Chapter 1393: The Return of the Old Days (Part 9)

"Again!"

"Who is it this time?!!"

"Damn it, it never ends!!"

Several figures were fleeing in panic on the street. Riley looked back at the monster army behind him. The woman leading them had red hair and held a walkie-talkie. The one on the helicopter wore a uniform and was pulling a bow and shooting arrows.

Natasha and Barton, good job. S. H. I. E. L. D. couldn't escape either, Riley gritted his teeth and thought, and they had advanced equipment, and they still had brains to control this equipment.

"This won't work!" Xu Shangqi roared at him: "Our physical strength will be exhausted, and we're out of bullets. We have to get rid of them first!"

"They have planes and bombs," Rocket Raccoon, who was being held by Quill, roared: "Split people to cover the rear, and then the other batch runs!"

"This isn't a good idea," Quill immediately covered Rocket Raccoon's mouth and said: "They discovered our abnormality, discovered that we wouldn't be infected by madness. They won't let go of any of us. In terms of splitting troops, they have an advantage over us."

The sound of explosions came from behind. Quill had to cover his mouth and nose to prevent himself from being choked by the smoke and dust. Riley looked back and roared: "You're right, we can't stop moving at high speed. They have snipers."

Xu Shangqi gritted his teeth. He could feel that the already exhausted Qi wasn't enough to support him running at such high speed. He took a deep breath, looked at Riley and said: "Give me 30 seconds, I can take you all away."

"What do you plan to do?"

"Make a formation to trap them, but setting up the formation takes time."

"Quill, you and Jessica defend the right flank, I'll defend the left!"

They had no more time to hesitate, because everyone knew that running like this wouldn't work. And when they stopped, they found their train of thought was right, because the monsters following them had already formed an army.

Superheroes with tentacles growing on their heads, agents with tumors entrenched around their waists, police officers whose lower bodies were alienated into insects, driving planes, sitting in police cars, raising guns and aiming, roaring wildly, as messy as a real doomsday.

They actually should have thought of it long ago. No mental attack didn't mean no danger. The biggest danger in this world was that there were too many of them.

After the superheroes were alienated, besides madness, they retained a certain degree of intelligence, and so did those agents and police officers, which allowed them to use modern weapons. Then the situation the group faced was no better than being wanted by the whole world and then hunted by the whole of New York.

What was even more headache-inducing was that the Scarlet Witch, who had large-scale attack means, wasn't here, and Jarvis was separated. The remaining few people had no way to deal with this kind of large-scale modern weapon bombing and could only flee all the way.

Monsters kept rushing up. Riley, Jessica, and Quill tried their best to block all monsters, leaving time for Xu Shangqi to set up the formation. Natasha, with red eyes, hung on the ladder of the helicopter and shouted with a sharp voice:

"Don't resist anymore, embrace the truth of the universe!"

"The truth of the universe is that you're a bitch, damn it!!!" Quill shook off a monster's tentacle and roared. All kinds of dirty words kept spraying from his mouth, and Rocket Raccoon was even worse.

30 seconds felt as long as 30 years. Riley was shot at least three times. Fortunately, when he went to the Rocky Mountains to investigate, he wore the uniform provided by Nick. The uniform built by Asgard easily defended against human bullets, but the shrapnel from the grenade explosion still scratched his calf.

Quill already had a concussion, and his shoulder was hit again. The bullet didn't cause a penetrating wound but got stuck in the muscle, which made him even more painful.

Finally, accompanied by Xu Shangqi's roar, several golden lights spread from under his feet until they covered half the street. Draining the last bit of energy in his body, he stomped his foot and shouted: "Trap!!!"

Between the flow of golden light, all monsters seemed to have been pressed the pause button, but no one was in the mood to appreciate the gorgeous magic. The moment the monsters were trapped, they turned and ran, getting rid of the sight of all pursuers at the fastest speed.

"I really should have learned a divine movement magic formula," leaning against the cold wall of the sewer, Xu Shangqi complained: "If I could teleport, I wouldn't have to spend so much effort."

Riley was treating Quill's wounds. He shook his head and said: "Don't complain. The wood is already a boat. Let's think about what to do next. We can't deal with so many monsters."

"The Sorcerer Supreme really had foresight," Quill gasped and said: "It's not without reason that he destroyed the monsters of that whole world. How could you escape their clutches?"

"Did you hear what they just said?" Rocket Raccoon jumped onto Quill's shoulder and said: "It was that red-haired woman shouting at the guy shooting arrows, 'Endless Proliferating God of Immortality'. That's probably the name of the mastermind."

"I haven't heard of this demon god," Quill shook his head, brushed the broken hair in front of his forehead to the back, and said: "But this is a very uncreative name. The vast majority of demon gods can be immortal, unless they are unlucky enough to be caught

"The key is proliferation." Jessica added firewood to the blaze and said, "I noticed it when the mutations first occurred; tumors began to constantly emerge within many people's bodies until they swelled to the point of immobility, only to be smashed into pulp by that group of crazed, destructive superheroes."

"Those were likely the losers." Riley no longer wanted to analyze the indifference in his own tone; he simply stated flatly, "Not everyone can accept that kind of insane power. The superheroes were able to survive the evolution because they were strong to begin with."

"What do you plan to do?" Jessica moved her hands closer to the fire and said, "If you have a way to leave this place, then hurry and go. There's no need to get involved here; this universe is completely beyond saving."

"The problem is that we can't leave." Shang-Chi sat down and said, "We are also trapped here, and clearly, we are out of ammunition and supplies."

The atmosphere turned silent. They all knew Shang-Chi was right; human strength has its limits. They could handle three major battles in a day, but not thirty, or three hundred.

They had already attracted the attention of these monsters, so the monsters would surely hunt them to the end. Now they understood the plight of the villains hunted by S. H. I. E. L. D. and the Avengers; the key wasn't whether they could beat one or two, but that once they appeared, they had to face a whole swarm.

In a situation where the gap in strength and numbers is so vast, wisdom can improve their circumstances, but it cannot completely turn the tide.

After a long silence, Riley suddenly spoke up: "We might need power. No, not might—we do need power, even greater power."

Jessica couldn't quite read the silence of the three men, but she still possessed a keenness unique to women. She leaned her body slightly forward and asked in a probing tone, "Do you have a way?"

"Perhaps, but it could cause even greater danger—danger more terrifying than what we are currently facing, more than you could ever imagine."

Jessica pursed her lips and said, "Will this keep you alive?"

"It will keep us alive."

"You don't have to include me. I said this universe is already rotten to the core. I'm going to die sooner or later, and I've wanted to die for a long time anyway." The intense self-destructive tendency in Jessica's tone was no longer hidden in the slightest.

Quill bared his teeth in a mocking smile and said, "You said that when I look directly into their eyes, I'll be infected by the madness, but I stared into that bitch's eyes today and greeted all her relatives, and I didn't feel anything crawling into my brain."

Jessica stared at him as if looking at a madman, because Quill's face revealed the kind of craving common to alcoholics; this statement was as if to say, "Can't you bring me something with a real kick?"

"It's only a matter of time." Jessica hugged her legs and shivered, saying, "I can already feel it—I feel those whispers. They are circling right by my ears."

"Do you hear someone singing?" Riley looked at her and asked.

Jessica shook her head and said, "I don't even hear any real sound, just some trivial scratching noises. Perhaps I'm just imagining it all."

"What did he say to you?" Shang-Chi asked.

"Nothing that can be understood as a sentence."

Jessica finally felt that something was wrong. She stared at the flames, somewhat dazed, feeling colder and colder, then began to tremble uncontrollably, tears welling up in her eyes.

The girl looked into their eyes with tear-filled eyes and said, "Actually, you were already infected long ago, right? That's why you haven't gone insane."

"That was just a dream." Quill rested his head against the cold wall and said, "I can't even call it a nightmare; it was just bizarre and strange."

"But it allows us to find a way to break through this predicament." Riley also stared at the flames. Jessica trembled in fear, but she still couldn't help asking in a similarly trembling tone, "What is it?"

"The call of the stars."

Shang-Chi sat cross-legged on the spot and said, "They aren't some kind of sound, some gaze, or some hallucination. They left knowledge inside our brains."

"If we take the initiative to read this knowledge," Riley swallowed hard and said, "then we can face the truth again, and we can hear the call of the stars again. We can offer ourselves as a sacrifice in exchange for power."

"That sounds too dangerous." Jessica shook her head vigorously and said, "You really don't need to do this. Why not just hide here and find a way to escape?"

"We have deeper concerns than you, Miss." Riley looked into Jessica's eyes and said, "The catastrophe in this universe is very likely to spread. I have this premonition, and my premonitions are always accurate."

"We must do something about them before they make this terrible decision."

"What do you want to do?"

"Join them, with a madness deeper than theirs."

Just as Jessica was about to speak, Riley looked at her and explained gently, "I believe there is more than one mastermind, because this isn't the first insane universe we've experienced. My experience tells me that these masterminds are similar but different, and there are levels of superiority among them."

"If the monsters of this universe have become the dependents of one deity, then we can become the dependents of other, greater, and more powerful deities, and then stop their insane actions."

"How can you ensure you won't be as insane as them?"

"We have already tried."

Jessica knew she was powerless to stop them, so she said, "Do you need any help?"

"Leave here, go to the entrance, and once the sky turns completely dark, tell us."

"Okay."

After Jessica left, the three exchanged a glance, clearly seeing the anger in each other's eyes—for those who had trampled on the dignity of the superheroes, and for their own powerless and weak selves.

Once humans realize their own weakness, they become incredibly angry, and subsequently, they become insane. It is a calm kind of madness: if they encounter a mountain, they open a path; if they encounter water, they bridge it. Nothing can stop the footsteps of weak humans.

After Jessica's voice came through, they knew the sky was completely dark. Riley closed his eyes and opened his mouth; some broken melodies spilled out from his lips, then became increasingly fluent and increasingly high-pitched.

Shang-Chi recalled the feeling of his stomach being gripped; those words that wanted to burst forth from his mouth surfaced in his mind once again.

Quill clenched his own arm; the blood-red muscle texture and the dried, blackened blood wove into a mysterious pattern that kept flashing before his eyes.

When they called out to the stars simultaneously, the stars responded to them, and one of the stars reached out its arm to embrace them.

In the protective yet hazy hallucination, they found themselves transformed into fragile seedlings, being pruned of their excess branches by a gardener, forcing them to endure the wind and frost, molding them into the sturdy saplings he desired.

As they continued to grow upward, thirsting for sunlight, dew, and the endless starry sky, the great existence deep within the stars finally responded to the sprouts' call, bringing them a gentle breeze and fine rain, as well as the cold, damp, and omnipresent nameless mist.

After the hallucination dissipated, Shang-Chi found himself appearing in an empty space filled with mist, with the never-dissipating thick fog above his head and an empty, desolate island beneath his feet.

And when he walked to the edge of the island and looked down, beneath his feet was a massive city hidden within the endless mist.

Standing above the city, Shang-Chi finally spat out those words that had been lingering in his heart—

"Carcosa... Lake of Hali in the Hyades... The dark sun is already hanging high in the sky..."

He turned his head and saw that massive black sun slowly rising from the deepest part of the thick fog.

The new persona is finally finished!

(And the plot hole of the World Within Restraint has been filled!)