Vilgax

While everyone else was visiting Sakaar, Ben and Caiera went to the Galactic Plumbers's containment chamber.

This place is essentially the Asgard Vault, where all the treasures are stored.

Of course, the vault is still somewhat empty, after all, Sakaar's resources are insufficient, possessing only three Infinity Stones, one of which is still on Earth.

Ben carefully stored the real Infinity Stones away, then turned to Caiera and said, "Find some time to have Brunnhilde send the Destroyer Armor to Nidavellir. Odin promised to have the dwarves help us repair the armor."

This was also one of the things Odin had promised Ben in Asgard last time.

"Yes." Caiera nodded obediently.

Ben was about to leave the shelter, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the Casket of Ancient Winters was still inside.

Noticing Ben's gaze, Caiera explained:

"Loki deliberately placed it here."

Why did he do that?

Ben asked curiously, knowing that the Casket of Ancient Winters was different from Thor's the Hammer of Thor; it originally belonged to Loki.

When Ben gave the Casket of Ancient Winters to Loki on Earth, he never intended to take it back.

Caiera smiled and said, "Because you and the Red Wind Queen conquered Jotunheim."

"He said you are not only the King of Sakaar, but also the conqueror of Jotunheim. The Casket of Ancient Winters is your spoils of war, proof of the defeat of the giants."

This story goes back to when Looma was in Jotunheim.

At the time, she was attacked by Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight. When Ben arrived, in addition to killing Thanos's two children, he also took care of Jotunheim.

Calling him the conqueror of the land of giants is really not wrong.

Besides, Loki really had no interest in the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Since he didn't want it, Ben let him have it.

He and Caiera walked out of the containment chamber together, listening to Caiera's report and summary of the current situation on Sakaar, as well as the progress of various tasks.

Modifying Bill's Giant Battleship was no easy task, but fortunately, the Korbin People were numerous, and with the help of the Sakaar People, progress was relatively quick.

Now that we have Kree technology as a reference, perhaps we can even speed things up a bit faster.

The number of Plumbers is also increasing.

Like agents of H.A.M.M.E.R., Caiera also categorized Plumbers into different levels, with the lowest level being Plumbers trainees. Once these individuals complete the assessment, they will become Level 1 Plumbers.

The highest level is level ten, and only Plumbers who are rated as level ten are eligible to participate in the selection of Security Officer.

Plumbers of different ranks also have different levels of authority.

"To date, the total number of officially registered Plumbers has reached 70,000," Caiera reported.

Most of the Plumbers were former military personnel.

This quantity is really not much.

However, Sakaar's population was originally small, and it would be almost impossible to gather an army of hundreds of thousands or even millions unless the entire population of Sakaar were soldiers.

That's enough.

The Ben nodded.

Space warfare is not entirely won by sheer numbers; the quality of troops and the level of technology play a more significant role.

What Sakaar needs to do now is not to blindly increase the number of warriors, but to improve the strength of its Plumbers.

"On the Klyntar in the Andromeda constellation, lives the Klyntar race. I've had contact with them before, and perhaps we can form an alliance."

"The Klyntar Clan?"

"They are Symbiote that call themselves Cosmic Knight, and share roughly the same goals as the Galactic Plumbers," Ben explained.

The Symbiote's fighting force is better used than wasted.

He has determined that most Symbiote in this world are positive characters, meaning that Venom is an unusual one.

If Sakaar can reach a cooperation agreement with the Symbiote race, it will be a good thing for both sides.

So Caiera immediately went to prepare the Messenger, intending to send someone to Andromeda.

On the other side.

In the universe, Ronan, believing he has obtained the Power Stone, is preparing to send troops to Xandar.

Although Ben and his crew had caused him considerable trouble on Morag, even stealing a Kree warship, he had no interest in tracking them down.

After obtaining the Power Stone, Ronan's desire for revenge burned even brighter.

Anything can be planned after Xandar is destroyed.

However, before he had even left the star system where Morag was located, a black spaceship, much larger than all the Kree warships combined, suddenly appeared above him.

The Sanctuary has arrived.

The so-called Sanctuary is actually Thanos's warship.

This Destroyer of Titan, aboard this mothership, has annihilated countless worlds, making him an undeniably fearsome presence in the universe.

Even the Three Great Empires dared not confront Thanos head-on.

The moment Ronan obtained the Power Stone, his ambition swelled to the point that he looked down on everyone, not even Thanos.

At that time, he even thought that after Xandar was destroyed, he could eliminate Thanos, use Thanos ' death to restore the glory and honor of the Kree, and then wipe out all the Skrull!

But the fight with Ben brought him to his senses.

The power of gemstones is ultimately just an external thing.

It might be an incredibly powerful weapon against Xandar, but against the truly powerful beings in the universe, even if they possess the gem, they might not be able to defeat it.

Moreover, he couldn't even unleash the full power of the gem.

It could even be said that no one can unleash the full power of the Infinity Stones.

Because only when all six gems are gathered can their true power be revealed.

Therefore, the moment Ronan saw the Sanctuary appear, it was as if a large bucket of cold water had been poured over a blazing flame, extinguishing it completely.

Soon, a large number of warriors from the Black Order flew out from the Sanctuary. After the two ships docked, Ronan finally saw the man named Thanos with his own eyes.

From a cosmic perspective, Thanos's appearance is not particularly unusual.

He wasn't even the tallest race; his height of just over two meters made him seem rather intimidating at first glance.

But only those who know him can understand just how terrifying this purple-skinned guy really is.

"Thanos..."

Guided by the Black Order, Ronan finally stood before Thanos, Purple Potato remained seated on his throne.

Ronan, however, was so nervous that his hands were sweating profusely.

Neither the Omni-Weapon nor the Infinity Stones gave him absolute security; they only gave him the right to communicate with Thanos.

"Thanos, you want the Power Stone, I can give it to you, but our agreement..."

After a moment's consideration, Ronan decided to give up the Infinity Stones.

While he lacked confidence in fighting Thanos, he wasn't exactly fearful or terrified.

His only worry was that he would fight Thanos to the death here, only to have his enemy on Xandar go unscathed. Rather than taking such a risk, he might as well have handed the gem over to Thanos from the start.

However, Thanos did not follow up on the topic of the Infinity Stones. He sat on his throne, his right fist supporting half of his face, his eyelids drooping, looking somewhat tired and enigmatic.

After a while, he asked softly, "Where are my daughters?"

If Nebula knew he used the word "they," she would surely be moved to tears.

Ronan is not Nebula.

He couldn't understand it. Were Gamora and Nebula more important than the Infinity Stones?

Furthermore, when Thanos slaughtered so many races, many of the people who died at his hands were actually his offspring from his early travels through the universe.

You're ruthless enough to slaughter your own flesh and blood, yet you show concern for your two adopted daughters?

Ronan found it absurd.

He couldn't understand, nor did he intend to meddle in Thanos's family affairs, and simply answered truthfully, "I was attacked... Gamora and Nebula are missing. I don't know who they are, but the person who attacked me had a black and green, hourglass-shaped circular mark on their chest."

Now that he heard that, Thanos understood perfectly.

"The Galactic Plumbers..."

This organization, which seemed to have appeared overnight, had blocked his path more than once.

Of his Black Order, four are dead, and a Supergiant has been captured and his fate is unknown. Now Gamora and Nebula have also fallen into their hands, and their fate will probably not be much better.

The only good news is--

Thanos's gaze finally fell on Ronan, or more precisely, on the Infinity Stones embedded in the Omni-Weapon.

Such enormous energy!

A dazzling brilliance!

Without a doubt, this is the Infinity Stones he has been searching for, and the most powerful one of them, the Power Stone!

Thanos thought to himself, if he hadn't set his sights on Earth so early, perhaps the Soul Stone would still be in his hands now.

Sending the Black Order was a mistake.

The safest thing to do with a gem is to keep it in your own hands!

Fortunately, it's not too late.

Thanos stood up and stepped down from his throne.

His shadow was cast in front of Ronan, enveloping the Kree.

Ronan bent down, lowered his head, and raised his arms high, his Omni-Weapon held above his head, presented to Thanos.

Thanos grabbed the hammer handle, examined the Omni-Weapon for a moment, then disdainfully pried the gem off it and casually tossed the hammer to the ground.

The deafening clang of metal echoed throughout the vast temple.

But nobody cared.

Because all eyes were focused on that gem.

The Power Stone's boundless energy surged towards Thanos, terrifying Ronan!

He could only touch the gem briefly at most, while Thanos picked up the Power Stone as easily as picking up an ordinary stone.

That's the difference between them!

Thanos could perfectly wield the power of a single Infinity Stones.

Ronan was about to say something when another voice interrupted him.

"This is what you called the Infinity Stones?"

"With him, will you really be able to do anything?"

Ronan was startled and looked behind the dark throne. Only now did he realize that there was another person there.

A tall figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

Thanos turned his head and said in a low voice:

"You will see its power, Vilgax."