The Password Wasn't That Simple

"Go ahead and think that way if you want," Wei Xiuming, neither confirming nor denying Nick Fury's speculation.

Wei Xiuming pulled out a palm-sized object from behind his waist and handed it to Nick Fury: "In this situation, it's better to be on the safe side. Wear this; it might offer some protection."

"What is this?" Nick Fury took the device and concealed it on his person using the methods of a secret agent.

Wei Xiuming said, "The Anti-Mind Control Device is a derivative of the Mind Transfer Device. It has a certain resistance to Psychic Abilities... but don't expect to be 100% safe."

On the other side, Germany.

Loki easily sent two bodyguards flying. Don't be fooled by how badly he was beaten Hammerhead Joseph Harlow; that was only because of the Great Leader Dream Weaver One. Even with rigorous training, ordinary humans cannot match the Asgard without serums or some kind of advanced technology.

Through violence and some Mental Magic, the crowd became terrified and began to flee from Loki, running away from the building, completely abandoning their previous superior demeanor.

Having dealt with two troublesome insects and chased away the noisy mosquitoes, Loki caught up with his target: a mining company owner whose iris was the key to his vault.

"Wait a moment."

Loki pulled out the device specifically designed to analyze iris structure, and was about to pierce the giant's eye socket when Hawkeye Clint's voice suddenly came through the earpiece.

"What happened? Haven't you finished dealing with things over there yet?" Holding up his instruments, Loki gave the terrified mining tycoon a wicked grin.

"No, their security is negligible, but they changed the vault lock; the iris scan isn't the key anymore." Hawkeye, holding a key pick, installed it on the vault lock. The information he read ruined his previous plan—these days, even faces can be faked and copied; anyone with a little expertise can get their hands on irises and palm prints. A vault containing valuable minerals certainly wouldn't use such rudimentary technology.

"Let me see which company's product it is— Osborn Group."

Upon seeing this name, Hawkeye immediately thought of Kent Clark, a man so tall and muscular that he seemed inhuman, so powerful that he was not human at all, yet who claimed to have no power whatsoever.

"What key do we need to open the door?" Loki asked when he noticed Hawkeye's voice in his earpiece had suddenly stopped.

Hawkeye checked and said, "A six-digit real-time password is required. The password changes every three minutes and is the result of inputting the initial password into a program that runs a certain algorithm. The door lock and key are updated synchronously."

Upon learning this, Loki discarded the now-useless iris extraction device, pulled the mining tycoon he had pinned to the ground up, and then struck him on the chest with his Mind Scepter, disguised as a walking stick.

"You know what I need."

The mining tycoon nodded, took out a mobile phone from his pocket, opened an app, and only after passing three verifications—facial recognition, palm vein recognition, and voice password—was he able to officially enter the interface and finally obtain a six-digit password.

"Empty... There's nothing we need in the vault." Hawkeye, having obtained the password and entered the vault, found the item catalog. After searching, he discovered that the mining tycoon had sold all of his iridium, but it was through the black market. No one else besides the two parties involved in the transaction had any record of it.

"The buyer is S.H.I.E.L.D.."

Hawkeye said with regret that their operation had ended in failure.

Loki restored his clothes to Asgard attire, raised his hand to put on his favorite horned helmet, and transformed his walking stick into a spear. Loki activated the Mind Stone, and a beam of energy sent the mining tycoon flying.

Loki's current state perfectly describes his impotent rage. From the moment he attempted to seize the throne of Asgard until now, nothing has gone smoothly. The anger accumulated from his repeated failures has made him want to vent it elsewhere—the defenseless Midgardian are a perfect target.

Stepping out of the hall where the charity gala was being held, Loki unleashed beams of energy, randomly killing those who were fleeing. For fragile Earthlings, being hit by even one of these beams resulted in their entire bodies being pulverized.

"You've gone too far!" Someone reached out and grabbed Loki's Scepter, the immense strength preventing Loki from even moving the other's arm.

"Another Midgardian with strange powers." Loki was used to this kind of situation, but he was more skilled in magic than in pure strength, especially since he held the Mind Scepter.

A phantom appeared from behind the man, raising its Mind Scepter and unleashing a burst of energy.

But the man's intuition was incredibly sharp; as if he knew what was happening behind him, he executed a difficult maneuver to dodge the energy beam, then stood up and kicked Loki.

"Tuo!"

The kick was so powerful and fast that Loki didn't even have time to react before he was struck and disintegrated into particles of light—unbeknownst to him, Loki had already completed the Phasing, with his phantom clone replacing his original self.

"This is really interesting." Loki grinned wickedly. It was most fun to play with magic against enemies who had power but no idea how to use it, just like his brother whose brain was mostly made of muscles.

However, he has already gone far away from the Tesseract. Why hasn't Heimdall noticed his presence yet? Why hasn't his brother come to Midgard on the Rainbow Bridge? He has already discovered Thanos's plan. Now, only Asgard and Odin can stop the mad Titan Thanos.

As he was thinking this, the middle-aged man in the tuxedo had already approached Loki's body and was about to throw a punch, even though he was invisible.

How did you find me?

Using the Mind Stone of the scepter, Loki misled the middle-aged man's judgment. A simple illusion caused him to temporarily change the direction of his fist, thus exposing his weakness and allowing him to be blasted away by an energy ray.

The energy ray only destroyed the man's upper body clothing, revealing his well-defined, muscular upper body. Before even landing, he had already adjusted his posture and was standing steadily on the ground.

If Loki had studied the information carefully, he would have discovered that the man in front of him was named Norman Osborn, and was the publicly known director of the Osborn Group.

He also has another identity: the first cyborg created under Wei Xiuming's command, Locust Man One.