On the other side, atop the Stark Tower in the center of Manhattan, New York.
Under Loki's mind control, Professor Selvig completed the final calibration procedure.
The massive device in front of him suddenly whirred to life. The Tesseract at its center was activated and began to surge violently, accumulating a daunting, immense energy.
As the device reached its peak operation, the Tesseract's energy burst forth. A thick, pure-blue column of energy shot toward the sky, instantly tearing open the Manhattan skyline and forcibly holding open an enormous portal.
The other end of the portal revealed a deep, dead silent expanse of space.
At the edge of the view, a grotesque space fortress silently hovered in the darkness, surrounded by densely packed, peculiar figures.
These figures had pallid skin, lean bodies, wore metal armor, and possessed hideous faces—clearly not an Earth species.
The moment the portal opened, these alien warriors immediately piloted their bizarre single-seater flyers, emitting sharp, screeching calls, and swarmed out of the portal like a plague of locusts.
New York citizens who looked up and saw this scene were stunned speechless.
In recent days, they had first experienced a melee of iron robots, then witnessed a robot vs. monster battle, and now an alien army had appeared.
What exactly was New York? A sacred grinding spot for monsters?
How could all sorts of bizarre things spawn here?
Tony, clad in his Iron Man armor, was the first to arrive at the scene. Seeing the Chitauri soldiers constantly pouring out of the portal, he rushed forward without hesitation to intercept them. His shoulder weapons were fully deployed, and dozens of micro-missiles screamed out, blasting a large group of enemies out of the sky.
As the resident Marvel kryptonian (i.e., money-spender), his opening move was a million-dollar bombardment!
However, Tony alone couldn't stop the flood of an entire army.
Large numbers of Chitauri soldiers nimbly passed through the barrage, successfully breaching the airspace above Manhattan, then spread out like a plague in all directions. They even dive-bombed, sweeping the ground with maniacal fire, slaughtering the unarmed civilians.
Explosions and screams instantly erupted one after another, and panic rapidly spread throughout the entire city.
Yet, amidst this chaos, the superheroes hidden in various corners of the city did not stand idly by, stepping forward one after another.
Among them, Peter in his Spider-Man suit was the most conspicuous.
Relying on his webbing, he swung rapidly between skyscrapers, his agile figure tracing arcs in the air, continuously shooting down Chitauri soldiers who tried to attack civilians with astonishing speed.
"Ah!!!"
Just then, a scream of terror seemed to pierce the entire city.
Peter's heart tightened. Sensing a primal call, he immediately swung toward the sound, quickly spotting Mary Jane being pursued by two Chitauri soldiers.
He didn't hesitate, rushing forward with an aerial kick that downed both soldiers, swiftly rescuing Mary Jane.
Mary Jane was deeply moved, looking at Peter with a gaze full of adoration, declaring that today Spider-Man's webs completely triumphed over Harry's luxury car.
However, Peter's actions quickly drew the attention of more Chitauri soldiers, who rapidly assembled a squad and launched a fierce assault against Peter.
Peter had no choice but to hold Mary Jane and swing rapidly between the tall buildings, constantly dodging incoming energy blasts.
Mary Jane shrieked repeatedly, unleashing indiscriminate sonic attacks that made Peter's ears ring. He was simultaneously evading a relentless barrage of attacks and enduring the close-range sonic impact.
Worse still, as time went on, more and more Chitauri soldiers noticed the commotion around him and gradually joined the pursuit. Before long, dozens of Chitauri soldiers were following him in a massive procession. One might have thought Peter had bombed their home planet.
"Why are they all chasing me!?"
Peter felt utterly miserable.
Clutching Mary Jane, he was completely unable to fight back, only capable of dodging. His Spider-Sense kept blaring non-stop, as if every second was a flirtation with death.
Just as he was reaching his limit, a strangely shaped missile suddenly shot toward him from the side.
Peter was immediately shocked.
Why didn't his Spider-Sense react to this missile?
Peter instinctively tried to dodge, but the missile suddenly arced strangely in mid-air. Instead of hitting him, it cleverly maneuvered around him and headed straight for the overwhelming Chitauri army hot on his heels.
Rumble!!
The missile exploded violently, and searing flames instantly consumed several Chitauri soldiers.
And after the missile exploded, four smaller bombs popped out of it, landing on the surrounding Chitauri soldiers and triggering a chain of explosions!
Amidst the consecutive massive blasts, the once-massive pursuit force was blown to shreds, leaving only a few stragglers.
Peter stabilized himself from the shock and looked back toward the direction the missile had come from.
He saw Daniel standing calmly in the wind on the edge of a distant building's rooftop, a square-shaped missile launcher resting on his shoulder.
[Equipment: Loitering Munition]
Daniel had only just teleported back to New York and saw clusters of enemies gathered together.
Who could resist that?
So, he pulled out the Loitering Munition for some area clearing, and his kill count instantly surged by dozens.
Following that, Daniel drew his golden Desert Eagle and began rapid-firing single shots at the remaining Chitauri soldiers. The energy bullets accurately pierced their heads, and they dropped instantly.
Peter saw Daniel, breathed a sigh of relief, and landed on the rooftop with Mary Jane.
"Oh my God, I'm so glad to see you. I don't know what's happening; a huge number of aliens are pouring out of the wormhole in the sky, and we just can't clear them all!"
Daniel explained, "That's the Chitauri army. We're handling it. By the way, are you interested in joining my team?"
"What team?" Peter asked in confusion.
"The Kick the Black Eyepatch's Ass Alliance. We currently have about five members, all highly skilled," Daniel offered no further explanation.
Peter scratched his head: "It sounds like this 'Black Eyepatch' is the mastermind behind all this?"
"You could put it that way. But the evil Black Eyepatch has already been dealt with by us, but his lackey, Loki, is still at large. These Chitauri forces were summoned by Loki."
"That despicable Black Eyepatch!"
Upon learning that the 'Black Eyepatch' was the culprit behind New York's chaos, Peter was instantly filled with righteous indignation and immediately agreed to join the Kick the Black Eyepatch's Ass Alliance.
[NPC Peter Parker has joined your team]
Daniel nodded: "Excellent. Now I have a mission for you: lure the mobs over for me, and I'll take care of clearing them."
"How do I lure them?"
As a young man who played video games often, Peter instantly understood what Daniel meant.
Daniel waved his hand: "Just swing around a few times. I see you're pretty good at pulling aggro. If that doesn't work, take this woman with you. Her sonic attacks can be heard several blocks away and will definitely attract a large number of enemies."
Peter: "..."
Mary Jane: "..."
In the end, Peter did not take Mary Jane, settling her in a relatively safe area before heading out to lure mobs as per Daniel's instructions.
After Peter left, Daniel checked the event's kill leaderboard.
The highest kill count currently belonged to Tony.
The kryptonian fought as if money was no object, constantly blasting out various expensive shells and missiles, literally cashing in his kill count to the top of the leaderboard.
Closely following him was Bruce. He rode in on the Quinjet piloted by Natasha, directly performed a transformation mid-air by jumping out, and turned into the Green Giant (Hulk) to fight monsters everywhere.
Further down were various names—both superheroes and ordinary people—all fighting to protect New York.
"I need to grind kills quickly, or the distance will become too great to catch up."
Daniel pulled out two golden Desert Eagles, activated Eyes of the Reaper, and began accurately rapid-firing at the Chitauri soldiers in the sky, one by one.
With Eyes of the Reaper locked on, Daniel didn't need to aim; every shot meant one less Chitauri soldier. His kill count continuously climbed at a visible rate.
However, Daniel felt this speed was still too slow, lagging far behind Tony's mass-clearing efficiency.
So, he pulled BT out of his game inventory, choosing to summon it rather than equip it directly.
Instantly, a giant steel mech descended from the sky, landing heavily and stably beside him. The machine's single blue-glowing eye quickly scanned the surroundings, finally locking onto Daniel below.
BT: [.]
Daniel: (o゜゜)o
BT is actually this tall when it stands up?
Daniel craned his neck and ordered: "BT, eliminate all Chitauri soldiers. Wipe out every single one you see."
"Received, Pilot."
BT took the command, immediately raised its XO-16 Chain Gun, and launched a furious barrage at the Chitauri soldiers in the air.
Da da da da da—!
As Daniel's equipment, all kills made by BT were naturally credited to Daniel.
With BT's powerful fire support, Daniel's kill count began to soar, comparable to a fully automated kill-farming machine.
And Peter did not disappoint Daniel either. Before long, he led a large group of Chitauri soldiers back, rapidly approaching his location.
"BT!"
At Daniel's command, BT instantly opened its shoulder missile bays as if by instinct.
Several micro-missiles, trailing fiery plumes, screamed out and exploded into fireballs among the pursuing mob behind Peter, utterly destroying them.
"Oh my god! Is that a mech!?"
Peter's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing BT.
Few boys could resist the allure of a mech, and Peter was naturally no exception.
Unfortunately, he was the typical example of 'the poor rely on mutation' and was destined never to afford a pay-to-win piece of equipment like a mech.
Daniel nodded: "That's right. You keep luring mobs; BT will stay here to clear the area. I need to go grind in other sectors."
After grinding for a while, he realized that his and BT's combined firepower was too overwhelming. The enemy refresh rate in a single area simply couldn't keep up with their output, leading to severe efficiency overflow.
Splitting up was clearly the smarter choice.
Before Peter could respond, Daniel leaped off the edge of the rooftop, landing precisely on a passing Chitauri flyer.
"Gala!?"
The Chitauri soldier on the flyer looked bewildered, seeing Daniel suddenly board their vehicle.
Before it could react, Daniel grabbed its neck and casually tossed it into the air.
The movement was clean and quick, reminiscent of his style back in Los Santos.
Just then, Tony's urgent voice blared in his communicator: "I need backup! The enemies here are too many; I just can't kill them all!"
"Oh, you have such a good thing going on? Wait for me, I'm coming right away!"
Hearing this, Daniel instantly felt invigorated.
He quickly scanned the map for Tony's coordinates and immediately piloted the stolen Chitauri flyer toward the Stark Tower rooftop.
Soon, Daniel arrived at the scene, only to see a sky overwhelmingly obscured by Chitauri soldiers. Tony was maneuvering through them at high speed, firing energy blasts from his palms and micro-missiles, yet he still struggled to break through the dense encirclement.
"Tony, I'm at your six! Catch me!"
Tony immediately turned upon hearing the voice, just in time to see Daniel piloting the wobbling enemy flyer straight toward him.
Before he could say anything, Daniel leaped up, landing directly on his Iron Man suit. The gravity boots instantly activated, firmly securing the person to the back of the armor.
At first glance, it looked as if Daniel was flying through the air atop Iron Man.
Tony: "???"
Wait, how did I suddenly become a mount?
Daniel didn't hesitate. Standing on his newly captured mount, Tony, he quickly pulled a Gatling Heavy Machine Gun from his game inventory, aimed it at the enemy swarm in the air, and opened fire!
Da da da da da da—!!!
Fierce firepower instantly erupted. Countless bullets poured out of the high-speed rotating barrel, forming a searing storm of metal that easily tore through the Chitauri bodies and armor.
Daniel's ferocious assault immediately drew the attention of a large number of Chitauri soldiers.
They rapidly assembled into a massive formation, surging toward Daniel and Tony like a gathering storm cloud.
Faced with this terrifying formation, Daniel remained utterly unfazed, shouting at Tony: "Tony! Charge through!"
Tony: "..."
He's really treating me like a damn mount, isn't he!
But he didn't refuse, choosing to trust Daniel. He engaged his thrusters fully, rushing headlong into the Chitauri army.
"Use the S-Bullet!"
Daniel decisively used the reward item he had just acquired.
The next moment, the Gatling gun in his hand underwent a bizarre transformation. The barrel split into several searing lines of fire, simultaneously spewing firepower in various directions!
Instantly, the entire screen was filled with a barrage. The dense network of fire completely covered the airspace.
Clusters of Chitauri soldiers fell like harvested wheat. Explosions of fire continuously blossomed in the air, creating a scene that was both shocking and incredibly satisfying!
Covering fire is truly the best!
Tony was speechless.
Why is this Gatling gun splitting its stream like me?
Wait, I don't split my stream!
And so, Tony piloted the Iron Armor, and Daniel piloted Tony, carving a path through the sky!
Mid-way, they even got carried away and flew directly to the portal to "block the bridge."
The Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a bridge too!
Daniel used his overwhelming firepower to suppress the portal's exit, at one point making it nearly impossible for the Chitauri soldiers to emerge. This created a brief vacuum in the enemy's deployment and bought valuable breathing room for the ground battle.
Simultaneously, Daniel's kill count began to skyrocket, quickly surpassing several people and seizing the top spot on the leaderboard.
Even Tony, the whale (i.e., big spender), was firmly suppressed beneath him.
Well, in a physical sense, he was literally being stepped on.
However, this joy didn't last long. Daniel's expression suddenly changed: "Oh no, Tony, my ammo consumption is too fast. I need to reload quickly!"
Although activating Eyes of the Reaper gave him infinite magazine capacity—automatically refilling the current weapon's magazine—it still consumed physical bullets normally.
Tony's heart sank, and he quickly asked, "What, are you out of ammo?"
"Not quite. I still have about 80% of my bullets left."
Tony: "..."
You have 80% left! Why are you reloading!?
In truth, the effect of Daniel's S-Bullet had ended. If he stayed to block the bridge at the portal, he would soon be engulfed by the Chitauri forces surging from behind.
Since his kill count was already more than sufficient, and as long as BT continued to clear enemies, he would remain at the top of the leaderboard.
Just then, an unusual surge emanated from the portal.
Several exceptionally large, semi-mechanical creatures, like metallic leviathans, slowly passed through the portal. Their grotesque heads rotated, and their cold gazes instantly locked onto Daniel and Tony.
"Run!"
Daniel shouted. His mount, Tony, reacted instantly, engaging his thrusters fully and flying away with a dazzling tail flame.
But the mechanical leviathans seemed to have locked onto them, chasing relentlessly behind the pair, their massive bodies moving without any apparent clumsiness.
"You hold them off for a bit! I'll come back to help once I've restocked my ammo!"
Daniel decisively abandoned his mount, Tony, and in the face of the billionaire's look of disbelief, turned and leaped from the skyscraper thousands of feet in the air.
The wind roared past his ears, the ground scenery rapidly enlarged, and Daniel plunged toward the earth like a meteor.
"Leap of Faith!"
The moment he activated the skill, a stack of dry hay bales appeared out of thin air directly beneath him, safely catching him.
Daniel stood up, completely unharmed, and found his other two teammates, Steve and Natasha, fighting in the same area.
Of course, Steve was doing the heavy lifting in direct combat; Natasha's small handgun couldn't even penetrate the Chitauri soldiers' metal armor, making her purely a freeloader.
Just then, Daniel noticed something odd about Steve's shield: its surface was pitch black, with no visible pattern.
Daniel pulled out two golden Desert Eagles, casually eliminated the Chitauri soldiers surrounding the two, and walked up to ask, "Steve, why are you fighting with a black frying pan?"
Steve: "..."
During his previous encounter with the Winter Soldier, he realized that covering the shield with cloth was ineffective and risked exposing his identity as a Hydra Captain at any moment.
In desperation, he had to find black paint and thoroughly cover the Hydra emblem on the shield while en route to the battle. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare use it.
Steve promptly skipped the topic and said with a serious expression: "We just woke up Dr. Selvig. According to him, only Loki's scepter can shut down the portal. We must find Loki and turn off the device as quickly as possible, or these alien forces will eventually overrun all of New York."
[NPC Steve Rogers has issued you a new mission]
[Mission: Shut Down the Portal]
[Objective: Obtain Loki's scepter and close the portal above New York]
[This mission is the final task of the main storyline. Players will receive generous rewards upon completion!]
"Leave it to me!"
Daniel immediately clicked on the mission tracker and quickly locked onto the scepter's location.
He deftly commandeered a passing Chitauri flyer and sped towards the target: the top of the Stark Tower.
Soon, Daniel arrived at the scene and saw Loki and his dear brother, Thor.
At that moment, Thor was clutching his kidney area, looking pained as Loki repeatedly beat him with the scepter.
Seeing this, Daniel steered the flyer to ram into Loki and leaped off at the last second. Loki, caught completely off guard, was slammed by the flyer right into the Stark Tower.
Daniel landed and looked at Thor, asking in confusion: "Thor, your injury hasn't healed? That shouldn't be the case with your physique."
Thor answered in pain: "No, this is a fresh stab wound from Loki."
Daniel: "..."
How many times has this happened now? Your kidney area is going to have more holes than a beehive.
Thor continued to explain: "Heimdall informed me of the situation on Midgard. Father used forbidden magic, sacrificing his own health, to teleport me to Earth. I wanted to find Loki to stop him, but he deceived me again and seized the opportunity to ambush me."
Daniel was utterly speechless: "Weren't you just fooled by him last time? How did you fall for it again?"
Thor vehemently swore: "Don't worry! I will absolutely not be fooled by Loki a 56,534th time!"
Daniel: "..."
You clearly haven't learned anything at all!
Ignoring the oblivious Thor, Daniel walked into the Stark Tower and saw Loki just climbing back to his feet.
But just one look, and Daniel couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Little brother, I haven't seen you in a while. How did your skin tone get nearly as dark as Heimdall's?"
It was understandable why Daniel couldn't hold back his laughter.
Though he had seen the video before, the blurry frame rate was nothing compared to seeing it in person. The Loki before him was not only several shades darker, but his once meticulously neat, smooth long hair had become explosively fluffy, subtly trending toward an Afro.
If Daniel couldn't see his identity information, he wouldn't recognize this person, who looked like he had just climbed out of a coal heap, as the elegantly cunning God of Mischief.
"It's all because of you, you damned mortal!"
The mention of this instantly ignited Loki's fury.
Ever since he was locked up in the Asgardian prison, Thor had visited him every day, inexplicably holding his hammer and zapping him with electricity.
What was worse, Thor never spoke after electrocuting him, only shaking his head, sighing, and leaving, only to return on time the next day for his execution.
Day after day, Loki himself lost count of how many electroshock therapy sessions he endured. Eventually, his entire body, except for his teeth and eyes, was nearly black.
Unable to take it anymore, Loki was forced to pretend to weep and apologize to Thor.
Of course, a shred of genuine feeling was mixed in there—he genuinely couldn't take the electricity anymore!
It was from Thor's mouth that he learned it was all Daniel's rotten idea that had subjected him to days of electroshock.
However, it was perhaps a blessing in disguise. Thanks to the electroshock, Loki unexpectedly awakened an invisibility talent and successfully escaped Asgard by stealing a spaceship under the cover of night.
Despite this, Loki still wanted nothing more than to tear Daniel limb from limb!