novelhk Chapter 174: 6 Infinity Stones vs. 0 Infinity Stones, the advantage is mine!
Chapter 174: 6 Infinity Stones vs. 0 Infinity Stones, the advantage is mine!
Chapter 174 Six Infinity Stones vs. Zero Infinity Stones: The Advantage Lies With Me! (3K)
After Rune finished speaking with Reed, the surrounding heroes immediately surrounded him.
Many of the heroes present are actually street heroes. What are street heroes? These heroes primarily operate at the city street level, dealing with relatively small-scale crime and social problems. They typically don't possess the ability to save the universe or fight god-like villains; instead, they focus on protecting their communities and combating street crime and corruption.
The series' representative heroes include Daredevil, Iron Fist, Echo, and others. These heroes inevitably find themselves somewhat overwhelmed when facing Red Skull; they need a leader, and Rune, the man who rescued Doctor Strange and Clyde and befriended the X-Men, is exactly the kind of leader they desperately need. Therefore, they choose to ask Rune what to do next.
Doctor Strange, who was already paying the price, had to step forward and stop the anxious heroes: "Sorry, give him a few minutes. Rune just used up all his magic to make the entire Himalayas stand up in order to save us. Let him rest for a while."
"Wait, what did you say?" Spider-Man stood up in surprise, clutching his head, his large spider eyes on his mask widening to their maximum.
Cly nodded: "That's right, after all, he rescued us from Dormammu. Although I'm not sure exactly how big the Himalayas are here, Rune did make an entire mountain range stand up, and that's definitely not his limit."
Cly's magical energy far surpasses Doctor Strange's. Both she and Dormammu are extradimensional energy beings called the Faltings. While not on par with super-races like the gods, their power is considerable. The Faltings lend their power to lower-dimensional mages who summon them; Doctor Strange has tested the Falting fire multiple times, and its power was quite impressive.
Because her own magical power was also very strong, she understood better the struggles Rune faced when casting spells. In reality, the stone golem Rune created by exhausting his magic did not absorb his magical power well. Due to the poor magical conductivity of the material and Rune's excessive haste, most of the magical power actually dissipated into the dark dimension.
Magic is inherently a delicate art, often requiring ample time, skillful hands, and meticulous research to maximize the conversion of magical power into combat effectiveness. This is why runes prefer to create puppets outside of combat rather than using transformation magic on the spot.
After using up all his magic for the first time, Rune felt a slight headache, but it wasn't too bad. After waiting for about ten minutes...
He felt that his magic power had recovered to about 70-80%.
At this moment, the street heroes were all discussing it animatedly, as Rune's power level was indeed beyond what others had imagined. With Doctor Strange's certification and Cly's guarantee, their anxiety was somewhat relieved.
Rune stood up at that moment: "Heroes! Warriors! Defenders of freedom!" Rune looked at the many heroes before him, "Today, we stand on the edge of darkness, gazing at Red Skull's twisted ambition—he dares to rule the world with fear, to crush hope with tyranny! But I tell you, he has made a fatal mistake—he has underestimated us!"
Before him stood the heroes Rune had idolized since childhood, such as Spider-Man and the Punisher. He had only ever witnessed their bravery and sacrifice in comics or on television, but now Rune was about to fight alongside them. This feeling made him almost feel like he was dreaming. But the way they stared at him with wide eyes reminded Rune that this was not a dream.
They are about to face a strategist who possesses six Infinity Stones and has evolved into a berserker. On paper, all the heroes of this world combined are no match for Red Skull, even if Rune is included.
"He thinks becoming the Berserker and wielding six Infinity Stones will make us submit? No! Because we are the Avengers! We are the X-Men!"
"They are defenders! They are every soul that refuses to bow to tyranny!" He looked at the group of street heroes.
To Rune's relief, they showed no confusion, even when they heard about the formidable opponent they were about to face.
Captain America once said, "Freedom will never perish as long as one person is willing to resist!" And today, we are not alone—we are an army! An army of heroes, fighters, and indomitable individuals! Does Red Skull think he can divide us with hatred? How laughable! Because our strength comes precisely from unity! From the moment every ordinary person steps forward!
Rune raised his right hand: "So today, we will no longer defend—we will attack! Today, we will no longer fear—we will counterattack! Today, we tell Red Skull—his era ended before it even began!"
"Victory will surely belong to the heroes!"
After Rune finished speaking, the heroes present roared in unison, gripped their weapons, and their eyes burned with the flame of certain victory.
After his speech, Rune sat down again, but Mr. Fantastic Reed was unwilling to relax. He pulled Rune to a corner, looked around with a suspicious expression, and only after confirming that no one else was around did he anxiously ask, "What are you planning to do?"
"What?" Rune asked back.
"Don't joke around. I'm asking you, how are you going to fight off the rampage?" Reed looked anxious because he was a rational and intelligent man. In the Marvel universe, he was hailed as the smartest person on Earth, so he wasn't like those street heroes who would get overjoyed by a few words from Rune.
"I already have a plan in mind, Reed, don't worry," Rune whispered to comfort him, but Reed didn't listen at all.
"Listen, child, I need you to tell me what our trump card is in fighting this onslaught, okay?" He paced around. "I..."
I don't want to say we're sure we'll lose. In fact, we've won countless times before, kid, but once we lose—"
"The world is doomed." Rune finished his sentence for him. "I know what you mean, Reed, I understand."
However, I have a question.
Mr. Fantastic nodded in agreement: "Go ahead and ask."
"Can I trust you?" Rune looked at him, and Reed instantly felt that the little boy's eyes were like a scalpel, meticulously dissecting him from top to bottom, inside and out.
Reed swallowed hard.
Rune did have a plan, and the person who knew the most about it was actually the Scarlet Witch, who arrived later. But even she didn't fully understand what Rune wanted to do.
"Faced with a Red Skull who possesses the Observer's Eye and may already have six Infinity Stones, I think even if I'm extremely cautious, no one should object. Of course, I understand your difficulties." Rune then looked at Reed. "You have a beautiful wife, a good daughter, and a good son. You have too many weaknesses, my friend. And your character—I'm not trying to slander you, but in your mind, logic trumps emotion. You're willing to sacrifice a few for a greater good, and you even exiled the Hulk."
Reed pursed his lips.
"Not only that, you're also very good at making decisions for others without their consent, right?" Rune's gaze made Reed want to crawl into a hole. "You think you're the smartest person in the world, so you believe that only you can solve many things. To the point that you're even starting to want to surrender now, because you think this red is simply irresistible."
Mr. Fantastic sighed: "...I do have that thought, really. Attack is powerful enough already. I really doubt how much we'll have to sacrifice to defeat him, now that he has all six Infinity Stones. Last time, we almost all died."
I just don't want to see so many sacrifices anymore.
"I see, Reed—" Rune patted him on the shoulder. "I see what you're thinking. Otherwise, why do you think I'm still keeping you around?"
After uttering such chilling words, Rune returned to his usual expressionless face: "Believe me, Reed, you may think that Berserker is powerful enough, but don't worry, he's not powerful enough to be despairing, or to put it bluntly, he's far from strong enough."
In Marvel and DC, the strongest villains are never those who wield powerful weapons and possess multiple immense strengths. Their power can only last for one major event at most, after which they are reduced to their original form.
In Rune's mind, the strongest characters in Marvel and DC are actually two mercenaries—the brothers Deadpool and Deathstroke.
They had good relationships with both heroes and villains. Deadpool and Shakora's wedding was attended by over 200 heroes and villains, and Deathstroke got along well with the Justice League trainees and the Teen Titans. The Justice League members, including even Batman, who was extremely protective of his own, all tacitly approved of Deathstroke's actions, and Deathstroke participated in numerous world-saving operations. Therefore, even though he offended Zatanna, Batman, and others, he ultimately escaped punishment.
Connections, especially with heroes and anti-heroes, are the greatest resource and guarantee for success in DC and Marvel. Understanding the storyline comes second.
As for Hong? He does have connections, but they're all with villains. He does know something, though—something that allows him to seize the observer's eye.
He used this opportunity to acquire the six Infinity Stones, while also planting spies among the heroes and attempting to sow discord among them, with considerable success. All of this demonstrates the brilliance of his strategies. Unfortunately, he didn't even know what the core creatures were, nor did he understand the true strength of the Berserkers, and thus in the end, he was nothing more than a skeleton in a tomb.
Rune understood Reed's concerns, but he believed he was already quite well-prepared. His current win rate was conservatively estimated at around 6%.