"I do~~"
Karl nodded and began telling everyone everything he knew about Thanos.
"So according to you, this Thanos is even stronger than you?"
After hearing Karl's explanation, no one spoke for a while. The atmosphere in the conference room felt frozen solid. In the end, it was Nick Fury who finally asked the question.
"I've never fought him, so I can't say for sure. But he's definitely far more powerful than you're imagining."
Karl really didn't want to admit it, but Thanos's strength was a fact.
"So we're screwed then?"
Frank said while wiping down his gun. It was a habit of his—whenever he got anxious, he cleaned his weapons to calm himself down.
"Not necessarily. Thanos ca to Earth for only two Stones. The Ti Stone is with Strange, and as for the Mind Stone…"
Karl opened his hand, and the yellow Mind Stone instantly appeared in his palm.
"The Mind Stone is with . No one can take it except ."
At the mont, the Stone was wrapped in a transparent layer, almost like a seal.
"I've completely isolated the Mind Stone's signal frequency. Nobody can locate it."
As he spoke, Karl flipped his hand and the Mind Stone vanished again, returned to the system inventory.
The inventory existed outside all dinsional space. Anything placed inside could only be retrieved by Karl himself. No one else had any way of accessing it.
That was where Karl's confidence ca from.
No matter how powerful Thanos was, there was no way he could gather all six Stones.
"From this mont onward, Earth is under maximum defense status. Hill, contact the Security Council imdiately. Tell every military force on the planet to prepare for war. Earth's survival is at stake."
Fury imdiately ordered Maria Hill to notify the Security Council and have every country on Earth enter combat readiness.
Hill left the conference room at once.
anwhile, Fury pulled an old-fashioned pager from his pocket—though it had clearly been modified.
"I suggest you contact her imdiately. Her presence would greatly reduce our pressure."
The mont Karl saw the pager, he knew Fury intended to contact Carol Danvers.
As one of the strongest superheroes in existence, Carol was one of the few capable of killing Thanos single-handedly. Obviously they needed her help.
"Y-you… how do you know about her…"
Fury was stunned.
Carol's existence had always been one of Fury's biggest secrets. Even within the Avengers and the forr S.H.I.E.L.D., only Fury himself knew the full truth. Not even Coulson knew everything.
So how did Karl know?
"No ti to explain. Just call Carol."
Karl urged him imdiately.
Right then, the Avengers Tower alarms suddenly began blaring loudly.
At the sa ti, an agent's voice echoed through the conference room.
"Director, unidentified flying object detected above New York."
The conference room projection instantly displayed footage of the sky over New York.
A gigantic ring-shaped spaceship hovered overhead.
The street beneath it had already been devastated by the imnse atmospheric pressure, while surrounding buildings looked as if they'd been ripped apart by a tornado.
"Director, another unidentified vessel has appeared above the forr Sokovia ruins."
The display split into another screen showing an identical ship hovering above the Sokovia morial ruins.
"What's that ship doing in Sokovia?"
Tony frowned. Sokovia had long since beco nothing but ruins.
"I know! It's the signal!"
Bruce, having studied gamma radiation and exotic energy before, reacted instantly.
"I see. They're tracking the Infinity Stone signatures. Strange activated the Ti Stone earlier, so its last recorded signal was in New York. And the Mind Stone…"
Tony imdiately understood too.
After Tony's explanation, everyone finally realized why the second ship had appeared over Sokovia.
That was the last place the Mind Stone's energy signature had been detected.
Karl had once used the Mind Stone's power to transform into Demon Titan, leaving behind a residual signal.
"Everyone, this isn't the ti to dwell on that. We need to stop them now."
Fury pointed toward the screens.
On the display, two figures had already descended from the alien ships.
Everyone instinctively turned toward Steve, waiting for orders.
As one of the Avengers' core leaders, Steve had always served as a battlefield commander.
"Tony, you take New York. I'll head to Sokovia."
Steve's arrangent was simple and efficient, and the team imdiately split into two groups.
Group One: Tony, Strange, Bruce, Peter, Felicia, Matt, and Frank.
Group Two: Led by Steve, alongside Natasha, Barton, Wong, Karl, Gwen, and the others.
"Strange, they're after you. You should stay hidden."
Tony looked at Strange.
Strange rejected the idea imdiately.
"No. They'll destroy the New York Sanctum otherwise. And then we'll have far more to worry about than just these aliens."
As one of the three Sanctums maintaining Earth's magical defenses, the New York Sanctum absolutely could not be destroyed.
Tony said nothing further.
After everything they'd been through, he also understood the Sanctum's importance.
Like Strange said, they didn't need additional disasters right now.
The teams imdiately split up and departed.
At that mont, Karl stopped Peter.
"Be careful. Use the crystal if necessary to keep yourself safe."
"Relax, Karl. I'm pretty strong, you know."
Peter grinned confidently.
The portals opened, and everyone quickly stepped through, leaving only Fury and Coulson behind in the massive conference room.
"Activate every satellite imdiately. I want real-ti visuals from both battle zones!"
Fury decisively pressed the pager.
A golden star symbol appeared on the tiny screen, accompanied by red and blue colors.
On the other side of the portal, Tony's team arrived directly on a New York street.
People were fleeing in panic while the oppressive alien ship lood overhead.
Tony turned toward Strange.
"Keep your Stone safe."
Dodging a car blown toward him by the violent winds, Tony glanced back at Strange.
"Tony, we're in serious trouble!"
At that mont, a silver-blue armored suit and the heavy War Machine armor descended from the sky.
Pepper's Rescue Armor and Rhodey had arrived.
"Pepper, why are you here? This place is too dangerous. Go ho."
Tony looked worried. Even with armor, he wasn't sure Pepper could handle what was coming.
"Oh please, Tony. You think I'm just going to sit around while you risk your life?"
Pepper shot back imdiately, her tone firm and unquestionable.
anwhile, Strange stood in the middle of the street and opened the Eye of Agamotto.
Using the Ti Stone, he directly reversed the destruction around them.
Golden light swept outward.
Buildings repaired themselves instantly, and the ruined street returned to normal within monts.
"That's the Ti Stone?!"
Tony stared at the restored surroundings in amazent, marveling at the power of the Stone.
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