You're Still Twenty Thousand Years Too Early

"Now I knew why Beckett's mouth was so damn irritating."

Startled by Thanos's arrival, Hela immediately turned her gaze toward this cosmic powerhouse. What impressed her most, aside from his arrogance in calling Laufey a "worm" the moment he appeared, was his broad, wrinkled chin and purple skin.

It reminded Hela of a certain kind of food.

"Father?" Beckett looked at the golden-armored war god who had appeared before him, a rare flicker of astonishment crossing his face.

"You did well, Beckett." Walking over to Beckett's side, Thanos patted his son on the shoulder, his face filled with both satisfaction and pride.

His son had not embarrassed him. In his giant ape form, he had grabbed Laufey and given him a savage beating. Very good. He had done his father proud.

"Thanos..."

The instant Thanos appeared, Laufey's expression turned ugly. It became even uglier when he saw Thanos and Beckett talking as though no one else existed.

He could not kill Hela, because Odin had arrived.

He could not kill Beckett either, because Thanos had arrived.

Unless he could kill Odin and Thanos by himself, then given the current situation, it seemed he was destined to swallow this loss.

Those two youngsters had fathers backing them and could act however they pleased, but he, an elder whose age exceeded theirs by an unknown amount, had no father to rely on. Instead, he had an entire clan dependent on him to survive amid the wars of the Nine Realms.

What kind of situation is this...?

Laufey felt utterly stifled. Had he known this would happen, he might as well have used forbidden power from the start and killed those two troublesome brats. At the very least, he would not be in such a passive position now.

"Now, tell me, Laufey."

Standing beside Beckett, Thanos held his great blade, his gaze indifferent.

Odin, standing beside Hela, said nothing. He merely raised Gungnir in his hand.

"You will regret this."

"Thanos. Odin."

Burying all his grievances deep within his heart, Laufey the Frost Giant swept his gaze across the four people facing him. A vast storm of frost immediately engulfed his enormous body, and he vanished before the father-and-son plus father-and-daughter quartet.

Knowing when to bend and when to stand tall was the final choice Laufey could make.

The combined power of Thanos and Odin was far beyond what he could currently resist, not to mention that the Casket of Ancient Winters, one of the treasures capable of amplifying his strength, had already been taken by Beckett.

As the one who bore the Frost Giants' hopes of ruling the Nine Realms, he absolutely could not die here. Absolutely not.

Hesitation meant defeat.

To preserve his last shred of dignity, Laufey chose to retreat. He left with exceptional decisiveness and speed, without the slightest hesitation.

Neither Thanos nor Odin moved to stop him.

Laufey's power was inferior to theirs, but with the support of Jotunheim itself, he was not far behind them in strength. A Laufey determined to flee was not someone Thanos and Odin could stop at present.

Unless both of them were willing to go all out.

Odin naturally was willing. Laufey was one of his sworn enemies, after all. But Thanos was not that foolish. His territory lay beyond the Nine Realms; the Dark Order's reach had yet to extend into them.

"Odin."

"Thanos."

After Laufey departed, Thanos and Odin, who normally never crossed paths, locked eyes.

This was their first meeting after hearing of each other's reputations—one because of his daughter, the other because of his son.

"You have an outstanding son, Thanos." Odin patted his daughter Hela on the shoulder, his gaze falling on Beckett beside Thanos. Defeating Laufey without forbidden power so effortlessly was something even his daughter Hela could not yet accomplish.

Not to mention tossing Laufey around like a sandbag.

This was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation of Laufey's life. Odin had even begun planning how to spread this news across the front-line battlefields.

"Your daughter is not bad either." Beckett's outstanding performance had put Thanos in an excellent mood. Since he had no conflict of interests with Odin, he naturally returned the compliment. Yet those words sounded exceptionally grating to Hela.

Clenching the tracker her father Odin had removed for her earlier, Hela took a deep breath. After calming herself, she left Odin's side and walked step by step toward Beckett, extending her hand.

"What?"

Beckett raised an eyebrow as he looked at the woman before him.

"Take this back." Hela flicked it with her finger, sending it flying toward Beckett's eye. He reflexively caught it, then opened his hand to find the miniature tracker still emitting a tracking signal.

The thing he had injected into Hela's body along with the healing fluid.

"The next time we meet, I will defeat you."

Staring directly into Beckett's face, Hela spoke each word clearly.

Beckett put away the tracker in his hand. Looking at the serious Hela before him, he raised two fingers and scoffed arrogantly. "You're still twenty thousand years too early."

"..."

Hela clenched her fists, concealing the fighting spirit and fury burning in her eyes before turning and leaving.

She had to return and train harder. She had to prove herself to her father, Odin. More importantly, she wanted to tear apart Beckett's irritating mouth.

She would make that arrogant, conceited man understand that she would not need twenty thousand years to beat him senseless.

"You lost to him?"

Watching his daughter return to his side, Odin spun Gungnir in his hand. Multicolored rainbow light instantly enveloped the father and daughter.

"I will defeat him. I definitely will."

Odin smiled as he looked at his daughter, whose fighting spirit burned fiercely. It seemed his daughter had found an opponent of her own age.

Thanos's son?

Odin felt that perhaps he could set his sights farther ahead. The Nine Realms might be vast to them, but within the universe, they were merely an insignificant part.

The universe was immense—immense enough to make every ambitious ruler burn with excitement.

"She lost to you?"

Inside the flagship, Thanos watched the multicolored rainbow light disappear beyond the horizon before turning to Beckett at his side.

"Mm."

"That woman's potential is not weak." Even though Hela had not displayed her power before him, Thanos could still sense the Death Divinity awakening within her.

Death was one of the most powerful laws of power in the universe.

"She will never surpass me."

Beckett's cold, confident face was reflected upon the azure Casket of Ancient Winters. Thanos's pleased laughter followed. "Because you evolve faster than light?"

"Of course."

The massive fleet set sail above the Jotunheim Royal Court. Thanos did not activate his personal teleportation device again, remaining aboard the flagship as he spoke with Beckett, his most beloved adopted son, about his recent experiences.

"Beckett."

"Have you heard of the Kree?"

Thanks to Jiaosha Laizhe Niguane, chujyo, Kaga, Bandalu, Men Are Fickle, and Chunjiang Huayueye Slll for the tips.