Arrival of Thanos

"NO!"

Cyclops Scott saw Jean’s death through Professor’s telepathy, cried out in anguish, and collapsed to the ground.

"Scott, this person didn’t do anything wrong. Jean was destroying the Earth; if we didn’t kill her, the Earth would be finished!" Storm, with her silver-white hair, said softly by Scott’s side.

"Jean, why did you become like this? Professor!" Scott’s face was stained with tears as he looked up at Charles.

"Earlier, to fight the powerful Cull Obsidian, Jean removed the psychic barrier I had set in her mind and unleashed the energy within her. The liberation of the Phoenix Force caused her will to be suppressed, and her body was completely controlled by the Phoenix Will!" Charles said, "The Phoenix Force purifies and destroys worlds, and it is extremely mighty. Yet the person before us was able to defeat Jean head-on; his strength is the most terrifying of all."

"However, you don’t need to worry, Scott. The Phoenix Force is one of the most powerful forces in the universe and won’t simply vanish so easily. Perhaps Jean hasn’t completely perished!" Charles looked up at the sky, where the faint white barrier in the distant sky was slowly dissipating.

"Really?" Hearing this, Scott paused and hurriedly asked.

"Logically speaking, it should be so, but I cannot guarantee it!" Charles shook his head and said, "No one can guarantee such a thing."

"At least there’s hope…" Scott fell silent.

The battle situation across the entire Earth began to stabilize. After Cull Obsidian was killed by Jean, even though the aliens of the Dark Order were powerful, they lost their backbone. The humans of the Earth were fighting on their home turf with a continuous supply of reinforcements, while the aliens died one by one with no replacements. In less than half a month, ninety-nine percent of them had been wiped out, and the remaining few aliens had gone into hiding, only to be hunted down by the major nations of Earth sooner or later.

At this moment, Xiao Hen had vanished once again. The superheroes could not find him, so they could only give up in frustration and begin cleaning up the aftermath of the battle.

In the distant Milky Way Galaxy, the territory of Thanos.

"Cull Obsidian has died!"

Thanos, sitting high upon his throne, said in a deep voice.

Below him stood three commanders. These three were none other than the other three leaders of the Dark Order: Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive.

Hearing this, Corvus Glaive spoke up, "Respected father, Cull Obsidian was incompetent, botched his mission, and deserved to die. Next, let me go to Earth. I will surely find the Infinity Stones on Earth and bring them back to you, Father!"

"Father, let me go instead!" Ebony Maw was a skin-and-bones, skeleton-like humanoid creature who, in truth, was not a human, but rather a peculiar race that had long since perished in the universe.

"There is no need. I have already received definitive news that the remaining four stones are all on Earth. This time, summoning you all from various places is to prepare to go to Earth together!" Thanos waved his hand and said.

"All on Earth? That’s simply wonderful! There’s no need to search everywhere; we can gather all the stones in one go!" Corvus Glaive smiled and said, "I will congratulate you in advance, Father, on gathering the Infinity Stones and ruling over the universe with supreme might!"

"As long as we obtain all the Infinity Stones, Father’s power will reach the level of those five supreme entities. By then, the entire universe shall submit to Father’s majesty!" Ebony Maw chuckled hoarsely.

Proxima Midnight, who had remained silent all this while, also spoke up, "Father, when do we set out?"

"We set out right now. There’s no need to bring those low-ranking combatants; we are pressed for time!" Thanos waved his hand and commanded directly.

"As you command, Father!"

To this, none of the three raised any objections. In their view, those low-ranking combatants were mere cannon fodder. To deal with truly powerful enemies, they still had to rely on powerhouses like themselves, while those natives on Earth were nothing more than ants before them, to be crushed at will without exerting any real effort.

As for the death of Thanos at Cull Obsidian’s—wait, as for the death of Cull Obsidian, Thanos understood the situation well. Xiao Hen had crossed paths with Thanos before. In Thanos’s view, it was likely this same entity, who was also collecting the Infinity Stones, that had stepped in to kill Cull Obsidian. However, judging from previous circumstances, Xiao Hen did not dare to engage him head-on, which showed that Xiao Hen’s power could not truly threaten his existence.

That being the case, Thanos intended to descend upon Earth directly.

A seemingly ordinary Space Battleship crossed an infinite distance through a teleportation channel and descended directly into the Solar System. The one inside the battleship was none other than Thanos.

"Is this the Solar System where Earth is located? How remote, merely a small corner of the Orion Arm!" Ebony Maw said with disdain.

Proxima Midnight, who was always cautious, said instead, "Such a remote little place, yet it holds four Infinity Stones. We must not underestimate this place!"

"You’re thinking too much!" Corvus Glaive said coldly. "You aren’t scared by Cull Obsidian’s death, are you? That fellow must have been careless. This time, with us and Father descending together, what kind of enemy could possibly withstand our attack?"

"Indeed, indeed!" Ebony Maw chuckled and said, "The three of us plus Father—even within the entire universe, those who can defeat us can be counted on one hand. Could such an existence possibly exist on this Earth?"

"That is impossible!" Corvus Glaive stared at the distant blue-water planet with murderous intent.

"Prepare for descent!" Thanos on the throne did not waste words, gazing calmly at the Earth on the Holographic Screen, wondering what thoughts were passing through his mind.

Hearing Thanos’s order, the three of them spoke no more, simply directing the spaceship to fly toward Earth.

On Earth, the coalition forces formed by various nations had yet to disband. The cleanup work from the previous battle had not yet concluded; such a massive disaster was truly a once-in-a-millennium event, and world-spanning post-disaster recovery was no easy task to handle.

Post-war architectural rubble, casualty compensation, urban reconstruction, and so on—all these tasks required overall coordination by national governments.

The superheroes were not idle either, as they were busy hunting down the remaining hidden aliens. So far, the surviving aliens numbered fewer than a hundred.

And right at this moment, the headquarters of the Earth coalition forces received an alert transmitted from astronomical observatories around the globe.

"What? Another alien Space Battleship is heading toward Earth?"

"Good thing there’s only one. The enemy this time shouldn’t be numerous!" someone said with relief.

At that moment, Star-Lord sent a message stating that this Space Battleship was the flagship of the cosmic overlord Thanos. This time, Earth was welcoming a truly formidable enemy—one even more powerful than the previous Cull Obsidian.

Thus, the Infinity War finally entered its climax. The true overlord-class enemy, Thanos, descended upon Earth!