Chapter 318: The Menace of Thane, the Phoenix Rebirth!

When Nebula mentioned Thane, she shook her head slightly: "He is no longer here, but both Starfox and the Champion are. This is also why we had to rescue Thanos from you; because a crisis that is about to sweep across the universe could perhaps only be resolved by him!"

A crisis that could sweep across the universe?

Clark furrowed his brows: "What exactly is going on?"

Nebula's expression suddenly became very grave, and after a long silence, she finally spoke with lingering fear: "Phoenix Rebirth!"

...

In the palace living room of Nidavellir, apart from the servants tasked with hospitality, the only dwarf with a real say was the Dwarf King himself, with the others being outsiders and powerful visitors.

A tall, burly figure lay on the ground in the center. His golden armor was already battered, and his chest heaved violently like a bellows. The dignity in his purple face was twisted in severe pain, looking half-dead.

This person was Thanos! Having come as a conqueror and led an army in an attack, he now found himself in such a state, with even life and death out of his control.

No one knew what he was thinking at this moment.

Around Thanos, a large group of people sat, led by Captain America from Earth, and included the Avengers, Nebula, Starfox, and the Champion, who had come into the fray unexpectedly, as well as the host, Dwarf King Eitri.

"All three of us were beguiled by Thane, accompanying him to the base of the tyrant's messenger to rescue a powerful prisoner, because this prisoner had the power to counter Thanos!" Starfox was the first to speak, his tone filled with helplessness: "Who knew Thane's real target wasn't the prisoner, but a gestating Phoenix Egg!"

"A Phoenix Egg?" Seeing the serious expression on their faces, Captain America quickly pressed: "What is that?"

The Phoenix Force is well-known in the Marvel Universe, yet it is known to Earthlings through its host, Jean Grey, powerful as she is. Unfortunately, in the cinematic universe, there aren't any mutants, and even Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are defined as people of a different kind.

So, the vast powers of the Phoenix Force were unknown to these superheroes.

Although internally despising these backwater bumpkins for their ignorance, everyone still needed to work together sincerely, and Starfox had no choice but to patiently explain: "The Phoenix possesses apocalyptic power; whoever wields the Phoenix Force will be invincible. Thane's goal was to obtain the Phoenix Force to surpass Thanos."

Hearing this, all the Avengers frowned.

At this moment, Dwarf King Eitri spoke: "According to the records, the Phoenix Force is filled with a desire for destruction; no one can control this power. It not only devours the host's soul but its outburst of fury can even engulf the life of the entire universe!"

After speaking, he looked at the three unexpected guests in shock: "And you just watched him obtain the Phoenix Force?"

"We did not." Nebula interjected: "I killed him. While he was explaining things to Starfox and the others, I shot him through the heart with the strongest weapon."

And the Champion, who had been silent till now, finally spoke: "At that time, the tyrant came back with a large force. This person was one of the four heralds of the Celestial, a cosmic entity, not necessarily weaker than Thanos."

"Faced with such a formidable enemy, we of course had to give it our all, and thus had no chance to see if Thane was truly dead." The Champion revealed a look of lingering fear: "Just as we were holding off the tyrant and looking for a way out, an unexpected event happened."

Black Widow guessed something and asked in a deep voice: "Thane isn't dead?"

"Maybe, but that's not important." Nebula continued gravely: "Apart from destruction, the Phoenix Force also represents rebirth!"

"In the universe, this phenomenon of rebirth from the Phoenix flames is known as—Phoenix Rebirth!"

"Having obtained the Phoenix Force, Thane destroyed the tyrant's base, and we managed to escape amid the chaos."

"But now Thane is rampaging across the universe, and we must stop him. This is also why we stopped Clark from killing Thanos." As someone close to the Avengers, Nebula naturally took on more of the explaining: "Thanos has many tricks up his sleeve; perhaps he can think of a way to counter the Phoenix Force."

Glancing at the half-dead Thanos, Nebula turned to Dwarf King Eitri and said: "Your Highness, believe me, I want Thanos dead more than anyone else! Clark has already gone to test the situation with Thane; whether to

 spare Thanos' life will depend on Clark's findings."

...

On the Chitauri home planet.

As a marauding race in the universe, the Chitauri's way of life leans towards piracy, making them universal space pirates. In such an environment, their home planet could not possibly be a peaceful mirror, as turmoil, violence, and bloodshed pervade every corner of the planet.

And today, the situation on the planet was even more dire than usual—by a hundredfold, a thousandfold! As a golden figure swiftly traversed the planet's surface, city after city was turned to ruins in the sweep of flames.

All was annihilated!

"Ha ha... exhilarating!"

As another wave of flames reduced a mid-sized Chitauri city to rubble, a young man with purple skin finally stopped his stride, looked up at the sky, and let out a burst of hearty laughter.

This young man wore golden armor similar to Thanos, but much smaller in size. If this young man's armor was XL, Thanos's would be XXXXXXL, not even in the same weight class.

However, the phoenix emblem on the chest of the young man's armor, glowing with incandescent light and spreading wings, was truly daunting.

The power represented by this phoenix emblem indeed far exceeded the material amount of the armor by thousands, millions of times!

"These Chitauri people didn't actually need to be killed."

Along with the sound of a gentle and pleasing female voice, an astoundingly beautiful woman with a fiery figure, dressed in very scanty black clothes, appeared out of nowhere, somewhat regretfully saying: "Chitauri are naturally ferocious; they are one of the few chaotic races in the universe. Keeping them would only bring more killing and death to the universe; your killing them is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

The young man in the golden armor was Thane, who had once caused Clark a minor setback, and the stunningly beautiful woman was the second most powerful person Clark had encountered since his transmigration, known as Death!

"Creating slaughter is enough with just me." The young man was quite submissive to the woman, yet he didn't hesitate to reject her suggestion: "These Chitauri, as Thanos' lackeys, definitely deserve death!"

Lady Death didn't argue with him, merely smiling sweetly: "As long as you're happy."

"Rest assured, my goddess." Thane bowed deeply to her, performing a gentleman's gesture: "I am willing to fight forever, continuously offering you sacrifices."

As Thane noticed Lady Death's brows furrow slightly, he quickly asked with concern: "My goddess, what has upset you? Do you need me to take care of the person who has made you unhappy?"

"There's an annoying guy coming over; I don't want to see him." Lady Death said somewhat listlessly: "If you can, teach him a lesson. As for killing him, let's not; the person I don't want to see, you can't take care of."

With that, Lady Death's figure had already vanished from Thane's presence.

The next moment, with a subtle fluctuation of spatial energy, a grand male figure appeared in the ruins before Thane.

This man was not particularly tall, even slightly shorter than Thane, but he gave Thane a feeling of having to look up to him. His physique was not bulky but very fit, wearing a deep blue tight battle suit with a large "hero" character on his chest, and a big red cape fluttering behind him, rustling in the surrounding hot air.

Looking at his face, it instantly made one feel a complex mix of envy, jealousy, and hatred, because this man was exceedingly handsome. So handsome that even Thane, a self-important individual, felt a moment of inferiority!

No wonder the goddess was so averse to this person; his looks were indeed annoying.

With a cold smile, Thane was the first to speak: "Clark, you never offended me back then; it was I who plotted against you once. So after gaining power, I didn't intend to bother you anymore. But you just had to show up in front of me, giving me no reason to let you go."

Calmly facing Thane's eyes, which showed madness, Clark shook his head gently, uttering a sentence that made the other explode with anger: "You're far inferior to Thanos!"

Upon hearing this, Thane immediately flew into a rage, a phoenix-shaped flame bursting from his body, turning everything within a hundred meters to ash, except for the small area behind Clark, which was miraculously spared: "What did you say?"

"I said, you're far inferior to Thanos." Clark repeated his previous words without fear, then glanced disdainfully at the other: "Thanos, even knowing he was far less powerful than me, showed no cowardice when facing me. But you, although you

 put on a domineering front, are filled with insecurity and fear inside."

"You're talking nonsense!" In a roar, Thane thrust his hands forward, the Phoenix Force wrapping his body transformed into ten fiery rockets, shooting towards Clark.

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