Daughterly Adoptions Compete to Sell Out Thanos

Nebula had at least been relatively subtle when selling out Thanos, but Gamora had practically come with a complete walkthrough…

It felt just like two vendors at a market, with no bottom line as they desperately undercut each other to attract customers.

One said, "Fresh Thanos here! Still hot! Ten dollars a pound, twenty dollars for three pounds!"

The other said, "The Thanos here has passed health and quarantine inspections. One dollar a pound—buy now while supplies last!"

The first one: "My Thanos is free."

The second one: "I’ll even throw in a Power Stone!"

And so, Li Congxin chose to take both offers.

But speaking of which, just how badly had Thanos failed as a person?

Perhaps unwilling to let Gamora steal the spotlight, Nebula glared fiercely at her adoptive sister before speaking resentfully once more. "What you said is certainly true, but the prerequisite for making all of that happen is that Li Congxin must be able to defeat, or at least severely wound, Thanos. Do you think that’s possible?"

"Although he possesses two Infinity Stones and has earned the right to fight Thanos, he may not be able to unleash the true power of those two Stones. Once they start fighting, won’t he still end up dying at Thanos’s hands? And his two Infinity Stones will become Thanos’s spoils of war."

"I wouldn’t be so sure!" This time, Gamora argued back without giving an inch. "Although the power and backlash of the Infinity Stones are equally immense, special artifacts can help users better control the Stones’ power and reduce the backlash. You know that’s always been Thanos’s plan. If Thanos can do it, why can’t anyone else?"

"Hmph!" Nebula was utterly disdainful. Pretending not to know that Li Congxin was Asgard’s prince, and also pretending not to know about the relationship between Nidavellir and Asgard, she said, "Unless he can find Nidavellir and get the legendary dwarves to help him, how could an artifact like that be so easy to obtain?"

The two adoptive sisters went back and forth, not only exposing every detail of Thanos’s background, but also beginning to devise strategies for Li Congxin and study ways to defeat Thanos. They were truly giving it their all.

Only after hearing them finish did Li Congxin once again take the Orb of Power out of his private space. The Collector had already opened it with a special instrument, so he no longer had to worry about how to open the intricate object himself.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone around him, Li Congxin extended his right hand toward the purple-glowing Power Stone.

Seeing this, Gamora hurriedly shouted from the side, "Careful!"

Li Congxin ignored her completely.

Actually, ordinary mortals could not directly touch an Infinity Stone with their bodies.

But that rule applied only to ordinary mortals.

With demigod blood in his veins, even Star-Lord, whose powers had yet to awaken, could pick one up with his bare hand and remain alive. Ronan, too, could barely withstand the Stone’s power. This showed that the backlash was constant; whether one could endure it depended on the individual.

Li Congxin was now at least a Sub-Celestial-level powerhouse. Grabbing an Infinity Stone barehanded was no problem at all. It was the same reason Thanos, who was likewise at the Sub-Celestial level, could ignore that deadly backlash.

Under everyone’s stunned gazes, Li Congxin casually pinched the Power Stone between his fingers, then slowly moved it toward the left collar of Miraculous Hands, Spring Returns.

"Ding!"

With a light chime, the Power Stone attached itself directly to a circular recess on the left collar.

It was only then that Nebula, Gamora, and the others noticed that both sides of the collar on Li Congxin’s cloak each had three circular recesses of identical size. Looking at the Power Stone embedded in one of them, did the purpose of the other five even need to be explained?

So the thing the two of them had spent so long discussing was something Li Congxin had not only thought of long ago, but had already finished forging!

As the Power Stone was embedded into Miraculous Hands, Spring Returns, a special energy instantly swept through Li Congxin’s entire body. The sudden stimulus made his powerful frame jolt, as the Stone had already formed some indescribable connection with him.

The sensation vanished in a flash. The Stone had been subtly strengthening and altering his body, but likewise, wearing the Stone on his person meant that he had to endure its backlash.

To wear the crown, one had to bear its weight!

If he wanted to borrow the Stone’s power, he had to shoulder the corresponding burden.

After understanding all the crucial points, Li Congxin immediately took the Cosmic Cube from his private space and began channeling the Power Stone’s energy, applying it to the Cosmic Cube.

One second, two seconds…

As Li Congxin continued increasing the force, the Cosmic Cube remained as solid as ever. Only after a full five minutes, when his strength was nearing its limit, did an almost imperceptible crack appear.

Thinking of how Thanos had shattered the Cosmic Cube in the movie with hardly any effort, Li Congxin had to admit that although they were both Sub-Celestial-level powerhouses, there was still a considerable gap between him and that Purple Sweet Potato.

Maintaining that level of force, he watched the cracks on the Cosmic Cube multiply. After another full three minutes, it finally could not bear the strain and shattered completely.

After letting out a long breath of relief, Li Congxin opened his palm and blew across the pile of fragments. Only then did he pick up the Space Stone hidden among them and gently embedded it into the first recess from the bottom on the right side of his cloak’s collar, directly opposite the Power Stone.

Another surge of powerful energy coursed through his entire body. As Li Congxin’s frame shook violently, he finally discovered another problem.

The pressure the Infinity Stones exerted on him increased exponentially!

With the first Stone, the pressure had not been very noticeable—at least not to him. But after the second Stone was embedded in his cloak, he could already feel the pressure clearly.

Fortunately, he currently had only two Infinity Stones. This level of pressure was not enough to affect his ability to fight.

But if he embedded a third Stone… Li Congxin truly had little confidence that he could control them perfectly.

Li Congxin even faintly developed a thought.

The reason Thanos had ultimately been impaled by Thor’s battle-ax might well have been that, after gathering all six Infinity Stones, the immense pressure they created had become too much even for him to bear.

The Infinity Stones were fundamentally double-edged swords for their users!

Fortunately, Li Congxin was not in a rush to obtain all six Infinity Stones. In fact, to resolve Asgard’s problem, three Infinity Stones would already be enough.

As for the remaining three, each was more sinister than the last.

The Time Stone was relatively fine, but the Mind Stone seemed to have a side effect capable of influencing its user’s mind. As for the Soul Stone, Li Congxin absolutely refused to accept the method required to obtain that thing.

After all this time, the subordinates Ronan had brought had already discovered that their leader had been killed.

Although, as followers of Ronan—the representative figure of the Kree hawks—they were all ruthless hawks themselves, they still did not dare provoke someone who could kill Ronan with ease.

Faced with the choice between avenging the dead Ronan at any cost and preserving their own lives, they decisively chose the latter. Then, without any organization or command, they began a strategic retreat.

Seeing this, Li Congxin naturally would not let them leave so calmly. He immediately used the magic of the Any Door to arrive in outer space and began intercepting the warships attempting to escape. After some effort, he successfully captured Ronan’s enormous flagship and thirty-four ordinary spacecraft.

As for the rest, unwilling to completely fall out with the Kree over such meager gains, he could only let the enemy’s main force leave in peace.

In fact, even with the captured spacecraft, he did not slaughter the innocent. Instead, he packed all the prisoners into a small spacecraft and sent them back where they had come from.

By the time he finished, another hour had passed.

When Li Congxin returned to the surface, Nebula and the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy were all there. Only after seeing him appear did Gamora take the initiative to speak. "Mr. Clark, we’ve now witnessed that you have the strength to protect the Power Stone. It belongs to you from now on. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving."

Li Congxin nodded and said casually, "Thank you for the information you provided earlier. If you ever need anything, you can come to me for help. As long as it isn’t too troublesome, I’ll do my best."

Then he turned to Star-Lord and said, "Quill, if you have time, you should go back to Earth for a look. Earth is very different now from what it was twenty-six years ago."

Star-Lord was startled again. "You even know when I left Earth?"

Li Congxin smiled faintly without confirming or denying it.

After the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy departed aboard Star-Lord’s ship, Li Congxin turned back to Nebula and said, "As Thanos’s adopted daughter, you don’t believe that I can defeat him, do you? Then congratulations. You’ve now become my prisoner. I’ll let you witness with your own eyes how I surpass that Purple Sweet Potato."

Seeing the look on Nebula’s face, as if she had expected this all along, Li Congxin added, "But your mechanical body is far too troublesome. Who knows whether it’ll suddenly cause me some kind of trouble in the future? It seems that if I want you to behave yourself, I’ll have to find a way to restore your former flesh-and-blood body."

Nebula was stunned at first. After confirming that she had not misheard him, she finally could not maintain her composure. Her voice trembled slightly. "Are you serious?"

"I don’t like repeating myself." Li Congxin spoke with imposing Haki. "Besides, I only said I’d find a way. Whether it works or not is still uncertain, though I already have a rough plan in mind."

Keeping Nebula, a mechanical woman with extensive knowledge of the various forces in the universe, at his side under the pretext of being a prisoner, Li Congxin rented the room next to The Collector’s and began openly selling Kree light warships. He used the money from those sales to purchase minerals produced in The Void.

What he was doing was undoubtedly a public challenge to The Collector.

After all, the special mineral trade in The Void had always been monopolized by that Elder of the Universe. Now Li Congxin had actually bought the property next door and was stealing his business. An ordinary person would absolutely be unable to tolerate that.

In fact, Li Congxin’s main purpose in doing this was precisely to make him unable to tolerate it.

Li Congxin had no favorable impression of these Elders of the Universe.

If The Collector dared come looking for trouble, Li Congxin dared turn him directly into one of his eyes.

Those ancient monsters, who had lived for countless tens of thousands of years, each possessed vast amounts of Cosmic Energy. They simply were not very skilled at combat and could basically only use that precious Cosmic Energy to prolong their lives.

If he could successfully refine The Collector, it would definitely push Li Congxin’s strength further, perhaps even allowing him to rival Thanos or reach an even higher level.

Besides that, The Collector was the number-one hoarder in the universe. The immense wealth and treasures he possessed could be described only in astronomical terms. It was an enormous fortune that would make most powerhouses in the universe green with envy!

Li Congxin was naturally no exception.

If he could inherit all of it legitimately, that would be ideal!

Thanks to reader Shangguan Balong for the 2,600 Qidian coins!

Thanks to reader Mu Daoran for the 100 Qidian coins!

I’ve been rather pressed for time to write these past two days, so I hurried to upload the chapter as soon as I finished it. Please forgive the belated thanks.