IMUC-CHAPTER 158 BEYOND THE STARRY SKY

A brilliant rainbow pillar of light, starting from Earth, traversed countless different planets and star regions at an astonishing speed, causing all sights and objects to rapidly recede at superluminal velocity.

Within the embrace of the rainbow flow of light, a faint silhouette of Kyle could be seen. He had lost consciousness and fallen into a deep coma, yet his left hand still tightly gripped the Space Stone.

Kyle's entire body was being corroded by the raging energy of the gemstone. The blue flow of light seemed to flow within his body like blood, allowing a glimpse of the internal organs and veins through his skin.

"Screee…"

Venom, symbiotically attached to Kyle's body, emitted a sharp and eerie scream. It was struggling to maintain its illusionary form of the night combat suit and reverted back into its original form, resembling a black liquid mass.

The liquid black substance slowly retracted from Kyle's left arm to his shoulder, then from his shoulder to the right half of his body. It seemed unable to endure the burning annihilation sensation brought by the gemstone's energy. Finally, it separated completely from the symbiotic connection.

As Venom detached from the body, it carried with it the Vibranium Bracer, Carbonadium Sword, energy pistol, and other equipment items that were originally on Kyle's body. These items were all held in place by Venom's liquid black threads, creating a shell-like structure that concealed its true form within, entering a state of dormancy.

With a blink, the Space Stone dimmed completely and disappeared into the palm of Kyle's unconscious left hand, while the blue gemstone energy also receded and went dormant within his body.

The Bifrost-like energy beam departed from the solar system and traversed the galaxy through bizarre and fantastical light and shadows and finally arrived at the lackluster destination beyond.

In the pitch-black expanse of the starry sky, Kyle and Venom's bodies hesitated for a moment before both falling into the vortex of a black hole that loomed ahead, one after the other.

Meanwhile, on a distant planet, within a desolate and abandoned wasteland.

The corpses of various lifeforms from different star worlds, along with shattered debris, formed towering mountains of garbage and flowing rivers of trash. The landscape was dominated by a blanket of garbage.

A small team of five humanoid-like alien lifeforms, wearing dirty protective cloaks and ugly masks, held sacks and laser firearms. They meticulously scavenged through the debris, recycling valuable alien trash like scavengers.

Suddenly, all five scavengers raised their heads and looked excitedly upward. They knelt on the ground, raising their hands in triumph.

The sky was covered in heavy clouds, with several small-colored wormholes sporadically scattered. Among them, one of the wormholes rapidly expanded, forming a red vortex with a radius of about a hundred meters.

Amidst howling winds and storms, the vortex continuously expelled various sizes of trash, creating a garbage rain with great fanfare.

For the scavengers, the "fresh" trash that hadn't been searched through was akin to a gift from the heavens.

"Bang!"

Among the falling debris was a half-wrecked spacecraft. It landed and formed a new garbage mountain. The five scavengers beside it danced with joy, paying no attention to the continuing garbage rain as they eagerly dove into the pile, searching left and right.

"I thought the competition wouldn't be as intense in the outskirts area, but were we beaten to it again? And with such a massive load of fresh trash, there must be something good inside."

Less than thirty meters from the new garbage mound, a small figure hid behind a plastic container. It had a pair of green, glowing animal-like eyes, observing the scavengers seizing the opportunity. The small figure sighed and muttered, "Five of them, all armed with weapons. Dealing with them will be quite challenging."

"Ah, forget it." The small figure prepared to leave but then suddenly stopped. Its gaze returned to the new garbage mountain it had been keeping an eye on, it was as if something unexpected was unfolding…

On the newly formed garbage mountain, the five scavengers crawled atop it, sifting through the debris in search of valuable items.

One scavenger set down their weapon and lifted a damaged steel plate. As they leaned closer, attempting to inspect the items beneath the garbage pile, some of the debris suddenly exploded.

Startled, the scavenger attempted to retreat, but a hand shot out from beneath the garbage mountain. Its iron-like fingers tightly gripped the scavenger's neck.

"Live lifeform!" The other four scavengers were taken aback. They held their firearms and went on high alert.

"Wu…wu…" The choked scavenger struggled violently, causing the garbage on the mountain to roll down. The owner of the hand slowly revealed their face.

Silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, complementing his piercing eyes and tanned complexion. Towering and perfectly sculpted, the young human figure stood clad only in a pair of squared-off shorts.

His left arm muscles bulged, reminiscent of a jacked-up human, and with sheer brute force alone, he lifted the scavenger off the ground by his feet.

"What kind of lifeform are you?"

"Release him!"

The four scavengers closed in, weapons aimed at the young man. Their words were in the common language of the galaxy, something that Kyle had gotten by having drawn the "Galactic Alliance Language Mastery" through a prior "Card Tributing."

Listening to the unfamiliar language, the silver-haired youth, just awakened, appeared dazed, it was as if he was still suffering from interstellar jet lag. Shaking his head to clear his confusion, he took a few deep breaths, and the bewilderment in his eyes gradually faded.

"I really succeeded…" Kyle murmured to himself. With a loosening of his fingers, the nearly lifeless scavenger rolled off and collapsed onto the garbage heap.

Ripping off his mask, the male scavenger breathed rapidly, having narrowly escaped death. His facial features resembled those of humans but with a pale and strangely coarse texture to his skin, distinguishing him from Earth's inhabitants.

This further confirmed to Kyle that he was facing unmistakable extraterrestrial species and that this place was no longer the original Earth.

"Are you a Warrior?" The other four scavengers maintained their hostility, their guns still aimed at Kyle as they advanced step by step toward the garbage heap.

It seemed like it had been a long time since someone dared to point a gun at him like this on Earth.

"A warrior? So what if I am?" Kyle's tone turned cold, and he subconsciously clenched his fists. He paused briefly, realizing that he wasn't symbiotically connected to Venom. Where had Venom gone? And it seemed like he had lost his weapons and equipment as well…

"Warriors don't make good meals. They fetch a high price on the Arena," The unmasked scavenger snarled at Kyle, then turned to the other armed scavengers, issuing a command, "Capture him alive!"

At these words, Kyle's expression grew icy. As the four scavengers closed in, his eyes glinted with a frigid determination.

He had originally intended to take a step back and inquire about the situation here, but now it seemed completely unnecessary.

It turned out that regardless of where one was, the rules of the Marvel Universe remained the same— survival of the fittest!

Kyle suddenly smiled.

The scavengers found this perplexing, but before they could react, Kyle took a step back, and the ground beneath him gave way. The collapsing garbage heap sent him soaring forward like a cannonball.

(End of this chapter)

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