Chapter 233: My, Aren't You Full of Vigor?
[Bio-Phantom Virus: originating from the "CrossFire" setting.
The Bio-Phantom Virus carries extremely high infectivity and strong adaptability.
The virus can mutate according to the specific traits of whoever it infects, dramatically increasing physical strength in the process.
The strongest individuals infected by this virus can withstand a nuclear blast on raw physical toughness alone, and awaken special abilities.]
[Stage 1 Reward: Bio-Phantom Virus Production Line x1, various Standard Mutant Bio-Phantom blueprints x1 — requires 10,000 cumulative System points.
(Blueprint: allows targeted mutation of the base-strain bio-virus according to the blueprint's research direction, turning whoever is injected into a "Mutant Phantom.")]
[Stage 2 Reward: Terminator x10 — requires 50,000 cumulative System points.]
[Stage 3 Reward: Demon Terminator x5 — requires 80,000 cumulative System points.]
[Stage 4 Reward: Void Terminator x5 — requires 120,000 cumulative System points.]
[Stage 5 Reward: Ancient Lizard x3 — requires 160,000 cumulative System points.]
[Stage 6 Reward: Seraphim x2 — requires 200,000 cumulative System points.]
[Stage 7...]
Matthew's eyes moved down the list, taking in each stage's reward one by one.
These kinds of rewards were, by now, thoroughly familiar territory for him.
The one real disappointment was that, given his current strength, the Bio-Phantom Virus amounted to little more than icing on the cake at this point. The idea that a single injection could push him up an entire power tier just wasn't realistic anymore.
That said, while the Bio-Phantom Virus wasn't much use to Matthew personally, handing it to his own forces was another matter entirely, the boost to their combat strength would be massive.
After all, a Terminator's body could take a nuclear blast head-on and survive.
Sure, it wouldn't walk away unscathed, but simply being able to survive one at all was already absurd.
If Umbrella could mass-produce Terminators and fuse them with the Blacklight Prototype...
Just imagining it was terrifying.
He closed the System's light screen with a wave.
Matthew glanced over at the ship's control panel, still running on autopilot, then settled back into his chair and closed his eyes to rest.
No one could say how much time passed before—
A colossal skull, roughly the size of a moon, hidden away among the nebulae, appeared outside the ship.
[Please note: you are approaching your destination.]
The ship's alert chime pulled Matthew out of his rest.
He looked up toward the window.
There it was: an unbelievably massive skull.
This was the Collector's domain.
Rumor had it that the skull in front of him had once belonged to a deceased member of the Celestials, and after the Collector got his hands on it, he'd spent a fortune converting the head into a full city.
Standing by the window, taking in the sheer scale of that skull, Matthew's gaze flickered with thought.
"Wonder if a Celestial's remains would even be worth absorbing..."
Ever since claiming the Power Stone, Matthew had been fully aware that his current body still wasn't strong enough.
If he wanted to be able to fully withstand the Power Stone's power, he'd need to explore every option available.
And one of those options was simple.
Kill.
Track down and eliminate the various powerful beings scattered across the Marvel universe, then absorb them completely, until his own body was finally strong enough.
That was exactly why, looking at this skull, Matthew found himself thinking about devouring and absorbing it.
With that in mind, Matthew guided the ship into a slow descent onto the Collector's territory.
His gaze swept over the wildly varied alien species crowding the streets below.
His eyes sharpened slightly, and a wave of psychic force surged out.
Before long, he'd pulled everything he needed to know about the Collector straight from the mind of a grey-blue-skinned alien covered in tentacles and fangs.
Following the route now sitting in his borrowed memory, he made his way further inside.
Before long, Matthew came upon a man with silvery-white hair, wearing a jacket, a deep blue stripe running across his lips.
The man in front of him was in the middle of a conversation with an alien that bore some resemblance to a cat, its body covered in green fuzz, two "antennae" sprouting from the top of its head. From the look of things, they were haggling over a price.
Clearly, the alien was holding something the Collector had a real appetite for.
"Now, now, now~~ I'm well aware that this cassette of yours is a limited edition, one of a kind in the entire universe, but do you honestly expect me to hand over ten million for it?" The Collector said all that, but his eyes never once left the cassette tape in the alien's hand, as if terrified it might vanish the instant he blinked.
In the comics, the Collector was a cosmic elder with the ability to foresee the future, who'd gained a form of true immortality after striking a bargain with Death herself.
The reason he collected so many rare and dangerous objects in the first place was that his precognition had shown him just how dangerous they could be, and he wanted to bring them under control before disaster struck.
In the film universe, though, the Collector had lost his precognitive ability entirely, left with nothing but an unusually strong regenerative ability. Even his obsession with collecting no longer came from any desire to contain danger, it was simply a hobby he genuinely enjoyed.
Matthew's gaze lingered on the Collector's back for a moment.
Watching the endless back-and-forth haggling with the other alien, Matthew's patience started running thin.
"Hey. Collector."
"I've got a big deal to talk to you about." Matthew's voice came from behind him.
Annoyed at being interrupted mid-negotiation, the Collector frowned and turned around. "A big deal..."
"Even if it really is a big deal, there's still such a thing as first come, first served! Do you even understand how—"
Before he could finish, the Collector's eyes landed on the Orb in Matthew's hand.
In the next instant, all the irritation drained from his face, and his eyes locked onto the Orb like they'd switched into some kind of auto-lock targeting mode.
"The Orb..." the Collector murmured under his breath.
Then he snapped his head up to look at Matthew, delight flashing across his face. "Now that's a big deal indeed!"
"Good, good, good! Let's talk inside!"
With that, the Collector headed straight for his collection room, leaving the alien he'd been haggling with standing there, forgotten.
The cat-like alien tried to follow, only to find a locked door blocking his way.
"Didn't he just say first come, first served? Since when is that line so flexible?"
The cat-alien grumbled to itself, then let out a resigned little laugh. "Well, at least the deal didn't fall through because I ran into space pirates on the way. The cassette's still—"
"...Wait... where's my cassette?!" He patted frantically at his pocket, only to discover the tape that had been there just a second ago had vanished into thin air.
The sudden realization sent the antennae on top of the cat-alien's head twitching wildly, and the little green orb of light on his head flushed red with panic.
Inside the collection room, Matthew and the Collector settled into seats across from each other.
Skipping the small talk entirely, Matthew set both the Orb and the cassette tape down on the table under the Collector's watchful eye.
"Let's not waste time on chatter." Matthew spoke first, direct and to the point.
"The Orb goes for the four billion we already agreed on. As for the tape—" he tapped the cassette he'd casually picked up along the way, "I want less for it than he was asking. Eight million."
Hearing that, the Collector's eyes darted back and forth between the Orb and the cassette.
Before long, an easy, delighted smile spread across his face. "Of course, that works for me!"
"All I care about is getting my hands on the item itself. Who brought it to me, that's none of my business."
"That said..." He glanced at the Orb.
"I'll need to verify the goods before I can hand over the money in good conscience, if you don't mind."
"So, could you let me take a look at the Orb?"
"Sure." Matthew lifted a hand slightly, and the Orb rose up on its own, drifting over to settle in front of the Collector.
The Collector showed no surprise whatsoever at that little display, catching the Orb smoothly and setting it down on a nearby device.
The device whirred to life, and the Orb opened, revealing the Power Stone tucked inside.
The Stone's deep purple glow washed the Collector's face in a soft violet light.
He gazed at the Infinity Stone in front of him, his eyes filled with something close to pure infatuation.
"Ohhh~~ my friend..."
"Do you know that at the very dawn of the universe, there existed six singularities."
"The Big Bang gave birth to everything that exists, and from those six singularities came six Stones, each with its own distinct function, and each one extraordinarily powerful."
"And they came to be known to the universe as—"
"Hey, I don't have time for bedtime stories. Money." Matthew cut the Collector's story off flat, demanding payment.
Having his tale interrupted so abruptly didn't seem to bother the Collector much. He gave a short click of his tongue and pulled a card from his pocket, tossing it over.
"There's your four billion. No passcode needed."
Then he pulled a second card from a drawer and tossed that one over as well.
"That's your eight million. Works the same way as the other one."
"Both cards are usable on any trade world."
"Since you're clearly not in the mood for storytime, the transaction's complete. You're free to go."
With that, the Collector turned away, his attention already back on the Power Stone, muttering something about how "beautiful" it was under his breath.
Matthew tucked both cards into his pocket.
His gaze drifted past the Collector and settled on the Power Stone.
He made no move to leave.
Instead, he stood there, quietly running some calculation in his head.
Noticing that Matthew, money in hand, was still standing there without moving, the Collector's eyes flickered with confusion. "Hey, friend."
"Is there some other business between us?"
"No." Matthew spread his hands.
"Then what's this about..."
"Nothing. Just tired. Taking a minute." Matthew said, smiling, settling onto a nearby couch.
Hearing that, a flicker of suspicion crossed the Collector's eyes.
Just as he was about to play it safe and secure the Power Stone somewhere out of sight, the sound of gunfire suddenly erupted outside Knowhere.
The roar of ship cannons pounding the surface echoed across the entirety of Knowhere.
The Collector's heart lurched.
He spun around to stare at Matthew. "You're pulling a double-cross on me?!"
"Is that a problem?" Matthew rose to his feet, unhurried. "Blame the fact that the Orb happens to be something Ronan wanted in the first place."
With a flick of Matthew's fingers, the Collector blurred into an afterimage, sent flying more than a hundred meters away.
The Orb, which had just been sitting in the Collector's grip a moment ago, flew straight back into Matthew's hand.
He wasn't remotely worried about the Collector tracking him down.
After all, he'd swapped his appearance for someone else's before ever arriving here.
And besides, even worst-case scenario.
Even if the Collector did somehow find him, so what?
The man would just be showing up to hand him a free kill.
At his current strength, there was almost no one left in the entire known universe capable of posing a real threat to him, save maybe a small handful of ancient relics.
Securing the Power Stone, Matthew strode out the door.
Outside, Knowhere had already descended into complete chaos, Ronan's warship, the Dark Aster, hanging squarely in the sky above.
Cannon fire rained down from the ship, setting all of Knowhere ablaze.
That's right. Ronan was the one Matthew had called in.
The reason was simple enough.
Once you've decided to double-cross both sides, might as well commit fully.
So the moment he'd arrived at Knowhere, Matthew had used the ship to send Ronan the coordinates.
All that was left was to wait for Ronan to take the bait.
The cannon fire kept coming.
What had been a peaceful, orderly Knowhere just moments ago was now being plowed under, wholesale, by Ronan's bombardment.
No one could say how much time passed.
The cannon fire finally tapered off.
A wave of Sakaaran mercenaries dropped from the ship, surrounding Matthew, who stood there calmly with the Orb still in hand.
"Master, we've located the Orb," one of the Sakaaran mercenaries said flatly.
The words settled.
Another hatch on the ship opened, and Ronan descended slowly aboard his fighter.
Outside the tightly sealed ring of mercenaries, Ronan leapt down from his craft, the soldiers on either side automatically parting to clear a path for him.
Ronan looked at Matthew, standing calm and unruffled inside the encirclement, and spoke, slow and deliberate. "Hand over the Orb."
"Do that, and perhaps I'll let you live..."
Facing Ronan's threat, Matthew didn't so much as flinch. "Where's my money?"
"Money?! Money?" Hearing that word, Ronan's eyebrow shot up, a mocking sneer spreading across his face. "You're asking me for money?!"
"Are you serious right now?" Ronan looked at Matthew with open scorn.
But that sneer didn't even last a full second.
BOOM!!
An explosion tore through the air without warning.
The dozen-odd Sakaaran mercenaries standing around Ronan looked as if an invisible, massive hand had suddenly closed around each of them at once.
Their entire bodies were crushed into shapeless masses in an instant.
Armor and bone shattered under that terrifying force, blood and shredded flesh bursting outward in every direction, like a balloon squeezed until it popped.
Chunks of flesh splattered across Ronan's face.
Warm liquid ran slowly down his skin.
Faced with the sudden carnage, Ronan froze completely in place.
He looked down at the blood covering himself, then slowly lifted his gaze toward the figure standing at the center of the ring, still perfectly composed.
Matthew hadn't moved a single step from where he stood.
He stood there without a single drop of blood on him.
And the mercenaries who'd just had their weapons trained on him a moment ago were nowhere to be seen.
Or rather, they were scattered in pieces across the ground.
Matthew lifted his gaze, sweeping his eyes over Ronan, drenched in gore, and spoke, slow and deliberate, each word its own sentence.
"I said. Give me my money."
"Are you deaf?"
His voice wasn't particularly loud. And yet it filled Ronan with a dread he couldn't even begin to put into words.
Even standing face to face with Thanos himself, he'd never felt pressure this severe.
And yet here, facing this human who looked like nothing more than a frail, unassuming man from Earth, that fear had somehow been magnified to its absolute limit.
"The money... is right here."
"No passcode..."
Ronan swallowed hard and pulled a card from an inner pocket.
In truth, he'd never once actually planned to pay for the Orb with money at all, so he hadn't set aside the four billion Matthew had asked for.
The card he was holding right now was, in fact, his entire personal fortune, everything he carried on him.
Looking at the card in Ronan's hand, Matthew crooked a finger slightly.
The card shot straight into his pocket.
With that done, Matthew turned to look at Ronan, standing there in silence with his head down, a faint glow beginning to build behind his own eyes.
He was just about to burn Ronan clean in half with his heat vision when he spotted the Collector slowly crawling out of the wreckage nearby.
Seeing that, a smile curved at the corner of Matthew's mouth, and he suddenly turned to address Ronan instead. "Lord Ronan, I've already handed over the Orb you wanted. And that four billion I owed you? Consider the debt fully repaid."
"Of course, if you've got any more jobs down the line, feel free to come find me again."
"It would be my genuine pleasure to keep doing business with a valued client like yourself."
With that, Matthew's form flickered and vanished on the spot, leaving Ronan and the Collector staring at each other in stunned silence.
No one could say how much time passed.
The Collector, pulling himself up off the ground, snatched up an energy pistol with a look of pure fury and leveled it straight at Ronan. "Ronan! You son of a bitch!"
"You pulled a double-cross on me?!"
Ronan: "???"
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