Seven days flew by, and the Hydra Squad found what Valeria needed. For the first time, everyone saw what intelligence beyond its time looked like.
The little girl, whose family background was terrifying, took a collection of battered-looking scrap and tinkered with it, turning it into one precision instrument after another. In just seven days, she also built a small modern city.
At that moment, everyone felt just how thoroughly outclassed they were in intelligence.
In a modern classroom, Classic Loki had traded his old green-and-gold cloak for a dark brown suit. Holding an insulated cup, he stood at the lectern and used magic to teach the people before him the basics of the multiverse.
"First, there's a concept I need to explain: aliens exist in every universe without exception. Baby Groot, for example, belongs to the Flora Colossus race. He's the last survivor of his race."
"Besides them, some of the more famous ones are the Skrulls, the Kree, and the Shi'ar."
As Classic Loki spoke, he used magic to conjure images of people from each race.
"The universe isn't all that different from the Earth you come from. Wars and conflicts frequently break out among the various races over resources. Countless people die in each war, and countless planets are destroyed."
"Besides those races, there are some relatively powerful individuals, such as the Celestials, dimensional demon gods, and the Five Cosmic Entities. I won't reveal their specific names; these beings can pinpoint your location if you speak their names."
"Then there are the Infinity Stones you wanted to know about. An unknown number of hundreds of millions of years ago, the universe underwent the Big Bang, giving birth to six stones, each possessing a different law: Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Power, and Reality."
"Each stone contains the complete origin of a corresponding law of the universe. Therefore, someone who wields a stone's power can easily take on an interstellar fleet alone."
"For an ordinary being to unleash a stone's full power, they need not only the corresponding physical constitution and energy supply, but also a vessel through which to wield the Infinity Stone's power."
"Countless people across the universe seek this power. One particularly famous example is the cosmic overlord Thanos."
A magical projection of a towering, heavily built purple giant appeared in the classroom. He wore golden armor over his entire body and held a double-edged blade as tall as himself in his left hand. On his right hand was a golden gauntlet set with the Six Infinity Stones.
"I am Groot---!"
(Thanos! I'll make you pay!)
At the sight of the familiar figure, Baby Groot's face filled with anger. Standing on his desk, he transformed his two tiny arms into weapons of different shapes, eager to fight Thanos for 300 rounds on the spot!
The others attending the lesson could roughly guess that the little guy must have a grudge against Thanos. But on his adorable little body, his fierce expression had no intimidating effect whatsoever.
Emma Frost and Betsy were both Mutants who specialized in mental powers. Although neither could understand what the little guy was saying, they could indirectly understand him by sensing his mind.
Through his memories, they also saw the man called Thanos fighting Groot and his former team.
Groot and his team had hardly caught Thanos's attention before his subordinates nearly killed them. Just as Thanos used the Power Stone to deliver the fatal blow, Groot rushed forward, using his frail body to resist the laws of the universe.
He bought his teammates a moment to escape, while his own two-meter-tall body was rapidly destroyed and annihilated, leaving behind only a thumb-sized remnant.
Thanos's five subordinates made for a well-rounded lineup: melee tanks, ranged mages, and melee assassins.
The five worked together seamlessly. The Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot's former team, had not even lasted ten minutes against them.
"Emma, I always thought my Earth was already pretty dangerous. But now it seems it wasn't even worth mentioning."
Betsy said to Emma, who was beside her.
Emma said nothing. She counted among the powerful on the Earth in her universe, but in the universe at large, she might not even rank.
Having seen a bigger world, Emma now urgently needed greater power.
No one was truly reliable. The only truth was to become strong herself.
Only power could bring greater authority. She, Emma Frost, would only ever be the one in power and her own queen!
In a high-tech laboratory, Valeria had worked for seven full days and finally made the Mutant gene-enhancement serum Emma needed by hand.
With the task complete, she had a rare chance to relax. She glanced at her wristwatch, which was also her personal terminal, then seemed to think of something exciting. She picked up an instrument and headed for the wooden cabin where Thor was in seclusion.
"Thor can teleport and control time. He's a perfect research subject. Is it because of Knowhere's special molecular structure? Or is there something different about his own Asgardian genes?"
Like many mad scientists, Valeria often had a burning passion for researching the unknown.
Thor, who had defeated Cassandra, was clearly an excellent subject.
She used her ability to warp a force field, rendering herself invisible, and quietly approached the cabin where Thor was in seclusion. Taking out her detection equipment, she scanned it from top to bottom.
Valeria tapped the portable multidimensional analyzer with a fingertip. A pale blue energy field silently swept over the cabin, and the screen instantly filled with densely packed parameters and genetic maps.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, her tone so calm it was almost indifferent, as though she were observing a perfect experimental specimen:
"As expected, the Asgardian genetic chain is highly stable. Its rate of telomere decay is far below the norm for carbon-based life, and its theoretical lifespan is measured in tens of thousands of years... But that's not the point."
"The energy signatures of spatial jumps and temporal interference are exceptionally strong. They don't rely solely on the power of Thor or Mjolnir. It looks more like a directional anchor has formed between his genes and the rules of the universe."
"Knowhere's special particles did serve as a catalyst, but the core trigger is the deep integration of his Asgardian genes with the energy of the laws. This is no longer a 'superpower,' but a physiological structure on the level of the rules."
"Ordinary gods control power. He... is rewriting the very form of his existence."
"If I could extract a complete sample of his gene expression, I could even work backward to derive a controllable spacetime stability formula. Its reference value for multiverse physics models would be immeasurable."
She put away the instrument, a faint trace of pure scientific fervor curling the corners of her mouth:
"What an excitingly perfect research subject."