With a snap of his fingers, Lin Feng prepared to depart.
Thanos of this universe still stood by, his expression unreadable, lost in thought. His gaze flickered from Lin Feng to the Infinity Gauntlet he held, his entire being yet to recover from the recent weakness.
Lin Feng shook his head and flew away directly.
Thanos remained on the spot, his form pausing before slowly turning to dust and vanishing.
He had initially intended to spare his life. But Thanos clearly lacked discretion. Although he was now like an ant to Lin Feng, Lin Feng didn't want an ant constantly fixated on him.
Subsequently, Lin Feng returned directly to the transit star.
The Infinity Gauntlet confiscated from the elder Thanos had already been destroyed by Lin Feng. Lin Feng had no use for it; it was large and unsightly. As for the Infinity Stones on it, Lin Feng had removed them and placed them in a small pouch he carried. He hadn't yet decided how to deal with these six Infinity Stones. To snap one's fingers, one set of stones was sufficient; two were unnecessary. Moreover, Lin Feng was no longer entirely satisfied with the speed at which the Infinity Stones enhanced his own power.
He went to the熄星 (Xī Xīng) Bar again, ordered a drink, and began browsing the system store.
Frankly, the appearance of the elder Thanos had instilled a sense of crisis in Lin Feng. This time, it was due to the help of the cosmic consciousness that the entire affair seemed so simple, almost like child's play and swift. Had the cosmic consciousness not intervened, it would have been a fierce battle. Undoubtedly, the elder Thanos possessed the strength to traverse the universe. And no one could guarantee that the elder Thanos wouldn't return after consuming a few universes. Both the Exiles and these strange, intruding characters urged Lin Feng to continuously grow stronger.
The one serving Lin Feng his drink was the proprietress of the 熄星 Bar. Lin Feng's snap of his fingers had caused 熄星 to forget his possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. She only remembered that Lin Feng and the plunderer Stakka had nearly fought in her bar over something. As for what that something was, 熄星 couldn't recall. However, this did not affect 熄星's perception of Lin Feng.
Watching 熄星 leave, Lin Feng withdrew his gaze from her tail and continued to browse the system store. His next stage target was the Golden Superman. The Level Three permission store required an exchange of 1 billion Reputation Points. Golden Superman—a high-dimensional existence (fifth-dimensional), possessing a certain creation ability. His strength was roughly estimated to be above the multiverse. From the current perspective, both his combat power and abilities were superior to Lin Feng's Silver Superman body. However, the price made Lin Feng click his tongue. He currently only had around forty million Reputation Points. Twenty million of those came from the mission in the out-of-sequence Venom universe. He felt a bit distant from the Golden Superman.
But in truth, the Silver Superman body was not weaker than the Golden Superman. Its primary advantage was the lack of a ceiling for its abilities. If Lin Feng were allowed to grow indefinitely, he would eventually reach the height of the Golden Superman. Creation would also become effortless. It would just take Lin Feng an eternity under the sun.
"System, do you buy back Infinity Stones?" Lin Feng asked, touching the small pouch containing the stones. If the price was right, he intended to sell this set of Infinity Stones from the elder Thanos. By exchanging them sooner for the Golden Superman, Lin Feng could travel to other universes without a key.
"Buying!" the system chirped. "80 million Reputation Points per stone. I'll give you a discount for the whole set of six: 500 million Reputation Points. How about that?"
"Do you want to sell?"
"500 million Reputation Points?" Lin Feng hesitated. The price was a bit lower than he had expected. He had thought each stone would sell for at least over a hundred million.
"What, think it's too cheap?" The system perceived Lin Feng's thoughts and explained, "This price is quite generous!"
"Infinity Stones have their limits. As powerful as they are, they are still within the scope of a single universe. Six Infinity Stones can restart a universe, and given enough time, you could also restart a universe. How many Reputation Points is the Silver Superman body? 80 million per Infinity Stone, you're making a profit!"
Compared this way, the buy-back price wasn't low. Lin Feng waved his hand helplessly, deciding not to sell to the system for now.
"Are there any recent missions?" Lin Feng continued, feeling the need for a large amount of points again.
"Are you eyeing the Golden Superman?" the system asked, not answering Lin Feng's question. It noticed Lin Feng had been lingering on the Golden Superman's exchange page for quite some time. It was likely the elder Thanos had made Lin Feng feel a sense of crisis. There were quite a few beings in comics with the ability to destroy universes, so Lin Feng's concern was normal.
"Yes!" Lin Feng sighed and closed the store page. He picked up his wine glass and took a sip, feeling a bit dejected. "It's just that I don't have enough points. Otherwise, I'd really want to exchange it now and go deal with the elder Thanos. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry!"
The system nodded in full agreement. "Host, you're right. But haven't you realized you're falling into a misconception?"
"Misconception?" Lin Feng put down his wine glass, asking doubtfully, "What misconception?"
"The misconception about Silver Superman!"
"Silver Superman's lower limit might be a bit low, but its upper limit is something you haven't seen." The system stated with certainty, "I think you've never truly utilized the Silver Superman body."
This piqued Lin Feng's interest. He crossed his legs, watched the alluring dancers on stage, and assumed a posture of serious listening. "Elaborate. How have I not utilized it properly?"
"Let's take Silver Superman's characteristics as an example."
"Silver Superman's growth has no upper limit, although the growth period is quite long. But Silver Superman's other most significant characteristic, which you have consistently overlooked."
"Silver Superman's bug-like characteristic: brand new abilities that can appear at any time. No matter what kind of ability, even the ability to traverse parallel universes, can be mastered."
"And look at you!" The system, as it spoke, projected an image into Lin Feng's mind: Lin Feng using telekinesis. "Since becoming Silver Superman, you've only gained telekinesis!"
"Tell me, haven't I been utilizing it properly?"
Lin Feng nodded in agreement as he listened, but then spread his hands helplessly. "It's better if you don't mention it. Bringing it up makes me suspect the Silver Superman you gave me is a pirated version." Lin Feng turned to blame the system. "Aren't abilities supposed to appear out of nowhere? Why have I only gained telekinesis!"
"Look at their settings, they can grow big or small at will, and even create Earths, incredibly and unreasonably. Look at me, like a fake! Is it my fault?" Lin Feng couldn't help but complain.
The system scratched its head. "I've also noticed that point you mentioned..."
"But there can't be any fakes here!"
Lin Feng curled his lips. "Then who knows!"
"Anyway, I've only gained telekinesis so far!"
The system was speechless. After a moment's thought, it offered a post-sale solution. "How about this!"
"I'll teach you a method!"
"Since they can't appear on their own, I'll teach you how to guide them out. How about it?"