Chapter 171: Epiphany

Is this the secret behind Captain America's ability to stalemate anyone? Purer power of the mind?
A flash of speculation crossed Gu Chongyan's eyes.
Countless mystical forces exist within the Marvel Universe, yet if one were to name the most mysterious and extraordinary among them, it would undoubtedly be the power of the mind.
Mental power has always maintained a low-profile existence within the Marvel Universe, but a closer inspection reveals a telling pattern:
The power of the mind is frequently the aspect most easily lacking among the universe's superheroes and supervillains.
Countless powerful beings have embarked upon the path of supervillainy driven by corruption of the heart.
Take the Infinity Stones, the most widely known artifacts in the Marvel Universe, as an example.
As is well known, under standard conditions, the Marvel Universe contains six Infinity Stones, representing six fundamental universal forces: Power, Space, Time, Reality, Soul, and Mind.
Each Infinity Stone possesses the formidable might to sweep across the cosmos, and their powers are mutually equal, with none being inherently superior to another.
Yet when it comes to practical application, the situation changes entirely.
As foundational forces of the universe, each Infinity Stone can be viewed as an independent divine artifact,
Yet such artifacts cannot be wielded by just anyone.
In the hands of different individuals, the roles played by the Infinity Stones vary drastically.
They grow stronger in the hands of the strong, while the weak are destroyed by them—such is the nature of the Infinity Stones.
Over the years, many have possessed the Infinity Stones, but those truly capable of unleashing their potential can be counted on one's fingers.
Consider the Tesseract, which languished in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years without yielding any practical use, or the Mind Stone in Loki's possession, which required direct physical contact to achieve mind control. It becomes readily apparent that without the ability to master an Infinity Stone, holding it serves little purpose.
Among the Infinity Stones, the Power Stone is the easiest to command. After all, it symbolizes pure physical might; as long as one can endure the backlash of its energy, anyone can unleash devastating force.
Thus, in the films, the Power Stone was the very first Infinity Stone Thanos actively sought to claim.
With the Power Stone secured, he established the foundation required to drive the other stones.
The order in which Thanos gathered the stones further illustrates the varying levels of difficulty in wielding them.
Driving Space with Power, perceiving the boundaries of Reality, sensing the presence of the Soul, transcending the constraints of Time, and ultimately arriving at the shores of the Mind.
From this, one can discern just how extraordinary the power of the mind is within the Marvel Universe.
Captain America possesses the most unyielding willpower among all superheroes, and this willpower has transformed into pure mental strength, granting him unparalleled resilience.
It is precisely the existence of this resilience that birthed his classic line: "I can do this all along."
For a long time, Gu Chongyan had striven to expand his own mental power. Now, observing Captain America, he realized he might adopt a different direction—or perhaps incorporate an additional approach.
Captain America is neither a mentalist nor a psionic-powered individual; indeed, his raw mental power could only be considered average.
Yet precisely because it possesses a purity pushed to the absolute limit, it erupts into a forced fifty-fifty stalemate and a shield-taunt effect comparable to the law of cause and effect.
This demonstrates that the path of the mind possesses boundless breadth and depth. While pursuing the expansion of mental power, one perhaps ought to simultaneously refine its purity, achieving a comprehensive elevation of oneself.
Just as these insights stirred within Gu Chongyan's mind, the battlefield before him shifted once more.
Captain America raised his shield high, drawing a massive share of the firepower, while the remaining Avengers, including the Fantastic Four, managed to catch their breath.
Swish, swish, swish! High atop a building, Clinton unleashed a barrage with the imposing momentum of a thousand arrows flying at once.
As a superhero who relies on a primitive weapon like the bow and arrow amidst modern technology, Hawkeye's arrows were naturally far from ordinary.
Each arrow served a specialized purpose, capable of releasing countless crackling currents and generating intense explosions.
Beneath this rain of arrows, even Doctor Doom, with his metallic defenses, was bound to suffer.
Meanwhile, the Hulk—growing stronger with every surge of rage—had already landed on the ground. Thick-skinned and entirely indifferent to the stinging electrical currents, he charged straight into the thunderstorm, lifted a roadside car, and, with sheer force in his arms, crushed the vehicular wreckage into a massive iron ball. With a thunderous roar, he hurled it directly at Doom.
Although Tony's armor had suffered considerable interference from the powerful currents, as one of Marvel's top geniuses, he quickly devised a countermeasure and freed himself from the electromagnetic disruption.
At that moment, he soared through the air as a row of small ports opened along the shoulders of his armor, launching countless heat-seeking micro-missiles toward Doom at the epicenter of the electricity.
Seeing this, Doom unleashed a frantic torrent of potent electrical currents. The brilliant blue arcs dyed the sky a deep, bruised indigo, intertwining with the dark clouds like a tempest of lightning that struck the incoming missiles, instantly blooming into dazzling, large-scale fireworks high in the air.
While the male heroes served as the primary combatants, Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, proved herself fully worthy of her title as a founding Avenger.
Though not as eye-catching as the Hulk or Iron Man, this heroine—who was every bit the match for any man—played an irreplaceable role.
Moving with the fluid grace of a black cat, she agilely wove through the crackling currents, her flawless, S-shaped silhouette tracing graceful arcs in mid-air as she silently planted several specialized magnetic disks into the ground surrounding Doom.
With that task complete, she slipped back out from amidst the electrical discharges with the silent stealth of an ancient assassin.
To strike and vanish, leaving neither body nor name behind—that precisely described her actions.
The very instant Natasha retreated to safety, the magnetic disks resonated violently with one another, forming an enclosed electromagnetic cage that frantically drained the chaotic electrical currents from the air.
The sole reason Doom had been able to levitate was his reliance on those very currents. Now that the electricity was suppressed by the magnetic disks, his levitating form was frozen in mid-air, rendering him an airborne target.
Regardless of how deficient their combat experience might be, the Fantastic Four were hardly going to let such an opportunity slip by.
The Invisible Woman and the Human Torch, sister and brother, once again demonstrated their seamless coordination. The Human Torch thrust his hands forward, swirling together a colossal fireball that hurtled viciously toward Doom.
The Invisible Woman hurriedly cast an invisible force field, swirling it like a gigantic, unseen hand to transform the colossal fireball into a whirling vortex of flame that cleaved through the blue electrical currents and engulfed Doom.
Simultaneously, Mister Fantastic and the Thing, that veteran pair of old friends, initiated their own joint assault.
Among all present, the Hulk and the Thing were the sole two capable of ignoring the damage inflicted by Doom's electricity.
The two leveraged this advantage to launch their attack.
Mister Fantastic used his limbs in tandem, stretching his body infinitely and anchoring each end to two nearby skyscrapers to form a gigantic slingshot.
Seeing this, the Thing let out a thunderous roar, leaped into the air, and landed heavily upon the makeshift trampoline. Transforming into a massive stone projectile like a falling meteorite, he smashed relentlessly toward Doom.