With Bai Qi's head severely damaged, Thanos revealed a victor's smile. In his opinion, with his head so mangled, not even a zombie could survive, let alone a dragon.
Reality, however, taught him a harsh lesson.
The severely wounded Bai Qi not only survived but, seizing the moment while Zombie Thanos reveled in his brief victory, launched a decisive strike. His target was precise: Thanos's purple, gourd-shaped head.
*Squelch!*
Pierced by Bai Qi's dragon claws, even Thanos, with his tough hide, couldn't withstand the assault and his head was successfully impaled.
With his head pierced, it was all over for the zombie. Even if he had once been the universe's director of population control, he was beyond saving.
Watching Thanos's body crash to the ground, Bai Qi stooped and retrieved the remaining Space and Power Stones from his grasp.
Gazing at the four Infinity Stones in his hand, Bai Qi's smile was unreserved.
Bai Qi's ability to so easily acquire these four stones involved numerous factors.
Firstly, Bai Qi's patience and caution were paramount. Upon seeing Thanos wielding four Infinity Stones, he didn't immediately attack. Instead, he employed a "drive the wolf to swallow the tiger" strategy, allowing Wakanda to expend Thanos's power first, while also gauging the strength of the Reality and Time Stones.
Otherwise, had Bai Qi foolishly charged headfirst into a melee with Thanos, setting aside other considerations, Thanos commanded an entire army. Though individually outmatched, their sheer numbers could have significantly delayed Bai Qi. During that time, Thanos could have used the Reality Stone to banish Bai Qi from this world.
Even if Bai Qi wasn't bogged down by the alien army and managed to reach Thanos directly, engaging in combat, Thanos would have already wielded the power of four Infinity Stones. In such a scenario, even if Bai Qi emerged victorious, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory, far from the effortless triumph he achieved now.
Another point was Thanos's limited perspective, which led him to misjudge the situation.
Truth be told, the pursuing Bai Qi was indeed stunned by Thanos's punch imbued with the Power Stone's might, and it inflicted considerable damage.
Had Thanos known of Bai Qi's invulnerability, he would have quickly used the Space Stone to create distance after delivering the blow, rather than standing there gloating. In that case, Bai Qi would have certainly had to exert more effort to achieve complete victory.
However, the tide had turned, and it was too late for Thanos's regrets.
Some might ask: with Zombie Thanos defeated by Bai Qi, what became of Wakanda? Did the zombie horde truly retreat?
The answer is no.
From the outset, the notion that defeating Zombie Thanos would cause the zombie horde to retreat was a false conclusion, subtly implied by Bai Qi.
Now, with the leading Zombie Thanos dead, the remaining horde showed no signs of retreating. Instead, lacking Thanos's management and control, they became even more frenzied, bloodthirsty, and charged towards Wakanda's lines with manic intensity.
Furthermore, during Thanos's surprise attack on Bai Qi and Bai Qi's Dragon Breath attack on Thanos, although both assaults were dodged by their respective targets, the principle of "when gods fight, mortals suffer" held true.
Both their attacks inflicted considerable damage on the surrounding Wakandan warriors. Bai Qi's Dragon Breath, in particular, proved devastating. Thirty percent of the nearby Wakandan soldiers were cremated without pain, leaving no trace of ash. Another twenty percent were burned to death, leaving only some ash. Of the remaining thirty percent, who were burned to death but left with their bodies intact, only the final twenty percent survived, and even they suffered burns of varying degrees.
In such circumstances, let alone fighting the zombie horde, merely surviving and retreating from the zombies' clutches was a monumental challenge.
And so it was. Under the onslaught of the zombie horde, the heavily wounded survivors lacked the strength to resist. Only two or three who sustained lighter injuries managed to escape; the rest perished in the mouths of the zombies.
At this point, the city of Wakanda had been overrun by zombies. Apart from the zombies, there were no living beings left in the entire city, making it a true dead city. Yet, even such a dead city held significant value in Bai Qi's eyes.
If nothing else, the vast reserves of Vibranium within Wakanda, once fully exploited, would be enough for Bai Qi to make a fortune.
However, under the current circumstances, sending personnel to mine it was out of the question. While Bai Qi himself could enter alone without issue, compared to relocating the Vibranium, absorbing the four Infinity Stones in his possession was Bai Qi's immediate priority.
After weighing the pros and cons, Bai Qi temporarily abandoned the idea of plundering Wakanda and swiftly departed the African continent using the Space Stone.
Now that all four Stones were in his possession, the next step was to find a suitable location and absorb the full power of these four Infinity Stones into his body, making them his own.
Drawing on his previous experience, Bai Qi chose the interior of a live volcano as his site for absorbing the Stones' power. Sudan Novel Network.
The damned zombies were too troublesome. They gathered together, forming hordes, and even Bai Qi's erected barriers could only withstand a third of their numbers through sheer quantity.
Unlike the previous absorption of the single Mind Stone, Bai Qi intended to absorb four Stones at once. Furthermore, with the exception of the Space Stone, Time, Power, and Reality were all new to Bai Qi. He needed to dedicate more energy and time to absorbing the Stones and couldn't afford to be distracted by the zombies.
Bai Qi chose the interior of a live volcano for two reasons: firstly, the surrounding area was sufficiently vast, with few residents even before the zombie outbreak, and the number of zombies roaming there now was also scarce. Secondly, the scorching lava could serve as Bai Qi's natural shield. Even if the zombies were drawn by the energy emanating from the Stones, it would provide a good defensive effect.
However, as a precaution, Bai Qi still established numerous magical restrictions and formations around the volcano to fend off any attracted zombies.
With all preparations complete, Bai Qi, holding the four Infinity Stones, slowly submerged himself into the boiling lava.
Among the four Infinity Stones, Bai Qi planned to proceed from easiest to hardest, starting with the Space Stone.
"Rise!"
Bai Qi roared, and the Space Stone, emanating a blue light, slowly ascended.
"Bind!"
Three interlocking magic circles were cast upon the Space Stone.
As Bai Qi channeled his magic, an invisible bridge formed between his body and the Space Stone. Streams of energy flowed through this bridge into Bai Qi's body.
As time passed, Bai Qi rapidly absorbed the energy of the Space Stone, and the gem vanished into starlight.
However, for Bai Qi, the Space Stone was merely an appetizer before the main course. The real exertion was yet to come.
Of the remaining three Infinity Stones – Time, Power, and Reality – none were easy to handle.