On the edge of the round table.
The eight elders sat in silence, their expressions heavy with doubt. None of them could fully grasp the workings of the Earth Age's official systems. Even now, there was no sign of reinforcements. The officer had already informed them that support would take at least an hour.
"In an age where technology is so advanced, and yet support takes a full hour to arrive?" Elder Sith sneered repeatedly, the edge in his voice sharp enough to cut.
"It seems that, even then, there were shadows we couldn't see," he muttered.
The mood grew heavier. None of the elders looked well. If back in the Terra Earth era, they had truly stood united, facing the Chitauri threat together, then this, they believed, would have been the duty of the officials of that era. Yet now, the scene unfolding was nothing like what they imagined.
The elders exchanged glances, and in one another's eyes, they saw only resignation.
Meanwhile, inside the Administration, panic had already set in. Staff members stared in stunned silence at the rapidly climbing numbers on their screens. The entire hall was frozen in stillness… then chaos erupted. Shouts and exclamations filled the air, the quiet turning into a roaring storm.
The supervisor stood paralyzed. He realized that the longer he handled this, the less sense any of it made. The account of this single person, this legendary "Immortal Warrior" user, was like a raging beast, slamming through every limit they'd known.
From tens of millions of activity points… to thirty, fifty, then hundreds of millions. And now, it wasn't slowing. It was fluctuating wildly, like a force of nature.
"You can't even measure volatility anymore!"
"Thor's Hammer must have struck you down!"
Rampage. Pure rampage.
Activity was being generated, and in an instant, it had surged past one hundred and fifty million, and the pace didn't falter. The supervisor gave up trying to contain it. Escalation meant nothing now. He was sure the director had already noticed, yet the discovery didn't come from them or any higher-ups. It came first from the citizens of the Federation, all watching through the Tiandao Network.
The network's activity zones had exploded into frenzy. Every user saw it, the Immortal Warrior's numbers spinning wildly, breaking every precedent. The forums were chaos, post after post pouring in like a torrential flood.
"What the hell?! The Immortal Warrior's a monster! Why is he spiking again?!"
"It's insane! Completely insane!"
"Two hundred million?! TWO HUNDRED MILLION activity!"
"Tony, what on Terra did you DO to cause this?!"
"It doesn't even have to be Tony… maybe something much darker is happening in that era."
"Nah, I'd rather believe Tony did something insane."
"Don't talk to me, I need to process this!"
"Is this the Terra Earth era fusing into madness now?"
"I NEED to know how to get activity like this!"
But the numbers only climbed higher. 240 million, 270 million, 300, 370...
Rise! Still rising! The director himself felt his mind go foggy.
"The Network… it's exploding." Fear churned in his gut.
The network, after all, was the lifeline of the Terra Federation, but it was nothing more than a passive access system. Many secrets were unknown even to them, knowledge reserved only for the supreme leader. And now, with activity skyrocketing and the live broadcast audience approaching three million, his dread deepened. If the Network failed outright, the Federation itself would grind to a halt.
"400 million!" The historian Johan's voice cracked, dragging everyone back to reality.
Tonio let out a laugh that was half disbelief, half hysteria. "It's already at 420 million!"
They had all witnessed activity spikes before, but this… this was unprecedented. The Immortal Warrior's growth defied reason, leaping past 400 million in mere moments.
"No one thought a hundred million would be his starting line," someone muttered.
"I don't know if I can take another surge. My heart can't take this," Johan said with a trembling smile.
The experts stared helplessly at the screen as the counter smashed through five hundred million.
On the training ground, Kasey, Elenora, and the others were stunned, unable to speak. As supernaturals, they were no strangers to surpassing limits. But this, this was overwhelming. Being crushed again and again, their pride shattered, was something no one wanted to accept. Yet here it was. One person's activity alone had eclipsed them all, grinding them beneath his shadow.
"Sh*t! Not only that high, but it's still climbing! This is unacceptable!" Elizabeth snapped. She was silenced by it.
Kasey clenched his fists, "I can't beat the Hulk. I can't beat the Whale. And now, I can't even match the activity of the Terra Federation's Immortal Warrior! Who IS this guy?!"
Elenora squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to look anymore; looking would only bring torment. Ignorance was bliss.
"There will always be heroes in every generation," Noël murmured from behind them, his voice filled with reluctant awe. He had lost the will to compare himself. It was pointless now.
Under his reinforced helmet, Tanner stared blankly at the numbers in the live feed, "This has gone up so many times… why is it STILL going up?"
The leap this time was monstrous, tens of millions in a single jump. His heart hammered in his chest, struggling to keep pace.
"Fortunately, the rewards are climbing too."
The surge in viewers was finally paying off. Tens of millions in rewards had been racked up already. At this pace, a billion wasn't impossible. This wasn't just viewer count. This was a hard-earned contribution.
"600 million," Tanner muttered, his head throbbing. The absurdity of this number was terrifying. He could barely imagine the chaos erupting outside. In the fragment of memories from his past life, everything paused for a moment.
Billions of eyes across the Federation were fixed on this one feed. When the counter finally stopped at 700 million, the rise slowed to a crawl. Everyone exhaled as one, their tension easing only slightly.
"700 million activity!" someone cried.
"No one in the Terra Federation will surpass this even in ten thousand years!"
"Hundreds of reincarnations, and HE'S the one we all envy!"
"If he's got so much, can't he spare a little for me?"
"Quiet, quiet! The footage's still rolling!"
The feed stabilized at last, snapping back into motion.
[ After being struck by lightning, the colossal biomechanical battleship shattered, raining fragments from the sky. On a nearby rooftop, Hawkeye stood firm, drawing his bowstring taut, and sent an arrow slicing through a Chitauri soldier. ]
[ "Tony," Hawkeye said calmly, "you've got quite a crowd at your back." ]
[ Tony weaved between skyscrapers, pursued by a swarm of enemies. ]
[ "I just need to clear the road," Tony replied, his voice tight with focus. ]
[ "They're not worth anything," Hawkeye quipped. "Don't hold back. Just lose them." ]
[ "Got it," Tony said, his eyes flashing with resolve as his battered armor roared as he darted forward. ]
[ Hawkeye loosed a special arrow, targeting the next group of Chitauri before they could strike. ]
[ In an instant, Tony's maneuver sent them straight into Hawkeye's trap. A single blazing arrow ignited a Chitauri mid-flight, flames spreading rapidly to its allies. The swarm scattered, chaos erupting in their ranks. ]
[ Tony swooped low, banking sharply. Several Chitauri slammed into a nearby tower, exploding in brilliant flashes. Each turn, each dive claimed more of them, until none remained. ]
["Hawkeye, that worked. Any more tips?" ]
[ From his vantage point, Barton scanned the battlefield. "Thor's fighting a whale on Sixth Street." ]
[ "And he didn't call me?" Tony said, incredulous. ]
"Oh, come on! Tony looks like he's been ghosted by Thor!"
"Imagine not inviting Tony to a dragon fight, haha!"
"This is gold!"
[ The camera jolted as another biomechanical battleship swooped in, wings slicing through the air as it barreled toward a skyscraper. Inside, office workers froze in terror. ]
[ Suddenly, heavy footsteps thundered behind them, and a massive green figure burst through, "ROAR!" ]
[ BOOM! The Hulk leapt through shattered glass, landing atop the monster's head with bone-crushing force. ]
[ With raw power, he seized the beast's skull, twisting violently to redirect its path. Its bladed wings screeched against glass, shattering it in showers of shards, but the building was spared annihilation. ]