Chapter 146
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"Ah..."
Countless buildings dissolved, and faint screams echoed continuously.
Soon, the gloomy buildings around began to fade, gradually revealing the real-world environment.
At that moment, a roar came from a distance, seemingly from the master of this eerie realm.
Seeing a black shadow flying towards him, Syd instinctively swung out a beam of spiritual energy.
A flash of blue light, and the shadow vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.
Syd was momentarily stunned, not quite comprehending what had just happened.
Was that it?
Was this a joke?
That was way too weak, wasn't it?
He was a bit puzzled.
If that shadow had known his thoughts, it would undoubtedly have roared in anger, accusing him of not realizing his own strength, and not knowing how powerful he truly was, thinking everyone else was just as monstrous.
At this point, the illusory surroundings completely disappeared, and Syd found himself back in reality.
Gradually retracting his released light energy, he glanced at the distant Gilu and his two companions before flying away, contemplating what ability to practice next.
Seeing the sun in the sky disappear and leave, the three SHIELD agents sighed in relief.
"Let's report this to Director Fury," Gilu said, looking at his teammates.
Jeff and Isabella nodded, starting to contact SHIELD and truthfully report what had happened.
As they left, the area returned to silence, occasionally visited by people checking out what had happened.
Not long ago, the nearby residents had seen a second sun in the sky. Some even thought it was the sun god descending and had uttered a few prayers.
Four kilometers away.
Flying through the quiet night sky, Syd vaguely heard a voice praying.
However, the sound was so faint that it was almost nonexistent. By the time he tried to investigate, it had vanished.
Shaking his head, he temporarily ignored the voice.
He pondered on what to upgrade next.
As he thought about it, his attention naturally fell on Sunshine.
After upgrading to level three, it hadn't improved for quite a while.
By now, it was starting to feel a bit inadequate.
Syd recalled the scene of using Sunshine against Apocalypse not long ago.
Compared to the Phoenix Force, Sunshine's power was still significantly weaker. At least in terms of performance, the Phoenix Force dealt with Apocalypse much faster, and he had less resistance.
"First, upgrade Sunshine, then try to unlock the Light of God Balder's divine light power."
Time passed quickly, and soon the sky brightened as the sun rose on the horizon.
[Sunshine Experience +1]
[Sunshine Experience +1]
Bathed in the morning light, Syd practiced Sunshine.
Soon, a whole day had passed, and Sunshine's progress had changed.
[Ability: Sunshine (83/1000) Level 3]
"Too slow..."
Grumbling about the slow progress of Sunshine, he continued practicing.
...
Seven days passed...
As he silently trained Sunshine and avoided pursuers, a familiar prayer reached his ears.
Hmm? Syd was startled, following the sense to locate Kaecilius.
"What is it?" he asked.
A profound Sanskrit voice echoed in the reverent Kaecilius' mind.
In the next moment, Kaecilius replied, "Great One, according to our intelligence, the Tesseract has returned to SHIELD."
"Do you need me to retrieve it for you?"
Hearing this, Syd frowned slightly.
The Tesseract was supposed to be in the hands of the Ancient One. How could it end up back at SHIELD? He didn't believe that anyone at SHIELD could snatch the Tesseract from the Ancient One.
In fact, they might not even know it was in the Ancient One's possession.
Thinking for a moment, he considered one possibility.
Since it couldn't have been taken by SHIELD, there was only one possibility left: the Ancient One had returned it to SHIELD.
"Is it to prevent significant changes?"
Shaking his head, Syd thought this was indeed something the Ancient One would do. After all, she had peered into countless timelines, knowing what actions would be beneficial and which would be detrimental.
Clearly, in her view, returning the Tesseract to SHIELD, which would lead to the Chitauri invasion of Earth, was ultimately favorable for the planet. She believed that altering this event might make things worse.
At this moment, Kaecilius, thinking Syd hadn't heard him, repeated his question.
"Great One, should I retrieve the Tesseract for you?"
After contemplating for a moment, Syd's profound Sanskrit voice replied, "No, the Earth must face its destiny. Arbitrarily changing it would not be wise..."
Hearing the mystical voice in his mind, Kaecilius was left in a daze.
Destiny of the Earth? Does this mean something significant is going to happen?
Has the Great One foreseen something? These thoughts made Kaecilius tremble with awe, becoming even more respectful and devoted.
The Great One indeed!
As for whether something would actually happen, it would be verified later.
If something did occur, it would mean that the Great One's power was beyond comprehension! Had Syd known what Kaecilius was thinking, he would have been speechless, marveling at his ability to fill in the gaps. What he had said was merely a casual remark to brush him off.
The reason he didn't want to retrieve the Tesseract was simple: he was waiting for bigger opportunities.
If he took the Tesseract, the Chitauri wouldn't invade, and Loki wouldn't appear. Where would he then get the Mind Scepter? By waiting, Loki would naturally bring the scepter to Earth.
And the gem in the scepter was one of the Infinity Stones, the Mind Stone! Loki probably didn't even realize that the tip of his scepter housed an Infinity Stone, did he?
Besides the Mind Stone, taking the Tesseract could prevent the Reality Stone from appearing.
Such a move could set off a chain reaction, disrupting future events, which Syd wanted to avoid.
He instructed Kaecilius to notify him if there were any significant changes at SHIELD, then ended the connection.
"The Chitauri should be invading soon, which means the plot of The Avengers is about to begin..."
Stroking his chin, Syd's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Loki, don't disappoint me."
With that thought, his attention returned to Sunshine.
[Ability: Sunshine (575/1000) Level 3]
"Almost there..."
With eager anticipation, Syd continued practicing Sunshine.
Time flew by, and soon another six days had passed.
Originally, there should have been three updates today... a bunch of stuff to deal with, really not intentional, apologizing to everyone, will try to make up for it tomorrow.
(End of Chapter)