Shhk!
A string of faint sounds rang out in the darkness.
Sharp, thorny spikes pierced a warrior's chest like spears, then a second, a third…
In an instant, Bante had skewered dozens of Accusers like meat on a kebab—heart to heart—hoisted them high, and then slammed them viciously into the ground.
The Wild Demon Vine wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but it all came down to how you used it.
Even plants had a tenacious vitality that was not to be underestimated.
Bante had first attacked them with seed bombs, but those bombs weren't very strong. So he dropped the direct approach and instead created a type that, when detonated, released a powder that paralyzed their bodies.
Then, once the warriors were slowed and helpless, he finished them off.
At the same time, Felicia had defeated Nebula.
When both relied on technology, the vibranium suit was simply broken. No matter how Nebula struck, Felicia would dust herself off, stand up like nothing had happened, and reflect every ounce of that force right back at her.
Unless your power reached a certain level, there was just no way around vibranium.
If Nebula had the might of a War Lord wielding a battle axe, well, that would be a different story.
After defeating Nebula, Felicia attached a submission disk to the little skin Nebula had left, then slung her over her shoulder and walked over.
"You didn't kill her?"
Bante had already transformed back. Seeing Felicia approach with an unconscious Nebula, he asked out of curiosity.
"I thought the cybernetics on her looked pretty interesting, figured they might be useful," Felicia said.
Bante glanced at her, then shook his head. "Useless."
Author: I'm Really Not Cao Aman
Even without transforming into Grey Matter or Brainstorm, Bante had picked up a decent grasp of science under the influence of those two heroes.
The modifications on Nebula weren't just crude—they were also outdated.
A lot of it was machinery Thanos had installed ages ago. Over the years, Nebula had been drifting among space pirates and had little opportunity to upgrade her gear.
The whole thing was pure cyberpunk—looked the part, but in reality didn't have much that was actually useful.
"So… kill her?" Felicia asked.
Bante thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Forget it, keep her."
Back when he watched movies, Bante had rather liked this blue sister. Sure, this was the untamed, factory-default version, but that was no big deal.
Given some proper training later, he'd have her join the Guardians of the Galaxy, and then bring the Guardians under the banner of Tian Gong Hui. She'd make a capable operative.
If Tian Gong Hui was going to make a name across the universe, the more hands they had, the better.
They moved on.
This time they encountered no further obstacles and reached the deepest part of the temple in one breath.
On a stone platform at the very end, a hollow, gray metal sphere sat in silence.
"So this is the Orb?"
The two approached together. Felicia tossed Nebula to the ground and reached out to pick up the Orb.
But Bante sensed something was off.
"It's empty."
He reached out and took the Orb. Using a bit of pressure with his fingertips, he easily pried the outer shell open. Inside, there was nothing.
"Looks like the Orb isn't here."
Without an Infinity Stone, the Orb was just trash.
Well, not exactly. It was at least an antique, but in Bante's eyes, it held no value.
Now it all depended on whether the real Orb was with Peter or with Captain America.
As Bante was mulling this over, the temple began to shake violently. The ceiling above instantly tore apart, and chunks of stone and rubble rained down.
Felicia quickly braced herself against the stone platform.
"What's happening? Did we trigger some temple trap by picking up the Orb?"
She'd seen this sort of thing in movies plenty of times: when the adventurer or villain grabbed the treasure, the ruins' self-destruct mechanism would kick in, burying everyone in the wreckage.
"Probably not," Bante said, shaking his head.
He could feel an intense surge of energy erupting. A colossal force gathered into ripples, spreading out across the entire planet like endless ocean swells.
BOOM!!
Layer after layer of purple light flashed.
"Someone's awakened the Power Stone!" Bante immediately understood the source of this energy.
And from the direction of the energy waves, he pinpointed the Power Stone's location—it was in the temple where Star-Lord and Peter were.
Just then, his spider-sense flared.
Bante looked up. The cracks in the ceiling were still widening.
At this rate, even if the stone's power stopped spreading, the water pressure from the deep sea would cause the temple to collapse.
His spider-sense was warning him of exactly that.
"Put on your masks!"
There was no need for the reminder. Felicia had already covered her head again, and she'd even had her nanotech suit reshape into a two-person garment, wrapping Nebula inside as well.
The next moment—
WHOOOSH!
A deafening roar of water!
Violent waves tore through the ruins in an instant. Hundreds of tons of boulders and tens of thousands of tons of seawater churned into a colossal vortex, swallowing the temple in one gulp.
BOOM—
Like an earthquake, it threatened to bury Bante and Felicia completely.
Without hesitation, Bante pressed down on the Omnitrix.
"Diamondhead!"
The tall, green warrior stood proud even amidst the raging waters.
His crystal-like body glimmered with light. Facing the giant waves and flying rocks, Bante simply raised his arms.
RUMBLE—
A sound like the grinding of the planet's crust!
A cluster of enormous crystals rose around him, forming a sphere that enclosed Felicia and himself.
Then, more crystals burst forth, growing like ice.
In the blink of an eye, a kilometers-long pillar shot up like a sea-calming heavenly pillar!
The crystalline spire erupted from beneath Bante's feet, instantly carrying him and Felicia seven kilometers upward, piercing through the churning sea surface.
WHOOOSH!!!
The black ocean of Morag roared.
Lifting his gaze toward the other side of the world, Bante saw terrifying energy whipping up world-shattering waves, swelling like a white line on the horizon.
Dread thunderclouds spread, and purple lightning snarled.
Without a doubt, the Power Stone had truly been awakened.
But Bante had no idea what was happening on Peter's end.
He didn't know whether the stone had already been taken by Ronan, or if it had simply dropped to the ground after being awakened.
If he had to choose, Bante preferred the former.
Even if Ronan got the Power Stone, he wouldn't be too big a problem.
That man was wildly ambitious. After seizing the stone, he'd never become Thanos's lapdog. But Ronan couldn't unleash the stone's true power either, and Bante had ways to beat him.
On the other hand, if the stone fell to the ground, then this planet was doomed.
"Felicia, take her back to the ship. Contact the Captain and the others to evacuate."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to check it out."
Bante pressed his hand to the Omnitrix. In a flash, Diamondhead's form began to shift, and a streak of red lightning shot into the sky.
"Jetray!"
/-\
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