Thor's face turned livid.
"You hopeless bastard!"
Thor was furious, and raging lightning gathered in his fists once again.
Pushing off with his legs, he lunged toward the high platform, ready to teach this ignorant brother of his a lesson.
Loki watched Thor charging toward him and gave a sneer of disdain.
He calmly pressed the remote control.
"Zzzzt!"
The familiar sensation washed over him again.
Thor let out a scream of mixed rage and pain as his body slammed heavily onto the steps.
Loki tossed the remote in his hand and said to the Captain standing to the side.
"Now, issue a wanted order in my name. Capture the Grandmaster, dead or alive. The bounty... is one hundred million credits."
"Wow, one hundred million? You're truly generous, Loki. But I think I'm worth at least a billion."
A slightly mocking voice sounded from behind the high platform.
The Grandmaster walked out with his hands behind his back, his steps light and brisk.
Loki's eyelids twitched, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the remote control.
"You didn't run? I thought you had already hidden in some trash heap," Loki sneered.
"Run? On my Planet?" The Grandmaster spread his hands. "You are always so humorous, Loki."
"But what I don't understand is this: since you arrived here, I've provided you with the best suite, the strongest liquor, and even let you watch the matches from my private box."
"And yet? Is this how you repay me? By staging a boring rebellion?"
Loki chuckled, his eyes sweeping across the circle of guards surrounding them.
"This is an irreversible management change, Grandmaster."
"You are finished..." Loki lifted his chin. "And I possess an army."
The Grandmaster clutched his stomach and laughed heartily.
"Loki, you always manage to surprise me."
"However, I hate it when people take advantage of my trust."
"Do you remember, Loki? When you first arrived, you abused my trust and made me wrongly imprison two of my lovely friends. That was very impolite!"
Lovely friends?
Loki's expression darkened, and a sense of foreboding surged in his heart.
"Loki... long time no see."
Loki's eyes widened as he saw two figures, one tall and one short, stride out from behind the Grandmaster.
The woman walking in front held a spear, the tip emitting a faint blue energy glow.
Beside her was a tall, burly, and strong beast-man.
They were none other than Thanos's capable subordinates, Proxima Midnight and Black Dwarf.
"My Lord Thanos sends his warmest regards," Proxima Midnight stared coldly at Loki. "You are full of lies and have betrayed My Lord's trust. Today, you will die here."
Loki knew he was absolutely no match for these two monsters.
He made an instant decision and pointed at Proxima Midnight and Black Dwarf above.
"Kill them!" Loki roared frantically at the surrounding guards. "This is the order of your new King! Open fire!"
But the only response Loki received was silence.
The fully armed Sakaar guards stood in place like statues. No one stepped forward, no one drew their blades, and not a single person even glanced at Loki.
"Are you deaf?!" Loki raised his voice, a hint of panic seeping into his tone.
He raised the remote control in his hand and threatened them with a ferocious expression, "If you do not obey my orders, I will make you suffer the most painful torture in the entire Universe! I guarantee it!"
The guards remained motionless.
"Oh my, look at this situation." The Grandmaster clapped his hands dramatically. "The hunter has become the prey; what a brilliant reversal."
The Grandmaster put away his smile and waved his hand.
"Children, stand down. Clear the arena for our new contestant, Loki."
The Captain stood up immediately without the slightest hesitation.
He made a gesture, and all the guards retreated in unison, moving quickly and quietly to clear a huge dueling circle in the center of the arena, isolating Loki in the middle.
Loki trembled with rage.
He stopped wasting words and pressed the red-marked button on the remote, attempting to trigger the punishment again.
A minute passed.
Nothing happened.
Then, the Grandmaster suddenly pulled out another identical remote.
"Hum!"
Thor, the seasoned victim, suddenly felt the obedience disk on his neck light up again.
"Did you really think such a small trick could fool me?" the Grandmaster said smugly.
"That thing you bought from the black market is indeed quite good. But you seem to have forgotten that all the black markets on this Planet are my properties."
"None of your little schemes can escape my ears."
Loki threw away the piece of scrap metal in his hand and turned to run.
A dozen or so illusions of Loki appeared on the arena floor simultaneously, sprinting in all directions.
Meanwhile, his real body attempted to rush toward the exit of the spectator stands.
"Whoosh!"
Proxima Midnight threw her returning spear. The spear was as fast as lightning, piercing through all the illusions and successfully striking Loki's calf.
Loki let out a scream and fell to the ground.
Black Dwarf strode forward and hoisted Loki up.
He pulled out a pair of metal shackles, and with a "click," locked Loki's hands.
"Listen to me! Big guy." Loki quickly tried to adapt to the situation. "This is a misunderstanding! I can..."
"Shut up."
Proxima Midnight came to his side, pulled out a metal muzzle, and clamped it directly over Loki's mouth.
"Mmph!" Loki could only let out muffled whimpers, unable to utter a single word.
"I won't give you another chance to deceive us." Proxima Midnight patted Loki's cheek and said coldly.
Then, Black Dwarf tossed him aside casually.
Loki tumbled through the air and landed with a "thud" right next to Thor, who had just regained his senses.
Thor glanced at the disheveled Loki and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Tsk tsk..." He leaned close to Loki's ear and whispered, "What a perfect plan, Loki. We are the Masters of this Planet now, right?"
Loki rolled his eyes and glared viciously at Thor, emitting "mmph mmph" sounds of protest.
Proxima Midnight carried her spear and walked over to the two brothers, the tip pressing against Thor's chest.
"Son of Odin," she asked, looking down at him. "Where is the Tesseract?"
Thor spread his hands and shook his head: "I don't know. I just arrived on this Planet and was ambushed by a drunk woman. The thing must be with her!"
Proxima Midnight's eyes were filled with suspicion, then she glanced at the fallen Loki.
"You Asgardians never speak a word of truth," she said hatefully. "Thanos has lost his patience."
Proxima Midnight moved the tip of her spear toward Loki, the blue energy emitting a dangerous "zzzt" sound above Loki's neck.
"Hand over the Tesseract," Proxima Midnight threatened. "Otherwise, I will make your brother suffer the most painful torture in the Universe right now!"
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