Chapter 53: Restart, Spider-Man! [53]
"We're almost there," said Xia Luo.
Mjolnir flew straight toward the sunlight. As they neared, Xia Luo finally saw what the so-called "sun" truly was. Floating atop the towering black cliff was a golden gemstone. Its light wasn't blinding but perfectly enveloped the barren land below.
Behind Xia Luo, Thanos gazed at the distant golden gemstone, a smile forming on his face.
He hadn't expected that a challenge, which countless Titans before him had failed to overcome, would be so easily resolved by this insect. Of course, it helped that these "friends" had suddenly shown up on Titan.
Almost at the same time, both Tony and Old Steve spotted the golden gemstone and cried out in shock.
"The Mind Stone!" Tony's expression changed, his voice filled with alarm. He was certain of what he was seeing.
Old Steve frowned. "Shouldn't it be in Loki's scepter?"
Hearing this, Xia Luo suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
"Are you sure that's the Mind Stone?" he asked.
Old Steve scowled, "Didn't you say you couldn't hear me?"
"I was lying."
Just as he spoke, Mjolnir, which had been heading toward the cliff, vanished into thin air—clearly, the other participants had already been eliminated. With Mjolnir gone, Xia Luo and the others, carried by inertia, started falling toward the cliffside.
"Well, with some effort, we should be able to reach it," Thanos breathed a sigh of relief.
But as the Mind Stone's light flickered for a moment, things took an unexpected turn.
Suddenly, a golden wave of energy radiated outward, and everyone instantly lost their sense of self.
When Xia Luo opened his eyes again, he found himself in the middle of a golden field of flowers.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, he ran freely through the flowers, a bright, beaming smile on his face.
A familiar tune played in the background: "Summer's slowly fading, leaving behind little secrets, hidden deep inside…"
Xia Luo came to an abrupt halt, plucking a wildflower from his ear with a bewildered expression.
"What... am I doing?"
The next moment, his spider-sense tingled, and the world around him wavered. He finally saw something familiar.
Up in the air, Old Steve and Lizard Parker were embracing.
"Oh, Jack."
"Oh, Rose."
"Jack, I'm flying. I'm really flying!"
"Rose, I'm flying too, even higher!"
Xia Luo: "..."
Elsewhere, Carter was flipping Tony off, spewing a string of expletives.
"You filthy scumbag! I'm going to beat the crap out of you, then shove it right back up, so you'll learn not to mess with Agent Carter!"
Tony raised his helmet triumphantly, yelling, "Hail Hydra!!"
Xia Luo: "..."
Everything was in chaos.
But why had his spider-sense gone off if there wasn't any danger?
He soon got his answer.
"Boom!"
A fierce gust of wind followed the sweeping strike of a double-edged warblade. The sheer force sent Old Steve and the others flying.
"I am the Titan God, Thanos, and this is for the glory of the Eternals!!" roared Thanos. His face twisted in rage as he grabbed Xia Luo by the ankle, hurling him into the cliffside.
"Boom!"
Rocks exploded upon impact, and Xia Luo's body embedded itself deep into the cliff.
"Crack!"
Loose stones tumbled as Xia Luo freed himself from the rocky prison, his back aching with pain.
"So, this guy was the real wild card."
He massaged his aching shoulders. Facing the threat of Thanos, Xia Luo's eyes glowed red as he swiftly activated Venom Mode.
In the blink of an eye, Thanos' massive body slammed into a distant cliff, shattering chunks of rock as he roared, "For the glory of the Eternals!!"
At that moment, Thanos was like an enraged ape, climbing toward Xia Luo, hell-bent on tearing him apart.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Sparks flew as Xia Luo's black spider spears failed to pierce Thanos' defense. Seizing the opportunity, Thanos grabbed one of the spears, unleashing his full strength.
"For the glory of the Eternals!!"
Thanos swung the spear, ready to smash Xia Luo into the cliff again, but the next moment, his body was enveloped in Xia Luo's crystalline web trap.
"Scrrreeech!"
The sound of metal grinding became unbearably loud. Thanos' armor cracked and shattered, exposing his purple skin, which immediately bulged with muscles as it touched the webbing.
Thanos' movement halted for just a second before his strength exploded, snapping the crystalline webs apart.
"Damn it!"
Sensing things going south, Xia Luo threw himself backward, allowing gravity to pull him off the cliff's edge.
At the same time, the spider spear in Thanos' hand melted into liquid and slipped away.
"Boom!"
Thanos' fist slammed into the cliffside, but with his webs now gone, the rock cracked into a spider-web pattern and crumbled, sending both Thanos and large chunks of the cliff tumbling down.
"Whoosh!"
Swinging through the air on his webs, Xia Luo looked down at Thanos, still falling, but thrashing wildly in his hallucination.
His mental resistance was weak. Even falling from the cliff hadn't snapped him out of the illusion—clearly, the injuries weren't enough to wake him up.
Xia Luo alone wasn't strong enough to defeat Thanos. He needed the help of the others.
But right now, most of them were dead or too injured to fight.
This was looking grim.
Climbing to the top of the cliff, he decided to try using the Mind Stone to snap Thanos out of it.
"Buzz~"
Soon, he reached the Mind Stone, but the moment he touched it, his mind fogged, and he found himself back in the golden flower field.
"Summer, summer's fading away... Oh, come on!!"
Already prepared, Xia Luo quickly snapped out of the illusion.
But as he scanned the field, he couldn't find a way to escape—wait, not the "summer," the illusion.
Time passed without a clear way out until his spider-sense went off again. The flower field vanished, replaced by Thanos' snarling face.
"For…"
"I know, for the glory of the Eternals."
"Wrong. For the glory of Titan!"
A fist the size of a boulder flew toward Xia Luo. He shrugged helplessly.
"Typical."
——
[You have been eliminated. You cannot earn a revival. Reward: +1 Primal Web Mode]
[You have 7 restarts remaining. Restart?]
Back in the cosmic web, Xia Luo tested his new web mode.
As the wave-shaped webs shot from his wrist, Xia Luo fell silent.
Was this mode reminding him not to get cocky?
Restart!
Fourth revival match.
By the fountain, as the countdown ended, Xia Luo spoke directly to the group.
"I've been here before, and I know a way to easily participate in the Exile Journey." He wasn't lying.
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"Why should we trust you?" Thor, hammer in hand, stepped forward, sneering.
Xia Luo glanced at the furious Lizard Parker charging at him and casually knocked him away with a punch.
"Because I've won two revival matches."
Pointing at the groaning Lizard Parker, Xia Luo then gestured toward Old Steve in the crowd.
"They know it. Stick with me, and we'll win."
Carter seemed thoughtful, the first to be intrigued.
"Alright, what's your plan?" she asked.
"Simple. Go to the temple and fight Thanos."
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