Invasion

Chen Xu sent out a signal with his mind, transmitting it directly into the minds of every Chitauri.

"I advise you to stop right now. Look who I have in my hands. If you still refuse to stop, once I kill him, can you bear the consequences?"

In an instant, all the Chitauri stopped attacking Chen Xu. Without hesitating further, Chen Xu flew straight toward the cosmic wormhole above Earth. The entire Chitauri fleet wisely made way for him, but Chen Xu knew Loki's deterrence would not hold them back for long. He flew straight toward Stark Tower, with the Chitauri closely following behind him.

At Stark Tower in New York, the group saw Chen Xu and Loki and gathered around them.

"Loki, what happened to him?"

"Nothing much. He refused to cooperate with me, so I had no choice but to knock him out and bring him here."

"Oh, you knocked him out. Then it's nothing. Do as you please."

"Quickly, use this Mind Scepter to shut down the Cosmic Cube."

Chen Xu directly handed it over to Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"The Chitauri army has already pressed down on Earth. I advise you to shut it down before they all pass through that cosmic wormhole."

As soon as Captain America and Black Widow heard that, they immediately went to do it.

"But how do we use this thing?"

Thor spoke up.

"Loki knows. Why not just ask him?"

As he spoke, Thor controlled a faint bolt of lightning and struck Loki. The next second, Loki hit the ground and was shocked awake.

Loki looked at everyone's unfriendly expressions.

"Oh, can I have a drink with you?"

"Stop wasting time. Tell us how to use this thing."

"Its greatest ability is that it can pass through that energy shield. Just use it to strike the Cosmic Cube, and it can be shut down."

And just like that, the war ended.

Thor took Loki and the Cosmic Cube back to Asgard. They had some disputes over the Cube, but in the end, they all understood that something like the Cosmic Cube could not be controlled at all. Leaving it on Earth would only bring endless disasters to the planet. The American consulate would not let go of it either, and no one knew what world-destroying dangers they might create with it. Chen Xu might as well have Thor take it back to Asgard and cut off everyone's hopes.

Chen Xu let out a long breath.

"It's finally over," everyone echoed.

"Yes, it's over. But who knows what world-destroying disasters may happen in the future?"

"Ah, who cares about the future? How about we go have barbecue now? I know a really good barbecue place. I've always wanted to try it."

When everyone heard that,

"Sure." Chen Xu did not refuse either. It was rare to have a chance to improve his meals, so how could he possibly pass it up?

"I won't be joining you. I still have to take Loki back to Asgard and report in."

"Oh, go ahead!"

In an instant, the Bifrost descended, and the two vanished. Chen Xu and the others went to have barbecue.

Meanwhile, New York had been reduced to ruins by the battle.

Apart from Thor, everyone who had participated in the battle went to a restaurant and enjoyed a hearty meal. To avoid being disturbed by others, Stark simply bought the restaurant.

"How is it? The barbecue here is delicious, right? I've wanted to come here for ages."

No one answered. They simply ate on their own, responding to the question with the sounds of chewing.

"Who knows what enemies from other universes might invade Earth in the future?"

The question made Captain America, Steve, sigh.

"I thought the wars in my era were already cruel enough. Looking at things now, I still prefer the old wars. These days, it's always world-ending disasters."

Chen Xu also said,

"You're too naive. Our world is constantly being invaded from outside. It's just that those invasions have all been stopped. It started long ago, even thousands of years ago."

Chen Xu's words immediately drew everyone's attention.

"I'm a mage. Kamar-Taj has existed on Earth for a very long time, at least several thousand years. Our battles with the Chitauri exist in reality, while Kamar-Taj protects Earth in other dimensions. The enemies in those dimensions—those dimensional demon gods—are far, far more powerful than the Chitauri."

"Some of them have even surpassed time itself."

"Surpassed time? What does that mean? That's too profound. I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. Those beings cannot be explained by scientific knowledge from real life. Kamar-Taj has fought against them for thousands of years, perhaps even longer. It simply has never been made public to the ordinary world."

"How about we form a team? If enemies invade again in the future, we can resist them together."

Captain America, Steve, strongly agreed.

"Mm. There is strength in unity."

"Natasha and I have no objections either."

"Dr. Banner, what about you?"

"I have no objections, but I still prefer staying in the laboratory."

Chen Xu also spoke up.

"As for me, I can only be a reserve member. I still need to prevent invasions by dimensional demon gods, so I'm afraid I won't have much time. Perhaps I can only help when the enemies you encounter are too powerful."

"That's enough."

"Then what should this team be called?"

Stark spoke up.

"How about Avengers? Our civilization is fragile, and it may be destroyed by other civilizations at any time in the future. Then we'll have to take revenge on them."

"I'll head back first, then?"

As he spoke, Chen Xu opened a portal and returned directly to the New York Sanctum.

The others watched Chen Xu leave.

"What was that?"

Stark asked.

The others all gave him looks that said they had no idea.

No one dwelled on the question any further. They all returned to their own lives. Captain America went back to his old line of work, Hawkeye returned to his small family, and Natasha remained active in all sorts of operations, with her often appearing on television.

As for Stark, his relationship with his female assistant continued to progress. He even learned from her that he had once saved Chen Xu, which greatly surprised him.

As for Chen Xu, he had originally planned to read at the New York Sanctum, but Thor invited him to Asgard again. Ancient One also wanted Chen Xu to go there as an exchange student.

For Chen Xu, both were excellent ways to improve his strength, so naturally he was more than willing. He received a warm welcome.

Thor, being battle-hungry, even had a sparring match with Chen Xu. It was not because Thor wanted to defeat him, but because he wanted to understand just how powerful Chen Xu was and how great the gap between them was. However, Chen Xu gave him a thorough beating, and Thor eventually gave up. The gap was simply too great for him to take.