then noticed a few reporters approaching in the distance, so he struck a classic pose for them to capture the moment.
The fight between Ebony Maw and Wanda was quite intense, nearly destroying a block, which gave Peter and Pietro more time to rescue people. Their speed and webs were better suited for rescue than the weapon master Rumlow.
After Peter and Pietro had saved all the New York citizens affected by the battle, Rumlow had already dealt with Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight.
Even though Rumlow wasn't known for his speed, he was still much faster than Corvus Glaive.
Their weapons couldn't penetrate the energy armor Rumlow wore. Within ten minutes of fighting, Rumlow punched Corvus Glaive's head into the ground, the immense force creating a crater over two meters deep. Corvus Glaive died on the spot.
Proxima Midnight screamed in rage, wanting to avenge Corvus Glaive, but she was no match for Rumlow either.
She was slower than him and far weaker. Proxima Midnight soon followed Corvus Glaive's fate, her body cut in half. Her torso remained in a lunging, stabbing posture while her head rolled far away.
Wanda also controlled Ebony Maw, throwing him at Peter Parker's feet. Then he was restrained with webs and nano-current chains around his limbs and neck, ready to deliver a powerful electric shock at any sign of movement.
Peter asked the others, "What now? Should we go inside one of those ships?"
"The ship is already under my control. Just wait for the master to return."
18's voice came through their earpieces. Hearing the instruction gave the four of them a sense of direction; otherwise, they really had no experience dealing with aliens, especially that donut-shaped spaceship in the sky.
Wanda asked curiously, "Lady Kaguya, is Mr. Mirai not in New York?"
"They are currently on Titan, tens of billions of light-years away, dealing with the leader of this alien force. Fastest case, they'll be back in a second. Slowest, a few months."
Tens of billions of light-years!
They couldn't even imagine such a terrifying number. Human civilization couldn't reach that far, not even Wakanda probably.
"Take the bodies and the prisoner back to the company. Leave the rest to others."
After giving Peter Parker his instructions, 18 fell silent.
"Let's do as she says, everyone."
Then Peter Parker took out a spatial capsule, pressed it, and it turned into a large box with many compartments. If used to store bodies, it could hold thirty people.
But after taking out the box, Peter didn't move much. Ebony Maw was alive, so they could have Wanda control him back to the company. As for Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, they were a bit disgusting.
Did Lady Kaguya want them all brought back? If so, it would be better if Rumlow did it himself.
The four looked at each other, then Wanda and the other two simultaneously looked at Rumlow. He shrugged helplessly, then put on gloves, picked up the two bodies, placed them in the box, and pressed the button to turn it back into a spatial capsule.
Meanwhile, the spaceship in the sky was also controlled by 18 and flew away. Peter Parker and the others prepared to return to the company.
But suddenly, an Iron Man suit flew in from the sky. It wasn't Tony Stark's iconic red Iron Man suit, but one painted with the American flag pattern.
At the same time, military forces appeared from several nearby exits, slowly pushing away the civilians cheering for Spider-Man and the others, then surrounded Peter Parker.
Peter scratched his head and said helplessly, "Guys, is it just me, or do they not seem very friendly?"
Armored vehicles, attack helicopters, special forces, heavy machine guns, and super-soldier squads. If they had this kind of power, why didn't they come deal with the aliens earlier?
"This area is now under the control of the U.S. military. Whether it's the aliens or their spaceship, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, you must comply with the White House's orders: hand over everything you have and submit to inspection."
A military official shouted at Peter Parker and the others through a megaphone. The surrounding troops didn't look like they were joking; they seemed genuinely ready for battle.
"They have no shame. Can I take them out?"
Pietro already hated the U.S. military. He was a staunch anti-war activist, and the U.S. military was the biggest obstacle to world peace. If given the order, he would cripple all these people on the spot in one second.
Peter Parker didn't want a conflict and suggested helplessly, "I don't know what the master would think... Maybe contact Lady Kaguya?"
Rumlow stepped forward, about to speak, when another red Iron Man suit flew in from the air, quickly landing in front of the military's War Machine, and then opened its faceplate.
"Hey, wait a minute! Don't start anything yet!"
Tony Stark shouted at both sides. He had just been dealing with those three aliens, but Peter Parker and the others beat him to it. He wanted to deal with the aliens on the spaceship, but 18 beat him to that too. His painstakingly researched Iron Legion ended up only having the rescue model Mark series put to use.
But Tony thought things were over, only to see the military surrounding Spider-Man and his team.
"Dude, what are you trying to do? Start a war? You should know their power. Look at those tech items. Are you crazy?"
Rhodey also opened the faceplate of War Machine and said helplessly to Tony Stark, "They've got their orders. I have no choice but to obey. This has nothing to do with you, Tony. The military knows very well that ten missiles are currently aimed at Future Biopharmaceutical Company and their bioscience research center. Military forces are also taking over various machinery manufacturing centers around the country."
"You're playing with fire. I can tell you very clearly, you're playing with fire."
Tony Stark was so angry he was speechless after hearing Rhodey's words. True, the unidentified metal flying objects that had launched from his old weapons factory earlier were indeed frightening.
But to go after Future Biopharmaceutical Company just because of that? Tony Stark could only say that whoever suggested that had nothing but shit in their brains.
"If I wanted to, I could have Jarvis steal the nuclear launch codes within half an hour and start a war of human extinction. What do you think that AI, which is stronger than Jarvis, would do? Twenty minutes? Ten minutes? You're gambling with the safety of the entire world."
Just as Tony Stark finished saying this, a cloud of mist suddenly appeared in front of Peter Parker, and three people walked out of it.
They were Hyuga Mirai, Tsunade, and Kurenai Yuhi.
Tony Stark and the U.S. military personnel were stunned at the sight of Hyuga Mirai and the others. It was the first time they had seen women as charming as Tsunade and Kurenai Yuhi, truly like figures from mythology.
After returning to Earth, Hyuga Mirai first saw Peter Parker and the other four surrounded by the U.S. military. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you done here? Why haven't you gone back?"
"They surrounded us. Looks like they want a piece of the pie. The spaceship, the alien bodies, and the prisoner from earlier."
Peter briefly explained the situation. Hyuga Mirai also connected to 18 and learned the details from her.
"What greedy people. Is it because you have weapons that you're so confident?"
Hyuga Mirai said helplessly. Although his voice wasn't loud, he used the power of the Mind Stone to transmit it to the ears of all American politicians and military personnel. Before these people could react in surprise, Hyuga Mirai spoke again.
"Since that's how you all think, then don't rely on your weapons anymore."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tony Stark saw a red glow appear in Hyuga Mirai's hand. The red light instantly spread in all directions, reaching far away within just one second.
Then Rhodey's War Machine suit, the military's attack helicopters, the assault rifles in their hands, and all other weapons and equipment turned to dust.
Not only in the vicinity. The power of the Reality Stone spread across the entire United States. After being swept by the light of the Reality Stone, all military weapons turned to dust.
That included nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and so on.
As for the people on the submarines, they were teleported to nearby ground. Later, they would discover that all weapons of the U.S. military, including those of defense contractors, had vanished. However, Hyuga Mirai didn't go too far; at least the weapons in the hands of the police were preserved.
If they tallied the losses afterward, the estimate would be around ten trillion dollars. The world's number one military power was thus crippled, along with its entire defense industrial base. Even if they could still build factories with public spirit and manufacture weapons, without a decade or two and tens of trillions of dollars, they could never return to their previous scale.
"Let's go home."
After saying that, Hyuga Mirai used the power of the Space Stone to take himself, Peter Parker, and the others back.
After Hyuga Mirai left, Tony Stark looked at Rhodey in his military uniform, shrugged, and barely suppressed a laugh. "This should be what you guys like. But luckily, he didn't take it seriously, otherwise America would be truly finished."
With that, Tony Stark closed his faceplate and flew his Iron Man suit back to Stark Tower. He needed to find out what had just happened and what that red light had done.
"Master, are all the aliens taken care of?"
Hyuga Mirai answered Peter Parker's question: "Yeah, even the planet got smashed."
Peter was very curious and wanted to ask more questions, but Wanda quickly tugged at Peter and said to Hyuga Mirai, "Master, we'll go back now."
"Okay. There's a lot to deal with today, and things outside will probably be chaotic for a while. I'll need your help then."
After Hyuga Mirai said this, Peter and the others left the floor.
Only after they had all left did Hyuga Mirai speak: "Ancient One, it's not convenient for you to come over now. When I have time later, I'll extract Tiamut from Earth's core."
As soon as he said this, the Ancient One in Kamar-Taj heard it. She smiled and then gave up on the idea of opening a portal to come see Hyuga Mirai.
After obtaining the six Infinity Stones, Hyuga Mirai's understanding and application of the Stones had deepened significantly. In terms of proficiency, he was now ten times more efficient at using the Stones than before.
Once the room was empty, Hyuga Mirai released Hyuga Yue from the Start Sphere space. Yue immediately hugged Hyuga Mirai and patted him comfortingly.
"I'm fine. What are you comforting me for, kid?" Hyuga Mirai took Yue's hand away and said to her.
Kurenai Yuhi asked, "Mirai, when are you going to use the power of the Stones to connect to the ninja world?"
"Luckily, I can still detect the traces. Otherwise, relying solely on the power of this universe, it would be really hard to find our original world."
Hyuga Mirai said, then took out the six Infinity Stones and placed them all on his Truth-Seeking Ball gauntlet.
In an instant, the powers of the six Infinity Stones intertwined, creating countless rays of light, transforming into the most fundamental power of the universe, which Hyuga Mirai held in his palm. Time, Space, Soul, Mind, Power, and Reality. After possessing these six powers, he could even perceive the limits and boundaries of the universe.
A single universe has boundaries, and the energy within a single universe is finite. Hyuga Mirai didn't know if he could borrow the energy of his current universe to break through the multiverse and follow the spatial traces left from his arrival to find the way back.
"I'll go try it first. You wait for me here."
After saying that, Hyuga Mirai vanished from the room.
When he reappeared, it was in the exact region of space where he had first arrived in this universe. Then, the power of Time and Space slowly spun, and the image of this universe began to reverse.
When the scenes showing him, Kurenai, Tsunade, and the others first arriving here appeared again in space, Hyuga Mirai used the Space Stone's power to record that spatial node.
"If I open this spatial node, the energy contained in the source stones alone won't be enough..."
Hyuga Mirai thought to himself, then immediately began to gather the energy of the entire universe.
With the six Infinity Stones, he was now the master of this universe. The energy of the entire universe began to converge toward Hyuga Mirai's right hand. Various colored glows appeared on his body, spreading from his right hand to his whole body.
This was the power of the universe's origin. Every use of it would inflict difficult-to-heal injuries on the user.
As the universe's energy gathered, some galaxies on the periphery rapidly decayed. Because too much energy had been drained by the Infinity Stones, the lifespans of stars were exhausted within seconds, and they entered their decline phase.
The Celestial Tiamut, still sleeping in Earth's core, was directly extracted by Hyuga Mirai using the Space Stone, and all of its energy was channeled into the gauntlet.
He continued gathering the universe's energy until it became so much that he could barely lift his right hand. Only then did he struggle to snap his fingers.
Snap!
(End of chapter)