At Orchard Beach in New York, the ravaged coastline was cordoned off with police tape, and the area was awash with flashing red and blue lights.
At a glance, there were hundreds of police officers present, all with a look of shock in their eyes. It wasn't that they hadn't seen the destruction left by the Avengers, but this time, the situation was completely different.
"Hello, we'd like to interview the Scarlet Witch!"
"We're journalists, we have a right to know, please let us in to report!"
"Please let an Avengers representative come out and explain the current situation to us!"
A large group of reporters stood outside the police tape, trying to push their way in with excited expressions, but it was impossible.
To make matters worse, no one knew what was going on. All they could gather from the public was that a mysterious person had appeared. But they couldn't confirm if this person was a member of the Avengers.
Not far away, on a rather strange-looking chair on the beach, Wanda stared blankly at the churning waves. "Cassius, why aren't you back yet?" She didn't even have the intention of dealing with the calls from her fans and the reporters.
After Cassius had disappeared, she could vaguely sense the aura of another person. And judging from the aura, it was highly likely to be a woman. The more she discovered how powerful Cassius was, the more she worried about him being taken away.
"Wanda." Steve and the other Avengers walked over to her with a concerned look. "Are you alright?"
They had noticed that Wanda had conjured a chair and had been sitting there ever since. After helping to evacuate the injured, and after the police had arrived, they finally had time to check on her.
"You don't look so good. Why don't I take you somewhere to rest?" Natasha knelt down next to Wanda and put her arm around her shoulder. She could tell that Wanda's emotions were not right. And from her expression, it looked as if she had been heartbroken.
"I'm fine," Wanda said, shaking her head with a sad expression. Although she had just gone through a major battle, she hadn't suffered any serious injuries. And after Cassius had appeared, he had also helped her heal her turbulent internal energy.
"I know you're not in a good place right now," Tony stepped forward and asked. "But can you tell me the identity of that mysterious person?"
Although they hadn't planned on investigating him further, seeing the mysterious person's power made them very worried. What worried them even more was that this person, who was so powerful, was completely unknown. This didn't seem right from any perspective.
"I feel the same way as Tony. The situation is completely different now." Steve, for the first time, stood on Tony's side. If they could recruit this person into the Avengers, they would have an incredibly powerful asset for future missions.
"I..." Wanda's red lips slightly parted, and her eyes filled with a bit of confusion. She didn't know if she should reveal Cassius's identity. Although she wanted to keep it a secret until they officially became a couple, her teammates were now very wary of Cassius. She could feel the emotions coming from her teammates: fear, apprehension, and even hostility.
"We know you don't want to tell us, but you have to at least tell us whose side he's on!" Rhodey raised the most critical question.
The reason they were afraid was because they didn't know if the person was a friend or a foe. Their approach would be different depending on his allegiance. The battle they had just witnessed was more terrifying than a large-scale war. So no matter what, they needed to know the mysterious person's purpose and why he had helped her against the old witch.
Wanda looked up and scanned her teammates' anxious eyes. She knew that if she told them, Cassius probably wouldn't mind. Besides, Tony and Cassius were probably friends, so nothing would come of it. After a long silence, she slowly said, "He... is my boyfriend."
When Wanda gave that answer, the scene fell silent. Everyone's eyes almost popped out of their heads. No one had expected Wanda to drop such a bombshell. They had initially thought he might have been her teacher or a lifesaver. But they never expected the answer to be her boyfriend.
Only Natasha had an "I knew it" expression. She had already guessed her hunch was right and that her thoughts were exactly as she had imagined.
"Boyfriend?!" Tony's lips twitched. "When did you get a boyfriend?!"
He hadn't expected Wanda to get a boyfriend without saying a word. But if that was the case, everything made sense. Why Wanda didn't come home at night, why she was suddenly in a better mood, and why someone would stand up to protect her during the attack. At this moment, all of their questions were finally answered.
"I... we got together about half a month ago..." Wanda shrugged. If she hadn't gotten drunk that day, she would have never thought that she would get a boyfriend in this way. She was still a little uncomfortable answering their questions. Although Cassius was her boyfriend, they hadn't officially confirmed their relationship.
"I knew it! I knew you had a boyfriend when I saw you come back that day!" Natasha's face broke into an excited smile.
"You knew?!" Steve asked in surprise.
"Isn't that obvious?" Natasha spread her hands, rolling her eyes. "Only you guys wouldn't have noticed!" And there was one thing she didn't say, and that was that when Wanda came back, although she had tried her best to hide it, she could still tell that Wanda was walking a little funny.
"You didn't even tell us something like this!" Steve was a little displeased. After all, they needed to trust each other. And the families of the Avengers needed special protection. But when he thought about it, he suddenly remembered that this mysterious person didn't need their protection at all. In fact, it was hard to say who was protecting whom.
"Then who is this person?!" Although they now knew that he was most likely on their side, Tony was still a little relentless. He was desperate to know the person's identity. Otherwise, he couldn't have peace of mind.
"Well..." Wanda, faced with Tony's questioning, bit her lower lip and shook her head slightly. "I'll tell you when the time is right!"
After all, they hadn't even officially confirmed their relationship yet. And when she said Cassius was her boyfriend, she felt a little guilty.
"How long is 'the right time'..." Tony sighed helplessly. Wanda might have seemed quiet and reserved, but once she made a decision, no one could stop her.
Ding!
Just then, Wanda's phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up immediately and glanced at it.
[Cassius]: An old lady wanted to have tea with me just now. See you at home later.
She subconsciously looked up at the distance, where a hand from a yellow Camaro's window waved at her. With the roar of the engine, the red taillights quickly disappeared from sight.
"Is there something over there?" Tony noticed Wanda's gaze and looked in the same direction, but he didn't see anything.
"Nothing. Let's go do the interview!" The previously gloomy Wanda beamed, got up with a smile, and strode toward the reporters.
On a road in a dense forest.
A yellow Camaro muscle car sped down the road. Music flowed from the slightly opened car window.
Cassius gripped the steering wheel with both hands, feeling the rush from the engine.
"Whew, this is awesome!" he couldn't help but exclaim. Driving a sports car on a forest road during sunset was an indescribable pleasure.
Just then, Cassius's eyebrows suddenly furrowed. Something with a fiery glow in the sky not far away was heading straight for the ground. And from its trajectory, it looked like it was going to land not far ahead of him.
Rumble!
With a slight tremor in the ground, the fireball slammed hard into the earth.
"No way, did I just run into a meteor?" Cassius was a little surprised, and it was right on his way home. He suddenly got curious. Although a meteor was just a rock, he still wanted to check it out.
He stepped on the gas, and in the middle of the road, a huge crater had appeared. After stopping the car, Cassius got out and walked toward the crater. It was a crater about ten meters in radius, and the high temperature had scorched the surrounding earth. A burnt smell filled the air, and some smoke slowly wafted from the ground.
"It doesn't look like a meteor..." Cassius semi-crouched in the center of the crater and came to a conclusion after a quick inspection. If it was a meteor, even if it had been vaporized by the high temperature, it would have left some traces behind.
He stood up and looked around. The corner of his eye caught a trail of something on the edge of the crater. He followed the trail and saw that there was a line of footprints. Although the footprints weren't very obvious, he was sure that the person had entered the forest.
"Should I... go in and take a look?" Cassius stroked his chin. He only hesitated for a moment before quickly following the trail of footprints into the forest. He hadn't gone very far when the corner of his mouth suddenly turned upward.
Whoosh!
Just then, a gust of wind suddenly came from behind him. 'You want to ambush me?' Cassius immediately turned and threw a soft-as-a-pillow punch...
The moment he threw the punch, he was stunned. It felt incredibly soft! And the moment he threw it, he couldn't help but use a little force.
"Hiss!" The figure, feeling the power of the punch, blushed and took several steps back. Cassius also got a good look at the person's face. The person had a pale face, thick black eyeliner around her eyes, and held two strange-looking pointed knives.
"Hela?!"
Cassius recognized the woman's identity!
The woman's skin had a cold pallor, like snow under moonlight, and radiated a faint glow. Her pupils were a deep black, as if they could swallow everything, and she wore a dark and green battle suit.
That was the unique battle suit of the Goddess of Death, Hela!
'It's really Hela. Wasn't she supposed to be sealed away?' Cassius was a little surprised to see Hela. What was even more surprising was that the moment they met, she gave him a huge gift. The feeling of using a soft punch felt good.
"You lackey sent by Odin, not only do you follow me, but you also dare to..." Hela gritted her teeth, and the expression on her face looked especially ferocious. After she had sensed someone following her, she had planned to ambush them, but she never expected the other party to not follow the script. He had hit her in two critical areas with just one move, forcing her to retreat.
The reason she was able to escape was because a terrifying power had been born on Earth today. She had taken advantage of the power's impact on her seal to escape.
That's right, this power was the Phoenix Force!
She had learned about the Phoenix Force before and knew how powerful it was. Although her power was also terrifying, as the Goddess of Death, it wasn't on the same level as the Phoenix Force.
If she could get help from that person, it would be a piece of cake for her to return to Asgard. But she never expected that Odin would find out about her escape so soon! And the person had followed her right after she had landed!
"Wait, do you have any sense?" Cassius's lips twitched. He pointed at the footprints on the ground. "Look at these footprints. Is there even a need to follow me?"
He hadn't expected the Goddess of Death to say something so ridiculous. Anyone who saw so many footprints would be confused, and even a normal person could follow them.
Sometimes, you couldn't do whatever you wanted just because you had the moral high ground. This world still needed a sense of reason. If he didn't have reason on his side, Cassius would never admit it.
"You..." Hela looked at the footprints on the ground, and the expression on her face became very awkward. She had really not paid attention to these details!
"What 'you'? And that move just now was just me defending myself, okay?!" Cassius said with an annoyed expression as he looked at Hela seriously.
"Silver-tongued!" Hela angrily waved the two long swords in her hands. "Tell Odin to come and talk to me himself!"
No matter what the other party said, Hela would never believe that this person was not a servant of Odin. If he wasn't one of Odin's lackeys, how could he have followed her right after she landed? And although their first exchange just now hadn't used any power, the other party had reacted in a flash. He had even... at this point, there could only be one possibility.
"I'm really not from Asgard..." Cassius was completely silent. What person from Asgard would wear clothes as simple and unadorned as his?
"Shut up! Don't think for a second that I'll believe you!" Hela stomped her foot, and her body quickly closed in on him. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of Cassius. The two swords in her hands slashed toward Cassius in a crossed fashion.
In the face of this fierce attack, Cassius simply took two steps back and narrowly dodged it. At the same time, he kicked his right leg directly toward the two swords.
Bang!
'This power! It's so strong!' Hela was sent flying backward. Just as she was about to hit a tree, her body became parallel to the ground. She stepped on the tree trunk, bent her legs slightly, and used an even more powerful force to rush toward Cassius.
Cassius casually dodged Hela's slash.
"Are you done yet?!"
Bang!
Cassius delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, and the immense force sent Hela flying backward. The immense force sent her crashing through several trees before she finally stopped. Just that one kick was enough to make Hela's internal energy churn.
"You damned lackey of Odin!" Hela got up, and a dark green energy condensed in her hands.
Boom!
In an instant, a terrifying beam of death energy blasted toward Cassius.
"That's all?" Cassius shook his head and waved his right hand in front of him. The fiery red Phoenix Force instantly condensed in front of him. The surrounding trees and flowers instantly turned into black particles.
Hela's terrifying beam of death energy vanished in an instant, as if a tree was trying to stop a giant rock.
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