Chapter 228: Invitation from the New York Temple
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In a dimension invisible to the onlookers, a surge of dark energy attempted to enter this world through a temporary connection established by Doom. However, it was halted by a figure bathed in golden light, standing with hands behind the back. After briefly exchanging blows, seeing that it couldn't gain the upper hand, the dark energy ultimately chose to retreat.
The aftermath of their skirmish traveled through Doom's connection channel, striking Manhattan with force.
"Boom!" The violent explosion came without warning as if it had erupted from thin air.
The barrage from the machine soldiers and War Machine's missiles had already turned the site into a mess. Mr. Reed's Baxter Building, already the focal point of the battlefield and barely standing due to its sturdy construction, was now bisected by the sudden explosion. It looked like Mr. Reed no longer needed to pay his mortgage for the next four installments...
Buildings across half a city block were impacted, one fast-food restaurant close by was completely demolished by the blast, and parked cars and trees along the streets were flattened or shattered, their branches and leaves scattered everywhere.
What was that?! Daisy did not believe this was caused by her cutting ray, which operates silently without the explosive special effect of fireworks.
Facing the powerful shockwave, she took shelter behind one of the machine soldiers, while Black Widow did the same with another. The others employed various means to protect themselves; the Thing shielded his teammates, while the fat mage unceremoniously clung to a machine soldier's leg.
The fierce explosion sent debris flying in all directions, and amidst the smoke and rubble, Daisy noticed that Doom had vanished from her sensory range.
The combined explosive force of Stark and Rhodes' beams had obscured their vision, also somewhat interfering with Daisy. She wasn't sure if her ring had hit Doom accurately.
"Cease fire! Activate detection devices." Several machine soldiers activated radar-like instruments, scanning in all directions.
The results were weird; Doom had disappeared, or rather, half-disappeared.
Clearing away the smoke, Daisy, not minding the dirt, leaped over obstacles to reach the last known location of Doom.
Scattered on the ground were his metal mask, green robe, and some metallic objects resembling human bones, but there were no signs of a body or flesh.
"Is he dead?" asked Black Widow.
"He's in hell," Daisy didn't reply, but the fat mage beside her interjected.
In Black Widow's perspective, going to hell meant death. No way, she found it hard to grasp the concept of an actual, existing hell.
After inspecting the area and commanding the machine soldiers to scan from the air, with no results, Daisy could only assume that Doom had understood some secret technique in the nick of time, almost miraculously throwing himself into hell?
With too little information, she wasn't sure if her guess was right.
"I think he isn't dead, more like some kind of spatial jump? Doom was irradiated by cosmic rays and had assimilated some of the high-resistance metal I developed. It seems that these metals were extracted during an interdimensional jump. I need to examine the remains—can I do that?..."
Reed looked around, seemingly recognizing Daisy as the commander on the scene, and approached her to negotiate. Interdimensional travel sounded thrilling, and of course, if it could somehow save Doom, that would be even better.
Daisy didn't comment on hell, but Mr. Reed insisted that Doom wasn't dead, just transported somewhere else.
Daisy secretly agreed with Reed's perspective, but clearly, now was not the time for scientific research. She interrupted Reed, who was preparing to take Doom's "remains" for study.
"Reed, I need to report this to my superiors. If you're in a hurry, come with me to the Ministry of Defense to discuss it."
Reed hurriedly went to unify the opinion with his small team. The Fantastic Four needed to act together now, especially considering the destruction caused by the battle that also needed their assistance in cleanup.
"Who are you?" Daisy asked knowingly, as twin machine guns aimed at the fat mage, and Black Widow also took a defensive posture.
The fat mage put away his axe and took off his hood, revealing an Asian face marked with a lot of flesh and many moles. Despite his rough appearance, he didn't look particularly fierce; instead, he seemed somewhat detached from worldly concerns.
"We shouldn't know each other, and you don't need to know my name." After saying this, he waved his hand through the air, creating a shimmering golden circle of light, preparing to leave.
Daisy snorted, and a powerful gravitational pull directly anchored him in place. With a flick of her finger, two bodies slid over from a distance—the very two who had been instantly killed by Doom earlier.
"Take their bodies with you. Whatever your customs are, find a place to bury them."
Daisy was prepared to maintain a friendly relationship with the Kamar-Taj. Saving the fat mage and casually retrieving two bodies wasn't too difficult.
Somewhat surprised, the mage finally realized why he had survived earlier. He took a serious look at Daisy, "You are no ordinary person."
Daisy almost laughed. Wasn't a mage who hacked at people with an axe also no ordinary person? Were the Kamar-Taj too arrogant?
The sorcerer nodded thoughtfully and pulled out a business card, "If you have time, you might visit this address. This world needs your strength."
Daisy found this phrase familiar. Wasn't this how Fury had tried to recruit Stark?
Without further ado, the sorcerer picked up a body under each arm, not caring about any blood stains, and activated a teleportation spell, leaving the scene.
"177A Bleecker Street, Manhattan." Daisy looked at the business card. Was this the location of the New York Sanctum? She wasn't sure.
She put away the card, preparing to lead her team back to report. Saving civilians was the heroes' job, not hers.
"Hold on!" Stark, having removed his mask, called out to Daisy and Rhodey, who was also preparing to retreat.
"With the scene like this, you're just going to leave?" He gestured around at the surrounding area which looked like a wasteland.
Rhodey was still trying to figure out how this situation was related to him. He had just passed by to help, right? How was this before and after related to him?
Daisy was quick to respond, waving her hands dismissively, "I'm very poor, I don't have money."
Hearing money mentioned, Rhodey was also shocked, but faced with his friend's gaze, he didn't know how to refuse and was momentarily lost for words.
Though she couldn't contribute money, Daisy was still willing to help.
After notifying the generals at the Pentagon, she decided to deploy the "Anti-Terrorism Soldiers" to participate in the disaster relief, demonstrating their civilian-focused capabilities.
The generals, learning that Doom had gone "to hell," automatically assumed this product had died in the chaos of the blasts.
This news was reassuring to them; the world was still the one they recognized, where superpowers weren't so overwhelming. Explosives and bullets could still kill them.
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