"The fifth match, the winner, Captain Carter!"
After an intense battle, Angel announced the name of the final victor.
"He's quite the gentleman, but it's a pity she already has a boyfriend," Adam, floating above the arena, thought to himself as he watched Fandral lightly kiss Captain Carter's hand before jumping off the stage.
He could tell that Fandral had developed an admiration and a hint of affection for Captain Carter during the fight, which was why he willingly conceded.
Otherwise, if he had truly unleashed his full power and fought to the end, he might not have lost to Captain Carter.
It was just a shame that the falling flowers were willing, but the flowing water was not; as soon as Captain Carter stepped off the stage, she immediately rushed into Steve's arms.
The sixth match was Steve against Asgard's Hogun.
For this match, Steve wore the Hydra Stomper, which S.H.I.E.L.D. had repaired. With the enhancement of the Hydra Stomper, combined with the fact that he himself had been modified by HYDRA, he eventually forced Hogun out of the arena, winning the victory.
The seventh match was Human Torch of the Fantastic Four against the Mutant Iceman. This match was arguably the most spectacular duel so far.
It was a clash between extreme fire and extreme ice; the entire arena was filled with flames and ice, causing the audience to gasp in amazement.
Unlike the previous ice and fire ability users who simply shot ice shards or fireballs, these two truly pushed their ice and fire abilities to an extremely high level, almost forming a Storm.
If they were on a battlefield, these two would be large-scale AOE presences.
In the end, Human Torch, with his flying advantage, was slightly superior and defeated Iceman, securing his spot in the next round.
The seventh match concluded, and it was already noon.
The audience, still buzzing with excitement, quickly returned to the venue after lunch, savoring the morning's matches while discussing the afternoon's duels.
Soon, two hours passed.
The first match of the afternoon was Iron Man versus Spider-Man.
"This one is hard to call!"
Adam's face immediately showed an interested expression as he watched the battle below.
This match was purely his personal mischievous pleasure.
In his previous life, he often heard a meme about Spider-Man.
The first generation relied on mutation: with great power comes great responsibility. The second generation relied on effort: heroes are always lonely. By the third generation, it became: My father is Iron Man!
If this were the main World, Little Spider would certainly not be Iron Man's opponent.
But the Spider-Man of this Universe was closer to the first-generation version, with a kind and resilient personality, and his webs were shot from his own body, not from a web-shooter.
"Peter is doing well."
As soon as the battle began, Peter quickly suppressed Tony.
Just as Tony activated his Iron Man Suit to fly up and try to blast Peter from a distance, Peter entangled Tony with his webs, forcefully pulling him to the ground for close-quarters combat.
Relying on his Spider-Sense and extensive combat experience from sparring with Adam, he forced Tony into a defensive struggle.
Tony, in his Iron Man Suit, could indeed exert powerful mechanical strength, but Peter's strength after mutating into Spider-Man was in no way inferior to machinery.
However, Tony's combat skill was significantly lacking.
But Tony was indeed smart enough to quickly discover his weakness, and he even released bombs at close range, relying on the Iron Man Suit's defensive capabilities to withstand the explosions and force Peter back.
He then used this opportunity to finally fly into the air above the arena.
With the aerial advantage, Tony began to show off various maneuvers, exerting powerful firepower to suppress Peter.
Fortunately, Peter's Spider-Sense was also excellent; he was always able to cleverly dodge attacks, and occasionally he would seize an opportunity to shoot webs, attempting to pull Tony back to the ground.
This frightened Tony, forcing him to keep as much distance as possible.
"The eighth match, the winner is Iron Man Tony Stark."
Ten minutes later, Angel announced the match results.
"It seems Tony was still more skilled!" Adam mused to himself with a sigh.
The arena was not a city; there were no tall buildings, making it difficult for Peter to unleash his full potential.
Furthermore, Peter was still too kind and lacked much desire to win or lose, always holding back when facing opponents.
If he had gone all out from the beginning when he pulled Iron Man down for close combat, even if he couldn't break the Iron Man Suit, he could have forcibly torn the Suit apart with his strength.
However, that would have easily injured Tony inside.
And Tony Stark was an exceptionally intelligent person, adept at finding an enemy's weaknesses and then counterattacking.
Just like how he would quickly develop a specialized Suit for different enemies he encountered.
So, after analyzing Peter's abilities, he used methods such as spraying lubricant, hypnotic smoke, and long-range firepower suppression, ultimately forcing Peter to concede.
The ninth match was Wolverine against Thing, with Wolverine winning by a stroke of experience.
The tenth match was Jessica against Lady Deathstrike, with Jessica winning due to her air superiority and long-range attack capabilities.
The eleventh match was Colossus against Cyclops, with Colossus being shot out of the arena by his teacher, Cyclops, who won.
The twelfth match was Shadowcat against Storm. Storm directly used a tornado to destroy the parking lot, covering the entire arena area and forcing Shadowcat to be unable to maintain her phased state, blowing her out. Storm won.
In the final match, Night Walker against Hawkeye, Adam initially thought Night Walker had a higher chance of winning, as Night Walker's physical attributes exceeded those of a normal person, and he possessed a divine skill like teleportation.
As long as he found the right opportunity to teleport Hawkeye into the air outside the arena, and then teleported himself back, he would win.
Unfortunately, as a devout person, he was simply too kind and good-natured, afraid of injuring his opponent by dropping him.
As a result, Hawkeye, a top S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, with his superhuman reaction time, managed to predict Night Walker's teleportation and knock him down with a single blow.
"The first round of the tournament has officially concluded! Let us congratulate all the qualified contestants, who are Thor...
Those who did not qualify should not be discouraged. As the top twenty-six finalists, we have also prepared souvenirs for you.
That is, an apartment in Manhattan, New York City!"
Angel's voice immediately caused the audience to exclaim. Although it was advertised that houses would be awarded, they never expected that simply making it through the first round would grant them one, and in Manhattan, New York City, no less.
Many of the preliminary contestants also looked regretful, wishing they had fought harder during their matches; otherwise, they might also have an apartment in Manhattan.
They also secretly resolved to work hard to improve their abilities after the tournament, aiming to at least reach the finals of the second World's Greatest Ability User Tournament in three years.
"Having a house is good! With a house, you'll naturally want to live in it, and after living there for a while, you won't want to leave!" Adam murmured with a smile, seeing everyone's reactions.
The houses he provided were actually near his company; although a bit expensive, they were worth it.
Because whether it was the Asgardian Six or the people from S.H.I.E.L.D., he ultimately wanted them to become his people.