Thane’s Calamity, Phoenix Rebirth!

At the mention of Zayn, Nebula gently shook her head. "He’s no longer here, but Star Fox and Champion are. That’s also why we had to save Thanos from you. A massive crisis that’s about to sweep across the entire universe may be something only he can resolve!"

A massive crisis sweeping across the entire universe?

Li Congxin frowned when he heard this. "What exactly happened?"

Nebula’s expression suddenly turned gravely serious. After a long silence, she finally forced out a trembling sentence: "Phoenix Rebirth!"

In Nidavellir’s royal palace reception hall, aside from the attendants responsible for receiving the guests, the only dwarf with any real authority to speak was the Dwarf King. Everyone else was an outsider powerhouse.

At the center, a tall, burly figure lay on the ground. His golden helmet and armor were already battered beyond recognition. His chest heaved violently like a bellows, while his dignified purple face was twisted by excruciating pain. He looked practically half-dead.

This man was Thanos!

He had invaded at the head of an army like a conqueror, only to end up in such a state, with even his life and death now in the hands of others.

No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.

Surrounding Thanos sat a large group of people: the Avengers from Earth, led by Captain America, along with Nebula, Star Fox, and Champion, three unexpected interveners who had appeared halfway through the affair, as well as the local master, the Dwarf King Eitri.

"All three of us were deceived by Zayn. We went with him to the Tyrant’s Emissary’s base to rescue a powerful prisoner, because that prisoner possessed the power to fight Thanos!" Star Fox was the first to speak, his voice filled with helplessness. "Who could have known that Zayn’s true target wasn’t a prisoner at all, but a Phoenix Egg that was still gestating!"

"A Phoenix Egg?" Seeing the other man’s solemn expression, Captain America realized how serious the matter was and hurriedly asked, "What is that?"

The Phoenix Force was famous throughout the Marvel universe, but people on Earth knew of it only because of the tremendous power of its host, Jean Grey. Unfortunately, Mutants did not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had been classified as aliens.

Thus, none of Earth’s superheroes had ever heard of the Phoenix Force’s might.

Although he despised these ignorant bumpkins from some backwater world, everyone still needed to cooperate wholeheartedly for now. Star Fox could only suppress his impatience and explain, "The Phoenix possesses the power to destroy worlds. Whoever gains its power will become invincible beneath the heavens. Zayn’s goal was to obtain the Phoenix’s power and thereby gain strength capable of completely defeating Thanos."

Hearing this, all the Avengers frowned.

At that moment, the Dwarf King Eitri spoke. "According to the records, the Phoenix Force is filled with a desire for destruction. No one can control it, because it will not only devour its host’s soul, but the fury it unleashes can even drown out all life in the universe!"

After saying this, he looked at the three unwelcome guests in astonishment. "You just watched him obtain the Phoenix Force?"

"No." Nebula cut in. "I killed him. While he was explaining things to Star Fox and the others, I used my strongest weapon and shot straight through his heart."

Champion, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke as well, continuing Nebula’s account. "At that time, the Tyrant returned with a large army under his command. He was one of the four emissaries of Star Eater, one of the universe’s five Cosmic Creator Gods. His strength might not have been inferior to Thanos’s."

"Faced with such a powerful enemy, we naturally had to give it everything we had, so we had no time to check whether Zayn was truly dead." At this point, fear finally appeared on Champion’s face. "Just as we were confronting the Tyrant while considering how to escape, something completely unexpected happened."

Black Widow had already guessed what had happened. She asked in a deep voice, "Zayn didn’t die?"

"Perhaps, but that isn’t important." Nebula took over again, her gaze solemn. "The power represented by the Phoenix is not only destruction, but also rebirth!"

"In the universe, people call the phenomenon of being reborn from the Phoenix’s flames—Phoenix Rebirth!"

"After obtaining the Phoenix Force, Zayn destroyed the Tyrant’s base outright, and the rest of us escaped in the chaos."

"But Zayn is now slaughtering people throughout the universe without restraint. We have to stop him. That’s also why we stopped Clark from killing Thanos." As the one closest to the Avengers, Nebula naturally took responsibility for explaining more of the situation. "Thanos has many trump cards. Perhaps he can think of a way to counter the Phoenix Force."

Glancing at the half-dead Thanos, Nebula turned to the Dwarf King Eitri. "Your Majesty, believe me, I want Thanos dead more than anyone. Clark has already gone to test Zayn’s current condition. As for whether Thanos should be allowed to live, we’ll have to decide after seeing the results of Clark’s investigation."

Chitauri, the home planet of the Chitauri.

As a bandit race in the universe, the Chitauri behaved like pirates—or rather, they were all cosmic pirates. Under such circumstances, their home planet naturally could not be a peaceful place. Chaos, violence, bloodshed, and every other negative force practically filled every corner of the planet.

And today, the planet was hundreds or even thousands of times more miserable than usual!

As a golden figure streaked rapidly across the planet’s surface, city after city belonging to the Chitauri was reduced to ruins beneath sweeping flames.

All things perished!

"Hahaha… exhilarating!"

As another swath of flames burned a medium-sized city on Chitauri to rubble, a purple-skinned young man finally stopped. He raised his head to the sky and let out a hearty laugh.

The youth wore golden armor resembling Thanos’s, though it was far smaller than Thanos’s. If the youth’s armor was XL, then the suit on Thanos was XXXXXXL. The two were simply not in the same weight class.

Yet on the chest of the youth’s armor was a phoenix emblem shining with incandescent light, its wings spread as if ready to take flight. It struck terror into anyone who saw it.

What that phoenix emblem represented far surpassed the amount of material used to make the armor—by a thousand or ten thousand times!

"Actually, these Chitauri didn’t need to be killed."

As a gentle, melodious female voice rang out, an exquisitely beautiful woman suddenly appeared from thin air. She had a voluptuous figure and wore very little black clothing. With a trace of regret, she said, "The Chitauri are naturally savage, one of the few chaotic races in the universe. Keeping them alive would only bring more slaughter and death to the universe. Killing them is no different from killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

The youth in golden armor was Zayn, who had once given Li Congxin a small setback. The astonishingly beautiful woman, meanwhile, was the second strongest person Li Congxin had encountered since transmigrating. Her given name was Death!

"Having one person to create slaughter is enough." The youth was extremely respectful toward the woman, but he still rejected her suggestion without hesitation. "These Chitauri are Thanos’s lackeys. They absolutely deserve to die!"

Lady Death did not argue with him. She merely smiled sweetly. "As long as you’re happy."

"Don’t worry, my Goddess." Zayn bowed and gave her a gentlemanly salute. "I’m willing to fight forever and continually offer sacrifices to you."

As he spoke, Zayn noticed Lady Death’s brows knitting slightly and hurriedly asked with concern, "My Goddess, what has upset you? Do you need me to deal with whoever made you unhappy?"

"Someone very irritating has arrived. I don’t want to see him." Lady Death sounded somewhat listless. "If you can, teach him a lesson while you’re at it. As for killing him, forget it. The person I don’t want to see isn’t someone you can kill."

After saying this, Lady Death’s figure vanished before Zayn.

The next moment, following an almost imperceptible ripple of spatial energy, a majestic man appeared amid the ruins before Zayn.

The man was not particularly tall—indeed, he was slightly shorter than Zayn—but he gave Zayn the sensation of looking up at an unreachable mountain. He was not burly, but his physique was exceptionally fit. He wore a dark blue skintight battle suit, with a large "Superman" emblem on his chest. A bright red cape billowed behind him, cracking in the hot currents around them.

Looking at the man’s face instantly filled anyone with a complicated mixture of envy, jealousy, and hatred, because he was simply too handsome. Even Zayn, who prided himself on his appearance, felt thoroughly inferior before him!

No wonder the Goddess disliked him so much. That face of his really was infuriating.

Zayn gave a cold laugh and spoke first. "Li Congxin, you never offended me back then. In fact, I was the one who schemed against you. So after gaining power, I originally had no intention of seeking trouble with you again. But you just had to appear before me of your own accord. Now I can’t even find an excuse to spare you."

Li Congxin calmly looked at the madness in Zayn’s eyes and gently shook his head. Then he said something that sent the other man into a rage: "Compared to Thanos, you’re far inferior!"

Zayn flew into a fury. Flames in the shape of a phoenix erupted from his body, burning everything within a hundred meters into ash. Only the area where Li Congxin stood, along with a small patch behind him, escaped the disaster. "What did you say?"

"I said you’re far inferior to Thanos." Li Congxin fearlessly repeated himself. He then swept a disdainful gaze over Zayn twice. "Even knowing that his strength was far below mine, Thanos never showed the slightest cowardice when facing me. But you—though you put on an arrogant, overbearing act, your heart is filled with nothing but inferiority and timidity."

"Bullshit!" Amid his roar, Zayn suddenly thrust both hands forward. The Phoenix Force enveloping his entire body transformed into ten flaming arrows that shot toward Li Congxin.