Thanos looked down at the corpse of Black Dwarf.
The corner of his eye twitched slightly.
The death of Black Dwarf made him feel angry, but it did not make him lose his reason; instead, it made his thoughts sharper.
That strike just now was very unusual.
The Power Stone represents the purest and most powerful destructive force in the Universe; it is impossible for it to be suppressed by power that is not from an Infinity Stone.
If there is no problem with the Power Stone, then the only thing that could be at fault is one thing.
The gauntlet.
The Infinity Gauntlet forged by the King of Dwarves.
Eitri, the King of Dwarves, that cunning craftsman, clearly left a backdoor when forging this gauntlet.
And that battle axe from just now was clearly also the work of the King of Dwarves; he added a special attribute that restrains the energy circuits of the Infinity Gauntlet.
This battle axe does not restrain the Infinity Stones, but the gauntlet itself!
"Hahahaha!"
The wanton laughter interrupted Thanos's train of thought.
"Is that all you've got? Thanos!" Thor pointed his battle axe at Thanos, brimming with confidence. "The Infinity Stones aren't anything special!"
"Taste this again!"
Thor repeated his old trick, gathering the power of thunder.
Twisting his waist and exerting all his strength, he fiercely threw the thunderous flying axe again.
"Let's see how many people you have to die for you!"
Facing the deadly weapon attacking him again, Thanos's eyes narrowed.
To verify the conjecture in his heart, he quickly grabbed the Power Stone on the gauntlet with his right hand.
With a "click," he pulled it out of the socket.
Thanos held the Power Stone directly in his palm; using his own powerful body as a container, he forcibly channeled the violent source energy within the gem.
Facing the oncoming battle axe, he threw a punch!
A purple Impact erupted from his fist.
Without the restraint of the gauntlet, the true power of the Power Stone poured out to the maximum extent the carrier could withstand.
"Boom!"
The energy Impact collided with the battle axe.
And this time, stormbreaker could not split this energy.
The moment the axe blade made contact with the light wave, it let out a whine and was sent flying by the immense Impact force.
The purple energy torrent continued unabated, striking fiercely at Thor's chest in front.
"Bang!"
Thor spat out blood, his entire body crashing through three thick stone walls in succession before finally disappearing into the distance.
And this supreme energy, after blasting Thor away, did not stop, but headed straight towards the group of Guardians of the Galaxy behind him.
"Oh, shit!" Star-Lord cursed, instinctively raising his arms to protect his head.
Rocket Raccoon hugged Groot and shouted: "We're done for!"
Homelander stood at the very front, bearing the brunt of it.
He snorted coldly, invisible ripples spreading through the air as a Force barrier instantly formed.
The energy Impact hit The Force barrier, splashing up huge waves of energy.
"Crack."
But it only held for two and a half seconds before The Force barrier shattered with a roar.
"As expected of the Power Stone."
Homelander, unhurried, revealed the Infinity Gauntlet on his right hand.
He clenched his fist, and the Reality Stone suddenly lit up, with red radiance gushing out.
Instantly, it condensed into a huge energy shield in front of everyone.
Power Stone collided with Reality Stone.
The moment these two top-tier energies in the Universe made contact, they triggered a terrifying annihilation reaction.
The intense light made it impossible for anyone to keep their eyes open.
Violent shockwaves spread crazily outward from the point of contact.
The palace pillars fractured inch by inch, the dome collapsed, and huge stones were ground into powder by the escaping energy before they even hit the ground.
Following that, the land of Sakaar began to tremble violently, and a low rumble emanated from deep within the crust.
Star-Lord could not stand under the intense shaking and they all lay prone on the ground.
Meanwhile, Thanos gritted his teeth, veins bulging; the load of the gem was consuming him.
The shaking of the Planet became more and more intense, the earth began to fissure, and magma faintly churned.
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
A huge holographic projection suddenly flickered into existence.
It was the Grandmaster; he no longer had his usual composure, and his face was full of terror.
"Lunatics! You two lunatics!"
He pushed the volume of the loudspeaker to the limit.
"If you don't stop, I will throw the Tesseract into the dimensional gap of an unknown wormhole! Let it be lost in the turbulence of time and space!"
"I guarantee, even if you search for a million years, you won't be able to find it!"
Hearing this, the two people locked in the struggle flickered their eyes simultaneously.
They tacitly began to reduce the output of energy.
The red and purple lights gradually dimmed and finally subsided.
Homelander shook his right hand and retracted the Infinity Gauntlet.
He had traveled all the way to this junkyard; if he didn't get the Tesseract, wouldn't this trip be in vain?
Thanos silently put the gem back into the gauntlet, then calmly hid his uncontrollably trembling right hand behind his back.
Using his physical body to directly drive the Infinity Stones for a long time had already caused him to suffer severe energy backlash.
If they continued to fight, his own body would collapse and annihilate first.
The appearance of the Grandmaster was equivalent to indirectly saving his life.
Seeing that the two had finally ceased fire, the Grandmaster let out a long sigh of relief.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking at the palace, which had almost turned into ruins, with lingering fear.
"Very good, rational. I like rational guests."
The Grandmaster straightened up, trying to regain some of his dignity as a master.
Thanos stared at the Grandmaster's image and spoke slowly.
"Hand over the Tesseract to me. This is the deal you promised me. You had better keep your word."
Thanos raised his left hand, the purple radiance on the gauntlet lighting up again, full of warning.
"Otherwise, this Planet will cease to exist!"
Homelander, upon hearing this, also said unceremoniously:
"The Tesseract belongs to me in the first place! What you have in your hand is stolen goods, old man!"
"If you dare to give my thing to someone else, I will immediately tear your Planet into pieces."
"If you don't believe me, you can try; my track record is verifiable!"
The Grandmaster, caught between two monsters capable of tearing apart Planets, fell into a dilemma.
Give it to Thanos? That red and blue menace would dismantle the Planet; this wouldn't be the first one he's dismantled.
Give it to that Homelander? The Butcher of the Universe's fleet is right overhead, not to mention he has the Power Stone in his hand.
Offend either one, and Sakaar is finished!
The Grandmaster's holographic image paced back and forth in place.
Suddenly, he stopped, clapped his hands, and a look of excited joy burst onto his face.
"Got it! I have a proposal!"
The Grandmaster rubbed his hands excitedly, scanning back and forth between Thanos and Homelander.
"Let's play a game! An ultimate game that will decide who gets the Tesseract!"
The Grandmaster raised the remote control in his hand.
"If you don't agree, I will press the button right now. I'd rather go down with the Tesseract than give it to either of you! We'll all end up with nothing, and neither of you will get it!"
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌