While Nolan was deep in thought, the world seemed to return to peace.
No villains causing chaos.
No alien invasions.
Little Spider, Peter Parker, still swung through the streets of New York every day, stopping crimes wherever he found them.
His new suit had given him impressive abilities.
But honestly, Peter had started feeling bored lately.
Even with the upgraded suit, crime in New York had become increasingly rare.
The NYPD had already purchased a large number of Locke Tech robots.
The NS-series robots had become the newest favorite of police departments across New York. No, across all of America.
As for the Terminator series, they had already become the ultimate trump card of law enforcement.
The overwhelming power of the Terminators terrified countless would-be criminals, crushing evil thoughts before they could even become actions.
"When am I finally going to get the chance to show off my new suit?"
Standing atop a skyscraper, Peter Parker muttered to himself.
The world had become so peaceful that most of his daily work now consisted of helping old ladies cross the street.
Boring. Life had lost its meaning.
The thought left him looking completely drained.
And Peter was not the only one feeling that way.
The other superheroes were the same.
After Tony Stark and Nolan Locke solved several major technical obstacles together, Tony had immediately thrown himself into building a brand-new suit.
Meanwhile, the Avengers had little to do every day.
Several days later, Tony Stark finally lifted his head from inside the laboratory.
In front of him stood a completely finished vibranium battle suit.
"It's finally done!"
Tony looked unbelievably excited.
"I need the perfect opponent."
He briefly considered asking Nolan Locke to test it with him, but the moment he remembered the gap between them, he immediately gave up on the idea.
So instead, he headed straight for Avengers Headquarters.
Compared to Nolan Locke, the Avengers were far more suitable sparring partners.
The moment he entered the headquarters, Steve Rogers walked over.
A trace of surprise crossed Steve's face.
Although Tony Stark had always maintained a close relationship with the Avengers, he had never officially joined the team. He mainly provided technical support.
So unless something important happened, Tony rarely visited the Avengers base.
"Tony, what brings you here?" Steve asked.
Tony patted the suitcase beside him.
Although he had already developed nanotech armor, the technology was still incomplete. At least, compared to vibranium technology, it was nowhere near good enough.
But the suitcase in front of him was capable of carrying his new vibranium armor.
"I came to find someone to test my new equipment."
A grin spread across Tony's face.
Hearing that, Steve immediately became interested.
His eyes lit up with anticipation.
"If that's the case, then let me play with you for a bit."
Without armor, Tony Stark obviously was not his opponent. Even with armor, Steve still had his shield and the Black Armor. He was not afraid of Tony at all.
"No problem."
Tony smiled.
The two of them had fought many times before. Although Tony usually won by relying on aerial superiority, he never considered those victories truly satisfying.
"Wait here. I'll go put on the Black Armor."
Soon enough, both men were fully armed and standing outside Avengers Headquarters.
At first glance, Tony's armor did not look very different from his previous suits.
Seeing that, Steve laughed.
"Hey, are you sure this is your new equipment?
Or are you planning to win using flight advantage again? Because if that's the case, I might as well surrender now."
"Of course not."
Tony sounded full of confidence.
"I won't use that cheap method ever again."
The moment Steve heard that answer, his eyes sharpened.
Without hesitation, he exploded forward and charged straight at Tony Stark.
Tony did not hesitate either.
Instead of taking flight, he rushed directly toward Steve.
Boom!
The two collided violently.
Steve's shield slammed heavily into Tony's arm.
At the same time, his other hand locked tightly against Tony's grip.
Then, in that instant, Tony smirked.
The moment Steve saw that smile, he released his grip immediately.
Because in the next second, energy burst out.
Scorching energy erupted from the vibranium armor's arm.
A trace of relief flashed through Steve's heart.
Good thing he reacted fast enough. Otherwise, he would have lost right from the start.
That level of heat was not something he could withstand head-on.
"Is that all you've got?"
Steve burst into laughter.
As long as Tony could not fly freely, Steve was not afraid of his armor.
Seeing himself underestimated, Tony chuckled.
That's all?
That earlier exchange had only been the warm-up.
The next second, countless vents unfolded around the joints of the vibranium armor.
The instant those vents opened, the armor's speed surged explosively.
And with that speed came terrifying power.
With a single punch, Steve Rogers was blasted backward.
Tony immediately pressed the advantage, accelerating again and appearing before Steve in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
Another deafening explosion rang out as Steve was smashed heavily into the ground.
Less than twenty seconds later, the fight was over.
Steve stared at Tony in disbelief.
How could this armor be so terrifying?
Originally, he believed the two of them were evenly matched. But once Tony unleashed the armor's true power, Steve had been completely overwhelmed.
"So? What do you think of my new suit?"
Tony's face was filled with pride.
"It's incredible. I think this armor has already surpassed the Thor's Hammer Armor. In terms of mechanical engineering, you may have already surpassed Nolan Locke."
But instead of looking happy after hearing that, Tony's expression stiffened slightly.
After all, this armor had only been completed with Nolan Locke's help.
Still, Tony did not stay depressed for long.
Steve Rogers was no longer his match.
But inside the Avengers, there was still someone who could truly test the armor's limits.
"Where's Banner?" Tony asked.
"Him?"
Before Steve could answer, Bruce Banner walked over from nearby.
"Looks like your armor can take quite a beating. Want to test it?"
Bruce smiled.
Although he was not particularly enthusiastic about fighting, he was still very curious about the suit's performance.
"Absolutely!"
Tony answered immediately.
This had been his real goal all along.
Bruce Banner walked toward the center of the training grounds while Tony instantly launched into the air.
Fighting Bruce Banner was completely different from fighting Steve Rogers.
Even wearing vibranium armor, if Tony dared stay on the ground, Hulk would beat him into scrap metal.
Bruce did not seem bothered.
The next second, he crouched slightly, then exploded upward like a cannonball straight toward Tony Stark.
Their battle began instantly.
Meanwhile, far beyond the Solar System, a fleet of alien warships emerged from warp space.
The fleet had a clear destination.
Earth.
The moment the fleet appeared, Earth's outer defense network immediately detected the incoming vessels and transmitted warnings to the Avengers and world governments.
At that moment, Natasha was calmly monitoring the system when the screen suddenly turned completely red.
Her relaxed expression vanished instantly as she shot to her feet.
"What is this?"
A second later, the planetary defense system projected a massive 3D holographic image.
An enormous alien fleet was heading directly toward Earth.
"Aliens?"
After the Chitauri invasion, she was already familiar with this kind of situation.
Without hesitation, Natasha slammed the emergency alarm button for the entire base.
Tony Stark and Bruce Banner immediately stopped fighting when the alarm rang out.
"Something happened?"
Everyone rushed toward the command center.
"What happened here?" Tony asked.
"A group of unidentified objects, likely a fleet, has appeared outside the Solar System. Their destination is clearly Earth," Natasha explained.
Hearing that, Tony and Bruce immediately began checking the data.
"That's way too fast. This definitely isn't a natural meteor swarm," Tony said.
Bruce Banner frowned.
"What about Asgard? If someone is invading Earth, why haven't they shown up?"
According to what they knew, Earth belonged to Asgard's territory.
Even if they did not want to admit it.
But they also knew that if any alien force attempted to invade from outside the Solar System, the Asgardian army would normally strike them down immediately.
Tony shook his head.
He understood more about the situation than the others.
"Asgard probably can't spare any attention for us right now. You know Hela entered Earth not long ago, and Nolan drove her away.
But that doesn't mean she disappeared. She went back to Asgard. That's her world.
Right now, the entire realm is probably in terrible condition.
And do you remember what happened recently?"
"Thor's incident?" Natasha asked.
As a SHIELD agent, her access to intelligence far surpassed most people.
"Exactly. From what I know, Asgard ran into another major crisis."
Even while explaining, Tony could not help feeling Thor was unbelievably unlucky.
Though honestly, he did not know the full details himself. Most of what he knew had come from Nolan.
"If that's the case, then we'll have to handle this ourselves. Prepare to activate the Earth Defense Ring."
Not long afterward, the orbital defense satellites surrounding Earth powered up.
The moment the fleet was confirmed hostile, every attack weapon would fire at once.
At the same time, Heimdall delivered the news to Asgard.
"Invaders attacking Earth?"
Thor exploded with rage immediately.
"Mobilize the army at once! We must defend Asgard's honor!"
But before Thor could continue, Loki spoke calmly beside him.
"Did you forget?
Earth belongs to Nolan Locke now. Technically, we no longer have any connection to it.
And you should know Asgard's current condition. We can't afford this."
Loki's words caused Thor's expression to freeze.
"Even so, we can't just stand by and watch."
After hesitating briefly, Thor said:
"I'll go personally!
The God of Thunder never retreats!"
"I knew you'd say that."
Loki rubbed his forehead helplessly.
This reckless fool truly was not suited to become king of Asgard.
Unfortunately, he was still Loki's brother.
"Fine. I can agree to your plan. But for now, you can't leave.
Asgard still needs you. At the very least, you must wait until the Nine Realms stabilize."
"By then it'll already be too late!"
Thor's face was filled with frustration.
But Loki still looked unconcerned.
"Did you forget?
That's Nolan Locke's territory."
He simply did not believe anyone in the universe could seriously threaten Earth in front of Nolan Locke.
So if Thor insisted on going, then from Loki's perspective, this was basically... political theater.
Even if Thor himself did not see it that way.
Thor could only nod helplessly.
"I need to leave as soon as possible."
He did not want to arrive on Earth only after the battle was already over.
Meanwhile, aboard the flagship of Thanos' fleet outside the Solar System, Ebony Maw stared at the blue planet now visible in the distance.
Disdain filled his face.
Such a pitiful and weak world.
No one there could possibly stop his invasion.
And today, he would use this planet to prove his value to his master.
He would seize the Mind Stone from this world and present it to the great Thanos.
"Increase speed. I can hardly wait anymore."
Ebony Maw gripped his staff tightly, excitement filling his voice.
The fleet accelerated immediately.
Under the terrifying speed of Thanos' fleet, they arrived at Earth in less than two hours.
Ebony Maw could already see the satellites surrounding the planet.
"What primitive technology."
His voice dripped with mockery.
The next second, every satellite opened fire simultaneously.
But Ebony Maw did not even need to issue orders.
Energy shields instantly activated across the fleet.
The satellites' attacks struck the shields without accomplishing anything.
"Counterattack."
Ebony Maw gave the command calmly.
In an instant, the Earth Defense System Tony Stark had been so proud of was completely annihilated.
"How is this possible?"
Inside Avengers Headquarters, everyone stared in shock.
----------------------------------------
Caught in the currents of this adventure? Tell us what hooked you—your thoughts and reviews keep the story blazing! Every 300 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter, propelling the journey even further!
Nolan's path is just getting started, and the story of justice is only unfolding. Keep riding the waves with Unbound Evolution and sail beyond the horizon!
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.