If we reach Top 10 in PS Ranking this week I will release 10 Chapters in one go.

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"Lowly human! Are you looking to die?" Loki had always been extremely proud. How could he possibly tolerate such direct provocation from Josh?

With a wave of his hands, two daggers appeared, and he rushed straight at Josh.

Seeing this, Thalorien behind Josh moved to step forward, but Margaret raised a hand to stop him.

Thalorien looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she stopped him.

"He's in a good mood right now. Let him have some fun," Margaret said with a slight smile.

...Josh is in a good mood? Seriously?

Thalorien looked at Josh's expression—it didn't look like he was enjoying anything at all!

But it was too late. Loki had already reached Josh.

At that moment, a powerful golden energy burst from Josh and instantly froze Loki in place.

To deal with Loki at his current level, Josh didn't even need to use the Power Stone.

"Who are you…? A human can't have this kind of power. Are you an Eternal?" Loki said in shock, his voice tense as he struggled against the force.

Though Loki was currently weaker, he was still trained by Frigga, known as the "best sorcerer in the Nine Realms," so he could recognize real power.

Especially the energy coming from Josh—it felt very familiar. He had sensed something like it before, from the Eternals.

As mentioned earlier, the Eternals and the Asgardians, led by Odin, had a history of working together. They once joined forces to drive away the Frost Giants from Earth.

Gilgamesh often drank with Odin.

Even Kingo—the same Eternal Josh once used as a living battery—once said that when he was young, Thor used to follow him around.

Since Loki was also raised with Thor under Odin's care, he was no exception.

But it had been a long time, and most of the time, both Thor and Loki had already forgotten the Eternals.

However, seeing the power from Josh brought those old memories back to Loki's mind.

Still, the strength Josh showed was far beyond what Loki remembered from the Eternals.

"No, I'm not an Eternal. My power just happens to be similar," Josh replied calmly.

To be exact, the source of his power wasn't much different from that of the Eternals—both came from the Celestials. But Josh's Celestial power was of a much higher level than theirs.

"Uh… sir, from Earth… I think there's been a misunderstanding. Maybe we can sit down and talk this out?"

Whether Josh was an Eternal or not, Loki now realized this man wasn't just some normal Earthling.

Following the rule of "a wise man doesn't fight when he's clearly losing," Loki quickly gave up and tried to smooth things over.

As for later, well… he had a big, muscle-brained brother who would definitely be happy to fight for him.

This had been the pattern between Loki and Thor for over a thousand years:

Loki caused trouble, and Thor took the blame and cleaned up the mess.

Unfortunately for Loki, Josh was way too familiar with this routine.

There was no way he'd fall for it.

"Sorry, Mr. Tivan, for the trouble. But I do need to have a word with the third princess of Asgard, so I'll take my leave now... You won't be telling anyone about what happened here, will you?" Josh said, ignoring Loki and speaking directly to the Collector.

Third princess of Asgard? What is he talking about?

Do Thor and I have a sister?

Wait… is he talking about me!?

Why the third princess, not the second?

Damn it, did this guy just call me a woman? I swear, I'm going to make Thor teach him a painful lesson later and make sure he disappears without a trace!

Loki cursed silently in his mind.

"Ah, of course, Mr. Kahn. Please go ahead... And don't worry—within the boundaries of Knowhere, even the guardian of Asgard can't see anything happening here," the Collector replied knowingly, and even shared a secret with Josh.

It turns out, Heimdall—despite having the all-seeing eye—couldn't observe anything within Knowhere.

The reason was simple. Knowhere was actually the severed head of a dead Celestial. Even after billions of years, it was still surrounded by mysterious energy, making it a very special place in the universe.

What the Collector didn't know was that Josh had been aware of this all along.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to challenge Loki so openly here.

Even though he now had cosmic power and the Power Stone, he was still cautious when it came to Odin.

But after hearing what the Collector said, Loki panicked.

Damn it, this sneaky old guy!

He had been hoping Heimdall would see what was happening and send Thor to rescue him.

But now? Heimdall couldn't see anything?

Loki opened his mouth to say something, but Josh didn't give him the chance.

He opened a portal and, like dragging a dead dog, pulled Loki through.

Being the actual leader of the Kirin Tor and having worked with Kamar-Taj for many years, it was nothing special for Josh to open a portal.

Of course, Kamar-Taj's portals had limits. Normally, they could only open to places you'd already been, and they didn't work well over long distances—so they weren't all that useful in space.

As for what Ned did in Spider-Man: No Way Home, opening multiverse portals left and right—that only worked because Strange and Peter had already broken the barriers between worlds.

Still, within a planet or small area, portals were pretty convenient.

As Josh and Loki vanished, the Collector's lips curled into a strange smile.

"Third princess of Asgard?" he chuckled. "That's actually a pretty fitting name."

But the Collector didn't stay idle. Josh had left, but Margaret, Carter, Thalorien, and the others were still around. So, the Collector quickly had his maids bring drinks and began entertaining them. Even Howard the Duck was released and joined the gathering.

Meanwhile, when Josh and Loki reappeared, they found themselves back in the same deserted alley where Josh and his group had first arrived in Knowhere.

A few alien thugs were fighting in the alley—it was normal. Knowhere was chaotic and lawless.

The only rule was: don't damage the Collector's property.

Other than that, you could do whatever you wanted—as long as you had the strength to back it up.

When the aliens saw Josh suddenly appear with Loki in tow, they immediately stopped fighting, trying to figure out what was going on.

But Josh didn't give them a chance.

He tossed Loki to the ground like a helpless little girl, and a wave of wild, purple energy swept across the alley—instantly reducing the aliens to ashes.

The terrifying scene almost made Loki wet himself.

Crap, is he really planning to kill me?!

"What's wrong, Princess Loki? Are you scared now?" Josh glanced at him and mocked, while casually removing the restraints.

Loki was burning with rage at being called "princess" again, but his face remained full of flattery.

"Honored sir, this was all my fault. I sincerely apologize for everything I did," Loki said, bowing low as he stood up, acting completely honest.

To be fair, if you didn't know Loki's nature, his fake sincerity would have been pretty convincing.

"Oh, sure. Apologize now, and once you're back, run crying to your brother and father, right?" Josh said with a half-smile, clearly not buying it.

"Haha, sir, you're joking. We Asgardians have always respected strong people like you and are more than happy to make friends. If you ever visit Asgard, I'm sure my father would personally welcome you," Loki replied smoothly.

Despite wanting to tear Josh apart inside, he kept smiling like a perfect diplomat.

Classic Loki—the god of lies and tricks. His thick skin alone was unmatched.

"You see, this is where you fall short compared to Thor. You're good at making trouble, but you don't have the power to fix it. You also lack the pride needed to be a true king... But maybe that's exactly what Odin wanted," Josh sneered.

"I… I don't quite understand what you mean," Loki forced a smile, but his twitching lips betrayed his irritation—especially at being compared unfavorably to Thor.

And that last line about Odin? That left Loki confused.

Josh's voice became low and almost tempting:

"Tell me, didn't you ever wonder? Why did your father always favor Thor from the start? Why did he raise him as the heir to the throne, and give him Mjölnir, the powerful hammer... while you got nothing? Just a small dagger from your mother?"

Josh's words echoed like a devil's whisper in Loki's mind.

Yes... why?

Loki began recalling all the times in his life when Thor was treated better than him.

Especially that hammer.

Why was such a powerful weapon given to Thor?

And him? Other than that small dagger from his mother—he got nothing.

Even the weapons of the Warriors Three and Sif—outsiders—were better than his.

But every time Loki tried to think too deeply about this unfairness, a gentle, loving face would appear in his mind.

It was Frigga, the Queen of Asgard.

"No, that's not it. It's just that my brother and I inherited different things—Thor inherited from our father, while I inherited from our mother. She's always favored me more," Loki muttered, trying to deny it.

"Oh? Is that so? But Frigga is just the Queen, not the All-Father. Her favor doesn't change your fate, does it?" Josh replied coldly.

"What are you trying to say?" Loki snapped, unable to bear the pressure any longer. "If you want to kill me, then do it! But don't try to turn me against my family!"

"Kill you? Why would I kill you? Just for a bit of bickering?" Josh sneered. "And family… heh. Have you ever considered the possibility that this family… was never yours to begin with?"

His last words landed like thunder in Loki's mind.

"No… that's impossible! Don't try to confuse me with lies!" Loki roared, then lunged at Josh in a frenzy.

But it was meaningless. With a flick of his hand, Josh slammed Loki back into the ground.

"Heh… whether I'm lying or not, you can find out for yourself," Josh said as he pulled out a small purple crystal. "There's an artifact in Odin's vault called the Casket of Ancient Winters. Touch it… and you'll understand why I said what I did.

Take this—once you've seen the truth, you can use it to contact me. And trust me, after that… you will come looking for me."

He tossed the crystal to the ground beside Loki, patted his face, then opened a portal and stepped back into the Collector's exhibit hall.

The crystal Josh left behind wasn't just pretty—it was a long-distance arcane communicator. Its range was vast, even beyond that of most hyperspace tech.

As Josh left, the energy binding Loki vanished.

Loki stood up immediately and raised his foot, ready to kick the crystal away.

But just as his foot was about to touch it… he stopped.

Could it really be true?

Do I not belong in that family?

After a long hesitation, Loki finally bent down and picked up the crystal.

"Hey, kid! That shiny thing in your hand—it's ours! Hand it over!"

A few alien thugs passing through the alley spotted the crystal and instantly grew greedy.

After all, anything glowing like that had to be valuable.

"Huh? Oh, this? It's yours? My bad, here—I'll give it right back," Loki said, his uncertain expression replaced by a warm, friendly smile. He held the crystal up politely.

But behind his back, a dagger silently slid down from his sleeve into his other hand.

Honestly… even street thugs think they can push me around now?

A few minutes later, Loki was gone.

Only a few fresh corpses remained in the alley, each with their throat slit.

Up on a high perch somewhere in Knowhere, Josh watched Loki's silhouette vanish into the shadows. A satisfied smile crept across his face.

Grow stronger quickly… "Greatest Sorcerer of the Nine Realms." Otherwise, you won't even qualify to be a pawn in this game.

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PS Goal - 100 (Only 10 Remaining)

Next Goal - 200 POWERSTONES

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