Xia Luo aimed the staff at a nearby building. "I can be very evil, you know!"
"You're insufferable."
Tuxedo Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearly irritated.
So, being a hero was this aggravating. How did Thor manage it?
"Fine, I'll tell you how to use the staff."
Loki seemed to concede. "You'll first need to learn mind-related magic. Only then can you unleash the Mind Stone's abilities, like hypnosis."
Xia Luo frowned. "Magic again. I hate magic."
"So, does using the Space Stone also require studying spatial magic?" he asked, his expression skeptical.
Tuxedo Loki nodded. "Yes."
"Do you know spatial magic?"
"I don't."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Xia Luo rubbed his hand over the gemstone on the staff, causing energy to radiate out.
"Wait, I do know it," Tuxedo Loki quickly added.
Xia Luo chuckled. "Good, being a villain feels great."
The next moment, Loki clarified, "Actually, I just studied it—I didn't master it. To be precise, my success rate is zero. But the Space Stone can infinitely boost the success rate of spatial magic."
Xia Luo nodded thoughtfully.
"So, if you don't know the associated magic, you can't use an Infinity Stone properly, right?" he asked.
Loki shook his head. "Not necessarily. Special artifacts can help users tap into an Infinity Stone's power."
"The Infinity Gauntlet?" Xia Luo raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, you mean the one in Asgard's vault?"
"No, the one Thanos has."
Mentioning Thanos brought a flash of fear to Tuxedo Loki's eyes, as if recalling something horrific.
Xia Luo continued, "Thanos doesn't seem to know any magic, but he can wield any Infinity Stone without relying on the gauntlet."
"Is that so?"
Tuxedo Loki exhaled, coming back to himself. "Not all Infinity Stones need magic to activate, and there are different methods to use them. Special artifacts are just conduits for an Infinity Stone's power.
"For certain unique species in the universe, using Infinity Stones isn't difficult.
"But Earthlings can only tap into the Mind Stone's most basic ability through my staff.
"To truly control the Mind Stone, the simplest approach is to learn mind-based magic."
"Fine, then teach me hypnosis magic," Xia Luo said.
Tuxedo Loki blinked, "Right now?"
"Of course."
"Alright, start by repeating the incantation after me..."
"Wait, on second thought, I don't want to learn it."
Seeing Loki's immediate willingness, Xia Luo dropped the idea without hesitation.
Spider-Man wouldn't fall for it so easily.
Loki was far more cunning than Hydra's Captain, and he couldn't possibly trust him.
"Do you know where this world's Loki went?" Xia Luo asked.
"Why do you ask?" Loki's expression changed slightly.
"Because you don't want this world's Loki to lead the Chitauri army to Earth, right?"
Xia Luo felt he was getting better at being a convincing villain.
His offer seemed to intrigue Loki as well.
In Loki's eyes, having a ready-made lackey fall into his lap was not an opportunity to waste.
Confident he could manipulate Xia Luo into doing his bidding, Tuxedo Loki broke into a smile.
"I'll gladly help you with that."
With that, he slowly closed his eyes as if sensing something.
Xia Luo watched, his curiosity piqued. "Can you sense this world's Loki?"
"No, I'm listening."
"Listening to what?"
"Thunder."
"There!"
"Heimdall will transport Thor close to Loki, so wherever Thor appears, Loki will be nearby."
Turning around, Xia Luo tapped at his nanotech device, which puzzled Loki.
"What are you doing?"
"Logging the time and location of Thor's arrival, so I can just tell you next time."
Loki: "?????"
Weird guy.
Soon, the red-and-blue nanometal covered Xia Luo's body, and he fired webs, swinging up to the buildings.
"Wait, you forgot to take me with you!" Tuxedo Loki shouted as he chased after him.
Before long, in the forest on the outskirts, Xia Luo landed on the treetops and noticed a strange distortion in the space ahead.
"It's magic; someone's altered the area with a spell," Loki murmured beside him, frowning.
"This is dark magic!" He remembered the dark elves that had invaded Asgard, his face clouding over.
It was during that invasion that his mother had died at their hands—his greatest regret.
Xia Luo didn't notice Loki's shift in mood as he carefully swung around.
"Detour."
Ahead was the abandoned warehouse where Tony and Steve had their duel.
If things went as expected, those two had already been defeated by Dark Stephen.
Rustle, rustle~
The treetops swayed slightly as Xia Luo and Tuxedo Loki swung through the trees on webs.
After some practice, Loki had also picked up how to use the web shooters skillfully.
Soon, they reached the cliff near the coastline.
In the nearby woods, the two perched atop a tree, surveying the surroundings.
"There's residual magic here—Loki was here," Tuxedo Loki said.
Xia Luo frowned. "So where did he go?"
Loki shook his head. "I'm not sure. With the Space Stone, tracking him is nearly impossible.
"The strangest part is that Thor's gone too. Maybe we're too late."
"No, maybe not."
Suddenly, a blue portal appeared on the cliff, and a familiar figure emerged from it.
"It's this world's Loki."
Tuxedo Loki spoke, and in an instant, multiple clones appeared in a flash of green magic.
They cautiously approached, surrounding Horned Loki.
Xia Luo watched with curiosity.
Can clones use magic too?
"Can you handle him?" he asked.
Loki nodded. "No problem. The Space Stone is a vital artifact; it wouldn't be guarded by a mere clone."
Xia Luo nodded in agreement. "Makes sense."
"We've got him!"
In the next moment, with the clones' ambush, Horned Loki was easily captured.
The two quickly moved in, and Tuxedo Loki snatched the Tesseract from his hand.
"We got it." Tuxedo Loki smiled.
"Congratulations."
But instead of anger, a smile spread across Horned Loki's face, and Xia Luo had a bad feeling.
Buzz~
Suddenly, the Tesseract flared with blinding light, and in the next second, the three of them were transported to a barren planet.
"Hahaha, welcome to my world!"
Under the dazzling stars, Horned Loki laughed as countless Chitauri soldiers began to pour out from the hills around them.
"What?"
Tuxedo Loki looked down to see the Tesseract had vanished from his hand, his expression darkening.
"As the God of Mischief, I've been tricked."
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