Adam was completely taken aback.
During the process of being hit by over sixty shields in turn, it wasn't that he couldn't dodge, but rather that he was pondering where these shields were coming from.
And without rewinding time with a special ability, Adam came to a conclusion, was the Captain America of this universe actually a centipede?
Adam, who lay amid a pile of penguins, continued his speculation, but soon, the team that charged across the ice provided him with an answer. The good news was that the Captain America of this universe was not a centipede, the bad news was that there were more than sixty shield-holding Captain Americas here, and Adam couldn't beat even one of them.
Not being able to defeat a single Captain America wasn't a big deal; it was just a matter of splitting the odds fifty-fifty due to the cosmic rules, but when there were more than sixty Captain Americas, the nature of the issue changed.
What happened next could be summed up with this phrase - the bumps on one's head, both big and small, are all self-inflicted.
Adam, who had been fighting with more than sixty Captain Americas amongst the penguins for the whole time, realized that he hadn't lost to Captain America, but to his own stubbornness.
The facts proved that the fifty-fifty Captain was a panacea to all sorts of fancy ideas; it was hard to lose but impossible to win.
Adam, who had been boxing and kicking against the air, finally lost his patience. He didn't even leave a word for these Captain Americas and directly teleported back to New York.
Someone might ask, why didn't Adam just leave Earth directly? It's just like how every novice programmer has dreamt of standing out and turning the tide when a substantial error occurs in critical programs.
Adam had calculated with precision, if the Captain Americas only ran, they would certainly need some time to run back to New York. Once they returned to New York, he could lure them away again, then teleport back to New York, buying himself time to fix the code.
To prevent his teleportation destination from falling right into the view of Shiller, Adam deliberately chose to appear above the sea.
And then within a second, he was hit by more than two hundred rockets, his head buzzing from the impact.
Having narrowly escaped the battlefield, Adam found that there were more than forty Iron Men fighting over the sea. It was more lively than a Disney fireworks evening, no matter what armor they used to call what they had on, it was now definitely known as the "Anti-Adam Armor".
The facts proved that not all heroes are suited to establishing Spider Legions like Spider Man, coordinating with their other selves in combat, or rather that Spider Man's manner of alliance was the oddity of the multiverse. Three monks have no water to drink, but more than forty Iron Men can certainly blast the temple.
Adam, who had escaped the range of the explosion, looked at the chaotic Mechas and shouted in frustration, "What is all this?!! How did they get here?!!"
In that instant, Adam glanced back along the timeline and saw another super-mass of fuzz next to Shiller's. Its owner was Nick Fury.
After carefully studying Nick Fury's plan for recruiting and cultivating multiverse talent, Adam was momentarily at a loss whether to be astounded by his wild imaginations, his audacity to kidnap across universes, or his moral limits that were just as unfathomable as Shiller's.
Flying over New York, Adam looked as far as he could see; the red and green giants in the Bronx were exchanging vicious blows, Spider Man was leaping up and down in Manhattan, mutants were causing chaos on Brooklyn Bridge, agents were passionately shooting at each other in Queens District, far away Iron Men were bombing incessantly, near him, Captain Americas were knocking heads with their shields.
Faced with this scene, Adam finally understood something - code from a shit mountain isn't even code without the shit.
Yet Adam did not give up, he reasoned, the main cause of this problem was that Earth's human relationships were too complex, affecting the whole body with one pebble, often a small decision could affect several storylines. He jumped straight into Hell's difficulty upon his return, it was bound to be hard.
Hence, he decided to undertake a simpler task, to correct the error in a more innocent environment.
But in fact, Adam made another mistake, he was thinking, having pasted so much code from other universes, there must be one that could run, right?
Thus, Adam went to Asgard.
The main problem in Asgard was that Loki had cleverly maneuvered a retreat as advance, preemptively extinguishing Odin's intention to choose a human son-in-law.
Odin had figured it out, with human population so huge, the probability of a romance with a weakling was simply much higher than with a strong one, common humans lowered the gene pool, but Odin could do nothing about them. Rather than gambling with the odds, it was better to withdraw while he still could.
This should have been a part of Shiller's plan, Adam carefully considered, how could he make Odin rethink once again and decide to select his groom from the human race?
It was probably Loki who held the key, Adam decided to find Loki, urging him to discuss with Odin that his heart was set on Earth, and that he would not marry anyone but a human.
Adam had learned from the Asgard Palace Guard that Loki was in solitary confinement, which he thought was a good thing; it provided him an opportunity to have a private talk with Loki. Loki was a smart man who would undoubtedly understand his well-meaning intentions.
However, he discovered that Loki was not in the cell at all. Even the goddesses who brought water and food were just putting on a show. Everyone knew that he wasn't in solitary confinement, and no one cared, including Odin, who had put him there.
Adam had no choice but to search for traces of Loki in the universe, and found that Loki was with Thanos.
Well, in this universe it wasn't a surprise. Just as Adam was about to teleport there, take Loki away, and have a chat, he heard Loki say to Thanos.
"The Collector tells me that the Soul Gem symbiotically exists with a man called Warlock Adam. From SHIELD files and Asgard's records of human history, I've found out that a company named Enclave has created the perfect artificial man..."
"They inserted the Soul Gem into his forehead to ensure he possessed strong spiritual power. They also ignited his Soul Fire, giving him genuine life. If we want the Soul Gem, we must first find Warlock Adam…"
Thanos was silent for a while and said, "The Soul Gem plays an irreplaceable role among the Infinity Gems. It can erase a life utterly on a spiritual level. More importantly, if we want to unite the Infinity Gems, the Soul Gem is an indispensable part."
Loki nodded and said to Thanos, "As we agreed before, I will provide clues to the Infinity Gems, and you will find the people who possess them."
"The only clue I can provide about Warlock Adam is that he recently bought a small spaceship in Centaurus under his real name. I found the place where the spaceship was made and hacked into its log system. The spaceship was completely destroyed about three days ago at the location of the Kree Empire's Grand Prison."
Adam, who was eavesdropping, was a little stunned. Was Loki helping Thanos find the Infinity Gems?
This didn't seem right. As soon as this idea struck Adam, his mind froze for a moment before realizing the truth.
Loki had helped Thanos find the Infinity Gems in many other universes. This meant the world line of these two was correct. If Adam took Loki away now, wouldn't it destabilize the world line again?
Adam covered his eyes, and a battle raged within him. Before he could make a decision, he heard Thanos say, "That's a good clue, but I can't leave right now. The Obliterating Insects are invading the three great empires. As Interstellar Security Advisor, I must shuttle here and there, encouraging them to join forces against the enemy…"
"Alright, it seems like I'm doing all the legwork again. But you'd better get the three great empires to unite; otherwise, they won't be able to handle those bugs."
Loki's voice disappeared. Adam sensed that she had left. At this moment, he made a mistake- if there are no bugs in a program, don't 'optimize' it for efficiency.
Adam felt he needed to stop Loki from going to the Kree Empire's Grand Prison. On one hand, he still needed the identity of Warlock Adam and didn't want to surrender the Soul Gem. On the other hand, he was afraid Loki would interfere with the automated program of Quill and Rocket Raccoon assembling the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Adam appeared right in front of Loki, telling her that he was an incarnation of a high-ranking deity in the universe and everything he did was to protect its safety. Neither Loki nor Thanos could remove the gem from his forehead; it was impossible for anyone.
Loki was very compliant and agreed enthusiastically and gently, which moved Adam deeply. In this vast universe, he finally found someone who understood him.
And Loki assured her that she would do her best, even if it wasn't practical, to make Thanos feel like she was trying her best.
Adam thought Loki was so understanding that he shouldn't be too aggressive, so he agreed to go with her to the site of the Kree Empire's Grand Prison.
Once there, Adam found that the ship that had been pierced like a sieve had been abandoned by Quill and his group. He guessed they might be following his guide and had found other escort ships from the Kree Empire and left. They might've also been on their way to meet up with Gamora or Drax the Destroyer.
Adam breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that his decision was correct. Indeed, everything went a lot smoother once he left Earth.
At this point, Loki stated that to show her devotion, she needed to drag out the mission as long as possible. She planned to tour the universe and observe the situation with the Obliterating Insects. If Adam didn't mind, he could come along.
Adam wanted to refuse, but remembered he had to discuss the matter about the Odin's son-in-law candidate with Loki. So he simply followed Loki, asking her about their destination, to which Loki replied that she was just wandering aimlessly.
Indeed, Loki was roaming aimlessly in the universe. While they were wandering, Adam heard a thunderous boom in the distance.
The moment Thor appeared, Loki darted behind him with lightning speed, pointed at Adam and declared, "Thor, that guy kidnapped me, brought me here from Asgard, and stole my gem, implanting it into his own forehead!!!"
Immediately, both the God of Light, King Thor, and Iron Demon Stark turned around and stared at Adam together.