- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 508
[New side quest:
Eliminate Thanos and his cosmic fleet. Reward: Two years of Small World time.]
Leo opened his panel to check the side quests and, as expected, a new one had appeared.
“Looks like it’s time to deal with Thanos in this world,” he said with a smile, seeing the side quest update.
He hadn’t dealt with Thanos earlier mainly because he was busy with his own matters and didn’t see Thanos as a significant threat.
Secondly, Thanos was constantly moving around the universe, making it a waste of time to chase him down.
The most important reason, though, was that he was waiting for the related quests to appear.
After completing a main quest in another timeline by defeating Thanos, he thought that taking down the Thanos in his own timeline should yield a decent side quest reward.
Indeed, the reward of two years of Small World time was quite reasonable.
Given his current strength, Thanos posed no real threat.
“Do you have the Orb with the Power Stone?” Leo asked Mantis.
Previously, he had been cautious about collecting too many Infinity Stones to avoid drawing attention from powerful beings, but now he didn’t have to worry as much.
Besides, he had already sent a Mind Stone to another timeline, ensuring he wouldn’t gather all the Stones in one place.
“Yes, I have it,” Mantis said, handing the Orb to Leo.
Leo put the Orb away and, seeing the worried look on Mantis’s face, said with a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry. As long as Thanos doesn’t have the Orb, he won’t kill Quill and the others. We’ll set off now and rescue them soon.”
“My dear, I’m coming with you,” Wanda said, walking over with a concerned expression.
Leo kissed Wanda on the forehead, then picked up little Charlie and handed her to Wanda, saying, “No need to worry. If I could kill him once, I can do it again. Stay home and take care of our daughter. I’ll be back soon.”
“Be safe,” Wanda said, nodding. She remembered that Leo had already defeated Thanos once in another timeline, and her worries eased a bit.
“Leo, since Thanos is so dangerous, let us help you!” Thor said, summoning his hammer and donning his armor. Tony activated his nanotech suit, and Banner and Hawkeye stepped forward as well.
Leo quickly waved his hand, “No need, really. It’s not that big of a deal, and your families need you right now.”
Taking the Avengers at this stage along wouldn’t be much help. In fact, they might even be a burden.
The efficiency of handling things would be much higher if he did it alone.
The four Avengers turned back to look at their pregnant partners—Jane, Pepper, Betty, and Laura—all of whom were filled with concern and reluctance. In the end, they nodded in agreement, understanding the situation.
Deep down, they knew that if Leo couldn’t handle it, they certainly wouldn’t be able to either.
“Alright, let’s get going!”
After a quick farewell, Leo boarded the Milano with Mantis and Drax.
While on the ship, Leo contacted the head of Augur Corporation and sent out a message.
The message stated that he had the Orb with the Power Stone, and if Thanos wanted it, he had to come to Knowhere with Star-Lord, Nebula, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket for a trade.
He deliberately chose not to set the location on Earth, as Odin and the Ancient One were still alive, and he didn’t want Thanos to be too intimidated to show up.
Two days later, on the Milano.
“Captain, we’ve arrived at Knowhere!”
Hearing the knock on his door, Leo put away his spiritual energy concentrator and stepped out of the room.
“What a huge skull!”
He was momentarily taken aback as he looked out at the gigantic skull that formed Knowhere, comparable in size to a moon.
Even with his Three-Headed Six-Armed Susanoo, his size was just over two kilometers.
“It seems the Celestials are even more powerful than I imagined,” Leo thought.
He knew that Knowhere was the severed head of an ancient Celestial.
The Celestials were considered the gardeners of the universe, one of the oldest races in existence, whose purpose was to create stars and breathe life into planets.
Their power could range from multi-universal to individual universal levels.
The Celestials would plant an embryo in planets they deemed expendable. Once the planet’s life reached a critical mass, the Celestial would hatch, absorbing all the planet’s energy to grow.
Earth was one of these selected planets, with a Celestial embryo hidden within its core.
As for which powerful being had beheaded such a mighty Celestial, that was a legend in itself.
The story goes that when the universe was still in darkness, the first generation of Celestials created the first sun, bringing light to the universe. This light awakened Knull, the god of the symbiotes, from his slumber.
The symbiotes, like the race of Venom in the Marvel multiverse, were Knull’s creations.
Knull, a being of immense power who loathed light, emerged from the darkness with a sword and waged war against the Celestials. Though he ultimately lost and fled, he managed to decapitate one of them.
That severed Celestial head was later discovered by the Collector, leading to the creation of Knowhere.
The sword Knull used to behead the Celestial was the All-Black, the Necrosword—the very weapon that Gorr the God Butcher would one day wield in his battles against Thor.
The Milano flew through the eye socket of Knowhere and entered its interior.
In the aftermath of Thanos’s attack, the once-thriving black market hub of Knowhere was now in ruins, with debris and wrecked spaceships scattered everywhere.
Most of the black market leaders had fled with the Collector, leaving behind only a few orphaned children born there.
“Looks like Thanos beat us to it,” Leo said, spotting the massive Sanctuary II warship and a fleet of smaller vessels ahead.
As soon as the Milano was in sight, those ships surrounded it.
“Captain?” Mantis asked, her voice tinged with worry, while Drax gripped his knives, ready for battle.
Leo just smiled calmly, “Don’t worry. Tell them we have the Orb and want to meet Thanos.”
Moments later, the Milano, escorted by the fleet, landed on a large platform in the center of Knowhere.
Thanos was there, seated on a floating throne, clad in armor. On either side of him stood the Black Order and the Chitauri elders, with a massive army lined up in formation behind them.
Suspended in mid-air were five semi-transparent metal cages, each holding one of the imprisoned Guardians—Star-Lord, Gamora, Nebula, Rocket, and Groot.
(End of Chapter)