The sky over Helheim was always enveloped by dense dark clouds. Even though this sky had once cleared under the tremendous power of thunderstorms, this time the clouds were actually a man-made blind eye technique.
Hidden behind the clouds was the outpost of this operation. Of course, if all they had to do was fight, they wouldn't need such a base, nor would they necessarily have to build it in the Netherworld. But the purpose of this base was more than just a staging area for troops; its greatest function was still scientific research.
"Alena, how is the enlargement of the portal going? Do you need more unit energy to proceed?" Standing in front of a mirror, Strange shouted backward. Another Grand Mage, who was pouring energy into the M'kraan Crystal near the window, yelled back: "We still need two and a half units of energy. When will Peter come?"
"Here I am! I'm coming!" At the end of the hall, Peter Parker hurriedly ran over, wearing glasses and carrying a bag. He appeared to be a high school student who had just been let out of school, but he had actually come from Stark's cutting-edge laboratory.
As he ran, he pulled a paper from his bag and waved it at the Grand Mage saying, "Hold off on the energy transfer for a moment, let me set up the equipment first."
"Quick! Quick!" Peter hollered at the few robots behind him: "First measure the environmental reading in the vicinity, then deploy the equipment."
Watching the robots fly down in an orderly manner, Peter sped up and joined Strange. Strange handed him a cup of water. Peter, catching his breath, said: "The monitoring and recording devices at Kamar-Taj are too primitive. We can't afford to lose such valuable data."
Strange smiled at him and said, "We appreciate your hard work, Peter. You know, the technology for large-scale portals isn't developed overnight. We're already very lucky to have a large-scale portal like the M'kraan Crystal that connects two universes for our research. By the way, have you looked at some of the technology data that Mystique brought back from the Shi'ar Empire?"
"Of course, I've seen it." Peter and Strange both walked outside as Peter said, "It's exactly because of these technologies that I was able to write a paper on portals and intergalactic passageways. Oh, right, I'll need to go and gather some on-site data later. How are things down there?"
Strange stopped and looked sternly at Peter, "What kind of data requires you to go on-site? Peter, not to sound objectionable, but you should be aware of your own importance. If anything happens to you on my watch, Tony will kill me!"
"Speaking of which, where is Tony?" Peter asked in confusion.
"Who knows?" Strange shrugged, and said, "When I called Stark Group the other day, Pepper picked up. She said that Tony rushed out as soon as he answered the call. She didn't know where he went. Nonetheless, you don't need to worry about him, let's just focus on your matter."
"I'm just intending to go behind the M'kraan Crystal to check on its energy consolidation process. It's not the same as seeing the data on paper."
Strange hesitated for a moment, but he finally agreed and said, "Alright, you can go. But, I'm going to have those Mutants accompany you. It is too dangerous otherwise."
Peter spread his hands in indifference then scratched his head as if he'd just remembered something before saying, "In that case, you must make sure they understand not to mess with my equipment. It's very important."
After a while, the Mutants were ready to set off. Knowing that Peter was about to study the M'kraan Crystal, they were way more enthusiastic than Strange. Magneto, Phoenix, and Blink decided to go with Peter.
Peter had previously taught a course in the Andromeda Galaxy for a while and got along well with the Mutants. As he and Blink chatted about college and walked outside. When they got outside the base and looked down through the clouds, Peter clicked his tongue and said, "It's pretty chaotic down there. I've never seen so many skeletons in my life."
"Who hasn't?" Jean Grey came up, laughed, and patted Peter on the shoulder. Looking back at the still stern-faced Magneto, she shook her head. Magneto lightly waved his hand, and they all rose into the air, flying towards the M'Kraan Crystal which was still spewing out monstrous superheroes.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the increasingly irritable monstrous superheroes, who were continually dying and reviving, were becoming more fierce.
Monster Captain America forcefully threw his shield, cutting through four or five skeletons' leg bones and sending them flying with a beautiful arc. Despite their bones scattering all over, they reassembled into four or five skeletons within a second and then continued to surround Captain America.
Monster Iron Man was bombarding from mid-air. The ground skeletons couldn't do anything to him, but the Army of Skeletons also had aerial combat units. Apart from Skeleton birds, which looked like prehistoric giant eagles, there were also Skeleton Pterosaurs, dark raven flocks summoned by Skeleton Mages, and an endless number of magic missiles, disrupting his flight path.
The battlesuit that Monster Iron Man was wearing wasn't advanced. In fact, it was one of the low-ranking models in the Mark series and didn't possess the late-stage features of an Iron Armor army. He did however, bring along a decent amount of weapons, but unfortunately, they weren't much use against skeletons.
Spider Man's situation was even worse. The Spider Man of this world was merely a street-level hero. If you talked about power and agility, he was indeed one of the best, and his spider-sense was also useful, but against a strategy of swarming enemies, he was virtually ineffective.