Thor, the God of Thunder, had not yet returned to Asgard, so he joined the siege against the Dark Elves and the Cursed Warrior.
And then the Cursed Warrior beat him like a dog.
Zod nodded to himself. No wonder Asgard had to rely on the Bifrost boarding tactic to achieve victory back in the day. After all, the Dark Elves had possessed an entire legion of Cursed Warriors. Forget sweeping through the Nine Realms and returning them to darkness—they probably could have carved out a massive territory even if they'd gone conquering across the universe.
In fact, the Dark Elves were the race most compatible with the Reality Stone, and the most important reason wasn't just that they were born alongside it—it was something others tended to overlook.
Namely, the Dark Elves' terrifying, nearly infinite lifespan.
You had to understand: ever since the first Dark Elves came into existence, it had always been the same group of individuals. There had never been a changing of the guard.
Odin's father had fought them back in his day, and now Odin himself was on the verge of death—yet the Dark Elves were still alive and well.
It was fair to say the Dark Elves' lifespan was truly absurd beyond belief, making them a race remarkably close to immortality.
Precisely because of this, the so-called Cursed Warriors were so terrifying. Becoming a Cursed Warrior meant burning through one's life force and converting it into invincible power, and only when that life force was completely exhausted would a Cursed Warrior stop fighting.
Yet the result was that Cursed Warriors were almost never heard of dying from exhausted lifespans. Instead, they were killed by other means.
The reason lay in the fact that the Dark Elves' lifespan was simply too absurdly long.
While the superheroes and Thor were locked in a bitter struggle, a blonde woman approached the battlefield.
She had a face as delicate as a porcelain doll, bright golden curls, and a faint, ambiguous smile—yet strapped to her back was a greatsword that looked completely out of place.
"Ma'am, this area is dangerous. It's not a place you should be."
Stark's eyes lit up the moment he spotted the blonde, and he hurriedly flew over to her and said.
She paid him no mind whatsoever, simply walking past Stark and the superheroes at an unimaginable speed. Yet she looked as though she were strolling leisurely through a garden. That eerie sensation of fast and slow at once made everyone deeply uncomfortable.
The Cursed Warrior threw a punch straight at the blonde woman.
"She's done for!"
Stark and the others thought—such a beautiful woman was about to be gone.
The blonde woman brushed past the Cursed Warrior, and his body froze in place. A moment later, he collapsed to the ground in pieces.
And the blonde woman had already sauntered off into the distance.
"Who is she?"
Stark couldn't help but ask Jarvis.
"Sir, the Umbrella Corporation has just updated their files. The target matches the records."
Jarvis projected a screen, and Tony Stark saw the blonde woman's profile.
Name: Teresa
Rank: NO.1
Position: Special Operative
A super-soldier created by the Umbrella Corporation using their new No. 1 compound!
"She's a special operative of the Umbrella Corporation…"
Stark thought about how their whole group had fought for ages only to get their teeth kicked in, and then thought about how Teresa had slain the Cursed Warrior with effortless ease. He suddenly felt the urge to join the Umbrella Corporation himself.
The reason Teresa could kill the Cursed Warrior so easily—apart from her Kryptonian military genes—was that Zod Heath had used the Reality Stone to add Saiyan genes to her as well. Of course, that was just an experiment; whether the Saiyan genes were a hundred percent replicated was still unknown.
Still, as long as Teresa could pull off techniques like the High-Speed Sword, that was enough. Her weapon had been forged by the dwarves—Uru metal plus vibranium plus adamantium plus kryptonite alloy. Once forged, it possessed subatomic cutting capabilities, able to slice through virtually any substance.
At the same time, it was virtually indestructible—perfectly suited for Teresa.
The other superheroes had complicated feelings when they heard Stark say this.
A single special operative from the Umbrella Corporation was already this powerful—then what was the point of their existence?
That said, some superheroes didn't take it to heart.
The Cursed Warrior was slain, and the remaining Dark Elves were taken into custody. Humanity, greedy and impatient, eagerly sought to extract everything they could from the Dark Elves.
For instance, the black hole grenades that had nearly killed most of the superheroes, and their Harvester ship technology.
"I'm back."
Zod watched as Teresa walked in. She might very well be the strongest person under his command—the combination of Kryptonian and Saiyan genes.
"That Cursed Warrior was strong. If not for my weapon, I probably couldn't have cut him down in one strike."
Teresa said modestly.
"Hmm, I believe you."
Zod nodded slightly.
Then Teresa very naturally lay down in Zod's embrace.
Teresa's height of 180 centimeters was something most women could only dream of, but Zod himself stood at one hundred ninety centimeters, so it was no problem for her to nestle against his chest like a delicate little bird.
More importantly, the 180-centimeter Teresa possessed impossibly long legs—she could even apply for a world record.
Another special operative, Sephiroth, had been dispatched by Zod to deal with the convergence of the Nine Realms and the matter of monsters from other worlds crossing over.
Although the Sword Bureau would handle it as well, Zod had already planned to resign from his post as Director of the Sword Bureau.
Because turning the Umbrella Corporation into a super-company with wealth rivaling nations was far more fun.
This incident, while not causing panic among ordinary citizens, sent the major powers into a frenzy of anxiety.
Earth had barely recovered from an alien invasion, and now such a massive crisis had appeared again. Who knew what disasters awaited in the future?
Thus, the World Security Council wanted to immediately push forward with Project Insight.
The so-called Project Insight was the second phase continuation of the Helicarrier project.
First, three Insight satellites would be launched to form a positioning network above Earth, and then three second-generation Helicarriers would be sent into the sky.
The Insight Helicarriers possessed tremendous firepower, capable of eliminating thousands of enemies per minute, while the Insight satellites would monitor all enemies.
This way, threats would be completely eliminated before they even appeared. Even if aliens attacked again, Earth could give them a taste of what Earthlings were capable of!
However, as good as Project Insight was, it was easily exploited.
The so-called Project Insight was, in reality, merely a part of Hydra's grand scheme.
Meanwhile, at Hydra's temporary headquarters, some hidden secret location—
Facing the pouring rain, the new head of the American Hydra stepped out of a black Mercedes. Agent Sitwell hurriedly held up an umbrella and led the new head of the American Hydra deeper into the Hydra headquarters.
"How is Project Insight progressing?"
Inside the elevator, the new head of the American Hydra wiped his glasses and asked.
"Project Insight is already eighty percent complete. Before long, we'll be able to conduct flight trials."
Sitwell replied.
"Very good." The new head of the American Hydra nodded in satisfaction.
/-\
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