Chapter 69. Tony: He Turned to Ashes in My Hands ... Like Snowflakes Drifting Away.

Seeing Thanos snap his fingers, everyone in the live streaming room froze.

Even Peter Parker, who had just won a reward, also opened his eyes wide. The smile in his eyes turned to surprise and fear.

In New Mexico.

"How ...how could this happen?"

In front of the big screen, the shouts of joy came to an abrupt end. The smile on Thor's face suddenly solidified, and his whole person stood there stiffly, unable to move.

Seeing this look on his face, Jane cautiously came forward and spoke in a soft voice...

"What's going on, didn't you ... beat the enemy?"

Thor's gaze drifted off as if he was sleepwalking and muttered...

"He snapped his fingers. I made the bastard snap his fingers!"

...

[The video continued.]

[When the light emitted by Thanos's snap disappeared, Thor was surprised to find that the Infinity Gauntlet of Thanos's left hand was ruined. Steam kept coming out as if it had instantly become an 'antique.']

[Seeming to have sensed that something was wrong, Thor's eyes widened. He asked in confusion...]

["What did you do?"]

[Thanos, who was seriously injured, didn't respond to him at all but just looked back and forth at the Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand.]

[Seeing this, Thor roared with impatient fury...]

["What did you do?!!"]

[Thanos gritted his teeth, raised his right hand, and the Space Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet suddenly lit up. A blue mist emerged behind him and swallowed him up.]

["Bang!"]

[The Stormbreaker, stained with Thanos's blood, fell to the ground.]

[Looking at Stormbreaker on the ground, the expression on Thor's face seemed to spell doom. His throat rolled, incessantly gulping.]

[At this time, Steve Rogers, the seriously injured Captain America, came out. He looked at the empty ground and quickly asked...]

["Where did he go?"]

[Without receiving an answer, Captain America anxiously asked again...]

["Thor... Where did he go?"]

[At this moment, the familiar voice of the Winter Soldier rang in Captain America's ears...]

["Steve..."]

[Captain America turned to look. His pupil sharply contracted, and his heart beat almost froze!]

[He saw his old friend, Bucky Barnes, coming closer, with a gun in one hand. While he was walking, Bucky's left hand turned into ash at speed visible to the naked eye.]

[Bucky turned and looked at Steve. At first, he seemed to want to say something, but his legs were instantly reduced to ashes, which led him to fall to the ground.]

["Bang!"]

[With a loud sound, Bucky's body crumbled into countless ash particles. The moment he hit the ground, it drifted away with the wind. Only his gun was left on the ground.]

[Captain America went to Bucky's 'corpse' with an expression of disbelief. He knelt on the ground, stretched out his hand and grabbed a handful of ashes. The ultimate look of horror appeared on his face.]

[Thor saw the scene in front of him. A shudder passed through his eyes.]

[He knew ... he had made a big mistake.]

[He let Thanos snap his fingers.]

...

["Whoosh..."]

[One by one, the Wakandan soldiers on the plain turned to ashes and then drifted away in the air, leaving no traces.]

[Those who were lucky enough not to turn to ashes could only watch the horrible scene before them. They couldn't do anything about it.]

["Up, General! Up!"]

[The Black Panther stretched out his hand, trying to pull up a female general who fell to the ground.]

["This is no place to die."]

[The female General grabbed T'Challa's outstretched hand and found that T'Challa's body gradually turned into ashes, floating in the air.]

[Watching his body gradually turn into ashes, Groot opened his mouth and spoke to Rocket Raccoon in front of him, "I am... Groot."]

[Rocket Raccoon's eyes were wide open. He shouted as he walked over in disbelief...]

["No. No no no no... Groot! No..."]

[But, as he approached Groot, a gust of wind blew. Groot's body turned to dust and completely disappeared.]

[Scarlet Witch's body gradually turned to dust as she knelt on the ground, holding Vision's body that had been turned into scrap metal.]

[But as if she was resigned to her fate, she didn't even say a word, only showing a desperate expression at the last moment.]

[Sam Wilson, the Falcon, was on the ground. Before he could even get up, his body turned to ashes and scattered in the wind.]

[And just a few meters away, Colonel Rhodes, War Machine, was shouting his name.]

["Sam! Where are you at?!"

[On Titan, a group of defeated men were trying to regroup.]

[A female alien with snail-like antennas on her head suddenly widened her eyes...]

["Something's happening."]

[As soon as her voice fell, her body turned into dust and drifted away with the wind.]

[Then, one person after another disappeared in front of Tony. He looked on with horror.]

[Tony then gradually turned his head away as if he had sensed something.]

[At that moment, Doctor Strange's voice sounded in his ears.]

["Tony."]

[Doctor Strange, with a look of seeing through everything, shook his head gently...]

["There was no other way."]

[Right after these words, he also turned into dust and disappeared without a trace.]

["Mr Stark."]

[Hearing this childish voice, Tony quickly turned around.]

[He saw the boy take a few steps back, "I don't feel so good."]

[Tony soothed in a bleak voice, "You're all right."]

[Spider-Man stumbled. Seemingly unable to even stand up, he suddenly fell into Tony's arms.]

["I don't know what's happening... I don't know..."]

[Trying to hold on to Tony, Spider-Man gradually turned into ashes in his arms.]

[Seemingly already knowing his end, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, and he shouted with a tearful voice, "I don't want to go... Sir, please... I don't want to go..."]

["Mr Stark ..."]

[Tony, who was seriously injured, couldn't support Spider-Man's body, so he had to place him on the ground.]

[With his last effort, Spider-Man turned to look at Tony and said...]

["I'm sorry..."]

[After leaving those words, he turned to dust and disappeared.]

[Tony struggled to grab him, but he couldn't catch anything.]

[Looking at the ashes in his palm, Tony bitterly squatted on the ground. The expression on his face was full of pain.]

[Nebula stood on the high ground and spoke in an indifferent and overwhelming voice...]

["He did it."]

[Placing his ash-stained hand to his mouth, Tony closed his eyes helplessly.]

[On Earth.]

[Captain America turned over Vision's body and looked at the large hole on his forehead. A trace of pain flashed across his eyes. Then, his legs seemed to lose their strength, and he dropped to the ground.]

[It was over, they were completely defeated.]

[Thor, the God of Thunder, stood to the side with a dejected look on his face, seemingly unable to even lift his head.]

[Black Widow hurried to the Captain's side, but she couldn't do anything when she saw the scene before her.]

["What is this? What the hell is happening?"]

[Colonel Rhodes didn't seem to understand the situation yet. He kept asking questions, but no one answered him.]

[With a face full of despair and fear, Captain America finally said something.]

["Oh God..."]

[At the same time, on an unknown planet, Thanos, whose left hand was scarred, limped out. Sitting down under the eaves.]

[Looking at the sunset in the sky, Thanos had a relieved look on his face.]

[It seemed he thought his mission was accomplished.]

Just when everyone thought the video was over, the picture on the screen suddenly changed again.

[In an SUV, a bald black man was giving orders.]

["Still no word from Stark?"]

["No, not yet." Maria Hill, deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D who was sitting in the passenger seat, shook her head.]

["We're watching every satellite on both hemispheres, and still nothing."]

"What? That's me?"

Looking at the familiar one-eyed man on screen, Fury felt his heart jump to his throat. An unimaginable chill instantly enveloped his body.

[Suddenly Maria Hill reported, "Multiple bogies over Wakanda."]

[Fury, sitting in the driver's seat, calmly asked, "Same energy signature as New York?"]

[Maria Hill replied in a low voice, "Ten times bigger."]

[Fury pondered and ordered, "Tell Clint, we'll meet him at the..."]

[Before he finished speaking, Maria Hill shouted...]

["Nick! Nick!"]

[The SUV in front of them suddenly spun in the centre of the road, nearly hitting them.]

[The two stopped, and Mary Hill went up to check. She found that the car's driver's seat was empty.]

[Fury: "Are they okay?"]

[Maria Hill replied with a confused face, "There's no one here..."]

[As soon as her voice fell, she heard the sound of propellers hovering in the air.]

[When she turned her head, she saw a helicopter spinning in the air as if it was out of control and finally hitting a building. It exploded with a loud boom.]

[Seeing the situation, Fury became serious and instantly ordered...]

["Call control. Code red."]

[But, as soon as he turned around, he saw Maria Hill turning into ashes right in front of him.]

[Seeing this scene, Fury's eyes showed a look of shock, but soon he understood what he was facing.]

[Immediately turning around, Fury completely ignored the passersby who turned into ashes one by one in front of him. He rushed into his SUV, taking out an outdated pager from his bag.]

[But as soon as the button was pressed, Fury watched helplessly as his right hand turned into dust and floated away with the wind.]

["Oh, no ..."]

[When realising that the situation couldn't be reversed, Fury spoke helplessly...]

["Motherfu..."]

[Before he could finish his sentence, he disappeared into dust.]

[From Fury's hand, the pager fell to the ground with a 'plop'.]

[But from the red light that lit up on the pager, it was clear that just a moment before he turned to ash, Fury had successfully activated it.]

[After maintaining the startup screen for some time, a yellow star-shaped symbol suddenly appeared on the pager.]

[Then, the screen in front of everyone really turned dark.]

[Avengers 3 Infinity War. End of video.]

...

Looking at the last words on the screen, everyone in the live stream room was shocked.

They had all heard Thanos claim in the previous video that he could wipe out half of life in the universe with a snap of his fingers as long as he collected six Infinity Stones.

But this kind of thing was too absurd and bizarre. Most of the people in the live streaming room had doubts about it.

But by now, it could be said that everyone had turned speechless.

'Those Infinity Stones are really scary!'

"Can you turn half of the life in the universe into ashes with just a snap of your fingers?"

"What a terrifying power!"

"What an unbelievable madman!"

Loki frowned. The smile on his face completely disappeared and was replaced by extreme gravity and distress.

"How could this happen? Obviously, we had won, right?"

Peter Parker stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyes. Although he tried to control it, in the end, he shed tears.

He clearly saw the young man in Tony's arms, who turned to ashes, was undoubtedly a teenager. He was probably still in high school.

Even a child wasn't spared. Thanos wanted to erase half of all the living beings in the universe. He was indeed serious!

"Damn it! This will actually happen?!"

Tony punched the ground. His face twitched as his eyes were filled with sadness.

Although, he knew that all this was just something that would happen in the future.

But watching Spider-Man's ashes floating away from his arms, Tony still felt a stabbing pain in his heart.

It felt as if his own child had passed away.

In S.H.I.E.L.D. office.

"That's ... That's my end?"

Looking at the image that disappeared on-screen, replaced by the word 'End'. Fury's dark face was a little pale. Cold sweat flowed down from his forehead.

The scene of countless people turning into ashes was deeply imprinted into Fury's mind.

He couldn't possibly forget this for a long, long time!

Thinking back to the information he found so far, an inexplicable chill spread in his heart, making his scalp feel numb and cold!

'This is terrifying!'

The alien named Thanos only needed to collect six Infinity Stones. When he did, he would only need to snap his fingers, and half of life in the entire universe would be erased!

'How powerful was that? How terrifying was that?'

What exactly... could be done to stop such an unheard-of enemy?

...

In Kamar Taj.

Looking at the scattered ash on the screen. Countless people froze in place. In the eyes of everyone watching that scene, endless shudders could be seen.

At that moment, no matter ordinary magic apprentices or Masters like Mordo and Wang, everyone felt great despair.

'This is terrifying!'

After a few moments of silence, the square suddenly burst into an uproar.

"What's going on? Why are so many people turning into ash?"

"It's Thanos; the purple maniac snapped his fingers!"

"Could it be that ... half of the living things on Earth and the universe were wiped out by that one snap?"

"Impossible! Why didn't the Sorcerer Supreme stop him?"

"Idiot, can't you see? By that time, Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Are you kidding me? What qualifications does that guy have? Where did the Ancient One go?"

Under the extreme panic, a large number of shouts and screams arose, and the square suddenly became noisy.

Master Mordo's face sank like water. He looked back at the Ancient One's calm expression. Suddenly, he opened his arms, raised his voice and shouted...

"Quiet, everyone! "

The attention of the apprentices was finally drawn to Master Mordo. He spoke in a deep voice...

"Now that we know who the biggest threat is in the future, start practising harder from now on! To deal with the challenges of the future."

His voice paused...

"And ... as you all just saw, did Thanos seem like someone invincible? Is he an invincible being?!"

"Let's get ready. We can definitely stop him in the future!"

Hearing Master Mordo's calm and collected voice, the panic in the apprentices' hearts finally subsided.

Seeing the indifferent look on Master Ancient One, some apprentices felt that they still had a long way to go.

Sensing the change in people's mentality around her, the Ancient One didn't say a word but sighed in her heart.

'Sure enough, in that near future, I have already gone ahead of the others.'

Having already thought of living in the Astral Plane, the Ancient One wasn't surprised by it.

But when she thought of the tragic consequences of Thanos' arrival on Earth, her heart, which had been as silent as a dry well, slightly stirred.

Maybe she should wait until the Thanos problem had been resolved, and then...

In Asgard.

"Thanos, the madman, actually ..."

Staring at the big screen in front of him with his one eye, Odin gritted his teeth, and a few strands of blood vessels actually protruded from his eye.

As the God-King of the Nine Realms, who had lived for thousands of years, his experience and vision surpassed that of people on Earth.

So, while those earthlings were still horrified by the sight of those dying people on screen...

Odin had thought a little deeper.

This snap of Thanos's fingers affected far more than just Earth or even the Nine Realms. It was the entire universe!

There were billions of living beings on one planet alone, and to have half of them wiped out by Thanos... that was extremely appalling.

But how many people were there in the whole universe?

Hundred billion?

Trillion?

Quadrillion?

Quintillion?

This notion of erasing life. It was almost impossible to measure with numbers and words.

Being able to comprehend the horror of Thanos's move deeply, Odin felt dizzy at this time. He subconsciously leaned back on his throne.

Seeing Odin's appearance, Frigga, who was standing on the side, quickly stepped forward and asked with concern.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?"

Waving his hand, Odin opened his eye, which was already full of exhaustion.

At this moment, the determination in Odin's heart had never been firmer.

He was going to kill Thanos.

Even if not for himself, nor for Asgard, but for the sake of Nine Realms and the whole universe, that purple monster must die!

In the otherworldly live stream room.

As a former surgeon, Strange was used to seeing people die.

Therefore, although he was shocked by the scenes in the video, his heart was pounding. He quickly recovered.

"Everyone!"

Strange clapped his hands and drew everyone's attention.

"As you can see, in the future, we all failed."

"However, it's precisely because we have seen such failure that we will not repeat it!"

Hearing that, Tony and the others were mostly energised.

But Wanda didn't seem like she had recovered from seeing her own death. She just mumbled with her head down...

"Having six Infinity Stones, Thanos is too powerful. We simply can't win against such an enemy ..."

Hearing that, Loki suddenly turned around, looked at Peter Parker and asked...

"Kid, why did you answer Thor just then? Do you know something?"

Peter was surprised by Loki's question. He first paused for a while, then helplessly answered...

"I don't know. At that time, I just thought that since everyone else lost, Mr Thor, who made such a cool entrance, might have a chance of winning."

Hearing that answer, Loki waved his hand with some disgust, then frowned and thought hard while muttering to himself...

"Thor, although this guy is kind of stupid, no matter what ... he wouldn't be able to compete with powers that are sufficient enough to destroy half the universe."

"How on heart did he beat Thanos with that axe?"

Hearing this question, the live room first fell into silence, and suddenly, Tony slapped his forehead and shouted.

"I think I understand how he managed to beat him!"

....

-:Binge:-