Selling the Chitauri

"You’re saying you have a way to lure a group of aliens in, then help us wipe them out?" John Garrett asked incredulously as he looked at the Asgardian prince before him.

"That’s right. The technology level on Midgard is far too low, so I felt the need to help you advance by leaps and bounds." Loki sipped his coffee with a smile.

"I can open a space portal at a location of your choosing and lure a group of space pirates down. If you prepare the Magnetic Field Warriors in advance and wipe them all out, the technology you obtain should let you enter the space age quickly. However, I’ll need an item from S.H.I.E.L.D. to provide some assistance."

These fellows are going to die anyway. I might as well make use of them, Loki thought after figuring this out, selling out the Chitauri without hesitation.

The key was that once he had S.H.I.E.L.D.’s approval, he wouldn’t have to worry about his master, senior brother, or anyone else coming after him.

As a veteran agent, veteran undercover operative, newly appointed director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and important Hydra operative, John Garrett was even more suspicious than the original Nick Fury.

He certainly didn’t believe that the Asgardian prince before him was being so kindhearted.

As a veteran agent who had seen countless people, he could see through the nature of the man before him at a glance. The two of them were clearly cut from the same cloth. He was no good fellow!

John’s thoughts raced. In an instant, eight hundred ideas flashed through his mind. After carefully mulling over Loki’s words several times, he focused his attention on Loki’s final sentence.

"May I ask what item from S.H.I.E.L.D. you need to help you?"

"The Tesseract!"

John understood at once. After becoming director, he had gained access to a great deal of intelligence he had previously known nothing about. The various Item 084s were among them.

Besides, he was also a member of Hydra. The Tesseract had a close connection with Hydra’s previous leader, Red Skull, so how could he not know about it?

However, his understanding of the Tesseract was extremely limited. He had no idea how to use the thing. Moreover, the previous director, Nick Fury, had specifically labeled it as "extremely dangerous."

There had originally been a weapons development plan involving the Tesseract, but it had since been canceled. The Tesseract had been completely sealed away.

Clearly, some accident must have occurred to make Nick reach such a decision. But John had investigated carefully and found no record of any accident ever taking place.

In fact, if the Magnetic Field Warriors hadn’t appeared out of nowhere and enabled the rapid mass production of experts, Nick probably wouldn’t have sealed away the Tesseract. He would more likely have tried every possible means to find a way to use it. At worst, he could simply move the experiments to a space battleship.

Besides, even if Earth exploded, the Sorcerer Supreme would hold the line. What did he have to fear?

Although Nick had yet to see even the shadow of the Sorcerer Supreme, he already dared to scheme against her.

"The Tesseract is an extremely dangerous object. We at S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t just hand it over for you to use," John politely refused. He had decided that Loki was after the Tesseract and wanted to trick him into handing it over.

But to his surprise, Loki didn’t refuse. Instead, he smiled and expressed his agreement.

"That’s right. As one of the six Infinity Stones, the Space Stone is indeed quite dangerous. Your caution is justified."

"The Infinity Stones? One of the six?" John froze, instinctively trying to extract more information. "Your Highness, would you mind explaining in greater detail?"

Loki didn’t refuse. With a sly smile, he told John everything related to them.

In fact, Ancient One and Captain Marvel had mentioned this information before, but Captain Marvel hadn’t told Nick. She understood Nick very well. If he learned about the Infinity Stones, he would probably do something foolish, like trying to collect them.

Ancient One had already issued a warning: anyone who dared to collect the Infinity Stones would become the enemy of the entire universe.

John didn’t know that the Space Stone had once caused Earth to explode. After hearing this, he couldn’t help feeling eager, once again entertaining the idea of unsealing the Space Stone for use.

"Thank you very much for the information, Your Highness. S.H.I.E.L.D. will certainly send a token of appreciation later."

"There’s no need to be so polite. In fact, this information is no secret among some of the major forces in the universe." Loki spoke lightly, making John feel like the leader of some backwater little organization.

"This is a set of blueprints for constructing a spatial transmission portal. You can study them carefully. As for when and where to open the portal, you can decide for yourselves. Of course, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come to me at any time. I’d be happy to explain it to you."

Loki took out a portable storage device and generously handed over the blueprints for a spatial portal that could draw in the Chitauri. With these blueprints, S.H.I.E.L.D. would hold the initiative and have no need for Loki at all.

John stared uncertainly at the object in his hand, once again beginning to wonder about Loki’s intentions.

Is there a trap in this?

Or is this kind of advanced technology already commonplace in Asgard, something that can be handed out casually?

Or have I misjudged him? Is this little Asgardian prince really a mental Earthling?

But a benefit delivered right to my door would be a crime not to accept.

He put the device away first, then thanked Loki profusely with a beaming smile. But he didn’t mention letting Loki oversee the construction or help open the spatial portal.

He had already made up his mind. He would freeload off this little Asgardian prince. Later, he would first find some scientists within the organization to study the spatial portal. Once they understood it, they would open it themselves and cast the little Asgardian prince aside.

Even if there was some problem with the portal, what could Loki do without knowing when or where they would open it?

The two of them continued exchanging empty pleasantries for a while. Then Loki rose to leave, and John personally escorted him outside.

After returning to his office, he picked up the phone. "Call Leopold Fitz from the Science Division over here."

A moment later, a timid young man walked in. He had curly blond hair, gray eyes, and was dressed like a shut-in.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?"

"That’s right. Take a look at what’s in here."

Fitz took the device, opened it on his personal tablet, and looked at it for a few moments. He couldn’t help frowning. He couldn’t quite understand the thing!

He was just about to say that he didn’t understand it when someone seemed to whisper in his ear, "This appears to be a spatial transmission device."

The voice came from within his heart and went straight into his mind, as though he had thought of it himself. He froze for a moment before blurting out, "This appears to be a spatial transmission device."

"Excellent! Then I’ll leave this to you. Try to fully understand the blueprints as soon as possible, then oversee the construction yourself."

The whisper sounded again, and Fitz was guided into saying, "There’s a place on the blueprints that requires a cube-shaped energy device. Without that thing, I can’t conduct any experiments. Without experimental data, I can’t determine the blueprints’ true purpose."

John frowned and tapped his finger on the desk, clearly hesitating.

But Loki, invisible as he stood beside him, whispered into his ear again, "Very well. I’ll transfer the Tesseract to you for use in your experiments."

John voiced the same words aloud.

After Fitz accepted the assignment, he turned and left. John, meanwhile, issued an order through the network to unseal the Tesseract and transport it to the base once more.

Throughout the entire process, neither of them noticed that Loki, who had been hiding in the shadows, was manipulating them with ease.

In fact, this conversation had been under Loki’s control from the very beginning. John’s hesitation and refusal, even his greed—in every choice he made, he had been guided by Loki.

This was the power of magic!

Ordinary people had no power to resist extraordinary forces. Whether it was Magnetic Field Rotation or magic, the result was the same.

When extraordinary forces were scarce, humanity might still resist, oppose, or enslave them. But when extraordinary forces became widespread, ordinary humans would inevitably fall to the bottom of the hierarchy, no longer qualified to exist as equals.