For a long moment, a dead silence fell over every single subterranean safe house as people stared blankly at the projections on the walls.
And then...
It was as if a ladle of boiling water had been dumped directly into a vat of scalding oil. Every single safe house instantaneously erupted into absolute pandemonium.
"HOLY SH*T!!!"
"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!"
"Oh my god! What did I just look at?! They... they just one-shotted that giant monster?!"
"Damn... is this the kind of cinematic masterpiece I'm allowed to watch for free?!"
The thunderous, earth-shattering cheers nearly blew the reinforced ceilings off the entire underground defense network!
Psychological oppression? Anxiety?
To hell with all of it!
At this exact moment, every single shred of negative emotion lurking within the hearts of the citizens was swept entirely clean, replaced by a wave of primal, feverish excitement!
Even the wealthy elitists and capitalists, who usually prided themselves on being sophisticated and unshakeable, were currently flushing a vibrant crimson from pure adrenaline, pumping their fists wildly into the air and letting out feral, ecstatic howls.
They had previously spent millions of dollars traveling to underground fight clubs to witness blood sports, or chartering private islands to watch exotic beasts tear each other apart.
But compared to the visceral reality playing out before their eyes, those exclusive events were completely pathetic!
This was true power. This was the definitive incarnation of the aesthetics of pure, raw violence!
Before they could even fully process the sheer shock of that opening act, the perspective of the live broadcast shifted seamlessly, and Peter's teasing voice echoed through the audio feed once more:
"You didn't actually think that was the peak, did you?"
"Wrong! Completely wrong!"
"The real show is just getting started!"
The moment his words fell, the lens sliced over to Central Park.
Felicia—known to the public as "Nightingale"—was currently hovering gracefully in mid-air. Her arms were extended wide, and the Ten Rings were spinning at a blinding velocity directly in front of her torso, radiating a brilliant, ethereal blue light.
"Shatter!"
Accompanied by her sharp, melodic battle cry, the Ten Rings compressed into a single, unified construct. A massive column of raw energy—so thick it rivaled a military searchlight—blasted outward with a deafening hum!
Vvveeeemmm—!
The energy beam pierced straight through a Leviathan behemoth, incinerating its way into its gaping maw and bursting cleanly out from the very tip of its long, armored tail!
The colossal beast didn't even have time to unleash a final screech before its entire frame went completely rigid in mid-air. Immediately after, its massive corpse crashed heavily onto the earth below.
Right through its skull was a gaping, hollow crater wide enough for a grown man to comfortably stroll through—a literal "head-to-tail" view!
Another collective chorus of sharply inhaled breath rippled through the safe houses, placing a monumental burden on the automated air purification systems.
If the joint assault by the Hulk and Alexei was defined by pure, physical brutality, then Felicia's strike was a dimensional reduction attack straight out of a high-budget sci-fi epic!
The perspective shifted again.
This time, the camera locked onto a gargantuan titan composed entirely of shifting sand and earth!
"Sandman!" William roared at the heavens, thrusting a pair of colossal, sky-blocking hands violently upward!
Shhh-shhh-shhh!
Following his movement, countless massive spires of compacted yellow sand erupted brutally from the bedrock below.
Not only did they impale another Leviathan behemoth mid-flight, but they also skewered hundreds of Chitauri soldiers, turning them into a literal row of meat kabobs!
Immediately following, the camera array rapidly climbed in altitude, tracking a flashy, high-velocity red streak cutting across the skyline.
"Next up, please enjoy a classic performance brought to you by Mr. Tony Stark... titled 'The Billionaire's Carpet Bomb'!"
The moment Peter's commentary faded, the shoulder and back armor of the Iron Man suit snapped open, and hundreds of micro-missiles poured downward like a torrential downpour of blooming steel!
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
An entire metropolitan block completely overrun by Chitauri forces was instantaneously swallowed by a raging sea of thermite fire. The crushing shockwaves tore everything into the sky, reducing the alien vanguard to charred cinders.
"Fk! We are both primary defense contractors for the military! Why the hell is there such a massive, inexplicable generational gap in technology between Hammer Industries and Stark?!"
Down in a secure safe house, Justin Hammer stared at the incredibly flashy Tony on the screen, gnashing his teeth so hard they nearly shattered from pure envy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next one is a true heavyweight!"
"Let us welcome our newest hero to the stage—Quake!"
Following Peter's introduction, a female silhouette clad in a sleek S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical operations uniform and a form-fitting visor appeared on screen. It was none other than Daisy Johnson!
Faced with a dense, converging matrix of Chitauri plasma fire, she didn't bother to duck or weave. She merely lifted a single, slender hand.
Vvvvmmmm!
An invisible barrier of raw vibrational energy manifested in front of her. The moment the incoming plasma rounds impacted the shield, they behaved like pebbles tossed into a pond—instantaneously warping, deflecting, and dissolving into absolute nothingness!
Propelling herself behind this absolute defense, Daisy charged directly toward a rampaging Leviathan behemoth. She leaped high into the air, driving her palm heavily against the creature's metal-plated skull.
Vvvv-vvvv-vvvv-vvvv—
An ultra-high-frequency vibration rippled outward from her fingertips. In the next instant, beneath the horrified, awestruck gaze of the entire populace, the colossal chassis of the Leviathan behaved exactly like rotten timber tossed into an industrial shredder.
Starting directly from its skull, it disintegrated inch by inch, dissolving into a massive shower of pulverized metal and biological mist!
Completely erased from existence!
"..."
Inside the safe houses, there was a profound, breathless silence. Every single person had been rendered utterly speechless by this consecutive display of god-like feats.
The capitalists who had been plotting to stir up trouble were now trembling so hard from excitement that their lips shook.
The citizens who had been bickering over space and rations were now throwing their arms around each other's shoulders, pointing at the screens and screaming at the top of their lungs for their favorite heroes.
Class divides, personal grudges, societal tension—everything felt utterly trivial in the face of a hyper-spectacular, apocalyptic war for the survival of New York! At this exact moment, they shared a singular, unified identity:
They were fans of the Superheroes!
Had the conflict concluded on this high note, it would have undoubtedly gone down as an immaculate, legendary performance.
But unfortunately, the grim reality of warfare rarely aligns with theatrical perfection. The superheroes were undeniably powerful, but their physical stamina and energy reserves were fundamentally finite.
And the enemy they were facing was a massive, combined armada of five Chitauri motherships.
Housed within those five vessels were over thirty thousand Chitauri infantrymen and nearly a hundred Leviathan behemoths! Faced with an unrelenting, tide-like convergence of numbers, the initial "exhibition match" atmosphere quickly eroded.
Across the battlefield, the superheroes began to sustain casualties.
Harry's tactical positioning was solid, but he was ultimately clipped by a high-ranking Chitauri officer wielding advanced plasma ordnance. A visible, smoking crater was blasted into his lower leg, and his glider was heavily damaged.
Had Gwen not rushed in for an emergency save—deploying the Santen Kesshun to shield him and the Soten Kisshun to mend the wound—he easily could have lost his life on the asphalt.
Next came Prowler, Captain America, Daredevil, and Hawkeye. They didn't possess the high-tier divine enhancements Peter provided to his inner circle, nor did they have the luxury of Vibranium-woven armor like Tony.
Faced with an endless ocean of enemies, injuries were statistically inevitable.
Seeing more and more heroes taking damage, Gwen—who held the primary healing capabilities—visibly began to grow frantic, her movements becoming hurried.
The roaring cheers inside the safe houses gradually died down into a tense murmur. Everyone held their breath, staring with knotted stomachs at the blood-soaked, exhausted figures fighting on the screen. They could feel it vividly... the heroes were growing exhausted.
Meanwhile, deep in the silent vacuum of space, Ebony Maw stood observing the projection. The corners of his mouth twitched into a dismissive, disdainful sneer as he cast a condescending glance toward Loki, before bowing deeply to Thanos:
"Sire, the resistance forces of Earth have indeed exceeded my expectations slightly. However, it amounts to nothing more than a final, dying breath."
Before Thanos could even offer a response to the assessment, Loki—his forehead completely drenched in a cold sweat—interrupted Maw with a frantic, trembling voice:
"No... you are being entirely naive."
"What?" Ebony Maw turned, completely blindsided that this little piece of trash actually possessed the audacity to speak out loud.
Loki, however, merely kept his eyes glued to the holographic feed, desperately searching the architecture for a specific, missing silhouette. His mouth mumbled almost reflexively:
"He hasn't even made a single move yet, and you have already sacrificed the equivalent of an entire mothership's military force..."
"They have grown infinitely stronger. In the end, you have completely underestimated him!"
"This war... you've already lost!"
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