The Modest Goal of Destroying the Universe

"Captain!"

The others cried out in heart-wrenching shock, as if in disbelief, then snapped back to reality and madly charged at Li Yue.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Clean, resounding thuds followed as Tony, T'Challa, Annie, and Danny Rand were successively knocked back by Li Yue's punches, flying into the walls and likewise collapsing motionless to the ground. Tony's nanotech armour seemed almost "shattered" by Li Yue's punch, with only half the face mask left, barely covering his eyes.

...

"Ha ha, a bunch of overconfident humans! Is that all you've got? And you dare dream of controlling the Tesseract? Ridiculous!"

As if the ultimate victor, Li Yue held the Tesseract in his left hand and examined it closely before bursting into laughter. He then taunted those lying defeated on the ground.

At this moment, with Tony and others sprawled out, coupled with a mournful soundtrack, there seemed to be a sense of a hero's fall.

"Don't move! Put down the Tesseract, or I will shoot!"

Just then, a voice came from behind Li Yue—it was Natasha, who had taken advantage of the chaos to get behind Li Yue and was now pointing a gun at his head, ready to fire at any provocation.

"Heh, I bet your gun isn't even loaded!"

Li Yue had noticed Natasha and Barton's movements earlier but had chosen not to expose them immediately, instead feeling rather playful.

"You'd better listen to her, or even if her gun doesn't have bullets, my arrows aren't so forgiving!"

Barton's voice followed.

"Going off-script, huh? Fine, let's wrap up this farce!"

Feeling somewhat resigned and knowing the act had gone on long enough, Li Yue suddenly turned around. His speed was so great that Natasha, tense and holding the gun, couldn't react in time as Li Yue grabbed her arm.

With a light flick of his wrist, Natasha was sent flying back directly into Barton, who was preparing his bow and arrow to cover any of Li Yue's moves. He hadn't expected Li Yue to move so quickly.

Watching Natasha hurtling toward him, he instinctively released the arrow he held, then tried to catch the flying Natasha.

Though it was a desperate shot, true to his nickname "Hawkeye," the arrow flew incredibly accurately towards Li Yue's head.

When the arrow was mere centimetres from Li Yue, he focused sharply, entering a high-speed mode. The arrow, which had been rapidly approaching, now seemed incredibly slow. Li Yue could even see the arrowhead rotating slowly, cutting through the air and forming a conical air current.

Li Yue certainly didn't want to catch an arrow shot by Hawkeye; he remembered the last "fool" who saw one of Hawkeye's arrows was Loki himself!

So, he simply flicked his right finger at the tip of the approaching arrow, redirecting it to fly past him.

...

Loki, though lying on the ground, unable to move anything but his eyes, was acutely aware of everything that had just happened. He was somewhat shocked to realise that this impostor, "Thanos", seemed genuinely powerful, although he felt something was off about the battle between him and the Avengers.

But the battle with Thor made it clear to Loki that even with Thor's formidable strength, he could do nothing against Li Yue, and he was quickly knocked away with a single punch.

This shook Loki. When had such a powerful being appeared on Earth, or was he a cosmic being? He wondered who was stronger—this man or the real Thanos.

Loki had noticed Natasha and Barton's actions but scoffed internally. How could these mortals ever hope to ambush someone so powerful?

Sure enough, what followed was just as Loki had predicted: Li Yue quickly neutralised the threat. However, what he didn't anticipate was becoming collateral damage. Not just any collateral damage, but the target of an exploding arrow!

The arrow shot by Barton, redirected by Li Yue, flew straight at Loki, lying on the ground. Although Loki sensed the arrow coming, he was powerless to move, completely immobilised. He could only watch as the arrow struck him.

Normally, this wouldn't be an issue since his body was encased in thick metal armour, which would protect him from harm. However, to his dismay, the arrow exploded upon impact, charring his exposed face as if he had just emerged from a coal mine.

"No matter who you are, I'll make you pay once I'm free! And you, the archer, you won't get away either!"

!

Loki, having never suffered such a humiliating defeat, erupted in silent fury as he was unable to shout, only able to resolve himself quietly in his mind.

Watching Loki's current state, Li Yue forcefully suppressed his laughter to avoid shattering the cruel villain persona he had just established.

Meanwhile, Barton failed to catch the returning Natasha and was knocked back by her powerful momentum, sending both crashing to the ground. They lay there without getting up, with Barton appearing to be more severely affected, seemingly knocked unconscious.

"Sorry to both of you, but you are agents of SHIELD! Not hitting hard would have made it all look fake!" Li Yue silently apologised in his heart. He had been deliberate; unlike Tony and the others, he treated these two more harshly to make the scene more realistic.

"Now, I already have two of the six Infinity Stones. I need four more to snap my fingers and destroy the entire universe! Then, I can rebuild a new one!"

"So, your lives should not end at this moment by my hands. You should live to see the moment I obliterate the entire universe!"

"Good luck to you all!"

With his mission completed, Li Yue was ready to leave. However, he suddenly felt that the villain persona he had crafted lacked a certain depth. So, he set a small goal for his villainous alter ego.

For instance, to destroy a universe first.

"Why... why are you doing this?" While struggling on the ground, Natasha failed to rise but was shocked when she heard Li Yue's declaration of destroying the universe. She could only weakly question him.

"The universe's resources are finite, yet life proliferates endlessly! Sooner or later, the universe will be overwhelmed! It's like the Spring Festival travel rush in China..."

"Cough, in any case, my ideal is to destroy this aging universe and establish a vibrant new one! At that time, everything in the universe will be completely renewed."

"In this newly born universe, I will also create human beings like you, who will carry the hopes of your generation and live carefree lives until that universe, too, heads towards destruction."

Li Yue looked up at the sky as if he could see the vibrant new universe he envisioned creating.

"You madman!" That was the thought in Natasha's and Loki's minds when they heard Li Yue speak.

"Holy shit, Li Yue's not serious, is he? But why do I feel a chill running down my spine?"

That was what Tony and the others, feigning unconsciousness, thought.

If they hadn't trusted Li Yue deeply, they would have probably gotten up to end Li Yue's "villainy" right then and there.

"Now, I must continue with my next actions. There isn't much time left for you! Once I acquire the other four Infinity Stones, it will be the end of your lives!"

With those words, Li Yue pulled the trident-like blade from the ground, grabbed the Mind Stone and the Tesseract, and shot up into the sky.

Roar! A roar suddenly erupted as Dr Banner finally transformed into Hulk, but it was useless.

At that moment, Li Yue used the Tesseract to open a massive blue wormhole in the sky and then flew straight into it. The wormhole slowly closed behind him as if sending Li Yue beyond Earth.