Marvel: The Sole Player

"Huff... huff..."

"..."

Hela lay sprawled on the ground, having lost all sense of her image.

Her face was flushed red, her chest heaved violently as she panted heavily, but her face bore a strange sense of satisfaction; she had clearly just experienced a great battle.

Darian looked at Hela, who was collapsed in exhaustion, and nodded with satisfaction.

After testing, this ultron armor was indeed powerful, capable of easily suppressing even Hela.

However, the consumption was equally massive; if outputting at full power, with his current mana pool, it would bottom out in a few minutes at most.

Darian comforted himself: "A few minutes is enough. Some things aren’t about endurance, but about precision."

In the following days, he went to Helheim almost every day to learn magic from Hela.

To trick Hela into continuing to teach, Darian used the same method every time, making her always feel like it would be over after teaching it one last time.

Of course, the progress of different magics varied.

Sometimes Darian learned it in a few tries, while other times it took dozens, with the progress bar stuck at 0.00000...1%, nearly driving Hela to a breakdown.

Actually, she could have written her magic into a textbook for Darian to study on his own.

Unfortunately, Hela was a pure warrior; she was fine with blades and spears, but picking up a pen was more painful than killing her.

Moreover, she was so bored in Helheim that she didn’t even have anyone to talk to. Having Darian visit her frequently, even though she was often infuriated by him, was at least a form of entertainment—it was truly a mix of joy and pain.

During this time, Darian received a piece of news.

He was now wanted by the Black Order.

His bounty was quite generous, much higher than the price the Raiders had set before; even providing relevant clues would earn a large sum.

Darian looked at the astronomical figure on the wanted poster, and his eyes lit up on the spot. He almost repeated the operation from when The Hand had put a bounty on him—having the Loot-Looters sell him for the bounty and then slipping back in the chaos.

However, Thanos was not like those small fries from The Hand; he wasn’t so easy to fool, and one could easily get themselves killed if they weren’t careful.

Darian thought about it and eventually gave up on this tempting idea.

With the gold-lettered brand of the Black Order giving him free advertising, Darian became an overnight sensation in the interstellar community. With his high bounty, he became a rising supernova in deep space, with hopes of challenging the Four Emperors and becoming the Pirate King in the future.

But being famous also brought troubles.

He didn’t know how many eyes were now staring at him; as long as he dared to show his face, it would surely attract a heap of trouble.

However, Darian didn’t care about these things.

Anyway, the Loot-Looters already planned to take root on Bohet Planet. They were currently busy planning the Base construction and wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

And Bohet Planet was extremely remote; besides the occasional passerby falling through a wormhole, basically no one passed through here.

Darian didn’t plan to stay on Bohet Planet forever. He handed over the task of Base construction entirely to Ultron, while the Loot-Looters were left to the temporary management of Yondu and Nebula.

Nebula truly lived up to being raised by Thanos; her abilities in all aspects were beyond reproach. Moreover, as a cyborg, her rest time was extremely short, and she could do the work of a dozen people alone; she was practically a natural-born workhorse.

Given Nebula’s excellent work performance, Darian directly promoted her to be his left hand, with Yondu as his right arm. When he was away, the two would jointly manage the entire Loot-Looters.

As for the Vice Captain Quill, he was the ’third’ arm and didn’t need to manage anyone, just himself.

After arranging things here, Darian first teleported back to Kamar-Taj a trip.

Since obtaining Darian’s Enchantment equipment, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj became increasingly enthusiastic about going on duty, completing missions everywhere to earn points and exchange them for the Enchantment equipment they wanted.

When encountering high-difficulty monsters, they would even form their own teams, assign positions, and even play with tactics—like opening a portal above a monster’s head and everyone firing guns through it, or even throwing a few magic grenades.

For a moment, it was hard to tell whether they were sorcerers or gunslingers.

Of course, these sorcerers didn’t neglect their own training; if the durability of the Enchantment equipment ran out, they could still use magic to hold the line.

As the sorcerers’ efficiency increased, even if Darian did nothing but idle at Kamar-Taj, his experience bar would still soar.

However, things weren’t as smooth with the X-Squad.

Missions there still required Darian to personally go to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to accept and submit them, which was very troublesome.

Although he no longer cared for the small amount of experience from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s daily missions, he still needed to earn S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation, as it was related to his clearance upgrades.

After many days of accumulation, his S.H.I.E.L.D. reputation was finally almost full.

[Mission "Seize Dangerous Items" settlement complete]

[Received Rewards: 500 Experience, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +10, Item: life potion]

[Player’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation has reached the limit; you can claim the identity advancement mission from NPC Maria Hill]

Just as Darian finished submitting the daily mission, the system notification rang in his mind.

"Agent Darian, I have a mission for you."

Hill said as she handed Darian a classified document: "Remember that organization called The Hand? We’ve noticed they’ve been unusually active lately, seemingly plotting something. It’s likely related to the intel you stole before. I need you to investigate."

[NPC Maria Hill has issued an identity advancement mission to you]

[Mission: Plot of the Five Shadows]

[Objective: Stop the plot of the Five Fingers of The Hand]

[Reward: Level 9 S.H.I.E.L.D. (HYDRA) Agent Clearance]

Darian was somewhat surprised.

The previous promotion mission involved The Hand, and this time the promotion mission involved them again.

Had The Hand become a dedicated promotion tool for S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents?

That night, in Hells Kitchen.

Two figures were running desperately through a narrow alley, their footsteps frantic and breathing heavy.

"Hold on, Frank."

Matt, wearing his Daredevil suit, was covered in wounds. His red suit was torn in several places, and blood dripped down his arms.

The man he was supporting was in even worse shape, covered in blood with several ninja Shuriken embedded in his body. Any normal person would have collapsed long ago if they weren’t already dead.

Yet he gritted his teeth without a word, following Matt all the way.

Frank took a moment to glance back, his voice hoarse and cold: "Those bastards are catching up again."

On the rooftops above the alley entrance, many dark figures appeared, all dressed as ninjas. They moved across the tiles as if on level ground, rapidly pursuing their position.

These were ninjas from The Hand, the same ones who had been hunting Matt and Frank.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!

Frank was a notoriously ruthless man; without a word, he raised his firearm and pulled the trigger at the ninjas on the roof.

But the ninjas’ movements were exceptionally agile; they dodged Frank’s line of fire in advance, causing all the bullets to miss. At the same time, they threw Shuriken rapidly toward Matt and Frank.

The two reacted quickly, immediately diving toward a nearby corner to avoid the incoming Shuriken.

The ninjas were relentless, leaping down from the rooftops one after another, drawing their Katanas and charging at the two.

Out of necessity, Matt pulled out his two red short batons to counterattack, swinging them six times a second as he engaged the ninjas.

Frank was even more fearless; he knew martial arts and pulled out two large-caliber pistols, firing continuously at the charging ninjas.

The two were not weak, but they were wounded and outnumbered. Before long, they began to lose ground.

After a period of fighting, several new wounds were added to their bodies.

Frank was in even worse condition; his abdomen was pierced through by a Katana, the blade still stuck in his stomach. Blood gushed out, but he still held on without falling, as if he had a health-lock cheat on.

His eyes turned fierce as he pulled out several grenades from somewhere, prepared to take these ninjas down with him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, several gunshots exploded in their ears.

The heads of several ninjas in front of Frank exploded, white brain matter splattering everywhere as they fell straight down.

Frank froze and turned to look in the direction of the shots.

From the shadows nearby, a figure slowly walked out, holding a Golden Desert Eagle.

[NPC: Frank Castle]

[Codename: Punisher]

[Favorability: 0]

[Evaluation: Anti-hero, killing principle, mobile arsenal, one of the strongest normal humans]

Darian scanned Frank’s injuries.

Good lord, he lost so much blood and still hasn’t fallen. Is this a normal human?

Frank also sized up Darian, feeling a shock in his heart.

When did this person appear here?

He was clearly so close, yet he hadn’t noticed at all.

Seeing Darian take out several ninjas, the surrounding ninjas immediately turned their blades toward him.

"And you have the nerve to call yourselves ninjas when you don’t even know a single ninjutsu."

Darian curled his lip in disdain: "Let me show you what a real ninja is!"

"Taijutsu, Super Strength Punch!"

Darian clapped his hands together and then kicked one of the ninjas charging at him.

Accompanied by a sickening sound of bones shattering, that ninja, along with several comrades behind him, flew backward and slammed into the wall, turning into several piles of mush on the spot.

Frank: "..."

Although he didn’t know much about ninjutsu, was this really called ninjutsu?

And why did he use his leg for a ’Super Strength Punch’?

Darian used Super Strength Punch repeatedly, kicking the ninjas away one by one; the wall was soon covered in ’murals.’

Seeing that they couldn’t gain an advantage in close combat, the remaining ninjas immediately changed their strategy, pulling back from Darian and then throwing a volley of Shuriken.

Darian was quick, catching the incoming Shuriken and then flicking them back. The Shuriken instantly flew back at an even faster speed, piercing the ninjas’ heads. With their momentum undiminished, the Shuriken embedded themselves directly into the wall behind.

Matt felt the pressure ease significantly and only then noticed someone had joined them.

"Darian? Why are you here?"

Darian said cheerfully: "Just passing by. Lawyer Matt, why is it that every time I run into you, you’re either getting beaten or about to be beaten?"

Matt’s face stiffened: "This time is different. These ninjas aren’t quite right."

As his words fell, the ninjas Darian had killed actually stood up one by one, their wounds automatically healing.

"Oh?"

Darian immediately became interested.

He remembered the ninjas he had encountered before didn’t have this ability.

However, the resurrected ninjas didn’t pounce immediately.

They stared at Darian for a moment with hollow eyes, then silently retreated into the shadows, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The alley suddenly became quiet.

Darian turned to Matt: "What’s going on?"

Matt felt the ninjas had truly left and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He caught his breath and said in a deep voice: "I’m not sure either. Lately, I’ve found that The Hand has been getting very close to several gangs, so I thought about infiltrating to gather some intel. But I ran into Frank on the way. I don’t know what he did, but a group of Hand ninjas was hunting him down like crazy."

At this point, Matt’s tone became serious.

"However, those ninjas are completely different from before. They’re much stronger, and more terrifyingly, they can come back to life after dying. Frank was nearly killed by them, and I couldn’t just watch, so I stepped in to help."

Darian understood.

Frank was being hunted by The Hand, and Matt stepped up, ending up being hunted alongside him.

But this still didn’t explain why these ninjas suddenly had the ability to resurrect.

Darian took a wild guess; the truth must be related to his mission.

Thud!

At that moment, Frank’s body tilted, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Matt’s expression changed drastically as he quickly knelt to check: "Oh no, he’s badly injured. We have to get him to a hospital immediately, or his life will be in danger."

"No need for all that trouble. Have him drink this."

Darian unhurriedly took out a bottle of life potion from his game inventory and handed it over.

Matt asked: "What is this?"

"A life potion. It can heal most injuries. You just need to take it, but..."

Before Darian could finish, Matt heard it could heal injuries and didn’t care about anything else. He directly pulled the cork, lifted Frank’s head, and slowly poured the potion into his mouth.

Soon, Frank’s injuries began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye, returning to their original state in an instant.

Frank opened his eyes again and found that not only was he not dead, but his wounds were all gone.

He was somewhat surprised and asked hoarsely: "What... what happened to me?"

Matt was equally shocked, but he still explained: "Darian saved you. His medicine healed your injuries."

Frank looked down at the Katana still stuck in his stomach."

..But what about this?"

Darian said cheerfully: "That’s none of my business. The life potion can only heal wounds; it won’t manually pull a sword out. I originally wanted to remind Lawyer Matt to pull the sword out before feeding the medicine, but who knew he was so fast? I couldn’t stop him."

Matt:"..."

You should have put the instructions at the very beginning!

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