A Look That Said It All

God King Odin’s treasury housed precious secret treasures from the Nine Realms. It was a sacred destination dreamed of by countless adventurers. Legend had it that there were suits of armor and sharp swords blessed by the gods, the bones of dragons and deities, the Casket of Ancient Winters capable of freezing an entire planet, the Eternal Flame that could bring the dead back to life…

These incredible rare treasures had been recorded in ancient tomes and enduring tales, stirring longing in all who heard of them. It was the treasury of the King of the Gods, containing opportunities and miracles capable of changing one’s fate. Many throughout the Nine Realms firmly believed this.

A deep blue glow tore through space, rippling like water. Brilliant halos expanded into a massive gateway, and two figures stepped out. They were Sean, the Sentinel listed by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a dangerous individual, and Jean, the Omega-level Phoenix among the Mutants.

The first thing they saw was a vast hall and corridor that extended layer by layer from the entrance into the depths of the structure. Antique and elegant display racks stood on both sides, piled with exquisite weapons and armor engraved with divine runes, or dazzling gemstones inlaid with strange and radiant lights. In terms of sheer luxury and splendor, it truly suited the status of the King of Asgard.

If ordinary people had come here, they would likely have been dazzled, unable to decide which treasure to choose from among the overwhelming array.

"This is the Eternal Flame, a trophy Odin obtained from Surtur, the giant of the Fire Realm. Legend says that once a fire giant’s sword is tempered by it, it can gain the terrifying power to destroy the divine realm."

"This is the Destroyer, the most powerful armor in the divine realm—before it was damaged."

"…The Orb of Agamotto. It can detect other magic and sources of danger, a treasured possession of some great sorcerer. The stone tablet beside it is the Tablet of Life, from an ancient Earth civilization. It is said to help its user evolve into a supreme life-form."

Like the owner of this place, Sean explained the rare treasures displayed along the way to Jean. Each possessed an extraordinary origin or rare ability.

"Where is the thing you wanted?" Jean asked curiously.

"This is exactly what I wanted." Sean walked over to a square stone pedestal, where an exquisite, gleaming metal gauntlet lay in plain sight.

As a replica of the Infinity Gauntlet, it also gleamed with dazzling metallic luster and possessed slots for six gems. Once worn, one could immediately sense the complex energy structure within, intertwined like circuits carrying electric currents.

With a crisp click, the oversized gauntlet shrank by half, fitting the size of its user’s hand.

Sean took out the cube and toyed with the Tesseract that both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Loki wanted. A sharp golden gleam flashed through his eyes.

A surging, violent torrent of golden light erupted. As his hand clenched, the sturdy and stable outer shell gradually disintegrated. Amid faint cracking sounds, an oval blue gem fell into his palm.

An invisible fluctuation was like a pebble falling into a still lake, sending out tiny ripples. Thanos, seated upon his floating throne, abruptly changed expression. He had sensed the aura of an Infinity Stone!

"That Asgardian didn’t lie to me." The Cosmic Overlord’s heart burned with excitement. With a slight movement of his hand, the Mind Scepter lying on the ground flew over automatically.

The golden scepter that had granted Loki the power to control minds shattered inch by inch in Thanos’s palm. He carefully pinched up a yellow gem and embedded it into a slot in his metal gauntlet.

Two invisible forces collided. Sean, inside Odin’s treasury, turned his head and looked toward the celestial palace and city that had collapsed into ruins. Vast stretches of buildings vanished into ash amid thunderous roars.

"I need some time." The young man turned to Jean.

With the Space Stone embedded in the replica Infinity Gauntlet, he could clearly sense that this exquisite imitation had a limit to the number of gems it could bear. A single gem had already caused the internal energy structure to overflow.

If it held three gems at once, the gauntlet would probably be unable to withstand the continuous output of such immense power and would automatically destroy itself.

His hand clenched, and pale blue light flashed brilliantly as it poured into Sean’s body like a flood bursting through a dam. The Sentinel Armor appeared in streaks of light, crazily absorbing the nearly limitless cosmic energy.

He was going to break through the fifty-percent barrier now!

"No one will interrupt you," Jean said calmly.

Her fiery red hair streamed wildly as a violent aura erupted from her. Phoenix stood before the Sentinel, her gaze icy.

At the same time, Thanos leaned back on his floating throne. He had no concern whatsoever for the brutal slaughter below. The Chitauri army would make the Asgardians understand that no matter how they struggled or resisted, they could not escape defeat. Under the merciless laws of cosmic survival, weakness itself was an original sin.

For now, that gem was what mattered most. Obtaining two gems was an exceptionally bountiful harvest.

A tide-like psychic force spread out in an overwhelming search. The Cosmic Overlord’s gaze slowly sought the Infinity Stone’s true location. Invisible fluctuations swept across the area in a carpet-like scan, like a predator tracking prey deep in a dense forest, following the traces left behind to hunt its hidden target.

"Trying to escape my sight… I’m afraid it won’t be that easy!"

A rare smile appeared on Thanos’s face. Within his cold pupils, a dark storm was brewing.

A violent, ferocious aura surged forth like a hurricane from an ice age, filled with the meaning of deathly extinction, as though it could freeze one’s soul. A powerful icy current crossed space and poured out!

"Found you!"

A red-haired woman in a red dress stood within the psychic void. The powerful icy current carrying destruction was firmly blocked outside her. Dazzling flames rolled and gathered, enough to burn all things and annihilate everything!

The psychic world continually collapsed and was reborn; the material world began to shake and tremble.

"An interesting life-form…"

The corners of Thanos’s mouth lifted slightly. He put away his inner disdain, and a trace of seriousness appeared on his purple face.

A massive crimson phoenix spread its wings as if about to take flight. All kinds of energy lights intertwined and merged, forming an ultimate blaze of light—life and death, rebirth and destruction…

Contradictory and opposing energies fused into one, creating an incomparably terrifying fluctuation!

The red-haired woman floated in the psychic void, her entire body seeming to burn as intense flames bloomed around her. Any psychic fluctuation or material existence that approached her was completely annihilated and destroyed!

The Cosmic Overlord’s psychic force, like an even fiercer hurricane, launched continuous assaults against the flaming phoenix. A frigid aura crushed across the psychic world, as though it carried a powerful cold current.

The red-haired woman resisted with all her strength, but Thanos, who had become an overlord in the dark cosmos, was no mere figurehead. Having endured countless bloody battles, he continuously unleashed waves of energy strikes, like one massive tide after another battering against her psychic defenses!

Odin’s treasury shook violently. The surrounding display racks toppled in every direction, and the rare treasures coveted by the outside world fell to the ground. Powerful fluctuations spilled out and reduced them to ash.

Jean’s face gradually turned pale. The fire in her eyes burned fiercely, while her fragile body swayed as though she might collapse at any moment.

This red-haired woman’s psychic power was indeed formidable, but in Thanos’s eyes, with his vast combat experience, she was still somewhat immature. He could feel that the flame phoenix’s source power was extremely terrifying, but unfortunately, she could not fully unleash it.

It was like a child swinging a sledgehammer. The strength was certainly immense, but the wielder was too weak.

"Poor little thing. The world of the strong is this cruel."

Thanos thought so as he prepared to wipe out this human consciousness, which did not even qualify as an opponent, in one final push.

A powerful storm swept forth with a thunderous roar, like a terrifying tide covering the heavens and earth, about to swallow the faint will struggling to hold on.

"Don’t touch my person!"

A deep voice thundered into Thanos’s mind. Golden light rose like the newborn sun, blooming with incomparable brilliance.

Across the invisible barrier of vast distance, cold eyes and profound gazes collided. An invisible storm shook the void, stirring up violent waves!