**Chapter 458: Thanos's Plan**
Nick Fury keenly sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat off, especially after scanning the area and not finding Dr. Banner. The King of Agents immediately grew suspicious, feeling that these Avengers, who claimed to be from a Parallel Universe, were hiding something from him.
"Director Fury, just now, the Deity you mentioned also arrived in Asgard!" Hawkeye Barton stepped forward to explain the whole story to Nick Fury.
After listening to Hawkeye's explanation, Nick Fury was momentarily stunned, his expression slightly contorted. This Deity didn't seem legitimate no matter how he looked at him.
"Are we really talking about the same person?" Nick Fury hesitated, then described Tang Song's appearance and clothing: "That Deity looks like an Asian man, wearing a white suit, and leaning on a silver cane in his hand!"
"That's right, it's him!" Captain America nodded, then asked suspiciously, "Director Fury, didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council ever suspect \"He's\" Identity? Didn't you suspect that he's just a human who possesses supernatural powers!"
Nick Fury sighed deeply, the light flickering in his single eye as he lamented, "Captain, if someone parts the Pacific Ocean into a chasm thousands of miles wide right in front of you, do you think it really matters if he's a God?"
The Avenger Crowd was startled by Nick Fury's words. How was that any different from giving Earth a middle part?
Thinking about it, it was true. In the face of such inhuman great power, whether the other party was a God was no longer important.
Bruce Wayne looked at Superman Clark. Clark Kent shook his head at him, indicating that he couldn't do it.
"Captain, we have no choice, and neither does Earth!" Nick Fury said, a hint of fatigue on his face. "Fortunately, the one who came knocking was a God, not a Demon!"
Nick Fury thought of the many abilities that "He" had displayed, the government officials who had been rejuvenated with a wave of his hand. A trace of gloom flashed in his eyes.
Under the temptation of immortality, even if "He" were a devil, those High-level Staff would gladly place him on the altar!
"So you just willingly handed over the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter to him!" Tony Stark looked at Nick Fury on the holographic screen with mockery. "I remember the premise of our cooperation was that after the matters were over, we would need to take the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter to borrow for a few days!"
"We were fighting bloody battles on the front lines, and you were pulling strings behind one's back! Captain, I told you long ago, you can't trust these Politicians!" Tony Stark turned and spread his hands towards Captain America:
"If I had known, it would have been better to follow my plan. We should have secretly taken the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter ourselves and then searched for the other Stones!"
"Mr. Stark, don't say I didn't warn you. The Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter are both Federation property!" Nick Fury stared at Tony Stark and warned, "Just for saying that, I could order S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to arrest you!
Furthermore, the ones fighting bloody battles on Titan were the Human Soldiers from our Universe!"
Tony Stark looked at Nick Fury's face and gave a cold laugh. "It seems that after clinging to a powerful figure, Director Nick Fury no longer needs our help!"
"Alright, Tony!" Captain America reached out and stopped Tony Stark. He looked at Nick Fury with a serious expression. "Director Nick Fury, you were indeed in the wrong this time! I need an explanation, otherwise, I will immediately take my companions and leave this Universe!"
Nick Fury looked at Captain America's displeased expression, then glanced around at the Avenger Crowd, finding that everyone looked angry at him. After a moment of silence, he sighed. "Captain, Tony, it's not that we wanted to hand over the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter. Strictly speaking, those two things were snatched from Thanos's Subordinates by \"He\"!"
"What?"
"Director Fury, what do you mean by that?"
For a moment, the Crowd present erupted.
"Just one day ago, Thanos's Subordinates launched an ambush on one of our S.H.I.E.L.D. Bases located deep in the Nevada Desert, attempting to snatch the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter hidden there!"
"Although we had heavily guarded that Base, with Captain leading Barton, and Agent Natasha leading the team to watch over them, Thanos's Subordinates were simply too powerful. A heavily armed Federation Armored Brigade on the periphery only held out for a little over ten minutes under the aliens' attack!"
Nick Fury said with lingering fear, "If \"He\" hadn't suddenly descended, the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter would have likely fallen into Thanos's hands!"
The Avenger Crowd looked at each other. No one had expected that while they were preparing a decapitation strike against Thanos, Thanos hadn't been idle either, pulling the rug out from under them.
No wonder Thanos had been so indifferent about the outcome on the Titan Battlefield.
Unexpectedly, both sides had thought of the same thing.
Thanos was clearly using Titan to tie down the Earthlings, taking advantage of the situation to obtain those few Infinity Stones.
The Crowd felt a chill down their spine. If even the Space Stone and the Mind Stone fell into Thanos's hands, even with Master Ancient One presiding over Earth, it would likely be difficult to protect it.
"Agent Natasha and Barton sacrificed themselves!" Nick Fury's single eye reflected the two identical figures of his capable subordinates in the Great Hall, and a trace of grief appeared on his face.
"Something as important as the Infinity Stone, and you only sent Captain and two Agents to guard it?"
Asgard, Golden Palace Great Hall. Hearing the news of her other self's death, Natasha Romanoff's expression looked bad. She looked at this Universe's Nick Fury with dissatisfaction. "Barton and I clearly reminded you!"
Nick Fury shook his head and said, "A Federation Armored Brigade, plus three S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Operations Teams, and hundreds of internal affairs Agents. I originally thought the defense was secure enough, but I didn't expect these aliens' power to exceed my expectations!"
"It's not that he didn't want to deploy more people. I think regarding those two things, he only wanted to find his own people whom he could trust to guard them! Or rather, people from within S.H.I.E.L.D."
Tony Stark hit the nail on the head.
"That wasn't my original intention!" Nick Fury said. "I originally wanted to send more manpower and transfer Dr. Banner there, but ever since learning about the importance of the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone, the High-level Staff of the World Security Council no longer allowed outsiders to access these two things!"
"But now they've still fallen into someone else's hands!" Tony Stark sneered.
"Wait! If the Space Stone and the Mind Stone were obtained by him himself, then what did you promise him?"
Captain America suddenly realized at this point. He widened his eyes and looked at Nick Fury. "What conditions did you pay to get him to help out! Or rather, what remuneration / reward did he demand!?"
Through their interactions these past few times, Captain America knew well that Tang Song, this "\"person,\"" was someone who didn't do anything without profit. He wouldn't kindly help Earth.
Nick Fury's expression became conflicted. Facing Captain America's questioning, he looked troubled and shook his head. "I don't know. Although I am the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I have no qualification to attend the high-level staff meetings of the World Security Council. The results of their high-level staff meeting have been sealed. Even I don't have the clearance to view them!"
Captain America looked at Nick Fury, half-believing, half-doubting.
"The decapitation strike must continue. Since this Deity is on Titan, we can completely rest assured and have more time to perfect this plan!" Nick Fury changed the subject.
Asgard, outside the Great Hall. After finishing eight hundred military strokes, Frank comfortably took a cigar from Tang Song's hand and, along with Wade Wilson and a few others, puffed smoke while watching the Old Demon Dragon let out miserable wails.
With the weight of the Dark Gold Great Staff, even though the Old Demon Dragon had a demon dragon body, after eight hundred strokes, its rear was almost completely ruined.
However, this also taught the Old Demon Dragon a lesson, making it understand that the Boss it was following was a petty person.
While applying recovery magic to its rear, the Old Demon Dragon limped over to Tang Song. Tang Song also handed it a cigar.
"Thank you, Boss!" At this moment, the Old Demon Dragon had long lost its initial arrogant spirit.
The corner of Tang Song's mouth curved. He nodded towards the Old Demon Dragon and handed over a bottle of medicinal pills he had refined. "I hope this beating teaches you a lesson. If there's a next time, I'll directly skin you and refine one piece of dragon scale armor for each of them!"
Giving a few dry laughs, the Old Demon Dragon vigorously shook its head. "Never again! Never again!"
"Let's go! Let's go take a look at Titan together, Kane! I've landed a big business deal for your Security Company!"
A spaceship, like rotating gears, traveled through the dense branches and leaves of Yggdrasil. This small spaceship was extremely fast, but it kept circling around Earth.
Ebony Maw stood in the spaceship's cockpit, his gaze filled with gloom as he looked down at the Blue Planet below.
Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and Supergiant had led teams to Earth to search for the Stones hidden away by the Earthlings. Knowing the dangers of Earth, Ebony Maw did not rashly go to the ground.
Instead, he chose to remain on the spaceship to provide support.
At this moment, Ebony Maw was waiting for information. A day ago, he had lost contact with Proxima Midnight, which gave Ebony Maw a faint ominous premonition.
An hour later, Ebony Maw, who had been resting his eyes, suddenly opened his eyes and activated the communicator in front of him.
The next second, a hoarse woman's voice sounded in the spaceship.
"Ebony Maw, I need reinforcements!"
"Proxima Midnight! You found the Infinity Stone's Hiding Place!" Ebony Maw asked!
"We found it! But we ran into a powerful guy. Supergiant, Black Dwarf, and all those Black Order Soldiers are dead! I need reinforcements—"
"Where are the Stones? Did you get the Stones...?" The deaths of Supergiant and Black Dwarf startled Ebony Maw, but compared to his companions from the Black Order, he was more concerned about whether Proxima Midnight had obtained the Infinity Stone.
"Stones! It's a miracle I escaped alive!" Proxima Midnight said impatiently. "Come pick me up quickly, I don't want to stay on this dangerous Planet!"
"Wait a moment."
Hearing Proxima Midnight's urging, Ebony Maw looked at the Blue Planet and pondered for a moment. Then, he still controlled the spaceship and silently flew towards the coordinates sent out by Proxima Midnight.
Earth, Federation, a Desert Hills area in Nevada. Ebony Maw activated the spaceship's towing system and pulled up Proxima Midnight, who was standing on a Sand Dune.
"Where did the plan go wrong, or did the Earthlings station a powerful military force to guard those Raw Stones!? Did you run into Ancient One!"
"It wasn't Ancient One, but another powerful existence, Ebony Maw. This World is far more dangerous than we expected. We can't stay here anymore."
Proxima Midnight said to Ebony Maw, "We must tell Lord Thanos about the situation on Earth so he can prepare in advance."
Ebony Maw remained silent. He didn't want to leave like this. After all, the Mad Titan sitting on the throne might no longer be the person he understood.
He wasn't sure what kind of punishment he would suffer for this mission failure!
"Don't take the adventure, Ebony Maw!" Proxima Midnight saw through Ebony Maw's thoughts and gave a bitter laugh. "You didn't see how powerful that man truly is. Supergiant, Black Dwarf, plus over a thousand Black Order soldiers, he merely cast a gaze, and they turned into a pile of white bone!"
Proxima Midnight began recounting the whole story of this attempt to seize the Raw Stone to Ebony Maw. According to the plan, after locating the gamma ray energy fluctuation emitted by the Space Stone using an instrument,
she, Supergiant, and Black Dwarf led the team in an ambush on the Earthling Base located beneath the Desert.
Before the troop transport even landed on the ground, Supergiant had already taken the lead by using her mind control ability to control most of the Human Military Unit stationed Above the Base, ordering them to launch an attack on their own people and bombard the Base Gate.
After the troop transport landed on the ground, Proxima Midnight and Black Dwarf, along with over a thousand Black Order soldiers, rushed directly to the Gem Hiding Place on the lowest level of that Base.
Facing the Human Soldiers controlled by Supergiant and over a thousand fully armed Black Order soldiers, the Agents and remaining soldiers inside that Base, despite fighting desperately, only held out for a little over ten minutes.
It should be known that the Black Order soldiers Proxima Midnight and the others brought were all handpicked experts from various vassal civilizations. The protective armor they wore was not only immune to most of human weapons' attack but also granted them the strength to tear steel apart with their bare hands.
Their weapons could even blast directly through the alloy security doors that humans were so proud of with a single shot.
Under the ambush of dense bullets and pulse torrents, the multiple layers of defense systems deployed by the S.H.I.E.L.D. Base were all destroyed by them.
Proxima Midnight and the others quickly broke into the lowest level of the Base, blocking Captain America and the others who were planning to retreat with the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone.
This time, Proxima Midnight and the others were not careless towards these Superheroes who could slay Thanos from Another Universe. They directly aimed at the Crowd and launched a wave of focused fire attack.
Hawkeye Barton was directly blasted into paste by a high-energy particle beam. Steve Rogers threw the shield and the Cosmic Cube in his hand to Natasha Romanoff, while he himself dodged the torrent of bullets with flexible movement.
But God did not favor him this time. Hit by several shots, he fell to the ground and couldn't get up.
Black Widow Natasha, relying on the vibranium shield, wanted to retreat through the Safety Passage with the Cosmic Cube, but Supergiant directly used her psychic power to control her into putting down the shield and the Cosmic Cube.
Immediately after, this Black Widow was also pierced through the heart by a long spear thrown by Proxima Midnight.
But just as Supergiant bent down to pick up the dropped Cosmic Cube, a hand got there first and caught that Cosmic Cube.
(end of chapter)