Chapter 241: The Old Game Ends, A New Queen Takes Over the Manor
Charles opened his mouth, but could not utter a single syllable.
He hunched his back, slumped in his wheelchair like a piece of deadwood drained of all moisture.
Hank pushed him, silently passing through the metal corridor and disappearing from the sight of the Star Umbrella heavy guards.
The remnants of the old era looked pathetic even in their exit.
Ten hours later.
North America, Star Umbrella Manor main building.
Inside the spacious and bright domed hall, various post-war data were rapidly refreshing on the huge holographic sandbox.
Raven, wearing a dark blue polymer combat suit, walked quickly to the sofa.
"Commander, the Vibranium defense network on the third underground floor of the manor has been fully activated. The outer quantum interference frequency bands have also completed the highest level of encryption upgrade. Even if the Alliance threw all their nuclear bombs here, not a single blade of grass would be scorched."
Lin Nuo leaned back on the leather sofa, holding a glass of vintage red wine in his hand.
"How is the aftermath in Cairo?"
Ororo walked over from the other side of the hall.
She had changed into the high-ranking Commanderuniform of Star Umbrella, the black slim-fit tailoring outlining her tall figure with a sense of oppression.
"The three thousand Mutant refugees in the Africa region have completed their identity registration. The locations for the thirty-six reception centers have all been finalized, and no one from the local government dared to step out and block it."
Ororo knelt on one knee, her azure eyes filled with fanaticism and awe, "Commander, the distribution of supplies is going very smoothly. The flag of Star Umbrellais now the only truth on the African continent."
Lin Nuo swirled his wine glass, the scarlet liquid leaving an alluring arc on the glass wall.
"Get up. From today on, you are the highest person in charge of the Star Umbrella Africa region. If you need people, ask Emma; if you need money, draw it directly from the group's account. I want you to turn all the Mutants on that continent into official employees of Star Umbrellawithin three months."
Ororo stood up, her tone forceful and resonant.
"Understood."
Storm and Mystique, two major high-end combat forces, had completely pledged their loyalty.
Following this battle, the territory of Star Umbrellaushered in an unprecedented expansion.
The elevator door on the other side of the hall slid open.
Jean was wearing a loose black knit sweater, her red hair draped casually over her shoulders.
Without that tacky X-Men uniform, the dangerous aura belonging to an Omega-level Mutant on her was instead infinitely magnified in this languor.
The crisp sound of high heels clicking rang out.
Emma was wearing a perfectly tailored pure white haute couture suit, carrying two cups of hand-drip coffee as she walked up to meet her.
"Welcome to Star Umbrella, Miss Grey."
Emma handed over a cup of coffee, her diamond-dazzling face wearing a professional and impeccable smile.
Jean did not take the coffee.
Two Omega-level psychic powers collided silently in the air.
The temperature in the hall plummeted.
The image on the holographic sandbox showed brief static noise.
"Ms. Frost."
Jean looked at Emma, her voice cold, "I thought Star Umbrella didn't bother with these hypocritical pleasantries."
Emma withdrew her hand and took a sip of the coffee herself.
"We indeed don't. As the chief steward of the group, I just have an obligation to remind every new guest checking in about the rules here."
Emma deliberately emphasized the word "guest".
She knew Lin Nuo's methods too well.
The power inside this red-haired woman was ridiculously strong, and in her eyes looking at Lin Nuo, there was a hidden, morbid attachment after being completely conquered.
This made the White Queen, who always had a strong desire for control, feel an unprecedented sense of territorial crisis.
"I am not a guest."
Jean took a step forward, her red hair moving without wind.
The telekinetic pressure in the air increased sharply.
Emma snorted coldly, and a diamond-like luster began to appear on the surface of her skin.
Just at this tense moment, a cheerful figure ran down from the second-floor stairs.
"Jean!"
Anna, wearing fuzzy house slippers, lunged over directly.
She didn't hesitate at all, her fair, completely uncovered hands directly grabbing Jean's wrists.
Jean instinctively wanted to mobilize her telekinesis to defend.
She knew Anna's ability too well; it was a curse that could instantly drain a person dry.
But the next second, Jean was stunned.
There was no weakness from life force loss, nor the pain of having memories stripped away.
Anna's hands were very warm, just like an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl.
"You..." Jean looked at Anna's hands, which were not wearing insulated gloves, and her words got stuck in her throat.
"Amazing, right?"
Anna pulled Jean along, her eyes full of pride and showing off, "Mr. Lin Nuo helped me tame it. When I was at school, I was afraid to touch anyone even when sleeping. But at the manor, I can hug anyone I want to hug."
There was not a hint of nostalgia for the past in Anna's words.
Jean looked at Anna's bright smiling face, and the last layer of defense in her heart finally let down.
Like Anna, she had once been a "dangerous item" in Charles's eyes, both forced to suppress their truest selves.
And now, they had both found absolute redemption in the same man.
"Let's go, I'll take you to see your room."
Anna pulled Jean upstairs, "Although Sister Emma has a sharp tongue, the mattress she picked out for you is the top-tier custom model in the entire U.S."
Emma stood where she was, watching the backs of the two girls, and gave a light huff.
"Jealous?"
Lin Nuo had appeared behind Emma at some point.
The man's warm chest pressed against Emma's back.
Emma's body stiffened slightly, then she leaned into Lin Nuo's embrace extremely naturally.
"She is a dangerous bomb."
Emma turned her head, her red lips brushing against Lin Nuo's jaw, "You keep her by your side, aren't you afraid that one day she will burn the entire manor to ashes?"
"A bomb is only dangerous in someone else's hands."
Lin Nuo wrapped one arm around Emma's slender waist, his fingertips gently stroking through the suit fabric, "In my territory, she can only be a fire used for warmth."
Emma felt the heat on her waist, and the bit of unwillingness in her heart was completely smoothed out.
She knew that no matter how many women appeared in the manor, this man was the only tyrant who made all the rules.
Night fell.
The fifth underground floor of the manor.
The access authority here was the highest in the entire Star Umbrella, and even Emma did not have the right to enter or exit at will.
The heavy airlock door slowly slid open to both sides.
Lin Nuo led Jean inside.
This was a super-large enclosed space the size of three football fields.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered with a layer of dark gray special coating.
"The Vibranium absorption coating newly developed by Trask Industries."
Lin Nuo walked to the center of the arena, his leather shoes echoing on the metal floor, "This place can withstand an explosion of tens of millions of tons of equivalent. From today on, this is your exclusive Phoenix training room."
Jean looked around.
The air was permeated with a cold metallic scent.
She could feel that these walls not only absorbed physical impacts but also effectively isolated the leakage of psychic energy.
"Charles built me a Cerebro, to help me better find Mutants."
Jean turned around, looking at Lin Nuo, "You built me such a big cage, what for?"
Lin Nuo pushed his gold-rimmed glasses, his black eyes revealing the purest greed of a capitalist.
"Cages are for keeping Beasts. This place is an altar for polishing gods."
Lin Nuo walked up to Jean, the distance between them inches away.
He raised his hand, his fingertips sliding naturally over Jean's fair neck, pressing on the spot where her carotid artery pulsed.
The Hulk-level violent blood energy mixed with the Asgardian Divine Factor, continuously transmitting through his fingertips.
The Phoenix Force inside Jean, upon feeling this power, emitted a joyful low hum.
It was a resonance at the source.
"The fire inside you is just a spark right now."
Lin Nuo's voice was low, carrying a bewitching magic, "That trash Apocalypse couldn't even withstand this spark. But I need you to ignite it completely. Burn through this sky, burn through those so-called cosmic laws."
Jean did not dodge.
She tilted her head slightly, letting Lin Nuo's fingers wander over her vital parts.
She was too obsessed with this feeling.
It wasn't the cautious probing of Charles, nor the fawning admiration of Scott.
Lin Nuo's touch was absolute control, an abyss that could completely support her from the bottom.
"Aren't you afraid I'll lose control?"
Jean's breathing became a bit rapid.
"I am your anchor."
Lin Nuo's palm slid down from her neck, stopping at Jean's waist, "As long as I stand here, your fire will never burn where it shouldn't."
Domineering, self-righteous.
Jean looked at the man with gold-rimmed glasses in front of her.
He helped her smash her shackles, helped her kill Apocalypse, and gave her unprecedented freedom.
But Jean was not stupid.
She knew very well that this man was by no means a selfless savior.
Everything he did had extremely clear profit motives.
Jean took a step closer.
Their bodies were almost completely pressed together.
She could clearly feel Lin Nuo's marble-hard muscle contours, as well as that highly aggressive male hormone.
In Jean's originally clear eyes, a hint of dangerous scarlet vaguely emerged.
She reached out her hands, wrapping them around Lin Nuo's neck, her red lips almost pressed against the man's earlobe.
"You gave me everything."
Jean's voice was very low, revealing a kind of determination to completely dissect herself.
She paused for a moment, her warm breath hitting Lin Nuo's side neck.
"Lin Nuo, what exactly do you want from me?"
Chapter 242: Confessing Schemes, Tearing Open the Gate of Space
Lin Nuo did not answer.
He took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Jean's slender waist, his fingertips feeling that astonishing heat.
"What do I want from you? I want you because you are dangerous enough. I want that Fire of yours that can burn through everything."
Jean was slightly stunned.
Looking at the refined face in front of her wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and hearing such frank words describing "utilization," she felt no repulsion in her heart, but instead, an unprecedented sense of stability surged within her.
"So, you are also treating me as a weapon to expand your power?"
Jean's voice was slightly hoarse, but her body did not retreat even half a step.
"A weapon?"
Lin Nuo chuckled, his fingers sliding slowly up her back, finally pinching her chin and forcing her to lift her head.
"Weapons have no thoughts and can only be wielded passively. Are you one?"
He looked straight into Jean's eyes, which were turning slightly red.
"I need your power to crush those disobedient idiots and establish my rules. In exchange, I will give you absolute freedom."
Lin Nuo's fingers applied slight pressure, and the dark golden luster of the Asgardian Divine Factor danced where their skin touched.
"You don't need to suppress your instincts anymore, and you don't need to care about anyone else's attitude. You can burn everything you want to burn. Even if you poke a hole in the sky, I will use these hands to back you up."
Lin Nuo let go, stepped back, and tugged at the collar of his black shirt.
"Or are you saying that you miss the days in the Xavier School when you were sealed away layer by layer like a monster?"
These words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the last bit of hesitation in Jean's heart.
That's right.
Charles gave her so-called protection at the cost of depriving her of her life.
Lin Nuo demanded her power with a clear price tag, but what he gave in return was the self she had dreamed of.
This man was openly and honestly evil, yet ten thousand times more reliable than those hypocrites who were full of talk about benevolence and morality.
"You really are a complete bastard."
Jean bit her lower lip, and the scarlet Fire in her eyes ignited completely.
She grabbed Lin Nuo's collar and took the initiative to meet him.
The Phoenix Force erupted violently in the closed training room, turning into an invisible energy storm.
But in the center of this storm, Jean felt unprecedented tranquility.
Lin Nuo held the back of her head with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist extremely domineeringly.
His Hulk-level violent aura fully awakened, forcibly resisting the leaking Phoenix high temperature.
Clothes made faint tearing sounds in the energy friction.
"Listen, Jean."
Lin Nuo said in a low voice between their intertwined lips, setting the rules, "In the manor, you can refuse any mission. But as long as you walk into this training room, and as long as the Fire inside you starts to lose control, the command of the scene must be handed over to me completely."
"Okay."
Jean did not hesitate at all, pressing herself completely into that hard chest.
...
The main building of the manor, top-floor terrace.
The night breeze blew over the scarlet wine in the goblet.
Emma was wearing a silk bathrobe, leaning on a lounge chair.
On her flawless, diamond-like face, there was currently a very complex sneer.
As an Omega-level Telepath, even though the Vibraniumcoating on the fifth underground floor could isolate most energy fluctuations, she could still capture everything happening in the training room through the manor's internal quantum network.
"What a tyrant who knows how to bewitch people's hearts."
Emma shook her wine glass and muttered to herself.
She had to admit that Lin Nuo had reached the pinnacle in terms of controlling people's hearts.
He didn't even tell a single lie, and yet he made that red-haired woman with single-Universe-level power completely devoted to him.
What made Emma feel a bit of territorial crisis was that Lin Nuo gave Jean absolute special treatment.
Retaining the right to refuse.
This was unprecedented in Star Umbrella's iron-blooded system.
"Jealous?"
A familiar voice sounded at the entrance of the terrace.
Lin Nuo was wearing a brand-new black bathrobe, walking over while wiping his still-dripping hair.
He sat down carelessly on the lounge chair next to Emma, took the goblet from her hand, and drank the remaining red wine in one gulp.
Emma turned her head, looking at the faint red marks visible at the man's collar, and the corners of her eyes lifted in a charming arc.
"How would I dare to be jealous of the new mistress? Miss Jean is now the group's strategic nuclear deterrent."
Emma's tone was sour, but her body leaned over very honestly.
Lin Nuo put his arm around Emma's shoulder, his fingers playing with her golden curls.
"She is a blade, and you are the scabbard that helps me manage the blade."
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, giving an extremely precise positioning, "Without her, Star Umbrella cannot suppress those alien politicians. Without you, Star Umbrella would go bankrupt tomorrow. Understand?"
The little knot in Emma's heart was completely smoothed out by these words.
She understood this man's logic too well.
As long as she proved that she possessed irreplaceable value, her position in this harem would be secure as a rock.
"Knock, knock."
The terrace's glass door was knocked on.
Anna was wearing fluffy rabbit pajamas, poking out half her head.
"Mr. Lin Nuo, Sister Ororo sent an encrypted communication."
Seeing Emma leaning in Lin Nuo's arms, Anna felt no repulsion, but instead handed over a tablet computer very obediently.
Lin Nuo took the tablet.
The screen displayed Ororo's capable face.
The background behind her was the brightly lit reconstruction site of the Cairo port.
"Officer."
Ororo spoke very quickly, "All thirty-six containment centers in the Africa region have broken ground. The supervisors sent by the alliance tried to tamper with the blueprints, but I warned them once with a thunderstorm. They are very obedient now."
"Continue to push forward."
Lin Nuo tapped the screen twice, "Tell those supervisors, if they dare to reach out again, I will chop off their claws and feed them to the crocodiles. If there isn't enough funding, ask Emma for approval."
"Understood."
Ororo cut off the communication.
Star Umbrella, this massive War Machine, was methodically devouring the remaining value of this Planetunder Lin Nuo's will.
Lin Nuo threw the tablet on the table, closed his eyes, and felt the blowing of the night breeze.
He had been in this parallel Universe of the X-Men for some time.
Not only had he recovered his strength, but he had also intercepted a group of high-quality Mutants like Raven, Anna, and Jean, establishing a global hegemony even larger than the original Universe.
More importantly, the critical hit reward triggered by that battle with Apocalypse had unlocked the Vishanti law seal left by the Ancient One to 85%.
The original fragments of the Space Stone had begun to become active again.
"It's about time to go back and settle the score."
Lin Nuo calculated in his heart.
Hela, Thor, and that Sorcerer Supreme who exiled him here.
It was time to wrap up the mess in the original Universe.
Just as Lin Nuo was thinking about his return plan.
A piercing alarm sound suddenly tore through the tranquility of the manor.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Scarlet alarm lights were flashing frantically throughout the main building.
Emma sat up straight abruptly, her hands operating quickly in the void, bringing up the monitoring panel of the quantum mainframe.
"Master, the Phoenix training room on the fifth underground floor has triggered the highest-level energy alarm!"
Emma's tone lost its usual composure, carrying obvious astonishment.
"Is Jean out of control?"
Lin Nuo frowned and stood up.
"No, it's not the Phoenix Force."
Emma zoomed in on the surveillance footage, an incredible light refracting on her diamond face, "It's a spatial collapse. An unknown high-frequency gravitational field has appeared in the center of the training room, and the Vibranium coating is being forcibly stripped away!"
Lin Nuo pushed open the glass door, his figure turning into an afterimage, rushing straight to the fifth underground floor.
Anna followed closely, her little face full of worry.
The airlock door was forcibly torn open by Lin Nuo with brute force.
In the spacious training room, a strong wind was howling.
Jean stood at the edge of the field, surrounded by scarlet Phoenix Fire, desperately resisting the terrifying suction force in the center.
And in the very center of the field, the air was being forcibly twisted and torn.
A ten-meter-long dark blue spatial rift was hanging in mid-air.
The edges of the rift flickered with heart-stopping electric arcs, and violent void turbulence poured out from it, gouging countless deep pits into the hard metal floor.
This was not a commotion that a Mutant could create at all.
Lin Nuo stood at the airlock, his black eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses staring fixedly at the rift.
The original fragments of the Space Stone inside his body resonated violently like never before at this moment.
That was the coordinate aura belonging to the original Universe.
"Lin Nuo!"
Seeing Lin Nuo appear, Jean shouted loudly, "This thing appeared out of thin air, my telekinesis can't suppress it!"
Lin Nuo did not answer Jean.
Feeling the familiar yet violent magic fluctuations coming from the rift, the corners of his mouth curled into an extremely dangerous arc.
He recognized that aura.
That was the mystic energy belonging to Kamar-Taj, mixed with the stench of death from the Asgardian Death Godhood.
Deep inside the rift, a blurry dark green figure was struggling to break free from some kind of invisible constraint, moving with difficulty toward this side.
"Ancient One, that old nun... and, Hela?"
Lin Nuo narrowed his eyes, looking at the gradually clearing figure.
Chapter 243: The Seal Loosens, Reconstruction of the Cross-Dimensional Coordinates
A deep blue spatial rift was violently tearing open in the center of the training room on the fifth underground level.
Chaotic void turbulence swept across the metal floor, sparking blinding flashes of fire.
Lin Nuo stood at the airlock, his ink-black pupils behind gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the overlapping phantoms deep within the rift.
That withered figure in saffron monk robes, and the woman wearing an antler crown who exuded the stench of death, were none other than the Ancient One, who had exiled him here, and Hela, whom he had trampled underfoot.
The fragment of the Space Stone essence inside his body emitted an extremely sharp hum.
Under the onslaught of the Phoenix Force, the core locks of the Vishanti shackles had already shattered.
"Lin Nuo! This thing is consuming the surrounding matter!"
Jean shouted from the edge of the storm, as scarlet Phoenix Fire formed a high-density telekinetic barrier around her, struggling to resist the gravitational field that threatened to crush everything.
Lin Nuo didn't waste words.
He strode into the center of the gravitational field, his Hulk-level violent vitality surging through his veins, while the dark gold luster of the Asgardian Divine Factor covered his arms.
Facing the spatial rift, which was strong enough to grind special steel into powder, he brazenly reached out his hands and gripped the expanding void barrier at the edge of the rift.
"Shut up."
Lin Nuo's voice was extremely violent.
The Level 3 Reality Warping power crystal was running at full power within his sea of consciousness.
The laws of physics were forcibly rewritten.
The moment the chaotic spatial turbulence touched Lin Nuo's palms, it was forcibly smoothed out by a more overbearing microscopic atomic reorganization power.
Accompanied by a teeth-grinding friction sound, the ten-meter-long spatial rift was forcibly closed by Lin Nuo.
Finally, it erupted in a blinding burst of blue light and completely annihilated into thin air.
The training room returned to dead silence, leaving only debris of shredded Vibranium coating all over the floor.
Half an hour later.
Star Umbrella main underground laboratory.
In front of the massive circular console, Hank wore a lab coat, his blue fur stained with a bit of machine oil.
His ten fingers left afterimages on the virtual keyboard as the various waveband data on the main screen jumped frantically.
Emma stood to the side, her diamond face in its secondary mutation state refracting cold, hard light, as she pushed the quantum mainframe's computing power to its limit.
Lin Nuo sat in a swivel chair in the center of the laboratory, holding a cup of black coffee, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.
"Officer, the data has been analyzed."
Hank wiped the sweat from his forehead and pushed several sets of high-frequency waveform charts onto the main central screen.
"This is definitely not a remnant of the reincarnation array left behind by Apocalypse."
Hank pointed to the energy nodes on the waveform chart that appeared in a strange spiral shape, "This energy structure completely violates the physical constants of our Universe. It is more like a lock... a genetic lock driven into your body from a very high dimension."
Hank turned his head, his eyes full of obvious awe as he looked at Lin Nuo, "Just now, Ms. Jean's Phoenix Forceoutburst, the high temperature and telekinetic fluctuations generated, happened to pry open the underlying logic of this lock, causing a brief collapse of the spatial barrier."
Ororo stood in the corner of the laboratory, her brows tightly knitted together.
"What are the risks of this collapse? If the rift expands again, will it destroy the whole estate?"
"Destroying the estate is only the most conservative estimate."
Emma coolly took over the conversation, typing on the keyboard to bring up another set of data, "The quantum mainframe just captured the gravitational readings deep within the rift. If left to expand, it could suck the entire North America plate in within one second, leaving nothing behind."
The air in the laboratory chilled to the freezing point.
Anna Marie walked out from behind Lin Nuo.
She was wearing lounge clothes, not even having changed her shoes, and threw herself forward to hold onto Lin Nuo's arm tightly.
Her pale knuckles turned white from excessive force, her eyes filled with irrepressible panic.
"Are you leaving?"
Anna's voice had a distinct sob, and she looked up, staring fixedly at Lin Nuo's refined yet cold face.
She was too scared.
Having finally crawled out of an abyss where everyone viewed her as a monster, she had found the only man who could catch her and give her value.
If Lin Nuo left, she would go completely crazy.
Lin Nuo put down the coffee cup, reached out his slender fingers, and extremely roughly pinched Anna's chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Who taught you to look at me with that stray dog look?"
Lin Nuo's tone was righteous, exuding the absolute dominance of a capitalist declaring ownership, "I went to such great lengths, smashed Apocalypse, and put this Planet into Star Umbrella's pocket. Do you think I would abandon my spoils and run away?"
Anna felt some pain from the pinch, but the deadly panic in her heart miraculously calmed down under this rough comfort.
She rubbed her face against Lin Nuo's palm, like a young beast guarding its food.
"Since it has come to this."
Lin Nuo let go and his gaze swept over the people present.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone as steady as if he were reading a financial report: "That rift does indeed lead to where I came from. This seal on me was forcibly applied by an old nun who called herself the Sorcerer Supreme, at the cost of burning her own soul."
Hank gasped.
To be able to forcibly exile the monster before him, who could crush old gods with one hand, what level of existence was that so-called Sorcerer Supreme?
"My battlefield is not here."
Lin Nuo stood up, his black shirt outlining extremely rugged muscle lines under the cold light, "This is just a beginner's village I used to recover my strength and incidentally establish a branch company. There is a mess over there, and a few enemies who don't know when to die are waiting for me to settle scores."
These words were half-true and half-false, perfectly covering up the existence of the system, while solidifying his identity as a cross-dimensional overlord.
"Take me with you."
A cold female voice sounded at the laboratory door.
Jean was wearing that black knit sweater, her red hair moving without wind under the influence of telekinesis.
She strode up to Lin Nuo, the scarlet fire in her eyes leaping without concealment.
"No matter who that old nun is, no matter how thick the barrier is over there."
Jean stared straight into Lin Nuo's eyes, her tone filled with extreme aggression, "You gave me Fire, so I will be responsible for helping you burn through everything that stands in our way."
Emma stood behind the console, watching Jean's declaration of ownership, and snorted softly, but did not refute.
In the face of absolute force, the White Queen knew very well what to fight for and what not to fight for.
Lin Nuo looked at Jean, his lips curling into an extremely wicked arc.
He raised his hand, his fingertips sliding across Jean's fair cheek.
"Very good. This is what a Star Umbrella strategic weapon should look like."
Lin Nuo turned his head and looked at Hank, "Prepare the energy diversion matrix. I want to perform a controlled resonance to completely lock onto the coordinates of the original Universe."
Hank was stunned for a moment, then quickly entered commands on the console.
"Officer, forced resonance may cause massive spatial tremors. We need an extremely stable energy source as an anchor point."
"She is the anchor point."
Lin Nuo patted Jean on the shoulder.
Ten minutes later.
An energy constraint platform made of special Vibraniumrose in the center of the laboratory.
Lin Nuo stood in the center of the platform and unbuttoned the cuffs of his black shirt.
Jean stood by his side, her hands resting on his shoulders.
"Emma, shield all electronic signals within a hundred miles of the estate. Don't let those idiots in the Alliance detect any anomalies."
Lin Nuo issued the order.
"Electromagnetic shielding network is at full power. Quantum mainframe computing power is focused on the coordinate analysis module."
Emma reported quickly.
"Begin."
Lin Nuo closed his eyes and actively released the suppression of the Vishanti shackles within his body.
The Space Stone essence fragment felt its Master's will and immediately erupted with an extremely brilliant deep blue light.
This light expanded outwards along Lin Nuo's veins, attempting to tear the surrounding space.
Just as the spatial barrier was about to collapse.
Jean's eyes turned completely scarlet, and the purest core Phoenix Fire poured into Lin Nuo's body through her hands without reservation.
The single-Universe-level source energy and the Infinity Stone fragments collided violently within Lin Nuo's perfect Hulk-level body.
Relying on his Mutant ultimate microscopic atomic reorganization ability, Lin Nuo forcibly withstood this energy tide that was enough to tear a Planet apart.
The violent energy was forcibly gathered into an extremely dense beam, shooting straight into the analysis module of the main screen.
"Coordinate readings are soaring!"
Hank stared at the screen, his blue fur standing on end, "Spatial dimension jump! Three-dimensional... four-dimensional... broken through! We have captured the physical image of the opposite Universe!"
On the main screen, the originally chaotic data stream suddenly dispersed.
The image was extremely clear.
It was not Earth, nor was it Asgard.
It was a vast, boundless, cold star field.
Countless meteorites shimmering with cold metallic light floated silently in the vacuum.
And in the very center of the image hovered a massive ship so large it was suffocating.
The hull was a suppressive dark purple, like a starry sky behemoth lurking in the abyss, with extremely ferocious metal bone spurs extending from its two wings.
The volume of this giant ship was even a hundred times larger than Star Umbrella's mobile command ship.
"Good god..." Hank looked at the giant ship, his voice trembling and dry, "What... what level of military construct is this?"
Emma's hands typed rapidly on the keyboard, her diamond face rarely showing a look of gravity.
"Master, the quantum mainframe cannot analyze the hull material of that warship. But according to the spectral analysis of its tail energy exhaust..." Emma looked up at Lin Nuo on the platform, "The firepower it carries is enough to burn an Earth-level Planet into a glass ball within ten minutes."
Lin Nuo stood on the constraint platform.
The Phoenix Fire and the blue light of space slowly receded from around his body.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, looking at the extremely familiar purple giant ship on the screen.
Sanctuary II.
Thanos's flagship.
The fierce glint in Lin Nuo's eyes lit up completely; it was the extreme greed of a hunter seeing top-tier prey.
"What's the use of analyzing firepower?"
Lin Nuo grabbed a towel from the platform and wiped the sweat from his hands unhurriedly, "What you should be concerned about right now is how to take that broken ship apart and put it into Star Umbrella's production line."
Chapter 244: Transfer of Power, the Anchor for Cross-Dimensional Conquest
Emma's fingers tapped rapidly across the virtual keyboard, sealing away the image of that oppressive purple giant warship on the main screen.
She understood Lin Nuo's ambition all too well.
This man never felt fear toward the unknown; his dictionary contained only plunder and possession.
Lin Nuo tossed aside his towel and strode out of the main underground laboratory.
His leather shoes made crisp echoes on the metal corridor.
Half an hour later, in the manor's main conference hall.
A massive holographic sand table projected a model of Earth's tectonic plates.
Thirty-six glowing blue coordinate points represented the Mutant containment centers currently being built by Star Umbrella.
Lin Nuo leaned back into the leather sofa at the head of the table, the collar of his black shirt open, exuding the composure of an absolute ruler.
Emma walked to the side of the sofa, carrying a cup of black coffee.
She had changed into a highly oppressive all-black business suit, the luster of her diamond face restrained under the cool-toned lighting.
"During the time I am away, you will have full authority to act on behalf of Star Umbrella and all global affairs of the Hellfire Club."
Lin Nuo took the coffee, his voice steady and cold. "If those old fogies on Wall Street try to manipulate the capital chain, have the quantum mainframe wipe out their offshore accounts immediately."
"Understood."
Emma bowed slightly, her red lips leaving a faint mark on the rim of the coffee cup. "For any capital that dares to reach out toward Star Umbrella, I will ensure they cannot even find a window to jump from."
The conference hall doors slid open.
Raven walked in quickly, wearing a dark blue polymer combat suit.
She still carried the lingering scent of gunpowder, clearly having just returned from cleaning up some short-sighted armed Base.
"Officer."
Raven stood still, her posture straight.
"The clearance level for the cleanup team is upgraded to the highest level."
Lin Nuo's gaze swept over several red dots on the holographic sand table. "Any politician who refuses to sign the 'Mutant Disaster Emergency Protection Framework,' or any Military institution attempting to privately restart Mutant experiments, does not need to report to anyone. Take your people and go twist their heads off."
A bloodthirsty excitement flickered in the depths of Raven's eyes.
She had completely abandoned the old identity of Mystique who was always hiding; she was now the sharpest blade of Star Umbrella.
"I will make those idiots understand who sets the rules."
Lin Nuo pressed the communication button at his side.
A holographic bust of Ororo appeared above the sand table.
The background was the brightly lit reconstruction site at the port of Cairo, with the sea breeze blowing through her silver-white short hair.
"Progress in the Africa region must not stop."
Lin Nuo issued his command. "I want you to incorporate all wild Mutants on that continent into Star Umbrella's security sequence within two months. For local warlords who dare to resist, wash the ground with thunderstorms."
Ororo knelt on one knee, her azure eyes filled with fanatical reverence.
"As you command. The flag of Star Umbrella is the law here."
The three high-level combat forces had been assigned.
Capital, Military force, and grassroots containment—Lin Nuo used the simplest and crudest method to firmly lock the surplus value of this Planet into his own Base of operations.
Lin Nuo tapped his fingers on the desktop twice.
The image on the holographic sand table switched again.
This time, it showed the temporary tents at the former site of the Xavier School.
Charles sat in his wheelchair, wrapped in a thick blanket.
His complexion remained deathly pale, and the scars from when he was assimilated by Apocalypse still remained on his bald head.
Hank stood behind the wheelchair, his expression guarded.
"Professor Xavier, it looks like your complexion has recovered quite well."
Lin Nuo adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone laced with righteous mockery.
Charles gave a bitter smile.
Looking at the man in power on the screen, he knew that the other party was delivering a final warning before leaving.
"Mr. Lin Nuo. The school's faculty and staff have all been merged into Star Umbrella's education system."
Charles's voice was dry, his tone extremely low. "The children have been properly settled. We do not have any inappropriate thoughts."
"It better be that way."
Lin Nuo leaned back into the chair, his highly aggressive gaze piercing through the screen directly at Charles. "Put away your little tricks of so-called peaceful coexistence. As long as you behave yourselves, Star Umbrella's funds will be deposited into your accounts on time. But if I find you colluding behind my back, trying to scrape together that makeshift X-Men troupe again..."
Lin Nuo paused, the corners of his mouth curling into an extremely malicious arc.
"I will throw you, along with that crippled Scott, into the Mariana Trench to feed the fish. Do you understand?"
Charles lowered his head, his hands gripping the edge of the blanket tightly.
"I assure you, I will absolutely obey the Protection Framework."
The communication was cut off.
The remnants of the old era had completely bowed their heads.
Lin Nuo stood up, preparing to head to the fifth underground level.
Just as he took two steps, the corner of his clothing was tightly gripped by a fair hand.
Anna was wearing that fuzzy loungewear, standing at the edge of the sofa.
The lock of silver-white hair on her forehead hung beside her cheek, and her eyes were a bit red, but she bit her lower lip tightly, refusing to let the tears fall.
She knew all too well the horror of that space rift in the underground laboratory just now.
That violent turbulence tearing through dimensions—with her current physical strength, if she stepped even an inch closer, she would be crushed into blood mist.
She could not follow Lin Nuo to that unknown battlefield.
Lin Nuo stopped in his tracks.
He turned around and looked at this girl he had pulled out from the abyss of self-isolation.
There was no unnecessary chatter.
Lin Nuo reached out his right hand directly, gripped the back of Anna's neck, and pulled her in front of him.
The violent blood energy of Hulk-level intensity transferred through his palm, carrying a reassuring warmth.
"Hold back those tears."
Lin Nuo's voice was deep, carrying an irresistible dominance. "I taught you that weakness will only make others bully you even more."
Anna sniffled, clutching Lin Nuo's waist tightly with both hands, burying her face into that black shirt.
"Stay here, learn how to manage people from Emma, and learn how to kill from Raven."
Lin Nuo's rough fingertips rubbed against the side of Anna's neck. "Continue to tame your ability. Don't let me return and see you turn back into that loser who has to wear insulated gloves just to shake hands with someone."
Anna snapped her head up, her eyes erupting with unprecedented ruthlessness and fanaticism.
She no longer cried or fussed, but instead tried her best to control the tremor in her voice: "I will hone this power into your sharpest weapon. I'll wait for you to come back and inspect it."
Lin Nuo patted her cheek, let go, and turned toward the elevator.
The fifth underground level, the Phoenix Training Room.
The heavy airlock door slammed shut.
Inside the spacious Vibranium space, Jean Grey was wearing a tight black tactical suit without any protective properties, her red hair flying wildly under the telekinetic force surging around her.
She looked like a stellar core ready to detonate at any moment, dangerous and charming.
Lin Nuo strode to the center of the arena.
The shackles of the Vishanti seal groaned under the strain within his body, and the blue light of the Space Stone's source fragment gradually lit up along his blood vessels.
"Are you ready?"
Lin Nuo pulled off his gold-rimmed glasses and tossed them onto the console beside him.
Jean did not answer.
She strode forward, walked straight up to Lin Nuo, and with extreme dominance, reached out and gripped Lin Nuo's wrist tightly.
The single-Universe-level Phoenix core flames poured out without reservation, generating a violent physical resonance with the blue light of space within Lin Nuo's body.
The void in front of them was forcibly torn like a piece of rag, and a ten-meter-long, eerie blue rift took shape.
Facing the storm that could tear a Planet apart, Jean's red lips were almost pressed against the side of Lin Nuo's face.
"No matter if it is god or demon on the other side, I will burn right through them."
Chapter 245: A Domineering Return, The Death Gaze of the Old God
Lin Nuo turned his head, his rough fingertips pinching Jean's fair chin.
The Hulk-level violent aura roared within his blood vessels, and the dark golden luster of the Asgardian Divine Factordirectly covered the two of them.
He faced the spatial rift, which was powerful enough to tear a planet apart, and stepped out fearlessly.
Violent void turbulence crashed toward him.
The suffocatingly massive dark purple armor plates of the Sanctum II rapidly enlarged in his line of sight.
"Coordinate rewrite."
Lin Nuo issued the command in the void.
The fragment of the Space Stone origin within his body erupted with an extremely brilliant deep blue light.
The remaining locks of the Vishanti seal were completely shattered at this moment.
Lin Nuo did not choose to land directly on that massive warship.
He needed to return to his home base first.
The deep blue spatial laws forcibly twisted the path of the dimensional tunnel, carrying the two of them as they turned into a blinding meteor, smashing directly toward the Earth coordinates of the original Universe.
...
Original Universe, Himalayan Mountains.
The outer courtyard of Kamar-Taj.
Snow was falling heavily.
On the ancient bluestone square, dozens of mystic practitioners wearing mage robes were sitting cross-legged in meditation.
Without any warning, the wind and snow above the square came to a standstill.
The air was forcibly torn apart by an extremely brutal force.
Dark red Phoenix Fire mixed with deep blue spatial energy, forming a beam of light over twenty meters in diameter, which slammed into the center of the square with a thunderous crash.
The hard bluestone slabs cracked inch by inch, and a massive Impact spread in all directions.
"Alert!"
Master Mordo roared.
All the mages stood up in unison, pulling out golden-red Rings of Raggadorr with their hands.
The light of the magic shields merged into a single expanse within the snow, but in everyone's eyes, there was an undisguised panic.
The smoke and dust gradually dissipated.
A huge crater had been smashed into the center of the square.
Lin Nuo had one hand around Jean's waist, his leather shoes stepping on the shattered stones.
The high-end black shirt he was wearing didn't even have a single wrinkle, and the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose refracted a cold, hard light.
Jean's red hair flew wildly in the wind and snow, her scarlet eyes sweeping over the surrounding mages holding magicshields, and the telekinetic power surging around her directly vaporized the falling snowflakes.
"Quite the reception."
Lin Nuo pushed up his glasses, his gaze passing straight over the crowd to look at the tightly closed wooden door of the main hall.
The wooden door emitted a dull sound of bearings rubbing against each other as it slowly pushed open to both sides.
The Ancient One walked out.
This once high-and-mighty Sorcerer Supreme was in an extremely terrible state at this moment.
Her originally smooth scalp was covered with gray deathly energy, and the bright yellow monk's robe looked unusually loose on her shriveled body.
In order to cast that Vishanti seal to exile Lin Nuo, she had burned too much of her soul's lifespan.
Now that the seal had been forcibly broken, the backlash of the laws had directly cost her half her life.
Wong supported the Ancient One's arm, his fat face full of wariness.
"You returned after all."
The Ancient One's voice was hoarse, with no detectable emotional fluctuation.
"That broken lock you traded your lifespan for couldn't even guard the door to a parallel Universe."
Lin Nuo strode forward, stepping over the rubble toward the steps of the main hall. "I told you long ago, your rules cannot govern me."
Mordo held up his magic whips with both hands, stepping forward to block in front of the Ancient One.
"Don't waste your effort."
Lin Nuo didn't even spare Mordo a glance. "Your pathetic sparks of magic aren't even worthy of lighting my cigarette."
Jean cooperated extremely well by leaning forward half a step.
The single-Universe-level power of the Phoenix core was released in the original Universe without reservation.
The dimensional barrier above Kamar-Taj emitted an overwhelmed cracking sound.
The magic shields in those mages' hands began to flicker, dimming and brightening under the suppression of this absolute power.
The Ancient One patted Mordo on the shoulder, signaling him to step back.
She knew very well that the Lin Nuo before her had completely broken through his shackles.
What was even more fatal was that this man had brought back a monster from another Universe that could burn through laws.
The entire Kamar-Taj combined couldn't withstand a single Fire from that red-haired woman.
Just as the mages of Kamar-Taj fell into an extremely oppressive silence.
The heavy wooden door on the right side of the outer courtyard was violently smashed open by a wave of dark green death energy.
Hela, wearing that tattered black cloak and a menacing antler crown, strode into the square.
She had been following previous instructions, keeping guard outside the gates of Kamar-Taj.
Sensing Lin Nuo's familiar energy fluctuations, this Asgardian Goddess of Death rushed in immediately.
"You finally decided to crawl out of that hellhole?"
Hela's voice carried heavy resentment.
She was just about to step forward to question him, but her gaze landed with extreme precision on the hand Lin Nuohad around Jean's waist.
The temperature in the air plummeted.
Dark green death divine power surged wildly around Hela.
She stared fixedly at Jean, unable to suppress the violent emotion of having her territory invaded.
Jean also sensed the hostility.
She met Hela's gaze without backing down, scarlet Phoenix Fire dancing at her fingertips.
The collision of the auras between the two women directly whipped the wind and snow on the square into a violent tornado.
"Enough."
Lin Nuo's cold voice rang out from the center of the storm.
He released his hand from around Jean and walked straight up to Hela.
The Level 3 Reality Warping power crystal operated at full power in his sea of consciousness, combined with the perfect death divine status plundered from Hela earlier, and an absolute, superior suppression force descended with a bang.
Bang.
Hela's knees went weak, and she knelt heavily on one knee on the bluestone slab.
Her death divine power, which she was so proud of, had its activity forcibly stripped away in the face of this authority.
Lin Nuo reached out, his rough fingertips pinching Hela's pale cheeks directly, forcing her to lift her head.
"Haven't seen you for a few days, and you've forgotten the rules?"
Lin Nuo looked down at her, his eyes showing the impatience of a capitalist reprimanding a hound. "Baring your fangs on my turf, do you want to die a second time?"
Hela gritted her teeth, the defiance in her eyes crumbling bit by bit under Lin Nuo's highly aggressive gaze.
She knew this man's methods too well; struggling would only result in even crueler suppression.
"Understood."
Hela squeezed two words through her teeth and voluntarily retracted the death energy around her.
Jean stood behind, watching Lin Nuo so domineeringly force a woman radiating the aura of a deity to kneel, and the pathological attachment in her heart was greatly satisfied.
She retracted the Fire on her body and walked obediently to Lin Nuo's side, standing still.
Just at this moment.
The Star Umbrella quantum communication terminal on Lin Nuo's wrist, which had been dormant for a long time, suddenly lit up with a rapid red light.
After crossing the Universe barrier, this terminal automatically connected to the near-Earth orbital satellite network of the Star Umbrella Group in the original Universe.
Lin Nuo pressed the answer button.
Wanda Maximoff's voice, accompanied by intense electromagnetic interference, came out of the terminal's speaker.
"Master! You're finally online!"
Wanda spoke extremely fast, and the background was filled with the roar of ear-piercing air-raid sirens.
"Report the situation."
Lin Nuo released his hand from Hela and straightened his body.
"A massive alien fleet has suddenly appeared in Earth's outer orbit!"
Wanda's voice was a bit tight. "Radar simply cannot fully analyze their scale. They have blocked all global communication frequencies and are forcibly breaking through Star Umbrella's near-Earth defense network. Miss Potts has already mobilized the entire Vibranium drone fleet to intercept them, but the firepower is completely on a different order of magnitude!"
Lin Nuo pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze passing through the wind and snow of Kamar-Taj, casting toward the gray, hazy sky.
This was the commotion caused by that Sanctum II.
Wong stood on the steps of the main hall, his fat face as pale as paper.
Kamar-Taj's magic early warning network had already collapsed across the board ten minutes ago.
He looked at Lin Nuo, his throat rolling with difficulty, and spat out a name that made all the mages feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
"That leading invader calls himself Thanos."
Chapter 246: Fleet Approaching, Do You Deserve to Talk to Me About Balance?
Upon hearing this name, the mages of Kamar-Taj felt their fingers, previously gripping their magic shields, tighten uncontrollably.
The cosmic overlord, Thanos.
In the secret tomes of the mages, this name represented absolute death and chaotic slaughter.
Wherever he passed, half of all life would be completely erased, leaving not even a soul behind.
The Ancient One stood on the steps of the great hall, her withered chest heaving with difficulty.
She pushed away Wong's supporting hand, her murky eyes fixed intently on the young man standing at the edge of the crater.
"Lin Nuo."
The Ancient One's voice was filled with extreme exhaustion and warning.
"Thanos is not one of those Earth warlords you have dealt with before. His goal is the balance of the Universe, and he has likely already obtained the other Infinity Stones. The fragment of the Space Stone on you is the coordinate that drew him here."
The Ancient One knew the terror of Thanos all too well.
Back in her prime, even when borrowing the power of the Time Stone and the Dark Dimension, she dared not easily provoke that purple potato.
Now that she was half-crippled, and Earth had welcomed this harbinger of doom, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
Lin Nuo turned his head, his fingertips rubbing against the frames of his gold-rimmed glasses.
He looked at the group of mages, who were acting as if they were facing a great enemy, and let out a righteous sneer.
"Old nun, have you been staying on the snowy mountain for too long, and your brain has frozen?"
Lin Nuo stepped forward on the shattered bluestone slabs, "In my territory, there is no balance, only my rules. He wants the stone? Let him come down and take it himself."
Lin Nuo raised his left wrist, his fingertips tapping rapidly on the Star Umbrella quantum communication terminal.
A deep blue holographic projection unfolded in the wind and snow.
The feed connected directly to the Star Umbrella near-Earth orbit defense system.
Outer space above Earth.
A dark purple giant ship, so massive it was appalling, hovered in the vacuum.
From the hideous metal bone spurs of Sanctuary II, high-energy particle beams capable of melting mountains were erupting.
Dense swarms of Outrider landing craft poured out of the mother ship's belly like locusts, crazily slamming into a layer of pale blue energy defense net.
That was the global electromagnetic deflector shield that Star Umbrella had spent hundreds of billions to build.
Blinding ripples surged across the surface of the shield.
"Master."
Wanda's voice came from the terminal's speaker.
In the bottom right corner of the holographic screen, the view cut to the underground command center of Star Umbrella's New York headquarters.
Wanda was wearing a wine-red high-ranking Commanderuniform, her hands pressed onto the control console.
Dark red halos of Chaos Magic flickered in her eyes, and she spoke extremely fast.
"Miss Potts has already deployed all six thousand Vibranium drones from the North America and Western Europe Bases. But the enemy's fire coverage is too wide, and our drone swarm is being cut apart. The first layer of the deflector shield can hold for at most fifteen more minutes."
Wanda gritted her teeth, staring at the friendly light dots constantly disappearing on the screen.
Star Umbrella was the absolute hegemon on Earth, but facing such a veteran interstellar fleet that had traversed the Universe for thousands of years, the gap in foundation was ruthlessly exposed.
"Let me go."
A female voice filled with intense deathly aura rang out in the plaza.
Hela stood up from the ground.
She had just been forcibly pressed to her knees by Lin Nuousing Reality Warping powers, and the violence belonging to the Goddess of Death within her had been suppressed to the limit.
Now, seeing the alien fleet in the holographic projection, she had found the perfect outlet for her frustration.
Dark green death divine power surged wildly around Hela.
She walked a few steps to Lin Nuo's side, her tattered black cloak flapping loudly in the wind.
"Give me a broken ship that can fly out of the atmosphere."
Hela stared directly at Sanctuary II on the holographic screen, a bloodthirsty sneer pulling at her pale face, "I will turn all those purple scumbags into the undead. The army of the dead of Asgard is in need of some alien bones to grind their teeth on."
She needed to prove her value to Lin Nuo through a slaughter.
Working under this man, having no value was equivalent to having no way to live.
"Just you?"
Jean stood on the other side of Lin Nuo, mercilessly mocking her.
The red-haired woman crossed her arms, and crimson Phoenix Force flames danced extremely dangerously at her fingertips.
After crossing the cosmic barrier, Jean could clearly perceive the terrifying energy readings emitting from that giant ship.
That was a desire for destruction capable of destroying a galaxy.
But this instead ignited the fanatical fighting spirit that had just been unleashed within her.
"A bunch of turtles hiding in a metal shell, and you deserve to be called gods?"
Jean tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping past Helaand finally landing on Lin Nuo's refined yet cold side profile, "Lin Nuo, release my anchor. I can burn that broken ship to ashes with one fire. I won't even leave them any scraps."
Once the single-Universe-level Phoenix Force exploded in space without reservation, burning through a Sanctuary IIwould be a piece of cake.
The mages of Kamar-Taj heard the clamor of these two women, and the expressions on their faces were even more terrified than when they saw Thanos.
One Goddess of Death.
One red-haired monster who felt like your soul would be ignited just by looking at her.
Lin Nuo went to another Universe; what level of disaster did he bring back?
In the holographic screen.
Wanda heard Hela and Jean's voices, and her keyboard-typing motion stopped violently.
Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly through the screen at the two women beside Lin Nuo.
The energy of the Chaos Magic, due to her intense emotional fluctuation, directly caused cracks in several bulletproof glass panes in the command center.
She was the chief steward of Star Umbrella, the core combat force personally trained by Lin Nuo.
Now that the Master had just returned, there were two vixens by his side wanting to steal the spotlight.
"Master."
Wanda's voice turned cold, carrying undisguised jealousy and possessiveness, "Star Umbrella's high-end combat forces can take off at any time. We have three newly commissioned helicarriers. The defense of Earth does not need outsiders to intervene. I will personally lead the team to beat them down."
Three women, three forces capable of destroying a continent, collided across the air in the wind and snow of Kamar-Taj.
The smell of gunpowder in the air was even stronger than on the battlefield in near-Earth orbit.
Lin Nuo stood at the center of the storm.
He did not try to appease anyone, but instead raised his hand and tapped heavily on the terminal screen with his rough fingertips.
Click.
The communication channel was forcibly muted.
Hulk-level violent blood energy emitted a low roar within Lin Nuo's body.
The fluctuations of the Level 3 Reality Warping power crystal swept outward from him as the center, extremely arrogantly.
The deathly aura on Hela was forcibly pressed back into her body.
The Phoenix Force flames at Jean's fingertips were directly extinguished.
Even the restless Chaos Magic of Wanda inside the holographic screen subsided under this absolute superior suppression.
"Did I ask you to teach me how to do things?"
Lin Nuo's voice was steady, yet it carried the absolute coldness of a capitalist tearing up a contract.
His gaze swept past Hela and Jean, finally landing on Wanda's face on the screen.
"Earth is my private property. Every brick of Star Umbrellawas snatched by me from someone else's hands. Now that a purple potato has run to my doorstep to smash the market, are you arguing with me about who gets to bite someone?"
Lin Nuo undid the buttons at his collar, and the hard muscle lines under his black shirt revealed a highly oppressive power.
"Listen well, all of you."
Lin Nuo gave the order, his tone righteous, "Wanda, release the restrictions on the second layer of the deflector shield. Let the three helicarriers take off, and put the orbital cannons into charging state. I want you to seal the atmosphere; don't let a single fly in."
"Understood!"
Wanda straightened her back on the screen, and fanaticism reignited in her eyes.
"Hela, put away that barbaric style of yours from Asgard. Your current status is Security Director of Star Umbrella. Go to the Siberian Base and activate all the Destroyerarmor stored there. Whoever dares to land, you tear all their bones apart."
Hela gritted her teeth and lowered her head: "Understood."
Lin Nuo finally looked at Jean.
He reached out and, very naturally, wrapped his arm around Jean's slender waist, pulling her into his arms.
"As for you."
Lin Nuo looked down into those eyes that were once again glowing with crimson, "Stay close to me. Today I will teach you how to tear apart an alien warship by hand."
Jean did not resist; she was too infatuated with this feeling of being absolutely dominated.
She rested her head on Lin Nuo's solid chest, her red lips pulling into a dangerous curve.
Just as this massive War Machine, Star Umbrella, was fully operational.
The quantum terminal on Lin Nuo's wrist emitted an extremely harsh electromagnetic shriek.
The holographic projection screen distorted violently.
Star Umbrella's highest-level encrypted channel was forcibly cut into by a signal far exceeding Earth's technological level.
The screen that originally displayed the near-Earth orbit battlefield disappeared.
Replacing it was a withered, grayish-white, corpse-like alien face.
Ebony Maw.
The leader of the Black Order under Thanos.
He stood on the bridge of Sanctuary II, his hands crossed over his chest.
Behind him were countless Black Order soldiers preparing for an airdrop.
Ebony Maw's nauseating preaching voice, through a translation matrix, rang out directly in the plaza of Kamar-Taj and echoed in the loudspeakers of every Star UmbrellaBase around the globe.
"Tiny and pathetic Earthlings."
Ebony Maw lifted his chin slightly, his tone filled with condescending pity and arrogance.
"Put away those defense systems that are like children's toys. You are resisting a supreme honor. Be grateful. You are about to become a part of the great balance. Hand over the Space Stone, and the great Thanos might consider leaving half of the spark for this backward Planet."
Lin Nuo looked at the chattering ugly face on the screen.
He pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Wanda."
Lin Nuo spoke to the terminal, his tone so steady it was hair-raising.
In the corner of the screen, Wanda cut in a small window.
"Master."
"Connect me to the full-frequency broadcast."
Lin Nuo brushed the snowflakes falling onto his cuffs.
"Connected."
Lin Nuo raised his head, looking straight into Ebony Maw's arrogant eyes.
"Old thing, if that mouth of yours is only used for farting, I don't mind going up there and sewing it shut right now. Tell that purple potato, if he wants to snatch my things, let him come down and take it himself."
Ebony Maw's expression turned completely gloomy.
"Arrogant worm, you will pay the price for your ignorance."
Ebony Maw ordered coldly, and the main cannon of Sanctuary II's belly lit up with blinding destructive purple light, "Destroy them, leave none alive."
Chapter 247: Dialogue Between Two Kings, Who Dares to Touch My Private Property
On the holographic projection, Sanctuary II erupted with a dark purple light that stung the retinas.
A high-energy particle beam, capable of melting continental plates, roared through the vacuum and slammed straight into the pale blue deflector shield in Earth's outer space.
The mages in the Kamar-Taj plaza held their breath.
Wong instinctively raised his hands, pulling out the Rings of Raggadorr.
Even though he knew it was meaningless, the panic originating from the depths of his genes was uncontrollable.
Ancient One leaned on her staff, staring fixedly at the particle beam.
Lin Nuo did not even lift an eyelid.
He unhurriedly unbuttoned the cuffs of his black shirt, rolled up his sleeves, revealing his sharply defined forearms.
In the small window at the bottom right of the holographic screen, Wanda let out a sneer of extreme contempt.
Her wine-red long hair danced wildly in the command center without a breeze.
She slammed her fair hands heavily on the console.
Dark red Chaos Magic energy followed the Star Umbrella's quantum network, crossed a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers, and was injected directly into the deflector shield array in low Earth orbit.
Boom!
The dark purple particle beam slammed hard against the shield.
There was no shield shattering or devastation of Earth's life as the mages had expected.
A strange dark red halo rippled across the surface of the pale blue shield.
Chaos Magic forcibly modified the energy structure of the particle beam, sliding that Earth-shattering impact force along the edge of the shield and refracting it into the infinite deep space.
Tens of thousands of Outrider landing crafts were swept by the refracted energy, vaporizing into cosmic dust before they could even scream.
"Do you think you can smash the Star Umbrella's rice bowl with just these fire pokers?"
Hela stood by Lin Nuo's side, licked her pale lips, and made no effort to hide the mockery in her tone.
She looked at Ebony Maw on the screen as if looking at a talking mummy.
Asgard's Goddess of Death could not stand others putting on a high-and-mighty God of Death act in front of her.
A crack finally appeared on Ebony Maw's withered face.
His pride and joy, the mothership's main cannon, had actually been withstood by a layer of energy shield on Earth.
What made him feel even more troubled was that the dark red energy attached to that shield completely violated the known physical laws of the Universe.
"Ignorant resistance."
Ebony Maw resumed his preacher's posture, attempting to overwhelm the other side with his aura.
"You have no idea what level of greatness you are facing. Hand over the Space Stone and present all your research data on genetic and energy recombination. This is the final mercy bestowed upon you by My Lord Thanos."
"Mercy my ass."
Wanda cursed directly on the other side of the screen.
The red light in her eyes was almost about to materialize and spill out of the screen.
This old monster dared to spout nonsense in front of Master.
Wanda tore outward fiercely in the void with both hands.
The energy of Chaos Magic directly locked onto the coordinates of Sanctuary II.
Around the huge dark purple mothership, the space began to produce extremely violent distortions.
Wanda intended to cross the distance of tens of thousands of kilometers and twist this broken ship into a pretzel.
A large, bony hand appeared in the sensing area of the holographic screen.
Lin Nuo raised his right hand and tapped the table lightly with his index finger.
An extremely simple action.
On the other side of the screen, Wanda immediately retracted her hands, and the violent Chaos Magic energy calmed down instantly.
She lowered her head extremely submissively, stepped back half a step, and completely returned the initiative to Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo did not need his subordinates to overstep their bounds.
If someone stepped on his dining table, he would break their legs himself.
"Old monster."
Lin Nuo looked directly at Ebony Maw, "Don't bring out your pathetic eloquence to embarrass yourself. Let the real boss come out and talk."
Ebony Maw was about to scold this ignorant Earthling.
A massive purple hand wearing dark gold armor grabbed his shoulder extremely rudely.
Ebony Maw's voice stopped abruptly.
Like a servant who had made a mistake, he immediately bowed and retreated to the side, not even daring to raise his head.
A massive Shadow covered the bridge's display screen.
Thanos.
The Universe overlord Thanos.
He walked to the camera with heavy steps.
That purple face covered in vertical lines occupied half the screen.
He was not wearing a full suit of armor, just a simple battle suit, but the terrifying blood aura accumulated from sweeping across half the Universe was enough to make people feel suffocated even through the screen.
He sat on that floating throne, his gaze piercing through tens of thousands of kilometers of void, locking directly onto Lin Nuo.
In the Kamar-Taj plaza.
Jean Grey's body stiffened uncontrollably.
As an Omega-level Mutant, her perception was far beyond that of ordinary people.
She could clearly perceive the mental weight carried by the purple giant on the screen.
That was the wailing of tens of billions of souls, the ultimate coldness of absolute disregard for life.
Phoenix Fire sensed the threat and instinctively leaped at Jean's fingertips, attempting to establish a defensive barrier.
A warm, large hand pressed onto Jean's lower back in an extremely domineering manner.
Lin Nuo turned to the side and pulled Jean into his embrace.
The Hulk-level violent blood aura mixed with Asgard's divine factors, directly forming an absolute physical isolation layer around the two of them.
The mental pressure from the Universe overlord hit Lin Nuo's blood aura barrier like a clay ox entering the sea, not even causing a ripple.
Jean's tense muscles relaxed completely.
She looked up at Lin Nuo's sharply contoured profile, the crimson in her eyes turning into extreme fanaticism and attachment.
This man could even suppress the aura of the Universeoverlord.
Thanos watched Lin Nuo's actions and glanced at Helastanding nearby.
In his cold eyes, there was finally a hint of scrutiny.
"You are not an ordinary Earthling."
Thanos's voice was low and powerful, every word sounding like a heavy hammer hitting a metal floor.
"You have a scent on you that I am familiar with. Raiders, conqueror, ruthless tyrant."
Thanos leaned forward slightly from his throne, staring at Lin Nuo with great oppressiveness.
"This backward Planet does not deserve to possess a level of force like yours. Hand over the Space Stone and offer your loyalty."
Thanos offered his terms, his tone filled with unquestionable grace.
"I can make an exception and include you in the Black Order. I will calculate the life on Earth precisely and erase only half. This is for the balance of the Universe, and also to allow the remaining resources to last longer."
The mages of Kamar-Taj felt cold in their hands and feet upon hearing this condition.
Erasing half of all life.
This anti-human Carnage declaration, spoken by this purple giant, sounded as natural as pruning weeds in a garden.
Ancient One gripped her staff tightly; she knew this was the greatest concession Thanos could offer.
If Lin Nuo refused, what would follow would be the all-out destruction of Sanctuary II at any cost.
After hearing these words, Lin Nuo did not get angry, nor did he refute.
He just raised his hand and took off the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.
He pulled a pure black silk handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped the lenses unhurriedly.
The wind and snow fell on his black shirt, but were evaporated by his violent blood aura before they could even touch the fabric.
"Balance?"
Lin Nuo wiped the lenses clean and put them back on the bridge of his nose.
Through the lenses, his ink-black eyes revealed the purest greed and coldness of a capitalist.
"Are you so used to looting and burning in the Universethat you really think of yourself as some kind of family planning director?"
Lin Nuo threw the silk handkerchief on the ground and stepped on it with his leather shoe.
"Old man, you've come to rob me."
Lin Nuo took a step forward, looking directly at Thanos on the screen.
The Level 3 Reality Warping power crystal operated at full power in his sea of consciousness, and an aura of authority that transcended physical laws pressed back along the quantum network.
The instruments on the bridge of Sanctuary II exploded in a series of dazzling sparks.
"Listen clearly. Everything on this Planet is my private property."
Lin Nuo's tone was righteous, revealing a sharpness like a dimensionality reduction strike.
"My things, I can dispose of them however I want. But you..."
Lin Nuo pulled a vicious arc, pointing his finger at Thanoson the screen from across the air.
"Who gave you the courage to stick your chopsticks into my plate?"
As soon as these words came out, the air in the Kamar-Tajplaza seemed to have been sucked dry.
A bloodthirsty light erupted in Hela's eyes.
This was the man she followed.
He dared to trample even the Asgardian realm under his feet; what was a mere alien overlord worth?
Wanda was trembling with excitement on the other side of the screen.
Thanos sat on the throne.
He looked at Lin Nuo, his face covered in vertical lines showing no anger, only extreme coldness.
It had been a long time since he had encountered an existence that dared to provoke him so openly to his face.
Thanos stood up and walked to the screen.
"Earthling, do you want to die first, or kneel first?"
Chapter 248: Private Property Restricted Area, Even an Alien Overlord Must Die
The wind and snow on the bluestone plaza of Kamar-Tajfroze completely.
Wong gripped his artifact tightly, his palms slick with cold sweat.
The young sorcerers around him didn't even dare to look directly at the dark purple face on the screen.
In the ancient records of Kamar-Taj, the name Thanos was synonymous with planetary extinction.
Lin Nuo stood at the edge of the ruinous crater, not even raising his eyelids an inch.
He toyed with the pitch-black terminal on his wrist, his rough fingertips gently rubbing against the edge of the screen.
The collar of his black shirt was open, and the dark golden glimmer of the Asgardian Divine Factor wandered across the surface of his skin, forcibly baking the surrounding sub-zero wind and snow into a vacuum of white mist.
"Wanda."
Lin Nuo spoke, his voice as steady as if he were listening to a morning earnings report.
In the communication split-screen at the bottom right of the holographic image, Wanda, her wine-red hair flying, leaned forward half a step.
She pressed her hands onto the main console of the New York underground command center, a dangerous dark red halo swirling in the depths of her eyes.
"Main console online."
Wanda spoke at a rapid pace, "Three helicarriers have broken through the troposphere, and the orbital defense matrix is fully warmed up."
"Shut down all public broadcast frequencies."
Lin Nuo issued the command, "Tell those politicians in Washington and The Pentagon who are preparing to issue surrender statements to shut their mouths. If anyone dares to send a signal to the aliens at a time like this, deploy a drone and blast their entire family into wall paste."
"Everything is locked down."
Wanda revealed an extremely cold sneer, "Right now, only our Star Umbrella's exclusive frequency can transmit on the entire Earth."
Lin Nuo nodded with satisfaction.
He raised his head, staring through tens of thousands of kilometers of void directly at Thanos, who sat on a floating throne in the center of the screen.
"Purple potato."
Lin Nuo spoke, his tone devoid of any awe for an overlord of the Universe, holding only the extreme disgust one feels when watching a thief pry open their safe.
"Since no one else in the Universe has dealt with you, you've developed the nasty habit of showing up on people's doorsteps to preach your grand theories."
Lin Nuo took a step forward, his leather shoe crushing a hard bluestone slab on the ground.
"Get your position straight. That broken ship above your head is parked over my territory. The Space Stone you're eyeing is my trophy. The billions of people on this Planetare the employees and consumers on my Star Umbrellaassembly lines."
Lin Nuo raised his right hand, his fingertip pointing through the holographic projection at the bridge of Thanos's nose.
"You want to steal my private property? Did you bring a coffin?"
On the steps of the Kamar-Taj main hall, the Ancient Oneleaned on her wooden staff, her withered chest heaving violently.
This Sorcerer Supreme, who had protected Earth for hundreds of years, had spent her whole life observing the balance doctrines of the Vishanti.
She had never imagined that one day, Earth's answer to an alien civilization's annihilation fleet would not be righteous protection, but the extreme possessiveness of a tyrannical despot over his private property.
On the other side of the screen.
The main bridge of Sanctuary II fell into a dead silence.
Ebony Maw stood behind and to the side of the throne, his withered face twisted in disbelief.
He had conquered countless advanced galaxies with Thanos, seen rebels wail, and seen kings kneel, but he had never seen a native of a backward Planet dare to speak to an overlord of the Universe in the tone of someone reprimanding a robber.
"Ignorant..." Ebony Maw started to step forward.
Thanos raised a hand to stop him.
The dark purple giant slowly rose from his throne.
His massive body blocked the brilliant galaxy behind the bridge.
He looked down at the young human in the image, who wore gold-rimmed glasses and exuded endless malice beneath a refined face.
"You treat life as an asset."
Thanos's voice held no anger, yet it was as cold as ice rocks in deep space, "You understand survival better than those foolish moral guardians. Unfortunately, your capacity is limited to a tiny mud ball. The collapse of the Universecannot be stopped by those laughable metal weapons in your hands."
"Spare me the grand narrative."
Lin Nuo interrupted mercilessly, "You're just a perverted old freak who commits mass murder under the banner of environmentalism. Go kill in other galaxies if you want, but if you dare touch my base of operations, I'll take your bones apart to use as the keel for my starships."
Lin Nuo turned his head to look at Jean Grey, who had been pressed closely against his side.
The red-haired woman had her arms crossed over her chest, her tight tactical suit outlining her extremely tall figure.
She sensed waves of high-energy lock-on signals coming from deep space, and the Phoenix core fire within her, at a single-Universe level, was accelerating through her veins.
"Itchy hands?"
Lin Nuo pinched the back of her neck.
"He is strong."
Jean did not avoid the man's rough palm, but instead pressed the side of her face against it, a bloodthirsty red glow dancing in her eyes, "But I can burn him and his ship to ash together."
"No rush."
Lin Nuo withdrew his hand, "Before letting the dogs bite, we must first let outsiders see how hard the iron rods are that Star Umbrella uses to guard the house."
Hela, standing on the other side, let out a cold snort.
The tattered black cloak on her body surged with death energy, and the antler crown on her head emitted a chilling, ghostly green light.
The Goddess of Death of Asgard had long since grown tired of just watching.
"Don't let those purple scumbags die too quickly."
Hela stared at Thanos on the screen, licking her pale lips, "They have a thick aura of blood on them. Making them into undead puppets is much more useful than those soft, limp corpses on Earth."
Lin Nuo ignored the bickering between these two warlike women.
He directly opened the full-band command interface on his terminal.
"Wanda."
"Here!"
"Switch the first layer of energy deflector shields to offensive diversion mode across the board."
Lin Nuo spoke quickly, throwing out his tactical intent with absolute clarity, "Target all 360 charging satellites in low Earth orbit at the area where their landing craft are most dense."
The screen image pulled back rapidly.
The holographic perspective switched from the ruins of the main hall to the vast low Earth orbit.
Beneath the massive dark purple ship Sanctuary II, thousands of Outriders landing pods poured down like a rainstorm.
Those savage-looking assault craft, wrapped in heavy alien metal, crashed madly into the energy barrier at the edge of the atmosphere.
Just as they reached the critical point of the shield.
The entire layer of electromagnetic shield, which had originally appeared light blue, suddenly turned a deep, bloody red.
Due to the remote reinforcement of Wanda's Chaos Magic, the physical structure of the shield was forcibly reconstructed.
Those Outriders landing pods, crashing in at high speed, not only failed to tear through the defense line but were crushed on the spot by a reverse-twisting high-frequency repulsive force the moment they touched the red energy layer.
The firelight connected into a sea of burning fire in the vacuum.
The silent explosions blossomed in low Earth orbit like fireworks made of metal debris.
"Alert! Vanguard Assault First Squadron losses exceed forty percent!"
Inside the bridge of Sanctuary II, the alien officer in charge of energy monitoring let out a terrified roar.
Thanos watched the large swaths of green signal dots extinguishing on the main display.
His eyes finally changed.
That was not an energy defense line that a backward Planet could possess; the kind of rule that could twist impact kinetic energy and detonate it in reverse had already touched the threshold of high-level energy application in the Universe.
"Is your heart aching already?"
Lin Nuo's cold voice echoed through the bridge of Sanctuary II, transmitted via the forcibly hijacked communication band.
He unhurriedly undid his cuffs on both sides, rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, and revealed forearms as solid as marble.
"The good show has only just begun."
Lin Nuo aimed at the terminal microphone and issued the true order to fire.
"Orbital main cannons, fire."
In Earth's outer space.
Three massive, pure white Star Umbrella helicarriers had completely broken free from the constraints of the atmosphere, hovering at an oblique angle in low Earthorbit.
The ship's armor unfolded layer by layer, revealing the super-magnetic diversion cannon barrels in the core area, forged from twenty tons of pure Vibranium.
The deep blue Arc Reactor energy matrix compressed rapidly deep within the barrels.
In an instant, three super-high-energy plasma beams, dozens of meters thick, tore through the dark void and slammed into the escort fleet on the left wing of Sanctuary II.
The intense light was blinding, illuminating the entire cold night sky on the dark side of Earth.
Thanos stood before his floating throne, his cold eyes reflecting the destructive cannon fire piercing through deep space, and slowly raised his dark golden right palm.
"Crush him."