After the Battle

"I’ll help you deal with this poison."

Arishem raised a hand and sent a beam of seven-colored light into Thanos’s body. Thanos clenched his fists and let out a pained growl. A moment later, the seven-colored light flew out of his body carrying gray mist.

Thanos dropped to his knees with a bang. He seemed extremely weak, but his face was filled with excitement, because the poison Blood God had planted in him had been stripped away by Arishem.

Arishem was one of the best in the Celestial Group, possessing power infinitely close to that of a Creator God. He was responsible for nurturing young Celestials! Arishem withdrew the seven-colored light and said to Thanos, "Be careful. Do not use your variants in front of Blood God again, or even I won’t be able to save you next time."

Thanos climbed to his feet and asked Arishem, "Can you help me develop an antidote?"

Arishem shook his head. "No. This isn’t ordinary poison. This is Mind Poison, created specifically to restrain you. Unless you can make those variants of yours stop hating you, there is no antidote."

Thanos sighed. After being devoured, how could they possibly not hate him? In fact, if all the Thanoses had not shared the same goal, he could never have ascended to become a Creator God by devouring himself.

"Without my variants, I definitely can’t defeat Blood God. Celestial Group, I can’t complete your mission."

Thanos said, "I’m not being unreasonable. I’m stating a fact."

"I know. Don’t worry. As long as you’re willing to accept this mission, I’ll give you help."

Arishem said, "Blood God is ultimately only an avatar. One-on-one, he is invincible beneath heaven, but you can gang up on him."

"Us?" Thanos asked.

"Yes, you."

Arishem nodded and waved his hand. Several phantoms appeared in the air. He said, "I created countless Eternals. Most are like the Eternals on Earth, mere tools, but a group of them successfully advanced to the level of ancient gods."

"They are my strongest subordinates, the leaders of the Eternals."

Arishem continued, "I will have them deal with Blood God alongside you."

Thanos looked up at the figures and asked in astonishment, "Why do they look exactly like the Eternals on Earth?"

"They were produced from the same template, so naturally they look the same."

Arishem said, "The Eternals are mass-produced. Each batch is responsible for a region of stars. I don’t have time to design a separate template for every Eternal."

"No wonder my ancestors escaped your control."

Thanos snorted. As mentioned before, he was also an Eternal, but his ancestors had chosen to betray the Celestial Group.

"Your ancestors were an interesting experiment," Arishem said.

Thanos was stunned. "An experiment?"

"Of course they were an experiment. Did you think they could truly escape the palm of my hand?"

Arishem said, "Thanos, besides these Eternals, you have another card: Tiamut, buried deep beneath Earth. A young Celestial. Though still young, it is about to be born and possesses the strength of an ancient god."

"Buried deep beneath Earth?"

Thanos’s eyes lit up. He asked, "So once it awakens, Earth will be destroyed?"

Arishem nodded. "Yes. However, Blood God tampered with it, and it is currently asleep. In addition, Blood God extracted part of its energy."

"Blood God extracted part of its energy?"

Thanos froze for a moment, then his expression turned ugly beyond measure. Clearly, this was one of Blood God’s trump cards. The problem was that he had failed to force Blood God to reveal it.

Not only had he been defeated by Blood God’s avatar, he had been defeated easily. To be honest, Thanos felt humiliated, but there was nothing he could do, because Blood God was truly too powerful.

"I will tell you how to awaken it."

Arishem said, "I don’t care what you do. I have only one demand: Iron Man must die."

"If I can defeat Blood God, Iron Man will definitely die. There’s no doubt about that."

After thinking for a moment, Thanos said, "Arishem, I need time to recover. Also, at the critical moment, you must act."

"I will only act if victory is certain."

Arishem said, "I’m not afraid of death, but my death must have value. After I act, I will immediately kill myself to calm Blood God’s anger."

"Is Blood God really that terrifying?" Thanos could not help asking. A Celestial infinitely close to becoming a Creator God actually had to use death to calm Blood God’s anger? Thanos simply could not imagine it.

"He is far more terrifying than you imagine. If we had any other choice, we would never be willing to oppose him."

Arishem said, "Besides, I won’t truly die. My core will reincarnate and revive. Simply put, I’m giving Blood God an explanation."

"It seems I need to reassess Blood God. If he can force a Celestial to death, his true body must be so powerful that it inspires despair."

Thanos could not help swallowing. He said, "No matter how strong he is, I will not admit defeat, nor will I give up, because I have no way back. If I admit defeat, I will lose everything, including my destiny and Death."

"I have no emotions, so I cannot understand your simp behavior."

Arishem shook his head. "This is only a transaction between us. I give you a hand, and you help me kill Iron Man."

Thanos was so furious that his face and neck reddened. "I’m not a simp. This is true love, understand?"

Arishem continued shaking his head. "I don’t. I only know that love has never been one-sided sacrifice. Your simp behavior merely satisfies yourself."

Thanos gritted his teeth. If he were not injured right now, he would definitely kill this bastard. Thinking of something, he asked, "By the way, why have the Five Creator Gods of this universe never appeared?"

"Because the time has not come."

Arishem said, "Unless the time is ripe, they will never appear. At present, the safety of this universe is handled by our Celestial Group."

"The time has not come?"

Thanos was quite surprised, then shook his head. "Help me find my brother, Starfox. I have a plan that requires his cooperation."

"Very well."

Arishem nodded, and his figure gradually faded. "Make any request you want, as long as you kill Iron Man for me."

Once Arishem had completely vanished, Thanos narrowed his eyes. Why did the Celestial Group insist on killing Iron Man? That guy might deserve a beating, but he should not have become a public enemy of the universe.

"Iron Man seems to have become the core of this universe?"

Thanos shook his head and put the matter aside. His immediate priorities were recovering from his injuries and making a plan. No matter what, he had to obtain Iron Man’s Materialism Power. Otherwise, even if he returned to the Main Universe, Blood God would only beat him down.

Thanos secretly sighed. What a terrifying Blood God.

On Green Forest Star, Wang Bert appeared before everyone and said, "Thanos escaped. Someone helped him."

"Damn it."

Everyone’s expressions turned ugly. Thanos was a Creator God. Letting him escape would bring endless future trouble. He was a Creator God who could shatter Earth with a single punch.

Wang Bert said, "Don’t worry. When he appears again, I’ll kill him."

"Sorry to trouble you, Blood God. Luckily, we asked you to come. Otherwise, Earth couldn’t have stopped Thanos."

Steve said, "Old Tony couldn’t have stopped him either."

Black Widow asked, "Blood God, can you deal with that bastard Old Tony now?"

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Wang Bert was about to speak when a holographic projection appeared out of thin air. It was Old Tony.

Old Tony said, "Congratulations on defeating Thanos. If possible, I would like to know the details."

To be honest, Old Tony was deeply shocked. Blood God had actually used an avatar to defeat Thanos. It was simply unbelievable—Blood God and the others had appeared safely on Green Forest Star, so they had obviously won. There was no question about it.

"Loki, where do you think you’re running?"

Wang Bert ignored Old Tony and grabbed the fleeing Loki through the air. He said, "Your wedding with Thor was never completed. This time, I’ll personally officiate it."

"It’s time for a wedding to bring us some good luck."

Strange nodded. "Earth has been turned into a complete mess by certain people."

Loki cursed loudly, "Blood God, let me go! I’d rather die than marry that fat bastard."

"That’s right. She won’t marry Thor, because I’m turning her back into a man."

Sylvie said impatiently, "Blood God, hand her over to me. I’ve disliked her for a long time."

"That could work."

A group of Lokis crowded around enthusiastically. Turning a woman into a man sounded very interesting.

Loki froze. Turning back into a man had once been her dream, but now she felt something she could not put into words. She asked, "Turn me back into a man? You can do that?"

"Blood God already taught me this magic. Although it’s my first time using it, I guarantee it’ll work."

Sylvie smiled. "At the very least, I can turn you into half man, half woman. Or neither man nor woman."

Everyone whistled, their faces filled with eager anticipation.

Loki was horrified and hurriedly shouted, "Wait! Whether I turn back into a man should be my decision. You big-toothed freak, don’t make decisions for me."

"This big-toothed freak loves making decisions for others."

Sylvie grinned and stepped forward to deal with Loki. Loki shouted, "Don’t come any closer! Thor, hurry up and save me!"

"You’re all Loki. This is difficult for me."

Thor said with a troubled expression. Loki was speechless. She had not expected this fat bastard to be so cold-hearted.

Old Tony, who had been ignored, felt extremely awkward. He shouted, "Hey, can you at least tell me whether Thanos is dead?"

Everyone still ignored Old Tony. Wang Bert waved at Sylvie and said, "Sylvie, don’t rush. She can’t escape. I’ll take her back to Wakanda. How to deal with her then will be up to you and Thor."

Sylvie nodded excitedly. "Good. Loki, we can take our time."

Loki immediately felt that her future was pitch-black. For some reason, Sylvie’s big teeth seemed to be her natural nemesis.

Black Panther looked at the Lokis and thought of something. He said to Thor, "Thor, haven’t you always been short on manpower? These Lokis can help you rebuild Asgard."

"Are you sure they can help me?" Thor asked.

Everyone burst into laughter. One Loki had already turned Asgard upside down. With so many Lokis, if Asgard did not explode a few times, it would not live up to Loki’s infamous reputation.

"I don’t know about the others, but I’ll help you, Thor."

Old Loki walked over to Thor and smiled. "I once lost Asgard. Now, I will rebuild it, because that is my home."

Quite a few Lokis nodded. Loki was not truly heartless. His personality was merely twisted, dark, and extreme. He still had feelings for Asgard.

Thor looked at the aged Loki and said with a conflicted expression, "Thank you, but could you stop calling me big brother? I’m not that old."

Everyone laughed. Old Loki did not mind. He said, "In my heart, you will always be my brother."

"You’re much less troublesome than Loki."

Thor sighed and said to the other Lokis, "I know this request is presumptuous, but I sincerely hope you will build Asgard with me. Asgard needs you."

"Needs us?"

The Lokis’ eyes all lit up. Wasn’t the word "needed" what Loki had pursued all his life?

"Big brother, no problem. We’ll help you."

The Lokis all voiced their agreement. Teen Loki walked up to Thor and said, "I’m sorry. I once killed you. I’ll help build Asgard to make up for it."

Thor was stunned. "You killed me?"

Teen Loki nodded. "Yes. I turned into a snake and ambushed you, then killed you."

"I got stabbed too."

Thor touched his waist and turned to glare at Loki. Loki rolled her eyes. What the hell did that have to do with me? The one I stabbed was Thor from the Main Universe.

Seeing that everyone still ignored him, Old Tony grew even more awkward. He shouted, "I know you hate me, but Thanos is important. I hope you’ll tell me the result."

"Black Panther, has Wakanda prepared the banquet?"

Wang Bert called out to Black Panther, "We won a great victory today. We need to celebrate properly."

"No problem. I’ll have people prepare it immediately."

Black Panther said, "Wakanda will not mistreat its warriors. All of you are warriors, warriors who saved Earth."

Everyone cheered. The mages from Kamar-Taj were especially delighted. Strange covered his face in secret. Looking at his trembling hands, he decided that once he returned, he would repair them completely and go back to being a surgeon to earn money, lest Kamar-Taj go bankrupt someday.

"Alright, I’ll send you back to Wakanda."

Wang Bert smiled. "I’ll clean up the battlefield and comfort the survivors, then I’ll return to celebrate with you."

At the word "survivors," the smiles on everyone’s faces gradually disappeared. Green Forest Star had held millions of people, yet only a few thousand survivors remained. Everyone could imagine how devastated they would be after waking up.

Old Tony’s heart was filled with guilt and sorrow. He sighed and silently disappeared.

"I’ll stay too. I’m good at comforting people, although Natasha often looks down on me for it."

Steve said.

"No need. You should all go back. Leave this place to me."

Wang Bert shook his head and opened a huge portal beside him. Everyone looked at each other, then passed through the portal back to Wakanda.

After everyone had left, Wang Bert stood quietly in place and waited. A moment later, a spatial portal appeared, and Old Tony stepped out. He asked Wang Bert, "Were you waiting for me?"

As he spoke, Old Tony quietly activated Materialism Power. It was not that he feared death, but Wang Bert was simply too terrifying.