HAIL HYDRA!

Blue-Eyes White Dragon accepted the miniaturized Arc Reactor with its mouth and closed its jaw.

Fanny watched nervously, but he was already overjoyed that Blue-Eyes White Dragon had been able to keep the reactor in its mouth. The last time he tried this, the dragon spat the reactor out almost immediately.

Fanny raised his hands in joy when he saw Blue-Eyes White Dragon swallow the miniaturized Arc Reactor.

Not only had Blue-Eyes White Dragon successfully ingested the reactor, but this also proved its energy absorption capacity scale with its evolution progress. Digesting an Infinity Stone might not be a dream after all.

Fanny glanced once again at Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which looked full from the reactor's energy, and undid the summon.

Fanny almost leaped with joy when he saw the third star already appeared faintly on the card. He couldn't go back to Earth and ask Tony for more reactors, but he had learned all he could from its structure before he fed it to the dragon.

Ars Magna used his thought and imagination to alter reality. Theoretically, with a sufficiently clear and accurate image, it shouldn't be impossible to create a miniaturized Arc Reactor. But he was just one university student. Even though he had attended classes diligently, he still had a long way to go before he could completely understand Tony's invention.

Thus, he could not replicate the actual miniaturized Arc Reactor—but he might be able to create a sufficiently powerful imitation purely for Blue-Eyes White Dragon's consumption.

It was just hard, not impossible.

...

Time passed in a flash, and three months went by. Fanny began to feel that his days in Vormir became duller and duller. Every day, all he did besides fighting was watch Red Skull's desiccated and wrinkled face.

Fanny felt that if Billy appeared in front of him now, that guy would look like the most handsome guy in the world compared to Red Skull.

Ancient One had returned several times since the last time. She had tried some spells to bring Fanny back, but they unfortunately failed. One of them almost left Fanny stranded in outer space.

Fortunately, Fanny was able to use Ars Magna to create an oxygen bubble around him. The ice resistance of 'Demon Armor Incursio' protected him as he flew back to the planet with Sky Dance.

That incident deterred Fanny and Ancient One from further experiments.

Fanny summoned the Soul Stone after that incident, asking it to warn him if he would be teleported.

"Hey, why haven't we seen any aliens coming to this blasted place?" Fanny asked with a bored face to Red Skull while lying on a sofa made through Ars Magna at the edge of the altar.

"This is the seventh time that you asked that question." Red Skull was also lying on another sofa next to him. After spending three months together, the former Hydra leader had become rather familiar with Fanny. After all, they're the only ones on the planet. It would be hard to avoid each other.

"You're also bored, so you can answer it all seven times!" Fanny said lazily. He really just wants to talk aimlessly to prevent his linguistic ability from deteriorating.

"This place exists in a remote corner of the universe. Very few people can find it," Red Skull humored Fanny and answered for the seventh time; he was indeed also bored. The Soul Stone had given him a physical body; but not the ability to sleep. He had nothing to do with his time outside of fighting.

Alas!

Alas!

One person and one wraith sighed at the same time while looking at the beautiful scenery, their faces full of melancholy.

Although life in Vormir was dull and a little torturous, at least it wasn't without its benefit. The three months of hard work that Fanny spent here had filled his experience bar by almost half.

This might be his fastest growth yet.

"By the way, it's now February back on Earth."

Fanny's eyes were on the distant scenery, but his mind drifted to Earth. He wondered if Skye could find a good excuse to soothe their parents' worry and if Billy was looking for him.

He also wondered if Hulk would miss him. Have Tony created Mark Seven? Did Banner's Hulk-Buster Armor project succeed?

Perhaps due to Fanny's tumultuous mind, the sofa that he created with Ars Magna suddenly disappeared. The two of them fell to the ground at the same time.

Fanny came back to his senses when he felt the cold hard ground, but he was too lazy to make another set of sofas. He faced the confused Red Skull and announced, "The time for rest is over. Come and fight!"

Red Skull's expression changed. He hurriedly stopped the battle-ready Fanny, "Wait! We have been fighting for three months, and I have never won. Is there really any meaning for this?"

Red Skull was red with embarrassment when he recalled his countless loss—though his face couldn't really get any redder than it already was. He couldn't understand the meaning of Fanny's action.

"Of course there is. Can't you see that my combat skills have improved a lot?" Fanny answered matter-of-factly. Other than the experience he had gained from Red Skull, he had indeed learned a lot of combat skills and advanced a step further on the path of knighthood.

"But..." Red Skull really wanted to say that Fanny had almost learned everything he needed to learn after all these months. He did not want to continue being beaten.

"I made a deal with the Soul Stone. As long as I'm here, you will have to abide by that deal," Fanny said, glancing at Red Skull. He knew from their conversation that the Soul Stone had never contacted Red Skull. Red Skull had only ever guessed if the Stone had a consciousness.

Red Skull fell silent. Sometimes he felt that it would've been better if he had died back then.

"Come on. Didn't you also improve?" Fanny didn't want Red Skull to just passively accept the beating. The experience gained from Red Skull wasn't that much in the first place, and it would be even less if Red Skull stopped trying.

"How about this? I promise I will join the Hydra and become a leader, but you have to fight me with all your strength. What do you think?" After thinking for a second, Fanny offered Red Skull a promise as motivation.

"Really?"

Red Skull was a little surprised. He had been trying to persuade Fanny to join Hydra with sweet promises for the past months, but Fanny had refused or changed the topic every time.

"Sure, let's take a video as proof." Fanny took out his phone, turned on the video mode, and used Ars Magna to create a tripod. He pulled Red Skull into the frame after attaching the phone to the tripod.

"I, Fanny Helsed, decided to join the Hydra, as witnessed by Johann Schmidt. Hail Hydra!" Fanny raised his arm and shouted the slogan.

Red Skull was a little stunned. Although he suspected that Fanny was just doing this for the show, he still had a little expectation in his heart.

"I, Johann Schmidt, a leader of Hydra, welcome you and announce you as a new commander of Hydra!" Red Skull ultimately humored Fanny and handed over his symbolic authority.

Honestly, even if Fanny didn't do anything like this, Red Skull couldn't refuse his requests. He only existed as a slave to the Soul Stone now, after all.