"Whew…" Hawkeye nearly dropped his compound bow, swallowing hard. "Are we… really fighting in the sa war as them?"
Black Widow's expression was equally shaken, her usual composure shattered by the sight. Only Captain Arica recovered quickly, relief glinting in his eyes—because he knew this ant Earth might yet be saved.
The Avengers disembarked in quietly complicated moods, approaching Lucci with deference.
"Prince Lucci," Tony Stark asked seriously, "What position will we be taking?"
Staring at those who, in history, were ant to be the main force, Lucci only gave a faint smile. "No need to rush. Prepare for battle and simply follow my command."
"Yes, Prince Lucci!" The Avengers responded in unison, and then—entirely consciously—stepped aside, keenly observing the terrifying power gathered around them.
…
anwhile, in Wakanda, Black Panther T'Challa and his sister Shuri counted a massive host appearing from nowhere on the plains, their eyes fixed to giant holo-screens.
As soon as the massive rainbow portal opened, alarms shrieked from Wakanda's energy monitoring system:
["Warning! Extre spatial energy fluctuations detected!"]
["Warning! Thousands of high-energy lifeforms detected! Energy readings rising rapidly!"]
["Beep! Beep! System overload! System overload! Unable to properly analyze target energy levels!"]
Pride of the world's smartest scientist, Shuri, now felt deep shock and disbelief. What was she seeing? These mutant energy reactions vastly exceeded her prior understanding.
For Lucci and the others, Wakanda's sophisticated detectors were like broken toys; the screen flashed "Unable to detect!" in giant red letters.
There were only two possibilities: either these beings had no energy… or their energy exceeded the system's upper limits so vastly that it crashed the sensors. The answer was obvious.
Shuri glanced unconsciously at the royal guards beside her, taking in the sight of Earth's United Legions—whose re presence radiated world-ending power. For the first ti, she began to doubt the technology she'd always been so proud of.
She turned quietly to her likewise grave brother and asked, "Brother… do we really have to join this war? Does our power… even matter when compared to them?"
T'Challa was silent for a long mont, eyes never leaving Lucci, who stood like a sun among stars, ringed by the mighty.
At last, in a quietly complex tone, he said, "Let's wait and see—if the so-called Thanos Prince Lucci spoke of really cos."
…
Their wait did not last long. Without warning, the entire sky went dark—not with rain clouds, but a deep, impenetrable darkness that seed to devour even light itself. A bone-deep, soul-chilling terror seized the hearts of all ordinary people in an instant.
On the Wakandan plains, all the heroes fell silent, staring solemnly at the "darkness" overhead.
Suddenly—the world-shaking, eardrum-shattering roar of space itself being torn asunder split the heavens!
In Earth's synchronous orbit, pitch-black space ripped like fragile canvas, a horrific crack appearing—out slithered a monstrous, ring-shaped golden battleship, as if crawling up from the abyss of hell.
This was the Sanctuary—Thanos's flagship—the roving fortress of slaughter!
Its re arrival cast a shadow over half a continent.
But that was only the beginning. As the Sanctuary arrived, thousands of massive alien warships of varying design but equal tallic brutality sward from the rift in space, like locusts. Gigantic Leviathans rose and fell among the fleet. Countless Chitauri flitted like blood-hungry mosquitoes around the mothership.
Under Thanos's command, a coalition of conquered races ford a suffocating steel armada in the sky, capable of annihilating any interstellar civilization.
Silent, not a shot fired—yet their presence was an ultimatum to Earth! In that mont, the world fell deathly still.
From Tis Square to the Thas, from Shibuya to the Pyramids… all people everywhere stopped what they were doing, staring fearfully at the apocalyptic scene overhead.
Despair swept across humanity's soul.
…
On the Wakandan plains.
Seeing Thanos's fleet, the Avengers turned pale.
"Shit…" Tony Stark swallowed, voice trembling—he thought he'd seen the worst after New York, but now realized Loki's Chitauri were re children's toys compared to Thanos's army.
Hawkeye and Black Widow exchanged glances—the scale of a true interstellar invasion was beyond their comprehension. Even the unshakeable Captain Arica gripped his shield with newfound anxiety.
In that instant, all eyes turned to Lucci. eting his steady gaze, even despairing heroes felt hope rekindled.
Yes… Prince Lucci is here! The one who destroyed the Chitauri mothership with a single stroke! As long as he is present, maybe… just maybe, hope remains!
…
In Wakanda.
The mont Thanos's armada split the heavens, Shuri gaped in astonishnt. "Oh my god… It's really happening… Prince Lucci—what he said was true!"
Beside her, Black Panther T'Challa reeled from the apocalyptic sight, his heart pounding. At that mont, all doubts vanished—eting such a cosmic foe with inaction was as good as inviting doom!
He drew a deep breath, forcefully tamped down his fear, and turned back, issuing his most resolute order yet:
"Relay my command!
All Wakandan tribes and royal guard—full assault, now!
Activate the border defense shield at maximum!
And—support Prince Lucci!"
…
Above Earth's orbit.
Thanos's steel fleet hung above the blue planet like the sword of Damocles, casting its chilly shadow of despair across every corner of the earth. All over the globe, as people fell into unprecedented panic and silent fear—a giant, cold, yet awe-inspiring hologram suddenly appeared above every city, town, and village.
Universally, the screen depicted a mighty purple-skinned alien giant with grooves on his chin, sitting on a throne and radiating ruthless Mad Titan—Thanos!
He gazed down indifferently, contempt for all things evident. Most striking of all—on his left hand, he wore an imnse golden Infinity Gauntlet, with six inlaid slots, two already filled and shining blindingly.
As Thanos looked down at the blue world, he spoke his decree in a cold, godlike tone:
"Earthlings. My patience is at an end. You have one final chance.
Surrender the Infinity Stones in your possession. Or…
I shall command the cleansing of this world!"
Though he did not raise his voice, the unquestionable will and utter disregard for life in his words chilled the spine of every listener! Cleansing? Any fool could guess nothing good would co from that.
But compared to fear, more people were left deeply confused.
Infinity Stones? What are those? Do such things truly exist on Earth? The world was at a loss.
…
On the Wakandan plains.
Lucci stood calmly, hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at Thanos' giant image, a playful smile at his lips.
"Good. So there are two, after all."
He imdiately recognized the bright glow of the Power and Soul Stones on Thanos's Gauntlet.
His appearance had changed the course of history in this universe. But it hadn't affected Thanos's collection progress much; at least, Thanos no longer had to spend endless ti searching the cosmos for these stones.
Lucci raised his right hand towards Thanos' image.
With a soft buzz of cosmic law, four radiant gems—each glowing with a different light, each a source of the universe itself—appeared over Lucci's palm!
Ti Stone! Space Stone! Mind Stone! Reality Stone!
The four Infinity Stones floated gently in Lucci's hand, like four small, gentle suns. Unlike the violent and nacing stones on Thanos's gauntlet, Lucci's glowed with a restrained harmony, as though born to be ruled by him.
And as they appeared, a profound cosmic resonance erupted! A silent yet overwhelming wave that ignored all space and distance, transmitting instantly—faster than light—to Thanos's Sanctuary!
Thanos, poised to give the attack order, was struck dumb. A deep, familiar, irresistible force knocked at the depths of his soul. His cold face twisted in disbelief.
He shot to his feet, eyes burning wild and greedy.
"This… This is the resonance of the Infinity Stones? And… not just one! There are four!"
Shocked, Ebony Maw asked: "Master, what's the matter?"
Thanos ignored him, never taking his gaze from Wakanda. His purple eyes blazed with unprecedented greed and madness. After an unknown ti, Thanos suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
"Hahahaha… Magnificent! Wonderful! This is truly fortune! Now I understand!"
His laughter was both ferocious and resolute, sending shivers down Ebony Maw's spine. The latter could only bow lower, not daring to question further.
Finally, Thanos stopped laughing, sharply pointed at Wakanda, and howled at Ebony Maw:
"Ebony Maw! Open the largest spatial portal at once! Order the entire army to attack! At any cost—bring those four stones!"
"What?" Ebony Maw was stunned. "F-four stones? Master… you an there are really four Infinity Stones on Earth?!"
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