Captured

"Yes, I’m an Ancient God. But the Celestial Group feared we would rebel, so they placed shackles on us. Under normal circumstances, we can only wield god-level power."

S Druig nodded. "But our Ancient God essence remains. Time Power is not as effective against us as you imagine. All right, take that as praise. Now, please lose consciousness."

As S Druig spoke, a massive gray hand emerged from the void and smashed viciously toward Strange’s head. Strange controlled the surrounding space and slid backward, narrowly evading the fist. Then, the Red Cloak on him sliced through the blockade like a blade and carried him away.

"Don’t underestimate me. No matter what, I’m still the Sorcerer Supreme."

Strange straightened up and said, "Also, we’re Super Heroes, not supporting characters."

"Interesting. Then let me see just how long you, the Sorcerer Supreme, can hold out."

S Druig smiled and shouted, "Attack him."

At S Druig’s command, the space, the ground, the bricks and stones, the nearby trees, and even the Nova Corps all attacked Strange at once.

"Can I take back what I just said?"

As Strange spoke, he cast Shape of Isaac again. A massive melee officially erupted.

Meanwhile, Steve was still fighting fiercely against S Tina. The more S Tina fought, the stranger it felt. At first, a single spear strike could send Steve stumbling back more than ten steps, but as the battle went on, his strength somehow rose to her level. She could no longer force him back.

What frustrated her even more was that there was clearly something wrong with his shield. No matter how she attacked, she could not break it. It even automatically drew attacks toward itself, rendering many of her moves useless.

Steve blocked her spear with his shield, then swung his hammer at her shoulder. "You seem a little anxious. That’s not good, because I can do this all day."

S Tina dodged Steve’s hammer, her spear stabbing toward his thigh like a venomous snake. Unfortunately, just like before, the shield blocked it. "Why are you so strong? Aren’t you just a unit of measurement?"

"Do you realize how hurtful that sounds?"

Steve said irritably. Then he slammed the hammer against his shield. Lightning flared explosively, forcing S Tina back. Steve seized the chance to step forward and swung his hammer at her head.

A shield appeared out of thin air beside S Tina’s head and blocked Thor’s Hammer. Then she stomped hard, and countless spears burst from the ground toward Steve.

Steve swung his hammer and flew into the sky, then plunged down from above. His hammer, blazing with dazzling lightning, smashed fiercely toward S Tina. S Tina formed another shield to block it. With a bang, lightning exploded, and S Tina could not help taking a step back.

S Tina was shocked. This guy’s strength had increased again.

I’ve reached my limit. I can only raise my strength this much at most, but it’s enough. I don’t have a habit of bullying people. My battles have always been Fair Fights.

Steve possessed two special abilities. One was a shield that caused all attacks to lock onto it, and the other was Fifty-Fifty.

Simply put, Steve’s power would gradually rise until he reached the same level as his opponent—though only the level of strength the opponent displayed, not their true power.

These were Steve’s "passive skills," and the one who had taught him both abilities was undoubtedly Wang Bert, who was full of wicked humor.

During the previous battle against Thanos, Wang Bert had specially given Steve some extra training and gifted him a Mind Concept Seed.

That’s right, a Mind Seed. Steve’s two passive skills were both Mind Power. In fact, his unbreakable shield was also a type of Mind Power.

Steve had tremendous talent. Combined with being in Fair Space at the time and possessing a Creator God-level CPU, he successfully comprehended Mind Concept and transformed from a unit of measurement into a powerful warrior.

Of course, there were quite a few drawbacks. After all, his foundation was too weak. That was why he needed Thor’s Hammer.

As Steve continued attacking, he shouted, "Tina, I’ve fought countless battles. At equal strength, I won’t lose to anyone."

"Countless battles?"

S Tina laughed disdainfully. "You dare call yourself battle-hardened in front of me? How many years have you even lived? Captain America, I have lived for millions of years, and throughout those millions of years, I have never stopped fighting."

Steve said, "You sound kind of pitiful."

"Is that the point?"

S Tina was starting to lose it. She said coldly, "I’m done playing with you. Let me show you what I’m really capable of."

As soon as she finished speaking, S Tina vanished abruptly. Immediately afterward, a spear shot toward Steve’s chest like a bolt of lightning, so fast that Steve could not react at all.

Fortunately, Steve’s passive skill was still active. S Tina’s spear uncontrollably stabbed toward Steve’s shield. S Tina had expected this. She pinned down the shield with her spear, spun around, and kicked Steve hard in the chest.

This time, Steve’s passive skill failed to activate. He was kicked flying, rolling repeatedly across the ground. The moment he stopped, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Though his chest hurt badly, Steve still climbed to his feet with a resolute expression. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked, "You accelerated time?"

"So what if I did? It’s only the slightest degree of time acceleration, but it’s enough to deal with you."

S Tina shouted, her spear stabbing toward Steve in a dense barrage like a wall of spears.

"You really have fought countless battles, but you have less experience with Fair Fights than I do. All your combat experience comes from crushing others with strength."

There was no shock or fear in Steve’s eyes, only calmness and confidence. Thor’s Hammer was in one hand, the Vibranium shield in the other, and he blocked every one of S Tina’s spear strikes. Shockwaves kept blasting outward, and a large tree was uprooted before being shredded into fragments in midair.

"That’s impossible! You actually kept up with my speed?"

S Tina stared in disbelief. His strength had increased again? That was what Fifty-Fifty did. When S Tina improved, Steve improved as well. S Tina’s mistake was failing to kill Steve with all her strength earlier.

As long as Steve did not die, his power would rise to the same level as his opponent’s. That was how terrifying Mind Concept was—of course, there was a limit. It could not increase infinitely.

As Steve continued blocking S Tina’s attacks, he asked probing, "My power can keep going. Can your time acceleration?"

"Of course it can. But it seems there’s no need anymore."

S Tina suddenly stopped attacking and shook her head. Steve sensed that something was wrong and was about to say something when the surrounding space shifted. All four of them were teleported to an abandoned planet.

Before Steve and Strange could clearly see their surroundings, they were teleported again—to space, planets, and even the edge of a black hole… They transferred more than ten times before finally arriving aboard a flagship—the New Sanctuary.

The reason for so many transfers was to prevent the Blood God from tracking them. In addition, the New Sanctuary had all kinds of measures in place, ensuring that no information could be sent out.

Thanos was still very cautious. Or rather, steady as an old dog.

"Tina, Druig, you two are really pathetic. You fought for so long and still couldn’t take down two supporting characters. In the end, I had to help you."

S Makkari said disdainfully. From the very beginning, she had been controlling Xandar’s space. That was why Strange could not open a portal.

"I underestimated Earth’s Super Heroes."

S Druig said. S Tina added, "So did I. Captain America, we’ll play again next time."

"Well, I have a girlfriend. Though she seems to have gone a little dark."

Steve put away his hammer and shield, then said to the enormous figure sitting on the throne before him, "Thanos, we meet again."

Strange asked grimly, "Thanos, are you still not giving up?"

"Why should I give up? Maintaining Universe Balance is my destiny!"

Thanos said coldly, "Tell me, has the Blood God truly fallen into the Mind Sea?"

Strange said, "If he hadn’t fallen into the Mind Sea, he would have already beaten you into a pig’s head."

"The Blood God cannot kill me. The next time we meet, he will be the one who dies."

Thanos snorted and said, "Druig, control them. I want to know the Blood God’s true condition."

Steve and Strange’s expressions both sharpened. Steve said, "Thanos, don’t even think about getting any information from us."

As he spoke, Steve used Mind Power to seal his mind, standing there like a wooden statue.

"If even a member of the Combat Faction can do it, there’s no reason I can’t."

Strange shrugged and cast Magical Petrification on himself. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a stone statue.

Phastos stepped forward to examine them and said, "They’ve sealed themselves. It will take quite some time to undo it perfectly.

"Of course, we could force it open, but that would damage their brains. If that happens, we might not obtain the information we want."

Thanos snorted. "They’re this worried. It seems the Blood God truly has some kind of arrangement."

"Or perhaps they’re creating a false impression to stop you from daring to enter Earth."

S Gilgamesh said, "Thanos, the crisis on Earth is real. At most, the Blood God has made some preparations. He absolutely cannot fight at full strength like before. I think we should seize this opportunity and attack Earth directly."

S Kingo and the other Eternals all nodded. Without the Blood God, Earth could not stop them at all.

Thanos said flatly, "Do not underestimate the Blood God. Everyone who underestimated him is dead."

S Druig nodded. "I agree with Thanos. Caution is best."

S Kingo asked in surprise, "Druig, when did you become so cautious?"

"Since I nearly got killed by the Sorcerer Supreme."

S Druig glanced at Strange’s stone statue and said, "Even a supporting character is this powerful, let alone the Blood God, the protagonist. There’s nothing wrong with being careful."

"Well said."

Thanos nodded in satisfaction. "There is no need to rush. Proceed according to the original plan. Once Starfox completes the preparations and I recover my strength, we will strike.

"Of course, that does not mean we do nothing. Next, use the Eternals’ name to threaten those planets and forbid them from selling food to Earth. That way, Earth’s crisis will grow increasingly severe.

"The Blood God can only stop them from becoming enraged. He cannot stop them from falling into panic and chaos. The worse Earth’s situation becomes, the deeper the Blood God will sink. In the end, even he will not be able to escape the Mind Sea."

S Makkari said excitedly, "Leave the threatening to me. If they dare disobey, I’ll destroy their main cities. It’s easy. I just need to run around their main cities once."

"That’s settled, then."

Thanos said, "Phastos, during this period, find out who the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulator is that caused Earth’s crisis. I don’t mind being used, but those people probably bear us no goodwill either."

S Phastos smiled. "I’ll investigate as best I can. To be honest, I’m very interested in their technology."

Thanos thought for a moment, then said, "Also, Gilgamesh, go find me some cannon fodder from the universe. Ravagers, wanted criminals, whatever. The more, the better."

S Gilgamesh laughed. "No problem, leave it to me. I’ve been wanting to beat people up anyway. Starhawk among the Ravagers can barely fight me."

S Druig pointed at Steve and Strange and asked Thanos, "Thanos, how should we deal with these two?"

"Find a way to undo their seals, control them, and obtain the information in their minds."

Thanos said with a somewhat ferocious expression, "I would be more than happy to watch the Avengers slaughter each other."

All the Eternals laughed together. "So would we."

"I wouldn’t."

Inside Steve’s mind, a Mental Projection snorted inwardly. Without a doubt, it was Wang Bert’s Mental Projection.

Before Wang Bert merged into the Mind Sea, he had secretly merged his Mental Projection into Steve’s mind. It was worth mentioning that Steve did not know about this now, because Wang Bert had erased the relevant memories.

Wang Bert had long guessed that Old Tony would send Steve to buy food, and he had also guessed that someone would attack Steve. So, he had hidden himself on Steve beforehand. This way, he could both gather intelligence and protect Steve and the others.

"The strongest Eternals… In other words, it was the Celestial Group that rescued Thanos back then. Hmph, They really are bold. I’ll definitely settle this score with Them properly."

A cold glint flashed through Wang Bert’s eyes. Then he thought regretfully, Although I successfully found Thanos, I have to protect Earth and can’t spare the attention for him right now. I can only wait until he enters Earth.

Under the current circumstances, Wang Bert’s main body absolutely could not leave the Mind Sea or Earth. The moment he left, World War III would immediately erupt on Earth—the kind that would not end until one side was dead.

"Thanos, no matter what schemes you have, the moment you step onto Earth again, I will send you straight to Hell. This time, I won’t let you escape again."

Wang Bert snorted, and his consciousness gradually fell silent. There was no need to rush. The real show was yet to come.

At the same time, in a desert somewhere on Earth, a large construction site was digging downward. Starfox, who called himself a noble, sat in a tent, eating chilled watermelon while watching television.

"Due to the food crisis, many countries in North America and Europa have fallen into chaos. Large numbers of stores and supermarkets have been looted."

The news reporter diligently reported, "However, no major conflicts have broken out, because everyone in the world will immediately enter a singing state whenever they get angry or develop murderous intent toward someone. And the song they sing is a chinese song called ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai.’

"This chinese song belongs to a Hong Kong singer surnamed Liu. It is said that his phone has been ringing off the hook. At present, he is the most popular man on Earth."