Chapter 541 Contradiction
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"Drawing lots?" The crowd looked at each other, feeling a bit unfamiliar with the term. This was because Homelander had said those two words in Mandarin.
Tony Stark raised an eyebrow. "Buddy, is this some kind of casino game? If it’s rolling dice, I have to warn you, I’ve been blacklisted in Las Vegas."
"It just means drawing numbers or a lottery, letting the fortune decide your fate."
As Homelander spoke, he flipped his wrist, and a bamboo fortune-telling cup materialized in his palm, filled with bamboo sticks.
"What kind of antique is that?" Tony leaned in to take a look.
"I picked this up in Hong Kong, in a collapsed building." Homelander shook the cup casually, the bamboo sticks clattering. "I thought it was interesting, so I kept it. Now it’s finally coming in handy."
Homelander picked out six bamboo sticks from the cup and put the rest back into his magic pocket.
"The rules are simple." Homelander spread out the six sticks in his hand. "Among these six, only one has the characters for ’Glory’ carved on the bottom. Everyone draws one, and whoever draws that stick fights the next round. To be fair, I’ll draw last."
Everyone exchanged glances and had no objections. Since no one was willing to concede, leaving the choice to fate was indeed the fairest method.
Tony pursed his lips and spread his hands. "Fine, since the boss has spoken. Jarvis, help me calculate the probability..."
"Shut up, Tony, just draw." Homelander handed the bamboo cup over.
Tony reached out helplessly and pulled one out at random. Then he picked it up and looked at the bottom; there was nothing there.
"Looks like luck isn’t on my side." He shrugged and stepped aside.
Thor stepped up second, his thick fingers carefully pinching a thin stick before yanking it out.
He widened his eyes and stared at the bottom for a moment, then snorted in dissatisfaction and snapped the blank stick in two. He muttered, "Looks like Odin isn’t watching over me."
Sorcerer Ancient One smiled slightly, stepped forward, and drew one, which was also blank.
Next was Captain America Steve Rogers. Steve looked at the stick in his hand. At the bottom, the two Chinese characters for "Glory" were clearly carved.
He smiled slightly and held up the stick. "It seems I am the one destined." Steve looked up at the others.
Seeing this, everyone sighed helplessly, but they had no choice but to accept the result.
"Good luck, Captain." Tony stepped forward and patted Steve on the shoulder. "Don’t let those aliens look down on Earthlings."
"Captain, you have to beat them hard!" Peter clenched his fists and cheered loudly.
"Give it your all, Rogers. Let them witness the glory of Midgard’s strongest warrior." Thor also offered encouragement.
"Isn’t the strongest warrior on Earth Homelander?" Peter spoke up to correct him.
Thor gave a mysterious smile and said nothing. He thought to himself, that is our Asgardian god, my own brother.
Amidst the gazes and cheers of the others, Steve Rogers carried his Vibranium shield and strode toward the teleportation platform.
The massive holographic screen in the arena suddenly lit up. Grandmaster’s excited voice resounded throughout the entire arena once again.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Scum of the Milky Way Galaxy! Polish your eyes and prepare to welcome the second brutal slaughter!"
On the big screen, two visually striking photos lit up side by side. On the left was Captain America, holding his Vibranium shield with a determined gaze. On the right was a tall, cold-faced alien female warrior, Proxima Midnight. She held a uniquely shaped three-pronged spear in her hand.
"An incredible duel!" Grandmaster danced around in the center of the screen.
"On one side, the ruthless assassin of the Black Order, famous for her ferocity, wielding a three-pronged divine spear that can pierce through any defense!"
"On the other side, the renowned super soldier from Earth, with—a legendary shield that claims to withstand all attacks!"
"Everyone, this is not just a battle of life and death, but the ultimate clash between the strongest spear and the strongest shield!"
The gamblers in the stands went crazy again, the overwhelming roar threatening to flip the dome.
Due to The Hood’s victory in the first round, those hot-headed cosmic gamblers had all bet their lives and fortunes on Proxima Midnight. As one of the five members of the Black Order under Thanos, she was already notoriously famous throughout the Universe.
"Next, terrain selection!" Grandmaster waved his hand. Dozens of terrain options appeared on the screen again, and the votes began to scroll rapidly. The interface locked.
"Terrain confirmed! This round’s venue is... Gravitational Turbulence: Shattered Star Floating Islands!" Grandmaster announced loudly.
As his voice fell, the environment in the center of the arena began to change drastically. The originally flat floor collapsed and disintegrated in an instant, plummeting into a bottomless, pitch-black void.
Immediately after, countless rocks of various sizes appeared out of thin air, floating slowly in the void. They were like a floating asteroid belt in the Universe, moving and colliding aimlessly in mid-air.
There was no sky here, nor was there any ground. Gravity was distorted here, and every shattered floating island had an independent gravitational field. Some islands had gravity pointing up, some down, and some were even constantly rotating.
In this arena, not only were there no fixed footholds, but a single moment of carelessness would result in being swallowed by the bottomless abyss below. This meant that during the battle, the contestants had to precisely calculate the landing point of every jump and the allocation of their stamina.
Flashes of teleportation light passed. Proxima Midnight and Steve landed on separate shattered floating islands about ten meters apart.
As soon as Steve’s feet touched the ground, he felt the change in gravity beneath him, his body becoming much heavier than usual. He immediately raised his shield, his gaze burning like a torch, locking onto the enemy ahead.
On the other side, the floating island Proxima Midnight stood on was slightly higher, and she looked down at Steve from her vantage point. When she saw that Steve was just an ordinary Earthling, a sense of disdain inevitably rose in her heart.
"This is the warrior you chose?" Proxima Midnight scoffed. "A fragile creature holding an iron plate and wearing a ridiculous tight suit?"
She shook her head, seemingly finding this battle uninteresting. "Father will purify this Universe, and you are nothing but a speck of dust not worth mentioning. I will cut off your head immediately and end this farce."
"I’ve heard similar words before." Steve responded coldly. "Usually, the people who say these things end up in jail."
Proxima Midnight’s expression darkened. She had followed Thanos across the Universe for so many years and hadn’t been talked back to like this by a human from a low-level Planet in a long time. "Arrogant reptile!"
Proxima Midnight’s anger flared up. "I will nail you, your confidence, and your heart into the abyss!"