"The owner has collected the rarest creatures from across the whole universe…" Inside the huge exhibition hall, the purple-skinned alien maid was very eager as she explained every creature or item in the display cases to Josh and the others, giving detailed information.

Just from this, it was clear this maid was much more professional than the young red-skinned maid shown in the movie.

But both shared one thing: Josh and the others could feel the strong anger, unwillingness, sadness, and helplessness inside this maid's heart even with their eyes closed.

The reason was simple. The Collector was never a kind master to his subordinates.

If a subordinate made even a small mistake, the Collector might turn them into a fixed, motionless specimen—alive but frozen.

And after being made into a specimen, they would be given a very complete life support system.

They would be trapped in a state where they couldn't live freely nor die.

Their treatment was worse than the other collected items.

After all, most of the Collector's collections were rare, so except for freedom, they were treated very well in other ways.

For example, the duck in the red flashy suit drinking champagne in front of Josh and the others.

While Josh and the group watched, the duck calmly drank champagne and looked them over, making him feel like it was the one watching.

This was Howard the Duck, who appeared many times as an Easter egg in the movie.

Josh hadn't expected Howard to show up so early and to be part of the Collector's collection.

"Hello, Howard!" Josh stopped in front of the display case and greeted the duck inside.

"What? Howard's here too?!" Peggy Carter, who had been following behind with a serious face while watching the alien creatures in the display cases, was surprised.

"Relax, Peggy. I'm not talking about the Howard we know, but this one!" Josh pointed at the duck in the box.

"What? This duck is also named Howard? How do you know?" Carter looked strangely at the duck, strongly suspecting Josh was just joking.

But what happened next made Carter lose her calm.

Because… the duck spoke.

"You hairless female ape with no taste… why can't a duck be named Howard? What kind of logic is that? Hey, human! You know me?" Howard, who had been calmly drinking champagne, put down his glass after hearing their talk, first mocking Carter, then asking Josh.

Carter was so shocked by Howard's "hairless female ape" insult that she doubted her life choices, while the others almost burst out laughing.

"Of course. Through some special channels, I've heard of you for a long time. But how did you end up here?" Josh tried not to laugh as he asked Howard.

"Not much, really. Just ran out of money, so I sold myself…" Howard shrugged carelessly.

Josh had nothing to say to that. Out of money and sold himself… that was a strong reason.

"Dear guests, please follow me. The owner has been waiting for some time!" Seeing Josh actually talking to Howard, the alien maid grew anxious. She didn't dare be late going to the Collector, not knowing if he'd get angry.

After all, if the Collector got angry, she didn't know what might happen to Josh and the others, but she knew she'd definitely be put back into a display case.

"Let's go find the Collector first, we can talk later!" Seeing the alien maid so anxious, Josh didn't pressure her. He greeted Howard the Duck and kept moving forward.

"See you later! But if you buy me and then treat me to a drink, that would be even better!" Howard waved goodbye to Josh, then lazily lay down on the sofa inside the case, showing no sign of being just an "exhibit."

"Josh, are these people and animals really going to be locked in those small cages forever? They are all smart beings. This is so cruel!" On the way, Margaret couldn't help but whisper to Josh.

"The law of the universe is just that cruel. Like the centaurs we met, many of these so-called collections are survivors of destroyed civilizations or from weak cultures captured and sold as slaves here… Aliens don't care about freedom. If Earth wants to avoid this fate, it must become strong," Josh said seriously.

Margaret and Thalorien nodded quietly after hearing Josh, but Peggy Carter's thoughts were racing.

After taking over the IMF, she had officially entered America's top levels and saw more and more.

Especially the hidden faces of politicians, including in the US, were dirty and corrupt.

Many things she had been through made her realize how ugly those secret political deals were.

Plus, Earth's many complex international relationships...

Could Earth really become strong enough to stand in the universe?

Carter doubted it.

Or maybe Earth needed a truly unified government and a wise leader to stand in the universe.

Otherwise, why were the strongest civilizations she'd heard of—the Kree Empire, Skrull Empire, Shi'ar Empire, and Nova Empire—all ruled by centralized governments?

Thinking this, she glanced at Josh walking ahead...

Josh didn't know what Carter was thinking, nor did he have time to care.

Because the main figure was already ahead.

"Please allow me to introduce the greatest collector in the universe, Taneleer Tivan!" The alien maid loudly announced to everyone, pointing to a tall figure wearing some unknown fur.

As the figure turned, a strange man with flashy clothes and goggles came into view.

"Ah~ Honored Mr. Josh Kahn from Earth, welcome! Honestly, I find it hard to believe that such a backward planet could produce, um, the second most outstanding human!" After the maid finished, the Collector warmly opened his arms.

He called Earth the backward planet.

As for why Josh was the second most outstanding human on Earth—that was obvious. The first was the Ancient One.

What? Dracula? Since becoming a vampire, he no longer counted as human.

"I'm honored to meet the famous Collector of the universe!" Josh stepped forward slightly with a warm smile.

"Wait, wait. If I'm not wrong, this gentleman is a Light Elf? No, no, your aura is different from a Light Elf's. Wow, a whole new elf species! How rare! Elf sir, may I pay to collect your remains… of course, after you pass away!" The Collector was about to say more to Josh but suddenly saw Thalorien behind him and his eyes lit up with professional interest.

Thalorien was clearly furious at such rude words. Although he had already pledged loyalty to Josh after arriving in this world, that didn't mean he had given up his pride as a high elf. He still looked down on ordinary humans and creatures. So he was definitely unhappy with the Collector's insult. But because Josh had warned him that this was an ancient and powerful being, he didn't lose his temper.

At the same time, Thalorien noticed the word the Collector said—Light Elf. So, this world actually had elves? Of course, he knew this Light Elf was very different from their high elves, but that didn't stop him from feeling curious about this so-called Light Elf.

"Cough, Collector, yes, I came to trade with you, but this is my valued subordinate. He will never trade with you, and neither will his corpse. If you don't want our deal to fall apart, it's best to stop your little schemes!" Josh coughed twice, rolled his eyes, and warned the Collector.

He didn't want to offend this ancient cosmic figure, but that didn't mean he was afraid. If pushed too far, he could cut down the Collector's base with one sword strike.

Luckily, the Collector was smart. Having lived billions of years, he was experienced. After confirming Josh wouldn't sell Thalorien, he stopped pressing.

"That's really a shame. Then, Mr. Kahn, will you sell the Infinity Stone? Though you hide it well, I still smell its faint trace!" Since he couldn't buy Thalorien, the Collector turned his attention to Josh's power stone.

Unlike ordinary collectibles, like Thor's hammer and Thor, the Sword of Rupture was almost one with Josh. Like Thor's hammer and Stormbreaker, it had its own will and couldn't be taken by others easily, unlike the Sword in the Stone.

So Josh usually didn't store it in his system's inventory but wore it at his waist. It had a sheath made from vibranium. With the sword's own ability to hide its aura, it looked like a fancy accessory.

But after embedding the power stone, its aura became harder to hide.

Though covered by cosmic power, ordinary people couldn't sense it, but to an ancient being like the Collector, it was obvious.

However…

"Infinity Stone? Haha, even if I want to sell it… can you pay the price?" Josh sneered when the Collector mentioned the power stone. The Sword of Rupture slid out a little, and wild energy instantly surged toward the Collector.

"Stop, stop, I was joking!" The Collector hurriedly said. He only sensed a hint of the Infinity Stone and assumed Josh had it.

He didn't think Josh could control it and even doubted if Josh knew its true value, so he was testing.

But from Josh's stance, it was clear he had full control over the Infinity Stone.

That changed everything.

Just like with Dracula before, the Collector immediately marked Josh as someone not to mess with.

Though the Collector was immortal, he still felt pain.

He didn't like being chopped into pieces or blasted into dust by the Infinity Stone's power. He wasn't like Deadpool, that weirdo who feels excited the more he gets hurt.

Huh? Who's Deadpool?

Seeing the Collector back down, Josh smoothly sheathed the half-exposed Sword of Rupture, and the wild energy disappeared instantly.

"Cough cough, honorable Mr. Kahn, you said before you came that you have some goods I'm interested in. Are those them?" The Collector pointed to the boxes carried by robots behind Josh's group.

After testing Josh and seeing he wasn't easy to mess with, the Collector finally calmed down and got ready to talk business.

"That's right, bring them up!" Josh nodded and waved his hand, signaling the robots to lift the goods.

Soon, the first metal box was brought up and opened. Inside was a frozen life support pod, and lying there was a troll.

"This is a troll, a creature with very strong vitality. It's alive... What do you think, Collector?" Josh said, pointing to the troll in the box.

Behind Josh, Thalorien wasn't surprised to see the troll in the pod; he even looked a bit pleased.

The trolls were obtained from Abbendis. Except for a few hidden away with the warlock Malacrass who secretly served Josh, the elves knew about the rest.

Josh explained that these trolls appeared suddenly in this world together with them. The elves were treated well, but the trolls became prisoners and test subjects.

For the five elves led by Vereesa, it was a pleasure to see their enemies suffer, so they didn't ask many questions.

The Collector's eyes lit up when he saw the troll and heard Josh's words.

"Perfect, simply perfect!"

"Hehe, Collector, don't be so eager. There's more good stuff!" Josh laughed and waved his hand.

Soon, the second box was brought up and opened. Inside was a mummy, but it was very tall, over three meters, and looked somewhat human.

"This is a Vrykul, also from another world. But this kind of creature is almost extinct, so there's only one mummy!" Josh shrugged.

No doubt, the Vrykul was also obtained from Abbendis.

In the past few years, Abbendis had become more restless. Following Josh's guidance and using his noble status and Josh's shipbuilding tech, he started building an ocean exploration fleet to explore Northrend.

Compared to other places, Northrend didn't have strong powers at that time.

The Vrykul mummy was found in Northrend.

Of course, Josh made up the Vrykul extinction story. Most Vrykul were just sleeping because of a flesh curse.

But Josh had other plans for those sleeping Vrykul.

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