Chapter 151 — Half a Set of Infinite Stones Destroyed
Theother's all-out punch fell on empty air.
His attack passed straight through Wang Huai'an's body without affecting him in the slightest.
"Is this how you people greet someone?"
Wang Huai'an locked eyes with theother and said, teasing.
That insolent, unshakable poise sent a violent shudder through theother's heart.
He tried to flee, only to find his body would not move.
Time seemed to have stopped altogether.
He could only watch as Wang Xu reached out, bent his index finger slightly, and flicked him lightly on the forehead.
Bang!
Theother was sent flying, his body embedded in the wall.
Blood streamed from every orifice.
The formidable vitality of his cybernetic modifications kept him from dying on the spot despite his grievous injuries.
"Hm?"
Ego's pupils contracted, and the easy expression on his face slowly hardened.
He had misjudged.
His pride stung, Ego was about to act, only for Wang Linchuan to flicker instantly before him and slap him to his knees on the ground.
"How is this possible? A mere ordinary human…"
How could the man do such a thing?
How dare he do such a thing!"
Ego was furious beyond measure.
Such utter humiliation was more than he could bear!
He wanted to strike back, only to find he could not summon an ounce of strength from anywhere in his body.
His hands and legs were weak, as though he were an ordinary Midgardian stricken with myasthenia gravis.
In the instant he struck, Wang Xu had deconstructed the power core of that body.
"This business of external avatars—it is never the true body, in the end."
Wang Xu regarded Ego with amusement, a trace of mockery surfacing at the corner of his mouth: "Piling up raw power means nothing to me."
Ego's true form was not human at all, but an existence akin to a planet.
This body of his was merely an external avatar.
Even so, Ego in human form still possessed strength surpassing all but the vast majority of the Eternals.
That Wang Linchuan had defeated him with a single slap proved not that he was weak, only that he had chosen the wrong opponent.
Against a warrior at the cosmic pinnacle like Thanos, Ego could hold his own for several exchanges.
Yet against Wang Xu, he was instantly rendered utterly powerless.
At that moment, a brilliant golden light blazed forth from Wang Huai'an's chest.
An oval gemstone revealed its true form.
"You miscalculated!"
Theother, whom Wang Xu had seemingly obliterated in an instant, struggled out of the wall with a wild laugh.
The smile on his face was twisted like a demon's, steeped in relish: "So, how does it taste to have your will corroded by the Mind Stone?"
As a wily old schemer, theother never trusted anyone.
Even Ego, whose power far exceeded his own, could not win his confidence.
Facts had proven theother's judgment correct.
A lion puts forth its full strength even against a rabbit, precisely to avoid capsizing in a ditch.
That seemingly ordinary punch of his had concealed other means as well.
The Mind Stone!
Its uses were boundless: it could let its wielder enter the minds of others, and let all dreams, thoughts, and ideas flow into the wielder's brain.
Even the slightest touch could alter a mind according to the wielder's will.
In theother's estimation, Wang Xu might be absurdly strong, but he had still been defeated by his hand.
Even if he could resist by sheer willpower, how long could he hold out?
Three seconds? Five?
Thanks to theother's rescue, Ego had regained his strength.
He rose to his feet, eyes fixed greedily on the Mind Stone, and said in an unfriendly tone: "This is what you promised to give me. You cannot use it as you please."
Freed, he felt not a shred of gratitude—instead he blamed his teammate.
"Of course. That was merely a precaution."
A humble smile surfaced on theother's face, yet in his eyes lurked the deepest malice.
If the man were not still of use…
"So this is an Infinity Stone!"
"The six primordial powers of the universe have actually appeared on Midgard."
"This planet is very interesting. It is worth my conquest!"
Ego wore the smile of a victor.
He reached out, intending to dig from Wang Xu's heart that golden gem radiating endless glory.
His presumptuous hand was suddenly seized in an iron grip.
Wang Xu, who by all rights should have lost all reason, now had clear, lucid eyes—nothing like a man under control.
Ego's first reaction was that his teammate had betrayed him.
He spun around and roared in fury: "Theother!"
"Tsk… magnificent."
Wang Xu smacked his lips, having enjoyed a fine show.
The coupling of conspiracy and tyranny was like the love between a whore and a john—turned sour in the blink of an eye.
"Though, to be fair, this really has nothing to do with him."
Wang Xu clutched the golden Infinity Stone and said casually: "Using the Mind Stone against me—how is that any different from supplying the enemy?"
The Time Stone and the Space Stone had both become nourishment for his comprehension of the laws. As for the truth of the Infinity Stones in the Marvel dimension, he knew it better than anyone.
His index finger and thumb exerted a slight force…
Crack!
The Mind Stone burst apart, dissolving into golden quicksand that vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no physical remnant behind.
Thus, half of the six Infinity Stones of the Marvel dimension were destroyed by Wang Xu.
The cosmic truths contained within the Infinity Stones were absorbed, remembered, and understood by him, truly transformed into his own power.
Wang Xu's lips curved upward slightly, his mood buoyant: "Far more refined than the mind control of the Kotoamatsukami or the X-gene—it is like the distilled wisdom of an entire civilization devoted to the cultivation of the mind."
After analyzing the Mind Stone, his psychic power had grown by only sixty percent, yet his mastery of the related Nengzhi Yuan had advanced enormously, becoming all the more subtle and pervasive.
Now, with a single thought, he could alter the thoughts and beliefs of every living being on a planet in the Marvel universe.
"You… you actually destroyed an Infinity Stone!"
Theother's pupils contracted in an instant, his breathing ragged, his face frozen in stupefaction.
He seemed, for a moment, unable to accept the outcome.
Coming back to himself, theother shrieked hysterically: "You're finished! Thanos will never let you off! You have no idea what you've done! You destroyed his dream—he will kill you for certain!"
In that moment, reason fled his body; the calm he had barely maintained was torn to shreds by a chaotic flood of thoughts.
Wang Xu cast him a cold glance and released his grip.
Ego was free again—free only in movement.
He turned, stared expressionlessly at theother, flickered instantly to his side, and drove punch after punch into the man's face.
"Bastard! You—"
Theother struggled helplessly, like a newborn infant before a two-meter-tall, muscle-bound brute.
He realized that Ego, whom he had regarded as his temporary patron, had been completely brought to heel by Wang Xu.
"How can this be? It's impossible!"
The Mind Stone had clearly been destroyed!
On what grounds could Wang Xu possibly keep Ego under control?
"Heh heh heh..."
In his despair, the other wore a sinister, uncanny smile, letting out a broken, halting laugh.
"This is nothing but a clone of Ego. His true body will come for revenge against you!"
"To provoke both Ego and Thanos at once, you won't come to any good end!"