Loki the Invader

However, to avoid unnecessary sacrifices—after all, this underground research base was leased from the United States government, not their own—and any problems that arose would cause Black Eggplant a lot of trouble with compensation and wrangling with the World Security Council, so it was necessary to leave a group of people behind to stop the Tesseract and minimize the losses. Scientists led by Selvig were the main force among them.

This was also a rule established by Wei Xiuming.

It was for no other reason than to prevent these scientists from messing around and turning a perfectly safe and accident-free experiment into a disaster due to their reckless attempts.

Don't question the scientists' professional ethics. This is Marvel, a world with the most experimental accidents; this is the United States, a country with the most experimental accidents. Hollywood movies have seen countless disasters caused by laboratory accidents.

With this double support, can you guarantee that these scientists won't mess things up?

Otherwise, where did Wei Xiuming's body come from? Wasn't it just a bold experiment by scientists?

As luck would have it, today Black Eggplant suddenly decided to inspect the work at this underground base. After Wei Xiuming left, the research progress of the Tesseract began to slow down again. As the top leader, he had to ask why.

"What happened?" Black Eggplant asked, hearing the alarm.

Dr. Selvig wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his white lab coat, launched into a long string of theories and data, then, seeing the expression on Black Eggplant's face, knew he didn't understand. So he switched to a more accessible explanation. "The Tesseract is constantly emitting energy, and it's accumulating... Previously, we needed to mobilize the entire base's energy just to barely activate it, and then extract the energy it released for research. Now, the energy it releases in one second is equal to more than what we extracted in a day before, exceeding our initial design capacity."

"If this continues, this base will..." Dr. Selvig made an explosion gesture. "Will be blown into the sky."

Dr. Selvig was an astronomer recommended by Bruce Banner, and his professional competence is beyond question; Black Eggplant trusts his judgment.

"Whether it can be stopped or not, I've heard Kent Clark say that this has happened many times before."

"Dr. Clark did leave behind a device to forcibly extract the energy released by the Tesseract and reduce the pressure on the device, but now the efficiency of the Tesseract's energy growth has exceeded the device's capacity. At most, it can only delay the arrival of its energy peak by half an hour."

Dr. Selvig wiped away a bead of cold sweat with his sleeve, his composure failing him. The situation was so tense that he had even forgotten about the handkerchief in his breast pocket. After all, it was a ticking time bomb; if the problem wasn't resolved, the mortician would be the one preparing his body... and perhaps not even his ashes would be left behind.

A tall Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ran over carrying a device resembling a cordless vacuum cleaner. He aimed the brush head at the energy released by the Tesseract, then turned it on. The free, dark blue energy was immediately drawn away by the device and collected in a transparent container at the end.

Using this method, the Tesseract's energy value began to decrease slowly, but it was only a drop in the ocean compared to the ever-increasing trend.

"Could you remove the Tesseract? Howard Stark left behind a device that can block the Tesseract's signal," Nick Fury asked.

Selvig shook his head. "It's no use. After studying the Tesseract, Dr. Clark concluded that it is a powerful spatial interference device. Once activated, it fixes itself to a spatial coordinate. Unless our research into space technology reaches a certain level, it cannot be moved."

Space technology... Upon hearing this, Nick Fury knew that the Tesseract was no longer going to be taken away.

"Evacuate, Professor. Take all the researchers and get out of here," Nick Fury ordered, then shouted, "Agent Clint, escort the Doctor out of here!"

When the Tesseract activated on its own earlier, he knew that Loki was likely trying to open the door from the other side, but Wei Xiuming kept closing the door, causing Black Eggplant to subconsciously lower his guard.

It now seems that the previous attempts were clearly a delaying tactic, while this time, they are serious, especially since Kent Clark, a powerful force, is busy with other matters.

Hawkeye Clint hidden in the shadows, removed his Optical Camouflage and helped Dr. Selvig to leave, but at that moment a researcher in a white coat suddenly shouted, "The Tesseract... the Tesseract is fully activated!"

Before the words were even finished, the Tesseract suddenly shot out a beam of dark blue energy, which gathered at one end of the room and then spread out like smoke, tearing a gap in space. Through this gap, people could even see the star-studded universe on the other side.

Suddenly, the gathered energy exploded, forming a shockwave that spread in all directions, forcing everyone present to raise their hands to protect their faces or simply turn their heads away.

Everything settled down, and the Tesseract fell silent. Apart from everyone's slightly disheveled hair or hats being blown off, it was as if nothing had happened... if you ignored the few figures that had stood at the spatial gap earlier.

The leader wore a green robe, had slicked-back black hair, held a scepter resembling a short spear, and wore a sinister smile on his pale face.

It was Loki, the second prince (and third princess) of Asgard, the God of Lies.

The timeline has now reached six months after Thanos's decree, and the invasion of Midgard has begun. During these six months, Loki has been constantly learning how to manipulate the Tesseract and has been trying to practice it from time to time, which is why the Tesseract has been activating itself repeatedly in recent months.

Of course, Loki also hoped to attract Odin's attention in this way, so that the God King would know that there was an enemy trying to invade Midgard and could gather his army in advance to prepare for battle.

But things went wrong. Odin's life was coming to an end. Although that would be a long time by human standards, it was just a blink of an eye for the Asgard.

In order to lay a solid foundation for his descendants, Odin needed to adjust himself to his best condition in his final moments, and as the God King, once again proclaim the might of Asgard, so that foreign enemies would not dare to covet the Nine Realms again.

Therefore, this Odin's Sleep was exceptionally long, longer than Loki had calculated.

Everything is terrible.