Chapter 93: End

Link couldn't help but remind, "Tony, do you have a satellite?"

"Oh right!" Stark suddenly remembered that Stark Industries indeed had satellites.

"Jarvis, immediately adjust the satellite's angle and lock onto the enemy spacecraft's position using the previous tractor beam."

"Yes, sir." Jarvis began his task, and soon, Tony Stark received the image.

A massive ring-shaped spacecraft was accelerating, slowly moving away from Earth, and then, in a flash, it vanished.

"They've left!" Stark said. "It's a strange shape, a ring-shaped spacecraft."

"Why didn't they attack directly?" someone asked.

Thor replied, "It's probably one of the smaller ships from Thanos' mothership."

"Who's Thanos?" Steve Rogers asked.

"A powerful being in the universe. The Chitauri have submitted to him, and he commands a vast army," Thor explained. "He often targets planets and wipes out half of the intelligent life on them."

"Across the universe, civilizations call him Thanos, and even advanced ones avoid provoking him."

"This looks like a test—whether the Bifrost in Asgard has been repaired. Loki must have told him it was destroyed."

"That's why he dared to come!"

Link also began to ponder. The Ancient One was still around—was Thanos testing her as well?

If it was a test against the Ancient One, then sending Ebony Maw made perfect sense, as ordinary alien invasions wouldn't concern the sorcerers.

So only by sending Ebony Maw could Thanos gauge the Ancient One's reaction.

Thanos must have known about the Ancient One, given how long Kamar-Taj had existed. Many in the universe were aware of her.

Suddenly, the sound of engines roared through the sky as a large number of Quinjet aircraft descended. Coulson, wearing the Iron Monger suit, walked out, followed by Nick Fury.

It seemed something was missing earlier, and now Link realized it was Coulson. He hadn't joined the group immediately.

Nick Fury was holding back some cards, but Link didn't mind and watched as they rushed toward Dr. Selvig's machine.

"Director, the Tesseract is gone," a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent reported after seeing the empty machine.

"Start searching immediately," Fury said sternly.

Stark, with Hawkeye, landed nearby and asked Thor, "Did any of you see the Tesseract?"

Link replied, "After it lost stability, I intended to rush over, but there was a sudden energy surge, and my flying skateboard malfunctioned, so I had to land."

"However, after the space portal closed, I didn't check again."

Stark added, "Yes, after my building was damaged, I went after that alien."

Fury turned to Hawkeye, who shook his head, "I was supporting Thor at the time."

"Director!" someone suddenly shouted, "We found some fragments."

Nick Fury hurried over and was stunned by what he saw. "What are these fragments from?"

"Possibly from the Tesseract. There are traces of gamma radiation, and the energy levels are high," a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician responded. "It might have shattered."

"Thor, do you know anything about this?" Fury asked, turning to Thor.

Thor paused. "I'm not sure. The Tesseract was originally in Asgard, but my father placed it on Earth."

"I don't know the specific reason, and I've never used it, so I can't say if it can shatter."

Nick Fury found this hard to believe. They had held the Tesseract for years, planning to develop weapons with it, but now everything was ruined.

It had shattered!

"Keep searching for more fragments. Seal off the entire area and reconstruct it for me!" Fury ordered, unwilling to give up.

"Yes, Director!" The technicians began using their equipment to search for the remaining fragments. It shouldn't be too hard, given the strong residual gamma radiation.

Link spoke up, "Director Fury, if there's nothing else, I'll be heading back. I need to check on my girlfriend."

"Alright, those of you in New York can head back for now," Fury nodded.

Link turned and left, driving away from Stark Tower. As he did, he called out to Stark, "Tony, don't forget our tech exchange. You can come to the Osborn Tower tomorrow night."

"Damn it, your tower is far away and probably untouched," Stark finally remembered.

Link waved to everyone in farewell and drove off. Soon, he encountered the NYPD blockade, where he showed his credentials and was allowed through.

He made his way to the "gym" and opened the door to find Jessica and the others, including the Osborns, all there.

"Alright, it's over. Norman, you can go home now. Our tower should be fine," Link said.

"Good to hear. But Link, you're something else," Norman Osborn chuckled before leaving with his son and driver.

Link then said, "Frank, Mac, can you take us back to the tower?"

"Sure thing, sir!" Link retrieved his flying skateboard from the trunk and placed it in the Rolls-Royce's trunk. It could no longer revert to its ring form, so he could only nano-shrink part of it.

The car wasn't damaged, but much of his weaponry had been used up. The main issue was the insufficient power of the bullets.

Not only were there too few, but they weren't suitable for prolonged combat or battles with extraterrestrials.

Link considered switching to an energy pistol since dealing with bullets was too much hassle. But for now, it wasn't urgent. He figured there wouldn't be any major problems for a while.

Back at the Osborn Tower, the two took the elevator to the top floor. As expected, the building hadn't been affected. Link took the skateboard to his workshop and handed it over to Alfred for repairs.

"Alfred, seal off the workshop and prepare for an energy test," Link instructed.

"Understood, sir!" Alfred promptly sealed the workshop.

Link finally took off his battle suit. The nanotech suit retracted like a tide, forming a ring on his left ring finger, embedded with a blue gemstone.

A surge of energy flowed into Link's body, though he barely reacted, as the energy was insignificant to him.

At that moment, he understood how to use the Infinity Stones and the basic principle of the Infinity Gauntlet.

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(End of Chapter)