Crushing

"What’s different, more fat?"

Loki snorted. Then she realized something and asked in surprise, "You were acting from the very beginning?"

"That’s right, I was acting."

Thor nodded. "There were three purposes to the act. First, to confirm that the one fighting me was your real body, so I wouldn’t spend all that effort scheming only to capture a phantom.

"Second, to confirm your strength. Loki, aside from the Infinity Stones, your strength is no different from before. Also, you can only use one Infinity Stone. Any more than that, and your body won’t be able to withstand it."

"If I could use all Six Infinity Stones, you’d have been reduced to dust long ago."

Loki rolled her eyes. No matter how many Stones she possessed, she could use one and only one. Any more, and she would die.

"Third, I wanted to confirm your true feelings."

Thor released her, turned Loki onto her back, and said with a bright smile, "I was right. You’re still Loki of Asgard, still my family."

Thor’s smile was a little blinding. Loki could not help turning her gaze away. She sneered, "Have you lost your mind, or can’t you accept cruel reality, so you made up an excuse to numb yourself? Huh, wait, when did you successfully lose weight?"

What appeared before Loki was no longer fat Thor, but a short-haired, muscular Thor. However, his bearing was completely different from five years ago—more restrained and more mature.

"Before this, Odin and Hela put me through special training in an illusion. Hela was bored, so she taught me a move."

Thor answered, "It’s called Death Slash. She used it to cut away most of the fat on my body and restore me to how I used to look."

Loki asked curiously, "You can cut away fat? Did she happen to have a hair-loss slash too? The kind that makes you stop losing hair after getting hit?"

Thor laughed. "Probably not. She can only make all your hair fall out."

"Tch."

Loki looked displeased. "Was it Hela who taught you to act?"

Thor shook his head. "No. The act was my own plan. Only this way could I confirm your true feelings."

Loki was full of disdain. "Looks like Hela cut away your intelligence too."

"Loki, you can’t fool me. If you wanted to kill me, you had plenty of chances earlier. You have so many Infinity Stones. How hard would it have been to add a curse or deadly poison to that dagger?"

Thor shook his head. "You were provoking me, trying to make me return to the Thor I used to be, weren’t you?"

Loki sneered. "You really know how to fantasize. I was right—Hela really did cut away your intelligence."

"You can’t fool me."

Thor smiled. "Loki, I formally invite you to become Asgard’s chief minister. Let’s team up and restore Asgard to its former prosperity."

Loki snorted coldly. "Not interested. Who knows when you’ll run away again?"

"I won’t. Asgard is my responsibility. I won’t run away anymore."

Thor said seriously, "Loki, help me. Without you, I can’t save Asgard."

Thor’s gaze was incomparably resolute, like a towering God Mountain. Looking at him, Loki nearly nodded in agreement. Fortunately, she came to her senses at the last moment, turned away, and said, "Talk after you survive."

Thor laughed loudly. "It’s good enough that you agreed. Loki, whether we’re siblings or husband and wife, we’re family. In this world, you matter most to me."

"When did I agree?"

Loki rolled her eyes, though she was secretly pleased. She said, "I have so many Infinity Stones on me. You can’t hold me."

"You want to stay by Tony’s side as an undercover agent?"

Thor instantly understood what Loki meant. "That works too. But be careful. Tony is a little crazy now. No one knows what he might do."

"He isn’t crazy. He just wants you to think he is."

Loki said, "Steve and Spider-Man aren’t dead. He never intended to kill his own comrades."

Thor was shocked. "What? Steve and that spider aren’t dead?"

"They aren’t dead now, but after enough time passes, I can’t guarantee that. They’re currently at the End of Time. They can only be reached through the Time Rod in Tony’s hands."

Loki said, "Handle their affairs yourselves. I’ll continue following Tony Stark, because he is very likely to become the victor. Asgard needs to stand with the victor. Otherwise, it will perish."

After saying that, Loki vanished into thin air before Thor could ask anything else.

"Asgard needs to stand with the victor? So that’s it. Loki, you’re wrong. More important than survival, Asgard needs spirit."

Thor secretly shook his head. He returned to his fat appearance and dismissed the lightning barrier. At that moment, a huge green fist slammed into his face and sent him flying.

"Thor, you think you can outscheme me? You’re making me laugh! I’m Loki!"

Green Loki shouted as she charged at Thor. Thor cursed, raised his hand to summon Stormbreaker, and fought Loki once more.

"Useless. What a useless fool."

On the New Sanctuary, Thanos heard that Supergiant had been discovered and could not help cursing. "Supergiant, disguise yourself as an Eternal and escape."

"Yes, Thanos."

Supergiant’s projection nodded. Then she gathered all her energy and transformed into a beam of light that crashed into the psychic force field and exploded.

With a boom, a large hole was blasted through the psychic force field. Supergiant, now less than half her original size, seized the chance to escape.

"Iron Man, the Eternals will not let you off. You may escape this time, but you won’t escape next time."

Supergiant left behind a threat and rapidly flew away, with the robots pursuing closely behind her.

"Eternals? What kind of alien is that now? Can Earth stop being so lively?"

Black Widow cursed and quietly flew outside. Just then, a robot spotted her and reported it. Old Tony hesitated for a moment, then ordered, "Ignore her."

The robots stopped and continued guarding the surroundings.

At the cabin, Old Tony stood outside the Defense Shield and called to Pepper, "The enemy has escaped. Pepper, I’m leaving for a moment. I’ll be back soon."

Pepper fell silent for a moment before saying, "Tony, be careful. They hate you deeply now. If they get the chance, they won’t mind killing you."

"I know. Don’t worry. I won’t die before I complete my mission. I started the age of Super Heroes, so I have an obligation to end it. I’ll let our child live on a peaceful Earth."

Old Tony nodded and gestured for the robot beside him to open a portal. Then he put on his Nanotech Armor and strode inside.

Pepper secretly sighed. "You always carry everything on your shoulders, Tony. You’re too proud."

On the lunar battlefield, the war between the robots and the Super Heroes was in full swing. At that moment, ripples spread through the void. Then Wang Bert, who had previously been imprisoned in a small space, appeared out of thin air with a Space Stone in his hand.

"Ultron, you’re much stupider than Jarvis. You actually used the Space Stone against me."

Wang Bert sneered and raised both hands. Space rolled over like waves, and every robot caught within it was torn to pieces.

Strange praised, "As expected of the Space Lord."

Ultron hurriedly led the robots away from the spatial tide. At that moment, Old Tony walked out of a Space Channel. Seeing that the situation was bad, he immediately activated the Golden Triangle Cone. Materialism Power swept through everything, instantly halting the spatial tide.

At the same time, Strange’s Space Magic and Thor’s lightning magic vanished as well.

It was worth mentioning that Loki’s Infinity Stones could still be used. It was not that Materialism Power could not suppress the Infinity Stones, but that Old Tony was deliberately controlling it.

In Old Tony’s hands, Materialism Power was much stronger than it had been in the Time Variance Authority’s hands.

"Old Tony."

Wang Bert put away the Space Stone. Nanotech Iron Man Armor swiftly appeared over his body, and he lashed out with a whip at Old Tony.

At the same time, Tony and Dr. Banner hurried to rescue Strange and Thor. Without magic, their strength had dropped drastically.

"You have armor too?"

Old Tony was a little surprised. While dodging, three Micro Missiles popped out from his back and exploded toward Wang Bert. Wang Bert pulled back his whip and detonated all three Micro Missiles.

Wang Bert was about to attack again when a green Stone appeared on Old Tony’s chest. A green ripple swept over him, turning Wang Bert’s movements into slow motion.

"Materialism Power isn’t terrifying. What’s terrifying is that you can’t use the Infinity Stones, while I can."

Old Tony’s arm transformed into a laser cannon and began gathering energy. At that moment, two laser beams slammed into him, blasting him into the lunar surface.

The attacker was none other than the Sentinel!

The Sentinel said, "BOSS, Materialism Power has no effect on me. I can still use my abilities."

"Very good. Hurry over and fuse with me."

Wang Bert smiled. With the Sentinel here, this battle would be much easier.

As he spoke, Wang Bert used Mind Power to rapidly clear the Time Stone’s influence from himself.

Materialism Power did not remove the magical energy from Wang Bert’s body. It merely suppressed it, preventing it from leaving his body and taking effect. Inside his body, however, it still worked.

"Yes, BOSS!"

The Sentinel immediately flew over and fused with Wang Bert. Wang Bert grinned and said to Old Tony, who was climbing back up, "You have Infinity Stones, and I have the Sentinel. Let’s see who is stronger."

"Sentinel? Never heard of it. Blood God, my armor is the strongest. Your robot can’t defeat me."

Old Tony flew up. Purple light shone from his chest, then an enormous purple energy wave blasted from his palm toward Wang Bert.

Wang Bert used Shadowcat’s ability to become a phantom and evade the energy wave. Then he activated Juggernaut’s ability and rammed viciously toward Old Tony like a charging warship, twisting the void itself.

Old Tony did not dodge. He empowered himself with the Power Stone and threw a punch carrying spatial cracks at Wang Bert.

Unfortunately, Old Tony’s punch hit nothing, because Wang Bert became a phantom and passed through his body. Then Wang Bert placed both hands on Old Tony’s back, releasing massive amounts of freezing air. Old Tony’s armor rapidly froze over.

Old Tony’s expression changed. He hurriedly used the Space Stone to flee to the side. Then he raised his hand, and a time ripple struck Wang Bert, slowing his time once more.

Old Tony sighed in relief. He first used the Power Stone to shatter the ice on his body, then brought his hands together. Dazzling purple light gathered wildly in front of him.

That phantom turns his body into atoms. To break it, I need to shatter the space and the atoms together.

Old Tony thought to himself. Just then, Wang Bert recovered from the time slowdown. He spread his hand, and Old Tony flew uncontrollably toward him.

The Power Stone’s energy was extremely violent. As Old Tony flew, the giant ball of purple light exploded with a thunderous boom. The surrounding space instantly shattered, and Old Tony was swept inside as his armor rapidly disintegrated.

Old Tony was horrified and hurriedly used the Space Stone to create a Space Channel, escaping to the side.

Having narrowly escaped death, Old Tony had not even had time to catch his breath when Wang Bert suddenly appeared before him and punched him flying.

That was only the beginning. Wang Bert then caught up to Old Tony at astonishing speed, constantly moving around him like a streak of light and attacking. Old Tony was beaten so badly that he had no ability to fight back.

This was Quicksilver’s Mutant Gene.

"Wow, that’s brutal."

Tony felt a little uneasy. After all, he and Old Tony were the same person. He had never expected that Sentinel Robot to be so powerful.

In truth, the Sentinel was not that powerful. If it acted on its own, it needed three seconds to switch Mutant Genes. Under Wang Bert’s control, it could switch at any time.

Wang Bert was still the Creator God’s avatar and possessed the Creator God’s consciousness.

Strange secretly sighed. "As expected of the Blood God. Even as an avatar, even while being countered, he is still absurdly powerful."

Thanos narrowed his eyes slightly. "Both Iron Man and the Blood God possess powers I do not recognize. This universe is becoming more and more interesting."

"Damn it."

Old Tony, who had been taking blows nonstop, cursed and teleported himself into space. Then the Reality Stone on his chest lit up, resonating with the Golden Triangle Cone.

Wang Bert’s Quicksilver ability suddenly vanished. The Sentinel said, "BOSS, my ability has been restricted."

"Using the Reality Stone to alter the Cone’s rules?"

Wang Bert sneered. "Old Tony, you’re only a mortal in the end. Can you withstand using treasures this recklessly?"

"That’s my business."

Old Tony snorted and raised his right hand. An enormous laser blasted toward Wang Bert. Wang Bert dodged sideways, then switched to Nanotech Armor and fired a Black Hole Cannon at Old Tony.

Old Tony hurriedly dodged. Wang Bert seized the chance to rush in front of him, swinging two whips at Old Tony in succession. Old Tony formed two swords to block them, only to be effortlessly sent flying by Wang Bert.

In close combat, Tony Stark was not even worthy of carrying Wang Bert’s shoes.

Old Tony immediately fell into a dilemma. To deal with Wang Bert’s Nanotech Armor, he had to use an Infinity Stone. The problem was that the Reality Stone was currently active, and he could not activate two Infinity Stones at the same time.

As for putting away the Reality Stone, that would be even worse. The power of Wang Bert’s Sentinel Armor far surpassed that of his Nanotech Armor.

"Loki, Ultron, retreat."

Seeing that there was no way to win, Tony sighed and threw a strange Stone into the air. Then the Stone expanded wildly in space, as if it were about to explode.