The Avengers 4 squad had gone back.
As Stark put it, everything here was too perfect; if they stayed any longer they'd lose the courage to leave.
"I know there's at least one World where Tony Stark lives happily with his parents, and that's enough," Stark said.
After they left, Fang Yuan started mapping out his next move—and, incidentally, sorting through Iron Man's technical data.
With a Stark that big standing right there, how could Fang Yuan resist peeking at the tech inside his head?
He'd simply committed the same mistake every transmigrator makes.
Tony Stark's tech in 2023 had changed beyond recognition compared with 2012.
Back in 2012 Tony was still figuring out how to make the Iron Man Suit more portable; ten years later he'd gone full nano.
Fang Yuan had integrated the research templates of Tony, Howard, and Banner—A-rank, 82 % developed. Given time to solve the materials problem, he could reproduce the Mark 85 nano-armor from Avengers 4.
Black King plucks every goose that flies overhead—how sweet it is.
Next, Fang Yuan began wrapping things up before his temporary departure from this World.
He'd spent two fruitful years in the Marvel Universe; it was time to call the first act finished.
Besides, the Ancient One had told him to deepen his magical knowledge. Since she felt he wasn't ready for the Time Stone, Fang Yuan planned to go cultivate in another World and return to show this "dumb ruler" a thing or two.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ Fang Yuan effortlessly obtained both the Tesseract and the Mind Stone Scepter.
Per the agreement between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Asgard, the Mind Stone Scepter would remain on Earth while the Tesseract would be reclaimed by Asgard.
This was to prevent Earth from hoarding too many Stones and attracting unnecessary danger.
Yet according to Fang Yuan's deal with Odin, the Tesseract's trip to Asgard was purely ceremonial; Odin soon sent it right back to him.
Odin's days of ambition were long past; now he only wanted to guard Asgard's current borders and live in family harmony.
As agreed, Fang Yuan whitewashed Loki on Earth and launched him into stardom. Through Kamar-Taj Outer Disciple publicity, the once "evil god" had become the God of Mischief—complete with his own fan base.
Like Thor, Loki quickly succumbed to the fans' enthusiasm.
He'd always adored the spotlight; his pranks were just cries for attention. Now that Fang Yuan gave him the adoration he craved, Loki's worst traits melted away.
Though Thor still remained clueless, Loki knew that Odin had orchestrated part of the Battle of New York.
In fact, it was Odin who had asked Fang Yuan to salvage his wayward son.
Learning that his father did care after all, Loki stopped sulking and even promised to return to Asgard next month with Thor for a family feast.
Overjoyed, Odin praised the Ancient One's foresight in accepting such a brilliant disciple as Fang Yuan.
Thus it was only natural for the Infinity Gauntlet in Asgard's vault to end up in Fang Yuan's hands.
Yes—Odin possessed the Gauntlet long before Thanos.
After all, Thanos specifically commissioned the dwarves to forge it; without precedent, how would he even know they could?
Although Hela calls it a fake in Thor: Ragnarok, she's referring to the gems on it, not the Gauntlet itself.
The dwarves forged weapons exclusively for Asgard; Odin had no reason to store a counterfeit in his vault.
Alongside the Gauntlet were the Destroyer, the casket of ancient winters, the Tesseract, and the Eternal Flame—hardly the company of fakes.
"No wonder Hela said Odin was once an extremely ambitious king," Fang Yuan muttered. "He was clearly aiming to collect all the Infinity Stones."
Before the Gauntlet could serve its purpose, however, Odin washed his hands of conquest and chose to become a benevolent ruler.
Perhaps because, apart from the Space Stone, he never managed to gather the others.
Whatever the reason, it now benefited Fang Yuan.
Not solely thanks to him, of course—the Ancient One's guarantee persuaded Odin to lend the Gauntlet for one month, to be brought home when Loki returned.
But for Fang Yuan, a month could stretch into forever.
He slipped on the Gauntlet; unlike Thanos's left-handed one, Odin's was for the right hand.
Nor was size an issue—if a divine artifact couldn't even resize itself, the dwarves of Nidavellir might as well abandon smithing and go play Snow White.
He then equipped the Ancient One Template, placed the Tesseract in his palm, channeled mana to locate its weak points, and began compressing it.
Don't be fooled by the movies—Thanos crushed the Tesseract with ease, but his strength is nothing to scoff at.
As everyone knows, the angrier the Hulk gets, the stronger he becomes, yet when the Asgardian refugee ship was attacked and casualties were heavy, a rage-maxed Hulk was still brutally beaten by Thanos with his bare hands.
At that time, although Thanos already possessed the Power Stone, he didn't use it.
Because when the Infinity Gauntlet taps a gem's power, it emits the corresponding light, and back then there wasn't any.
Also, Vision's body is made of Vibranium, but Thanos could pry the gem out with his bare hands and later shatter Captain America's shield—proof that becoming the final boss isn't just about the Stones.
Of course, when it comes to slicing Cap's shield, the one most worth marveling at is actually Captain America himself.
He really can go fifty-fifty with anyone, huh?
Bucky can trade blows with Cap for three minutes; by that math, Bucky equals Thanos?
Fang Yuan didn't take long; the boost from the Ancient One Template let him destroy the Tesseract's structure in moments, and seconds later fissures crawled across its surface.
Bang!
Like glass, the Cube shattered, revealing the blue gem inside.
Using magic to levitate the Space Stone onto the Infinity Gauntlet, Fang Yuan watched the largest socket on the back of his hand pull the gem neatly into place.
The gem sockets on Odin's gauntlet sit in different spots from Thanos's version.
Mm…
At the same moment, Fang Yuan felt a jolt of energy; eyes shut, a flash of insight blazed through his mind, and when he opened them again the World's space felt as thin as cicada wings in his grasp.
He clenched his right fist; blue light flared from the Space Stone, and Fang Yuan slipped smoothly all the way to Jotunheim.
No portal created, no stray energy—just an instant leap across the stars.
His use of the Space Stone flowed far more fluidly than Thanos's.
Thanos is indeed a top-tier warrior of the Universe, but no great spellcaster.
Wearing the Infinity Gauntlet clearly blunts his combat edge.
Had it been the double-bladed Thanos on Titan facing Iron Man, Star-Lord, Doctor Strange and the rest, he'd have cut them down long ago.
Even if Strange's magic gave him trouble, breaking his defense would still be nearly impossible; sooner or later he'd pick them off one by one.
Fang Yuan, however, is different: trained in the Ancient One's sorcery, backed by the S-Rank Ancient One Template and the A-Rank Energy Controller Halo, his efficiency with the Infinity Stones leaves Thanos in the dust.
Next, with the Space Stone's power, he effortlessly pried the yellow Mind Stone from Loki's scepter.
He set the Mind Stone against the gauntlet; the socket at the thumb knuckle sucked it firmly into place.
In an instant, his consciousness expanded as if every mind on Earth were under his control—one thought could turn anyone into a slave.
And not just Earth: blue and yellow light glowed together on his right hand, and across the Universe countless lives fell within his perception.
"With something like this, Thanos still almost got hacked to death?" Fang Yuan scowled.
If he had been Thanos, the moment he gained the Mind Stone he'd have seized control of every mind on the battlefield.
Of course, the director wouldn't allow it—wouldn't make for much of a movie.
Fang Yuan tried activating the Sorcerer Supreme Halo, which can let him take one item and keep its abilities.
Strictly speaking, the Space Stone, Mind Stone, and Infinity Gauntlet are three objects, so he wanted to test whether he could exploit a bug.
"Ugh, what exploit? They're all attached to the gauntlet, so that counts as one item!" he told himself.
Unfortunately, the Sorcerer Supreme Halo paid no heed to his sophistry.
"Only one choice?"
Fang Yuan fell into thought. The gauntlet itself was out—without the Stones it's just a showpiece, and even without the halo he could still take it out of this World, albeit without the same boosts.
As long as he kept the Infinity Stones, everything else was negotiable.
Between the Space Stone and Mind Stone, he unhesitatingly picked the former.
Because the Mind Stone had a bigger role yet—
Scarlet Witch!
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe there's no Magneto, so Quicksilver and Wanda's powers instead come from being fully activated by HYDRA's Mind Stone Scepter.
Fang Yuan had no interest in Quicksilver, but Scarlet Witch still carried weight.
Decision made, he wasted no time prying the Mind Stone off the gauntlet and, using the Space Stone's power, re-inserted it into the scepter.
He quietly passed the Mind Stone Scepter to Baron Strucker, one of HYDRA's heads. Strucker hadn't joined the restructured HYDRA's Illuminati, but since he was still useful, Fang Yuan kept bankrolling him so the Baron never sensed anything amiss.
With Athena on hand, Fang Yuan could effortlessly trap Strucker inside an information cocoon.
Cast a long line to land the big fish—Fang Yuan was more than willing to bait the hook.
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