Chapter 136: A Dire Situation

Over the waters of Upper New York Bay, the helicarrier listed heavily before finally landing safely, kicking up countless massive waves.

In the cell where Loki had been imprisoned, Nick Fury arrived only to find that Loki had already escaped.

Agent Coulson lay on the ground, on the verge of death.

Seeing Fury approach, Coulson said in a faint voice, "Sorry, boss... let that pest slip away."

"Hang in there. The medical team is on the way," Fury said, half-crouching in front of Coulson. He could tell Coulson was already gone.

"No, I think I'll just rest now... Boss... find someone else to bully..." Coulson's breathing grew increasingly weak.

"You don't get to rest!"

"I'm fine, sir. Unless you give them something to fight for, they'll never learn to unite..." With those words, Coulson's gaze lost its focus.

Fury fell silent.

After a long moment, he slowly stood up, his expression completely blank.

"Agent Coulson is dead."

Everyone's communication channels across the ship heard Fury's voice: "Loki killed him. The medical team couldn't do anything..."

Hearing this news, no matter who they were, everyone froze in place.

In everyone's hearts, Coulson was a genuinely good man—principled, amiable, and smooth-tempered. The news of his death filled even Tony's heart with an indescribable, heavy sensation.

Immediately after, a surge of suppressed anger welled up in everyone's eyes, threatening to burst forth.

Worse news followed immediately.

Hill's voice came through the channel: "Sir, the space portal has been opened. The enemies are coming through. The numbers... are countless!"

Thor was nowhere to be found. But the remaining members—Captain America, Iron Man, Banner, Black Widow, a now-awakened Hawkeye, and the group of kids outside—still formed a formidable lineup.

The force Fury relied on was still intact.

"It's time to avenge him!"

Fury's slightly hoarse, low voice echoed in everyone's ears.

Tony was the first to fly out through a fracture in the hull.

"Jarvis, prepare the Mark Seven," he said inside the armor, his eyes suppressing his fury.

"Sir, that suit is not yet ready," Jarvis reminded him.

"We don't have time for that," Iron Man said, flying toward his old tower.

In the distant view, atop Stark Tower, a dazzling pillar of light soared into the sky, continuously powering that gateway. He had to go and shut it down.

On the flight deck, the Quinjet carrying Captain America, Banner, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Peter Parker, and Christina the Snowman also took off rapidly.

Flying ahead of them was the G-0 Warlord and four Tempest mechs.

The situation was far worse than imagined.

At this very moment, within just a few minutes, the skies above New York were already swarming with countless Chitauri soldiers. Piloting hovering skiffs, these Chitauri soldiers moved in packs through the streets and alleys of New York, firing wildly and slaughtering ruthlessly!

The sun was about to rise, and most New York citizens were still at home. Countless people were jolted awake from their dreams by the sudden artillery fire and explosions. When people pulled back their curtains, the world had already become unfamiliar.

Looking out across the streets and alleys, flying aliens were everywhere, firing down onto the roads. Traffic paralyzed in a matter of moments.

Countless fires broke out, illuminating every corner of New York City amidst a backdrop of screams and piercing sonic booms.

Lying in the cockpit, Luke wore an utterly solemn expression.

The airflow from a butterfly's wings could trigger a hurricane in the Pacific, and now that hurricane had arrived. The number of Chitauri, more than tenfold greater than in the original plot, far exceeded the Avengers' limit to handle.

In the movie, the Avengers struggled even against a normal number of Chitauri. Now facing tenfold that number, the battlefield was predictably expanding rapidly beyond Manhattan. New York could fall at any moment.

He looked up, watching the groups of Chitauri flying away into the distance; they were likely heading to neighboring cities. These Chitauri were far smarter than the ones in the movie.

"There's no time to dwell on why. We must find Loki first and figure out a way to close the portal."

Luke was unexpectedly calm right now, his train of thought exceptionally clear.

He knew that once the portal was closed, all the Chitauri would lose their fighting capability. These Chitauri and their extraterrestrial mothership base were connected via remote control.

"Loki took the scepter. I really should have stored it directly in my storage space back then. Damn it!" Luke cursed himself with endless regret.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late to snatch it back.

That weakling Loki would be a pushover to rob.

What Luke truly worried about was the blue-skinned alien woman who called herself Proxima Midnight. She was the biggest variable in this battle so far, sent personally by Thanos.

Luke had a hunch that what happened on the carrier deck earlier was merely a warmup, and he would cross paths with this woman again.

Ahead lay Stark Tower.

"Scatter out and form teams around the roof of the tower to clear a zone. Then wait for my orders," Luke instructed on the private channel.

"Understood, General!"

The Four Roses, piloting the four aerial combat mechs known as Tempests, broke away from the formation.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of Stark Tower, Tony, having just rushed back, ran right into Loki.

The Mark Six armor had been severely damaged while repairing the carrier's engines and had lost its combat capability.

Without his armor, Tony was no match for Loki at all, especially since Loki was wielding the Mind Stone scepter. But Tony had other plans in mind.

After a brief exchange of blows, Tony lost cleanly and was ruthlessly shoved off the ledge of the skyscraper by Loki, plunging hundreds of stories down.

Just as Tony was in a state of rapid freefall, a massive hand scooped him out of mid-air. Luke had arrived piloting the Warlord.

The Warlord landed with a thunderous crash on the roof of Stark Tower, holding Tony high up in front of its face.

"I didn't need you to save me, I have my suit," Tony said, looking into the Warlord's eyes and letting out a sigh of relief. "Still, thanks."

"Don't mention it," Luke's voice replied, looking down as the Mark Seven flew a circle and returned.

"Put me down," Tony said, patting the Warlord's giant, clamp-like fingers.

This posture reminded him of some rather unpleasant memories...

True to form, Luke obligingly let go of his grip and stopped paying attention to him, walking straight out of the cockpit door.

"Whoa—" Tony let out an exclamation.

Keep in mind, the Warlord stood a full six meters tall; dropping from it was equivalent to falling from the second story. Fortunately, the Mark Seven caught him just in time.

The brand-new Iron Man made a dazzling entrance.

Speechless, Tony glanced at the brat who had waltzed off into his tower, only to see Luke wave a finger at him without looking back: "Leave this to me."

Without hesitation, Iron Man looked up, jets of fire roaring beneath his boots as he shot straight into the sky. Up above, on the other side of the gateway lay the pitch-black cosmos, where an endless army of Chitauri continued to pour relentlessly into Earth.

"War mode engaged."

Inside the iron armor, the blue interface before Tony instantly turned blood red, and every weapon on his body fired simultaneously.

Dazzling fireballs exploded continuously across the sky above the tower. Moments later, Tony was quickly swallowed by the tsunami-like horde of Chitauri soldiers...

On the top floor of the tower, Luke looked up briefly, walked inside without a word, and soon found Loki.

"Loki, hand the scepter over to me," Luke said with a serious little face, holding out his hand.

For some reason, the moment Loki saw Luke walk in, he felt a sudden, slight chill between his legs.