Without any hesitation, Tony engaged his thrusters fully, transforming into a shooting star as he sped toward the nuclear missile.
Everyone on the comms channel heard Tony's decision.
"Stark! Don't do anything stupid!" Steve yelled.
"Tony..." Natasha covered her mouth.
Even Pepper Potts, all the way in Malibu, watched the live broadcast, tears instantly streaming down her face.
This was a heroic tragedy destined for sacrifice.
Tony intended to use his life to carry that devastating nuclear missile into space, delivering it to those damned aliens.
How touching.
Even Frieza, standing on the rooftop, couldn't help but want to applaud the drama.
At this moment, Tony had successfully intercepted the nuclear missile mid-air. He pressed his back tightly against the missile's underside, forcibly changing its trajectory. Under the immense thrust, even the Iron Man suit let out sounds of twisting metal.
"This is the end..."
Tony looked at the rapidly approaching top of the Stark Tower and the massive blue wormhole, a flicker of relief passing through his heart.
Just as everyone held their breath, preparing to witness this moment of great sacrifice—
"That's enough. The foreplay has gone on long enough."
On the rooftop, Frieza adjusted his tie, his scarlet eyes gleaming with amusement.
The main course was served, there was no way he was giving it to someone else.
This was a chance to show off spectacularly to the whole world and harvest massive amounts of Fear Points. If Tony stole the spotlight, what kind of Emperor of the Universe would he be?
"Loki, watch the house."
Frieza instructed without turning around, "If this device is shut down, or if the floor gets dirty, I'll throw you into the sun as fuel."
"Yes. Rest assured. Not even a fly will get past me." Loki nodded vigorously.
Whoosh!
The next second, Frieza's figure instantly vanished from the spot.
The speed was so immense it left a ring of white sonic boom clouds above the skyscraper's rooftop.
Mid-air.
Tony was gritting his teeth, enduring the massive G-force, and struggling to push the nuclear missile higher.
Suddenly, a golden figure appeared beside him without warning, flying at a speed perfectly synchronized with his own. His relaxed and casual posture made it look like he was strolling through a backyard garden, not intercepting a nuclear missile.
"Yo, good afternoon, Mr. Stark."
Frieza's smiling face appeared on Tony's mask display screen, he even waved very politely.
"Where are you off to on holiday? Bringing such a large firework?"
"Frieza?!"
Tony's eyes nearly popped out. "What are you doing here right now?!"
"That's not important." Frieza glanced at the flame-spewing nuclear missile, his eyes full of appreciation.
"The important thing is, this toy is too dangerous. Little children playing with fire tend to wet the bed."
"Get lost! This thing is going to explode in less than a minute!" Tony roared.
"I have to send it into the wormhole! It's the only way! You'll die!"
"Die? Oh ho ho ho..."
Frieza laughed, laughing so hard tears almost came out.
"That word has never existed in my dictionary."
He extended one hand and gently rested it on the multi-ton nuclear missile, as if it were a toy balloon.
"Your hero game is over, Stark. This 'firework' belongs to me now."
"What?!" Tony hadn't even processed it.
"Off you go."
Frieza didn't use much force, just a casual push. But for a mortal, this was an irresistible, immense power.
Bang!
Tony felt an overwhelming, unstoppable force strike him. He and the Iron Man suit instantly lost balance, like a soda can hit by a high-speed train, tracing a pathetic parabola through the air, spinning and tumbling. He could even hear Jarvis's frantic alarm sirens.
"Aaaahhh—"
Tony screamed as he flew several kilometers away, finally embedding himself with a loud crash, spread-eagled, into the wall of the distant Chrysler Building, stuck fast.
"The nuisance is gone."
Frieza held the massive nuclear missile in one hand, as if cradling a basketball.
He looked up at the enormous wormhole, his eyes flashing with greedy and maniacal light.
"Next, it's time to witness a miracle."
At this moment, all of New York, and everyone worldwide watching the scene via satellite broadcast, was stunned.
The golden-clad man in the suit was holding the nuclear missile in one hand. Not only did he not slow down, but he suddenly accelerated, transforming into a purple shooting star and rocketing straight into the sky.
"What is he doing?!" Steve stood on the ruins, staring up at the retreating figure, muttering to himself.
Along the way, countless Chitauri flyers swarmed Frieza like sharks smelling blood, trying frantically to stop this mad human.
"Get out of the way, you small fry."
Frieza didn't even look, casually waving his free left hand.
Zzzzt—!
Countless purple beams of death erupted.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of brilliant fireballs exploded in the sky, and the obstructing Chitauri were instantly shredded into countless pieces.
[Ding! Displayed terrifying strength before the whole world. Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
[Chitauri Fear Points...]
...
This notification sound was sweeter than a Mozart symphony.
Frieza, carrying the nuclear missile, plunged headlong into the deep blue wormhole. The scenery shifted, revealing the dark, cold, and silent expanse of outer space.
And not far away, the sight was breathtaking.
The massive Chitauri mothership, like a steel behemoth suspended in the cosmos, was surrounded by dense formations of ready fleets. That was enough firepower to destroy Earth countless times over.
But at this moment, in Frieza's eyes, they were all just walking "Fear Points."
"Well, look who's all here."
Frieza hovered in the vacuum. There was no air and no sound, yet he could still speak freely, and his suit didn't even have a single wrinkle.
He looked at the vast fleet before him, a superior, savage grin—the grin of an Emperor of the Universe—spreading across his face.
"Since you've all come, don't bother leaving."
"Taste the local specialty the Earthlings sent you."
Frieza's arm muscles bulged slightly. Using all his might, he hurled the nuclear missile in his hand like a javelin, aiming for the Chitauri mothership's core command center.
Whoosh—
The nuclear missile became a streak of deadly light, instantly crossing the vacuum of space.
Immediately following, a white light, ten thousand times brighter than the sun, violently erupted in the dark cosmos. It was the light of destruction, the smile of the Grim Reaper.
The massive mothership instantly vaporized at the epicenter of the nuclear blast. The shockwave swept away everything, tearing the surrounding escort ships apart as if they were made of paper.
[Chitauri Fear Points +500]
[Chitauri Fear Points +500]
[Chitauri Fear Points +500]
[Chitauri Fear Points...]
Frieza spread his arms, bathing in the world-destroying firelight, watching the constantly rising Fear Points count, and let out a wild, arrogant laugh.
"Hahahahaha! Explode! Be destroyed!"
"Tremble violently for me! Contribute Fear Points aggressively! You bugs!"
"Now this... this is the kind of spectacle Lord Frieza deserves. Oh ho ho ho ho..."