Unremovable Markings

Clack!

Bang!

The crisp sound of a snap echoed across the battlefield, accompanied by the sound of boundless energy spreading out.

A cosmic wave of energy took the Blue Star as its center point and rapidly spread to the existing boundaries of the universe.

The air grew still in that instant, and time seemed to slow down as a sense of peace rose in everyone's heart.

The writhing mass of flesh suddenly stopped, and along with those Chitauri soldiers and grotesque monsters, they froze in place as if under a spell. It was as if a gust of wind blew past, and they all turned into dust that drifted away in the air.

Everything Thanos brought vanished without a trace, leaving only the scarred battlefield to tell the tale of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Thud...

A faint sound rang out as the Six Infinity Stones dropped to the ground, revealing Lin Yi's slightly reddened arm.

Lin Yi opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of black smoke, casting a resentful look at Tony, who had just regained his senses.

Why didn't he remember the plot saying that doing a snap would also cause the gauntlet to explode?

Looking at Lin Yi and then at the gauntlet shattered into scraps, Tony raised his hands repeatedly.

"Whoa, whoa! This isn't my fault!"

"I already perfected the latest design for the gauntlet, but I just didn't have time to sync it to the Mark 50. Who knew it would explode?!"

"No big deal, though. Your new look is very handsome..."

As he spoke, Tony couldn't help laughing to himself.

Naturally, Lin Yi hadn't been hurt, but his current appearance really made it hard to keep a straight face.

This laugh made Lin Yi chuckle as well.

Whatever, at least the ending was good.

Once his mind relaxed, a wave of exhaustion washed over him, and Lin Yi immediately sat down flat on the ground.

Tony couldn't spare a thought for his image either, imitating Lin Yi by sitting down next to him with an expression that mixed exhaustion with relief.

"No matter what, it's finally over..."

This sentence seemed like the horn signaling the end of the war. As exhaustion struck, everyone sat down on the ground, and only then did the pain in their bodies become a reality.

The sky remained gray and hazy with smoke lingering everywhere, but an uncontainable joy dwelt in everyone's hearts.

That joy appeared in the heart of everyone on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, the surviving Avengers supported one another. Some sat paralyzed on the ground, some exchanged silly grins, and some even let out suppressed cheers.

Of course, there were also those who silently knelt by corpses and remained speechless for a long time...

Steve shuffled over and sat down beside the two of them. "Tony, Lin, nice work..."

He truly acknowledged Lin Yi now, but Lin Yi didn't need it.

Lin Yi merely stared up at the sky without speaking. Everyone assumed he was relaxed and spacing out, so they didn't pay it any mind, but they didn't know that a foreboding premonition had suddenly risen in Lin Yi's heart just moments ago. This feeling grew increasingly clear, leaving him with the lingering sense that things weren't over yet.

Shaking his head to forcefully press down that unease, Lin Yi comforted himself that it was probably just emotions caused by plot deviations.

Fighting a Variant Thanos was this hard, completely different from the easy and leisurely life he had imagined for himself over the past two years. It seemed he still wasn't strong enough. Should he fly up to the sun and stay there for a while to strengthen himself?

Just as Lin Yi was lost in thought, a young, curious face suddenly poked up right in front of him.

"Hey, your name is Lin Yi?"

If anyone here still had leftover energy, it was only Peter. Young people really recovered fast! At this moment, he was squatting in front of Lin Yi, staring at him with a look of wonder.

Speechless, Lin Yi silently tilted his head back and shot Tony a look.

This is your precious boy, hurry up and get him away.

Tony seemed to understand. He nodded, then turned his head to look aside, directly ignoring him.

"Why haven't I seen you before? How are you so..." The Spider-Man raised his arm and gestured.

"Oh, I mean, so good at fighting!" The Spider-Man had taken a punch from Variant Thanos and had almost thrown up his dinner from the night before.

He wanted to reach out and squeeze Lin Yi's arm, but feeling it might be a bit impolite, he pulled his hand back. Facing Lin Yi's somewhat disgusted gaze, he kept talking: "Seriously, you're the best fighter and the coolest guy I've ever seen!"

"Oh, Mr. Stark, I didn't mean you aren't cool. You're the coolest too." Peter chuckled, hastily trying to make up for it when he noticed Tony's gaze from the side.

Tony wore a blank expression, watching him without a word.

"Uh... the battle is over, are we going to have a party tonight?" The Spider-Man awkwardly scratched his arm. He might have bumped it during the fight earlier, because it suddenly felt really itchy.

Tony rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with him. He had been quite moved when they first met, but now he was already starting to find the kid annoying.

A party, my foot. A whole bunch of battlefield wreckage was waiting to be dealt with—were they going to clean up for a party? And how were this group of people who had vanished for a full five years supposed to reintegrate into this world? A mountain of problems was waiting for them to handle.

"Clint went home. He asked me to let you know," Natasha walked over and said.

Ever since his family vanished, Clint hadn't smiled in a very long time. Now that the battle was over, he rushed right back at the first possible moment, despite his injuries and exhaustion.

"Hey, trickster, the war is already over. Why are you still pulling such a long face?" Tony noticed Strange walking over with a solemn expression. "Are you hungry?"

"Things are a bit wrong..." Strange lowered his gaze, picked up the green Time Stone from the ground, and pondered something.

Tony made a clicking sound. Here we go again, right?

Steve frowned, sat up, and shot Tony a look.

He wasn't close with Strange; he only knew about the parts involving Strange on Titan from Tony's account.

Tony instantly caught on: "What's wrong? Put that green rock down! That's not your stone, and you still have to give it back."

Strange had no intention of arguing with him. He casually let go of the green Time Stone and turned his gaze onto Lin Yi.

Lin Yi, who was resting: ???

What's that supposed to mean? Surely he didn't think he was the one who was wrong, right?

The strange look Strange was giving him made Lin Yi suspect whether this guy actually thought Thanos's mutation was caused by his own appearance.

"You have that feeling too, right? Something is wrong." Strange offered an explanation, making Lin Yi's heart skip a beat.

If one person felt something was wrong, it might just be a mistake in perception, but two people...

Impatiently, Tony leaned closer: "What the hell is wrong? Spit it out already, nobody here likes riddles!"

"Uh, gentlemen, I have something to say..." Peter's timid voice rang out.

The three of them turned back, causing the Spider-Man to shrink his head back: "Um, do you guys think this looks a bit wrong..."

Peter had already retracted his Nano Suit at this point and rolled up his sleeve.

When they saw the abnormally familiar black-purple markings on Peter's arm, the pupils of all three men shrank.