Carol Danvers felt as if she could already see her future.
A future where she defeated Thanos...
A future where the people of Earth looked at her with admiration and worship.
Originally, she believed that she did not care about such things.
But after seeing Nolan Lock...
She suddenly realized that she cared more than she had imagined.
She wanted this honor.
She wanted to see Nolan Lock unable to raise his head in front of her.
She wanted the reputation she gained on Earth to surpass Nolan Lock's.
So at this moment...
Carol made her decision.
She would not let this perfect opportunity slip away.
In the next instant...
Carol Danvers rushed toward Thanos.
Seeing Carol charging toward him...
Thanos' pupils contracted.
His expression became extremely ugly.
He had to admit...
Carol Danvers had chosen the perfect moment to strike.
Right now, he was fighting Nolan Lock.
He had no chance to spare any strength to deal with Carol.
Under these circumstances...
The only thing he could do was rely on his own strength to forcibly withstand her attack.
But Thanos knew very clearly...
Carol's power was terrifying.
Even though she was already severely weakened...
Blocking this attack would still not be easy.
However...
He had no other choice.
"Nolan Lock!"
Thanos looked at Nolan with uncontrollable rage.
If not for Nolan Lock...
How could he have fallen into such a difficult situation?
Originally...
He could have easily defeated everyone on Earth.
Then he would have taken the three Infinity Stones.
After collecting all six Infinity Stones...
He would have achieved his dream.
But now...
Everything had become nothing more than an impossible dream.
Making that dream come true had become incredibly difficult.
At least for him right now...
Achieving his goal was no longer simple.
But even so...
Thanos would never give up.
Hearing Thanos' roar...
Nolan's expression remained unchanged.
The Flame Sword in his hand suddenly struck toward Thanos.
At the corner of his eye...
He had already noticed Carol Danvers rushing forward.
Although Nolan was not satisfied with Carol's attitude...
He had to admit...
Her current action was indeed helping him.
If Carol could assist him in defeating Thanos...
He would not mind letting her take some of the credit.
After all...
For Nolan...
He no longer needed these so-called honors.
Among ordinary people...
His reputation had already reached an absolute peak.
But among Earth's higher authorities...
As the owner of Lock Tech...
He was the greatest problem in their eyes.
Because they had no power to oppose him.
Even if Nolan wanted to rule the entire Earth...
All the nations on the planet joining forces would still struggle to stop him.
The best possible outcome would only be mutual destruction.
And that was clearly something they could never accept.
But Nolan had never cared about what those leaders thought.
To him...
Honor no longer held any meaning.
What he wanted now...
Was simply to eliminate Thanos.
Then return home and live a peaceful life.
Compared to these endless troubles...
Wasn't living happily with the women he loved far better?
At that moment...
Carol Danvers had already reached Thanos.
She gathered every bit of energy her body could produce.
Then...
She launched her strongest attack.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion shook the battlefield.
Thanos was directly sent flying backward by Carol's punch.
While fighting Nolan...
He simply did not have enough strength to block Carol's attack.
Seeing Thanos being knocked away...
A delighted expression appeared on Carol's face.
Success!
She did not believe Thanos could survive this attack.
This was her full-power strike.
It was completely different from her previous attacks.
Carol believed that even Nolan Lock could not unleash this level of power.
Because this was the unique power of cosmic energy.
Only she...
Or someone like Thanos who possessed three Infinity Stones...
Could display such strength.
However...
Her excitement quickly disappeared.
In the distance...
Thanos crashed heavily into the ground.
The impact created a terrifying shockwave that spread across several kilometers.
But in the end...
Thanos still stood up.
His expression was cold.
His body was covered in wounds.
Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Yet...
His right hand still firmly gripped the Tyrant's Blade.
Using the weapon...
He forced himself to remain standing.
He stared coldly at Nolan and Carol.
Nolan looked at Thanos' condition.
He sighed helplessly.
"Wouldn't surrendering be better?"
"If you still want to retreat now, I believe you can escape our encirclement."
Nolan was not saying this out of arrogance.
It was simply reality.
Thanos' army was extremely powerful.
Even after fighting until now...
The Thanos army still had a slight advantage.
The reason they were being suppressed was because Nolan possessed too many powerful weapons.
If Thanos' army wanted to retreat...
Nolan's current weapons would have difficulty stopping them.
As long as Thanos boarded one of his ships...
He could quickly escape Earth's battlefield.
At that point...
Once Thanos returned to the universe...
Even Nolan could not guarantee that he would be able to kill him.
After all...
Thanos' territory covered almost the entire universe.
Beyond that...
The number of planets under his control was countless.
His military strength was enormous.
Even Nolan would find it extremely troublesome to fight against him.
Even if he unleashed his entire Mechanical Tide...
It would still be impossible to completely oppose Thanos' forces.
He would even have to worry about Earth being destroyed by Thanos' army.
Because although Nolan appeared to have the advantage now...
It was only because Thanos had not deployed his full military force.
The next battle...
Could be far more brutal than this one.
Of course...
Gathering such a massive army again would also require a long time.
Nolan believed that during that period...
Lock Tech's strength would rise to another level.
Even if a second war occurred...
He would never lose.
But for Thanos...
Retreating was still the best choice.
However...
Everything Thanos was doing now showed that he had no intention of escaping.
Clearly...
He planned to rely on his own strength to destroy them completely.
Hearing Nolan's words...
Thanos laughed coldly.
"Do you think you have already won, Nolan Lock?"
"This war has only just begun."
"I have not lost."
"My army has not lost."
"Today, here on Earth, I will conquer this planet."
"I will take the two Infinity Stones in your possession."
"No one can stop what I have decided to accomplish."
Thanos spoke with absolute confidence.
But deep inside...
He had another concern.
He knew Nolan was right.
If he retreated now...
There was a high possibility he could escape successfully.
But so what?
The Thanos army here represented almost all the forces he could bring.
Although he still possessed vast territories and countless soldiers...
Gathering them again would take a long time.
What would happen by then?
He could not predict.
His armies also needed to remain stationed throughout the universe.
As one of the universe's rulers...
He had responsibilities.
If his entire army abandoned their positions...
The entire universe could fall into chaos.
Thanos wanted to restore balance.
But he did not want to create endless war to achieve it.
Using the Infinity Stones to fulfill his dream...
That was the fairest and most reasonable method.
But using war...
Would mean countless lives would be destroyed without any choice.
That went against his original intention.
Therefore...
He would never choose that path.
And right now...
Thanos did not believe he had lost.
Because although Nolan still looked powerful...
The reality was different.
Nolan's strength was strong.
But his body was empty.
His exhaustion had already deeply settled inside him.
He could not recover within such a short period.
Right now...
They were simply standing on the same starting line.
The only difference...
Was that Nolan still had allies.
But those allies were not powerful enough to threaten Thanos.
All he needed...
Was to defeat Nolan.
Then victory would belong to him.
So...
Thanos decided to gamble everything.
A gamble that he could defeat Nolan.
A gamble that he could complete his dream.
If he failed...
Then he would die here.
This was a battle where he had placed his life on the line.
He would not leave this battlefield before it ended.
Thanos looked back at his army.
At this moment...
His remaining Black Order members had all fallen.
The monstrous army had almost been completely eliminated by Earth's forces.
Only his soldiers remained, fighting desperately.
If he could win...
Even if he only defeated Nolan...
His remaining army would still help him complete his goal.
They would crush Earth's superheroes.
They would allow him to claim the final victory.
Although his body had suffered enormous damage...
Thanos believed his foundation was still enough.
Enough to perform the snap.
At that moment...
The consequences no longer mattered.
He only wanted to complete his dream.
His plan was excellent.
Unfortunately...
Nolan Lock's calculations were far deeper than Thanos imagined.
Although Thanos believed he still had a chance...
For Nolan...
Thanos' defeat was already inevitable.
Thanos possessed Infinity Stones.
He could use their power.
But Nolan had never been fighting alone.
He had the Avengers.
He had the Guardians of the Galaxy.
And most importantly...
Nolan himself was never merely a warrior.
He was a scientist.
That had never changed.
When brute force could not defeat an enemy...
It meant he needed to use another method.
Just like when he defeated Dormammu in the dimensional rift...
Now...
It was time to use another one of his trump cards.
This time...
Unlike Dormammu...
Thanos would have no chance to escape.
He would die on Earth.
This place would become his final battlefield.
Nolan remained calm.
Thanos' wish itself was not completely wrong.
But unfortunately...
His dream went against the wishes of countless others.
And it also went against Nolan's own beliefs.
There was no difference between noble and lowly wishes.
But today...
At this very moment...
Thanos was destined to fall on Earth.
Perhaps...
For Thanos...
This was also the best possible ending.
Thanos was a ruler.
A conqueror of the universe.
His entire life had been spent in endless battles.
And for someone like him...
Dying on Earth was perhaps the most perfect conclusion.
Because in this universe...
There was no place stronger than Earth.
Even if there was now...
In the future...
Earth would inevitably become the strongest world.
And Nolan Lock...
Would become the strongest person on the strongest planet.
Nolan looked at Thanos.
Then he spoke softly.
"Since you have already made your choice..."
"Prepare to face your death."
Hearing Nolan's words...
Thanos laughed coldly.
Death?
He would not die.
But at this moment...
Carol Danvers frowned as she looked at Nolan.
She understood Nolan very well.
Nolan Lock never spoke without reason.
Every time he declared something...
He had never failed.
Even when facing Carol herself...
When Nolan's strength was far below hers...
He had still forced her to compromise by threatening the safety of Earth.
A person like him...
Would never make empty threats.
A faint smile appeared on Carol's face.
This damn war...
Was finally coming to an end.
Although she was not the one who ended it...
At least...
She could finally rest.
The others also looked toward Nolan.
They waited.
They wanted to know what method Nolan would use to defeat an enemy as terrifying as Thanos.
Then...
Nolan gave them his answer.
He took out a super weapon he had used once before.
It looked like nothing more than a harmless...
Semi-transparent two-dimensional sheet.
But the moment Thanos saw it...
His pupils shrank.
Because at that moment...
He felt death.
A death that could not be resisted.
...
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