“Screech!”
In an instant, the Chitauri giant apes swarmed the massive skeleton. Xia Luo yanked the webbing in his hand, causing the crystalline strands to tighten abruptly.
“Slice! Slice! Slice!”
In the blink of an eye, the nearly invisible threads easily sliced through the creatures’ flesh, shredding every ape caught in the trap into pieces before they had any time to react. Within seconds, hundreds of apes had been decapitated, their bodies strewn across the ground, leaving a scene of utter carnage.
Dark green blood trickled down the webs, but the threads remained spotless, untainted by the blood.
As Xia Luo relaxed his grip on the webs, the skeleton briefly returned to a still, eerie calm.
“Get in here!” he shouted to Thanos and the others, who were battling their way back as the endless waves of apes charged forward. The massive skeleton soon became covered in a mound of ape corpses, rendering the web trap ineffective. The others quickly vanished from Xia Luo’s line of sight as they were overwhelmed by the onslaught.
A shield, scarred and battered, lay embedded in the ground.
The shattered remains of a nanotech suit were trampled underfoot by the apes.
Lizard Parker’s headless body was soon torn to shreds as the apes fought over it.
Thanos, covered in blood, swung his war blade, cleaving through the creatures as he roared, his fury and desperation driving him toward the distant golden sun.
No one could stop him.
No one but himself.
His stamina drained rapidly, and though the ape heads clinging to his shoulders had lost their bodies, their jaws still instinctively bit into his flesh.
His arms, legs, and waist were all entangled by the creatures.
Dragging their bodies along, the Titan’s purple frame pressed forward.
Mechanically, he swung his war blade, uncaring if it hit anything.
The light in his eyes slowly faded, leaving only numbness and despair.
Until, at last, the swarm of monsters engulfed him completely.
Only then did a flicker of emotion appear in Thanos’ eyes.
To gain the ultimate Titan body, he had slaughtered countless people, his hands soaked in the blood of his kin.
He had doubted, regretted, and struggled.
There was a night, in a dark corner where no one saw, when he had wept. But after that, he chose to become the Thanos who would save Titan, no matter the cost.
He grew more ruthless, edging closer to his goal.
But the road was too long.
He was tired.
Truly tired.
He knew he couldn’t finish this journey.
His power had its limits.
He would join the many who had tried to save Titan before him, buried on this hopeless planet.
Without becoming the Eternal Titan, there was no saving Titan.
His homeland was destined for destruction.
But he was lucky.
Because he wouldn’t have to witness that day.
——
【You have been eliminated. You cannot earn a revival. Reward: +1 Primal Web Mode】
【You have 8 restarts remaining. Restart?】
Back in the cosmic web, Xia Luo stroked his chin, deep in thought.
The endless horde of monsters seemed like an insurmountable barrier, likely placed to prevent the Titans from reaching the forbidden land.
But it wasn’t impossible.
Now that he understood what the Exile Journey truly entailed, Xia Luo had a new idea.
Crossing the sea of monsters to reach the place bathed in sunlight wouldn’t be that hard for him.
After a moment’s thought, he rubbed his wrist, manually “switching” to a new web mode, then shot out another strand of primal webbing.
“Hm? Doesn’t seem different.”
Holding the white webbing in his hand, Xia Luo willed it to retract. The web snapped back into his wrist, rapidly converting back into its original protein form.
Xia Luo: “…”
Well, that’s handy. Web recycling, huh?
Compared to the trap web mode, this new “web retrieval mode” wasn’t bad at all.
Who knows what kind of web mode he’ll unlock next time?
The thought flashed through his mind, but Xia Luo immediately shook it off, killing the idea. That line of thinking was dangerous.
With that, he clicked 【Restart】.
Restart!
This time, under Xia Luo’s leadership, the group smoothly made their way back to the altar atop the tower.
He let his blood drip into the groove, and once again, the night sky blossomed with spider totems.
Two spider totems overlapped, followed by the appearance of the incomplete one.
“The spider totem didn’t reset?” Xia Luo pondered.
So the incomplete spider totem could follow him back to his world if he won the revival match.
“What are you doing?” Lizard Parker asked impatiently from the side.
Xia Luo noticed the flicker of malice in Lizard Parker’s eyes and sighed inwardly.
So much for their newfound friendship—it was so fragile.
“Nothing.”
“Then let’s destroy this place!”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Wait for Thanos. He’ll come to us.”
“Your superpower again?”
“Yes.”
Soon enough, Thanos appeared before them once more.
“Hello, I am Thanos, I—”
“—am the leader of Titan. I know,” Xia Luo interrupted him.
“You know?”
Thanos looked surprised.
Old Steve and the others wore puzzled expressions too.
“Spidey, your ability is getting too scary.”
“Let’s skip the chit-chat and make a plan.”
“What plan?”
“The Hawk Plan.”
——
The next day, at the Exile Land.
In front of countless Titans, Thanos solemnly approached the center of the altar, holding Titan’s so-called “sacred artifact.”
The artifact was a bronze urn that looked suspiciously like a chamber pot.
To open the portal, you had to place your hand on the surface of the urn, allowing its mysterious energy to sense the “divine power.”
“Buzz~”
As Thanos and Xia Luo both placed their hands on the urn, its surface lit up with glowing runes, and a purple portal slowly opened.
“Let’s go!”
Before Thanos could say a word, Xia Luo led the group into the portal.
“How odd… he seems to know the process better than I do.”
Thanos scratched his head as he followed them, absentmindedly pulling out a few strands of hair.
“Oh no, my hair loss is getting worse.”
His expression pained, he carefully pocketed the strands before stepping through the portal after Xia Luo.
When the group landed on the desolate planet, the massive bones beneath them shook as terrifying creatures began to burst forth from the ground.
“It’s the Chitauri leviathans!” Tony exclaimed.
“No, they haven’t been converted into bioweapons yet,” Old Steve said, glancing at Thanos before tossing Mjolnir toward one of the leviathans.
“Boom!”
In an instant, the leviathan was crushed beneath the weight of Mjolnir before it could fully rise, while an endless wave of apes swept across the land.
“Your turn, old man,” Xia Luo said.
“Got it.”
Old Steve retrieved his “spare” Mjolnir, and after Xia Luo webbed the handle, he hurled the hammer toward the sunlight in the distance.
“Boom!”
A flash of lightning struck as Xia Luo was pulled into the sky, Mjolnir dragging him along, with the rest of the group bound together by webs, flying behind him.
“So this is the Hawk Plan?” Old Steve shouted mid-air.
Xia Luo turned his head, “What? Speak up, I can’t hear you…”
“Whooosh~~”
The wind roared past as they flew through the sky, tied together like a string of grasshoppers.
This wasn’t a metaphor!
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