Battle Thanos (Part 1)

Before Alex could speak, the scene he had just thought was only a dream appeared before his eyes for real. The vast spherical underground chamber was filled with golden light.

Just as Alex was bewildered, Worldmind’s voice rang out. "Kid, this time it’s real!" After speaking, Worldmind chuckled again, its slightly sly voice carrying a hint of eager anticipation for a good show.

Alex did not notice Worldmind’s laughter. Instead, he once again recalled the "dream" from before and asked uncertainly, "This isn’t another trial, is it?"

The moment he finished speaking, the golden light continuously refracting through the space suddenly intensified. Then the entire chamber was dyed into a golden world, and Alex’s body was stained golden as well.

"What’s going on?" Alex lowered his head to examine himself, only to discover in shock that his body was actually disappearing into the golden light.

"Nova Force originates from a peculiar power domain." Worldmind’s voice followed, solemn and grave. "To inherit the Power of Ten Stars, you must merge with this power domain."

"Could this be that power domain?" Alex’s thoughts turned, and he immediately considered a possibility. His face was filled with astonishment.

"Of course not!" Worldmind immediately rejected Alex’s guess, then explained, "But it’s close enough. This is a power domain simulated with Nova Force, and it has roughly the same effect."

Alex shrugged at that and said no more, quietly waiting for the fusion process to finish.

Within a few breaths, Alex discovered that his body had completely vanished. Only his powerful consciousness remained, wandering aimlessly through the golden space.

After waiting for quite a while with no further developments, Alex anxiously asked, "What do I do next?"

"You’re awake?" Hearing Alex’s voice, Worldmind was extremely surprised and could not help crying out.

Alex was somewhat taken aback, but still explained, "I’ve been awake the whole time, okay?"

"I have to admit, your Psionic Power is simply unparalleled!" Worldmind froze for a moment before saying in admiration, "Since you’re awake, absorb the Nova Force and condense your body again!"

"You should’ve said so earlier!" Alex grumbled irritably before immediately getting to work.

Like a whale swallowing the sea, the vast golden space was emptied in an instant. A tall, slender figure stood at its center, his entire body radiating a faint golden glow, like a god from legend. It was none other than Alex, reborn through fire after inheriting the Power of Ten Stars.

Alex blanked briefly before recovering. He lowered his head and examined himself while secretly inspecting his body. Immense power beyond ordinary imagination lay hidden beneath his calm exterior. Alex even worried that one casual step might produce a terrifying effect capable of destroying heaven and earth.

"Get used to it first!" Worldmind’s voice rang out again, brimming with delight.

Alex did not refuse. This was a necessary process. Thanks to his extensive combat experience and various abilities, Alex took less than ten minutes to completely adapt. His efficiency once again shocked Worldmind.

"Wait for me to come back!" After leaving those words behind, Alex departed the spherical chamber directly. When he appeared again, he was already in outer space above Xandar.

Looking down at the fresh green planet beneath his feet, a trace of hope flashed across Alex’s face. "I hope that trial didn’t lie to me!" After finding no news from Nova Corps headquarters, Alex could only place his hopes on the possible existence of an infiltrator on Xandar, just as had happened in that trial.

Perhaps it was fate. When Alex swept his Psionic Power across all of Xandar, he actually discovered a puppet controlled by Thanos.

Thinking of the final outcome in the trial, Alex could not help becoming excited. He murmured, "A good omen!" As he spoke, his figure flashed, and he instantly appeared beside the puppet, the faint smile on his face never fading.

But at that moment, Alex noticed something strange. He could not sense any connection between the puppet and the Soul Stone.

"What am I supposed to do?" Alex was dumbfounded on the spot.

Just as Alex was at a loss, Warlord suddenly appeared beside him.

"How did you find this place?" Warlord glanced at the puppet, then turned to Alex and explained with a bitter smile, "We discovered this guy a long time ago, but there was nothing we could do."

Hearing Warlord’s words, Alex froze. He turned to look around, his face filled with disbelief as he asked, "You found him long ago?"

Seeing Alex’s actions, Warlord wore a bitter expression. He shook his head and said, "This thing can’t be killed for good. Once one dies, another soon pops up." Spreading his hands, Warlord added helplessly, "In the end, we had no choice but to leave this one alive and keep it under surveillance."

Alex examined the puppet before him from head to toe. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly raised a hand. The puppet’s body instantly turned into a pile of ash, which scattered into the air and vanished with the wind.

"Find the next one!" Alex kept his attention on the puppet’s changes, even tracking the movement of every speck of dust.

Warlord had never expected Alex to suddenly attack. He could not stop him even if he wanted to. Just as he was about to persuade him otherwise, he heard Alex’s words and froze. "You can find the next one?"

"Follow me!" Alex had already discovered something unusual. With a light chuckle, he flew rapidly in one direction.

Warlord was full of astonishment. Every time they searched for a puppet, they had to expend tremendous effort. Yet from Alex’s manner, it seemed incredibly easy, leaving Warlord deeply shocked.

Alex did not know what Warlord was thinking. He had locked onto a speck of dust and followed it all the way, watching as it landed on someone and instantly entered that person’s body.

"That’s it!" The moment the speck entered the body, Alex discovered that the person had lost his soul and become a new puppet.

Alex snorted and attacked again. The new puppet did not even have time to move before Alex turned it into ashes scattered across the ground.

Warlord, following behind, was completely stunned. If he had not known Alex’s character, he would have suspected that Alex had become a murderous madman.

Alex ignored Warlord behind him and immediately found a particularly unusual presence among the ashes.

Warlord noticed Alex’s movements and quickly came closer. When he saw the dark speck of dust in Alex’s hand emitting a faint purple glow, he froze once more. "What is this?"

"If I’m not mistaken, this should be a fragment of the Soul Stone." Alex carefully examined the minuscule purple particle in his hand, his eyes gleaming.

The Soul Stone fragment was simply too small. Even now that it rested in his hand, Alex would not have noticed it without close inspection. That was also why he had not discovered it earlier.

Warlord looked Alex over with amazement. Only then did he realize in shock that Alex had become somewhat different from before. A flash of insight crossed his mind, and Warlord suddenly remembered something. "Alex, did you inherit the Power of Ten Stars?"

Alex nodded, said nothing, and left directly.

Now that he finally had a lead, Alex would not delay any longer.

Relying on the mysterious resonance between the Soul Stone fragment and the Soul Stone itself, Alex finally locked onto Thanos’s location. Without time to notify anyone else, Alex chased after him alone.

At the same time, the instant the Soul Stone fragment was discovered, Thanos also detected Alex’s presence.

"That guy is still alive?" Thanos was only briefly surprised before ignoring it. He did not take Alex seriously at all.

Alex did not know that Thanos had already noticed him. As he tracked him down, he also kept considering the coming battle. What had happened in the trial had greatly affected Alex, and scenes of battle from the illusion still surfaced in his mind from time to time.

Although the trial had been false, it had served as a warning to Alex. With his current strength, he might not necessarily be Thanos’s match.

Alex tried hard to make his power suddenly surge like it had in the trial, but no matter how he simulated despair or provoked himself, he could never unleash that eruption.

As Alex continued thinking, he drew closer and closer to Thanos. Yet as the distance closed, Alex actually grew nervous, and his body began trembling uncontrollably.

Alex did not know why he was so nervous. He clearly was not afraid at all, yet his body shook against his will. To calm himself, Alex kept encouraging himself aloud. "Thanos is nothing but an idiot who doesn’t know his place!"

Alex had only said it casually, but he had not expected it to actually draw Thanos out.

"Thanos is nothing? Hmph, what a boast!" Accompanied by a cold snort, the towering Thanos appeared out of thin air before Alex, a savage smile stretching across his split lips.

Before seeing Thanos, Alex’s body had kept trembling, and his heart had seemed unsettled. But when Thanos truly appeared, Alex immediately calmed down, both in mind and body.

"Perfect timing!" Alex struck first, raising a hand and firing a golden energy wave at Thanos.

Thanos’s perception of energy was no weaker than Alex’s. He immediately sensed the immense power contained within the energy wave. A trace of gravity flashed through his eyes, and his expression grew serious, though that was all. "Interesting."

The instant Thanos spoke, the golden energy wave had already reached him with lightning speed.

Alex was not pleased, because he knew this energy wave would not be enough to injure Thanos.

Sure enough, the instant the energy wave neared Thanos’s chest, Thanos extended one hand and directly caught the golden energy wave, toying with it as though it were a small ball.

Even though Alex had prepared himself mentally, the sight still startled him. He steadied his mind, and his entire demeanor turned cold and lethal. The real battle was only beginning.

Alex snorted and fired another energy wave. Unlike the pure gold one before, this energy wave contained a trace of black, making it exceptionally strange.

When Alex had inherited the Power of Ten Stars, his body had fused with the simulated power domain. Although his body was later reconstructed, the Black Hole he had obtained before disappeared along with it. In its place, however, Alex’s absorption ability mutated into devouring, capable of consuming anything like a Black Hole.

That devouring power was contained within the energy wave he had just fired.

Thanos’s offense and defense were both at the cosmic level. Although Alex had reached the same level after inheriting the Power of Ten Stars, one was advanced while the other was only beginner. The gap between them was still considerable. Especially after their brief exchange, Alex’s former confidence of seventy percent had fallen to less than thirty.

With no hope of improving his own strength, Alex could only rely on tactics to weaken Thanos.

Thanos immediately detected that something was unusual about this energy wave, but he did not discover the secret hidden within that trace of black. As before, he casually reached out to disperse the energy.

The instant he caught the energy wave, Thanos immediately realized something was wrong and prepared to shatter it without hesitation. The golden core of the energy wave was successfully scattered, but that trace of black successfully attached itself to his palm.

Thanos’s expression turned cold, and he immediately tried to strip away the black trace. But Alex would not let him have his way.

After discovering that his plan had succeeded, Alex fired over a hundred energy waves in rapid succession, every one carrying devouring power.

Facing such densely packed energy waves, even someone as powerful as Thanos had to deal with them carefully. He tried his utmost to evade nearly ninety percent of the rain-like barrage, but some still landed on his body.

The damage from the energy waves was secondary. What mattered were the attached devouring forces. A great embankment could collapse because of an ant hole, and these devouring forces were ants steadily destroying Thanos.

Thanos burned with fury but had no choice. He possessed many methods, but the Black Hole restraints he had once used had now lost their effect. Facing Alex, who possessed Teleportation, he could do nothing. An attack that could not hit its target was useless no matter how powerful it was.

The Soul Stone was a treasure, but Alex’s Psionic Power was equally formidable. Even the Soul Stone could not affect Alex. Faced with such a predicament, Thanos experienced the feeling of being at the end of his road for the first time.

"Awaken, Soul Stone!" With an enraged roar, Thanos actually took out the Soul Stone. The gem, gleaming with a jade-green radiance, was like a living creature that ensnared souls, devouring Alex’s will.

Alex shuddered in alarm and immediately regained his senses. He stared at Thanos and the Soul Stone in his hand with horror.

"What is this?!"

Taking advantage of the moment Alex lost focus, Thanos shook his entire body and flung away more than half the black specks of devouring power covering him. Without Alex’s control, the devouring forces had extremely weak adhesion and could not withstand Thanos’s counterattack.

Alex steadied his mind and regained control of the remaining black specks, though his gaze kept drifting toward the Soul Stone.