2141 The End
After a brief silence, everybodyâs expressions returned to normal.
Everybody knew that Thanos had killed Loki, Heimdall and 300,000 Asgardians.
Of course, Lokiâs death was a beautiful thing, but Heimdall and the people of Asgard had indeed been innocent, so Thorâs venting was understandable.
Besides, cutting off Thanosâs head was indeed a very efficient way to âconfirmâ his death.
As for venting on the body⊠for an alien who had wanted to kill at least half of Earthâs population, who would care about preserving his âhuman rightsâ for him?
Thanos wasnât human.
After looking their fill, everybody dispersed.
Steve, Rhodes, Bucky and some of the others said that they would take part in the final cleanup.
Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight had already been surrounded and killed by Ursa Minor and the reserve members â they hadnât been given a chance to escape at all.
The Avengers and the Bat Squad, who were âold hands,â were too efficient; they basically cleaned up all the elite small bosses.
Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight could be considered the final âgift bagsâ left, at 500 credit points each.
Compared with the lowest amount of two credit points for delivering goods, this was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.
On the brink of death, the couple had shouted that they were willing to surrender, which made the Ursa Minor members who were besieging them hesitate for a moment.
But Frank simply said coldly over the main comms, âIf surrendering can make a difference, why would we need the Justice League?â
Thus, the couple, whose blood debt was the size of the universe, was besieged and killed on the spot.
Later, it was Tony who got Earthâs allied forces to leave alive Thanosâs ground troops and the air troops that were willing to land and surrender.
Of course, the tycoon wasnât some saint. He simply suggested, âTheir intact gear can probably sell for a lot of credit points. Thatâs the best set you can get in the universe.â
Everybody was enlightened.
âBesides, I remember that war criminals who surrender can also be executed for extremely heinous crimes, right? Hm, this probably doesnât come under the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Then, weâll set up an intergalactic court for the trials,â Tony added unhurriedly.
As expected of a black-hearted capitalist who sucked other people dry! Everybody cursed inwardly.
His motive was clear.
The Justice League often broke the bones of criminals on Earth â could these intergalactic âwar criminalsâ return to space in one piece?
What a joke. Even if Tony was willing to allow that, the Dark Knight wouldnât.
The tycoon wasnât accepting their surrender at all â he was clearly greedy for their equipment.
Of course, these spoils of war could also be obtained after the enemy was wiped out, but compared with obtaining a large amount of intact equipment after the enemy surrendered, it naturally wasnât as profitable.
In fact, the remaining small battleships and fighter planes of Thanosâs army were already fleeing into outer space.
As members of a first-class galactic fleet, there was a high chance they would escape to other planets.
As for whether or not other forces would beat them up after they arrived on those planets, that was another matter.
Due to Tonyâs suggestion, Earthâs allied forces turned most of their energy to intercepting the fleeing battleships and fighter planes.
The more combat soldiers were intercepted, the more credit they would get.
In any case, there were credit points for the spoils of war, and credit points for blowing them up; it was just a matter of how many.
At that point, Natasha, Rhodes, TâChalla, Jennifer, Mindy and Joseph started moving to deal with the aftermath.
Naturally, various countries on Earth wouldnât be indifferent to such a huge battle. They had sent elite forces to âwatch the battle.â
However, after they arrived, they observed from the perimeter for only a moment before they resolutely decided to continue âwatching.â
The small battleships and fighter planes in Thanosâs army were blown up by the remote-controlled fighter planes of Earthâs allied forces, which made these forces lose the courage to enter the battlefield.
In terms of fighter planes, these elite forces were indeed a level higher than the cannon fodder remote-controlled fighter planes which Luke tinkered with.
However, the various countries combined couldnât muster even 1,000 elite fighter planes; how could they participate in a battle of tens of thousands of fighter planes?
Earthâs allied army and Thanosâs army each worked under one command, while these hundreds of elite fighter planes were from various countries. Each country had more or less the same number of fighter planes, and no one was more superior than the other; they even hated each other more than they hated the aliens.
Also, these were the most elite forces which these countries had; how could they be handed over to Earthâs allied forces to command?
Thus, these elite combatants became âbattlefield observersâ in a sense.
The difference was that in the past, âobservation teamsâ like these were high and mighty âconspirators,â but today, they were genuine âpassers-by.â
They werenât even qualified to communicate with the core members of Earthâs allied forces.
TâChalla, Tony and Rhodes were the ones who suffered the most.
Ross, the former American general and current Secretary of State, sent a lot of communication requests, which were all fobbed off by Ms. Fridayâs message: âMr. XXX is dealing with an urgent matter. Please try again later.â
Now that Thanos and his fleet had been wiped out and the outcome was clear, it wouldnât be good to leave people like Ross hanging.
In the end, an official explanation still needed to be given.
Of course, it was just an explanation.
At Lukeâs suggestion, the Avengers and New SHIELD, who had already been laying low for several years, didnât need to pay too much attention to the various governments.
At most, for Tony and Rhodesâs sake as public figures, they would give each government some leftovers, like the remains of the cannon fodder fighter planes and battleships which he had created.
Thanosâs technology and Wakandaâs vibranium equipment wouldnât be leaked at all.
What Earth needed wasnât to follow the old path taken by aliens, but to combine what it had itself to forge a new path.
Besides, if the European and American governments obtained advanced technology, who knew how the capital groups would exploit the people at the bottom.
After Luke put Thanosâs body away in his inventory as test material, Selina raised her right hand, and the four Stones on the back of it glowed.
Bored, she asked, âWhat should we do with these crappy things?â
...
âLeave them with me for now. Iâll discuss it with Tony and Strange and see what corner to throw them in.â Luke gave her an unhappy look as he took out a few top-notch shielding devices to put the four Stones in.
That being said, he still had to deal with the Space Stone and the Power Stone himself.
The Power Stone had explosive offensive power and could easily destroy Earth if not handled properly.
The Space Stone was top-notch support. After mastering it, one could roam the universe without ever being caught.
Luke didnât want another space terrorist with the Power Stone to appear, nor did he want to face a powerful enemy who had the Space Stone.
The Reality, Mind and Soul Stones were also very strong, but their effects werenât as over-the-top, and he and Tony more or less had ways to contain them.
Putting the four Stones into the suitâs inventory box, Luke and Selina walked out of the woods.
Staring at the vast grassland for a long time, Luke heaved a sigh. âItâs finally over.â
Selina was surprised. âArenât you a few minutes late to say that?â
Under the clear and boundless sky, Luke looked at Selinaâs extremely familiar face, and couldnât help but smile as he shook his head. âNo helping it, a bunch of people are still waiting for extras even though this is clearly the end.â
Selina stared blankly at him. âWhat?â
...
Luke didnât explain further, and just rubbed her head. âLetâs go, we can have a nice long break after this.â
With that, he drifted upward lightly before flying toward Wakanda.
Selina chased after him. âWait, how long is long⊠Be specific. Last time, you said it was a long break, but after one week, you made me work overtime back home.â
Luke: âI guarantee itâll be a very long one this time, long enough for you to finish a perfect dream.â
Selina: âReally? Go back and let me take a few more portrait shots of your body like this.â
Luke: âHehe.â
Under the blue sky and above the ground, their words carried through the air as they moved further and further away.
Just like the first time they left Shackelford, the two figures moved forward together.