I sparked a mysterious resurgence in Marvel.

Chapter 501 The Cracked Vibranium Shield

The vibranium shield... is cracked?

Upon witnessing this scene, not only was Steve heartbroken, but even Erin, the mastermind behind it all, was taken aback.

Although the Nightmare Sword can cut through everything tangible and intangible, possessing abilities close to "rules," it can even directly sever conceptual curses and blessings.

But that refers to the power of the Nightmare Sword within a dream world.

In reality, the Nightmare Sword is not only significantly less powerful, but the cost of wielding it also increases exponentially.

Even so.

The fact that the Nightmare Sword could cleave a hole in the vibranium shield, which was almost known as the "strongest shield," was something Erin hadn't expected.

Realizing that the Nightmare Sword was more powerful than he had imagined, Erin flicked his finger.

Around the masked man who had just shattered the vibranium shield in mid-air, dreamlike ripples immediately spread again.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

next second.

A dozen small missiles pierced through the masked man's dreamlike body and, with a deafening roar, shattered a row of large trees along the Hudson River into pieces.

A loud explosion.

This instantly triggered a series of screams along the Hudson River.

The crowd, already scrambling to retreat because of the intense gunfire, ran even faster after hearing the bursts of explosions.

The way they were frantically running away made them wish their parents would give them two more legs.

······

"You think you can hurt me with just these things?"

After a cold laugh, the masked man flashed through the air at incredible speed, rushing towards Tony, who had just flown out of the Hudson River.

I saw the masked man raise the small, colorful sword again.

Steve's pupils contracted sharply. Forgetting even to mourn his old buddy, he immediately shouted at Tony, "Danger! Get out of the way! That sword can cut through vibranium shields!"

"What?"

Not far away, Tony, who had just raised his right hand and activated his palm cannon, intending to deliver a powerful blow to the masked man, was startled when he heard Steve's warning.

Vibranium is one of the hardest materials known in the world.

The vibranium shield in Captain America's hand was designed by his father, Howard Stark, at the request of the Federation military. It took a long time to design and create a super shield that maximized the properties of vibranium in the most scientific way.

Because of its ability to absorb kinetic energy, it's no exaggeration to say that this vibranium shield boasts the world's best defensive capabilities.

In theory.

Even a nuclear explosion couldn't destroy that vibranium shield.

But now, it was easily cleaved by that small, colorful sword.

In terms of strength and materials, Tony's current Mark armor is not even as good as the vibranium shield.

Since that colorful little sword could cut through the vibranium shield, it could also easily pierce through the Mark armor and then through itself, which was encased in the Mark armor.

Almost instantly realizing how dangerous the colorful little sword thrusting towards him was, Tony Stark's expression changed drastically. In a flash, the two thrusters beneath his feet suddenly emitted two deep blue flames, instantly lifting Tony's body several meters upwards.

He barely avoided the masked man's colorful little sword.

Tony immediately retreated at top speed, creating distance between himself and the masked man.

At the same time, a series of exploding bullets were fired from the shoulder of the Mark armor.

Boom boom boom!

Before they could even get close to the masked man, the exploding bullets were detonated directly under Jarvis's control.

A series of violent explosions dispersed some of the dreamlike ripples around the masked man.

The masked man, who was rushing toward Tony at top speed, involuntarily slowed down.

"This trick works."

Inside the Mark armor, looking at the series of data comparisons appearing before his eyes, he realized that the explosion of the exploding shells or bombs could effectively affect the masked man.

Tony raised the left arm of the Mark armor and fired a Hellfire missile.

"one."

"Jarvis, detonate."

Based on Jarvis's calculations, Tony remotely detonated the small Hellfire missile the instant it approached the masked man.

boom!

A deafening explosion resounded through the sky.

The glass within a radius of hundreds of meters was shattered by the shockwave generated by the Hellfire missile.

A mushroom cloud, tens of meters in diameter, rose from the center of the explosion.

······

Watching the mushroom cloud rising from the Hudson River.

This caused not only the onlookers to flee, but even the NYPD, who had already retreated to a distance, to begin a strategic retreat under Chief Dave's orders.

Along the Hudson River, New Yorkers who had just experienced several major battles a few months earlier rushed to air-raid shelters, subway stations, and other refuge places as soon as they heard the "familiar" explosion.

The sheer number of synchronized movements was heartbreaking.

Amidst the surging crowds.

Ozas and the other Skrulls, who took advantage of the chaos to blend into the crowd, brought the Skrulls' talents to their fullest potential.

In no time at all.

They changed their appearance and, like a drop of water flowing into the ocean, "disappeared" into the vast sea of ​​people.

······

"Did you hit it?"

After rushing to a figurative stone sculpture, Steve, who used the sculpture to offset some of the impact of the explosion, looked at the mushroom cloud rising in the sky and couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

On the other side...

Tony Stark, who was also watching the mushroom cloud, had a solemn expression on his face. His Mark armor emitted beams of infrared light, constantly scanning the mushroom cloud not far away.

"Jarvis, still no luck?"

Jarvis: "I'm sorry, sir, no biological traces were detected at the center of the explosion."

Jarvis detected no trace of any living creature, but that doesn't mean the mysterious masked man was obliterated by the Hellfire missile.

When the ripples appeared around the mysterious masked man, Jarvis seemed to be affected by some unknown interference and was also unable to detect the other party's presence.

and so.

Upon hearing Jarvis's reply, Tony frowned slightly, then raised his right palm cannon, aimed it at the densely packed center of the explosion, and commanded Jarvis:

"Jarvis, enter energy storage mode, energy level 50%."

Jarvis: "Yes, sir."

After activating the Palm Cannon's charging mode, Tony, still not satisfied, lit up a set of combined runes engraved on the right arm of the Mark armor, adding them to the Palm Cannon that was ready to fire.

This set of runes has only one effect: burst.

After being enhanced by runes, the palm cannon will gain an additional explosive attribute the moment it is launched, adding to its power.

This set of runes is not difficult to inscribe, but it is one of the runes that Tony believes is most suitable for the Mark armor.

·······

After the smoke and dust cleared.

Tony, who had been waiting in ambush, did not see the mysterious masked man after the smoke cleared.

Where are they?

Tony didn't believe that the dangerous mysterious man from before could be killed by a single Hellfire missile he fired.

That thing.

Even Hulk's body surface defenses couldn't be broken.

After failing to find the guy he wanted to see after the smoke cleared, Tony maneuvered the Mark armor to climb higher and higher, looking down from above in an attempt to find any trace of the masked man.

After searching again from his vantage point, whether with the naked eye, infrared scanning, or even radar detection, Tony still couldn't find the dangerous masked man from before.

As if appearing out of nowhere, the masked man used the smoke and dust from the explosion to disappear silently from their sight.

Although they didn't find the mysterious masked man, they were worried that he might be feinting and then suddenly launch a surprise attack once they lowered their guard.

Tony remained vigilant.

They remained on alert high in the air for a long time.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief and flew down from mid-air only after the troops dispatched by the Department of Defense arrived.

Tony had just landed.

Because she was confused about the situation, Natasha, who hadn't made a move from beginning to end, came over with Steve, who had also been searching without success.

Steve was still tightly gripping the vibranium shield that had been slashed open.

After walking over to Tony, Steve asked, "Can't find that guy?"

Steve's eyes blazed with fury as he lightly traced the notch in the shield with his fingertips.

This shield has been Steve's old partner through thick and thin, going through countless battles with him. In the past, even when it was bombarded by cannonballs, it would only lose a layer of paint. But now, someone has cut a hole in it.

If that masked man hadn't run away, even if he wasn't a match for him, Steve would have done everything he could to deliver a powerful punch to the guy's face.

Upon hearing this, Tony, who had activated the Mark armor's visor, first glanced at the notch in Steve's shield, then shook his head gravely: "I had Jarvis check all the surrounding cameras, but we still haven't found any trace of that guy. He just appeared suddenly and then mysteriously disappeared again."

"disappear?"

Natasha, who was standing nearby, asked, "Could it be that the guy was injured by that missile and then took the opportunity to escape? Those exploding shells you fired earlier had some effect on him. Even if that masked man is very strong, he wouldn't be completely unharmed after withstanding a powerful missile. Otherwise, he wouldn't have disappeared."

After exchanging a glance with Steve, Tony said, "It's not impossible, but it would be best to let that guy Erin do a divination."

"Erin?" Upon hearing this, Natasha paused slightly, then, as if realizing something, quickly said, "He's still here?"

"Of course I'm here. I even called Tony and Captain America."

Before Tony and the others could speak, Natasha heard Erin's voice.

Then he turned his head slightly.

Natasha and the other two then saw Erin, carrying a Skrull in each hand, walking towards them from a short distance away.

Ok?

Tony's eyes lit up when he saw the two bright green things in Erin's hands from afar.

Because of the masked man's intervention, the two Skrull corpses that were on the ground were taken away by Ozas, who was fleeing in a sorry state.

Because they feared the masked man who might be hiding in the shadows and could strike at any moment.

Tony and his team didn't have time to deal with the escaped Skrulls for the time being. By the time everything was over, those guys from Ozas had long since disappeared.

Although Jarvis managed to capture the location where they last disappeared by hacking into the cameras.

But given the Skrulls' ability to disguise themselves, they only need to change their appearance a few times, making it as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack for them to find these guys again.

Tony had initially thought they had botched the operation.

I never expected that Erin would capture two Skrulls without a word.

And judging from the looks of it, those two guys are still alive.

"Well done."

After giving a compliment, Tony stepped forward and examined the two Skrulls that Erin had thrown on the ground for a while before looking up and saying, "Where did these two come from? I remember the others all ran away in the chaos."

After throwing the two Skrulls to the ground, Erin dusted off imaginary dust from his hands and said, "These two guys were the drivers. They weren't with the other Skrulls. When I saw them realize something was wrong and try to escape in the chaos, I just used [Despairing Gaze] to knock them unconscious."

[A dejected stare]?

This wasn't the first time he'd met Erin. Was it the ability Erin had used on him?

According to Erin, he had gone easy on him back then out of respect for Pepper.

Otherwise, if he went all out, he could have used that ability to turn his own brain into mush.

Recalling the pain he had endured, Tony's lips twitched involuntarily.

After explaining one sentence.

Erin then ignored Tony, who was lost in his memories, and walked over to the somewhat silent Captain America.

Looking at the gap in the vibranium shield, Erin said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Captain. I just wanted you to come and help me out, but I didn't expect there to be such a dangerous guy among those Skrulls who actually managed to cut your shield."

Hearing this, Steve shook his head: "The battlefield is ever-changing; no one knows what will happen next."

At this point, a bitter look appeared on Steve's face. "Don't even mention you, I never thought that one day someone would be able to cut my old buddy with a sword."

Seeing the bitter expression on Steve's face, Erin said, "I happen to know a few highly skilled masters. If the captain trusts me, you can give me this shield, and I can have those masters try to repair it."

Can this old thing still be repaired?

Steve's eyes lit up when he heard this.

(End of this chapter)