Space Prison

Mount Akina was one of the Jōmō Sanzan in Neon Country’s Gunma Prefecture. Its mountain road twisted through eighteen bends, making it an ideal place for top street racers to show off their skills. Naturally, it was also extremely dangerous. Even seasoned veterans couldn’t guarantee they would return safely every time they raced up the mountain.

That was precisely where the charm of Mount Akina’s track lay.

There was a poem that went:

Few travelers climb Mount Akina; racers often compete to see who’s better.

The track remains to this day, but the old master drivers are nowhere to be found.

At that moment, however, Mount Akina welcomed a fierce new female driver.

This legendary rookie whom everyone feared was driving a newly manufactured Wuling Hongguang, with the six characters "Specializing in Fixing Leaking Buildings" spray-painted on the side of the doors. Her driving skills were atrocious, but her speed was anything but slow. Looking closely, one would find a faint blue halo surrounding her vehicle, enveloping the entire car and making it far sturdier than even a tank.

Along the way, this Haki-wielding female driver had already lost count of how many sections of mountain she had crashed down and how many trees she had smashed apart. At times, the entire car would crash through the guardrail and fly off the track, only to return to it the next moment under the influence of spatial power. It was unbelievably thrilling.

Seeing an opponent who drove a car even more ferociously than the Transformers, the street racers competing alongside her had long since been scared witless. In this situation, forget Takumi Fujiwara—even if Optimus Prime and Bumblebee had shown up, they would still have knelt down and called her "Dad"!

This was way too thrilling!

However, inside the car, the beautiful young driver kept driving while pouting. "Who said a car god should drive a Wuling Hongguang? That’s a complete lie! With a car like this, how can its speed or performance compare with a Lamborghini? I didn’t get enough out of this escort job. When I go back, I’ll get some more money from that scumbag and buy the most highly equipped sports car for a proper race."

As she spoke, she drifted through another bend. This time, she actually didn’t hit anything.

Clearly, this rookie female driver’s learning ability was quite commendable. Being able to learn drifting on her very first time driving was already a rare achievement.

After one bend came four more in succession, but under the girl’s visibly accelerating vehicle, she drifted smoothly past all of them with ease.

However, after turning through the final bend, the girl’s brows furrowed slightly.

She had just passed through this section of track. The half pine tree beside the first bend had been smashed apart by her, and the collapsed section of mountain beside the third bend was also her handiwork.

In other words, she had somehow fallen into a loop?

How was that possible?

It wasn’t as if Mount Akina’s track had a return route!

Startled, the girl immediately released her spatial power outward, only to discover that the surrounding space had been sealed by someone. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t extend her power more than ten meters from her body!

More terrifyingly, after probing the space with her power, she was shocked to discover that she was no longer on Mount Akina’s track. Instead, she was in an endless void. The mountain to her left, the trees to her right, the road beneath her, Akina Lake in the distance…

Everything was neither real nor illusory, but rather a special existence somewhere between reality and illusion.

In other words, she had actually been tricked!

The moment she realized this, the spatial power around the girl’s body erupted violently, directly blasting the Wuling Hongguang she was riding to pieces. Yet no matter how fiercely she unleashed her spatial power, she couldn’t shake this predicament between reality and illusion in the slightest.

Clearly, this was an overwhelming force that transcended dimensions. It was absolutely not something she could break through with brute strength at her current level!

Staring at the lonely Mount Akina track before her, the girl trembled with rage. After holding it in for a long time, she finally shouted angrily, "Scumbag, get out here!"

"What an ill-mannered girl." Li Congxin’s figure slowly materialized before the girl, his expression filled with helplessness. "You barged into my company without permission, took the company’s money, bought a junk car, and went racing recklessly around Mount Akina. Do you have any idea how much danger you’ve put so many people in?"

"Hmph!"

The girl was none other than Li Qianhuan, who had previously broken into Nirvana Group Headquarters to steal from it. Hearing Li Congxin’s righteous reprimand, she merely snorted disdainfully and said casually, "That’s why I chose this section of road to race on. Don’t pretend with me. I know what you’re like. Do you really care whether those people from Neon Country live or die? Please don’t tell jokes that you don’t even believe yourself."

Li Congxin was rendered speechless by the girl’s retort for quite a while. This girl seemed to understand him rather well!

Shaking his head, Li Congxin skipped over the subject and said, "Then what do you have to say about breaking into my company and stealing from it? Shouldn’t you give me a reasonable explanation?"

"The reason is simple. I had no money." Li Qianhuan spread her hands and said shamelessly, "I couldn’t exactly take money from someone else’s house. That would be stealing!"

Li Congxin was amused into laughter by her words.

So she knew that stealing was wrong, but taking his things didn’t count as stealing?

Waving his hand, Li Congxin couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time arguing with her. He said calmly, "The power of the Space Stone is one of the Six fundamental laws of the universe. It isn’t for you to use for stealing things. Think carefully about where you went wrong here. If you figure it out, loudly call my name three times."

With that, his figure blurred and vanished before Li Qianhuan.

Seeing that Li Congxin had truly left just like that, Li Qianhuan panicked slightly and hurriedly shouted, "Scumbag! Scumbag! Scumbag! Let me out right now, or I’ll never forgive you!"

Li Congxin’s voice calmly came from all directions. "My name isn’t Scumbag."

Li Qianhuan said, "Fine, don’t let me out… I don’t believe I can’t get out by myself!"

As she spoke, the girl slowly spread her arms. More than thirty multicolored bubbles immediately appeared around her. Then her gaze sharpened, and the bubbles of different colors changed shape in an instant, transforming into razor-sharp multicolored flying blades. Carrying terrifying power capable of tearing space apart, they shot straight forward.

"Bzz!"

Just as the flying blades reached the boundary ten meters before Li Qianhuan, a blue curtain of light suddenly burst forth from the void. Golden runes covered its surface, and each one contained unimaginable destructive power. Even Li Qianhuan’s flying blades, which were powerful enough to tear space apart, sank into the curtain like mud cows entering the sea, unable to stir up the slightest ripple.

"I refuse to believe this." Li Qianhuan, whose stubborn streak had been roused, refused to accept defeat. She abruptly tapped the ground with her right foot, and her body transformed into a streak of light, shooting forward under the protection of spatial energy. In one charge, she covered a hundred meters. Yet the spatial seal that had previously blocked the spread of her divine power did not appear. The entire way was completely unobstructed!

Stopping in confusion, Li Qianhuan raised her hand and shot out another multicolored flying blade. As expected, it was stopped ten meters before her once again.

As expected, this spatial barrier had been set up with her at its center?

It seemed brute force really couldn’t break it. But why did the runes on the barrier feel so familiar?

After thinking carefully, Li Qianhuan suddenly realized that they faintly resonated with the power of the Space Stone inside her. However, the laws contained within them were far more complete than the spatial law inside her, which was far from perfect.

It seemed that to break through this seal, she first had to understand the spatial law displayed by the runes.

Having figured this out, Li Qianhuan stopped trying things at random. She casually took a leather sofa out of space, dropped herself onto it, and began pondering with a frown.

Three minutes later, the girl’s eyes suddenly lit up. She raised her hand and shot another flying blade through the air. This time, it carried no sharpness capable of tearing space apart, only a stability and weightiness unlike anything before.

The moment the flying blade touched the barrier, the previously indestructible barrier instantly melted away like snow beneath the blazing sun.

It really worked!

I thought the spatial prison designed by that scumbag would be so powerful, but it turns out it’s nothing special after all… Damn!

Before Li Qianhuan could even have time to celebrate, her flying blade shot straight ahead after breaking through the barrier. Yet at a distance of eleven meters directly before her, it once again encountered the barrier and vanished into the second layer.

How much longer are you going to keep this up?!

Thinking this, the little girl’s competitive spirit was thoroughly provoked. She arranged her body in the most comfortable position she could think of and sank into the sofa, beginning to ponder the second barrier before her.

The construction of this barrier was clearly even more complicated than the first.

But dreaming of making things difficult for me!

And so, Li Qianhuan began breaking through the barriers one after another within the formation Li Congxin had arranged.

Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic had arrived at the Avengers’ base as promised.

Mister Fantastic Reed Richards truly lived up to his reputation as a man known for being a super-genius. With his assistance, Tony’s personal spaceflight equipment had advanced by a huge step beyond its original foundation.

Not only did this resolve the fatal problem of several warriors on the team who previously lacked the ability to survive in space, but it also greatly enhanced Tony’s Iron Man suit, substantially increasing its combat power.

In just three days and two nights, the battle suits of Captain America, Tony, Wanda, and Mindy had all been built or upgraded. Thor and Beta Ray Bill, who were in Asgard, had also been summoned over by him.

At this point, the Avengers’ top combat forces had been completely assembled!

Li Congxin had everyone rest properly for one night to replenish their energy and welcome the battle against Galactus in the best possible condition!