An hour later, in Manhattan, New York.
"Yes, I've mobilized all the company's security personnel and hired New York's best security firm temporarily. Osborn Tower, my home, and your home are all impregnable now… right?"
Inside the CEO's office at Osborn Tower, Mencken stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, phone in hand, gazing in shock at the distant scene.
Just a dozen blocks from Osborn Tower, another New York landmark, Stark Tower, now had a beam of light shooting skyward from its pinnacle.
A massive wormhole appeared above Stark Tower. As it slowly expanded, unidentified creatures on gliders began flying out.
"So, aliens really do exist…"
Two figures trailing exhaust flames swiftly arrived in Manhattan.
"You're late. My army has already arrived. If you return the Scepter to me now, perhaps I'll consider pardoning you after I've conquered this place. Oh… but not the one with the mustache."
Loki sat on the glowing Stark sign of Stark Tower, swinging his legs, a wicked smile on his face.
He was still holding a grudge about Tony calling him Bambi and a rabbit.
"Looks like Miss Rabbit is upset. Does she need comforting from a mature older gentleman?"
Stark flipped up his armor's faceplate and said to Loki with a playful expression.
"You go comfort Princess Rabbit. I'll go shut down that portal."
Qingshui, holding the Mind Stone Scepter, gave Tony instructions before flying upward.
It really is faster when you have a formula to solve problems.
What the heck is Princess Rabbit?
"You lowly mortals will regret this!"
Loki was answered by a repulsor blast from Tony's palm.
At the top of Stark Tower, Dr. Selvig was kicked to the ground by Qingshui.
"Hey! You can't treat a sixty-nine-year-old man like that!"
"My apologies, old professor."
Qingshui shrugged, extended the Mind Stone into the energy barrier, and pushed the Tesseract down.
The beam of light at the top of Stark Tower immediately shrank, and the portal in the sky, deprived of the Tesseract's energy, began to rapidly contract.
A massive Leviathan, having just emerged halfway, was instantly severed.
Without signal support from the main ship, the Chitauri suddenly lost power and plummeted from mid-air as if their connection had been cut.
"You lose, Bunny Girl Princess."
Tony Stark said, grinning at Loki, who was sprawled on the ground.
"You're the one who loses!"
The Loki on the ground instantly dissolved into an illusion and vanished, while the real Loki quietly took the stairs and ran out of Stark Tower.
At the same time, Thor, flying in the sky, seemed to sense Loki's presence telepathically. He swung his hammer and flew in front of Loki.
"Loki, come back with me. You've already failed."
Thor said, looking at his beloved brother.
Loki looked at Thor, knowing escape was impossible. He immediately put on a deeply emotional expression, tears welling in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, brother. I just… I just wanted to prove to Father that I'm not worthless."
"I know, I know. You've always been excellent."
Thor's heart softened immediately. He stepped forward, opening his arms to embrace his brother.
Then, his kidney was stabbed by Loki's dagger, and the Loki in front of him vanished into an illusion.
The next block over.
Loki, now without a dagger, breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the light and shadow around him shifted, and he transformed into Captain America.
Just as he turned the corner, he ran into Black Widow.
"Captain? Have you seen Loki?"
"I just saw him fighting with Thor over there."
Loki casually pointed in the direction he had come from.
"Then why are you walking this way?"
"I…"
*BANG!*
Black Widow instantly drew her pistol and fired at Loki.
His reaction was incredibly fast. He dodged Black Widow's bullet in an instant, and as the light and shadow on him receded, he turned and ran, not forgetting to create several clones to obstruct Black Widow's vision.
"I found Loki, here on Brick Street! But I'm not sure which one is the real him!"
"Received!" x N.
At the top of Stark Tower.
Instead of chasing after Loki, Qingshui decisively knocked out Dr. Selvig, who was beside him, and picked up the Tesseract.
The Infinity Stones possess immense power. Without a sufficiently strong physique, direct contact would be unbearable. Generally, it's best to have a divine-level weapon act as a conduit to bear the pressure from the Stone.
This way, even if the Stone's full power can't be unleashed, it's at least safe and usable.
The two Infinity Stones currently in Qingshui's possession are like this.
The top of the scepter was made of an extremely durable and highly conductive metal, directly connected to the Mind Stone.
However, this metal must be very precious, because the lower half of the scepter was made of another unknown alien metal.
Its hardness and energy conductivity were good, but they paled in comparison to the tip. In fact, a crack even appeared on its surface when Qingshui used his Chakra to counteract the Mind Stone's energy flowing through it.
As for the Tesseract, with the outer cube encasing the Space Stone, even Nick Fury could pick it up directly, let alone Qingshui.
He needed to find a way to secretly keep the Mind Stone. The Tesseract had too many eyes on it, so he probably wouldn't be able to get his hands on it.
But this didn't stop Qingshui from squeezing out every last bit of benefit.
Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention, Qingshui tightened his grip on the scepter and poured a large amount of his Chakra into it.
The Mind Stone's light grew increasingly dazzling, and visible streams of energy permeated the area around the scepter.
*CRACK!*
The tip of the scepter, like a chisel, was driven by Qingshui into the Tesseract, forcefully digging out a corner.
"Excellent!"
A pleased look appeared on Qingshui's face as he manipulated the electricity to open a compartment on his shoulder.
This was where ammunition was stored. Some had been used up on the Helicarrier earlier, leaving enough space for a fragment of the Tesseract.
However, after a small piece was dug out, the Tesseract's energy fluctuations became somewhat abnormal, and the Space Stone at its center flickered even more brightly.
"Hmm..."
While Qingshui was still deliberating on how to proceed, on the Helicarrier, Nick Fury set down the rocket launcher he had been carrying on his shoulder. He looked at the Quinjet, which, without his command, was flying towards New York.
"Watt, Stark, can you hear me? A fighter jet carrying a nuclear warhead is heading your way! The missile is expected to arrive in one minute!"
Qingshui's expression froze. He looked at the Tesseract, now missing a corner, then up at the empty sky.
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