"A trap?"
Bant looked at Loki strangely, as if waiting for him to offer an explanation.
Loki's gaze pierced through the satellite, reaching beyond the cosmos. His eyes could sense the Chitauri leviathans closing in even now.
Then he spoke. "The moment you activate the Tesseract, there is no turning back."
"The Tesseract will fully awaken. When that happens, he will be able to open a passage from the other side and descend upon Earth."
As he said this, Loki's expression turned considerably darker.
Because this was the very task Thanos had assigned him.
If the War Lord had not made him realize his memories and mind had been tampered with, he would have truly become Thanos's puppet.
But after realizing he had been controlled, Loki did yet another foolish thing.
He went straight to confront Thanos.
That was why he had vanished for so long, and why he was in such a wretched state right now.
Of course, he did not meet Thanos himself, only Supergiant.
Even so, Supergiant, who wielded the Mind Stone, was not someone he could handle. If not for the symbiote within him waking his consciousness at the critical moment, Loki would have likely been controlled once again by now.
The price was that the symbiote fell into a deep slumber, and he himself was gravely wounded.
Though his altered memories were recovered, his mind had been stirred through once again by that creature Supergiant's meddling hand.
Loki fled in a miserable state, but in doing so, he let Supergiant learn the method to open the door from the other side of the universe.
Listening to Loki's words, Bant furrowed his brow slightly.
He did not believe Thanos would come personally.
Thanos knew full well that the Ancient One was on Earth, and Odin presided over the Nine Realms.
But even so, the Black Order alone were exceedingly troublesome enemies.
Unlike the useless Black Order portrayed in the films, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, working together, were not much weaker than Thanos himself.
And now there was also Supergiant, who had never even appeared in the films.
It went without saying, this would be a brutal battle.
But conversely, if they did not activate the Stone and open the planetary shield, Thanos's fleet would also descend upon them from the cosmos.
Then Earth would have to face an endless tide of Chitauri and the main forces of Thanos.
Activating the Tesseract, on the other hand, would not only give Earth a protective barrier, but also limit the number of Thanos's forces that could arrive.
After all, without the aid of instruments, even if Supergiant opened the Tesseract's passage from the other side, its diameter would likely be only a meter or two at best. Not even a small Chitauri Leviathan could squeeze through.
"Don't worry. I have a way to deal with them."
And if that failed, X-Superman!
Bant thought to himself.
But he also knew that Enara and Ojana had only agreed to discuss his proposal ahead of schedule in an emergency situation. They had not said the proposal would definitely pass.
"That's exactly the problem."
Loki covered his face in despair.
"He already knows how formidable you are. So he will find a way to lure you away from Earth."
He let out a deep breath, like a criminal finally giving up all pretenses, every sin falling upon his shoulders. Powerlessly, he said, "Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive have gone to capture Luma..."
"What?!"
Hearing this, Bant's expression turned grim.
The husband and wife pair of Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight were extremely powerful. Teaming up, even Luma might face a bitter struggle.
But Loki said her defeat was certain, because her enemies were not just those two, but also countless giants.
"What exactly is going on?"
Bant immediately asked.
Loki then recounted everything that had happened since he recovered his memories.
Including Bill heading to the Null Void, and Luma, after parting ways with them, going alone to Jotunheim.
Afterward, Loki had intended to return to Earth and mock Thor's haircut to his face, but he was discovered by Thanos along the way.
After Supergiant took control of him, she pried many secrets of the Celestials' Union from his mouth, and a conspiracy began to unfold.
Use Luma to draw Bant away from Earth. Then Earth would become a prize within the grasp of Thanos's army. Apart from Bant, no one on the entire planet could halt the advance of the Chitauri fleet and the Black Order!
Even if Bant could defeat Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, by then it would already be too late.
Thanos would obtain the Stones, and the human population of Earth would be drastically reduced under the Chitauri onslaught.
As for the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, her duty was to counter threats from beyond this dimension. She would likely not intervene in this matter.
Even if she could not bear to see humanity wiped out and stepped forward, it would only be the Chitauri forces that perished. In Thanos's view, those things were expendable. He controlled the Chitauri Queen. He could breed as many Chitauri as he wanted.
As they spoke, Bant's Celestials' Union badge suddenly chimed.
"It's Luma's distress signal."
Bant glanced at it. When he opened the communication, an image of Luma in the midst of battle appeared.
"Little Bant..."
Her voice was swallowed by the wind and snow.
"There are two annoying blue-skinned jerks showing off their romance right in front of me!"
Luma shouted while fighting.
It was clear her situation was not good, but Luma's pride made it impossible for her to ask for help normally.
"Just come and help me already!"
The transmission flickered and died.
Luma didn't have much time to make a proper call.
Seeing this, Loki slumped against the wall as if he had used every last bit of his strength, his whole body collapsing. Listlessly, he said, "It's all my fault..."
"If I hadn't sold out the Celestials' Union's intel, maybe..."
Hearing Loki's words, Bant also felt the situation was dire, but it had not yet reached the extent he imagined.
He connected to Sakaar's communications. The one who answered was Kayla.
"Kayla, can the Celestials' Union send immediate backup to Luma?"
In the image, Kayla's expression was troubled. "From the Celestials' Union to Jotunheim, even with the engines Lady Luma designed, it would take several days to arrive."
"Kayla, tell him our situation too!" Brynhildr, clad in silver battle armor, pushed her way into the frame and said seriously, "Sakaar is also under attack!"
"Thanos would go to such lengths," Bant immediately frowned and asked worriedly, "Can you handle it?"
Kayla answered at once. "Don't worry, King of Sakaar."
"This isn't so much an invasion as the attackers trying to tie us down."
Sakaar could be considered Bant's home base. Clearly, Thanos knew this, which was why he invaded Sakaar. He hadn't committed a large number of troops there, but had blockaded all the Star Gates, preventing Sakaar's fleet from leaving.
Hearing that Sakaar could manage, Bant breathed a sigh of relief.
At least there wasn't one more place requiring his aid right now.
He quickly made his decision.
"Loki, open a passage to Jotunheim."
No matter what, Luma had to be saved. Although Luma was a muscular warrior woman with four arms and four eyes, she was still his girl. It wasn't anyone else's place to bully her!
"But if we do that, Earth will essentially be left undefended..."
Loki shook his head.
"Even you couldn't possibly bring Luma back immediately."
Jotunheim existed as a separate realm. Loki could not deliver Bant so precisely right to Luma's side.
Knowing Bant had left Earth, Supergiant would certainly try at once to open the Tesseract's gate from the reverse side and seize it.
On one side, Earth. On the other, Luma. Thanos wanted to see how Bant would choose.
Loki's thinking was to abandon Luma.
That way, as long as Bant remained, they still had a chance of victory.
"I will not abandon Luma." Bant shook his head. Then he smiled slightly and said, "Besides, who says Earth is certain to lose without me?"
"Who else could stop the Black Order?"
Loki asked in disbelief. His arm swept outward, gesturing toward the heroes struggling in the cosmos.
"Them?"
"A single advance force of Chitauri has already plunged them into bitter combat!"
"If I'm not mistaken, that soldier can no longer lift Mjolnir, can he?" Loki had clearly figured it out.
If Captain America could still wield the hammer, he wouldn't have refrained from using it until now.
"Or what about Thor?"
"He lost his divine power long ago, and with it, a god's pride. Do you know what's on his mind right now?"
"Before the world ends, spend his final days with that nurse he just met, Jane Foster. Or Odin?"
"He's already so old he's timid and hesitant, spending every day worrying about the so-called Ragnarok, holed up in Asgard, too afraid to step outside..."
Bant spoke up in Odin's defense.
"He is simply using his power to suppress a far more terrible danger."
But Loki was not listening.
"I don't know what kind of king he is!"
"But regardless, who else can stop them?"
He had already gone through nearly everyone he knew. No one could be counted on.
Except for one person he had overlooked.
"There is one you've left out."
"Who?"
Loki immediately asked.
He had no idea what kind of person could possibly avert this crisis.
And then he saw Bant's finger pointing in his direction.
Loki froze.
He instinctively glanced back, only to find nothing behind him.
It was then he realized that the person Bant was pointing at was him.
"Me?"
An absurd expression surfaced on his face. He raised a single finger and pointed at himself.
Me? Fight the War Lord? Seriously?
"Of course it's you."
"What am I supposed to fight them with, my head?" Loki thought Bant must have gone mad.
Did he not know exactly what he was worth?
Who was it that grabbed him in New Mexico and used him as a punching bag? Had he forgotten?
Then he saw Bant take the Casket of Ancient Winters from his backpack, while prying the Tesseract free from the device.
Immediately after, Bant held both items out toward him.
"You..."
Loki was stunned.
"Awaken the Tesseract, open the path to Jotunheim, then activate the planetary shield and kill that giant Chitauri Leviathan..."
"Loki, do you want to know why I was able to become the King of Sakaar?"
"You want to talk about this now?"
Bant ignored him and continued speaking on his own. "To be precise, I didn't become the King of Sakaar. I became the hope of all Sakaarians. I became their savior."
"I think you can do the same."
/-\
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