Chapter 386

To prevent this from happening, besides unraveling the complex grievances and giving each other time to calm down, their emotions must also be released; only when all emotions are emptied and all energy expended can everyone truly achieve inner peace.

Otherwise, even if they sit down to talk, it would merely devolve into another argument; when everyone is filled with anger, even geniuses like Stark and justice-seekers like Steve are nearly impossible to reason with, and no matter how much they argue, it's all just emotional venting.

Rather than that, it's better to give them an opportunity to vent their emotions.

But the problem is, these people are called superheroes precisely because their moral standards are genuinely exceptional—you can't just tell them to go punch each other; they'd never agree.

The first issue to solve is the location—if these superhumans fought in New York, it would mean city destruction and mass casualties; they would never lift a finger, no matter how far the argument stretched into the cosmos.

So, Shi Ler voluntarily went to the Hive Prime Star with Jacqueline, because he knew Stark and Steve wouldn't ignore it—they'd come looking for him. There are countless places in the universe to fight, but why not choose Hive Prime Star, a feng shui gem?

Of course, even with a suitable location, these superheroes, long accustomed to restraint, would find it hard to truly unleash a full-scale brawl; they're all adults, and even if they harbor deep anger, they won't show it openly, let alone beat up their nominal teammates.

At this point, rain infused with the Dionysian factor could effectively stir their emotions—it was the most primal chaos and madness from another world, capable of affecting any being whose status was no higher than the Joker's madness.

Later, the Yellow Lantern Hulk arrived as a catalyst, and the symbiotes who had wanted to board the ship but were persuaded back by Shi Ler did the same; as for Connors, he simply wanted to land a punch on Stark—this was the perfect opportunity.

Thus, the superheroes vented their emotions; the Hive died in stellar evolution; Hulk released his rage and would now be far calmer; Connors landed a punch on Stark, fulfilling his wish.

Spider-Man and the symbiotes honed their combat skills in the chaos; Strange avenged himself for being beaten by Iron Man and Captain America, and tested various relics left by the Sorcerer Supreme during the battle.

Iron Man and Captain America fought thoroughly, settling all accounts; every member of the Avengers exhausted their physical strength and energy, preventing an actual civil war.

Most importantly, Shi Ler avenged his new umbrella.

This was a plan steeped in Gotham style—leveraging circumstances, achieving multiple goals with one move; though the process was slightly dark, the outcome was perfect.

A world where only the enemy suffers was achieved—the Hive Prime Star… no, the entire star system containing Hive Prime Star had been entirely consumed by the red giant formed from stellar evolution; those who escaped alive were the superheroes Shi Ler had individually retrieved and the distant Light Fleet—nothing else remained in the star system.

Inside the cargo bay of the Light ship, everyone lay sprawled across the floor, truly lacking even the strength to move their fingers.

In this mad battle, everyone was an enemy; each person was simultaneously in a state of being surrounded and surrounding others; by the end, Stark's armor had drained its last ounce of power, Steve was too exhausted to stand, unable to lift his shield, Peter's web-shooters were completely out of fluid, and even Dr. Connors, with his super-regeneration, was utterly incapacitated.

All of them lay sprawled across the floor of the hall, while only Shi Ler, fully recovered, stood in the center, arms crossed, pacing back and forth.

This Celebrity Wants to Retire

He first walked over to Stark's side, clicking his tongue twice: "I heard you drained all three energy cores? Looks like you didn't bring enough batteries."

Stark mustered the strength to manually open his helmet, letting Shi Ler see his eye-roll; he was too exhausted to speak—after high-intensity operation of the armor and machinery until the power was gone, his perpetually brilliant mind felt fatigue for the first time.

Shi Ler stepped over Stark's outstretched arm and walked to Steve's side; Steve had half-fallen asleep. Shi Ler hesitated, then gave the Avengers' conscience some face and refrained from mocking him.

Then he stepped over Steve's calf and approached Peter, who was glaring at Venom. Shi Ler sighed: "Young people still have so much energy. What's going on? You two still want to get up and fight?"

Peter and Venom both snorted, turning their heads away from each other as if they couldn't stand the sight; the symbiotes seated at the table also looked listless—they rarely fought such intense battles—but compared to humans, their stamina was still far superior, and they could still chat.

"My god! I've never been in such a chaotic battle! Blue Spirit, what about you? Was it like this when you fought N'rall?"

"Of course not," Blue Spirit said, leaning back in his chair. "Back then, we fought as a normal team—I had teammates, we each had our roles and advanced together. But just now…"

He covered his head with his palm. "I still don't understand who I hit or who hit me. I remember several times my spells went off-target…"

"You hit me several times!" came Red Bee's voice from Peter's mouth. "Boss, I didn't know you hated me this much—even mid-flight, you still found time to kick me…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Blue Spirit shrugged. Thunder immediately exposed him: "You've said for ages you couldn't stand Red Bee's yapping. If it wasn't intentional, I can't fathom how you managed to kick him right in the head while flying backward…"

"But you kicked my head!" Peter protested. "You sprayed slime into my eyes, so I didn't see Dr. Connors in front of me and accidentally crashed into him!"

"Stop making excuses, Peter," Connors said from the nearby sofa, eyes half-closed, drowsy. "You just wanted revenge for that tail-whip I gave you earlier. You're a grudge-holding kid."

"I swear, I didn't!" Peter shouted, rolling over to get up—then screamed halfway: "Oh! My back!"

Hearing Peter's cry, Steve suddenly woke up. He forced his eyes open, voice hoarse: "Sorry, Peter. I didn't mean to smack you with the shield—I was aiming for Stark's missiles."

"Are you blaming me now?" Stark raised his voice. "My missiles aren't meant for someone who swings a blunt metal shield. I was targeting that giant tentacle."

"Don't you all remember? That was our real enemy."

At Stark's words, the entire room fell silent. Peter hesitated: "Uh… I did forget. Its tentacles matched the ground color—hard to spot—and I couldn't understand what it was saying."

"I already uploaded a translation module to your suit. Didn't you turn it on?" Stark tilted his head toward Peter. Peter covered his eyes with his arm: "I think I heard a notification, but I was too caught up in the fight to notice."

"So what did it say?" Blue Spirit asked.

"I understood its language, but the explosions were too loud—I couldn't make out anything."

"It shouted something like 'Humans are insane,' then screamed—nothing meaningful."

"Insane? I think we were insane," Peter rolled onto his stomach, chin resting on the floor, mumbling. "I don't know where that urge came from—I just wanted to fight."

"Same here. I knew I've been feeling off lately, but not this bad."

Stark stretched his arm, then punched his own head. "I think we were influenced by something. I rarely act this irrationally."

"You didn't know? The Hive has the ability to influence minds. Otherwise, how did it gather so many human followers?" Shi Ler leaned against the wall.

"I found this information in the Governor's Palace records about planetary lords, but since the place was destroyed, the data was lost."

"I'm certain he possesses this unique ability—perhaps he wanted you to turn on each other."

"Wait—you mean the Hive can manipulate minds?" Stark frowned. "What's its range? Can it transmit remotely? Or do its followers have this ability?"

Suddenly, Steve realized it too. He locked eyes with Stark, then slowly rose from the floor. He'd regained some strength, staggered to the sofa, and pressed his fingers to his forehead: "Something's wrong. Let's retrace this from the beginning…"

"Where did this whole thing start again?" Steve asked, and Stark continued, "During my phone call with T'Challa, I found out he had been attacked..."

Stark continued: "While I was on the phone with T'Challa, I learned he'd been attacked…"

"We discovered the spear that wounded T'Challa carried an unbreakable toxin. Since Erik shouted 'Hydra,' we began targeting Hydra to trace the toxin's origin."

Steve sighed: "Because our methods differed too much, we split into two factions—you formed the Light Alliance, and I formed the Avengers."

"Then, inexplicably, we started a competition—seeing who could defeat Hydra better… God, what was I doing? Did I turn this into some elementary school game?"

"I admit—I wanted to outdo you, so I started this competition. I don't think it's childish, because the winner was Stark," Stark raised his voice. "You're the one who came to me in the end!"

But he paused, frowning: "But you came to me because your operations weren't going well. I don't understand—how did this escalate so fast? You hit trouble too early. Why did Hydra suddenly become so hard to fight?"

"That's right," Steve recalled. "Because Hydra became harder to fight, we reunited."

"Then, a mysterious figure contacted Shi Ler, and we were drawn to Hive Prime Star—already filled with anger, we began this massive battle."

Suddenly, Stark felt a chill down his spine. "If we'd been influenced not on this planet, but on Earth…"

Steve's movements froze visibly. "You mean… this was Hydra's plot?"

【60】 "Exactly…" Stark's voice grew firmer. "This has to be Hydra's plot."