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Homelander was suspended in mid-air, and beneath him was the giant stone statue he had split in two.
He should have been enjoying this moment, the thrill of conquering a powerful enemy, but right now, a chill crawled up his spine.
That was the "Spider-Sense" he had obtained from Peter Parker.
It was different from the time he fought Thor two years ago.
This warning was like a crazy drummer beating a heavy metal rhythm inside his skull; every hair stood on end as if electrified, and even his skin felt phantom pain.
This level of warning was a first for him in this Marvel Universe.
"Jessica." Homelander flew to Jessica's side in an instant, his voice low and urgent.
"I want you to leave, go back to the ship. Now!"
Jessica Jones was holding a camera, taking close-up shots of the wreckage of the Stone Giants.
She froze upon hearing this, looking at Homelander with a puzzled expression.
"What? Why leave? Didn't you win? I still have to film that..."
"Something's wrong," Homelander said solemnly. "This Planet is undergoing some kind of change I can't predict. You being here will distract me."
"I'm not leaving." Jessica stubbornly stiffened her neck. "I have a spacesuit, I can teleport. I can take care of myself."
"Miss Jones!"
Homelander growled, the red light in his eyes flickering slightly—a dangerous warning.
"This is an order, not a discussion!"
"Go back to the ship and wait for me in synchronous orbit."
Jessica looked at him, her lips moving, but she ultimately couldn't say anything in rebuttal. She knew this man too well; when he spoke in this tone, it usually meant things were truly serious.
"Fine." She didn't waste any more words or ask why. "But listen, Anthony. If I see you're about to die from up there, I'm still coming back."
"Suit yourself." Homelander's eyes returned to calm. "Now, go."
Jessica no longer hesitated, pressing a device on her chest, and a blue Holographic Spacesuit covered her body.
She suppressed the unease in her heart and gave Homelander one last deep look.
The next second.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
After a few flashes, Jessica's figure disappeared from Homelander's sight... outer space, synchronous orbit.
The "Homelander One" ship was quietly suspended in the dark Universe.
"Swish!"
Jessica's figure appeared out of thin air on the ship's observation deck.
"Hey! You scared the life out of me!" Rocket Raccoon, who was munching on beer-flavored chips in the pilot's seat, jerked in fright, spilling snacks everywhere. "Can you use the front door next time? Or at least ring the doorbell first?!"
Jessica ignored Rocket's complaints. She felt her heart racing, and the sense of unease became even more pronounced now that she was in space.
She walked quickly to the giant porthole and looked down.
This one look made even this tough woman, who was used to powerful alien fleets, feel as if the blood in her body was about to freeze.
"My God..." This was definitely the most terrifying sight she had ever seen in her life.
When they approached Ego the Living Planet before, they only saw a slightly abstract outline made of clouds and terrain.
It took a bit of imagination to recognize features similar to human facial features.
But now... it was squirming.
Continental plates were shifting, oceans were flowing backward, and clouds were regrouping.
It no longer just looked like a human face; it was a face.
Massive mountain ranges rose to form a high bridge of a nose, and deep canyons became tightly closed lips... Suddenly.
The "eyes" on the Planet, which had been slightly closed, snapped open.
They were two seas of blue light over a thousand kilometers in diameter, churning with endless divine power and malice.
At this moment, megalophobia and the uncanny valley effect were amplified to the extreme.
At the same time.
Through the Livestreaming Device that was still dutifully working, this image was also being transmitted back to Earth.
Billions of viewers in the livestream room, through the lens in Jessica's hand, also faced this unspeakable horror.
People who were still cheering for Homelander splitting the Stone Giant were now collectively choked.
In Times Square, people looked up at the Planet with open eyes on the big screen. The giant blue eyes seemed to penetrate the screen, hanging over Earth.
"That... what is that..."
The ice cream in a little girl's hand dropped to the ground. She pointed at the screen, her voice trembling with tears.
"Mommy... that ball is looking at me..."
No one could answer her.
Because the adults were also trembling.
It was a horror that transcended the limits of human cognition.
Godzilla, alien fleets—in front of this living Planet, they all seemed so insignificant.
If Homelander was a god among men, then this thing in front of them... was a World-devouring devil.
In the online livestream room, the bullet comments even showed a gap.
It took several seconds before someone typed with trembling fingers.
[I... I want to throw up...]
[Is this real? The Planet... has come to life?]
[Can we really win? Something like this... a nuke would just be like a pimple on it, right?]
[Don't look at that eye! Don't look!]
[I'm not looking! I'm turning it off! I feel like it's looking at me!]
[Is Homelander still down there? Oh my god...]
..."Friday! Friday!"
Jessica suddenly snapped back to her senses, lunged at the console, and shouted into the communicator.
"Quick! Contact Anthony! Tell him to leave there! Immediately!"
"Attempting to establish a connection, Miss Jones." Friday's calm tone sounded exceptionally cold right now. "Connection failed. Signal is being interfered with by a strong magnetic field."
"Try again! Fast!"
"Warning! High-energy reaction detected. The target Planet is releasing an energy field."
Jessica looked back out the porthole.
She saw the massive mouth of Ego the Living Planet slowly opening.
"Hoo————"
Although she didn't hear a sound, Jessica felt as if she were sensing a sigh from hell.
A faint blue mist-like energy was spewed out from that "giant mouth."
It was like a rapidly spreading virus.
In just a few seconds, the layer of blue mist enveloped the entire Planet's atmosphere, forming a light film that completely locked down the whole Planet.
"Dammit!" Jessica was anxious. She no longer relied on the communicator; it was a waste of time.
She pressed the button on her chest and activated the Holographic Spacesuit.
"I'm going down to find him!"
"Are you crazy?!" Rocket jumped over and grabbed her. "That thing looks like it eats people! You'll die!"
"Let go!"
Jessica shook off Rocket and disappeared in a flash.
"Swish!"
The next second, she appeared at the edge of Ego the Living Planet's atmosphere.
She tried to teleport directly back to the surface, back to Homelander's side.
But... "Thud!"
As if hitting an invisible wall, Jessica's figure appeared outside the blue film.
"What's going on?" She tried to teleport again.
"Swish!" Still in the same spot.
That seemingly thin blue mist was actually like an invisible wall, cutting off the continuity of space.
Worse still, the blue mist seemed to have sensed her presence.
They were like living tentacles, starting to extend upward and coil toward Jessica.
That feeling was like falling into super glue.
"Get away!"
Jessica tried to flash away again.
"Hum—"
Space fluctuated for a moment, but she was still in the same spot.
The blue mist quickly wrapped around her limbs, corroding the spacesuit's energy shield, as alarms blared frantically in her ears.
"Teleport! Teleport! Teleport!"
Jessica frantically issued commands in her mind.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Her figure flashed frantically in place.
But every flash was just running in place.
The blue mist had already covered her visor, obscuring her vision.
A sense of suffocation and despair enveloped her.
"Anthony..." Jessica silently whispered that name in her heart, her consciousness beginning to blur.
"BOOM!!!!"
Inside the Planet below, a burst of blinding thunder light suddenly exploded.
A sharp sword mixed with golden lightning pierced the sky from the surface! It forcefully cut through the thick layer of blue mist on Jessica's body.
Immediately after.
Accompanied by the rolling roar of thunder, a figure pierced through the atmosphere and through the mist.
Like a retrograde meteor, it broke through layer upon layer of obstacles and arrived at Jessica's side in an instant.