Heroes Return

……

A figure had already appeared at the entrance of the underground laboratory.

"Hahahaha! You know what? I really love it here!" Ivan's voice rang out at the entrance. "It's truly a very well-hidden secret base. If it weren't for the end of the gods, even I wouldn't have known that such a bomb capable of destroying a planet was hidden in the world! It's absolutely fantastic!"

"Evan!!" At the entrance of the underground laboratory, Leng Yan appeared immediately. Without any unnecessary words, blue flames covered the entire entrance.

However, at that moment, the flames were blocked by a man whose entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Your coldness is nothing special," the man said calmly, and the next second, a powerful burst of flame shot directly towards the door. At that very moment, all the defense mechanisms of the underground base activated simultaneously.

However, inside the underground base, a spatial portal suddenly opened, and a large number of warriors clad in golden armor rushed out, launching an attack on the superpowered individuals within the base. A fierce battle erupted inside the base.

"You know what? I really like your style, Cold Flame! Because you have the most secrets of all the heroes! And because of that, you also get the least support in times of crisis! Because you can't let anyone know about many of the things you do! Hahahaha! Like those bombs under our feet! Without a doubt, you made them in secret, didn't you?"

"Evan! How did you know I was making these preparations?" Leng Yan was actually very curious. After all, almost no one in the world knew about the weapons they were secretly developing. If so few people knew, how did Evan find out about all of this? At least Leng Yan believed that the secrecy measures were very good.

"I guessed, using my petty mind to speculate on what you heroes would do. After all, if I were a hero, I would definitely try to prepare a weapon to deal with the gods. Since divine power can't be analyzed, what is humanity's strongest weapon? That's right! It's the antimatter bomb! Hahahaha! But can an antimatter bomb really kill the gods? So I asked the gods about their weaknesses! When I learned that the gods absolutely cannot allow humanity to perish, I thought, maybe someone will use this to threaten the gods! Perhaps this is the only way, isn't it?" Ivan, on the other hand, immediately stated his thoughts without any concern: "Indeed, I seem to have guessed correctly!"

After saying this, a portal of light appeared in front of him, and he disappeared into it almost in the blink of an eye.

Because the plan was so well-hidden, very few people knew about it. Similarly, since so few knew about it, the combat strength here was naturally limited. The base was surrounded by numerous high-level, technologically advanced defensive barriers and antimatter energy weapons.

However, there is no doubt that this time the army of the gods entered the base through spatial teleportation.

"Damn it! The defensive barrier against spatial teleportation has completely lost its effectiveness!" Looking at the chaotic scene before him, the Master of Miracles said with a grim expression.

“That’s normal!” After catching an attack from a golden-armored warrior with a punch, Captain Justice finally spoke up: “Without a doubt, there must be a god among the gods who represents space. Although we took defensive measures, we were still ultimately defeated.”

As Captain Justice spoke, he was blasted away by the shield of a golden-armored warrior.

"Damn it, these guys are too strong!" Torus's greatsword struck another golden-armored warrior's weapon, and the golden-armored warrior actually withstood Torus's power for a moment.

"It seems their spatial magic isn't that powerful. Otherwise, they should have teleported directly into the core area of ​​the energy reaction!" Master of Miracles suddenly said. "At least their divine magic hasn't broken through the defenses there."

Within the core area, Shi Kong stood in the center of a magic circle. The girl was covered in fine beads of sweat. Although she appeared to be within the magic circle, in Shi Kong's view, she was in a strange, peculiar space.

Within this peculiar space, she saw countless gates. And beyond those gates, the girl saw countless radiant spheres, arranged haphazardly, their shapes completely indistinguishable.

The moment these spheres were seen, the spirit of spacetime began to experience severe tremors.

“These… are some kind of life!!!” Just as time and space had said, what was standing in front of her now was undoubtedly some kind of life, a life form composed of billions of radiant spheres that was completely incomprehensible.

These spheres moved in a regular pattern, and at the same time, spacetime saw many doors being opened. Among them, spacetime naturally found the door leading to the underground laboratory where she was located.

Naturally, there were also the deepest gates. But the moment he saw these gates, the expression on Time and Space's face finally changed. Almost instantly, those gates were blown up.

But then, a new door opened once more. It led to the deepest underground level where time and space existed, and this door, too, was blown up immediately.

For a moment, a stalemate ensued. Shikong didn't know why he had entered this space, but he was certain the other party was attempting to connect to something underground through some kind of spatial passage. However, since Shikong had already agreed to Leng Yan's request, he naturally wouldn't allow such a spatial portal to appear.

The opponent's abilities regarding time and space seemed far superior to his own. Time and space were certain of this, but unfortunately, they could sense that the opponent was imprisoned. This very state prevented the opponent from unleashing their full power against them. For a moment, a stalemate ensued.

……

Outside, the battle continued. With each fight, Leng Yan's body bore numerous wounds.

"Alright, the detonator in your body has been removed. You have no chance of winning." The man covered in flames calmly said to Leng Yan, who was lying on the ground. Beside him was a person dressed in a long dress who looked like a female mage.

Right before Leng Yan's eyes, a gigantic hand suddenly rose from the ground. This single hand lifted the entire underground research base from the earth. Seeing this, Leng Yan revealed a cold smile: "Control panel, how long can you hold out?"

"I'm sorry, we've been breached! We can only hold out for another half minute at most," a researcher in the core area said to Leng Yan through a walkie-talkie.

"I told you, your trump cards are no longer useful!"

"Is that so? Detonate the bomb in fifteen seconds!!" Leng Yan suddenly shouted at the control panel. Since he couldn't detonate the bomb himself, he'd let the control panel do it: "Stop or die together! The choice is yours!"

"Are you insane, human?" Upon hearing Leng Yan's words, all the enemies present were stunned. They had not expected Leng Yan to make such a decisive decision to activate the bomb.

Just when everyone was at a loss for what to do, Ivan's voice suddenly rang out.

"Since that's the case, then detonate the bomb! Ahahahahaha!" This voice not only reached the ears of the gods' army but also those of all the scientists in the defended central area: "How interesting! Let this world explode as the final anomaly game between Zero and me! Ahahahahaha! Very interesting! Playing a game with the lives of all humanity! Hopefully, Zero can save this explosion! Otherwise, everyone in the world will die! Also, those in the lab, you weren't originally supposed to die! You were on the gods' pardon list! Ahahahahaha! But if you're really willing to perish together and completely destroy all of humanity, then let's begin! Ahahahahahaha! Let's begin! Anyway, we won't stop!"

Upon hearing Ivan's words, not only the heroes and superhumans broke out in a cold sweat, but even the gods and their warriors outside were all drenched in cold sweat.

However, several seconds passed. The bomb still hadn't exploded. Thirty seconds later, the bomb still hadn't detonated.

Inside the core research lab, the person responsible for pressing the detonation button was trembling with his hands! Of course, not only were his hands trembling, but his entire body was shaking.

Even as Leng Yan made the decision, he hesitated. As a result, the Leng Yan bomb did not detonate at the time Leng Yan had requested. After all, what he held in his hands was a catastrophe that would lead to the extinction of all humanity. Thinking of his family, friends, and all of humanity, he simply didn't have the courage to press that button.

The core area fell silent. No one dared to step forward and press the button for him, and no one was willing to say a word. Leng Yan's plan had ultimately failed. He had considered many things, but not humanity.

Chapter 55

Ultimately, the explosion did not occur, not because the core personnel lacked the opportunity to press the detonation button, but because none of the core staff had the courage to do so. Faced with this change, Leng Yan's face finally showed a look of disappointment.

"Looks like you've failed. Prepare to die here!" A man engulfed in flames appeared before Leng Yan, his burning hand reaching down to grab at the immobilized Leng Yan. His purpose was simple: to completely incinerate Leng Yan.

But his attack was blocked by someone dressed as a superhuman. It was a person whose limbs had been replaced by metal prosthetics. Leng Yan naturally remembered this person; this was one of the criminals he had protected, wanted by the World Government—the so-called dark hero Leng Yan referred to.

As this person kicked the Flame Man's hand that was reaching for Cold Flame, a huge shadow suddenly stood up and lunged at the other people.

In the sky, the person wearing the special aircraft pointed at the people in front of him, and a sonic weapon powerful enough to destroy a building shot directly at the man covered in flames.

"Are you all here to die?" Leng Yan said coldly when he saw these people.

"How will you know if you don't try?" A young man appeared before Leng Yan. Powerful energy gathered around him, and his muscles bulged. Facing the fire giant attacking Leng Yan, he unexpectedly unleashed a palm strike. This strike, carrying immense force, swept across the area and blocked the fire giant's attack: "If you die, who will protect us criminals?"

"..." Hearing their words, Leng Yan fell into a brief silence. These were some of the stronger superhumans he protected. They had all become wanted criminals for various reasons, but without a doubt, in Leng Yan's eyes, they were not bad people; many even possessed a sense of justice and conscience. Therefore, Leng Yan recruited them to handle matters that couldn't be brought to the forefront and to deal with people who couldn't be punished by law.

Like the heroes who frequently appear in the news, these people also try to uphold justice through their own means, although most of these means are illegal.

What Leng Yan didn't expect was that the person he had taken in to facilitate his secret schemes would actually save his life in this situation. It was at this moment that Shi Kong's figure appeared beside Leng Yan.

"Space-Time! You should be protecting the core."

"No way! I can't beat that guy, and the core has already fallen." Time and Space tilted his head and said to Cold Flame, "Then I'll run away first! Otherwise, we'll all die!"

"..."

Right after the explosion, the spacetime defenses themselves were nearing their limit. Faced with that bizarre life form composed of countless bubbles, the spacetime felt completely suppressed in terms of time and space capabilities.

Just as the outer spacetime of the core area was completely suppressed, Captain Justice and the others finally couldn't hold on any longer. Ivan's figure appeared directly in the underground laboratory.

Protected by the golden-armored warriors, Evan walked straight down to the lowest level of the laboratory, easily overcoming almost all obstacles he encountered with the help of his divine power.

"I finally understand what it feels like for the gods to possess such overwhelming power as Zero. It's absolutely amazing!" Ivan said with a smile to everyone present. "Alright, let's take a look at our lovely researchers!"

Without a doubt, while everyone was attacking this place, Ivan was also making an extraordinary gamble! An extraordinary gamble that he couldn't possibly lose no matter what!

Ivan gambled on human nature, betting that the staff wouldn't actually activate the suicide switch as Leng Yan had suggested. Clearly, Ivan's gamble paid off! In this gamble, Ivan was ultimately the victor!

Of course, for Ivan, another ending also seems quite interesting. The antimatter bomb explodes, destroying the entire Earth! Could Zero still save everyone like a hero? This intrigued Ivan greatly! So much so that when Ivan entered the core area and saw the antimatter reactor, he repeatedly couldn't resist pressing the button that would utterly destroy the world.

"No! At least I can't press that button now! Hahahaha!! At least not now! My game with Zero has only just begun, it can't be time to reveal the result so soon!" While comforting himself like this, Ivan looked at the researchers around him who were staring at him with horrified eyes: "First of all, I want to congratulate you! Congratulations on not pressing that button! Congratulations on resisting the temptation to press it! Hahahaha! Congratulations on saving your lives! I'm not kidding! You scholars, as researchers, are all on the gods' pardon list! So you don't have to die! Hahahaha!"

After these words were spoken, the surrounding space began to become illusory, and the entire research institute was finally dug out by a giant hand. At the same time, the space within the hand began to become extremely unstable.

"Haha, they've started moving so quickly? To be honest, I can't wait to examine this new toy I got."

Of course, the space inside the base also began to become chaotic at this moment, and the surrounding scenery also began to change constantly.

"What on earth is going on?" Captain Justice, who had just punched an enemy, looked in shock at his own fist, which had appeared quite a distance away.

"The space is becoming unstable! It seems they're planning to teleport the entire antimatter reactor! If we stay here, we'll all be teleported away soon!" The Master of Miracles' voice rang out on everyone's walkie-talkies.

"It seems Cold Flame's plan has failed!" With a helpless sigh, Torus addressed everyone on the communicator: "Everyone, find a way to evacuate from here immediately! We need the help of spacetime! Master of Miracles, re-establish the connection between spacetime and the magic circle!"

"I understand!" The Master of Miracles simply replied.

Just as the girl in the special magic room suddenly sat down on the ground, looking at the magic circle burning on the ground, she couldn't help but tilt her head: "That guy is so dangerous!"

But the next second, the girl noticed the change in her surroundings.

"Time and Space! Are you alright? Get everyone out of the base as much as possible!" The Miracle Master's voice rang out over the walkie-talkie.

"I understand! But I can't send this base away! I thought it had been captured by something even more powerful!" Spacetime responded, and the next moment, a large number of Spacetime instances appeared around everyone and began to teleport the people in the underground base out one by one.

……

On the ground, a spacetime pair naturally appeared beside Leng Yan.

"Can you hold onto the reactor?" Leng Yan asked Time and Space once again, unwilling to give up.

"Impossible! Just teleporting people out is already my limit!" Time and Space tilted his head and thought for a moment before answering, "This space has been captured by that strange thing! It's stronger than me, so I can't pull this place back to its original world." Time and Space thought for a moment before answering.

"The original world? Is this my original world?"

"No! This is no longer our original world! Soon everything here will be gradually transferred to an unknown place," Time and Space replied once again.

"Time and Space! Teleport everyone out if possible." Hearing this, Leng Yan finally gave up on protecting the antimatter reactor and spoke directly to Time and Space.

"Do you think you can leave here?" Two beautiful women dressed in bed skirts, resembling female mages, spoke simultaneously to Leng Yan and the other human members present. At the same time, powerful magical energy erupted from their hands. Unfortunately, in that instant, Leng Yan and the others had vanished from their spot.

When everyone returned to the original location of the basement, they discovered that their underground experimental base had vanished, replaced by only a huge pit. Nothing remained except for the pit.

The only saving grace is that more than half of the superpowered individuals and all the researchers survived, albeit with numerous wounds. As for the rest who didn't make it out? Unfortunately, they were all killed in action.

Seeing this scene, Leng Yan looked coldly at the researchers in the research group!

At the same time, the researcher who was responsible for pressing the switch also met Leng Yan's gaze. Faced with Leng Yan's icy gaze, the researcher's tears almost immediately fell.

"Cold Flame!" Captain Justice and Master of Miracles arrived at Cold Flame's side, patting him on the shoulder on each side. Judging from Cold Flame's expression, it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly decided to kill the researchers in charge.

"The elimination of that extreme approach may not be a bad thing. And we're not entirely without hope! If that thing had really been activated, humanity would have had no hope, wouldn't it? That thing was originally only meant to be used as a bargaining chip! But since we can't negotiate, it's useless now." Master Miracles comforted Leng Yan.

"I'm sorry! But I can't do it! I have a wife! I have children! I can't press it! I don't want to kill my family! I'm sorry! But I really can't press it!! Isn't that thing just meant to scare people during peace negotiations? How can I really press it?!" The researcher finally broke down in tears.

"Alright! Let's get the rescue workers in line." Leng Yan didn't say much more, just calmly finished speaking before walking away. Watching Leng Yan's retreating figure, no one said anything.

At that moment, Time and Space in the crowd suddenly collapsed with a thud.

"Time and space! Damn it! Call the rescue team immediately! She needs emergency medical help!"

Chapter 56

In a palace somewhere in the sky, Ivan was looking at the huge base in front of him, with several gods of different appearances standing beside him.

“I heard you are the gods of craftsmen, right? Then I hope you can help me make something.” Evan said, pointing to the antimatter reactor in front of him: “As for the energy core, I’ve already decided, I’ll use this! It will surely be very interesting.”

“Don’t try to order us around, mortals!” a dwarf said coldly to Evan. “You’d better watch your place. We have no obligation to serve you.”

"But you have an obligation to follow my orders in this war, don't you?"