Chapter 65 - Return!

Seeing Thor slam into the ground, Lynch couldn't help but laugh.

No wonder Thor never used this flying method—it was so unstable!

It seemed like Thor could only float leisurely in the air this way. If he tried any big moves, he'd fall down, let alone fight an enemy intensely.

After testing his own strength, Lynch thought about the three treasures he obtained from the treasure vault.

The Casket of Ancient Winters couldn't be used, he didn't know how to use the Eternal Flame, and the Infinity Gauntlet was missing its stones.

But now that he had mental power, could he control them using his mind?

Without hesitation, Lynch disappeared from the air and returned to his room.

On a table in the room sat The Casket of Ancient Winters, the Eternal Flame, and the Infinity Gauntlet.

Lynch first focused his mental power on The Casket of Ancient Winters. The chest was blue and white, emitting a chilling aura.

As he unleashed his mental power, the chest trembled slightly.

The stronger his mental power grew, the faster the chest vibrated, shaking wildly like a small motor.

After a while, the chest finally stopped trembling and gradually calmed down.

"It won't work, huh? Does this thing only recognize a specific bloodline?"

Shaking his head, Lynch gave up on trying to force it.

This treasure of the Frost Giants seemed to require their bloodline to activate.

He had already unleashed tremendous mental power, and any more would probably break the thing. If even that couldn't activate it, Lynch had no choice but to give up.

If he kept pushing, Asgard might have to face an early winter...

Next up was the Eternal Flame, which interested Lynch more.

After all, it was a treasure that had made quite a splash in the movies.

The flame, resting in a basin on the table, continued to burn quietly.

Suddenly, the flame flickered and floated up, hovering in front of Lynch.

"This thing..."

It didn't seem all that useful, though?

After thoroughly examining it with his mental power, Lynch still didn't know how to utilize the Eternal Flame.

He had tried eating it, absorbing it, attacking it with heat vision and freezing breath...

None of it worked. It neither harmed nor helped him, and the Eternal Flame remained unchanged, not even shrinking in size.

Useless!

The only use Lynch could think of was finding an empty place to summon Surtur, defeat him, and see how much justice value he could earn...

Never mind!

True strength comes from oneself!

These artifacts are all just superficial.

Lynch comforted himself.

He casually placed the Eternal Flame back in the basin and stretched out his right hand, smiling.

"Having this makes it all worth it."

The massive Infinity Gauntlet appeared on his right hand, and he made a snapping gesture.

With the Infinity Gauntlet, he had a way to use the Infinity Stones!

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Infinity Stones were the most powerful artifacts! Most heroes and villains were connected to them in one way or another, and some even derived their abilities from a stone!

Being able to wield the power of the Infinity Stones, the Infinity Gauntlet was the strongest treasure in Asgard's vault!

After playing with the gauntlet for a while, Lynch finally set it down.

His gains from this trip to Asgard were now fully sorted. Next up...

Lynch looked into the distance, towards Earth. Unfortunately, even with his enhanced vision, he couldn't pierce the dimensional veil to see Earth directly.

"Time to head back."

...

"This kind of teleportation isn't as stable or smooth as the Bifrost."

Heimdall, with his massive golden sword in hand, spoke expressionlessly, explaining to the two men:

"You should prepare yourselves. You'll probably feel a bit uncomfortable after the teleport, but given your physical strength, it shouldn't be a big issue."

"Got it, we're ready. Let's get going!"

Thor's face was full of tension and excitement, so much so that Lynch almost thought he was about to start fidgeting.

Was it really necessary to be this eager?

It had only been a few days, after all!

No wonder he eventually got dumped!

"Are you ready?" Heimdall asked directly.

"We're ready," they both replied.

"Odin, grant me the power of dark magic..."

Heimdall chanted a spell, and with a wave of his hand, a beam of multicolored light enveloped the two.

Whoosh!

The beam swiftly pulled them in and sent them back to Earth.

...

Earth.

A peculiar rainbow streaked across the sky as Lynch dragged Thor out of it.

"You alright?" Lynch shook Thor.

Thor slapped his forehead a few times and replied, "I'm fine. Have we arrived?"

"Yes!"

Taking a deep breath of the familiar air, Lynch expanded his senses, scanning the surroundings.

"Where are we headed?" Thor asked.

Lynch smiled and said, "To find someone unlucky!"

...

In a small shop.

"What? He stole it?"

A one-eyed, bald black man waved his hands dramatically as he spoke to the man in the Iron Man suit in front of him:

"You're Iron Man, and he just beat you up and stole your armor?"

He was visibly excited, turning to the blonde woman beside him to ask:

"Is that even possible?"

Natasha, putting away her slight smile, replied seriously, "According to Mr. Stark's security protocols, unauthorized use should be impossible."

Fury turned back to Stark, gesturing with his hands.

Stark lowered his head slightly, his eyes flickering, and said, "What do you want me to do?"

"What do I want you to do?"

Fury shook his head, chuckling as he said, "It's more about what you want me to do. You've become a problem I have to deal with!"

Natasha stood up and walked away, while Tony, overwhelmed by Fury's barrage of words, rubbed his forehead and hid his face, completely unlike his usual chatty self.

"You've got it wrong—my world doesn't revolve around you!"

"Alright, I get it!"

Tony, frustrated, replied with his eyes closed.

Natasha returned with a syringe in hand.

"Give it to him!"

Fury pointed at Tony, and Natasha promptly jabbed the syringe into his neck.

"Oh! My God! Are you guys harvesting my organs to sell?..."

Startled by the sudden move, Tony weakly muttered his complaint while rubbing his neck.

Natasha ignored him, simply grabbing his head and tilting it to examine him.

"What did she just do to me?" Tony asked quietly, feeling a bit better.

"We're helping you! That was lithium dioxide. It'll slow your symptoms. We need you to keep working!" Fury said impatiently.

"Give me two more doses, and I'll be fine."

"It's not a cure, just a temporary fix," Natasha explained.

"Seems like fixing you won't be easy," Fury added.

Hearing this, Tony spoke rapidly, a bit disheartened:

"Believe me, I know the situation. I've been searching for a replacement for palladium. I've tried every element, every combination..."

Fury stared at him intently and said, word by word:

"I'm here to tell you—you haven't tried everything yet."

Tony frowned, confused by Fury's serious expression.

Where had he overlooked something?

"Hey, guys! Long time no see!"

At that moment, a familiar voice came from the shop's glass door. The three turned to look.

Smiling, Lynch descended slowly from the sky alongside a man dressed in strange attire, then walked towards them.

"Lynch?"