191

Chapter 191: Garden

"Was that really Thanos?"

Star-Lord nudged Gamora.

"Uh... it seems so," Gamora replied, disbelief evident in her voice. "I've never seen Thanos retreat before..."

Thor cut in, "That's because he hasn't faced me before. I drove him away once on Vormir."

Everyone was at a loss for words.

"..."

Stark landed heavily, emerging from a deep crater. His Mark 50 battle armor was battered, with many internal malfunctions making a smooth landing nearly impossible.

"Damn it, the armor I just had repaired is ruined again," Stark grumbled, then asked, "So, where did Thanos go?"

Thor rolled his eyes. "How should I know?"

He turned to Strange, who had just arrived. "Did someone open a portal for him?"

Strange nodded. "It was a cultist who was influenced by Mordo. He sent Thanos away at a critical moment."

Thor felt a twinge of irritation. Not only had he failed to finish the job, but now he was also being obstructed from stopping Thanos.

"Where's that cultist? I need to interrogate him."

Strange shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late."

He pointed to a pool of stains nearby. "His life was consumed by Dormammu. The power of the Dark Dimension comes with a price."

Thor was momentarily taken aback but accepted the situation with a sigh.

"Wait, the real question now is, where did Thanos go?"

Stark chimed in, "Do you think he's just going to disappear and never come back?"

"Impossible!" Thor asserted. "His forces are decimated, and he's sustained several severe injuries.

The damage from Stormbreaker might be beyond even the Thanos Time to use Time Gem to heal.

If he tried to use the Gem's power while seriously injured, he might end up needing a wheelchair."

With Thor's confident assertion, everyone present felt a bit more at ease. As the strongest Avenger who had defeated Thanos, Thor's words carried weight.

"But the problem is... Thanos took both the Time Gem and the Mind Gem. Without them, I can't revive Vision," Stark lamented.

"Don't worry," Thor said, patting Stark on the shoulder. "We'll track him down. Infinity Gems can't be destroyed. At worst, they might be reduced to an atomic state, but they can be restored.

Even if the gems were turned into atoms, Thanos wouldn't be able to keep them that way. He only has two gems, so he doesn't have the ability to do that.

Wanda, the only one capable of destroying gems, is with us."

"Alright, I'm off to find traces of him."

Stark departed, his injuries and damaged armor requiring immediate attention.

Thor had a few theories about Thanos' whereabouts—either Titan, which was now deserted except for Surtur, or some unknown planet mentioned in the original timeline.

With Titan gone and no name for the unknown planet, finding it was a challenge.

"Nebula, did Thanos ever mention where he planned to go after achieving his goals?"

Nebula looked confused. "I was taken out of Sanctuary II more than ten years ago. How would I know?"

She was only eleven or twelve when she left Sanctuary II, so retirement plans were unlikely part of her experience.

However, someone must know.

"Thanos often talked about his grand plan, trying to convince me to adopt his philosophy," Gamora said to Thor.

"I once asked him where he would go after accomplishing his goal. His answer was always the same."

"Go to that garden."

Star-Lord shrugged. "I never imagined Thanos would have a retirement plan for himself."

Thor pressed on, "Do you know where this garden is?"

"I do, but I'm not sure if he's there. Given his current situation, he might not give up so easily and could be active elsewhere."

Thor replied, "We'll head there and keep watch. I have a feeling he'll go to that place."

At that moment, a cold female voice spoke from behind them, "Then we'll take it back!"

...