Chapter 30: CH-30. Thor appears
A huge thanks to William Reid, Luck George, Osman Gomez, David Aderoju, Wesely_Teixeira, reso60 gomes, Kieron Haydon, thunderwalker123, Romel Rivera, Cesar Montemayor , Victor Perez, Devor, Imen, LazyAsh, Joe Thigpen, Ding dong, Mightyowl1767, Emilio Gonzalez, Nathan Hill, Alexis vasquez, Luca, tsuko leelane, Osiel, Matt, A, ParallaxDawn, Marick Mendoza , Philippe Techer, Chelsea2valve, Onemanarmy, Reed Pace, id wyrm, Rafael Borges, RealReader743, Thomas Desrosiers, Ryan, Chaos420, matt griffin, isaiah ramirez, bikash gurung, Joseph Bishop, arthur Jones, Raiden Allen, Noname09, Gabe Smith, Rome, Benoit Valtin, Ichdaboom, Whitewolf, EmptyBeing, Smithy Boy 420, Atticus Chea Jamaal King, multiverse right, Colin Hilterhaus, nick reisch, Aryan Singh, PhantomNite, Jessie, Chaos, Kds89, BR, Wes Ferrell, Eugene sivila, M.C, Random, Ownin Tarabi Yare, The Meta, Car Crash, Maybay, Gary, Gregg, Velzura, Carlos, greenDUECES, TheEntityAbove, Skulllnight43, Cristher Medina, Adrian, WyrmDragon, kl, Tanner Johnson, Andres Saavedra, john lowry-davis, WMAF Enjoyer, Cade Atkinson, Darius Collins, Josh, Kenechukwu Nkem-ossai, JackM, Scarlet Mars, Justin Barnes, Umbra Paco, Tariel Khalvashi Mr.goldenweek, John, Brennan Tubbs, Sung Jin woo, mike panos, Kobin Philip, brian price, wolfram, Wilnet Duverne, Joe Thingpen, eduardo tellez, Panera employee, Mandy G, Shadow King, Caio Lacerda, abs, Ecokane 0, Auzzo, Taz_231, solo _le, Velzura, Alexander Martinez, Marvin Lynn, OMG X WAFF3LZ, Denacious, idk5231, Drake, Georg Tasche, Maurice, MM, Luis, Alireza Akram, Chamar Ellis, Daniel Thomsen, Kiddeath1998, Jonay, Doomsdaylover321, pop_tarts, Niklas, Red Dragon, Tanner Johnson, Jesus, AIM ABLE, Paul Auke, Stephen, Placid, Origin, Lunar, Tarabi Yare, Sebastian, Lith Vehen, Josh, James Brown and Cranky Chart for supporting me on Patreon.
Check out my patreon to read 50+ advance chapters.
Patreon: patreon.com/HAREMLOVER
__________
The portal closed, and the next second, Clarice and Captain America appeared on the SHIELD aircraft carrier.
The agents on the aircraft carrier were a little surprised to see Clarice and Captain America suddenly appear. Soon, Nick Fury and Hill approached them. Looking at Clarice, Nick Fury was visibly curious. "I know you, Clarice, a free mutant. I didn't expect you to follow Michael."
"Yes, and my codename is Blink now!"
"Okay, Blink, thank you for bringing Captain America back."
Nick Fury wanted to say more, but Clarice had already opened the portal and teleported away.
"Mutants are really powerful!" Nick Fury exclaimed and then turned to Captain America, "How was it?"
Captain America shook his head, "He said there will be many crises in the future, so he's forming a team. He also said that time will prove everything. It seems... he's not lying."
"I hope so." Nick Fury sighed.
___
An abandoned neighborhood in London.
A ball of fire fell from the sky, the flames vanished, and Michael looked around.
There was an abandoned box truck lying on the ground nearby, with several cargo boxes standing upright around it, which looked very strange.
Michael walked in and saw the truck. Curious, he reached out and lifted it gently. Surprisingly, the truck floated up slowly like a balloon.
"This should be the right place!"
Seeing this, Michael wasn't surprised but rather pleased.
He walked up the stairs, and when he reached the middle, he tossed a stone into the gap in the stairwell. The stone fell quickly but suddenly disappeared, then fell again from above. When it reached a certain spot, it appeared from above again, looping endlessly. Michael tried to lock the stone with his telekinesis, but as soon as the stone fell, his telekinesis also disappeared!
"Interesting!" Michael said lightly, then continued up the stairs until he reached the top floor.
He could sense something unusual in the room on the left, as if that was the source of the spatial anomaly.
Just as he was about to walk over, a gust of wind appeared from nowhere, blowing up the dust on the ground. Then, the room in the distance suddenly turned into a black hole, and the powerful suction pulled Michael in instantly.
Snap!
Michael landed and looked up. The scene before him had changed dramatically—he was now in another space!
Endless darkness, with rocks standing all around. Michael stood on the edge of a cliff, hearing a heavy sound like the whistling of wind. The darkness and oppressive atmosphere made it a bit hard for him to breathe. Turning his head, he noticed a huge rock beside him. At the bottom of the rock was a palm-wide crack emitting a faint red glow, as if something was trapped inside.
"Aether particles!"
A satisfied smile curved on Michael's lips. This was exactly what he was looking for.
It's said that when this world was first created, it was dark and ruled by the Dark Elves. Then the Asgardians launched a counterattack, annihilated the Dark Elves, and brought light back to Earth. The Aether particles were the weapon of Malekith, the Dark Elves' leader!
At the same time, the Aether is the Reality Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, capable of returning the world to darkness through its power. Given its significance, it's easy to understand why the Dark Elves were expelled instead of defeated permanently. The Aether's power is immense, and it couldn't be destroyed, only hidden deep within the Dark Kingdom of Watheim, which Michael was witnessing now.
The energy of the Aether particles is substantial and can reside within a human host, drawing their energy.
Michael wasn't sure if his body could endure it. Although the regeneration abilities of the Extremis virus in his system were formidable, they might not be enough to sustain the Aether. However, he had the system, which allowed him to absorb the Aether into the system and gradually devour it, thus avoiding immediate risk.
But many others wanted the Aether, including the Dark Elves, Asgard, and eventually Thanos. With such powerful forces in pursuit, especially Malekith who could sense the Aether, Michael's plan was to store the particles in his system space immediately upon acquisition. He believed Malekith wouldn't be able to detect the particles there and, without a target, might hesitate to act.
Looking at the liquid Aether, Michael slowly stretched out his hand.
In an instant, the Aether wrapped around Michael's hand and penetrated into his body. A tremendous force surged through him, and Michael could feel something foreign consuming his energy at an alarming rate.
"Damn!" He had known the Aether particles would be powerful, but he hadn't expected them to be this overwhelming.
Almost instantly, he felt drained. He fainted before he could command the system to store the Aether in the system space.
While he was unconscious, the Extremis virus in his body worked furiously, emitting energy, but this energy was instantly devoured by the Aether. Michael's body was now surrounded by layers of dark energy circles, floating midair, his eyes unusually dark…
It was unclear how much time passed before Michael regained consciousness.
"This is truly worthy of being one of the Infinity Stones. It's too powerful. Not just anyone can wield it. No wonder Thanos relied on the Infinity Gauntlet!" He murmured, checking his body.
The Aether had fully integrated into his body, and there was no way to remove it.
Although he felt slightly weak, the power of the Extremis virus seemed stronger than before. As long as he didn't actively channel the Aether, it seemed he wasn't in immediate danger—an encouraging sign.
"System, can you still store the Aether particles in the space?" Michael asked.
[Yes, but it will take time.] The system replied.
"Then put it away."
Releasing the Aether particles could alert Malekith, who might awaken and lead the Dark Elves in pursuit, hoping to bring back eternal darkness through the convergence of the Nine Realms. Although Michael wasn't worried about defeating Malekith, he knew the dark elf leader had too strong a bond with the Aether and might be able to take it from him. So, it was better to be cautious until he had fully absorbed it.
As the system began storing the Aether, Michael suddenly noticed a powerful force approaching, followed by a brilliant light. As it faded, Michael recognized it.
The teleportation array of Asgard!
The light dimmed, revealing a man clad in ornate armor, red cape, and golden hair, holding a hammer.
Thor!
"System, hold on! I have another plan." Michael commanded.
With Thor's presence, there was a strong possibility he'd be taken to Asgard. It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up; there might be advantages to explore there. At the very least, it would give him more time to fully integrate the Aether.
---
"Hello, Thor, my name is Michael."
Michael greeted Thor, who strode toward him, studying him with keen interest.