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……

"United, we will be stronger."

"United, we give to the people."

"With unity of purpose, we can be invincible."

"This is the origin of the Avengers, this is the meaning of the Avengers!"

She opened her eyes, and the ice on the statue in front of her began to melt.

She laughed, and then everyone's spirits were connected to hers.

……

The Avengers, already battered and bruised on the battlefield, regrouped.

"I acknowledge your efforts once again." Thanos strode towards the last line of defense. "This place is special, and you are special too, but I'm sorry, this is the end."

33. The Avengers Never Give Up

Long-buried memories are awakened.

They lost a lot, they failed time and time again, but they rose again and again to charge against an enemy far stronger than themselves.

"Avengers, assemble!"

Avengers, mutants, all the heroes stand together. Perhaps this is the end, but they will never give in.

"Is this what you expected?" The Grandmaster looked at the illusory screen. "Does this universe believe in miracles?"

"Deal the cards," Colt said calmly, looking at the Grandmaster.

Two cards flew off the deck and landed face down in front of them.

"If I win, I will send the Earth back to its original place." The Grandmaster gently touched the card with his finger.

“And if I lose, you can destroy the Earth as you please,” Colt said. “And I will tell you all my secrets.”

“Very good.” The Celestial Venerable nodded.

Black Panther and Rakshasa confronted Thanos head-on. However, even with Black Panther's fighting skills and Rakshasa's absorption ability, they were easily suppressed by Thanos. Pym transformed into a giant, but was easily overturned by Thanos.

Even with the encouragement of their leader, which rekindled their fighting spirit, their absolute disadvantage in strength left them powerless against Thanos.

Thanos looked at T'Challa lying on the ground with disdain.

“I acknowledge your efforts.” Then, he raised his left foot and stomped it down hard on T’Challa’s head.

A beam of azure laser suddenly descended from the sky, blasting the unsuspecting Thanos away.

"Why do you always manage to make a mess of things when I'm resting?" A crimson armored figure descended from the sky. "Can't you handle anything without me?"

Tony opened his mask and disdainfully reached out to pull Black Panther and Pym up.

"You've thawed?" Pym exclaimed with delight.

"Although I still don't quite understand what happened, is this guy the one who caused this again?" Tony frowned as he looked at Thanos.

Thanos was not seriously injured, but he still frowned as he looked at the reinforcements who had arrived at the scene.

"So, you finally found a way to turn things around?" He smiled contemptuously.

"Destroy this place." With his soft command, the massive starship in the sky began to shine with dazzling light.

"The energy readings are extremely dangerous!" Tony looked up at the Kree starship through his mask. "This thing is more powerful than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs! And can anyone tell me why the Kree and Skrulls are allied with Thanos?"

The Celestial Venerable dealt two more cards.

"Do you still think they can do it?" he said. "Even without pieces, a player is still a player, and a bet is just a bet. You should understand that you are different from others."

Colt lowered his eyes, looking at the two cards on the table in front of him. He didn't pick them up like the Grandmaster did, and he didn't even glance at what the two cards were.

"Is the game really that important to you?" He looked at the Grandmaster. "Even now, filled with sin and bloodshed, just to play a game with this universe?"

“Of course!” the Grandmaster exclaimed excitedly. “Why should I care about those pieces? I am a player! I was born different from them!”

"The more you care about them, the more you can't let go of your role on the chessboard, the less you can truly be a chess player who controls the overall situation!"

"Don't you understand yet! This is the rule of the universe! Even the rule you are trying so hard to protect doesn't care about the Earth you cherish, those civilians, those lives you think are so precious. To it, they are nothing more than playthings that can be discarded at will! All it cares about is continuing the game of chess pieces and chessboard!"

"And you, all of you, the Avengers, the superheroes, have added far too many irrelevant restrictions to this already ruthless and cold game!"

Colt lowered his head and remained silent.

With the help of the superheroes who arrived after the freeze was lifted, the Avengers managed to stabilize the situation once again, but this was only temporary.

They looked at the navigator with mixed feelings, but ultimately said nothing more.

Vision charged towards the Kree starship first, the Sunstone on his forehead emitting a dazzling beam of energy, but it still couldn't break through the starship's energy barrier, only causing a ripple. Two crimson energies shot out from the ground, converging with the Sunstone's laser, and the Cyclops brothers also launched an attack.

The Avengers, the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and even numerous supervillains have joined this war. They are fighting against two interstellar empires and Thanos's Black Order.

“You have lost many people.” Thanos looked at Tony, who was standing in front of him, and instead of attacking, he said thoughtfully, “You have lost your spirit.”

Tony also removed his mask and looked at the Mad Titan in front of him: "We will always lose a lot, but the meaning of the Avengers, the perseverance of the Avengers, will never fade."

"You are outnumbered." Thanos charged at him.

“But we will never give in!” Tony said softly, closing his mask.

The collision between the two created a powerful shockwave in the center of the battlefield, sending all the fighting heroes and invaders flying.

Amidst the smoke and dust, a figure was sent flying backward.

It's Thanos.

He plowed a long track in the ground and crashed into three buildings before stopping.

Groaning, Thanos rose from the ruins, his eyes filled with excitement, nostalgia, and a hint of mockery as he looked at the plume of smoke.

A figure slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

The Arc Reactor in Tony's armor, which was originally sky blue, has turned crimson red.

He walked very slowly, as if each step carried endless pain, and his armor seemed about to fall off at any moment.

“The Power Stone.” Thanos stood up. “How much longer can you hold on? Without the gauntlet, using the Infinity Stones themselves as an energy source, the human body and technology are still too fragile, aren’t they? Even for you, this is an unbearable burden, isn’t it?”

"The energy level has reached a point where it cannot be measured." Tony did not answer Thanos, or rather, he was no longer able to speak normally.

Upon awakening from his icy state, he immediately took over the data at the outpost, gaining a clear understanding of the enemy the Avengers were facing. Thus, he took with him the gem he had preserved.

He had guessed that replacing the arc reactor with gems would be difficult, but he never imagined it would be this painful.

Even when the gem was used to power the armor, things still went far beyond his expectations. From the moment the gem fell into the reactor, the armor seemed to become a part of his body. A terrifying energy seemed to burst him apart. His blood seemed to be ignited by the power of the Power Gem, and his consciousness was being assaulted by the terrifying power. Every action brought unprecedented pain.

He didn't know how much longer he could hold on; with each step forward, he felt like he was about to go into shock from the pain.

"How much longer can you hold on?" Thanos pounded his left arm. In the previous collision, he clearly felt that he had lost all feeling in his left arm, but he wasn't worried. "One punch? Or two?"

He laughed contemptuously: "Even if you defeat me, Earth is beyond saving. In this desolate universe, you will not find your way home."

Tony didn't answer him; a crimson figure appeared before Thanos.

With a powerful punch, Thanos's entire right arm vanished into thin air, without even leaving a drop of blood.

"Boom!" The two of them fell to their knees at the same time.

"And then!" Thanos suddenly roared, "Continue! Let me see what this universe is capable of! What you are capable of! Is this the universe's last struggle? Even failure can't make me succeed? Then let me end the story of this universe together!"

"He will die." The Grandmaster calmly watched Tony and Thanos fight. "They will all die. Do you understand now? Even the most beloved pawn is nothing more than a sacrifice that can be discarded at will when the game is decided."

"Now, what else do you want?"

"I want to raise the stakes," Colt rudely interrupted the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster looked at him with an ambiguous expression. "I don't believe you have it."

“I’m betting on myself,” Colt said. “I’m betting everything I have—my past, my present, my future, my very existence. If I lose, none of it will exist. There will be no more Colt in this world. No one will remember me, no one will know me. I will neither die nor be born, and I will forever exist in the cracks of reality, never seeing the light of day.”

The Celestial Venerable remained silent.

This is a gamble with the universe. Once a bet is accepted, it will inevitably be executed. And it is a fair gamble. Cheating is acceptable, but the stakes must be equal.

In other words, if he accepts that once he loses this game, he will be forever banished from this reality, never to see the light of day again, enduring loneliness and pain until the very end.

The Celestial Venerable fell silent; he hesitated.

"You—" he tried to say something, his voice trembling.

"Do you want to go with me?" Colt looked calmly into his eyes.

The Celestial Venerable was speechless.

He can't keep up.

For him, it was just a game, even a game with the entire universe, it was still just a game. He was a chess player, a player, and he could easily sacrifice any piece on the board when necessary, but he could never sacrifice himself. He couldn't bear to be banished forever as a loser; he had to continue the game.

He looked at the cards in his hand: "Your cards aren't necessarily better than mine!"

“I know,” Colt said without even looking at the cards on the table. “But I raised, and you have to call, or you’ll have to fold.”

The Celestial Venerable trembled all over, and then he threw the cards onto the table.

I give up.

34. Players are also pieces.

"Come on! Keep going!" Thanos roared, the Mad Titan's eyes bloodshot, waving his only remaining left arm as if he had lost his mind.

No one responded to him.

The battlefield was filled with explosions and screams, but in this small open space, there seemed to be an eerie tranquility.

Large chunks of Tony's armor had fallen off, replaced by crimson energy that seemed to have materialized.

He struggled to move his legs and dragged himself to Thanos.

Clench your fist.

"Can't lift it up?" Thanos scoffed contemptuously.

He reached out his right hand, grabbed Tony's head, and lifted him up.

"Power is always the most demanding attribute. When you lack power, you cannot control it." Thanos smiled contemptuously. "I acknowledge your will, your perseverance, and your struggle, but these are all insignificant in the face of absolute power."

Even if that power temporarily belongs to you.