"Thanos."
Hearing the name, Thor's brows immediately furrowed. Before the events of the first Thor movie, he might not have known who Thanos was. However, after Loki's betrayal, Thor had changed. Recently, aside from mourning Loki's death, he had been studying, something he once despised.
Thor had appeared on Earth so quickly because the Bifrost had been repaired and Heimdall had informed him that Loki was still alive. Because of Loki, Thor temporarily forgot about Jane Foster.
"What does he have to do with this?" Thor asked after a moment of silence.
"Why not ask your brother? The people he brought this time are all Thanos' subordinates. Perhaps Thanos sent him to take the Space Stone." To obtain the Space Stone, Daniel Davis had to reveal more information.
"What?" Thor immediately turned to look at Loki. In the universe, Thanos was infamous, a top terrorist who slaughtered entire planets. If not for his overwhelming power, other forces would have eliminated him long ago.
Thanos' strength made other major forces in the universe turn a blind eye to his actions, as long as he didn't target their planets.
Seeing Thor's expression, Loki averted his gaze. Being associated with Thanos was not something to be proud of, akin to being connected to terrorists on Earth. Secretly, it was one thing, but being exposed was different.
"Who is Thanos?" Fury asked from the side.
"An overlord in the universe, extremely powerful, someone not to be provoked lightly," Daniel explained.
"Even Thanos can't scare Asgard," Thor said, raising Mjolnir. Sif and the others echoed his confidence.
"Do you really want to provoke Thanos to come to Asgard for this Space Stone? I know Odin is powerful, but Thanos isn't weak. If you fight, regardless of the outcome, Asgard will suffer heavy casualties. This isn't a choice a wise king would make."
Odin had hidden the Space Stone on Earth for a reason. He didn't fear Thanos but saw no point in a meaningless war.
"Uh..." Thor hesitated. Before his time on Earth and Loki's betrayal, he would have fought without a second thought, just as he had once attacked the Frost Giants with only a few companions.
"Thanos is determined to get the Space Stone. Even against Odin, he would go to Asgard."
Thanos likely supported Odin to obtain the Space Stone first, but Loki's actions had complicated things.
Thanos hadn't started collecting the Infinity Stones yet because of Odin and the Ancient One. Thanos was committed to his ideals, and if he could get all six Infinity Stones, he would act despite their strength.
Thanos hadn't acted yet because he hadn't located all the stones. He knew the whereabouts of the Space, Time, and Mind Stones, but the Power, Reality, and most mysterious Soul Stones were still missing.
Thanos was strategic, moving with precision. In the original story, he gathered all six stones in less than a day, showing his mastery of swift action.
Seeing Thor's hesitation, Daniel continued, "Thanos' actions are driven by his belief in balancing the universe. Do you know why he does what he does?"
"Excuse me, what has Thanos done that frightens you so?" Stark suddenly asked from the side.
Stark's question earned him a glare from Sif and the others, as Asgard feared nothing.
"Thanos' actions are simple: he massacres half the population of entire planets," Daniel said, looking at Stark.
"What?" Stark, Fury, and the others were shocked. Killing half the population of a planet was monstrous.
"Thanos isn't a mere killer. He believes he's doing good."
"Killing half is good?" Stark shouted.
"Yes, Thanos sees himself as the universe's population control officer. He believes the universe's resources are finite and aims to maintain balance by killing half the population. He used to do this planet by planet but now wants the Space Stone to move faster."
Daniel revealed Thanos' background and ideals, though he didn't mention Thanos' ultimate plan to snap half the universe's population out of existence.
Even without that detail, Daniel's words caused a stir among the listeners, shaking them deeply.
"This is madness," someone finally said.
"Madness? If Thanos is mad, so is Hydra. At least Thanos has a misguided belief. Hydra plans to use millions of lives to secure their rule," Daniel countered.
"Maybe he's mad, but he's a powerful madman. We mustn't let him get the Space Stone. Compared to Asgard, we can better hide it from him." Daniel looked firmly at Thor.
If Thor still refused to hand over the Space Stone, Daniel would have to wait until Hela appeared, which he didn't want to do.
"Can you guarantee the Space Stone's safety?" Thor asked after staring at Daniel for a while.
"Absolutely," Daniel nodded solemnly.
"Alright, it's yours. But if you fail, contact me," Thor said, handing the Tesseract to Daniel.
"That won't happen." Seeing Thor's straightforwardness, Daniel decided to prevent Ragnarok if possible.
Ragnarok might not have happened so quickly without Loki. Thor might still have a chance to prevent it.
Hela, the Goddess of Death, would be less of a threat if kept away from Asgard. Once Thor fully mastered his powers, he might defeat her.
In some ways, Hela was more like a god than Thor, as Asgard couldn't amplify Thor's power.
"Heimdall." Thor then called, and he, Loki, Sif, and the others were transported back via the Bifrost.
"I should go too. This needs to be delivered," Daniel said, leaving as well. The remaining matters didn't concern him; he wanted to study the Space Stone.
"How convenient. If a Captain appeared now and shouted 'Hail Hydra,' it would be perfect," Daniel thought, noticing the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives around him, including a grinning bald man and a titanium alloy box. In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elevator, he smiled to himself.
As Fury handled the aftermath, Alexander Pierce secured Loki's scepter, likely to end up with Baron Strucker soon.
"Baron Strucker, huh? He's a talented man, might be useful." Strucker's experiments with the Mind Stone created Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, a feat despite the high casualty rate. His research on superpowers could be valuable.
With this thought, Daniel glanced at Loki's securely guarded scepter before leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Opening a portal, he returned to his villa.
"Too bad I don't have a suitable vessel. Breaking the Tesseract would be easy." Back at his villa, Daniel used his Ant-Man suit to enter the Giant's World, studying the Space Stone with his Op-Op Fruit powers.
Kamar-Taj's magic excelled in spatial manipulation. Combining it with the Space Stone, Daniel felt empowered.
"Did the Ancient One develop Kamar-Taj's magic system using the Space and Time Stones?" As he analyzed the Space Stone, Daniel pondered this.
Odin had left the Tesseract on Earth, and the Ancient One might have been tempted.
"The Space Stone is truly amazing." Even a rough study deepened Daniel's spatial understanding. In a mythical world, this would be a primordial treasure.
Few could fully master the Space Stone. The Dark Elves nearly turned the universe into darkness with just the Reality Stone, showing the Infinity Stones' power.
"Replicating Captain Marvel's experience would require many live experiments." Daniel resisted human experimentation, which had limited his progress.
Baron Strucker's Mind Stone experiments created Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch but at a high cost in lives.
While Daniel studied the Space Stone, Odin heard about the events from Thor. Odin had no opinion on Thor not bringing back the Space Stone, and Loki was imprisoned.
After Thor took Loki to see their mother and then prepared to take him to the dungeon, Odin approached Heimdall, directing his gaze to Earth.
"Not there? A good resolution." After Heimdall's report, Odin put the matter aside.
On Earth, the alien attack on New York shook the world. This event was far more significant than the Twin Towers. Manhattan, home to the rich and powerful, saw many casualties among the elite.
The government seized the opportunity to regain lost credibility, boosting approval ratings and military funding due to public fear of alien invasions.
Amid this, a video surfaced, putting the government under fire again. It showed Stark carrying the nuclear bomb to the portal and exposed the military's delayed response and false claims of credit.
Protests erupted, especially from unaffected New Yorkers, demanding an explanation for the nuclear bomb.
The government faced a crisis, with many officials and generals resigning.
"Hydra is impressive," Daniel remarked, receiving intel from Sunil. Hydra and Alexander Pierce orchestrated the video's release.
The opposition and the Rising Tide also played roles, creating the current chaos.
Hydra aimed to cover up the nuclear bomb incident and push forward the Insight Plan. Alexander had submitted the plan multiple times but faced rejections from the Security Council.
Without unanimous approval, the plan couldn't proceed.
"Tony is emotionally unstable now. Revealing Howard's truth isn't wise. But Baron Strucker needs dealing with."
With Daniel's presence, Ultron wouldn't emerge, nor would Vision.
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"Amazing, they figured out how to use it in such a short time. No wonder Hydra is such a formidable force; their leaders aren't complete idiots."
In Sokovia, deep within the northern ice forest, lay a massive fortress built into the mountains. This was Baron Strucker's research base. With the intel provided by Sunil, Daniel Davis quickly located the base.
Baron Strucker had already discovered how to use Loki's scepter. It required powerful energy to activate, similar to how Red Skull and S.H.I.E.L.D. had previously studied the Tesseract.
As an Infinity Stone, it could theoretically be activated by any form of energy—electricity, nuclear power, divine power, chi, true qi, magic, etc. As long as the energy reached a certain threshold, it could trigger the stone's power.
The Tesseract's infinite energy also required a strong energy input to activate.
Baron Strucker's method of studying Loki's scepter was crude but effective. Initially, he only intended to test its mind-control abilities. Seeing how Loki had used it to control Hawkeye made Hydra very eager to harness this power. If they could control the scepter, they could potentially control Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye, even Stark, and the President of the USA. Their dream of world domination would soon be realized.
Because of this, other Hydra branches began channeling resources towards Baron Strucker.
Understanding the significance of Loki's scepter to their organization, Baron Strucker worked tirelessly to study it and eventually made some breakthroughs.
Although he didn't unlock the mind-control abilities they wanted, he discovered that the scepter could grant superhuman abilities. Some test subjects, after undergoing experimentation, developed powers beyond those of ordinary humans. Initially, this caused significant personnel losses at the base, but fortunately, these enhanced individuals couldn't sustain their powers for long and were quickly subdued.
Strucker then focused his research on this aspect, finding that Loki's scepter could indeed grant superpowers. However, no one could sustain these powers for long, with most subjects dying shortly after gaining their abilities, often in gruesome ways, such as exploding from within.
Those who could endure the powers for a short time lasted no more than three days before dying as well.
Strucker's solution was straightforward. He had scientists analyze the data while continuously recruiting more test subjects, hoping to find individuals who could adapt to the power.
Strucker's approach wasn't wrong, but the Mind Stone's power was too advanced for ordinary scientists to fully comprehend.
The second method had a chance of success but at the cost of many lives, resulting in the creation of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.
To Hydra, such sacrifices were negligible. They valued their own lives but saw others' lives as expendable.
Strucker chose Sokovia for its chaotic environment, where missing people wouldn't attract much attention. He didn't directly abduct people but lured them in as volunteers, exploiting their desperation.
Hydra excelled at brainwashing and manipulation, using large sums of money to entice people. Whether driven by money or idealism, many fell into Hydra's trap.
"Directly channeling the Mind Stone's power into people? It's crude but effective." Observing Strucker's experiments, Daniel pondered. He had never considered directly channeling the Infinity Stones' power into himself.
"The problem is it's too reliant on luck." Using the Infinity Stones' power was a gamble. Success stories like Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch contrasted with failures like Jane Foster.
Daniel wasn't willing to take such risks with his own body. He wasn't a madman like Wesker, who tested bio-viruses on himself to the point of near-death and then continued injecting various viruses to grow stronger.
With his Op-Op Fruit powers, Daniel could be much stronger if he took risks like Wesker. But he preferred not to gamble with his body, choosing natural methods like diet to enhance his physique.
"Those who survived for a few days seemed to die from physical weakness. If someone had a strong enough body, they might endure."
Reviewing Strucker's research data, Daniel kept thinking.
"So if I find Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver now, I could use Loki's scepter to grant them powers. But what's Scarlet Witch's real name?"
Daniel faced an awkward realization. He had always referred to her as Scarlet Witch and had forgotten her real name, making it difficult to find her and her brother without it.
"Is this like forgetting how to write a word? With my enhanced intelligence, this shouldn't happen. Good thing I know they're twins."
After ensuring there were no twins among the test subjects, Daniel decided to destroy the base.
Just as he was about to act, he saw Strucker and a researcher hurrying to the lab, indicating something had happened. Curious, Daniel followed them in secret using the Mirror Dimension, ensuring he wouldn't be detected.
"It worked, sir!" The researcher exclaimed as Strucker entered the lab. The first successful test subject had emerged.
"Absorbing Man," Daniel soon realized the test subject's power—transforming his body into any material he touched.
Daniel learned the man's name, Carl Creel, a boxer nicknamed Crusher, who had volunteered for the experiment to become stronger.
"So Absorbing Man was created by Loki's scepter," Daniel thought. The Marvel universe had many superhumans, not just Inhumans. Many gained their powers through accidents.
Absorbing Man's power was both formidable and limited. He could turn into materials like stone, steel, or even more extraordinary substances like diamond or vibranium, becoming incredibly durable. However, his strength didn't increase proportionally. Even in vibranium form, his strength remained the same, though vibranium's properties would enhance it somewhat.
"He's a useful weapon if handled properly, but Hydra seems afraid to give him strong materials," Daniel thought. Hydra could obtain vibranium if they wanted.
"Forget it, he's not a good person. Better eliminate him." Daniel decided to kill Absorbing Man. While he could brainwash and control him, Daniel didn't need henchmen and had no plans for world domination like Hydra.
"Can't understand these people's thoughts." The cultural differences sometimes baffled Daniel. Many Westerners, like Creel, sought power through experiments, even when they were physically healthy.
Unlike someone with a terminal illness seeking experimental treatment, these people willingly underwent dangerous experiments.
Daniel, despite his Op-Op Fruit powers, never experimented recklessly on himself. His physical enhancements came through natural means.
"Phil Coulson, I'm solving another big problem here." With that thought, Daniel decided to act.
Strucker's base was massive, carved into a mountain, with high-tech facilities and substantial supplies. For example, there was a warehouse full of Stark Industries' Arc Reactors and Jericho missiles.
There were also numerous bunkers and anti-aircraft missiles, making it a military fortress.
Destroying the base was simple. A few explosions in the missile and bomb storage would obliterate it. However, Daniel wanted to avoid being linked to the attack, so he couldn't use Fiendfyre.
He also coveted some of the technology and weapons, so he opted for a more complicated approach.
"Misty Cloud." Daniel cast a spell, filling the base with thick mist.
This weather spell had no offensive capability but was useful for obscuring vision. Wizards often used it in expanded spaces, and it was effective against surveillance.
With his power, Daniel easily filled the base with mist, then released a gas.
As a skilled biochemist, Daniel knew how to create effective toxins. Many elements in the periodic table were lethal, but obtaining them was simple for him.
"Doctors kill without bloodshed." With the gas released, Daniel moved to retrieve Loki's scepter. The base's alarms sounded, but the mist caused chaos, rendering Strucker's orders ineffective.
Before acting, Daniel blocked several ventilation shafts. He then dragged Absorbing Man into the Mirror Dimension. Creel, a boxer with quick reflexes, transformed into steel upon sensing danger but was immediately dismembered by Daniel's Op-Op Fruit powers. No material could withstand it.
Daniel's curiosity about Creel's survival with Loki's scepter's power justified his ruthless actions. His moral compass, shaped by years of ethical education, remained intact.
Next, Daniel began looting the base. Most Hydra members were unconscious from the gas, and those who weren't, like Strucker, were trapped in sealed rooms.
The gas wasn't lethal, merely causing unconsciousness. Deadly toxins spread less effectively than non-lethal ones.
"Am I constantly milking Hydra?" Daniel mused while swiftly transferring materials.
Hydra would be eliminated eventually, and their wealth would benefit others. Daniel preferred to take it for himself.
"Unexpectedly, there's so much food here. The giants' world needs this." After securing what he needed, Daniel placed missiles around the base.
Using Hydra's weapons against them was the most satisfying approach.
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