Marvel's Shendu: Dominating the Multiverse

Chapter 33 Steve the Clown

Are you sure you're here?

Steve, with the Chitauri soldier in tow, arrives at the factory in the video: "Let me tell you, the Mind Stone is in my hands now, so don't even think about trying anything funny."

The Chitauri soldier curled his lip in disdain: "You don't really think you can fight us with that gem, do you? You might have fallen into a trap without even realizing it."

Steve retorted sarcastically, "You don't really think your ridiculous short-term invisibility and transformations can fool the Mind Stone, do you?"

"Who knows?"

The factory gates were pushed open, and Steve immediately saw Valon strapped to a chair.

The other person was tied to a chair, his eyes were covered with a black cloth, and his mouth was stuffed with a wad of paper and tightly taped shut.

"Valon!" Steve shouted, looking at Shendu's current state. "Wait for me, I'm coming to save you!"

Upon hearing Steve's voice, Valon trembled violently, trying to break free of its restraints, and kept making groaning noises, gesturing with its head for Steve to leave quickly.

Seeing Valon's current state, Steve reassured him, "Don't worry, Fury has entrusted me with the Mind Stone for the time being. The Chitauri's invisibility and shapeshifting have no effect on me."

Valmont trembled even more violently upon hearing Steve's shouts, kicking the air in front of him repeatedly, trying to drive Steve away.

The door behind him slammed shut out of thin air, the sound echoing in Steve's ears.

He raised his shield, the Mind Stone clutched tightly in his hand: "You don't think such a simple trap can subdue me, do you?"

The Chitauri soldier who subdued Valon didn't say a word, his body gradually disappearing from Steve's sight, leaving only Valon's desperate groans in the factory.

Steve looked around seriously, the Mind Stone glowing in his hand, and an orange-yellow light appearing in his eyes.

"Your invisibility is useless against the Mind Stone."

Steve, wielding the power of the Mind Stone, surveyed his surroundings, his initial confidence gradually turning into shock.

What he saw was not a Chitauri soldier, but a ninja, with the same aura as the ninja he had encountered in the power distribution room before!

"What's going on here! You're not Chitauri at all!"

As if struck by a sudden thought, Steve looked sharply at the Chitauri soldier he had been pressing down on. The soldier was no longer at the gate, but had somehow ended up in the main control room above the factory, looking down at him.

His current image in Steve's eyes is no longer that of a Chitauri soldier, but rather a creature that Steve could never have imagined—a dark green dragon.

"Little Dragon!" Steve blurted out instinctively.

He then looked at the bound "Vallon," but now in his eyes, it was not Vallon at all, but an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

"Little Dragon?"

The Lord's majestic voice rang out from the control room: "You still have the audacity to use that title."

Steve looked at the Holy Lord, who was no longer hiding his identity, and could hear the anger in his tone, as if a king had been mocked by an ant that could be easily crushed.

"So there was no mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. at all; it was all your own doing!" Steve couldn't believe his own guess, but that was the truth.

Whether Steve believes it or not, he can't change the facts now.

The Holy Lord remained silent, still looking down at Steve, his hand waving in the air, and the ninjas who were still waiting immediately rushed towards Steve.

With his shield in hand and the Mind Stone's assistance, Steve could easily discern what the ninjas were thinking and predict their attacks. His shield seemed to defy the laws of physics, always flying towards the ninjas at tricky angles.

"These rabble are no threat to me right now." Steve finished clearing out the ninjas and looked up at the Holy Lord.

The Holy Lord's expression remained unchanged, still that of someone looking down at an ant: "You're very confident? Just because of that gem?"

"Since you are using the Mind Stone now, you can probably see what I'm thinking right now."

Steve narrowed his eyes, and in his vision, a line of text appeared next to the Holy Lord: The gem is now in my hands.

"That's wishful thinking. I have the gem firmly in my hands now, and you have no chance of getting it."

Steve threw his shield at the Holy Lord, but a small piece of the factory's roof beam fell without warning and hit the shield.

The shield shifted its angle and missed the Holy Lord, instead bouncing off the sheet metal next to him.

Steve moved to try and catch the shield, but he suddenly twisted his ankle and fell forward uncontrollably, his hand that was gripping the gem loosening.

The gem flew into the air and collided with the returning shield. The shield gave the gem an upward force, and the gem flew through the air in a beautiful arc before landing precisely in the Holy Lord's hand.

Steve stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before him. So many coincidences had occurred at once, and the outcome was exactly as the Lord had hoped: the gem was now in his hands.

"What... what's going on?!" Steve still couldn't believe it.

Suddenly, Steve felt the strange sensation on his shoulder disappear, and the gloom that had been weighing on his heart vanished as well.

"You did all of this? You can even manipulate luck?"

Steve increasingly felt like a clown. Before, he called the other person Little Dragon, and after becoming human, he thought the other person was the person he could trust the most. But now, he could only smile bitterly.

The Holy Lord played with the Mind Stone he had regained, and that temptation reappeared, even more intensely than before.

"Trying to use me? You'll only become a part of my power!"

Black ripples appeared in his hand, the patterns enveloping the gemstone and temporarily shielding it from his allure.

The Holy Lord looked at Steve, who was lying on the ground, and slowly walked out of the control room. The bricks on the ground floated up out of thin air, laying down a descending staircase for the Holy Lord. The last step floated right in front of Steve's head.

Steve watched as the Holy Lord descended the floating staircase. The majestic monarchical aura emanating from the other man grew stronger and stronger, making it hard for Steve to breathe.

"Who are you?!" Steve struggled to stand up, only to find that two steel bars pinned his calves to the ground, forcing him to remain kneeling.

"You may call me Holy Lord."

The Holy Lord's tone still carried disdain: "Now, you ant, you should pay the price for your previous disrespect."

Steve could feel a flame starting to burn from his lower body, and the flame was spreading upwards.

"The Mind Stone is missing. Fury and Natasha will definitely notice something's wrong. As the best vessel for the Mind Stone, Natasha will surely notice your abnormality!" Steve threatened the Holy Lord, enduring the pain.

The Holy Lord seemed to have heard a joke and burst into laughter. His shadow stretched out, and a figure emerged from within the Holy Lord's shadow.

Good afternoon, Captain.

Steve looked at the smiling woman greeting him, and for the first time, his eyes were filled with despair.

"Captain, are you still holding onto hope for Fury? He's nothing but a self-important clown."

That was the last thing Steve heard.