"Tony has abandoned the Avengers," Nick Fury said bluntly. "He's only focused on joining the Illuminati now. He wants to do something big. You know this is dangerous. There's almost no chance of success."
"Of course they can't succeed," Thor muttered without thinking.
Illuminati? Going after who? The Ice Demon… or him? Definitely the Ice Demon. They were crazy if they thought they could handle him. Only one person could deal with the Ice Demon.
"I need your help, Thor," Nick said suddenly.
Thor froze, then gave a short, forced laugh. "I can't help you."
He could barely protect himself. Vincent had told him the Asgardian God of Fear was breaking free of the seal. More of the strong beings Odin had sealed away were stirring. Every one of them was his enemy. What Thor needed was strength, enough to clean them up when the time came. Losing to Hela still burned. He knew defeating her in Asgard was impossible in the short term. The longer she stayed there, the stronger she became. He did not trust her promises. Hela could take his life whenever she wanted.
"Sorry, Nick. I have things to do."
Thor turned to leave.
At once, large numbers of Skrulls gathered. Thunder and lightning flashed in Thor's eyes.
"Wait. Let him go," Nick said quickly.
Thor's eyes showed clear disdain. He understood one simple truth. In front of absolute strength, every conspiracy was fake. In the end, only power decided anything.
He reached out on instinct, wanting to grab Mjolnir. A bitter smile crossed his face. He knew Mjolnir had been crushed by Hela.
Then Thor's expression lit up with excitement.
The shattered pieces of Mjolnir fell from the sky. The handle landed in his hand, and the fragments began gathering, reforming into the true Mjolnir.
"Awesome!"
"Brother, I knew you wouldn't leave me alone!"
"Hahaha!"
After everything he had been through, Thor finally had something to be happy about. He stroked Mjolnir affectionately and soon noticed the difference. Though the hammer had been rebuilt from shattered pieces, cracks still remained. Those cracks formed unique rune traces. It looked as if someone had carefully re-condensed them. Odin's original spell on the hammer had completely disappeared.
A picture flashed through his mind. Vincent's face appeared, the man Thor still held in quiet awe. Vincent's voice seemed to speak from far away.
"My brother-in-law, this is a gift for you. Do you like it?"
Thor shivered all over.
"Nick, you should let us keep Thor," a young Skrull said from behind Nick Fury. "If we can steal his power, our plan will succeed. We can create Earth's strongest superhuman."
Nick Fury shook his head. "If we act, our location will be exposed for sure. Deep Cold Organization is already hunting Skrull movements tightly."
His face grew serious. "I warned you not to provoke Oscorp, but you didn't listen. Once the Ice Demon turns his malice on you, every Skrull will face a huge crisis."
"Humph. We already snatched the most important synthetic potions from Oscorp. That's the key technology to unlock gene synthesis power. With the strong genes we've accumulated, once the experiment succeeds, all Skrulls will gain powerful strength. We'll leap forward and become one of the top races in the universe!"
The young Skrull had a massive body, clearly different from ordinary people. Ambition burned in his eyes. (The Super-Skrull project?)
"Unless you get the Ice Demon's genes too and gain power from him, we're all just lambs waiting to be slaughtered," Nick Fury said, clearly dissatisfied.
Nick had already investigated clearly. The Skrulls' existence had most likely been leaked by Deep Cold Organization. That was why major Earth organizations now knew about them. It was also the reason for Nick's current situation. He knew he had no way out.
"Getting the Ice Demon's genes isn't easy," the young Skrull said coldly. "You know we infiltrated his house and found no traces left by him."
Gene technology had advanced far enough that many forces wanted Vincent's gene samples. But Vincent controlled his genetic material tightly. He never gave anyone a chance. Any item he touched left no usable DNA after testing. It showed just how cunning this enemy was.
"Maybe I can send women of the clan to seduce the Ice Demon."
Nick sneered when he heard that. "You can't hide from Vincent. He can invade anyone's mind at will and know your origins. Mystique's ability isn't weaker than yours, but the moment she appeared beside Vincent, she exposed herself."
"Including our former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. We thought he had precognition, but it's clearly his powerful psychic ability that creates the effect of precognition."
"He can find any of you easily."
"So don't dream of gaining power from him."
"From him, you can only gain disaster."
Nick Fury looked very tired. The Skrulls had become uncontrollable. Internal unrest was growing. In all his years, this was the first time Nick had faced something like this. He even reached for his phone, ready to summon Carol Danvers back. Carol's strength was his last real hope. But whether she could deal with Vincent was a big question mark. Vincent was simply too strong.
Vincent withdrew from the pile of women.
The "Wife-vengers" were powerful. He had experienced it fully. Even a Steel Body could be soaked soft.
He picked up a water cup. Ice water filled it on its own. He drank several cups before sitting in the hall, watching the scenery of Central Park outside.
At the same time, Vincent focused on his attribute panel.
[Status Panel Updated]
Wealth Value: 556.6687 billion points
Desire Points: 39.597 billion points
Bloodline: Kryptonian (Tier 3 Gene Lock: True God), Human (Tier 3 Gene Lock)
Talents: Kryptonian True God Power, Speed Force (Max Level)
Abilities: Ice, Flame, Glint Fruits (Tier 3, Origin Peak+), Water Control (True God+), Steel God Body (True God+), Super Flight / Breath / Heat Vision / X-Ray / Hearing / Brain (True God+)
Skills: Omega Beams (Dominator+), Creation (Atomic Level+), Enchanting (Atomic Level+)…
Constant stimulation from the sun had finally pushed his Kryptonian bloodline past the threshold. He had stepped into the true True God level.
What did True God level mean? Long life. The beginning of true immortality. He had broken past the boundaries Kryptonians had never reached before. With the opening of the Tier 3 Gene Lock, Vincent's strength had truly entered the Single Universe Level.
"The existence of the Human Gene Lock let me keep a bloodline baseline."
Kryptonian bloodline normally carried weaknesses: kryptonite, magic, red sun. But once he truly reached True God level, those weaknesses disappeared.
Vincent looked over some of his newly awakened abilities. True God level Freeze Breath could fully merge into the Ice Fruit's Origin Tier. Flame and Glint Fruits had also begun merging with his other True God level abilities. His True God level body finally allowed him to exert the true power of the three fruits. In one leap, he had become the strongest existence in a single universe.
Time and space flowed around him. He could sense it clearly. The true meaning of the Speed Force was also opening the door to its final secrets. If he wished, he could run out a completely new future.
The growth of Desire and Wealth brought Vincent absolute confidence. Even if he faced Celestials, Watchers, or Abstract Entities, he now had the right to hammer them.
Sunlight scattered across his body. Golden light made every cell welcome a new rebirth.
"I was always curious why, with so many women, none of them got pregnant."
"Now I'm certain. My life source isn't something ordinary women can fully accept."
"This is a cross-species difference above the biological dimension."
Space was no longer just three dimensions of length, width, and height to him. Doors of Time, Space, and Energy dimensions connected directly to his body. Terrifying power, once released, could make the entire Earth feel like a toy in his hand.
He stroked the three Infinity Stones he held. The current Vincent could exert the full power of every Infinity Stone.
"The Power Stone is the most unique stone. Owning it allows you to exert the full power of the other stones."
"But the Power Stone isn't something everyone can withstand and use."
"No wonder Thanos snatched the Power Stone first," Vincent muttered.
Only two stones remained outside his reach: the Power Stone and the Soul Stone. The Time Stone was still in the Ancient One's hand. If Vincent needed it, he could get it from her. But he did not force the issue.
"Right now I have a feeling of being out of tune with Earth."
Yet strong power did not make Vincent inhuman. Instead, he enjoyed the benefits of strength even more.
"Forging Skill turned into Creation Skill. Is this influenced by the Reality Stone?"
He could even create items out of thin air.
"If so, can I create some special items? Like Devil Fruits? Grant myself Devil Fruit abilities?" Vincent smiled. That would be fun.
"The Serpent, Cul, is about to be born. I wonder if the System will issue a mission."
Without a mission, Vincent had little motivation. Damn System. It was getting lazier. Fixed missions had turned into little more than woman collecting. He was this strong, and he had basically become a stamp collector.
As for the six Infinity Stones…
"This isn't delivering food to me. It's simply making me the Guardian of the Stones."
The stones had once been kept by the Elders of the Universe. But those immortal, high-intelligence beings had thrown the stones out at some point. Guarding them carried risks. It made one a target for many upstarts in the universe.
"Grandmaster. Collector."
Those two brothers were Elders of the Universe. High-intelligence lifeforms. Even stronger than Celestials, at least according to some records.
"Which female hero is worth collecting?"
Valkyrie? Just a snack.
The Eternals? Or perhaps some nice opponents.
The current Vincent could clearly sense powerful lives breeding on Earth. Because of his existence, Earth could birth so many superhuman heroes and various strong lives.
"I can sense your existence. The breeding of life is feeding back to you, letting you grow."
"But I won't let you be born." (Tiamut?)
Vincent's tone became firm. He knew the Eternals had been created by the Celestials to guard a Celestial's birth. Once a Celestial was born, it became a True God existence, an absolute representative of power in the universe.
"Celestials are not perceived by ordinary people because their life level is simply too high."
"And various gods sealed within Earth seem restless, wanting to return to the human world."
His gaze cut through time and space, landing on every special energy point on Earth. Vincent's lips curled upward. Among them existed many powerful goddesses.
"Thena?"
A soft call.
Somewhere, a blonde, blue-eyed woman who was currently living under a disguised identity suddenly looked up. Golden energy bloomed across her body as she searched for the source of the call. But she could not perceive the caller's existence. She thought she had only hallucinated.
"Earth hasn't been peaceful recently, but our God has not been harmed."
As long as two conditions were not met (one, human extinction; two, Earth's destruction), the Eternals would not show themselves. Moreover, they still had to deal with the powerful Deviants.
"Gathering time is almost up. It will be a good chance to communicate with them."
Since stepping down as the Prime Eternal, Thena had not concerned herself with internal matters for a long time. But she knew that long years had made their relationships intimate.
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