Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 436 (Patreon)

"Huff~ Huff~ Huff~"

In the ruins, Hawkeye is frantically fleeing.

The explosion just now was sudden, but Hawkeye was lucky; he didn't suffer any injuries and wasn't buried under the fallen steel and concrete.

Even luckier, the pseudo-Infinity Gauntlet with six Infinity Stones embedded in it fell right beside him after being blown away.

However, the reason he's currently panting heavily is also due to this stroke of luck.

Chasing closely behind him are the bio-hounds sent by Thanos to search for the Infinity Stones.

But unlike Earth's hounds, these creatures are at least as massive as a tiger, and their bodies have been mechanically enhanced, similar to Rocket and Nebula, turning them into perfect killing machines.

There's no way Hawkeye can stand still and display his exquisite archery skills in front of such monsters.

If he were to do so, those bio-hounds would probably swarm him before he even had a chance to draw an arrow from his quiver, tearing him to pieces.

But no matter how powerful a beast is, it's still just a beast, at most following Thanos's orders and acting on instinct.

In terms of intelligence, they are clearly far inferior to Hawkeye.

Hawkeye is taking full advantage of this, making the most of his strengths. In the gaps between his escape, he also sets traps using arrows with various abilities.

Along the way, quite a few bio-hounds have fallen victim to Hawkeye's tactics and have been dealt with.

"Huff~ Huff~ Huff~"

'I can't keep running like this; my stamina will definitely run out first, and there are still quite a few of those monsters behind me. I need to think about using that method.'

With this thought in mind, Hawkeye starts recalling the internal layout of the base from his memory and suddenly changes direction, making a sharp turn towards the passage on his right.

"I hope it hasn't been sealed off due to the explosion, but right now, I can only take the chance."

Determined, Hawkeye squeezes out a bit more strength and accelerates towards the chosen direction once again.

Not far ahead, there was a shaft leading to a higher level. As long as he could reach it, he could leverage the advantage of his position and use his archery skills to take care of all these monsters.

"Huff~ Lucky break!" The escape route wasn't blocked, which temporarily relieved Hawkeye.

Taking a deep breath, Hawkeye pushed himself to increase his speed once again.

The bio-hounds were now closing in, and he didn't even have a chance to set traps anymore; he had to run for his life.

Finally reaching the bottom of the shaft, Hawkeye activated the arrow rope he had prepared in advance. A rope shot out, firmly hooking onto the top of the shaft.

Then, with a leap and a strong pull, Hawkeye climbed up to the top.

Below him, the bio-hounds, without any tools to use, could only watch helplessly as Hawkeye escaped with the Infinity Stones.

Seeing the bio-hounds below futilely barking, Hawkeye didn't spare them either. He took out an explosive arrow from behind and, pulling the bowstring taut, whoosh—BOOM!

The flames engulfed all the enemies, turning into a sea of fire that burned for a long time without extinguishing.

"Huff—" Finally, he could breathe a sigh of relief, and the exhausted Hawkeye lay on the ground in the shape of a "大" character, gasping for breath.

Just then, Nebula arrived in front of him. "It's you, Nebula! Thank goodness, I'm so tired. Can you hold onto this for me for now?"

Saying that, he handed over the infinity gauntlet he had in his arms.

To his surprise, as Nebula took the gauntlet, she said into her communicator, "Father, I've obtained what you wanted."

"What!?" Hawkeye exclaimed, attempting to get up.

However, in his current condition, he was no match for Nebula.

Just when Hawkeye thought he might meet his end here today, a voice stopped Nebula's actions.

"Stop!"

The newcomer was unfamiliar to Hawkeye, but if Rocket were here, he would definitely call her name—Gamora!

And behind Gamora was another person, surprisingly, it was Nebula!

This left Hawkeye, who was already confused, even more baffled.

However, when this Nebula appeared, she didn't say a word; she simply shot her...

Well, to be precise, she killed the other version of herself that was trying to harm Hawkeye.

Killing oneself, that's quite ruthless.

Gamora witnessed this scene and her eyes showed a hint of pity, but she didn't blame Nebula either.

"Um, can anyone explain to me what exactly is going on here?"

...

Above the ruins, Tony, Captain, and Thor were engaged in a fierce battle with Thanos.

Captain, with the speed boost from the Flash suit, continued to harass Thanos while using his shield to deflect some of the attacks aimed at his companions.

Tony and Thor took turns taking advantage of Captain's defense.

First, Tony fired his particle energy cannon directly at Thanos' face, and then, in a moment when his vision was obstructed, Thor brought down the wrath of the heavens with his hammer and swung his axe at Thanos' head.

Boom!

Thor's strike missed, and the battle axe struck the ground heavily.

Thanos, relying on his keen sixth sense and combat intuition, was able to hold his own even in the face of the coordinated assault by the three.

Although this attack did not yield results, Tony had a good idea when he saw Thor summoning lightning.

"Thor, just like before, give me a boost too!"

Tony said as he reversed the particle floating cannon on his back.

Boom!

Thor trusted Tony without hesitation. The collision of the hammer and the axe acted like an amplifier and a concentrator, magnifying the power of the thunder within him.

Lightning burst forth, continuously feeding into Tony.

Zzzzz... Zzzzz...

Behind Tony, the particle floating cannon had the ability to receive the power transmitted by Thor, internally converting it into more powerful beams. It launched another round of attacks against Thanos.

At the same time, Tony's palm cannon was not idle either. He maximized the power of the Arc Reactor, turning it into two high-energy laser beams aimed directly at Thanos's eyes.

Faced with such unavoidable attacks, Thanos, without the Infinity Stones, could only confront them head-on.

He swung his double-edged sword like two spinning helicopter blades, creating a circular barrier in front of him, deflecting Tony's attacks.

Seeing this, Thor seized the opportunity, and used his battle axe like a baseball bat, aiming for a home run with his hammer.

Clang~!

Mjolnir, under Thor's full force, resembled a meteor tearing through the sky, ripping through the air, sparks trailing with lightning, heading straight for Thanos's face.

However, Thanos's reaction was not slow. He had already predicted Thor's move the moment he prepared to strike.

But Thor's strike was exceptionally fast, and its power was astonishing. Thanos didn't dare to confront it head-on.

After seeing Tony approaching him, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. He grabbed Tony and used him as a human shield.

Bang—!

Thor's warhammer struck heavily on Tony's nanosuit. The electrical energy on the hammer was absorbed and stored by the nanosuit, but the tremendous kinetic energy still inflicted severe damage on Tony.

Inside the suit, Tony couldn't withstand the intense shock from the blow, and his vision went black as he lost consciousness.

"Tony!" Thor, witnessing this scene, was furious, yelling loudly, and raised his Stormbreaker high, vowing to cut Thanos in half.

But the Thor of today had already lost his peak strength from five years ago due to his inactivity. Despite seemingly giving it his all in the strike, Thanos easily deflected it with his sword.

It wasn't over yet. Thanos understood that Thor posed the greatest threat to him among the three, so he had no intention of sparing him after a successful attack. He grabbed Thor's head with one hand and used a nearly humiliating manner to press him onto the ground and rubbed him forcefully.

With Thanos' formidable strength, after a few heavy blows, Thor was already feeling dizzy, and if this continued, he would surely fall into Thanos' hands.

"No, I need to counterattack—" Thor pushed through with all his strength, reaching out to summon Stormbreaker.

But before he could grasp it, Thanos seized the axe handle first and was about to strike down at Thor.

Stormbreaker wasn't Mjolnir; it lacked the powerful enchantments Odin had cast on it. Thor miscalculated, and he could very well end up dead under his own weapon.

But in the nick of time, whoosh—BOOM!

Mjolnir delivered a mighty blow, disrupting Thanos' impending attack.

"!" This surprised not only Thanos but left Thor wide-eyed in disbelief.

Was Mjolnir acting on its own, or...

Turning his gaze, he saw Mjolnir in the hands of a figure—

"I knew it!" Seeing the person wielding Mjolnir was none other than Captain America, Thor felt both joy and a lack of surprise.

The enchantment had not lost its effect despite Odin's death.

Considering the Avengers' current situation, Captain's action was crucial.

In the past, Thor had let others try to lift his hammer as a way to demonstrate their character and worthiness.

At that time, in front of everyone, Captain pretended to fail to lift Mjolnir, even though he could do it. He did it to save Thor's face.

Thor seemed to have noticed something at the time but was far less mature than he is now, so he valued saving face and didn't expose the truth.

Now, with Captain wielding Mjolnir and gaining the power of Thor, combined with his vibranium shield and flash suit, he posed a significant threat to Thanos.

Facing Thanos, Captain didn't show any mercy and fully utilized the advantages he now possessed.

With the shield for defense and Mjolnir for offense, in a godlike state of speed, a series of fierce impacts resounded one after another, leaving Thanos battered and exposed.

Meanwhile, Thor, who had been watching from the sidelines, could only see Thanos accumulating injuries, but he couldn't see how Captain was making his moves.

It's worth noting that originally, Captain, relying on the speed granted by the flash suit, although it reached a point where Thor struggled to react, Thor could still barely catch glimpses of Captain's movements.

However, now, with the power of Thor, Captain's physical strength and reaction abilities had greatly improved, laying the foundation for further acceleration.

It was because of this that Captain was able to unleash the maximum speed of the flash suit, which had never been fully utilized before, surpassing the limits of Thor's naked eye.

Physical attacks alone weren't enough for Captain to fully experience the thrill of his newly acquired powers. Having obtained the power of Thor, it would be a shame not to try out the hammer's inherent lightning magic.

With that thought in mind, after a series of attacks had temporarily stunned Thanos, Captain seized the opportunity to halt and raised Mjolnir high above his head.

BOOM!

The sky seemed to respond, and thunder roared instantly. In the next moment, as Captain swung the hammer down, a bolt of lightning was summoned from the heavens, striking squarely on the already dazed Thanos.

However, Captain may not have anticipated that while this lightning dealt significant damage to Thanos, it also freed him from his previous state of dizziness.

Seeing that Captain had not only abandoned his speed advantage but also stopped so close to him, Thanos didn't hesitate. He endured the paralysis caused by the lightning, moved towards Captain, and came dangerously close.

Without waiting for Captain to react, he immediately punched at his wrist.

Boom! In pain, Captain's grip loosened, and Mjolnir slipped from his hand.

Without the divine power granted by Mjolnir, Captain's physical attributes immediately dropped, and he lost the upper hand against Thanos.

Thanos hadn't anticipated that the insignificant ant, whom he had previously paid little attention to, would now inflict the most serious injury on him.

However, he wouldn't make the same mistake a second time. With Captain having lost Mjolnir, this was the perfect opportunity to defeat him.

Summoning his double-edged sword into his hand, Thanos unleashed a ferocious onslaught like a raging storm.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Thanos swung his blade wildly, and Captain resorted to raising his shield for defense, struggling with passive defense.

It's unclear what material Thanos' battle blade was made of, but under his immense strength, even Captain's vibranium shield couldn't withstand such an onslaught and began to gradually shatter.

In the blink of an eye, Captain's shield had been reduced to just half, and even this remaining half appeared extremely precarious, seemingly on the verge of turning into fragments at any moment.

Another attack, and Captain's footing gave way. He couldn't hold on any longer and was sent flying.

"In all my years of conquest in the cosmos, I've been ruthless in slaughtering other life forms, but I've never let personal emotions interfere.

But now, I want you to know how I'll deal with your stubborn, irritating, and insignificant planet—"

"I'll relish this process, and I'll enjoy it immensely!"