The Unkillable Variant Thanos

That punch carried more than a little resentment. That familiar figure in the Quantum Realm had destroyed his time-navigation device for no apparent reason, handed him some strange thing, and dragged the timeline even further off course.

Variant Thanos's brutal eyes locked onto Lin Yi. As the fist came hurtling toward him, he made no move to dodge. Purple light coiled around his right fist, where the Power Stone was embedded, and he met the blow head-on!

Boom!

Their fists collided like two meteors!

A terrifying shockwave spread outward in a visible ring, hurling debris and fighting soldiers across dozens of meters. The ground collapsed into a huge crater beneath the two of them.

Five years! It had been five years! Lin Yi had almost forgotten what pain felt like!

Now the dull ache in his knuckles made him feel flesh and blood again.

"Again!"

Lin Yi shifted his stance and unleashed heavy punches one after another.

Boom! Boom!

Variant Thanos roared and struck back. Their mismatched fists made the air shriek, shockwaves rolling outward without pause. In moments, nothing remained standing within a hundred meters of them.

"He... what..." In the distance, Steve panted and pointed a trembling finger at the two figures moving faster and hitting harder with every exchange.

"I told you the kid was strong as a monster." Tony backed Steve up as he fought beside him.

And wasn't that exactly what Tony was facing now?

Their battle had gone far beyond human limits. Lin Yi's eyes were red, and he was wildly excited.

Every stab of pain felt intensely real. Every clash taught him something new about fighting.

He had a formidable body, sure, but no one had taught Lin Yi how to fight in the past five years.

With F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s help, the Mark 50 had an excellent combat system. But none of that could teach Lin Yi as much as a real fight.

"Roar!"

On the battlefield, Variant Thanos seemed to realize how powerful the man before him was. He suddenly retreated, and a moment later, purple light flared.

"Shit, that's cheating!" Danger Sense surged through Lin Yi, and he ducked. An instant later, a devastating beam of purple energy flew over his head. It destroyed everything in its path, gouging a deep trench through the ground.

He was getting desperate. He had started using the Infinity Stones.

"Perfect opening!" Lin Yi clenched his fist and gathered all his strength. Like a bowstring pulled taut, he sprang up and launched straight into an Iron Rising Dragon Strike.

A thunderous sonic boom rang out, and Variant Thanos flew away like a cannonball.

Thud! He hit the ground hard. Lin Yi had put so much force into that blow that his knuckles had turned red.

Damn, he had never seen a Thanos who could take such a beating!

Lin Yi had imagined that against Steel Body, Thanos would barely be able to fight back. And he should be even stronger than Steel Body now.

Yet there Thanos stood. Less than two seconds after taking a full-strength blow from Steel Body, he was back on his feet with blood at the corner of his mouth! It was absurd!

Reality really was more ridiculous than anything he could imagine!

Still, he had gotten somewhere. The bastard was bleeding.

But Lin Yi had overlooked one thing: Variant Thanos had more than the Power Stone.

The Time Stone on his left arm glowed green. The dark-purple blood at the corner of his mouth vanished instantly, and his flagging aura surged once more.

You've got to be kidding me.

Lin Yi looked at his fist, then at Thanos, who was still raring to fight. He kind of wanted to go home...

"Tony! Where are the other Stones?"

Hearing the shout, Tony blasted a monster covered in black-purple markings away with a repulsor and quickly checked their locations.

"I've got the Mind Stone, and Peter has the Space Stone! Strange has the Soul Stone. I don't know where the Reality Stone is!"

Before Tony had finished speaking, Lin Yi was already moving. He spotted Spider-Man at once, his eyes glowing red as he activated Instant Kill Mode.

"Peter, give me the Space Stone!"

"Who are you?" Peter took two wary steps back.

"Never mind that! There's no time to explain!"

"Peter, give it to him!"

Lin Yi's voice and Tony's voice over the comms rang out together.

Mr. Stark had spoken. Without hesitation, Peter pulled out the Space Stone and handed it to Lin Yi.

Blue light bloomed, and Lin Yi vanished the instant he took the Stone.

"Strange!" Lin Yi teleported beside Strange and held out his hand. Strange understood at once and solemnly closed his fingers around something.

"Go, wild card. I hope we survive this time..."

Lin Yi took the orange Stone and activated the Mark 50's reactor. Replenished nanites formed the Nano Gauntlet once more.

He set both Stones into it, nodded, and left.

"We will, Strange. And my name isn't 'wild card'!"

Having lost his target, Variant Thanos did not pursue Lin Yi. Instead, he resumed attacking indiscriminately, with neither thought nor restraint.

"Tony, stop fighting and find the Reality Stone! Give it to me the moment you do!" Lin Yi flew toward a pile of rubble as he spoke.

Two Stones were enough for now. He could not take Tony's Mind Stone yet; Tony was using it to boost his energy supply and combat power. Lin Yi needed to hold Variant Thanos off and find a way to pry the two Stones from his body.

Ideally, Tony would find the Reality Stone soon. Then Lin Yi could make The Snap and erase Variant Thanos for good. A perfect plan!

Atop the rubble, Lin Yi grabbed a pair of legs and heaved, pulling Carol's upper body free of the broken stone.

Carol's combat suit was torn in places, and the patches of exposed skin were covered in wounds. She had clearly been fighting Variant Thanos for a long time.

Smack!

"Carol, wake up! Can you fight a little longer?" Seeing that Carol was still unconscious, Lin Yi slapped her on the head without hesitation.

"Mmph..."

Smack! Smack!

"Stop! Stop hitting me!" Three slaps jolted Carol awake. Her swollen eyes narrowed to slits. "Who are you?"

Who am I? Who am I? Why does everyone keep asking me that?

"Forget that! Can you fight or not? I need your help. We'll find an opening and pry the Power Stone and Time Stone off Thanos together!"

Carol shook her head and came fully awake. After hearing Lin Yi out and seeing the Nano Gauntlet and two Infinity Stones in his hand, she realized he was on their side.

"I'm fine... I can still fight..." Carol took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. She looked across the devastated battlefield, her already grim expression darkening further.

She had fought Thanos before, but she had never seen this version of him. She had returned to Blue Star full of confidence, only to have him grab her by the legs and smash her into the ground three times, shattering her dream of playing the superhero.

"I'll take him head-on. You look for an opening!"

"Remember, get the Time Stone off first!"

Carol stared for a moment, then asked suspiciously, "You? You're joking, kid."

"Aw, fuck—hurry up and quit dragging your feet!"

Lin Yi had been gone barely half a minute, and Variant Thanos had nearly carved his way through Mid Lane.

Lin Yi spun, and blue light flashed.

An instant later, his fist struck Thanos from behind with thunderous force.

Bang!

Orange light erupted. Variant Thanos barely managed to turn his head halfway before the impact sent his massive body flying, leaving a horrifying depression in his back.

Compressing the Soul Stone's energy into an explosion had sharply increased the damage, but the backlash Lin Yi felt was unpleasant. After all, the Soul Stone's power was not meant for raw force and destruction.