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"I didn't expect the drinks in Asgard to be so mediocre," Betty said to Kain while slicing and tasting the beef on her plate. "But their food is far better than Earth's. I don't even know how to raise livestock like this. Kain, can we bring some back?"

The beef in Asgard was on a whole different level—even better than the so-called high-quality cuts found on Earth. Betty didn't know if it was due to Asgard's unique environment, but the meat practically melted in her mouth. It was nothing like the meat from Sea Kings—an entirely different flavor profile.

Juicy but not greasy, it would definitely score high even by Kain's standards.

"I'll talk to Loki when we get the chance," Kain replied. "This kind of meat probably needs a very specific environment to raise, but that's not a problem. We'll just open a trade route when the time comes."

Kain had high standards when it came to food, and there were few chefs on Earth who could satisfy his palate—unless he provided the ingredients himself.

They were all big eaters. Even Betty, who had the smallest appetite among them, could eat twenty catties of meat in a single meal—though only when something was truly delicious. 

Normally, she relied on nutritional supplements to meet her body's needs. But ever since they arrived in Asgard, they'd all relaxed a bit. Asgardians had far greater physical capabilities than Earthlings, and their nutritional demands were equally high. 

The only disappointing part? The drinks—they were underdeveloped and lacked flavor.

Before Kain and the others finished their lunch, several Asgardian warriors entered the hall and walked straight toward their table.

Three men and one woman—all clad in gleaming armor. Their faces looked familiar to Kain; they were likely some of Thor's old companions.

"Thank you for persuading His Majesty Loki," one of them said.

The four warriors stopped in front of Kain, placed their fists over their hearts, and bowed respectfully.

Betty looked confused, then turned to Kain. She had no idea what was going on.

"What are they thanking you for? What did Loki do?"

"Loki… His Majesty canceled the war order and granted us permission to go to Earth," the female warrior, Sif, explained. "He didn't explicitly say we should bring Thor back, but as long as we don't go against King Odin's original orders, we're free to act."

Sif and her companions had been thrilled to hear Loki's new decision. None of them had expected such a sudden shift in his stance. But only Kain had met with Loki recently, and shortly after that meeting, they had received their updated orders.

They believed Loki's change of heart had everything to do with Kain.

"It wasn't because of me," Kain said calmly. "Loki made the decision himself. But if you run into any trouble on Earth, you can contact the Super Personnel Bureau or the Kain Group for help."

As he spoke, Betty handed them a business card. It wasn't an ordinary one—it was a special electromagnetic card Betty used when dealing with interstellar matters. It connected directly to the Red Queen network on Earth and also functioned as a personal ID.

Betty wasn't just anyone. She was the second-in-command of the Pent Group and the top executive of Umbrella. Her father was the company's president. Very few people in the galaxy ever received her business card.

Sif took the card and nodded respectfully. "Thank you for your support."

"It's nothing," Kain replied casually.

With that, Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral departed. Now that they had Loki's permission, they were off to find Thor on Earth. They couldn't force him to return, but if he needed help, they'd be there for him.

Kain suspected Loki had thought this through. With the more aggressive voices leaving Asgard, the remaining pacifists likely didn't fit into Loki's plans. That was probably intentional.

Kain didn't comment further. If Loki was supporting his strategy, that was all that mattered.

Compared to Asgard, Loki had set his sights on the entire universe.

After enjoying a perfect meal, Kain prepared to take Betty on a tour around Asgard, with several guards trailing behind them.

Asgard's architecture resembled a medieval style but was interwoven with highly advanced technology. Any Asgardian child could casually play with holographic projection games that would be considered cutting-edge on Earth—though in Asgard, those were already on the verge of obsolescence.

The coexistence of magic and technology defined Asgard, but now Kain was pursuing a similar path. The magic academy he had founded was already showing promising results. Betty had visited twice—she was mildly curious, but too busy to commit to studying. Not that she needed to. As long as she had a medium capable of channeling magical energy, she could naturally access Kain's power.

When they passed a martial arts arena, they happened to run into Hywell, the warrior who had guided them earlier. Spotting them, Hywell eagerly called out to Kain, inviting them to a friendly match.

Kain himself declined, but the Umbrella guards seemed interested. With a nod from Kain, he allowed them to enter the arena and spar with Hywell and the other Asgardians.

Umbrella's soldiers, beyond their genetic enhancements, were also highly skilled in melee combat and the use of cold weapons. More recently, they had even begun practicing with original genetic energy and combat techniques powered by it.

Hywell, captain of an Asgardian unit, never expected Earthlings to be so powerful. But after just a few moves, he was sent flying five or six meters by a punch from one of Kain's guards. The overwhelming force left him struggling to stand.

Everyone watching—except Kain—was stunned.

Hywell wasn't weak. He wouldn't be a team leader otherwise. Yet here he was, utterly outmatched by Kain's men in mere moments.

The other Asgardian warriors in the arena, all proud and battle-hardened, felt their fighting spirit ignite. Eager to prove themselves, they challenged Kain's guards one after another.

But the results were the same. One by one, the Asgardians fell.

It was only a cold weapons match, but none of them could last more than ten moves.

These twenty Umbrella soldiers were the elite—each one capable of lifting over 40 tons unassisted. With full force behind their special moves, their strength reached as high as 70 or 80 tons. One kick could send a large van flying.

They were essentially miniature Hulks. Only the likes of Asgard's famed Three Warriors or the female warrior Sif could stand on equal footing with them.

As for the average Asgardian soldier, if not for Kain's men intentionally holding back, most wouldn't have lasted even one round.

After more than two hours, with 60 to 70 percent of the Asgardians in the arena defeated and lying on the ground, Kain finally called off the sparring. More and more Asgardians were arriving, and if this continued for another two or three days, it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy all their challenges.

Many Asgardians were clearly disgruntled. After all, Earth was once a planet under their protection—yet now Earthlings had grown strong enough to decisively defeat Asgardian warriors. Even though it was a friendly match, the one-sided outcome stung.

But Loki had ordered them to treat the Earth delegation with respect, and no one dared disobey the acting king.

Later, Kain took Betty to the lakes that surrounded Asgard for a brief boat ride, and they didn't return to their residence until evening. Even so, they had only managed to explore about one-third of Asgard that afternoon.

"You're finally back. I still can't believe your so-called ideal is to conquer the universe. Your actions tell a very different story," Loki said as he entered.

He had apparently been waiting for some time. His tone was less than friendly.

"Actions and ideals aren't mutually exclusive," Kain replied casually. "How do you know I wasn't studying your defense systems during the tour? For example—near the Bifrost, I counted fewer than 500 defense turrets. You're too complacent. If an enemy invades, you'd lose at least half the realm before you even react."

Loki sneered.

"No one can break into Asgard."

Heimdall, the gatekeeper, could observe all of the Nine Realms. It was he who first detected Kain's spaceship. With the Bifrost—the Rainbow Bridge—being Asgard's most powerful weapon, any sign of trouble could be swiftly dealt with. If danger arose, Heimdall could instantly destroy the enemy's plot and protect Asgard.

Still, Kain could think of many ways to infiltrate Asgard, but he didn't bother arguing with Loki point by point. He had more important matters to attend to—things he'd been waiting on for quite some time. After Betty served them each a cup of tea, Loki finally got to the point.

"I'm nearly ready. So far, only seventy-six people are willing to leave with me."

"You couldn't even gather a hundred?" Kain said, raising an eyebrow. "That's pretty disappointing for an acting king."

The moment the words left his mouth, he caught the irritated look on Loki's face and grinned.

"Alright, go on, go on."

"One mothership. Thirty battleships. We're ready to set out in search of Thanos—but are you sure he'll give me the Soul Stone? That's one of the six Infinity Stones. It's powerful enough to destroy an entire civilization."

Loki looked genuinely puzzled. As Odin's adopted son, he was no stranger to the Infinity Stones. Odin's treasury even housed a gauntlet forged by the Dwarf King—one capable of channeling their power. But Odin had never collected all six stones. Perhaps he knew how difficult that truly was.

According to records, Odin had exchanged something precious—possibly love itself—for the Soul Stone. Thanos, on the other hand, acquired it from the Celestials. The Power Stone's location was uncertain, while the Time Stone was said to be in the hands of the Sorcerer Supreme in Kamar-Taj.

As for the Space Stone, Odin had possession of it, though he didn't use the gauntlet to wield it. Instead, he simply locked it away in the vault.

"Don't worry," Kain said confidently. "Just tell Thanos that Earth holds both the Time and Space Stones. I'm 80 to 90 percent sure he'll lend you the Soul Stone—and he might even lend you an army, probably the Chitauri."

Thanos, after all, hadn't initially sought the stones. He used to go from planet to planet, wiping out half the population by force. But once he learned about the Infinity Stones from the Celestials, he realized he could achieve his goal faster by collecting all six.

Unfortunately, Thanos had no concept of economics or long-term consequences.

After destroying half of all life in the universe, he destroyed the Stones themselves—never once calculating how long it would take for that population to recover. On Earth alone, the population could double in a hundred years with the right policies. All that effort, all that destruction, only to cripple himself and wait a century for the numbers to drop again. In hindsight, Thanos' "solution" seemed absurd.

"The Chitauri? What am I supposed to do with that pile of junk?" Loki scoffed. "I'd rather he just gave me money so I could hire actual space mercenaries or buy war slaves."

Though Loki hadn't worked with the Chitauri often, he knew well enough that they were some of the most useless mercenaries in the galaxy—little more than cannon fodder.

"Don't complain," Kain chuckled. "The Chitauri will do for now. After you get the Mind Stone, I'll show you what a real army looks like—the Zerg."

He then added casually, "Oh, and I'll need the cosmic coordinates to Nidavellir. I'm planning to forge a new weapon."

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"The dwarves won't just forge weapons for anyone. Unless you're a recognized friend of Asgard, it's impossible. It's part of our treaty with them—they need permission to craft for outsiders."

"Then give the order on my behalf," Kain said, smiling coolly. "As the acting king of Asgard, that shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

He paused, then added pointedly:

"You wouldn't refuse a request from your allies... would you?"

At this moment, Loki also smiled and said to Kain,

"Of course. But I've heard your subordinates are all genetically modified… You wouldn't refuse a request from your allies, would you?"

After some discussion, the two reached an agreement.

Kain's men had easily overpowered the average Asgardian warriors—nearly matching even the elite. Naturally, Loki had taken notice.

After the match, Umbrella's soldiers let slip a few harmless details. But Loki, ever perceptive, picked up on something important. Realizing the potential of their strength, he set his sights on acquiring the genetic evolution serum to enhance his own forces.

Loki provided Kain with a full set of cosmic coordinates—essentially the mapped locations of most major factions across the universe. These coordinates were compiled by Asgard over millennia. With the exception of some truly remote systems, the data Loki gave covered over seven thousand cosmic civilizations.

In the name of the King of Asgard, Loki also issued an official order to the Dwarf King, instructing him to help Kain forge a weapon. With that royal decree, the dwarves had no choice but to comply.

In return, Kain agreed to give Loki one hundred and fifty vials of the genetic evolution serum.

While Loki and Kain finalized their trade, Sif and the others made their way to Heimdall, requesting that he open the Bifrost and send them to Earth.

Heimdall listened in silence, then spoke gravely:

"I don't know why His Majesty Loki has changed… but this isn't the right time. You should remain in Asgard."

Sif shook her head.

"Bringing Thor back is what matters most right now. Heimdall, we have permission—please open the Bifrost."

…

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