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Meanwhile, atop Stark Tower in the heart of Manhattan, New York.
Under Loki's mental control, Dr. Selvig completed the final calibration procedure.
The massive device before him suddenly whirred to life. The Tesseract, located in the very center, was activated, beginning to surge violently, its interior condensing a terrifying, immense energy.
As the device reached its peak operation, the Tesseract's energy erupted. A thick, pure blue beam of energy shot skyward, instantly tearing through the Manhattan sky and forcibly opening a colossal portal.
The other end of the portal revealed a deep, silent Universe.
At the edge of sight, a grotesque space fortress hung silently in the darkness, surrounded by countless strange figures.
These figures had pallid skin, slender bodies, and wore metal armor, with hideous faces—clearly not Earth species.
The moment the portal opened, these alien warriors immediately piloted their bizarre single-person aircraft, emitting sharp, piercing screeches, and swarmed out of the portal like a plague of locusts.
New York City citizens looked up and noticed this scene, and they were stunned.
These past few days, they had first experienced a melee of Iron Robots, then witnessed a robot war against monsters, and now an alien army had even appeared.
What kind of monster-spawning holy land was New York, anyway?
How could all sorts of strange creatures be spawned here?
Tony, clad in his Iron Armor, arrived at the scene immediately. Seeing the Chitauri soldiers continuously pouring out of the portal, he unhesitatingly charged forward to intercept them, his shoulder weapons fully deployed. Dozens of miniature missiles whizzed out, blasting down a large number of enemies.
As a Marvel Kryptonian, his opening move was a million-dollar bombardment!
However, Tony alone could not stop the flood of an entire army.
Large numbers of Chitauri soldiers deftly navigated through the barrage, successfully entering the Manhattan airspace, then spread out like a plague in all directions, even diving down to maniacally strafe the ground, slaughtering defenseless ordinary people.
Explosions and screams instantly erupted one after another, and panic quickly spread throughout the entire city.
And amidst this chaos, the Super Heroes hidden in various corners of the city did not sit idly by, stepping forward one after another.
Among them, Peter, dressed in his Spider-Man suit, was the most noticeable.
He swung rapidly between skyscrapers using his webs, his agile figure tracing arcs in the air, continuously striking down Chitauri soldiers attempting to attack civilians with astonishing speed.
"Ah!!!"
Just then, a terrified scream seemed to pierce through the entire city.
Peter's heart tightened. Sensing an instinctive call, he immediately changed direction and swung rapidly, soon discovering Mary Jane being pursued by two Chitauri soldiers.
He didn't hesitate, immediately rushing forward with an aerial kick, knocking down the two soldiers and quickly rescuing Mary Jane.
Mary Jane was deeply moved, her gaze at Peter filled with adoration, stating that today Spider-Man's webs completely outshone Harry's luxury car.
However, Peter's actions quickly drew the attention of more Chitauri soldiers, who rapidly assembled a unit and launched a fierce assault on Peter.
Peter had no choice but to hold Mary Jane and swing rapidly between tall buildings, continuously dodging the incoming energy gunfire.
Mary Jane screamed repeatedly, unleashing indiscriminate sonic attacks that made Peter's ears ring. While dodging the endless attacks, he also had to endure the close-range sonic impact.
What was worse, as time passed, more and more Chitauri soldiers noticed the commotion around him and gradually joined the pursuit. Before long, dozens of Chitauri soldiers were trailing him in a massive horde. One might think Peter had blown up their home base.
"Why are they all chasing me!?"
Peter was incredibly distraught.
But with Mary Jane in his arms, he was powerless to fight back and could only constantly evade. His Spider-Sense kept blaring, as if he was hovering on the brink of life and death every second.
Just as he was mentally exhausted, a strangely shaped missile suddenly shot in from the side.
Peter was instantly aghast.
Why didn't his Spider-Sense react to this missile?
Peter instinctively tried to dodge, but then saw the missile suddenly draw a strange arc in the air. Instead of hitting him, it deftly bypassed him and charged directly towards the pursuing Chitauri army behind him.
Boom!!!
The missile exploded violently, and scorching flames instantly engulfed several Chitauri soldiers.
And after the missile exploded, four smaller bombs popped out from it, landing on the surrounding Chitauri soldiers and triggering chain explosions!
Amidst successive loud blasts, the once mighty pursuing force was blown to pieces, leaving only a few scattered remnants.
Peter steadied himself amidst the shock and looked back in the direction the missile had come from.
In the distance, on the edge of a skyscraper's rooftop, Darian stood calmly in the wind, a box-shaped missile launcher on his shoulder.
[Equipment: Loitering Munition]
Darian had just teleported back to New York when he saw groups of enemies clustered together.
Who could resist that?
So he pulled out the Loitering Munition and performed an area clear, instantly increasing his kill count by dozens.
Subsequently, Darian drew his golden desert eagle and continuously fired precise shots at the remaining few Chitauri soldiers. The energy bullets accurately pierced their heads, and they fell to the ground.
Seeing Darian, Peter let out a sigh of relief and, holding Mary Jane, landed on the rooftop.
"Oh my goodness, it's so good to see you! I don't know what's happening, suddenly a huge number of alien creatures are pouring out of a wormhole in the sky, and we can't clear them all out!"
Darian explained, "That's the Chitauri army. We're dealing with it. By the way, are you interested in joining my team?"
"What team?" Peter asked, puzzled.
"The Kick Bald Egg Alliance. Currently, there are about five members, all highly skilled." Darian didn't explain much further.
Peter scratched his head: "It sounds like this Bald Egg is the mastermind behind all of this?"
"You could say that, but the evil Bald Egg has already been dealt with by us. However, his subordinate Loki is still at large, and these Chitauri are the army Loki summoned."
"That despicable Bald Egg!"
Learning that the opponent was the culprit behind New York's chaos, Peter was instantly filled with righteous indignation and immediately agreed to join the Kick Bald Egg Alliance.
[NPC Peter Parker has joined your team]
Darian nodded: "Excellent. Now I have a task for you: help me lure all the monsters over, and I'll be responsible for clearing them."
"How do I lure them?"
As a young person who frequently plays games, Peter naturally understood Darian's meaning immediately.
Darian waved his hand: "Just wander around a few times. Anyway, I think you're pretty good at drawing aggro. If that doesn't work, just bring this woman along. Her sonic attacks can be heard from several blocks away, and they're sure to attract a large number of enemies."
Peter: "..."
Mary Jane: "..."
Peter ultimately did not take Mary Jane with him. After settling her in a relatively safe area, he went to lure monsters according to Darian's instructions.
After Peter left, Darian opened the event's kill leaderboard.
Currently, Tony had the highest kill ranking.
This Kryptonian fought as if money was no object, constantly unleashing various expensive shells and missiles, and managed to top the kill count purely through Krypton Gold.
Bruce followed closely behind. He arrived at the battlefield in a Quinjet piloted by Natasha, then jumped out of the plane, transformed in mid-air, and became a green giant, starting to fight monsters everywhere.
After that were various names, including Super Heroes and ordinary people, all fighting to protect New York.
"I need to quickly farm monsters, otherwise, if the gap widens, I won't be able to catch up."
Darian pulled out two golden desert eagles, activated Death's Eyes, and began to individually target and shoot the Chitauri soldiers in the air.
With Death's Eyes locked on, Darian didn't need to aim. Every shot he fired would inevitably take down a Chitauri soldier, and his kill count rapidly climbed at a visible rate.
However, Darian felt that this speed was still too slow, far inferior to Tony's method of clearing large areas at once.
So he took BT out of his game warehouse, not to equip it directly, but to summon it.
In an instant, a gigantic Iron Mech descended from the sky, landing heavily and steadily beside him. The blue-glowing robotic single eye in its central body rapidly scanned its surroundings, finally locking onto Darian below.
BT: [...]
Darian: (o゜゜)o
So BT was this tall when it stood up?
Darian craned his neck and ordered: "BT, eliminate all Chitauri soldiers. See one, destroy one."
"Received, Pilot."
Upon receiving the command, BT immediately raised its XO-16 chaingun and began a furious barrage, targeting the Chitauri soldiers in the air.
Da da da da da —!
As Darian's equipment, all kills made by BT were naturally credited to Darian.
With BT's powerful firepower support, Darian's kill count began to skyrocket, comparable to a fully automatic monster-farming machine.
And Peter did not disappoint Darian. Before long, he once again lured a large group of Chitauri soldiers, who rapidly approached his direction.
"BT!"
At Darian's command, BT instantly opened its shoulder missile pods as if by telepathy.
Several miniature missiles, trailing exhaust, whizzed out and exploded into fireballs among the pursuing enemies behind Peter, destroying them all.
"Oh my god! Is that a mech!?"
Peter's eyes lit up when he saw BT.
Few boys could resist the charm of such a mech, and Peter was naturally no exception.
Unfortunately, he was a typical example of a poor person relying on mutation, destined not to be able to afford expensive equipment like mechs.
Darian nodded: "That's right. You continue to lure monsters. BT will stay here to clear them out. I need to go to other areas to farm monsters."
After some time of farming, he realized that his and BT's firepower was too strong. The enemy spawn rate in a single area simply couldn't keep up with their output, leading to severe over-efficiency.
Splitting up was clearly the smarter choice.
Before Peter could respond, Darian leaped from the edge of the rooftop, landing precisely on a passing Chitauri aircraft.
"Gala!?"
Seeing Darian suddenly board, the Chitauri soldier on the aircraft looked bewildered.
Before it could even react, Darian had already grabbed its neck and casually tossed it into the air.
His movements were swift and decisive, reminiscent of his style back in Los Santos.
Just then, Tony's urgent voice came through his communicator: "I need backup! There are too many enemies here, it's endless!"
"There's such a good thing? Wait, I'll be right there!"
Darian immediately got energized upon hearing this.
He scanned Tony's teammate coordinates on the map and immediately piloted the stolen Chitauri aircraft to rush over.
The control method of this alien aircraft was strange, and there was no obvious braking device. Darian could only rely on his extraordinary reactions to forcibly twist directions, dangerously weaving between skyscrapers.
Soon, the scene ahead came into view.
He saw dense masses of Chitauri soldiers almost covering the entire sky. Tony was constantly maneuvering at high speed among them, firing energy blasts from his palms and miniature missiles, yet still finding it difficult to break through the heavy encirclement.
"Tony, I'm behind you, catch me!"
Tony immediately turned around at the sound, just in time to see Du piloting the wobbly enemy aircraft charging straight towards him.
But before he could say anything, Darian had already leaped, directly jumping onto his Iron Man armor. His gravity boots instantly activated, and he was firmly secured to the back of the armor.
At first glance, it looked as if Darian was flying through the air, stepping on Iron Man.
Tony: "???"
"No, how did I suddenly become a mount?"
Darian didn't hesitate. Stepping on Tony, his newly acquired mount, he quickly pulled out a Gatling heavy machine gun from his game inventory and opened fire on the enemy swarm in the sky!
Da da da da da da—!!!
Fierce firepower instantly erupted, countless bullets pouring out from the high-speed rotating barrels, forming a scorching storm of metal that easily tore through the Chitauri soldiers' bodies and armor.
Darian's ferocious assault immediately attracted the attention of a large number of Chitauri soldiers.
They quickly formed a massive formation, surging towards Darian and Tony like dark clouds pressing down.
Facing this terrifying formation, Darian remained unfazed and shouted at Tony: "Tony! Charge for me!"
Tony: "..."
"You're really treating me like a mount, aren't you!"
But he didn't refuse, choosing to trust Darian. He went full throttle on his thrusters and charged head-on into the Chitauri army.
"Use S-bullets!"
Darian decisively used the reward item he had just acquired.
The next moment, his Gatling underwent a strange transformation. Its barrels split into several scorching lines of fire, simultaneously spewing firepower in all directions!
In an instant, the screen was filled with bullet hell. The dense network of firepower completely covered the entire airspace.
Swarms of Chitauri soldiers fell like harvested wheat, and explosions bloomed continuously in the air. The scene was both shocking and incredibly satisfying!
"Sure enough, firepower coverage is the most effective!"
Tony was dumbfounded.
"How come this Gatling gun also splits its stream like me?"
"No, I don't split my stream!"
And so, Tony piloted the Iron Man armor, and Darian piloted Tony, sweeping through the sky like an unrivaled force!
Midway, they even got so carried away that they directly went to the portal and started "bridge camping."
The Einstein-Rosen bridge is also a bridge!
Darian used powerful firepower to frantically suppress the portal's exit, at one point making it almost impossible for Chitauri soldiers to break through, causing a temporary vacuum in the enemy's troop deployment and buying valuable breathing room for the ground battlefield.
At the same time, Darian's kill count began to skyrocket, surpassing several people in the blink of an eye and claiming the top spot on the leaderboard.
Even Tony, the big spender, was firmly suppressed beneath him.
Well, in a physical sense, he was indeed stepping on him.
However, this joy didn't last long. Darian's expression suddenly changed: "This is bad, Tony, my ammunition is depleting too fast, I need to resupply immediately!"
Although he had infinite magazines after activating Death's Eyes, which automatically refilled the current weapon's magazine, it still consumed bullets normally.
Tony's heart sank, and he quickly asked, "What, out of ammo?"
"Not really, I still have about 80% of my bullets left."
Tony: "..."
"If you still have 80% left, why are you resupplying?!"
In fact, Darian's S-bullet effect had ended. If he continued to stay at the portal and "bridge camp," he would soon be engulfed by the surging Chitauri army from behind.
Anyway, he had already racked up enough kills. As long as BT continued to clear out enemies, he could maintain his top spot on the leaderboard.
Just then, an unusual surge emanated from the portal.
Several abnormally large, semi-mechanical creatures, like metal giant whales, slowly passed through the portal. Their hideous heads rotated, and their cold gazes instantly locked onto Darian and Tony.
"Run!"
Darian shouted, and his mount, Tony, also reacted extremely quickly, immediately going full throttle on his thrusters, dragging a dazzling exhaust plume as he flew into the distance.
But those mechanical giant whales seemed to have locked onto them, relentlessly pursuing the two from behind. Their massive bodies moved without any hint of clumsiness.
"You hold them off first, I'll come back to support after I resupply!"
Darian decisively abandoned Tony, his mount, and to Tony's disbelieving gaze, turned and leaped from a thousand meters in the air.
The wind howled in his ears, and the ground scenery rapidly enlarged. Darian plummeted towards the Earth like a meteor.
"Leap of Faith!"
The moment he activated the skill, a dry haystack appeared out of thin air directly below him, catching him steadily.
Darian stood up unharmed and found that his other two teammates, Steve and Natasha, were also fighting there.
Of course, it was mainly Steve facing the enemy head-on. Natasha's small pistol couldn't even penetrate the Chitauri soldiers' metal armor; she was purely a freeloader.
Just then, Darian suddenly noticed that Steve's shield was somewhat unusual. Its surface was completely black, with no visible pattern.
Darian pulled out two golden desert eagles, casually dealt with the Chitauri soldiers around the two, walked forward, and asked, "Steve, why are you bringing an iron pot to the battlefield?"
Steve: "..."
In his previous encounter with the Winter Soldier, he found that wrapping the shield in cloth was ineffective and could expose his identity as Hydra Captain at any time.
In desperation, he had to find black paint and completely cover the HYDRA symbol on the shield while en route to the battlefield, otherwise, he wouldn't dare to use that shield at all.
Steve decisively skipped the topic and said with a serious expression, "We just woke up Dr. Selvig. According to him, only Loki's scepter can close the portal. Now we must find Loki as soon as possible and shut down the portal device, otherwise, if this continues, these alien legions will eventually cover the entire New York City."
[NPC Steve Rogers has issued you a new quest]
[Quest: Close the Portal]
[Objective: Obtain Loki's scepter and close the portal above New York City]
[This quest is the final quest of the main storyline. Players will receive generous rewards upon completion!]
"Leave it to me!"
Darian immediately clicked on the quest tracker and quickly located the scepter's position.
He skillfully snatched a passing Chitauri aircraft and flew towards the target, the top of Stark Tower.
Soon, Darian arrived at the scene and saw Loki and his good older brother, Thor.
At this moment, Thor was clutching his kidney, looking pained as Loki repeatedly battered him with the scepter.
Seeing this, Darian piloted the aircraft to crash into Loki, and at the last moment, he leaped off. Loki, caught off guard, was directly smashed into Stark Tower by the aircraft.
After landing, Darian looked at Thor and asked, puzzled, "Thor, are your injuries still not healed? With your physique, that shouldn't be the case."
Thor replied, enduring the pain, "No, this was just stabbed by Loki."
Darian: "..."
"How many times has this happened? The holes in your kidney are almost more numerous than a hornet's nest."
Thor continued to explain, "Heimdall informed me of the situation on Midgard. Father, at the cost of his own health, used forbidden magic to teleport me to Earth. I originally wanted to find Loki to stop him, but I didn't expect him to deceive me again and ambush me."
Darian was completely speechless: "Weren't you just tricked by him last time? How did you fall for it again?"
Thor indignantly swore, "Don't worry! I will never be deceived by Loki for the 56,534th time!"
Darian: "..."
"You really haven't learned your lesson at all!"
Ignoring the simpleton Thor, Darian stepped into Stark Tower and saw Loki just getting up from the ground.
But after just one glance, Darian couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Little brother, I haven't seen you in a while, how has your skin color almost caught up to Heimdall's?"
It was no wonder Darian couldn't hold back his laughter.
Although he had seen videos before, the blurry frame rate was far less shocking than seeing it with his own eyes. The Loki in front of him was not only several shades darker, but his originally meticulous, smooth long hair had also become frizzy and voluminous, subtly hinting at an afro.
If he couldn't see the other party's identity information, he wouldn't have recognized this person, who looked like he had just climbed out of a coal pile, as the elegant and cunning God of Mischief.
"It's all because of you, you damned mortal!"
At the mention of this, Loki's anger instantly ignited.
Ever since he was imprisoned in Asgard, Thor would come to him every day, inexplicably holding his hammer and electrocuting him.
What was even more infuriating was that Thor never spoke after electrocuting him, only shook his head, sighed, and left, only to return on time the next day to carry out his execution.
Day after day, Loki himself couldn't remember how many times he had undergone electroshock therapy. Eventually, except for his teeth and eyes, his entire body was almost completely black.
Unable to bear it any longer, Loki had to pretend to cry profusely and apologize to Thor.
Of course, there was also a hint of genuine emotion mixed in; he really couldn't stand being electrocuted anymore!
It was also from Thor's mouth that he learned that all of this was Darian's terrible idea, which caused him to suffer so many days of electrocution.
However, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. Thanks to these days of electrocution, Loki unexpectedly awakened an invisibility talent. He stole a spaceship under the cover of night and successfully escaped from Asgard.
Even so, Loki still wished he could tear Darian into a thousand pieces!