"The Avengers, rescued by these people? That guy Nick Fury really is capable—even managed to contact the Eternals. No wonder it's difficult for the Super Personnel Bureau to deal with them. That speedster might even be faster than Pete."
Kain was a little surprised when he saw the detailed footage of the prison island raid. Although there had been records in the Red Queen's database, he hadn't looked into them closely before.
There are ten known members of the Eternals. In theory, they shouldn't interfere in human conflicts on Earth. They've been living among humanity under changing identities. Now, thanks to Nick Fury, they're getting involved in Earth's power struggles.
The overall strength of the Eternals is middling. Apart from Ikaris and Makkari, the others have rather unusual abilities—not weak, but certainly easier to counter.
What truly worried Kain was Arishem, the being behind the Eternals. These Celestials existed before the formation of the six singularities and possess power at the multiversal level.
Technically, Arishem shouldn't care if Kain eliminated the Eternals. But if Arishem did decide to intervene, then Kain would have no choice but to escape using the Space Stone.
There was also Tiamut—the Celestial embedded in the Earth. Tiamut, strangely enough, seemed to have no interest in destroying the planet and even chose to die in the end. Kain couldn't understand this reasoning, but he strongly supported the result.
A maturing Celestial corpse? That was an incredible resource.
"Hiss~. Don't be so obedient, Simmons. It's boring if you just listen quietly. Go clean yourself up."
Simmons, who had been dozing beside him, was pulled out of her daze by Kain's comment. Kain gave her a light slap on the butt and told her to get moving. He might have unconsciously gotten handsy earlier, leading Simmons to misinterpret his intentions.
As for Simmons, when she heard Kain wasn't interested in her romantically, she felt secretly relieved—but also a little inexplicably disappointed. She did like Fitz in her heart, but this kind of reckless abandon was unexpectedly addictive.
The feeling of being in the clouds had almost made her forget her recent troubles. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so willing, even submissive, in the moment.
Now, reflecting on everything, Simmons felt an increasing sense of reluctance. But this wasn't something she could control.
After hearing Kain's words, she barely managed to support her exhausted body and headed to the bathroom to clean up the lingering traces of their madness.
Sharon hadn't left. She had come to ask for help, and her "dedicated service" earlier had been part of that appeal. From the side, she asked, "Are you planning to deal with the Eternals?"
Kain thought for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I can handle them. I'll ask Umbrella to send a few people to assist you. With Wanda and Pietro, plus some bait operations, we should be able to subdue them all. Start with a soft target—like the Indian actor, Kingo."
Sharon blinked in surprise. "An actor? An Eternal would do something like that?"
"In addition to Kingo, there's Sersi—she's a scientist. Let's begin with those two. But once the rest of the Eternals catch wind of this, they'll come to the rescue. You'll need to be ready by then."
Kain shared everything he knew about the Eternals with Sharon. Compared to them, even the Avengers seemed secondary. He was also interested in studying the Eternals himself—after all, they were creations of the Celestials.
With weapons and super-soldiers prepared in advance, it wouldn't be difficult for Sharon to capture two of the Eternals whose profiles were known. The real challenge would come later, especially with Makkari and Ikaris.
"I understand," Sharon nodded. "But what about that hammer in New Mexico?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Just block off the area. It's Asgard's internal affair."
Kain wasn't planning to get involved in that matter—at least not yet. This was Odin's test for Thor. If Kain tried to take the hammer for himself, it might start a war. Though he did want to study it, for now, he held back.
With Kain's support confirmed, Sharon got up and headed to the bathroom.
She didn't feel the slightest shame in seeking outside help. After all, the largest armed force under the Super Personnel Bureau was made up of Umbrella's reformed soldiers.
And this time, they were dealing with mythical beings straight out of legend. What was wrong with getting backup?
But then, something unexpected happened—Betty returned just as Sharon and Simmons stepped out of the bathroom.
Betty took a deep breath. She had mentally prepared herself for this moment. Among the many powerful people she'd known, Kain had seemed to be the most "disciplined" in her eyes. That illusion was clearly over.
After telling Sharon and Simmons to leave, Betty wasted no time. She rushed upstairs, changed into a tight-fitting outfit with black stockings, and initiated a bold seduction.
After three intense rounds, however, even Betty—despite her enhanced physique—was left limp and begging for mercy.
Very few women could handle Kain's electrified stimulation—not even someone with Betty's stamina.
Meanwhile, at the Museum of London, which partnered with several local schools, some middle school students were scheduled to attend a class led by one of the museum's scientists.
Sersi was that scientist. She had a class today and had prepared her lesson early in the morning.
"Sprite, I'm heading to class. What are your plans for the day?"
From inside the house, a girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen came out, yawning.
"I'm not going out. Don't bother me for a while—I need some rest."
"What've you been up to lately?" Sersi asked, raising an eyebrow. "You haven't gone out much since you came back."
Sprite shook her head, then poured herself a glass of milk. "Makkari asked for something. I'm going to help her."
Ding dong!
Before Sprite could explain, the doorbell rang.
Sersi gave her a curious glance, and Sprite just shook her head, equally puzzled.
"Who is it?" Sersi called toward the door.
A voice responded, "Your delivery, ma'am. Please sign for it."
"Delivery?" Sersi asked, confused. "I didn't order anything."
Sprite shrugged. "Maybe it's from your boyfriend? Didn't he say he wanted to surprise you?"
"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if it's coming by delivery."
Sersi chuckled and walked toward the door. She peeked through the peephole and saw a courier standing outside with a large box—about half a meter tall.
She opened the door.
"Ms. Sersi? Please check the package."
The courier gestured with his foot at the box on the ground.
Sersi raised an eyebrow. "Who sent this? Why by courier...?"
Before she could finish, she felt a sudden gust of wind behind her. Her senses screamed danger. A split second later, the courier raised his leg and struck her in the face with a powerful kick.
"They're targeting me!" she realized.
Sersi was thrown backward. Though she was an Eternal, capable of channeling cosmic energy and far stronger than any human, the attackers were far from ordinary.
One was a super-soldier enhanced with a genetic serum—capable of delivering a 40-ton force with a single kick. The other was a stealth warrior who had merged with the abilities of an invisible beast, and he struck from behind.
Boom!
Sersi didn't even have time to dodge. The kick shattered the bridge of her nose and launched her into the hallway.
Seizing the opportunity, the invisible attacker behind her clamped a high-voltage collar around her neck and activated it. A surge of electricity coursed through her body, causing her to convulse violently.
It all happened in an instant.
"Sersi!"
Sprite shouted in panic and raised her hand to activate her powers.
But before she could do anything, dozens of gunshots rang out from outside the window.
Although Sprite turned invisible at first, invisibility didn't mean teleportation—and the tranquilizer dart still struck her mid-phase.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of shots were fired in quick succession. Within seconds, the tranquilizers took effect. Sprite couldn't even activate her powers before collapsing, her invisible body becoming visible again as she fell to the ground.
However, the field agents from the Super Personnel Bureau didn't rush in immediately. Instead, they raised their guns and shot Circe twice in the leg to confirm her biology. When they saw that she bled red, they reported over comms:
"Both targets secured. Send in the retrieval team."
A team of agents entered to apprehend Circe and Sprite. They separated their toes—one of the Eternals' known weak points—and fitted them with high-voltage restraint shackles. The two were bound like livestock ready for transport.
Extreme caution was necessary when dealing with superpowered individuals. If either tried to resist, the electric shackles would release a current strong enough to incapacitate even reinforced super soldiers.
In fact, if anyone attempted to rescue them, the restraints would automatically discharge at lethal levels.
After the island prison incident, Sharon had become far more ruthless. When dealing with off-world beings, she wasn't about to take any risks or offer the enemy a chance to escape.
Meanwhile, Kingo had been invited to a performance in the United States. But shortly after disembarking from his plane, he too was captured by the Super Personnel Bureau.
Three members of the Eternals—Circe, Sprite, and Kingo—had now been detained. These were the more active ones. The remaining seven would be harder to track, but Ikaris was a must-capture target.
Once the trio was secured at a pre-arranged black site, Sharon began carefully leaking information to the media. She framed them as suspects in a high-level prison break and announced that they were under tight surveillance, with escape attempts punishable by death.
With the narrative set, Sharon mobilized a staggering force: nearly 100 super soldiers, 50 enhanced agents from the Bureau, two full military regiments, and an arsenal of Umbrella's specialized weaponry. She was also waiting on reinforcements—next-gen energy mech guards.
With a force like that, even one-fifth could beat the Avengers into the ground. Sharon had essentially gone all-in, leveraging every possible asset as part of the price she paid to secure Kain's favor—and his support.
Kain didn't interfere further. He was just waiting for Sharon to deliver the targets to his Hive Laboratory. With such overwhelming firepower, capable of wiping out entire nations, if Sharon still failed... she might as well resign.
"Kain, I'm ready! Let's head out!"
Betty, beaming with excitement at the thought of space travel, was practically glowing.
"Let's go, I'm ready too. Time to head to the stars."
Kain led Betty into the underground Hive, where the specially modified spaceship awaited. This time, he didn't use the massive aircraft carrier—which required over 7,000 personnel to operate in full coordination with the Red Army.
A medium-class spacecraft was more than enough for this mission. Besides himself and Betty, the ship carried twenty enhanced super soldiers.
Although Kain could simply use the Space Stone to warp into the cosmos, this time he preferred a proper journey—partially for the experience, and partially for Betty's sake.
Once aboard, Kain gave the command to the Red Queen AI.
The spacecraft launched via the undersea tunnel. After breaking the ocean's surface, it soared through Earth's atmosphere—rising steadily toward outer space.
In just four seconds, the spacecraft accelerated to the speed of light, shot out of Earth's atmosphere in an instant, and performed a space jump near Mars.
None of Earth's satellites detected any trace of the ship. Thanks to its stealth systems and Red Shielding, it remained completely undetectable—even from just a few hundred meters away.
"Preparing to exit the space jump," Kain announced.
The moment he finished speaking, the spacecraft disengaged from hyperspace.
Immediately, a breathtaking and vast cosmic panorama unfolded outside the windows. Countless stars merged into rivers of light, with distant constellations twinkling like jewels in the endless void. The grandeur of the universe stretched before them in every direction.
"It's so beautiful," Betty whispered.
Though she had no background in astronomy, she was completely entranced by the stunning scene before her. She nestled quietly in Kain's arms, her gaze fixed on the starry expanse. All the worries buried in her heart seemed to dissolve. She was intoxicated by the majesty of the cosmos.
This was her first journey into space.
"Where are we, Kain?" she asked softly.
Kain glanced at the ship's coordinates and tried to deduce their location. "We jumped 'upward' relative to Earth's galactic orientation. That narrows it down—this could be Asgard, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, or Alfheim."
He paused, then added, "Let's travel a bit farther. We'll know for sure once we find a planet with life."
Truthfully, Kain wasn't certain. He didn't have a proper map of cosmic coordinates, and this was his first attempt at long-range space jumping. For now, he could only make educated guesses based on general direction.
"That's fine," Betty smiled. "No rush. I wouldn't mind if we just drifted for a while. This view is incredible."
"You won't get tired of it at first," Kain replied. "But after a while, it becomes less impressive. Still, if you ever want to see it again, I can bring you anytime."
Kain instructed the Red Queen to begin scanning for life-bearing planets, then engaged autopilot. At top speed, it would only take two or three days to locate a populated world.
…
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