"I'm not ready yet?"
Sentinel was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to understand the meaning of these words.
"You don't need anyone's packaging, nor do you need anyone's help," Peter said, flicking his hand casually within Bob's mental World, and a screen of light instantly materialized in the void.
That was Peter's past from the time he debuted until now:
From being gossiped about as a dock butcher to making its first debut at Midtown High School as The Arbiter, and then dealing with one supervillain after another, as well as enemies such as Laufey, Thanos, and Ultron.
From people respecting and fearing him to gradually beginning to praise The Arbiter's name, and finally completely transforming into fanatical pursuers of The Arbiter, willingly lending their vital energy to Peter.
Sentinel watched everything happening in the light screen with an intoxicated expression, as if it had subconsciously projected itself into Peter's position in a trance.
Just at this moment, Peter's voice rang out appropriately:
"I'm saying, facing those opponents, which of them isn't a toy that can be destroyed with a flick of a finger to you? But why, even though I walked step by step to where I am today and became the guardian deity in the hearts of everyone in my Universe, are you still the nobody Bob?"
"Because I… am not ready yet?" Sentinel tentatively asked.
"Bingo~" Peter snapped his fingers, then pointed at the whining Void on the side, and then pointed at Sentinel's heart:
"Bro~ You are an immortal and indestructible super powerhouse; you don't need to care about the voices and eyes of others. The only thing you need to do is ask here, ask whether Bob is happy, and ask whether Bob feels satisfied because of doing something!
When you are ready to face those enemies and problems, flowers and applause will naturally come."
Sentinel froze in place, thinking for a long time. A moment later, its eyes grew brighter and brighter:
"Sir, I think I understand."
"Just call me Peter," Peter said, extending his hand toward Sentinel.
Sentinel looked at the extended hand, and after a moment, it finally firmly grasped it, letting it lead it to stand up.
When Sentinel was pulled up by Peter, the Void's size also gradually became smaller and smaller, finally completely turning into the appearance of an exasperated small child.
Struggling, it spat out the smelly sock condensed from Dark Energy in its mouth, cursing indignantly:
"Idiot, how can you so easily believe that monster? He has killed you a full six times before!"
Sentinel looked down at the Void on the ground, and it stared at the Void like that for a very, very long time.
A long time later, it suddenly spoke:
"Looking closely, you actually don't look scary at all."
Hearing these words, the Void was struck as if by lightning, and it couldn't help taking two steps back, shouting tremblingly:
"Y-You, what are you talking nonsense about?"
Sentinel squatted down to look at the Void, a gleaming golden longsword suddenly condensing in its hand:
"You are so small, so weak... Even if you weren't in this current appearance, you are nothing more than me. As long as I want to, as long as I am ready, I can kill you at any time."
Feeling the cold sword edge drawing close, the Void couldn't help taking another two steps back.
In the process of retreating, it was suddenly tripped by scattered toys under its feet, which caused it to fall flat on the ground on its buttocks.
Looking up at Sentinel, watching the flashing lightsaber in its hand, it couldn't help screaming:
"You... You want to kill me? How can you do this?! Damn it, I am you! I endured so much for you!"
The Void suddenly began to be hysterical, starting to cry and shout heartrendingly like a child whose toy had been snatched away by an adult.
Peter couldn't help frowning, but he didn't make a move, just quietly watching Sentinel. He was very looking forward to what kind of decision Sentinel would make.
Hiss~
The lightsaber casually condensed by Sentinel was thrown by it onto the ground, and the sharp lightsaber pierced through the attic floor.
The light from downstairs projected in through the hole, and along with it crept in the quarreling and smashing sounds of a couple.
Hearing this sound, Sentinel frowned, but it didn't curl up and cover its ears as it used to do in the past.
Instead, it slowly squatted down to pull the Void, which was still retreating continuously, giving it a gentle embrace:
"You are right, we are one, and you are the only existence in this World standing with me."
"I am very grateful for your existence, but... It is enough. From now on, I want to walk the path alone."
Hearing these words, the Void, which was still struggling incessantly, suddenly stopped moving.
It silently looked at Bob, and no expression could be seen on its pitch-black face, but Peter could clearly see that its body was fading bit by bit.
Until it completely disappeared without a trace.
"You grew faster than I imagined," Peter's voice came from behind.
Snapping out of it, Sentinel looked at its empty embrace, feeling the unprecedented sense of fulfillment in its chest, and its eye sockets suddenly became somewhat moist.
It opened its mouth, but for a moment didn't know what to say.
"Let's talk outside. There is still a pile of mess waiting to be cleaned up over in the Underworld."
Having said that, Peter prepared to withdraw from Sentinel's mental World.
When opening his eyes again, the Void in space had completely transformed into Sentinel's appearance.
Sentinel looked at Peter, and a moment later suddenly bowed to Peter with utmost respect:
"Mr. Peter, thank you very, very, very much!"
To this, Peter merely waved his hand at it offhandedly.
...
Returning from the Universe to Earth, and then from Earth back to the Underworld—the whole process sounds long when spoken of, but in reality, less than a dozen minutes had passed.
Even when Peter returned to the Underworld, the Captain Marvel, whom he had previously knocked out with a single punch, had not yet recovered from unconsciousness.
When noticing Peter returning with seven Sentinels, everyone present was shocked for a moment.
But very quickly, everyone discovered something wrong.
Among the seven Sentinels, six of them had their bodies stuck full of Chakra Black Rods, but there was still one whose body remained completely intact, and even its eyes hadn't turned into those purple concentric-circle eyes.
"So you are... the real Sentinel?"
Sinister Strange couldn't help letting out an exclamation.
He looked at Sentinel, inexplicably feeling that the other party seemed to have become somewhat different. Although its gaze was still somewhat evasive, and it still hunched its shoulders and slouched when walking, appearing very unconfident.
But one could clearly feel that some kind of transformation seemed to have taken place on its body.
"That's right, it's me, Mr. Strange." Sentinel forced out a smile it wasn't yet very skilled at to respond to Sinister Strange, which instead made everyone in the Illuminati feel even more uneasy.
Ironheart couldn't help asking Peter:
"You used new technology on this last model of puppet, right? Don't think you can fool me!"
To this, Peter couldn't even be bothered to respond, only looking at Sentinel and saying:
"Explain it to them slowly yourself; there is still a culprit over there that I need to resolve personally!"
After saying this, he didn't look at Sentinel either, but instead proactively walked towards the two Wandas who had yet to decide the outcome.
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