All the changes in the cosmic civilizations concerned with this battle cannot be said to be due to the willpower of Earth.
In the face of planetary crises and the survival of races, every civilization will undoubtedly erupt with amazing and admirable fighting spirit. No matter how strong they are, they will never give up any chance. This is the cruelty of the war of civilizations.
At this moment, what shocked these cosmic civilizations the most was the true strength of Earth, which completely exceeded their expectations.
The individual combat capabilities of Earth's side are all extraordinary, reaching the ranks of masters in this universe. This is evident from the presence of Superman standing in the middle of the group.
Several others—such as Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, cyborg , Shazam, and other characters—radiate power from their bodies, or display technology that is not inferior to the top level of the universe.
Coupled with the means of transmission they use when they appear, it seems everyone had underestimated Earth.
The same is true for Thanos.
In the battleship at the very center of the legion, Thanos stood in front of the transparent glass cover. His gaze crossed a fairly long distance and fell on Superman and his group with deep eyes.
At this time, Shazam returned to the queue where Superman was. Ebony Maw finally made room. He was panting, the glass cover on his head almost completely shattered. He took a deep look at the opponent not far away, then quickly entered a battleship to replace a piece of equipment before reappearing.
The situation fell into a strange calm.
Thanos did not speak. Standing in outer space outside of Earth, like a city of human flesh, a group of superheroes also remained silent.
This road is nowhere.
Although Superman didn't speak, Thanos knew what he meant. Either go to the moon or die here.
Yes.
Thanos was very clear that Earth had made certain arrangements for Thanos' legion on the moon. Otherwise, Ebony Maw wouldn't have used magic and tried to directly log onto Earth. It's a pity his action failed.
It now appeared that the power held by Earth's side was stronger than he had imagined. Moreover, from Thanos' perspective, the legion's combat power could not be fully exerted if it smashed into space beyond Earth.
Although they could launch an obliterating attack on Earth from space, and Thanos' army had this kind of strength, this didn't align with Thanos' concept of conquering any planet.
Thanos' approach, to a certain extent, was indeed pursuing destruction, but he knew that his goal was more than just killing. Moreover, even if he used an obliterating weapon to attack, it might not be effective.
Thanos had a full understanding of Superman. More importantly, he admitted that he had underestimated a small planet in a remote corner of the universe like Earth.
The strength possessed by the beings on this planet was something he had never encountered before.
Even if you don't talk about Superman, just considering the magician who can use the power of the gem of time to block the entire space of Earth is enough to make one feel daunted.
"Retreat temporarily!"
Thanos groaned for a moment, and his low, calm voice finally sounded in the ears of Ebony Maw and the others.
"Go to the moon!"
Thanos was already aware of the preparations Earthlings had made on the moon.
He even knew that when the Thanos Army descended on Earth, they would face the most united force Earth had ever mustered.
This was the moment for real, close-quarters combat.
But for now, this was the best course of action.
On one hand, Thanos was indeed unable to break through Superman's defense and lead the Thanos Army to land on Earth; on the other hand, although Thanos admitted he had underestimated Superman and Earth, he still did not believe Earth could defeat him in terms of sheer combat power.
"False hope..."
"If that's the case, then I'll give you a fair chance to fight."
"It's just that soon, you will be even more desperate than you are now."
Thanos' eyes swept across the blue planet in front of him—and the Superman standing guard over it—his face as calm as ever, as if nothing could stir his emotions.
In the sight of Earth's people, the Thanos Army turned and flew toward the moon.
The battle plan on Earth's side had succeeded.
The Thanos Legion realized they could not force their way onto Earth. As a higher-level civilization, they could not afford to engage in a drawn-out tug-of-war in Earth's near-orbit.
Conquering Earth with absolute force and quickly determining the outcome was much more in line with Thanos' philosophy—and with the mindset of countless soldiers under his command.
Even knowing that humanity had laid traps on the moon—so what?
When Thanos' Army invaded other civilized planets, they had faced such tactics many times before.
No matter what preparations were made, in the face of the Thanos Army, there was only one outcome: destruction.
"The real decisive battle has begun!"
Seeing this, the major cosmic civilizations watching the battle couldn't help but grow nervous.
What humanity was doing might be shameless.
But Thanos was no fool—he knew the moon was a battlefield prepared by Earth.
However, out of the pride of a higher civilization, they could not refuse such a blatant challenge.
The fact that events had progressed this far meant that a true war was about to begin.
If Thanos won, Earth would be plundered, and even ordinary life would be wiped out.
If Earth won, it would trample the cosmic overlord Thanos underfoot and become a force to be reckoned with in the universe.
Two options stood before them.
And the vast majority of observers were not optimistic about Earth's chances.
It was already remarkable that Earth had shown such toughness.
To imagine Earth actually staging a comeback would be like imagining Thanos wearing women's clothing—utterly unimaginable.
Moon Base.
Captain America—or rather, Captain Wakanda—Steve Rogers stood at the forefront of the team as the chief commander of one hundred thousand desperate soldiers.
His iconic star-patterned shield had been replaced by two semi-diamond vibranium shields crafted by Wakanda.
However, slung across his back was a round shield, identical in shape to his original one.
After all, his shield skills were fully mastered—he could wield the new shields, but he couldn't abandon the old one.
This army of over 100,000 desperate soldiers stood on the broadest ground of the base, looking up as a massive spaceship approached.
Every soldier wore a determined expression, unafraid of sacrifice.
Batman hovered overhead, and his rousing speech moments ago had fired up the entire force.
Superman and the others had also returned to the moon base in an instant via teleportation.
The Earth's side waited quietly for the arrival of the Thanos Army.
Regardless of Earth or the Thanos Army, this would be a head-on confrontation without any tricks.
Rumble!!
The fleet of the Thanos Army descended onto the moon's surface.
The legionnaires, giving Earth enough "respect," disembarked from the densely packed spaceships.
Their appearances were vastly different from humans'.
Although their limbs and heads were humanoid in shape, it was clear at a glance they were a different species altogether.
The Thanos Legion contained members from countless civilizations across the universe.
Even Thanos himself might not know exactly how many different races served under him.
But it didn't matter.
These soldiers had fought alongside Thanos for years. All were brave, ruthless, and highly skilled in battle.
This was why Thanos never believed he would be defeated. He had triumphed countless times before.
And he was confident this time would be no different.
All under the watchful eyes of the universe.
O stepped out of the most central spaceship.
He was over two meters tall and weighed nearly a ton. His body was covered in purple skin, bulging with muscles, and he wore dark golden armor that exuded the aura of a leader.
His gaze locked directly onto Superman.
Superman stared back at him.
Beside Thanos, Ebony Maw stood silently, his own gaze locking onto Shazam, who stood next to Superman.
After selecting their targets,
"Warriors, go!"
Thanos' voice roared through the battlefield:
"Conquer the Earth and crush them!"
"Guys, here they come!"
Batman's voice rang out at the same moment.
"We've been waiting for this day for a long time!"
"Go!"
"Let them know that the people of Earth are not ants in their eyes."
"After today, we must prove to the entire universe that Earth is not a place anyone can invade!"
As his words fell, the soldiers on both sides let out thunderous shouts and charged toward each other.
Boom!!
Even though this was a head-on confrontation, the use of thermal weapons was not abandoned.
Gunners positioned high at the rear of Earth's formation opened fire at the gunners among Thanos' ranks, while the soldiers at the front clashed in brutal close-quarters combat.
Thanos and Superman exchanged a brief look—
and then moved at the same moment, colliding with overwhelming force.
On the other side, Ebony Maw and Shazam engaged each other fiercely.
Captain Marvel, Rogers—the chief commander of the 100,000 Extremis Soldiers—Iron Man, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, and other superheroes also led the charge alongside the Extremis Soldiers, breaking into the lines of the Thanos Army.
Within Thanos' forces, many elite soldiers stood out.
These elites had already reached the rank of transcendents—far stronger than ordinary desperate soldiers—and had to be taken down with deadly force.
As soon as the battle began, it plunged straight into a white-hot stage.
This was a real war—not a rehearsal or a game.
Any tentative probing was meaningless here.
Only victory mattered.
Boom!!
Superman and Thanos met head-on.
Superman's fist smashed into Thanos, sending him staggering back several meters.
The thick armor covering Thanos' forearm was dented slightly, and Thanos could feel a distinct swelling in his arm—
all from just one punch from Superman.
For the first time in a long while, Thanos' usually emotionless face showed a flicker of surprise.
No matter how highly he regarded himself, he had clearly underestimated his opponent.
"No wonder you were able to kill Black Dwarf so easily,"
Thanos muttered, his expression growing serious.
At this moment, he truly regarded Superman not as a mere obstacle, but as a worthy opponent—
no longer just another general doomed to fail.
"Whether you're serious or not, it's already too late,"
Superman replied calmly.
He could clearly see the swelling in Thanos' arm.
Though it wasn't a major injury for Thanos, it was enough to prove a critical fact:
Thanos' strength, no matter how immense, was still insufficient to match the power of a Kryptonian.
"How could I fail in this battle?"
Superman said with a cold smile on his face, "I've been preparing for this day for a long time."
Boom!!
The two collided once again.
Superman didn't use any special abilities—no heat vision, no super breath—
he relied purely on raw physical strength, engaging Thanos in the most direct, brutal fight possible.
Even so, Thanos was steadily forced backward.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
If it weren't for his armor, Thanos would have already been beaten beyond recognition.
Even with his armor, Thanos now sported a bruised nose and a swollen face, repeatedly hammered into the ground by Superman, then smashed into the air again, completely overwhelmed with no chance to fight back.
This made Thanos feel an unprecedented sense of humiliation.
For so many years, he had been the one smashing others into the ground, pressing opponents down with overwhelming power.
He had never once been on the receiving end—
until now.
The cosmic civilizations observing the battle in various ways fell into a long, stunned silence.
Several minutes had passed since the clash between the Thanos Army and the forces of Earth began.
The time was short—
but during those minutes, the opinions of these civilizations changed drastically.
Now, it seemed, the Earth had a real chance.
Especially after watching Thanos being ruthlessly beaten into the ground by Superman, more and more observers began to believe— the Earth might just create a miracle.
Cybertron.
Optimus Prime and the Autobots continued watching the battle unfold.
Seeing Superman in action, they better understood why Anton had refused the assistance of the Autobots— choosing instead to use this war to train Earth's forces.
Yes.
Optimus Prime knew it very well.
For Anton and the Justice League, this Earth crisis—this life-or-death struggle for humanity—
was nothing more than... a training exercise.
What does it mean to "train soldiers"?
It meant that Anton was so confident in Earth's strength that he didn't even view this as a truly dangerous war.
"We overestimated Superman as much as possible,"
Optimus Prime said slowly, "and yet, we still underestimated him."
"Not just Superman,"
Bumblebee chimed in, pointing at other figures visible on the various camera feeds:
Batman, Cyborg, Rogers, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and others—
all moving freely among the Thanos Army as if walking through a deserted street, blasting apart wave after wave of opponents, whose attacks couldn't even pierce their defenses.
It was worth noting that besides the superheroes, the 100,000 desperate soldiers stationed at the moon base performed admirably as well.
Most of them had reached the limits of human physicality, and a small number had surpassed it—reaching extraordinary levels of power.
Their strength was no worse than the fighters of the Thanos Army.
Although the elite enemies were still difficult to handle, the superheroes leading the soldiers were far from easy prey.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, Spider-Man shot out a web to pull a desperate soldier out of danger,
then joked, "Be careful, man! You owe me dinner when we get back!"
"Of course!"
the soldier laughed back, charging once again into battle without fear, completely unfazed by the fact that he had been almost vaporized by an energy blast just moments before.
"When will this battle end?"
Spider-Man swung across the moon base battlefield,
fighting off enemies while constantly helping his comrades in arms.
The war had fallen into a stalemate.
At the center of the battlefield, the two titans—Superman and Thanos—continued their one-on-one duel.
No matter what the final outcome would be, no one dared to intervene.
…
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