Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Bucky struggled for a moment on the ground, then called out Steve's name from his hoarse throat.

“Steve…”

Bucky! You're back!

Steve helped Bucky up and was about to check on his brother when Bucky pushed him away.

"Run! Steve! It's a trap! They are..."

“Desire, Rust, Seventeen, Dawn, Furnace, Nine, Mercy, Homecoming, One, Truck”

The Russian words coming from the radio rendered any further words that Baki wanted to say meaningless.

These are Pakistan's brainwashing instructions. Upon hearing these Russian words, Pakistan will obey the instructions and descend into rage, just like it is now.

Bucky, whom Steve was supporting, slammed his fist into Steve and began desperately trying to kill him.

Caught off guard, Steve was knocked unconscious by Bucky.

When Steve woke up again, he found himself in a laboratory, where alloy locks bound him to a lab bed.

Laboratory personnel came and went around him, constantly drawing bodily fluids from him and injecting other fluids.

Steve tried to struggle, but found that he had no strength at all.

A woman's hand gently brushed across Steve's face. Lady Viper appeared beside Steve and said, "Don't try it. My venom isn't so easy to resist. What a strong body. I'd like to taste it myself..."

Baron Strucker, carrying the Mind Scepter, used his monoculars to examine Steve's physical data and stopped Lady Viper.

"Stop playing around, we need to speed things up. Mind modification takes a long time."

Steve looked around at the people and yelled, "What did you do to Bucky?!"

Strucker looked around, then asked in confusion, "Bucky? Who's Bucky?"

Madam Viper lit a cigarette, slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, and said, "That bait that lured him in, the Winter Soldier, didn't you even read the mission report?"

"Uh (o﹏O), let's continue the experiment."

Baron Strucker operated the equipment beside him, explaining everything to Steve in a manner reminiscent of a villain's pre-victory rhetoric.

"Ever since we stole that alien scepter, we've been waiting for this opportunity. And who has more appeal than Captain America?"

Moreover, we previously obtained the stone tablet leading to the Hydra god. The Hive, imprisoned on an alien planet, was too weak and lacked a suitable body. So we thought of you, the first super soldier in history.

Imagine Captain America's identity combined with the Hive's abilities—the power to rally ordinary people while controlling all the Inhumans. What an immense power that would be!

Baron Strickland inserted the Mind Scepter into the mechanical arm and aimed it at Steve on the test bench.

"Imagine such a person becoming the new leader under Hydra's control!"

"And you! You are the vessel of our will, the new Hydra captain!"

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Chapter 432: Lara and Lothric in Space

In the universe, ever since the emergence of the Lothric Expeditionary Force, the entire galaxy has known of this formidable and unparalleled army.

The expeditionary commander, known as Lorian, conquered planet after planet with a greatsword that burned with flames.

The other, who appeared somewhat frail and was known as the Nameless One, would have all the Lothric Expeditionary Forces on the battlefield healed from any wounds, or even be resurrected, when the light belonging to Lothric shone from his hands.

The iconic dragoons of the Lothric Expedition, with their invincible lightning greatswords, and their fearless army, along with their massive warships carrying cathedrals, became another rising empire in the galaxy.

In the past, the galaxy was divided by three major empires, which, along with some smaller, powerful planets, formed the basic system of the galaxy (primarily the cinematic universe).

The Kree are like a spicy, brittle creature in the universe, extremely aggressive. After defeating their archenemy, the Skrulls, they, under the command of the Supreme Intelligence, have been conquering every inch of the outside world.

The Xandarian Star Legion, or as they are known, the Nova Legion. Initially, the Nova Legion consisted of Xandarian space militia and exploration groups, but it later grew into a force of five hundred men, ranging from medics to centurions.

After reforms, the Nova Corps was led and supervised by Nova Centurions, who also allocated the infinite energy generated by the supercomputer life form Worldmind according to the Nova members.

The Shia Empire is a humanoid race possessing characteristics of both birds and mammals. They established a galactic-wide empire in the so-called Shia system, using the Awakening, a ship aboard an eagle's nest, as their home planet. However, due to their remote location, no one can reach the Shia system without guidance, so their name is only known to a few ancient figures and high-ranking individuals.

The arrival of Lothric has now disrupted the peace.

The Nova Corps, being the cosmic benefactors, only calls on Lothric to prioritize peace and avoid creating more tragedies.

As for the Shi'ar Empire, there was absolutely no news from them.

Therefore, the Kree were the ones who clashed most with Lothric.

Lothric clashed with the Kree multiple times, both openly and covertly, even inflicting heavy losses on the Kree troops and habitable planets at one point.

This also sparked dissenting voices within the Kree ranks. Ronan the Accuser, the Kree commander who had previously fought against Lothric, was expelled from Kree-controlled systems under a pretext.

Anyone with eyes can see that no exiled person could afford to use a Kree super warship—the Dark Star. This isn't expulsion; it's clearly the Kree seeking a breakthrough.

Ronan the Accuser roams various star systems, attacking other small subplanet regimes for supplies while constantly causing more trouble for the Lothric Expeditionary Force.

At the same time, Ronan also began searching for the primordial power of the universe, attempting to break the strategic stalemate.

Morag, a planet that once possessed a highly advanced civilization, was later abandoned for unknown reasons.

Lara Croft, a former Earth adventurer, has now landed on this planet aboard the Jackdaw.

Lara, on the bridge, holding an electronic map and comparing it to the star map, said without looking up, "Jonah, check the status of the Jackdaw and scan the planet's surface for any remaining structures."

Ross, the driver, watched Laura get into work mode, leaned against the rudder, and slowly lit a cigar and took a puff.

The cigar smoke drifted to Laura's side, and the sweet aroma made her look up. She said, "Uncle Ross, aren't you going back to Earth to be with Reyes and the children?"

“I was 52 years old when I found out I had a child. I could easily manage my single life before. But now, I have to take care of Alyssa’s school life. Reyes is already tired enough as a mother. I need to earn more money to create a better life for them.”

At this point, Ross seemed to remember something, extinguished his cigar, and put it back in his breast pocket.

Seeing Ross's actions, Laura felt a little sorry for him and asked, "Really? You're even smoking a cigar separately now?"

"Every little bit helps. If we really find that cosmic orb, how much of a bounty can we get?"

After reviewing the news and internal information from various sources, Laura said, "It depends. The collector from the Land of Ignorance offered 40 billion, while Ronan the Accuser offered the coordinates of a habitable planet, though taxes would have to be paid to the Kree Empire. Lothric offered 2 million along with a batch of wedge-shaped metal that is priceless and unavailable."

Laura shrugged at Ross as she finished speaking.

The name Lothric is already known to everyone on Earth, and now there is also a Lothric expeditionary force in the universe. It is self-evident who Lara wants to make a deal with.

After all, we're all from the same hometown, so it's better to be familiar with each other before we start cooperating. Besides, if there's anything fishy going on in Lothric, Lara can go back to Earth and complain. If all else fails, we can bring out the Greedy One; we're all in the Earth's business world anyway, and it wouldn't be good for our reputations to be ruined.

Just then, Jonah, who had been inspecting the ship, rushed back and said, "We're not the only ones here! The external probes have detected a battle that just took place on this planet!"

Laura and Ross exchanged a glance and quickly took their positions.

"Activate all defense systems. Get Jorge to gunner position. Ross, prepare to set sail!"

The Jackdaw instantly entered a state of combat readiness. As a sailing ship, the Jackdaw was now at a level that surpassed most warships in the universe, and it instantly reached the maximum speed in the atmosphere.

The Jackdaw rushed toward the location of the battle, only to see the silhouette of a six-winged spaceship, resembling a falcon, entering the warp portal.

Ross checked the spatial information returned by the Jackdaw and said, "Laura, that's the fixed passage to Xandar! However, we have another problem!"

On the ground, the Kree who had also found the location began firing indiscriminately at the Jackdaw.

The ship that had just entered the warp portal belonged to Star-Lord Peter Quill of the Marauders. He had learned from the Marauders' intelligence that the Orb of Destiny was a high-value target.

Yondu the Raider was his foster father and captain, but for twenty years, Star-Lord lived under Yondu's threat: "If it weren't for me, they would have eaten you long ago. They haven't eaten any humans yet."

Star-Lord attempted to find the Orb of Truth first, hoping to obtain a large sum of money and escape from the Raiders. However, while searching for the Orb, he engaged in combat with the later-arriving Kree forces.

Star-Lord escaped the planet using the skills he honed among the Marauders.

Later, Lara took the brunt of the Kree's incompetent rage on behalf of Star-Lord.

The Jackdaw's energy shield withstood the Kree fire. Lara glanced at it, shrugged, and said, "Looks like we're going to miss out on a planet! Jonah, fire!"

Under the firepower of the Jackdaws, the Kree could only keep hiding.

Ross seized the opportunity, activated the Jackdaw's warp portal, and followed in Star-Lord's footsteps to Xandar.

Xandar is one of the few peaceful places in the universe. Apart from occasional friction with the Kree, as a benevolent planet in the universe, anyone can live peacefully here as long as they do not violate the laws of the Nova Corps.

Star-Lord, carrying his Sony Walkman TPS-L2 cassette player that hadn't broken in twenty years, was making his way to the broker's location with a dance that left others nowhere to hide.

The broker from Xandar had originally hired Yondu the Raider to find the Orb of the Universe, and was somewhat surprised to meet Star-Lord, one of Yondu's crew members.

"Yondu wasn't with you?"

"He originally wanted to come in person, but could only offer his greetings. He said your eyebrows are the coolest among all your peers in the universe..."

Star-Lord used his own methods to flatter him, and the broker ignored the fact that Star-Lord had come alone, and began to examine the Sphere.

However, the broker didn't tell Star-Lord the actual value of the cosmic orb; he just wanted to get rid of Star-Lord with a small sum of money and then keep the collector's four billion reward for himself.

Just as the broker laid out the unique equivalent on the table, Star-Lord suddenly asked, "What is this thing? I risked my life to get it..."

"There are risks involved in your line of work; I can't disclose client information..."

"A mechanical skull, claiming to be one of Ronan's men, is also looking for it..."

Star-Lord was interrupted by the broker before he could finish speaking.

"Ronan?"

The broker panicked. Compared to the collector's four billion, Ronan posed a greater threat. Faced with the choice between money and his life, the broker wisely chose to save his own.

Now that we've already met with Star-Lord, it's only a matter of time before we confront him.

The broker had no intention of making a deal with Ronan; that Kree madman was insane! Only a fool would believe the words of a madman!

The broker shoved the Orb back into Star-Lord's arms, then pushed him out of his house, saying, "Since Ronan is involved, I won't get involved..."

As Star-Lord backed away, he shouted, "Who is Ronan?"

“A Kree madman is wanted by Lothric. He won’t rest until Lothric kills him, even if Xandar is destroyed!”

Star-Lord, locked out, was still pondering the broker's words. He had no idea that he was now being watched by multiple parties.

Jonah was savoring a bizarre Xandarian delicacy—the flesh of a void creature. Cooked to perfection, each bite was accompanied by the void creature's dying wails. It was as if he were crawling on the void's body, enjoying its raw, unadulterated flavor.

As Jonah stuffed food into his mouth, he turned to Laura, who was looking at the scenery beside him, and asked, "Should we take it back from that guy?"

Seeing an elderly Earthling embracing a beautiful young alien woman, Laura shook her head and said, "In a sense, our archaeological discoveries are already a step behind others, so this is someone else's achievement. Morally speaking, we cannot preemptively register or publish it..."

"But he was robbed..."

"It's wrong for others to steal archaeological discoveries... What did you say?"