Chapter 468: Another New World?
"No problem! I promise you."
Banner nodded excitedly in agreement. His painstaking efforts to plead with the Ancient One hadn't been in vain; the Time Stone was finally in his hands.
The Ancient One glanced at the overly emotional Banner and sent his soul back into the Hulk's body. Then, she solemnly handed the stone to him.
Professor Hulk stood up, the Time Stone in his grasp, as his temporal suit rematerialized over his skin. "I'll be back soon."
In a flash of white light, the Hulk's massive frame vanished.
"Come out," the Ancient One said, turning with a smile.
As soon as she spoke, Silas leaped down from the side. "Will there be any accidents?"
"Hmph~" The Ancient One only smiled and didn't say much. She looked up at the sky. "What do you plan to do about that nuclear missile?"
The Real World
Violent dust storms had raged across the desert for half an hour before finally calming down.
"Did it work?" Silas stood up, feeling a surge of excitement as he overlooked the vast, dust-covered wasteland. Sensing that the runaway energy from his amplifier had dissipated, he channeled the power of the Wind Demon, Xiao Feng.
The dust particles still swirling in the air were suddenly caught by a gentle breeze, settling softly onto the ground. Silas leaped down, a wall of wind surrounding him to keep the grit off his clothes.
"So much sand?" Only after landing did he realize his amplifier was completely buried. Even the Rabbit Talisman was submerged somewhere. However, since he shared a connection with the talisman, he closed his eyes, sensed its location, and used the Levitation power of the Rooster Talisman to pull it from the depths.
Whoosh—
Silas gently blew the dust off the Rabbit Talisman. A moment later, it dissolved into a stream of pure energy and surged into his chest.
"It worked!" He felt the power of the Rabbit Talisman and grinned. His amplifier had been a success!
The power of the Rabbit Talisman had been increased by more than tenfold. This wasn't even its ultimate limit; if Silas increased his magical output, running through the river of time at speeds exceeding light was entirely possible.
Unfortunately, the amplifier was a total loss. Its destruction meant he couldn't boost the other talismans this way for now. While the System could strengthen them, it required a massive amount of Justice and Evil points—costs that doubled with every upgrade. He couldn't afford that right now.
The homemade amplifier was better; no points were required, just time and energy. It was a shame the materials weren't readily available in the real world, or he could have built a non-disposable version in ten minutes.
Rumble!
The earth began to tremble. Mountains rose from the flat ground, surrounding Silas to form a natural fortress. This was the power of the Earth and Mountain Demons, used to test the strength of Demon Chi in this world. It appeared that his power was at least city-level, and that wasn't even at full capacity.
"Blacklight, how is the 'Wall-Breaker' coming along?" Silas asked, reshaping the mountains around him.
"Master, it is halfway finished. With the technical data we have, we will be ready for the first test in about ten days," Blacklight calculated.
Silas nodded. He could wait ten days. His main concern was not knowing where the Marvel world was in its timeline or what the time dilation between the two worlds was.
"I have to test it first." He had originally planned to return to the Marvel world to see if the Rabbit Talisman could traverse space-time, but he couldn't wait.
He looked up at the mountain peak and, in the next instant, appeared on the desert plain. Combining the Rabbit's speed with the Rooster's flight, he easily broke the third cosmic velocity within Earth's atmosphere, reaching a staggering 20 kilometers per second.
However, to traverse time, he needed to reach the speed of light—approximately 300,000 kilometers per second.
Standing on the endless plain, he stretched his limbs. "Time travel test, attempt number one!"
He vanished. As his speed increased, the world around him began to go still. Sound faded away. Following his plan, he ran against the Earth's rotation, pouring every ounce of the Rabbit Talisman's power into his legs.
When his speed reached a critical threshold, he finally realized the importance of the Dog Talisman; without its immortality, his body would have disintegrated under the friction.
"Still not fast enough!" A spark flashed in his eyes. He saw the world starting to rewind—the threshold was right there!
Bang!
Just as he reached the peak of excitement, a portal opened before him. In the blink of an eye, he was swallowed by the void and vanished from Earth.
"Master?" Blacklight lost the signal. It immediately began hijacking every satellite and networked device on the planet, desperately searching for a trace of him.
The Marvel World — Vormir
"We'll head to Vormir then," Natasha said, tossing a miniaturized starship onto the ground. It expanded instantly to the size of a Quinjet.
"Good luck," Rhodey nodded, watching Natasha and Clint leave Xandar. Nebula watched them go, her expression unreadable.
"Someone's coming," Rhodey whispered, hearing movement. Nebula quickly pulled him behind a rock.
A moment later, Peter Quill—Star-Lord—walked in, wearing his headphones and performing his signature dance moves.
"Is he an idiot?" Rhodey asked, looking disgusted.
Nebula looked embarrassed. "Yes. He is an idiot."
Rhodey crept up behind Quill. Just as Quill was lost in the music, a metal fist met the side of his head.
Thud!
Quill was knocked out cold. Nebula quickly grabbed the tools from his bag. They headed toward the Power Stone.
Meanwhile, Natasha and Clint had reached the peaks of Vormir. From the Red Skull, they learned the grim price: a soul for a soul. To obtain the stone, one had to sacrifice what they loved most.
The two friends began to fight—not out of hate, but out of a desperate desire to save the other.
"Remember? You said you wanted to see your wife and daughter again," Natasha said, pinning Clint down.
Clint gritted his teeth. "Not like this!"
"This is the best way." Natasha used her legs to lock Clint's neck, breaking his hold as she lunged toward the cliff's edge.
"Stop, Nat!" Clint tried to grab her, but he was pinned. He eventually managed to snag her hand as they both dangled over the abyss, his other hand anchored by a grappling arrow.
"If you do this, there's no hope for either of us," Natasha said, looking up at him.
"I..." Clint started to speak, but a familiar voice suddenly echoed through the desolate air.
"Marvel, I'm back!"
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