Captain Marvel

However, Zhan Liu's palm strike hit nothing.

A woman's voice came from behind him. "As expected, villains die from talking too much. But I have to thank you. If you hadn't talked so much, I wouldn't have made it in time to save her."

Zhan Liu was startled and turned to look behind him.

Not far behind him, a woman hovered in midair. She had blond hair, a square face, broad brows, and a wide mouth. She wore a tight-fitting red-and-blue suit and radiated heroic spirit. May, gravely wounded, was in her arms.

"Thank you, Captain Marvel."

"You're badly hurt. I'll take you back for treatment first."

The two of them conversed as though no one else were there, making Zhan Liu extremely displeased.

"Treatment?" He sneered. "There's no need."

"She'll die today. I said so!"

The woman called Captain Marvel arrogantly raised her chin and looked down at Zhan Liu standing on the ground.

"She won't die today. I said so!"

With that, she rose straight into the air and was about to fly away.

"You want to fly? You'll have to ask whether I agree!"

Zhan Liu raised his hand and unleashed the power of Magnetic Field Rotation: Nine Heavens, sending it straight toward Captain Marvel in the sky.

After finally encountering a powerful expert from this world, how could Zhan Liu be willing to let her leave just like that?

Captain Marvel was the strongest combat force S.H.I.E.L.D. could deploy. Using her to display the might of the War God was perfect!

Although he might not be able to defeat Captain Marvel in his current state, when had the War God ever feared a challenge?

Only those who dared to throw punches at stronger opponents could be called War Gods!

"Damn it!"

After trying several times and being pulled back by the magnetic force each time, Captain Marvel finally gave up.

She slowly descended and placed May on the ground.

"Nick will come pick you up soon. I'll deal with this guy first."

"So you're the War God? You rely on your strength to act recklessly. Today, I'll teach you that Earth isn't a place where you can run wild."

"Haha... Having a strong opponent to fight is exactly what I could ask for." Zhan Liu abandoned his usual refined and courteous demeanor, revealing his wild side.

Once Magnetic Field Rotation reached the Nine Heavens, he could fly, but doing so consumed a great deal of power.

With a formidable enemy before him, every bit he could conserve mattered, so Zhan Liu had no intention of taking to the air to fight Captain Marvel.

Zhan Liu urged all his power into motion, stepped on the "Limitless Battle Steps," closed in on Captain Marvel, and slammed the Ultimate Endless Palm toward her face.

Captain Marvel lightly shifted aside and dodged it, then punched Zhan Liu squarely in the abdomen, sending him flying with a single blow.

Although Captain Marvel's punch was heavy, it contained very little energy and was completely unable to break through Zhan Liu's Ultimate Protective Qi.

Moreover, Zhan Liu activated the "Ultimate Energy Conversion Art," using the force of his retreat to completely neutralize Captain Marvel's attack.

"Huh? He didn't fall?"

When Captain Marvel had arrived earlier, she had already seen Zhan Liu's attack. Not knowing that he had held back, she assumed he was nothing special.

She had originally planned to defeat him with that one punch, but because she underestimated him, the attack had failed to accomplish anything.

"Again!" Having sensed Captain Marvel's formidable strength, Zhan Liu was extremely excited.

The War God had always thrown punches only at stronger opponents. Only then could there be room for improvement.

Either I kill you, or you kill me. That was how War Gods sparred.

Feeling his resolve, the bottleneck trapping him at the Ninth Heaven of Magnetic Field Rotation finally began to loosen.

Zhan Liu once again urged his power into motion and charged at Captain Marvel.

This time, Captain Marvel did not dodge. Instead, she swung a heavy punch at him head-on.

Zhan Liu's fist struck Captain Marvel's face, while Captain Marvel's fist simultaneously slammed into Zhan Liu's chest.

A series of crisp cracks rang out. Zhan Liu had no idea how many ribs he had broken before the punch sent him flying.

This time, Captain Marvel had not held back. The power of the Space Stone surged forth, directly shattering Zhan Liu's Ultimate Protective Qi, while the Ultimate Energy Conversion Art had only a negligible effect.

Zhan Liu barely steadied himself in midair. The moment he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

With just one punch, he had suffered severe injuries.

He looked at Captain Marvel again, only to see her tilt her head slightly, without even a strand of hair out of place.

Captain Marvel's strength was beyond anything Zhan Liu had expected. But that was even better.

Only a sufficiently powerful enemy could force every last bit of potential out of him.

"Haha..." Zhan Liu threw his head back and laughed wildly, his delight plain on his face. "Good! That's satisfying! Again!"

He activated his Qigong once more. This time, the power he urged forth had astonishingly broken through the previous Ninth Heaven and reached the realm of the Tenth Heaven.

Under Captain Marvel's pressure, he had broken through!

However, this mere increase of one Heaven was nowhere near enough to make up for the gap between him and Captain Marvel.

What followed was a one-sided beating.

Just as he had beaten May earlier, Captain Marvel was now beating him.

The only difference was that he had held back against May, whereas Captain Marvel had no intention of holding back now. If he could not endure, there was only one outcome—death!

At first, Carol had held back somewhat. But when she saw Zhan Liu's absurd rate of improvement as the battle continued, she knew they had to end it quickly. They could not drag things out, or she might suffer an unexpected defeat.

"Haha... Magnetic Field Rotation, Fifteen Heavens! Again!"

Zhan Liu was like a maddened tiger. Every cell in his body desperately squeezed out more electrical current to fuel his breakthrough.

Over the past hour, he had already broken through five times, reaching the realm of the Fifteen Heavens. Yet he was still far from matching Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel knocked Zhan Liu back again and was about to press her advantage when the alien communicator suddenly rang. Nick's voice came through it.

"Carol, stop! You two are about to destroy all of New York!"

Carol and Zhan Liu were countless times more powerful than May. The island where May had originally stood had long since been shattered. The tsunamis stirred up by the battle's aftershocks were massive enough to blot out the sky and cover the earth, reaching heights of up to a hundred meters.

Nick was going insane. He had originally thought that deploying Captain Marvel would allow him to deal with Zhan Liu effortlessly, suppress and contain him, and then find a way to recruit him.

But who could have expected the two of them to be evenly matched?

With such a disastrous outcome, he might as well not have called her back at all and simply let May be beaten to death.

He had no choice but to bring out another trump card. Through an alien friend, he contacted Captain Marvel Carol's alien communicator and stopped them from continuing to destroy New York.

Even if he stopped them now, the dead would not come back to life, and the damage they had caused could not be repaired.

Captain Marvel looked down and was both shocked and furious. She was about to go down and stop the tsunami first, but Zhan Liu was in the heat of battle. How could he allow her to withdraw?

"Get out of my way! I have to save those people first!"

Her response was Zhan Liu's wild laughter. "Haha... Magnetic Field Rotation, Fifteen Heavens, Ultimate Endless Palm!"