The black cat seemed afraid of accidentally swallowing it, so it wedged the Cosmic Cube between its upper and lower rows of teeth.
It looked like it was wearing a glowing blue mouthguard.
On the battlefield, apart from Xi Xing, no one knew which cube was the real one.
But everyone was smart enough to figure out that only one of them could be the true artifact.
So, their current objective was to acquire as many cubes as possible.
If they could get them all, there would be no room for error.
The black cat dodged several energy blasts with incredible agility.
Lin Feng had never seen such a peculiar creature, nor did his mind hold any data on a black cat this large.
The only feline he recalled from Marvel universe movies was the Flerken.
The black cat continued to dodge, and Lin Feng keenly sensed its mental state beginning to decline.
The energy cannons fired at an extremely rapid pace. It appeared the black cat possessed a near-precognitive ability to anticipate attack trajectories or briefly foresee the future, which allowed it to evade without taking damage.
However, such an ability likely consumed a significant amount of stamina.
If nothing unexpected happened, the black cat was about to flee.
Indeed, during a brief lull in the energy cannon's recharge cycle, when most attacks were interrupted, the black cat shook itself, its entire form becoming hazy and transparent.
"It's going to teleport!" Lin Feng recognized the precursor signs immediately and his eyes unleashed a heat vision blast.
While cats were endearing, if it dared to compete for the Cosmic Cube, he had no choice but to act!
Lin Feng did not hesitate. His heat vision erupted forth with remarkable speed.
The power and velocity of this blast far surpassed that of the spaceship's energy cannons.
Yet, Lin Feng still held a sliver of compassion. The power of this heat vision blast was not at its maximum, and it was aimed at the black cat's ear.
Lin Feng's objective was to disrupt its teleportation, not to end its life.
This cat, appearing to be a rare and exotic beast, might even be worth taking home to raise...
The heat vision beam shot towards the black cat, and just as it was about to hit, a phenomenon occurred.
A deep purple light flared in the void.
From within the light, a colossal humanoid figure emerged, swatting the black cat away and interrupting its teleportation.
A Celestial had arrived!
*Zeng~~*
The heat vision beam, aimed at the black cat's ear, struck the head of the suddenly appearing figure with precision.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow and ceased his heat vision.
"Impressive, brother," he mused, "taking a hit to the face like that?"
Lin Feng did not know the designation of this particular Celestial.
He observed the figure clad in purple, cylindrical metallic armor, somewhat reminiscent of Tony's Mark I prototype.
The heat vision blast impacted the armor on its head, tilting it askew.
Sudden attack having been received, the mysterious patterns etched onto the purple cylindrical armor began to glow with a violet light.
As if angered by Lin Feng's surprise assault, the Celestial's hands extended, and two beams of light shot forth.
One targeted the black cat that had been swatted away, while the other was directed at Lin Feng.
The black cat executed an agile leap, evading the blast, but showed no inclination to engage the cylindrical figure. It immediately fled into the distance.
Lin Feng, without even glancing at the incoming beam, vanished from his original spot.
The black cat possessed teleportation abilities. The current priority was not to engage the Celestial, but to intercept the cat.
The black cat's teleportation had activation conditions and time constraints.
Lin Feng, however, was different.
With a mere thought, Lin Feng could instantly initiate a warp.
Lin Feng moved directly into the black cat's path of escape.
The black cat's eyes widened in surprise, clearly bewildered, but its reflexes were sharp, and it began to change direction for a desperate sprint.
Lin Feng's gaze intensified, and he entered a state akin to super-speed.
His super-speed took effect, and the entire world seemed to freeze in Lin Feng's perception.
Lin Feng reached out, intending to grab the Cosmic Cube the black cat held in its mouth.
But the black cat's next action stunned Lin Feng.
Seeing the Cosmic Cube was beyond its grasp,
The black cat closed its eyes, gritted its teeth, and *gulp*…
Swallowed the Cosmic Cube.
Lin Feng was dumbfounded, his hand still suspended in mid-air.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed, "Such a brave cat?"
"This is something else," he thought, "I've already paused time, how did this black cat manage to swallow the cube at that speed?"
Concurrently, the instant the black cat swallowed the cube,
Across the universe, the spectral projections of the nine cubes held by various factions rapidly detached from their controllers and flew towards the black cat.
Finally, they all vanished into the black cat's belly...
The scene fell silent for a moment.
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, as the cubes in their hands sprouted wings and flew away.
Ultimately, they disappeared into the cat's maw.
"Damn it."
Those present were no pushovers; how could they tolerate such an insult?
"Fire!"
"Fire!"
Less than five seconds after it had swallowed the cubes, a barrage of cannon fire erupted once more.
This time, there was no infighting. The cannon fire was unified, all directed at the black cat.
"Damn it, all these advanced beings fighting over it, only for a cat to swallow it all."
"How can the infamous cosmic villains maintain any face after this?"
"This is ridiculous," Lin Feng rolled his eyes, "What in the world is this situation?"
With his left hand holding Xi Xing, and his right hand grabbing the still-dumbfounded black cat by its leg, he instantly initiated a warp.
Since the cat had eaten it, he would take the cat.
Lin Feng could think of a hundred ways to retrieve the cube from the cat's stomach in an instant!
The warp successfully engaged.
However, in the next moment, Lin Feng felt a strong pulling force latch onto him.
"Something's not right..." Lin Feng frowned.
The next second, his form reappeared precisely where he had been.
The warp was a complete failure...
Before Lin Feng could ponder further, a torrent of energy cannons descended, bombarding his biological force field.
"Heh, it tickles!" Lin Feng sneered, and with a casual movement, he encased the black cat in his biological force field as well. Then, he turned his gaze.
Three Celestials had appeared in unison.
A purple cylindrical one, an earthy-toned one, and a blue one.
They stood side-by-side, their hands forming a triangular shape aimed in Lin Feng's direction.
The pulling force Lin Feng had felt during his warp was precisely from them.
"As expected, not the Celestials from the movies."
The Celestials in the movies would not have been able to so effortlessly interrupt Lin Feng's warp.
If the timing were different, Lin Feng might have even applauded them.
"Remarkable, to be able to pull out a Silver Superman mid-warp!"
The energy cannons continued to pound Lin Feng.
While the damage was negligible, the blinding flashes were starting to irk him.
"You're forcing my hand into a slaughter!"
Lin Feng sighed.
He hadn't intended to be this brutal.
The energy cannons continued their assault. Because the target was unified, Lin Feng had effectively become a sun.
Lin Feng decided he wouldn't tolerate this any longer. He ascended slightly, positioning himself to avoid any collateral damage to the black cat and Xi Xing from his subsequent attack.
In the next moment, energy surged into his eyes, and two world-ending heat vision beams erupted forth.
"Secret Technique!"
"Super Cosmic Spiral Roll Giant Energy Eye Barrage!"
As he unleashed the heat vision, Lin Feng spun in continuous circles.
The energy-charged heat vision transformed into a tool of execution.
Wherever it passed, nothing could stand in its way.
Spaceships and even asteroids were cleaved or vaporized upon contact.
The range of the heat vision attack extended several times the combat area.
With a single skill, a single move, the notorious cosmic villains were utterly annihilated...
...