Dark Elves

Slowly, as Zane continued his psychological suggestions, Jane Foster peacefully closed her eyes, her muscles and nerves relaxing. Thanks to the illusion Zane had created, a gentle, maternal smile even appeared on her serene face.

As Jane Foster's emotions calmed, the Aether particles within her body also settled down, resuming their sand-like ebb and flow, gathering and dispersing within her. Seeing this, the smile on Zane's face grew wider.

In the next moment, with a slight mental command, the veil of death energy that had been hovering silently over Jane Foster's body began to descend. It gently covered her, all while Jane, still under Zane's mental influence, remained completely unaware.

Once the death energy veil fully enveloped Jane Foster, Zane willed it to pass through her body as if it were air. In an instant, the death energy, laced with strands of the rules of death, silently extinguished all of Jane Foster's life force.

Outside, Thor suddenly felt a searing, heart-wrenching pain, instinctively gripping his hammer tighter, the handle creaking under the pressure. Odin, noticing this, subtly stepped forward, positioning himself partially in front of Thor to prevent him from interfering with Zane's actions. However, in the end, Thor simply stood there, staring at the now lifeless Jane Foster, holding back his impulse to act.

Within Jane's body, the Aether, sensing the death of its host, quickly sought out the nearest living being. It wasn't Zane—it was the embryo inside Jane Foster's womb.

This was precisely why Zane needed to eliminate the unborn child as well.

Just as the Aether was about to attach itself to the fetus, the death energy that had already permeated Jane Foster's body acted first, swiftly eradicating the unborn child. With its second potential host gone, the Aether had no choice but to seek out a new target—the nearest living being to Jane's corpse: Zane.

Blood-red streams of fluid began to emerge from Jane Foster's body, darting toward Zane at a speed beyond human reaction. But Zane didn't flinch. He allowed the Aether to flow into his body freely, feeling it drain the life force from every cell.

Yet, a smile of excitement appeared on Zane's lips.

In the next instant, the energy torrent from the [Magic Furnace], formed by the combined power of four Infinity Stones, surged from Zane's heart. It instantly created a thin energy barrier across his skin, preventing the Aether from escaping.

The energy from the [Magic Furnace] systematically forced the Aether into a corner of Zane's body, containing it completely. Under the influence of the unified power from the four Infinity Stones, the liquid Aether slowly compressed into a beautiful red gem—the true form of the Aether: the Reality Stone.

The gem was then pulled out of Zane's body, now encased in a protective shield of four interwoven colors, and it hovered quietly in Zane's hand.

Strangely, even though Zane now had full control of the Reality Stone, the system did not make the familiar notification sound that usually occurred when he encountered an Infinity Stone.

While Zane was still puzzled, he suddenly noticed that the blood-red Reality Stone hovering above his palm seemed to be missing a small piece. Instantly, a thought flashed through Zane's mind: 

This Reality Stone is incomplete!

That's why the system didn't trigger a notification sound. 

It made sense. Unlike the other stones, the Reality Stone originally existed in a liquid form, which naturally could be divided with effort. Now, the real question was: where was the missing piece of the Reality Stone?

Zane quickly thought of the original owner of the Reality Stone—the Dark Elves!

Everything made sense now. That's why Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, who was weaker than Odin, could so easily control the Reality Stone in the original story. 

A part of the Reality Stone must have been fused into his body. However, Malekith hadn't fully fused the stone because his body couldn't withstand too many Aether particles. Otherwise, he would have ended up like Jane Foster, having his life force continuously drained by the Aether until he completely perished.

With this realization, Zane shrugged indifferently and tossed the suppressed Reality Stone into the [King's Treasury]. 

He was only slightly annoyed by the situation. Most of the Reality Stone was in his hands now, and it was only a matter of time before the Dark Elves came looking for him. When that happened, he would kill that "Malekith" and the Reality Stone would be his entirely. It was just a minor inconvenience in the process.

In the next moment, Zane activated the [Death River] skill. Dozens of white lights surged from within him and flowed into Jane Foster's corpse. As Zane felt the significant reduction in the number of resurrection uses from the [Death River], he gave Jane Foster's belly a meaningful look.

Reviving Jane Foster herself had only consumed a single resurrection use, but the embryo in her womb had taken dozens. That was on par with resurrecting a mid-tier superhero on Earth. 

It seemed that this child was destined for something extraordinary. If he was born and Asgard wasn't destroyed, he might even surpass the heights already reached by the Asgardian lineage.

When Jane Foster was resurrected, completely unharmed, Thor's eyes lit up with joy. He quickly rushed to her bedside, kneeling down to hold his girlfriend's hand tightly, sharing words of affection.

Jane Foster, on the other hand, was utterly confused. Just as Zane had said, she hadn't felt any pain at all. She didn't even realize that she had died once. To her, it felt like she had just had the most peaceful sleep ever, dreaming of having a healthy baby and living a blissful life with Thor.

Odin, using his divine power to scan Jane Foster, confirmed that the fetus in her womb was in perfect health. He exhaled a deep sigh of relief, his entire demeanor relaxing as a smile of contentment spread across his face. 

He then approached Zane to express his gratitude. 

"You've earned a favor from me, young man," Odin said solemnly, looking intently at Zane.

He didn't say much more. Although Zane had come for the Reality Stone, he had undeniably saved the life of the Asgardian royal bloodline, a favor Odin couldn't overlook.

Zane simply smiled and shook his head, continuing to stroke the little black cat in his hands. He then wisely left the medical room, giving Odin and his family some private time together.

In the following days, Zane spent his time exploring Asgard with Rocket and Baby Groot, who had never been there before.

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