Inside Temple Number Two.
Thanos sat on his throne, his massive frame relaxed yet imposing, eyes fixed on the Infinity Gauntlet encasing his left hand. The gems embedded in it glimmered faintly, as if quietly reminding everyone in the hall who truly ruled here.
Below him stood his subordinates, arranged with deliberate symmetry.
On the left were the Black Obsidian Five, standing rigid and disciplined. On the right stood the newly recruited Laufey and Hela, their presence sharp and unsettling, like blades laid casually on a table.
At this moment, General Corvus Glaive kept his gaze on the two newcomers with undisguised vigilance. Though they were now technically comrades, the gap in strength between them was painfully obvious. It was the kind of difference that made one instinctively check whether their seat was still secure.
Not that Corvus could do anything about it.
After all, it wasn't exactly his place to tell Thanos to stop recruiting monsters in humanoid form.
Laufey and Hela, meanwhile, couldn't have cared less about the Black Order's scrutiny. To them, the others barely registered as threats. The difference in power was clear enough that the idea of rivalry felt almost insulting. The only ones worth their attention were each other—and perhaps Thanos himself.
After a brief silence, Thanos finally withdrew his gaze from the Gauntlet. He looked down at Supergiant and asked calmly, "How's the inventory of the treasures this time?"
Among all the spoils of war, the greatest prize was undoubtedly Odin's Treasury. Most of its contents were ordinary artifacts—useful, but nothing to lose sleep over. Still, there were several items of real value.
The Frost Box.The Eternal Flame.
And beyond Odin's collection, there were countless other artifacts gathered from across Asgard's territories. Sorting all of it had naturally fallen to Supergiant.
Stepping forward, Supergiant bowed slightly and replied with practiced precision, "My lord, a total of 1,732 artifacts were discovered. This includes 1,524 low-level artifacts, 201 mid-level artifacts, and 7 high-level artifacts. All have been cataloged and placed in storage."
Thanos nodded once, satisfied. Then he turned his attention to Ebony Maw. "Report the battle losses."
Supergiant retreated smoothly as Ebony Maw stepped forward, his voice respectful and composed. "My lord, this operation mobilized ten billion Dark Order troops and ten thousand small spacecraft…"
He proceeded to list the casualties with unsettling accuracy—destroyed fleets, damaged ships, wounded soldiers—numbers delivered so cleanly that it almost made the carnage sound tidy.
After that came reports on the state of Thanos's homeland: economic stability, population figures, resource reserves. Every detail was laid bare.
Half an hour later, the final report ended.
Thanos scanned the assembled figures, his gaze lingering briefly on Laufey. "The treasures obtained this time have been sealed in the vault," he said. "The exchange is now open. If you want any artifact, use your points to redeem it."
At those words, Laufey's eyes flickered with barely contained excitement. He had earned over ten thousand points in this war. Even if it meant spending every last one, he would reclaim the Frost Box—his Frost Box—and restore what once belonged to him.
Thanos then turned to Corvus Glaive. "You will dispatch fleets to investigate the coordinates recovered from Asgard. Any who refuse to surrender are to be destroyed."
He paused, then added coolly, "However, there is one place you are not to touch—the Solar System. Await my orders."
Earth was an unknown variable. Thanos had no intention of charging in blind. For all he knew, this could be one of those unpleasant universes—Ultron's twisted nightmare, for example. He had no desire to become a one-time delivery service for his own destruction.
Reconnaissance would come first. Earth wasn't going anywhere.
What mattered now was gathering the remaining Infinity Stones.
Corvus Glaive hesitated for half a heartbeat, clearly puzzled by the Solar System restriction, but he bowed his head nonetheless. "Yes, sir."
Finally, Thanos looked toward Hela and Laufey. "You may follow Corvus Glaive's commands, act independently, or rest as you see fit. I won't restrict you. However, when I summon you, you will return within one day."
Hela and Laufey both nodded in acknowledgment. Their expressions were calm—but beneath that calm was something darker, heavier, like storm clouds waiting for permission to break.
One was a princess of Asgard, and the other was the ruler of the Frost Giants. Neither of them had spent their lives taking orders from anyone, and it showed.
But circumstances had a way of grinding down pride.
Now, whether they liked it or not, they were being forced to adapt.
Of course, expecting them to obey General Corvus Glaive was a fantasy bordering on comedy, so the decision was made quickly: they would operate independently, striking from within their own territories.
After finalizing his arrangements, Thanos did not return to the Panlong Galaxy. Instead, he moved outward, scouring the surrounding star systems for habitable worlds, continuing his relentless cultivation of the Star-Sucking Technique.
At the same time, preparations were quietly set in motion to begin collecting the Infinity Stones.
…
One month later.
On an unnamed, life-bearing planet.
By the time Thanos began absorbing the planet's core, the signs of impending annihilation were impossible to ignore.
The magnetic field weakened and then unraveled entirely. The atmosphere thinned like mist under a rising sun, oxygen bleeding away alongside atmospheric pressure. The sky itself seemed to lose weight.
The planet's primitive creatures sensed it long before they understood it. Herds stampeded aimlessly, predators abandoned their hunts, and everywhere there was chaos—animals colliding, fleeing, screaming, as though the world itself were chasing them.
No one knew how many lives had already been extinguished. Whatever the number, less than a tenth of the planet's original population remained.
Thanos paid it no attention.
To him, the destruction of a planet was a trivial cost, entirely acceptable so long as it strengthened him.
Just then, a small spaceship pierced the dying sky.
It locked onto Thanos almost instantly and descended with measured precision.
Moments later, it hovered roughly a hundred meters away before its hatch slid open.
Two women stepped out together.
The woman on the left stood about 1.72 meters tall. Her skin was green, her long red hair flowing freely down her back. As she walked, her hips swayed naturally, her long legs carrying her with effortless confidence.
She was undeniably sexy—but not in a fragile way. Power radiated from her, raw and untamed, the kind that stirred both desire and unease.
The woman on the right was shorter, around 1.64 meters tall. Her skin was purple, her head completely hairless. She had a round, almost endearing face that made her look disarmingly cute—someone you'd want to protect without thinking twice.
If not for the unmistakably Thanos-like chin, one might have believed she was his biological daughter.
They weren't.
But they were his adopted daughters all the same: Gamora and Nebula.
The two stopped five meters from Thanos, watching him with eyes filled with awe and reverence.
Gamora spoke first, her voice steady."Father, we're back."
Thanos didn't halt his absorption of the planet's core. He merely turned his head slightly, nodded once, and asked, "Did you find the Infinity Stones?"
They had not participated in the war against Odin. Instead, they had been dispatched to gather intelligence on the Stones—tasks far too important to leave to chance.
In truth, Thanos had wrestled with the decision to adopt them at all.
In the original course of events, both daughters would eventually betray him.
But after long consideration, he chose to follow the natural flow.
Part of it was caution—he had no desire to disrupt fate too aggressively or draw the attention of entities best left undisturbed. The rest was confidence. He believed he could raise them differently.
Nebula, after all, still possessed a fully organic body.
Unlike his predecessor, Thanos had altered his approach. Alongside the usual ideological conditioning, he offered something else—something rare and dangerous.
Genuine fatherly affection.
Before Gamora could respond, Nebula stepped forward, unable to restrain herself.
"Father," she said quickly, a spark of eagerness in her eyes, "I've found a lead on the Power Stone. According to our intel, it's located on a planet within the Violet Star System."
Though Thanos treated them equally, Nebula—just like in the original timeline—could never quite suppress her need to prove herself.
She wanted his approval.
She always had.
.....
Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.
Get 60+ Premium chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Earthly_Writer (Remove the *)
2 Chapters for all free members.