Chapter 147: Nuclear Strike Incoming

When the Avengers heard that three nuclear missiles had already been launched and were about to fall overhead, their hearts sank.

The blast power of three nuclear bombs was enough to level the entire city of New York!

The Avengers received orders to stop them at all costs!

But how could they stop them?

“Stark, did you hear that? Three nuclear missiles are coming your way. Can you handle it?” Egghead’s anxious voice crackled over the comms, accompanied by intense gunfire.

Tony Stark’s Mark VII armor was battered and scarred. He had just managed to break free from a group of Chitauri soldiers, soaring into the sky. Watching the trajectories of the three incoming nuclear missiles on his display, his face darkened.

J.A.R.V.I.S. predicted that the missiles would hit New York in under a minute.

“I can help!” Thor flew up and landed beside Tony.

“We each take one! I know where to send them,” Tony said, glancing up at the dimensional portal overhead.

“And what about the third one?” Thor asked.

Both were at a loss. Among the Avengers, only the two of them could fly, but this mission required three people to handle three missiles simultaneously.

Just then, a sonic boom shattered the air above New York, the crack of supersonic flight echoing through the city.

“Miss me?” Luke’s youthful voice came over the Avengers’ comm channel.

Whether it was Tony, Black Widow and the others on the ground, or Egghead fiercely battling Hydra aboard the mothership, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing Luke’s voice.

The kid had returned at just the right moment!

“We each take one missile and send them through the portal. We need to find a way to close the portal afterward—otherwise, the aftershock of the explosions could still come through,” Tony said rapidly.

“I can close it. Natasha, I’m coming to get you now. Be ready,” Luke said over the channel.

The War Machine thundered down to the ground. Luke handed Loki’s scepter to Black Widow, then helped her climb onto the mech’s palm. He planned to fly her to the top of Stark Tower so she could shut the portal.

Luke made this decision without hesitation.

In this city were people who cared for him, and whom he cared for in return. He couldn’t let anything happen to them.

With everything ready, Tony and Thor headed toward the incoming nuclear missiles.

Each of them grasped one massive missile midair, straining every muscle to alter their trajectories. Tony’s Iron Man suit concentrated all its power into propulsion, while Thor summoned the full might of Asgardian strength.

The two missiles barely grazed the New York skyline as their trajectories shifted, then shot straight upward into the high atmosphere.

Luke’s task was much easier by comparison.

War Machine was far larger than the nuclear missiles. Operating the mech, Luke reached out and grasped the missile aimed at Stark Tower. He ignited full thrust, rocketing after Tony and Thor.

The three of them, each carrying a missile, flew through the portal into the void of outer space.

Luke saw the environment around them suddenly change. The endless blackness of space was studded with sparkling stars, but near the portal entrance loomed five massive Chitauri motherships—colossal X-shaped space fortresses continuously expelling Leviathans and an endless tide of Chitauri soldiers.

Tony, Thor, and Luke instinctively adjusted their missiles’ targeting systems.

Then, each aimed their missile at one of the three Chitauri motherships and released their grip.

Tony’s Mark VII suit gradually lost power in the vacuum of space, its armor frosting over.

Luke’s mech faced similar challenges.

Watching the missiles head toward the motherships, Luke’s control panel displayed that the mech’s two main thrusters had already shut down; only a few auxiliary thrusters remained functional.

The hostile environment of space severely impaired the mech's operation. Neither War Machine nor Whirlwind had been designed for outer space combat. At this point, War Machine had less than half its power left.

Thor, by contrast, was unharmed, his Asgardian physiology naturally suited to the vacuum of space.

The three were pulled by Earth’s faint gravity, rapidly falling back toward the portal entrance. Luke pushed the mech to accelerate as much as possible.

At that moment, the three nuclear missiles struck the Chitauri motherships simultaneously.

In the eerie silence of space, each mothership erupted in an expanding fireball. The dazzling nuclear explosions became like three sudden suns, illuminating the surrounding void.

The blazing fireballs quickly grew, engulfing the motherships and consuming the Chitauri soldiers in their paths, expanding further into the darkness.

Those on the ground could even look up and see the nuclear fireballs within the portal.

At this rate, the nuclear blast’s force would soon pass through the portal and reach Earth’s side.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the three to return.

But they did not appear.

“Shut it down,” Captain Steve Rogers said gravely to Black Widow over the comms.

With the explosions about to reach their side, there was no more time to wait.

“Please, please…” Black Widow whispered, staring up into the sky. She knew they couldn’t wait any longer.

She raised the scepter and plunged it fiercely into the Tesseract. The scepter’s tip pierced the energy barrier, striking the Tesseract directly. The Tesseract’s power source abruptly ceased, and the blue beam shooting skyward vanished in an instant.

The energy-starved portal began to close rapidly.

Black Widow gazed upward, murmuring, “Please, please…”

Two small black dots appeared one after another at the shrinking portal entrance—Tony and Thor had returned.

Thor landed heavily beside Captain America, carrying the unconscious Tony on his shoulder.

Their eyes turned once again to the portal entrance.

The portal was about to close completely.

“It’s too late,” Thor said, his expression grave.

Luke, staring at the rapidly shrinking window, gritted his teeth. He had used all remaining thrust, but it wasn’t enough. The speed was still too slow!

If this continued, even if War Machine passed through, it wouldn’t make it intact—the mech was too large and would be cut in half.

At that moment, the Four Roses realized the severity of the situation.

“General, don’t worry about us. Separate the mech!” Amytan said calmly.

“General, hurry!” Anaka urged.

Rozanna shouted over the channel, “General, get out now!”

Obia called softly, “General…”

Luke’s only chance was to detach War Machine’s head and pilot it back as Whirlwind.

But Luke refused to consider this option.

War Machine suddenly slowed.

Then, it stopped.

Over the comms came Luke’s sigh, followed by a smile in his voice: “I won’t abandon you again.”

The last sliver of the portal window closed.

Before Luke was only endless black space.

Behind him, the expanding nuclear fireball engulfed War Machine…