Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 399 (Patreon)

"Hey! Everyone, someone's coming. Shouldn't we hide? Otherwise, why did we plan so carefully just now?"

"But it's too late now, pajamas Baby..."

As soon as Tony's words fell, Spider-Man felt all the hairs on his body stand on end – his spider-sense was activated. Looking down, he noticed that a round hand grenade had somehow landed among them.

Boom!

There was no time to dodge, and by the time everyone reacted, the grenade had already exploded. Except for Captain and Quicksilver, who managed to outrun the blast wave with their speed, the other members were not so lucky.

However, the Vibranium nanotech battle suits and various high-tech protective gear rendered the surprise attack completely ineffective. At the same time, it gave the Avengers an opportunity to see who had come down from the ship.

The good news was that the newcomers were not Thanos, but the bad news was that they immediately launched an attack without saying a word.

There were only three of them, two men and a woman, wielding alien technology weapons that the Avengers had never seen before. In their first encounter, they demonstrated their superiority.

However, they quickly faced counterattacks from Quicksilver and Captain, two speedsters. No matter how advanced their technology and weaponry was, if they couldn't react quickly, it was useless.

With numerical superiority, superior strength, and the dual onslaught of technology and magic, the trio couldn't withstand three rounds of combat before being captured by the Avengers.

"Ah! Damn it, let me go! Where have you taken Gamora?" One of the captives, pinned to the ground by Spider-Man, angrily demanded.

Seeing this silly face, Mark knew he hadn't mistaken the person. The newcomers were none other than Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy members, Drax the Destroyer and Mantis.

However, when Mark found out that the newcomers were not Thanos but Star-Lord, he felt a sense of despair. Even if Thanos had come, they were somewhat prepared, but instead, they had to deal with the one who had been the catalyst for their defeat in the previous Infinity War – the infamous, invincible troublemaker, Star-Lord!

Originally, Mark had great confidence in his plan to use Ebony Maw as a mole. However, at this moment, he couldn't help but start to doubt.

At this point, Tony also removed his nanotech mask and looked puzzled at Star-Lord. "First, tell me, who is Gamora?"

"Can you tell me why everyone keeps talking about Gamora?" Drax, who was also pinned down by Tony, asked somewhat jealous.

"It seems like you guys don't want to tell me where Gamora is! But it's okay; we have three more members and a big guy from Asgard. They'll come to rescue us, and then we'll take you all down. At that time, I'll personally go to face Thanos and take him down too, then rescue Gamora."

Star-Lord's intelligence was indeed questionable. He boldly threatened them, revealing all of his cards. If they were truly enemies with the Avengers, Star-Lord's words alone would have made them cautious and possibly set a trap for his teammates when they arrived.

However, perhaps the saying "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" applied here. Star-Lord's foolishness turned out to be just the right amount, avoiding the need for Mark to expend extra effort to resolve the conflict.

Sure enough, in the next moment, wearing the Anti-Hulk Hulkbuster armor, Dr. Banner awkwardly opened his cockpit and looked at Star-Lord with excitement. "You mentioned a big guy from Asgard just now. Who is he? Tell me! And you said you want to take down Thanos, so you're not working for Thanos, right?"

"Of course not! I can't wait to twist the head of that purple yam with shoe-bottom chin!" Star-Lord, still pinned down by Spider-Man, said with a range of expressions.

"So, you're not sent by Thanos?" Tony asked again to confirm.

"No, we came to rescue our own and take down Thanos on the side! Who are you guys?"

Hearing this question, Spider-Man, who was closest to Star-Lord, couldn't hold back anymore. "Since you asked sincerely, I'll graciously tell you! To prevent the world from being destroyed, to protect Earth's peace, and to uphold love and true justice, the cute and charming team of superheroes!"

"We are the Earth's mightiest superhero team, the Avengers!!"

"Are you the ones that Thor and Baymax mentioned?" Mantis, the only one with her intelligence intact in the Guardians of the Galaxy, asked directly.

"Thor! I knew you were talking about him! Thor is not dead; this is fantastic!" When Mantis mentioned Thor's name, Dr. Banner, the first to jump out of the Hulkbuster armor, danced with excitement.

On the other hand, Mark was surprised to hear Baymax mentioned by Mantis. He hadn't expected that Baymax had not only survived in outer space but had also joined Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Life was full of surprises indeed.

"Where is Thor now?" Dr. Banner, still excited, approached Star-Lord and asked the most crucial question. Spider-Man, Tony, and Scarlet Witch, realizing that these three weren't enemies, released their restraints on them.

Star-Lord flexed his stiff joints. Despite his somewhat slow thinking, he now understood that the people before him were not Thanos's henchmen or enemies, so he did not conceal the news of Thor.

"That ugly big guy, along with Baymax and my other two companions, went to a place called Nidavellir. They said they were going to forge a weapon capable of killing Thanos. As for us, we split up from them. Originally, we were going to the knowhere to stop Thanos from getting the third Infinity Stone, but we ultimately failed. He also took Gamora, so that's why we came to Titan."

Hearing Star-Lord's information, most of the other members were delighted to hear that Thor was alive. However, Doctor Strange and Mark exchanged a glance, sensing gravity and concern in each other's eyes.

That's because if Thanos had indeed obtained the third Infinity Stone from the knowhere, it meant that the Reality Stone had fallen into his hands.

Among the six Infinity Stones, Mark and Doctor Strange wouldn't display such expressions even if Thanos had acquired all the other five stones.

But the Reality Stone was different. It was the core key to realizing Thanos's ambitions, an existence capable of turning everything impossible into reality. The existence of the other five stones was only to provide enough energy to the Reality Stone, allowing it to modify the entire universe according to Thanos's desire—to randomly erase half of all life.

"Now, this is really troublesome..." Doctor Strange lowered his head and looked at the Eye of Agamotto on his chest, ultimately making a decision...