Clark said the Eye of Agamotto could counter the Cosmic Cube, of course, he was bragging.
The Eye of Agamotto and the essence of the Cosmic Cube are both Infinity Stones, fundamentally on the same level, with no concept of one countering the other.
However, due to the nature of the Infinity Stones, the abilities of two Infinity Stones cannot interact with each other.
The ability of the Time Stone cannot affect Tony, who wields the Cosmic Cube, and vice versa, Tony's spatial lockdown limits Clark, who activates the Time Stone, from using spatial magic.
Just like in the original timeline, Loki's Mind Scepter couldn't control Tony.
Because the reactor in Tony's chest was created in imitation of the Cosmic Cube.
As a portal was opened, Clark appeared directly behind Tony, launching a punch that shook the air, officially kicking off the second great war.
This time, neither held back.
Or in other words, both were now fighting with the resolve to kill the other! In this deserted desert, Clark and Tony had no reservations.
Under the ravage of Tony's pulse cannon and Clark's shock power, the landscape of the desert was constantly changing.
The two culprits, however, fought from the ground to the sky and back again, their battle becoming more intense and thrilling.
"Sir, due to unknown interference, the part of your energy shield formed directly by the Cosmic Cube will lose its effect when in close contact with the opponent, greatly reducing the shield's effectiveness," JARVIS informed Tony.
"I know..."
Tony replied nonchalantly, continuing to unleash firepower on Clark with his Infinity Armor.
...
"Sir, after multiple close-range attacks from the opponent, the Infinity Armor's scanning system is nearly unusable," JARVIS reported an hour into the battle.
"Then get me a new one!"
"Right away, sir!"
"Boom!" As Tony was conversing with JARVIS, Clark once again teleported behind the Infinity Armor's head, landing a shock punch on the protective shield.
"Scanning function is offline!"
"Shit!"
Swearing, Tony could only activate the Infinity Armor's dual visors, using his eyes to replace the scanning system's function.
Finally landing a hit, Clark then teleported in front of Tony, hands spread wide on either side of his handsome face, and at the same time, a vast aura burst forth from his fingertips in an instant, turning into a blinding white light that covered all colors of the world.
"Sun Fist!"
Clark's Sun Fist was even more powerful than a flashbang.
Tony, who was staring straight at Clark's movements, was instantly blinded. "Ow, damn, what kind of messy move is this?"
While cursing, he didn't forget to raise his hands, firing a barrage of pulse shots towards Clark's position.
Not aiming to injure, but to defend, preventing Clark from taking the opportunity to kill him.
Tony's desperate attack posed no threat to the agile Clark, who had already opened a portal beneath the Infinity Armor's feet.
Suddenly losing support, the Infinity Armor fell sharply to the ground, only for Clark's portal to close immediately, the spatial change severing the Infinity Armor's legs!
Fortunately, the Infinity Armor's size was much larger than Tony's body, not adhering to a 1:1:1 golden ratio, so even though the legs were severed, Tony inside the armor was unharmed.
Meanwhile, the detection system components Tony had remotely called for descended from the sky, replacing the damaged ones and, after a brief recovery, allowing Tony to see again.
"Significant damage detected in the Infinity Armor."
Tony received an impression score of +23333 from Clark!
Tony: ...
"I noticed."
"Then get me a new one!"
"Right away, sir."
Following JARVIS's response, three sets of mechanical components descended from the sky, brought by Tony via satellite, allowing for instant replacement to maintain optimal combat strength.
Clark, not willing to let Tony easily revive to full health, teleported towards the direction of the falling components, destroying the supporting armor pieces before they could fulfill their mission with several shock punches.
These components, before merging with his Infinity Armor, lacked the energy shield provided by the Cosmic Cube.
Clark effortlessly knocked them out one by one.
Tony received another impression score of +66666 from Clark!
"It seems this guy has found a way to replace my prosthetics. Now it might be dangerous."
"In fact, you have no chance of winning now, sir."
"Shut up!"
"Understood."
...
With the Infinity Armor's legs lost, its mobility was almost instantly reduced to zero, and even its energy shield was significantly weakened due to disrupted circuit flow.
Every time Tony tried to call for components to assist, Clark preemptively destroyed them, unable to provide any effective replenishment besides dispersing some of the firepower.
Ten minutes later...
"JARVIS, calculate how long the Infinity Armor can hold."
"..."
"JARVIS, what's wrong?"
"Following your earlier instruction, I kept quiet, sir."
Tony: MMP!
"Alright, you can speak now. Answer my question."
"Okay." JARVIS finally spoke again: "Given the current frequency of combat, it can last at most three more minutes."
"That's really bad news."
Left with no choice, Tony abandoned the Infinity Armor, piloting an anti-Clark armor out of the giant metal can.
Three minutes later, Tony successfully triggered Marvel's audacious law of Iron Man.
The Iron Man Law: For those with great strength or special abilities, Tony Stark often creates specific armors to counter them, named "Anti-XX Armor."
However, without exception, every counter becomes countered! Under the interference of the cosmic will, both of Tony's layers of anti-Clark armor were scrapped, with the outer Infinity Armor beyond repair.
The inner small armor's attack and power systems were destroyed over ninety percent, leaving it to fall helplessly onto the sand dunes, silently looking up at the sky.
Clark, having accomplished this feat, now lay not far away, his arms stretched out beside his body, unable to help but tremble slightly.
Although powerful, the shock power also inflicted great damage on the user himself. After consecutive high-intensity battles, even Clark, with his formidable physique, was somewhat exhausted.
The only consolation was...
Clark took a deep breath of the hot desert air and calmly stated, "I won."
"Yes, you won." Although defeated, Tony's face showed no sign of disappointment, but rather a calm response: "Congratulations, Clark, your plan has succeeded. Now, no one can stop your ambition, and you're just one step away from becoming the leader of the superheroes!"
Becoming the leader of the superheroes? Yes, this was the ultimate goal Clark had gambled everything on for this grand bet! Superheroes vary in strength, but on average, their power definitely surpasses the limits of ordinary humans. Such a force would make any power blush.
Not to mention, just the government's repeated issues with Tony's Iron Man armor alone shows how tempting the power of superheroes is.
Compared to the strength of superheroes, their independent personalities and stubborn attitudes are also difficult to control.
What Clark intended to do was to maximize the use of this force for his own purposes!
Achieving this was undoubtedly very difficult.
Clark had divided his plan into several steps to execute.
The first step was to accumulate prestige.
Among the many superheroes, Clark's current strength is undoubtedly among the very top. Those stronger than him either have not yet appeared or are still ordinary people, such as Scarlet Witch and Vision, or have chosen to seclude themselves or are not on Earth, like Captain Marvel or Clark's aunt.
Active in the world, there's hardly anyone who can match Clark.
But prestige is not solely dependent on strength, although there is certainly a correlation, it's not the decisive factor.
To put it bluntly, Clark's current prestige, even compared to Tony, is somewhat lacking, not to mention becoming the leader of superheroes.
To compensate for this deficiency, Clark decided to take a shortcut by aligning with Captain America.
To every superhero in America, Captain America is a figure of respect, being a superhero from the WWII era, his unmatched prestige crafted by the era's backdrop.
Using an inappropriate analogy, no matter how strong Ximen Chuixue is, his influence cannot compare to Yue Fei!
Clark's method is to completely win over Captain America, ensuring his loyalty and following, thus, Captain America's prestige would become Clark's.
This would solve the biggest problem.
This is why Clark went to great lengths to protect Bucky, even risking all his resources.
The goal was to make Captain America owe him a favor that could never be repaid.
But prestige alone is not enough; it only earns you respect and a greeting upon meeting, or at most, a helping hand in trouble. The idea of gathering superheroes and utilizing them for personal gain is still unrealistic.
Unless there's a common interest among them, and Clark can represent them, maximizing the benefits for all superheroes.
Then, under Clark's various deliberate actions, the "Superhero Registration Act" came into existence.
___________________
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