"What is this?!" Even though Johnny Stone was fighting a Kryptonian, even though he had just faced the sun and gained tremendous power from it, he still felt overwhelmed at this moment. Johnny's attack happened too quickly!
"Thud!" In the next moment, the Kryptonian sensed a deadly danger. Following his instincts, he dodged, but a scorching beam of flame still pierced through his chest.
"Thud!"
The Kryptonian fell powerlessly to the ground, his eyes filled with confusion. He felt his body weakening rapidly, as if he had returned to the time before the sun had activated his powers, losing all of his immense strength.
This wasn't because the Kryptonian had lost his abilities directly from Johnny Stone's flame attack, but because his injuries were too severe. A terrifying hole had appeared in his chest, with flames continuing to ravage the wound as if they were intent on burning him completely.
Moreover, the wound was near his heart, or rather, half of his heart had already been blasted away. The remaining half was still being scorched by the flames.
This was the result even after the Kryptonian had managed to dodge slightly. If he hadn't dodged, even with his Kryptonian vitality, he wouldn't have survived. He would have been reduced to a lifeless corpse.
Now, the Kryptonian could barely cling to life. If the flames in the wound subsided, his formidable vitality might allow him to recover. However, if the flames continued to erode his body, he wouldn't escape death.
"What a pity..." At this moment, Johnny Stone also collapsed to the ground. If he had any strength left, he would have finished off the Kryptonian, even using just a little flame to break the balance between the Kryptonian's injuries and his recovery.
But alas, Johnny Stone had no strength left. He couldn't even move a finger, let alone use his flame powers. His only advantage over Susan Stone, Lorna, and Carter Hall was that he was still conscious, while they had already lost consciousness.
"Useless! Can you still move? If you can, remotely activate the ship to deploy the World Engine and begin terraforming Earth!" Meanwhile, General Zod, who was fighting Diana, noticed the Kryptonian's dire state. He was suddenly knocked away, anger flashing in his eyes as he shouted at the Kryptonian.
If Regan wasn't so far away, General Zod would have already ordered him to control the ship. After Diana appeared, General Zod began to regret not terraforming Earth first before engaging in battle.
Especially after seeing the Kryptonian gravely injured and out of the fight, General Zod's regret grew stronger, distracting him enough to get struck by Diana. However, he seized the opportunity to order the Kryptonian to act.
"Huh?!" When Diana heard General Zod's command, her pupils constricted, and she instinctively rushed towards the Kryptonian. But at that moment, General Zod activated a controller from his wrist, forcing Diana to turn back and focus on him instead.
There was no choice—these Kryptonians all seemed to have controllers, and Diana could only prioritize stopping the more imminent threat of General Zod.
"Buzz!" At that moment, the Kryptonian, lying on the ground and awaiting death, managed to operate his wrist controller. He frantically tapped on it, initiating the deployment of the World Engine from the spaceship.
The Kryptonian was in slightly better shape than the completely exhausted Johnny Stone. He could still move his fingers, which allowed him to successfully activate the World Engine to descend from the ship.
"Huh? What's that?" In space, Clark, who was eyeing a blood-soaked but radiant Fiona, suddenly sensed something and turned his gaze toward Earth.
He saw a spaceship resembling a three-legged jellyfish split into two parts, one heading towards the Southern Indian Ocean and the other towards America.
"What are they doing?" Clark couldn't detect any lifeforms on the ship, but he quickly realized it posed a threat to Earth. He prepared to return and stop the ships from landing.
"Sizzle!" Just then, a heat vision blast was fired, not at Clark, but at the moon.
The significance of the moon to Earth didn't need explaining. Fiona knew this and relentlessly attacked the moon, forcing Clark to intercept her attacks again and again, just like this time.
To be honest, Clark was starting to regret his strategy. He had intended to move the fight to space to minimize damage to Earth, planning to first send Fiona flying into space and then return to deal with General Zod and the others with the help of Martian Manhunter, keeping the battle away from Earth.
But what Clark hadn't anticipated was that Fiona was even more reckless and knew exactly how to threaten him. Every time Clark tried to return to Earth, Fiona would attack the moon, threatening to destroy it!
Moreover, Clark realized that the Kryptonians were a formidable race, especially when fighting within the sun's range. With Clark's power, he should have been able to defeat Fiona much faster. However, the sunlight continuously healed Fiona's wounds, not fast enough to keep up with Clark's damage but enough to keep her alive and capable of attacking the moon.
There was no avoiding it—the sun wasn't exclusive to Clark. Even though he was the most exceptional of the Kryptonians, he couldn't prevent the others from also drawing power from the sun.
Thus, Clark was stuck in a stalemate, limited by Fiona's sacrificial tactics. Unless Clark could deliver a decisive blow to kill Fiona, who also had a nearly indestructible body and was constantly healing, he had no way to return to Earth.
"What the hell is this?!" In America, as the massive spindle-shaped object descended, both civilians and government officials were dumbfounded. The shape of the object didn't match any known spaceship designs. Only Nick Fury and other Skrull agents recognized the device. "Damn! A World Engine? If it terraforms Earth, can we still invade it? But then again, we probably don't have the means to stop it…"
A trace of frustration flickered through Nick Fury and the Skrulls' minds, but they quickly let it go, realizing they indeed lacked the capability.
"Boom!" In contrast to the World Engine that attracted massive attention in America, the other World Engine went relatively unnoticed as it landed in the Southern Indian Ocean, far from any human settlements.
"Huh? What's that?" However, as the World Engine hit the ground, Robert, Kara, and Hulk appeared near a remote island. Hearing the commotion, Robert and Kara immediately focused on the World Engine.
Their delay in action was due to Kara taking time to visit the Kent and Danvers families. Then, after returning to the remote island, Jor-El had a lengthy conversation with Robert and Kara about General Zod's arrival on Earth, further delaying them.
Of course, Robert's lack of awareness of the external dangers also played a role. After all, with Clark leading the charge, Robert assumed the situation would be resolved quickly. Who would have thought that Clark would be tied down by a lesser opponent like Fiona?
"Boom!" As Robert and Kara were about to investigate the World Engine, a thunderous sound erupted, and the World Engine unleashed a continuous force, bombarding Earth!
"Huh?!" Robert's face changed drastically as he recognized the familiar force coming from the World Engine—gravity!
"Kara! Take Hulk and help the others. I'll destroy this thing!" Robert hastily shouted before vanishing from sight, reappearing next to the World Engine.
"Buzz!" As soon as Robert appeared, the World Engine's defense systems detected him, unleashing a swarm of nanobots to attack.
Kryptonian nanotechnology was far superior to Tony Stark's nanotech armor. Before Kryptonians gained the sun's power, these nanobots were even stronger than their battle suits!
In an instant, the nanobots formed metallic pincers, reaching for Robert's body.
"Watch out!" Just as Robert was about to strike the pincers, a voice shouted, and a golden trident shot out from behind him, piercing the pincers and pinning them to the World Engine!
"Huh?" The unexpected turn of events surprised Robert. The golden trident seemed to possess a mysterious power, temporarily subduing the nanobots.
"Are you okay?" As Robert looked towards the ocean, a red-haired woman emerged—someone he had met before, Mera, who had once been called the Goddess of Healing by those she helped on the shores.
"It's you. What are you doing here?" Robert asked in surprise.
"The alien invasion was too obvious. I could sense it even from the ocean depths. This machine seems to be altering Earth's environment. Countless marine creatures died instantly. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing…" Mera replied, her voice calm. "This planet isn't just for the land-dwellers; it's also home to the life in the oceans."
"Buzz!" As Mera spoke, Robert's eyes narrowed as he noticed another familiar force nearby—spatial energy! And it came from the Space Stone!
Yes, just as the two World Engines activated, Loki, standing on top of a tall building in New York, had a dazed look in his eyes, holding the Tesseract. His power surged, opening a portal in the sky.
"Roar!"
"Kill!"
Inside the portal, Chitauri soldiers, crazed and ready, charged into Earth's space, their expressions wild and unhinged.
"See? I told you this little frost giant would be useful. Using him to wield the Space Stone is perfect, saving us a lot of energy. Now, we can start looking for the Time Stone." Proxima Midnight said, watching Loki with a smile.
"He's holding the Space Stone. Should I stay here
and keep an eye on him?" Supergiant asked, holding Loki's scepter, a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"That wouldn't be wise. If you stay here, it's like putting two Stones in one place, which isn't safe. Better let me hold onto the Mind Stone." Ebony Maw waved his hand, and the scepter flew into his grasp. Supergiant's eyes flickered, but she said nothing as the other four members of the Black Order left, remaining in the shadows to watch Loki.
"I've got this. If you want to help, head to New York. More aliens are invading there. They aren't particularly strong, but there are a lot of them…" Back in the Southern Indian Ocean, Robert snapped back to reality, told Mera, and then rushed towards the World Engine, delivering a powerful punch.
"Boom!" Robert's punch shook the World Engine, lifting the entire structure off the ground and causing the mysterious energy bombarding Earth to momentarily cease…
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