Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

Steve stood before all the soldiers, facing their gazes. Even though he had long grown used to such looks, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

After all, what was happening now was difficult to accept.

The ones they had once considered mortal enemies had suddenly become their allies, while the true enemy now was someone discovered by the Bat.

"You are my compatriots. You chose me as your leader during the darkest times, and I am humbled by that choice. I still feel the same," Steve said to the soldiers in front of him.

However, Stark clearly had no intention of just standing by and listening to this soldier from World War II deliver another stirring speech.

He stepped forward directly and stood beside Steve.

"Stark?" Steve was puzzled by Stark's action. Why come up at a time like this?

He had planned to reveal everything to the soldiers below, but Stark's presence would only draw all their attention to the leader of the Iron Nation.

This wouldn't really help his speech.

"I don't want to keep listening to your inspirational speech. I'm just here to state the facts." Stark knew exactly what Steve was worried about. But he was already here—was he supposed to keep hiding?

As Stark appeared before the soldiers, a noticeable commotion rippled through the crowd. Whispers began to spread and grew louder.

They were surprised by Stark's appearance and harbored strong resentment toward him.

If not for Stark, they might not be in this situation. They might still be part of a united nation, still with their families.

Of course, both sides likely had their share of faults, but once you stood on opposing sides, self-reflection became meaningless.

Though they now wanted nothing more than to raise their guns and shoot the man standing beside Steve…

Reason and instinct told them this wasn't the time.

They had already heard rumors—whispers suggesting this war might finally be coming to an end.

But they knew nothing about the details.

"I know you're confused, even full of hatred when you see me," Stark faced their hostile stares without flinching.

After all this time at war, even if there hadn't been blood feuds initially, both sides had long since stained their hands with each other's blood.

"But that's between us." Stark's words drew a clear boundary. He then glanced around and addressed the soldiers, "A war between humans should be ended by humans. It should never be manipulated by those with ulterior motives."

Many of the soldiers below were bewildered by his words. They exchanged glances, wondering if the Iron Nation's leader had gone mad—how else could he say something like this?

"I know you're curious why I'd say this. But I need to tell you: ever since the explosion at Negative Space Prison No. 42, we've all been played. They want us to kill each other—wipe ourselves out."

As Stark spoke, Steve brought up an image of the Skrulls.

The moment the image appeared, everyone recognized the alien race that had once fought against all the superheroes.

But according to the information they had, hadn't all the Skrulls already been wiped out? Why were they showing up again?

"I know what you're thinking. But the truth is—we were deceived. Those creatures were never fully eradicated," Stark said, bitterness in his voice.

They had believed the threat was gone, only to discover the enemy still lived. It was a cruel joke.

"And now, our task is to eliminate them completely—for the sake of future peace." With those final words, Stark stepped down. He had said what needed to be said, and now the stage belonged to Steve.

After all, when it came to rallying spirits, no one did it better than Captain America.

As Stark left the stage, Bruce turned to him and said, "You were talking to the Iron Nation too, weren't you?"

"This war—both sides are to blame. Why should only the Blue Nation send troops?" Stark saw no issue in what he'd done. The moment he stepped on stage, his armor's systems had already broadcast his speech to every citizen of the Iron Nation.

He hadn't just come up to avoid another of Steve's predictable speeches—he wanted both the Blue Nation and the Iron Nation to understand: the enemy they now faced was not each other, but those green-skinned monsters hiding in the shadows.

By then, Steve had finished his speech. Clearly, Stark's sudden appearance had disrupted his flow, leaving him with little more to say. But the outcome was still positive—the soldiers below were now brimming with fury, their eyes blazing. Steve had successfully ignited their fighting spirit.

"It's time we get to work." At Steve's command, the entire army began marching toward the mountain pass.

Such a large-scale movement naturally alerted the Skrulls stationed below the pass. The one disguised as Black Panther was now at a loss for words, full of frustration.

Ever since their agent had been captured, everything had spiraled beyond control, veering rapidly in an unpredictable direction.

At that moment, Baldwin was watching the Skrull's anxious expression and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh—it's just that everything you've done is so disgusting. And seeing your face, like you've been constipated for three days, it's just too satisfying."

Baldwin made no effort to hide his glee at the Skrull's frustration.

"I was going to spare your life… but now I see there's no need." The disguised Black Panther, seething with hatred, slammed a button beside him. A massive electric current surged through Baldwin's body.

But in the very next moment, radiant orbs of light burst from Baldwin's body.

"Have you forgotten what my power is, after all that time hiding in the dark?" Baldwin wasn't surprised by the Skrull's panic and rage. He had already expected this. Once the enemy realized the plan was no longer unfolding according to script, they were bound to lose composure.

"You and that Bat guessed right," Baldwin said, leaving only those words behind as his powers shattered the cage imprisoning him.

After all, a superpower strong enough to withstand a nuclear explosion wouldn't be held back by some makeshift prison.

The punishment Black Panther had activated merely freed Baldwin from his control. All he saw was a streak of light smashing through the prison walls, bouncing around the hall like a pinball, before finally vanishing from sight.

"Damn it!"

But there was no time to dwell on it.

BOOM!!!

The next moment, a massive explosion echoed through the entire base. Along with the blast came a beam of yellow light—Baldwin reappeared before him.

This time, the Skrull couldn't comprehend it at all. He was certain he had removed every potentially dangerous item from Baldwin. Baldwin's power was primarily defensive, used to absorb and reflect attacks—there was no way he could cause such massive destruction.

But then he saw Baldwin's coat was completely gone.

He understood.

Someone had smuggled nanomachines inside Baldwin, bypassing all his scans.

"The guy who paralyzed our entire active defense system didn't just open the gates—he disabled all our defensive equipment."

The voice that suddenly came from the console left Black Panther with no way to restrain himself. Everything that had happened pushed his rage to a breaking point.

At this moment, Baldwin had just barely used up all the energy he had absorbed from that earlier explosion.

He flashed Black Panther a deliberately provocative smile, then immediately unleashed a burst of energy and charged straight at him.

As for Black Panther, he no longer cared about what he should do next—his only desire now was to tear Baldwin apart completely.

Faced with Baldwin's charge, he didn't retreat—instead, he advanced, meeting Baldwin head-on.

Although Baldwin's superpower might seem underwhelming in certain aspects, when facing this Skrull impersonating Black Panther, he could still suppress him with ease.

Not to mention, Baldwin kept spewing taunts at the fake Black Panther non-stop.

"You know what? Your plan was never going to succeed. Sooner or later, we were bound to find out."

"All I did was bring your failure forward a little."

"You thought you could win? That's just delusional."

Listening to Baldwin's words, the current Black Panther was absolutely furious, glaring at Baldwin with intense hatred.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, and by the way, that subordinate of yours is unbelievably stupid—he actually came here for revenge."

Baldwin ignored his outburst and kept throwing out taunts, not really knowing which words would get under his opponent's skin.

But judging by how the fake Black Panther fought, it was clear the verbal jabs were having some effect. After all, who keeps punching someone in the abdomen when they know their enemy can absorb the impact?

"Explosion signal detected."

On the surface, the Iron Nation's and the Blue Nation's armies had already completely filled both sides of the valley.

"Soldiers!" Steve waved to the troops behind him. Immediately, enhanced humans equipped with flight devices flew into the valley gorge.

Not to be outdone, the Iron Nation deployed a large number of steel robots into the battlefield.

Jessica, who had followed the main force here, saw Bruce standing off to the side. Activating her flight gear, she flew directly to Batman's side.

"Why aren't you going down?" Jessica looked at Bruce, who appeared unharmed—his battle armor showed no major damage and should've been ready for combat.

"I'm waiting for someone." Bruce wasn't looking at the raging battle below, but staring straight up at the sky, as if something significant was about to happen there.

Curious, Jessica looked up—but saw nothing unusual.

Then suddenly, thunder exploded, and the sky turned dark with storm clouds. It was Doom's Thunder Legion, arriving on the scene.

"Looks like you were right after all," Jessica said, clenching her fists and preparing to join Bruce in an attack.

"No. Stay here."

Startled by Bruce's words, Jessica turned to look at him, just in time to see him pull out a rather old-fashioned helmet from... who knew where.

"From now on, stay away from me. Don't come near me until I take this helmet off."

Bruce didn't look at her—he trusted Jessica to understand.

And Jessica did. She knew Bruce wasn't one to make empty threats.

She quickly stepped back and told the others to keep their distance from Batman as well.

Seeing Jessica's retreat, Bruce turned his gaze to the sky, to the two thunder gods whose figures had now fully appeared.

"Though I'm reluctant... this false world has no right to exist."

Bruce looked at the two figures and slowly placed the helmet onto his head.

Savage. Bloodthirsty.A torrent of negative emotions surged through Bruce's mind, leaving behind only one chilling thought:

Slaughter.

Perhaps because he was sharing control of the body with that "other one," Bruce could still manage to hold on. Otherwise, the moment the helmet was on, he would have already started slaughtering the nearest soldiers.

Bruce was sure that Doom had realized he'd escaped from that place, breaking free from their seal. Doom would never overlook any abnormal activity in these special zones.

Even though Bruce had initially chosen this war-ravaged zone on purpose, the sudden outbreak of a large-scale battle had still caught the attention of the Thunder Legion.

And that meant it would catch Doom's attention as well.

The two thunder gods in the sky had been observing the battle below, but in the next moment, they saw a terrifyingly violent figure charging straight toward them.

"Kill!"

(End of Chapter)

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