Naturally, Thanos couldn't understand that Absolute Domain was an idealistic ability. There was almost no logic behind it.
Although the Power Stone could destroy most matter in the universe, it couldn't affect the mind.
If the stone in Thanos's hand had been the Mind Stone instead, he could have broken down Absolute Domain by influencing Alex's mind.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Here. Take it back."
Alex threw a punch, knocking Thanos back. The sight nearly made Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf's eyes pop out.
In their minds, the ruler of the galaxy had conquered countless worlds and was invincible. There couldn't possibly be anyone in the universe capable of defeating him.
Let alone overpowering him head-on.
But today, they had seen it.
The man their master called the "Conqueror" didn't let up after gaining the upper hand. After driving Thanos back with one punch, he rushed forward and launched a fierce one-handed assault.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dull sounds of punches landing echoed throughout the ship, making Thor's eyes widen.
Not long ago, he had defeated his sister and was wandering the universe with the surviving people of Asgard, searching for a new home.
Unexpectedly, Thanos had set his sights on them and attacked the ship.
With overwhelming force, Thanos, together with Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf, slaughtered the civilians aboard.
The only survivors now were Thor, his brother Loki, the Hulk, and Heimdall.
The reason Thanos hadn't killed them was because of the Tesseract. He believed it was in Asgard's possession, never expecting that the Conqueror had taken it away six years ago.
And not long before that, the Conqueror had also taken the Reality Stone.
Thor naturally had no good feelings toward either Thanos or the Conqueror. The former had massacred the civilians aboard the ship, while the latter had forced his father Odin to exhaust the last of his life, ultimately leading to his death.
Thor wished nothing more than for the two of them to kill each other.
But now, that seemed impossible.
Facing Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet and the Power Stone, the Conqueror was completely suppressing him. And Thor could tell that the man wasn't even using the power he had displayed when fighting the All-Father.
Of course, neither was Thanos.
The Power Stone's power was far greater than this. It was a cosmic treasure capable of easily destroying an entire planet.
BANG!
An uppercut.
Alex slammed his fist into Thanos's broad jaw.
The tremendous force rattled Thanos's bones. The Titan, whose body was much larger than Alex's, was launched into the air by the punch, crashing into the ship's ceiling before falling back down.
Thanos landed in a crouch.
Anger surged in the overlord's eyes as he clenched the Infinity Gauntlet. The Power Stone shone with dazzling light.
He was about to get serious.
But at that moment, Alex suddenly vanished.
When he appeared again, he was behind Thanos.
Teleportation!
Then Alex raised a hand and shoved an enormous mass of chaotic, meaningless information into Thanos's mind.
Knowledge Projection!
Thanos's brain immediately stopped obeying him as endless streams of information flooded his thoughts against his will.
Taking advantage of Thanos's momentary daze, Alex reached out, grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet, and forcibly pried the Power Stone out of it.
Only then did Thanos come back to his senses.
Seeing what had happened, he was shocked and furious.
"NOOO!"
He threw a punch.
Once again, his fist was blocked by Absolute Domain.
Alex's eyes lit up.
Golden beams burst from his pupils, blasting Thanos away in an instant.
Then he looked at the Power Stone in his hand.
With this... together with the Tesseract and the Reality Stone embedded in the Bracers of Hercules... Alex had now collected three of the six Infinity Stones.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
The thought made him pretend not to notice as Ebony Maw manipulated several steel cables lying on the ground, wrapping them around the Tesseract before yanking it away.
"Quick. Get my lord out of here."
After taking the Tesseract, Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf helped Thanos up.
The three of them were then enveloped by black-blue flames surging from behind and disappeared from the ship.
Alex looked at his now-empty left hand and smiled.
Then he set the Power Stone into the other Bracer of Hercules.
As soon as Ebony Maw left, the restraints on Thor disappeared, and Loki helped him to his feet.
"Brother, what do we do now?"
"Can you beat him?"
Loki glanced at Alex.
Although the Conqueror had lost the Tesseract, he had gained the Power Stone.
He was still stronger than everyone else on the ship, including the Hulk.
Thor said in a deep voice, "If I still had my hammer, I wouldn't fear either Thanos or the Conqueror."
His hammer had been destroyed in the battle with Hela. That was why, when Thanos boarded the ship, Thor had been completely unable to fight back before being subdued.
Loki coughed lightly, "In that case, you'll have to listen to me."
"What are you planning?", Thor looked at his brother.
Loki smiled, "Obviously, we're going to invite him to join us."
"He should want to take back the Tesseract. That gives us a basis for cooperation."
Thor immediately refused, "No. We don't work with enemies."
"But the enemy of our enemy is our friend, isn't he?"
"We need friends, brother. And we especially need a friend as powerful as him."
Loki continued trying to persuade his brother.
But just then, the ship shook violently.
Thanos's flagship had opened fire on the Asgardian refugee ship with all its guns.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Compared to Thanos's flagship, the Asgardian refugee ship was like a tiny fish facing a blue whale.
After only a few seconds of bombardment, the refugee ship began to break apart.
Inside the ship, Alex protected himself with Absolute Domain.
With it shielding him, the bombardment couldn't hurt him. Even if the refugee ship completely disintegrated, he would still be fine floating in space.
The others didn't have such an ability.
Already badly wounded, Heimdall gripped his broken Bifrost Sword.
"All-Father, let me use dark magic one last time."
Immediately, he opened the Bifrost.
A stream of brilliant seven-colored light gently lifted the unconscious Hulk.
Heimdall was sending Hulk away.
Sending him back to where he came from...
Earth!
Alex naturally knew this.
The moment the Bifrost opened, he teleported to Hulk's side with Teleportation, hitched a ride, and was transported away together with Hulk.
BOOM!
At last, the refugee ship could no longer withstand the bombardment.
A massive explosion erupted, and the blazing flames lit up the darkness of space.
Within the explosion, the surging fire engulfed Heimdall.
It engulfed Loki.
And it engulfed Thor as well.