Shiller is lying behind a crater hill. When he opened his eyes, he saw the distant shadows of volcanoes, with smoke columns shooting straight into the sky. A giant planet hung overhead, and the shield module on his belt emitted a sharp alarm.
He reached out and touched it; the metal piece was scorching hot. This proved the shield had just been hit with a strong impact, and now the energy was depleted. If he didn't have two sets of life support equipment, he might have suffocated by now.
First, he exerted his arm and then his waist to turn over. Shiller slowly climbed up from the ground. The very unsuccessful emergency landing had successfully broken two of his ribs.
The spaceship being destroyed was not unexpected. After all, the purpose of greed was to make the two sides fight. The news that they had obtained two gemstones could definitely not be hidden. It was just unexpected that the opponent came so quickly.
Shiller let out a long breath and found his breathing wasn't too affected, knowing the shield had played a major role. The standard equipment of the Cosmic Federation Bureau of Investigation was quite solid, and Thanos was indeed doing a good job as the director.
He checked himself and found that, aside from the ribs being fractured, everything else was fine. The emergency landing equipment package had fallen about a hundred meters away. Shiller slowly walked over to pick it up.
Inside were a thermal dagger, some emergency food and water, and most importantly, a single soldier propulsion device—used for moving units without extra power in the cosmos; the maximum speed was decent, and along with the shield, short-distance movement wasn't a problem.
Shiller looked up at the gigantic planet overhead. If he remembered correctly, when the spaceship crashed, he set the emergency landing site to Centaurus' market planet, but perhaps it was too late, so he didn't land on the main planet's surface but ended up on the satellite, which might have saved his life.
After all, satellites are small, the main planet's gravity range is large, and generally, spaceships can't be set to emergency land on satellites. Anyone with some cosmic knowledge would think Shiller should have landed on the main planet, so the troops are likely heading there now.
If found right away, it would be certain death. But landing on the satellite now, he actually had a glimmer of hope.
Shiller took out the communicator but didn't dare to contact Batman, because there was still a JARVIS opposite. Any telecommunications signal sent now might reveal his location to the opponent.
The Infinity Gems were too important, and Marvel had just suffered a great loss. Even for morale, they couldn't lose another city, so this time the formation would be large. If he encountered a large force, Shiller wasn't completely confident of escaping.
With the equipment in hand, Shiller looked around. There were some scorching marks on the ground, likely left by the spaceship crash. If he landed on the satellite, Constantine shouldn't be far away—Constantine still had another gemstone.
Shiller followed the trail forward and soon found the emergency-landed spaceship and the unconscious Constantine on the other side of the crater.
The spaceship was completely wrecked, with half of it buried in the ground, emitting billowing black smoke; everything inside must be ruined. Constantine had been propelled about ten meters away by the emergency landing device, and because of his poorer physical condition, he hadn't woken up yet.
Shiller went over to wake him up. Constantine shivered awake. Shiller didn't bother explaining the situation, just took the Eye of Agomoto from his hand.
"Hey, wait," Constantine shouted, "you can't use this thing. Give it back to me."
Shiller looked at the thing but didn't feel anything special. He knew he wasn't cut out to be a mage, so he gave it back to Constantine.
As soon as Constantine grabbed the Eye of Agomoto, a dense white light shone, and both of their injuries healed.
Constantine struggled to get up, then coughed vigorously, followed by vomiting. After a long struggle, he sat back down like a wandering soul and said, "Here for the Infinity Gems?"
"Sort of. Where's your equipment?"
Constantine went to the back of the spaceship and brought over the box. The box was not simple; he'd been tossed around but it was intact, without even a paint chip scratched off.
"What do we do? Sit here waiting for rescue?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "The opposition won't let up this time. There are too few places to hide on this satellite; we'd be caught by the time rescue arrives. We must get to the main planet."
"Which planet is this?" Constantine asked.
"Centaurus' market planet, its scientific name I don't know. Anyway, it's the cosmos' second-biggest black market, and after the biggest black market near the Giant Teleportation Gate of the Xi'a Empire shut down, it's likely the biggest now."
Constantine pulled out a cigarette from the box and tried to light it, but life's support system obviously didn't provide the oxygen needed to keep a cigarette burning. He tried several times unsuccessfully and kicked the dirt underfoot hard.
Shiller saw his hand slightly tremble—this was a typical nicotine withdrawal symptom. He pulled a nicotine patch from his pocket and handed it over.
Constantine's eyes lit up, took it and put it on, then said, "You don't look like someone who smokes."
"Why do you say that?" They chatted while walking toward the main planet.
"I know you have cigarettes; you probably often have them in your mouth or give them to others, but you're definitely not addicted, maybe haven't even smoked one. You can't fool me."
Constantine took several deep breaths, as the nicotine patch took effect he seemed more alert, then said, "Real smokers can tell. But I'm curious, why pretend to be a smoker?"
"The pressure is high in law enforcement, and most people smoke. If I didn't, I'd seem a bit out of place. Sometimes, when we're on a mission and can't smoke, I carry nicotine patches to prevent anyone from losing their life to withdrawal."
"You're a good boss," Constantine chuckled, "So you don't feel the pressure?"
"Do you think we're under a lot of pressure now?"
"Ahem..." Constantine took a deep, theatrical breath and coughed like an old smoker, then cleared his throat saying, "I'm already not far from death. Living one more day is a bonus. What about you?"
"It's best you think like that," Shiller didn't directly answer his question but said, "Because our chances of dying might be quite high soon. Just don't complain then."
Constantine shrugged and let out a low laugh.
The two used the propulsion device to fly towards the main planet. The distance was very far, but fortunately, the propulsion device was fairly fast, and they would reach it in just over ten hours.
During this time, they were able to rest, taking shifts. Shiller took a short nap first, then it was Constantine's turn. Possibly due to his health condition, Constantine slept very soundly, and Shiller didn't wake him.
However, during the flight, Shiller had already noticed that the Interstellar Security Committee's ships had blocked this planet and that someone had gone to search the satellite they were previously on.
Thanos, after all, belonged to the Central Universe, a part of this cosmos. When The Avengers came asking for his help to investigate, he couldn't outright refuse, so he deployed people to blockade this area.
But at most, it was just an airspace blockade preventing ships and aircraft from landing or taking off. Ground searches would be very difficult, as such a black market must have protection, and the interests involved are too complex—Thanos wouldn't take the fall for this.
Shiller thought that as long as those searching weren't from the Interstellar Security Committee, his chances of survival increased greatly. After all, Mutants probably wouldn't get involved in this mess, and if it was just The Avengers, they weren't professionals, so there was hope to hold out until help arrived.
When the Interstellar Security Committee's ships blocked the outer layer of the planet, Shiller and Constantine were already entering the atmosphere. And because the two individuals were so small, they probably didn't even show up on the planet-level radar, so no one stopped them.
After a long flight of over ten hours, the two successfully landed. With Shiller's adjustments, they landed next to the largest gathering area.
This was no open market; it was a massive city originally built by interstellar refugees and later turned into a black market. Shiller had one purpose here: to find Constantine.
Not the Constantine who was with him now, but the Primary Universe Constantine. This guy had been placed here by the Primary Universe Batman to act as bait. Although the fish had already been hooked, he probably hadn't left yet. With him around, the chances of survival were much higher.
He and Constantine sneaked their way into the city. Although they checked identities, once they found out the two of them were human, they didn't dare stop them. Thus, they successfully reached the bustling, crowded area.
The buildings here had unique shapes, like squeezing buildings from various millennia into a single street, as if compressing all social classes into one place. Next to towering temples were low shanties, and behind technologically advanced buildings were stone structures resembling pyramids.
The creatures walking here were varied and strange. Some looked human, others didn't; some seemed like animals and plants from Earth had become sentient. Creatures flew in the air, ran on the ground, and swam in the water, the place bustling and crowded.
Once here, Constantine finally got his wish and lit a cigarette, while Shiller also put one in his mouth. Shiller looked around and then stopped in front of a hotel—he recognized it as a hotel because there was English written on it, indicating it had hosted humans before.
He knocked on the hotel door, and a blue-skinned person opened it. Seeing that there were two humans, his face wrinkled with a smile: "Welcome, gentlemen. Dining or accommodation?"
Although somewhat awkward, he spoke English. Constantine raised an eyebrow in surprise, but Shiller wasn't too bothered—after all, Earth had taken down the Three Great Empires; once you're strong, people naturally learn your language.
Shiller pulled out two gold bars and, in rather simple English, said, "We need a place to stay. Don't tell anyone humans have been here."
"Well..."
Shiller took out another gold bar and said, "Get us some food humans can eat in the meantime."
The opposite party happily placed the three gold bars in the counter, saying, "No problem. Second floor, turn left, second and third rooms. I'll get you some food now."
"No rush," Shiller said, pulling out another gold bar. "I'm looking for a Magician named Constantine. You can look for him in two places—a bar or a brothel. Any problems?"
"Constantine? You mean Constantine?" the innkeeper repeated the pronunciation, then said, "He's not at the bar or the brothel. He's at the Central Tower. He's the Central Tower owner's lover."
"What kind of person is the Central Tower's owner?"
"He's not a person. In human terms, he's an octopus."
Constantine, who was drinking water beside them, spat out a mouthful of it.