Furnace

On the other side, Lorna was dressed in a blood-red royal robe, calmly manipulating a ping-pong ball-sized shiny black iron orb floating in front of her.

From the orb, black liquid continuously streamed out, defying the laws of nature and the conservation of mass.

The liquid then froze midair, hardening into iron plates that perfectly blocked the attacks of Bastis, who had transformed into a black panther.

This iron orb was a nanotech weapon that Skynet had specially developed for her over the past few years.

It could shoot out iron ions in an almost limitless supply from the small sphere.

"Stupid cat, you're the clingiest pet I've ever seen."

"Today, let me, your master, show you what it means to be a proper house cat!"

As she finished speaking, Lorna's hair bristled in anger, and the armor on her body clanked loudly.

Her crimson cape danced wildly in the air, even without wind, resembling the extended, blood-soaked tongue of a wicked witch.

The invisible energy shield around them also began to ripple, creating waves in the void like boiling water spewing bubbles.

"Hmm? She's serious! I thought this was just supposed to be a friendly match..."

Bastis, noticing something off around her, felt a chill of fear and seemed a bit intimidated.

Suddenly, she gritted her teeth, emitting waves of dark energy from her entire body, as if preparing to fight with all her might.

Facing Lorna, she roared fiercely:

"Hey! Lorna! Don't think you can act reckless just because you're the master's woman!"

The once-stable combat room began to shake, becoming more and more unstable as their energies clashed violently.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared out of the void.

It was Zane, who had been hiding there all along using the "God's Absence" skill.

With Zane's current strength, using this low-level skill no longer had the same limitations as before.

Unless he wanted to reveal himself, it would be almost impossible for anyone in the universe to detect his presence.

"Alright! Both of you stop fooling around. If you keep this up, do you want to destroy this ship?"

With a casual gesture, Zane pointed at Bastis, instantly shrinking her from her huge panther form back into a small cat.

Zane grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, leaving Bastis unable to move.

"Master..." Bastis, feeling Zane's unspoken authority, looked at him with large, sparkling blue eyes, flailing her limbs helplessly in midair, unable to curl up.

At the same time, Lorna, seeing Zane appear and grab Bastis, gradually calmed down. She shot a smug glance at the pitiful Bastis and then gazed at Zane with soft, loving eyes.

"Honey, you're here."

"Yeah, you two are getting more and more out of control."

Zane's voice was full of affection, like scolding children for their mischief.

He knew that after the battle with Odin, it wasn't just the Asgardians who were shaken.

His loved ones and companions, who had grown alongside him, were affected too.

Life was like a marathon; those who fall behind may never catch up with those ahead.

That's why they were training so hard.

"By the way, Lorna, I have something good for you."

"What is it?"

"Infinity Gauntlet!"

When Zane defeated Thanos, he casually tossed the Infinity Gauntlet, which had been corrupted by the power of Death, into his treasury.

Having read the original story, he knew that Thanos without the Infinity Gauntlet was not on the same level as Thanos with all six Infinity Stones.

It was important to understand that Thanos without the gauntlet was nothing like the version shown in the movie who overpowered the Hulk. In fact, without the gauntlet, Thanos was brutally beaten to death by the Hulk.

However, with the gauntlet, Thanos wasn't just capable of taking on a group of Earth's Avengers—he could also easily overpower an average member of the Celestials.

In fact, when Thanos went all out, he could even go toe-to-toe with cosmic beings like Eternity, one of the creator deities, without falling behind.

Although the key factor here was the Infinity Stones, which represented six fundamental forces of the universe, Zane, already possessing five of them, believed that the Infinity Gauntlet would be the best vessel—besides his own [Magic Furnace]—to fully unleash the power of the Stones.

For Zane, who possessed the Magic Furnace, the Infinity Gauntlet was somewhat redundant, but giving it to someone else could be a great help.

There was even a chance that the fully restored Infinity Gauntlet could share some of the unique powers of the Infinity Stones with the [Magic Furnace].

Fortunately, the [King's Treasury] had an automatic repair function, and within just a few minutes, it had completely restored the damaged Infinity Gauntlet.

Zane, still hidden in the underground combat room of the mechanical planet using his "God's Absence" skill, watched Lorna and Bastis fight, observing how much their strength had grown over the years. Meanwhile, he didn't stay idle and reached into his treasury, pulling out the fully restored and even more perfected Infinity Gauntlet.

Afterward, Zane activated the [Magic Furnace].

The Magic Furnace, as the name suggests, is essentially a forge. And as a forge, its primary function is to craft weapons and artifacts. Normally, Zane used it on himself, constantly refining his own body and enhancing different attributes by adding various Infinity Stones.

Back when the [Magic Furnace] was only a B-level skill, it couldn't forge external objects. But now that it had reached SS-level, it had unlocked this hidden function.

With a simple thought, Zane visualized the [Magic Furnace] in his mind. A large, ethereal circular cauldron emerged, with nine slots around it, five of which were glowing with different colors.

Then, Zane began to move the Infinity Gauntlet with his mind.

Although he wasn't sure what effect putting the gauntlet into the Magic Furnace would have, seeing the manifestation of the furnace gave him a strange sense of confidence.

After all, in his past life, cauldrons were originally used for cooking. And just like the woks used in restaurants, where every dish ended up having a natural spiciness from years of cooking, Zane was sure that once the Infinity Gauntlet was placed in the Magic Furnace, which already held five Infinity Stones, it would surely gain corresponding power enhancements.

As the gauntlet entered the furnace, the various Infinity Stones burst forth with streams of multicolored energy, which flowed into the five slots of the gauntlet. The massive energy then condensed into a series of crystals.

Only the slot on the thumb remained empty.

Boom!

In Zane's mind, the closed Magic Furnace suddenly emitted a beam of light.

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