Deceiving Death to Escape

Raven’s current level had already reached the Ninety-Five Heavens, far beyond what Daisy and the others could withstand.

They had been able to hold out for so many days entirely because they had Hulk, an attacker with no upper limit. Under Raven’s pressure, Killmonger had also continued breaking through, advancing toward the Ninetieth Heaven.

Only an enemy strong enough could make him feel pressure and thereby allow him to improve.

A capable teammate could lend him a hand when he was on the verge of death, ensuring he had enough time to digest what he had gained from the battle instead of being killed outright by the enemy.

Powerful enemies and teammates who could rescue him at critical moments—this kind of battle was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity for Killmonger.

He had not let it slip by. Whenever Zhan Liu improved, his own rate of progress was in no way inferior.

But it still wasn’t enough!

Although Hulk’s strength had no upper limit once he powered up, he was an unstable factor.

Sometimes Hulk was a god-tier teammate, and sometimes he was a pig-tier teammate.

Hulk could blast Raven away at a critical moment and save someone’s life, but he could also casually punch the person he had just rescued half to death.

Everyone had to spare two parts of their attention for Hulk during the battle. No one knew whom Hulk would punch or when.

When Hulk punched Raven, they might not be able to seize the opportunity.

When Hulk punched them, they might not be able to dodge.

The Twin-Headed Armor’s defenses were high enough that, at critical moments, they dared use their bodies to block the enemy’s attacks. As long as the enemy lacked Zhan Liu’s ability to strike through obstacles, it was almost impossible to hurt Whitehall inside the armor.

But Carl, the other half of the Twin-Headed Armor, was suffering terribly. Ever since the battle began, blood had been spraying from his seven apertures almost without pause.

Whitehall did not care what happened to Carl. As long as he ensured Carl’s head did not die, the Twin-Headed Armor’s defensive functions would not be damaged. As for whether stimulation of this intensity would turn Carl’s brain into that of an idiot, he did not care at all.

But though Whitehall did not care, Daisy had to.

So, to prevent Carl from suffering too much damage, Daisy had no choice but to sacrifice herself and clash head-on with Raven.

As the combination of three kinds of warriors, Daisy’s combat power was not far inferior to Raven’s. But when it came to recovery ability, she was far behind.

Only by taking turns bearing Raven’s heavy punches could the three of them barely hold on. Even so, collapse was merely a matter of time.

Actually, if things had been up to Daisy, she would have simply run away if they could not win. There was no need to fight to the death here. But Carl was in Whitehall’s hands, effectively a hostage. If Daisy fled, Carl would certainly die as well.

Left with no choice, Daisy could only grit her teeth and hold on here.

In the end, Hive escaped and rescued Daisy and the others.

Of everyone there, Whitehall had it easiest. Carl took all the attacks. Whitehall only needed to find opportunities to block attacks for his companions while continuously using Magnetic Field Force to repair Carl.

That was why Whitehall noticed the instant Hive escaped.

Although they were all Hydra heads, they were not particularly close. Their previous cooperation had been purely because they shared a common enemy; they had no choice but to join forces. But now that Hive, their most important combatant, had actually run away, what if Zhan Liu turned around and joined Raven’s side? Wouldn’t they be finished?

If you show me no mercy, don’t blame me for returning the favor!

Whitehall immediately pointed in the direction Hive had fled and shouted at Raven:

"Stop!"

"Your enemy has already run away!"

"Why are you still entangling yourself with us here?"

"Hurry up and chase him!"

This ploy of diverting the trouble elsewhere worked perfectly. Raven turned her head, saw that Hive had fled, and immediately abandoned the others to chase after him.

She did not know that Daisy was the one who had blown up Earth. As far as she knew, she had no grudge against these people. She had only switched opponents because she had seen her master, Zhan Liu, fighting them, and because Zhan Liu clearly countered Hive.

But when she saw Hive running away, she feared that Zhan Liu might fail to catch him and let him escape. If that happened, it would be too late for regret. So Raven immediately followed behind Zhan Liu and began hunting Hive as well. As for these pieces of trash, whoever wanted them could have them. She was done with them.

When Pepper came to ask for help, Raven was extremely glad that she had followed. Otherwise, if her master, Zhan Liu, had gone to rescue them, wouldn’t that have allowed this enemy to escape?

Zhan Liu also saw Raven catching up, so he greeted her before immediately heading toward the battlefield where Tony and Dr. Zola were fighting.

Raven, meanwhile, took over the battle with Hive and once again fought him with her life on the line.

Raven now had no desire to live. She fought ferociously, attacking without defending, determined to trade her life for Hive’s and kill him.

Earlier, when facing Zhan Liu, Hive had been helpless because Zhan Liu seemed to know his weakness. Every move had been aimed at his head.

But now, facing Raven, half of her attacks targeted his brain and half targeted his heart. This showed that Raven did not know that the heart of this body was not its vital point.

That created an opportunity for tactical maneuvering.

Hive carefully calculated for a while. He felt that he would eventually be beaten to death by Raven anyway, so he might as well use his heart as bait and see whether he could die together with her.

Seeing Raven’s momentum grow stronger and her become increasingly crazed, Hive decided he could not wait any longer.

He gritted his teeth, put on an enraged expression, and cursed:

"Bitch!"

"You want us to die together, right?"

"I’ll grant your wish!"

After saying that, he also began attacking without defending, trading blows with Raven.

However, every one of his attacks was aimed at Raven’s heart. During their exchange, he used his movements to guide Raven’s attacks toward his own heart, creating a scene in which they both attacked each other’s hearts.

Raven’s mind was filled with revenge, so she paid no attention to these details. She merely noticed that both sides were desperately attacking each other’s hearts, competing to see who would break through the other’s Astral Energy defenses first and claim the final victory.

To keep Raven from discovering the flaw, Hive kept running his mouth during the attacks, disrupting her emotions.

"Mutants are all a bunch of useless trash!"

"With such powerful strength, you were actually ruled by weak humans!"

"A race this worthless deserves to go extinct!"

"Even without Earth exploding, mutants would eventually play themselves to death!"

Hive successfully enraged Raven. Furious, Raven’s attacks became heavier, but she still failed to notice Hive’s little trick.

At first, the two of them exchanged techniques back and forth. But in the end, all that remained were simple straight punches to the chest. The contest came down to whose fists were faster and whose punches were heavier.

They punched each other directly in the chest, neither defending at all. Blood sprayed out like fountains, yet neither of them wiped it away.

Finally, Raven’s momentum increased faster and became superior. After condensing her entire essence, energy, and spirit into one, she struck the decisive punch.

At the same time, Hive realized that his Astral Energy could not withstand this punch. He simply abandoned his defense, concentrated all his Magnetic Field Force into his right fist, and punched at the same time.

The two of them roared together:

"Die!"

Raven’s punch shot out like a dragon. It blasted apart Hive, who had abandoned his defense, piercing through his chest and emerging from his back.

The final punch, infused with all of Hive’s Magnetic Field Force, also shattered Raven’s protective Astral Energy and slammed into her chest, sending her flying.

The ribs in Raven’s chest were pulverized, and her entire front was crushed flat, but she was fortunate enough not to die.

For a Magnetic Field Warrior, as long as one did not die on the spot, it meant one was completely unharmed!

Blood spurted from Raven’s seven apertures, and most of her bones were shattered. Her internal organs had also suffered severe damage.

But not being dead meant she was fine!

Raven took several violent breaths, restoring her injuries until she was as good as new. Then she looked at Hive’s corpse, a huge hole in its chest and its body frozen solid by the void. Her emotions churned, and tears began streaming down her face.

Believing that she had killed Hive, Raven flew over, gently embraced the body belonging to her dear big brother Magneto Erik, and burst into tears.

The Mutant race had gone extinct, and Ororo had also died. She was the last Mutant left.

She was still alive, but she no longer had any reason to keep living.

If not for the possible Sorcerer Supreme dangling ahead of her, she would have wanted to end her own life long ago.

Pain, despair, helplessness… all kinds of dark emotions filled her heart and gradually poured out through her sobs.

Inside her arms, the Hive core lurking in Magneto’s brain was coldly watching her, waiting for her to reveal an opening.

Raven cried bitterly, almost completely defenseless. Hive believed that if he ambushed her now, he would certainly hit her, perhaps even kill her in a single strike.

But… Hive hesitated.

He was a little afraid now.

What if the ambush failed?

What if the ambush succeeded, but Raven launched a counterattack before dying?

What if he succeeded in ambushing and killing Raven, only for Zhan Liu and the others to come looking for him?

His trick of faking his death could only be used once. It would not work a second time!

Rather than risk his life, he might as well continue pretending to be dead. After all, this body belonged to Magneto Erik, and Raven should be reluctant to damage his remains. Even if someone wanted to harm the brain he was inhabiting, they would first have to ask whether Raven agreed.

Once the battle ended and Raven buried Magneto’s corpse, he could resurrect himself afterward.

As a parasite that had lingered on an alien planet for thousands of years, the principle of survival had already sunk deep into his heart. He was unwilling to take even the slightest risk!

Thus, Hive simply settled down inside Magneto’s brain, remaining completely motionless as he patiently waited for the war to end. Even if it lasted ten or eight years, that amount of time meant nothing to Hive!

Arnim Zola’s Space War God was slaughtering everyone in its path. It first used the Space Displacement Cannon at close range, scattering Tony and the other two, disrupting their Combination Synchronization Mode, and knocking them down from the Ninety-Seven Heavens.

Without the boost from their combination, Tony and the other two had at most the power of the Ninety-Five Heavens. They were completely unable to threaten the Space War God and were picked off one by one by Dr. Zola.

When Zhan Liu reached the battlefield, Dr. Zola was pressing Peter down, while Tony and Steve were rapidly approaching from a distance.

Before they could meet, however, Dr. Zola fired a cannon at Peter and displaced him, then turned and headed straight for Steve.

After the Space Displacement Cannon had been miniaturized, it fired extremely quickly and was exceedingly difficult to detect when used, making it impossible to guard against. Although it had no killing power, it was a first-rate weapon for disrupting group battles.

Seeing how formidable Dr. Zola was—taking on three people and still holding a huge advantage—Zhan Liu grew interested as well. He flew over and joined the battle.

Dr. Zola slashed at him with a blade. Zhan Liu used Ultimate Cyclone Burst and tried to block the move, only to discover that the blade’s Power Flow was too high for him to budge. He had no choice but to punch the blade and meet it head-on. But Dr. Zola slightly twisted his wrist and sliced off Zhan Liu’s right hand.

Taking advantage of his momentum, the Space War God cast Steve aside. Its blade swept out in a chain of strikes, forming a web of blades that descended over Zhan Liu.

Zhan Liu hurriedly retreated and dodged the web. Only then did he confirm that the blade attacks unleashed by the Space Stone could not be blocked head-on. Otherwise, death was the only outcome.

But he was not in a hurry. A battle did not have to be fought through brute force alone.

In an instant, Zhan Liu regrew his right hand and lunged forward once again.

"Now that’s a good blade!"

"Let’s fight again!"

Zhan Liu had expected too much from the Space War God. After fighting for a while, he discovered that Dr. Zola did not know any blade techniques at all. He was relying purely on the Spatial Blade’s indestructibility and the Space War God’s astonishing Power Flow.

"Tsk!"

"The blade is good, but the blade technique is pathetic!"

"With a blade like this in your hands, you’re clearly letting a treasured blade gather dust!"

"Now, see what my blade technique can do!"

Ultimate Limit Sect actually possessed a legacy of blade techniques. But at the Martial Arts School, Zhan Liu only taught martial arts with fists and feet and had never taught blade techniques. It was not because he was hiding them; ordinary blades simply could not withstand Magnetic Field Force and would shatter after a few strikes.

Zhan Liu raised his palm like a blade, unleashed Ultimate Regretless Saber, and chopped toward the Space War God.

Dr. Zola also tried to use his blade against Zhan Liu’s hand-blade, but he could not even touch the edge of Zhan Liu’s body before being struck repeatedly by his palms. Although he still could not break through the Spatial Shield’s defenses, his technique was clearly on a completely different level.

Dr. Zola recorded the entire blade technique with his sensors. After compiling and organizing it, he suddenly unleashed it and slashed at Zhan Liu.

"Haha…"

Seeing Dr. Zola imitate his martial arts techniques, Zhan Liu laughed loudly and mocked him:

"If you could grasp the essence of a martial arts technique after seeing it only once, Dark Reincarnation wouldn’t deserve to be called a divine skill!"

Dark Reincarnation was the Asura Path’s killing move in the Martial God World. It could rapidly understand and imitate an enemy’s techniques, quickly deciphering them and even learning to reproduce them.

The same technique could produce vastly different results in different people’s hands. The "Ultimate Regretless Saber" used by the Space War God was clearly far inferior to the blade technique in Zhan Liu’s hands. Although the moves were identical, the timing and skill were so different that they seemed like two entirely different blade techniques.

Dr. Zola also realized that Zhan Liu’s power level was far inferior to that of the other three, but that his difficulty to deal with was much greater.

Originally, by alternating between the Spatial Blade and the Space Displacement Cannon, he could toy with the three enemies at will, making it difficult for them even to approach him. But Zhan Liu could rely on his technique to move through the web of blades and strike the Spatial Shield.

Although Zhan Liu’s attacks still could not break through the Spatial Shield, they could actually pass through it and directly injure the Space War God’s true body.

The Space War God relied entirely on the Spatial Blade, which was indestructible under the Space Stone’s support, and the impregnable Spatial Shield. Although the attack’s power had been greatly reduced after passing through the Spatial Shield, and the damage to the Space War God was practically negligible, it was enough to put Dr. Zola on guard.

Dr. Zola changed his previous attitude. He used the Space Displacement Cannon to send Steve and the other two away one after another, but kept his eyes fixed on Zhan Liu, determined to kill him before doing anything else.

Dr. Zola’s Complete State was not actually very high, not even as high as Hive’s after inheriting Magneto’s body. His Magnetic Field Force was not particularly strong either, reaching only the Ninety-Third Heaven. But his Power Flow was astonishingly powerful.

One exceptional technique was enough to conquer the world.

Dr. Zola relied on the powerful Power Flow granted by the Space War God, along with its nearly invincible blade and shield, to hack Zhan Liu until his flesh was mangled and he looked like a bloody gourd.

This fighting style, however, suited Zhan Liu perfectly.

"Refreshing!"

"This is how a battle should be fought!"

"The stronger your shield, the more room there is for my Ultimate Five Thunder Palm to improve!"

"The progress of my palm technique is visible to the naked eye!"

"Kill me before I break through!"

"Otherwise, once I break through, I’ll blast you apart!"

Zhan Liu shouted wildly as he fought, locked in combat with the Space War God, not a single other person in his eyes.

Whenever Tony and the others came to help, Dr. Zola would send them away with the Space Displacement Cannon, rendering them completely ineffective.

After failing several times, Tony and the other two immediately changed their approach. They gathered in the distance, entered Combination Synchronization Mode, and then rushed over to provide support.

With the power level of the Ninety-Seven Heavens, they could indeed hold out a little longer. But against the Space Stone’s overwhelming authority, they still had no effective means of defense.

Moreover, Dr. Zola had now made up his mind to kill Zhan Liu first. He ignored the trio’s ordinary attacks, relying entirely on the Spatial Shield for defense. Only when the three used their combination technique did he suffer any impact, requiring a little time to recover his energy.

But using their combination technique required charging up. Although the time was brief, it was enough for Dr. Zola to send them away with the Space Displacement Cannon.

At best, they could only give Zhan Liu one more breath of time.

"Haha… what a thrill!"

Although Zhan Liu was covered in blood, he shouted wildly in extreme excitement. He often risked being disemboweled by the Spatial Blade just to land a palm on the Space War God’s forehead.

With his wealth of experience, he realized not long after the battle began that the Space War God’s only weakness was the Space Stone on its forehead.

Normally, the Space War God was protected by an eggshell-shaped Spatial Shield. If the shield did not break, the Space Stone could not be damaged. And if the Space Stone remained unharmed, the Spatial Shield would not break.

It was a dead loop!

But his Ultimate Five Thunder Palm could strike through obstacles, making it the perfect bane of all shield-type defenses.

Although his current attacks could bypass the Spatial Shield, they could not inflict enough damage. As the battle progressed, however, Zhan Liu would continually revise his palm technique, making Ultimate Five Thunder Palm stronger and stronger. Eventually, it would be able to damage the Space Stone.

Without the Space Stone’s protection, Zola War God would be nothing more than scrap metal before everyone.

The stupidest thing Dr. Zola had done was personally enter the battlefield and take up a blade, turning himself from a scientist into a martial brute. Worse still, this martial brute was a robot and could not erupt with increased strength.

Whatever level Dr. Zola’s power was at now, it would remain at that level in the future. It would not change. But since Zhan Liu had not been killed at the beginning, he would continue improving throughout the battle and eventually reach the level where he could damage the Space Stone.

Dr. Zola could naturally discover the problem as well, which was why he kept focusing on hacking at Zhan Liu.

Dr. Zola was now caught between a rock and a hard place.

If he abandoned Zhan Liu at this point and returned to the war fortress to conduct research, Zhan Liu would be incorporated into Tony’s Combination Synchronization Mode. His strength would then skyrocket, and he would cut Dr. Zola down where he stood.

The reason he had dared to personally enter the fray was that his research on the Space Stone had yielded some results, making him a little overconfident. He believed that with his spatial shield, no one could hurt him. As it turned out, he encountered Master Zhan Liu’s "Ultimate Five Thunder Palm," his natural nemesis.

Although Tony and the others did not know why Dr. Zola had gone berserk, the three of them also realized that Master Zhan Liu’s attacks were somewhat unusual.

Whatever the enemy wanted, they had to stop it.

"Tony, is there any way to use Combination Synchronization Mode on Master Zhan Liu? His current realm is too low—only the Eightieth Heaven. If his Complete State weren’t high enough, he would’ve been hacked to death already."

The three of them gathered in the distance again and entered Combination Synchronization Mode. Steve watched the battle in the distance, where they still could not intervene, and asked Tony for advice.

"To enter Combination Synchronization Mode, you have to completely relax your body. Otherwise, the Magnetic Field Force will automatically repel the Nano-worm swarm. But he’s constantly being hacked by Dr. Zola, so he can’t stop at all."

Tony had actually wanted to do this long ago, but he had never found an opportunity.

"Then do you have any good ideas?"

Tony raised an eyebrow and said something obvious. "We need someone to hold off the Zola War God for a while and give me a little time. A few seconds will be enough."

Steve sighed. "Zola is completely ignoring us right now. The moment we approach, we’ll be banished."

"Then all we can do is buy time. Master’s realm is slowly increasing. Once he reaches the Ninetieth Heaven, he might be able to destroy the Space Stone."

The three of them were stuck here, utterly at a loss as to how to interfere in the battle on the other side.

They were clearly very powerful, yet they were completely helpless against Dr. Zola’s Spatial Exile. It was incredibly discouraging.

Seeing that he could not intervene in the battle, Tony simply created a laboratory out of thin air again and began researching technology for locking down space. However, without the Space Stone as a reference, producing any results was practically impossible.

But soon, reinforcements arrived to break the deadlock.

P.S. Thanks for the rewards from book friends 161215195238850, 1244901228192501760, Su Taizhao, Jiajia Warehouse, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Limitless Celestial Venerable, and Jie Tiansi!