Chapter 215

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So, the question arises: Why was Surtur imprisoned in Asgard? Everyone in Asgard, including Odin and his son Thor, believed Surtur to be dead. However, in another universe, Asgard eventually discovered that Surtur was still alive. Who then defeated Surtur and locked him in Asgard? Was it Odin himself or someone else? Thor, unfortunately, has no knowledge of this. From what it looks like, even the prophesied Ragnarok isn't much of a challenge for Asgard, which is capable of handling it. It's not Ragnarok that Asgard cannot withstand, but the Goddess of Death, Hela!

All the focus, the utmost priority, is on Hela!

"Even when we dealt with the Dark Elves," 

"Odin, blinded by anger from Frigga's death, planned an irrational final battle against the Dark Elves in Asgard." 

"At the crucial moment, it was Thor who secretly freed Loki to help him sneak out of Asgard through a hidden passage to take proactive measures." 

"They even carried out a deceptive scheme, which not only led to Malekith extracting the Aether particles from Jane Foster but also nearly destroyed the particles." 

"It was a two-for-one deal!" 

"Unfortunately, although the Aether was extracted as planned, Thor was unable to destroy it." 

"After all, it was an Infinity Stone! If even Thor's grandfather couldn't destroy it, Thor himself certainly couldn't either."

"Was this how Loki escaped?" 

Thor suddenly realized. 

He had always assumed that Loki, the trickster god, had managed some ploy to break out. 

Who would have thought that it was actually he himself who had facilitated Loki's escape? 

And the purpose of releasing Loki was to help him leave Asgard through a hidden passage? 

Well, it turns out that someday Loki's notoriety, those tricks and cunning ways in Asgard, will serve a critical purpose. 

As a prince of Asgard, no one knows Asgard better than Thor. 

If his father Odin was unwilling, then even Thor couldn't easily leave Asgard. 

Clearly, Thor also didn't want to cause a major conflict with Asgard's soldiers, which is why he chose to "collaborate" with Loki. 

According to the journal, this plan was ultimately a success. 

Thor and Jane Foster, carrying the important Aether particles, attracted the Dark Elves to Asgard, leading to a tragic battle. 

However, the other him planned to extract the Aether particles from Jane Foster in such an extreme way. Why would he choose to betray Asgard?

The answer is simple. 

No one in Asgard could extract the Aether particles from Jane! 

Since the Aether particle was a secret weapon of the Dark Elves, Malekith could achieve this feat. 

That's why the other self had to leave Asgard with Jane Foster in such a manner. 

However, Malekith is Thor's enemy. How could he ensure that Malekith would "cooperate"? 

The journal makes it clear—through a counterintelligence strategy! 

A stroke of brilliance! 

"The future me, so cunning!" 

"To use such a level of stratagem, impressive indeed!" 

Thor is quite satisfied with his future wisdom. 

After pondering briefly with pride, Thor begins to address the impending Dark Elves' invasion, as revealed in the journal. 

From the beginning, when the Convergence caused spatial disturbances, Jane accidentally became host to the Aether particles. 

So the other he had to bring Jane back to Asgard for treatment. 

As expected, not only was this unsuccessful, but it also drew the Dark Elves to them. 

After a fierce battle, although Asgard eventually defeated the Dark Elves, it also suffered heavy losses. 

His mother, Frigga, was also sacrificed. 

Nevertheless, Frigga's sacrifice was meaningful as it ultimately kept Jane Foster, the key individual, safe. 

Since Jane harbored the Aether, the Dark Elves would eventually target her again. 

While Odin planned a decisive battle in Asgard, Thor had other ideas and took Jane Foster to confront Malekith proactively. 

Finally, with the help of Jane Foster's device, they successfully eliminated Malekith. 

Using a spaceship, they crushed him. 

Now, Thor understands this battle entirely.

"Once the Aether particles successfully parasitize, can't even Asgard extract it?" 

Nick Fury, looking at another journal, couldn't help but feel intrigued. 

If so, things just got a bit more complicated. 

Their future tasks must now be handled with extra caution, not only to locate the Aether through Jane but also to prevent it from parasitizing her or anyone else. 

Otherwise, it's trouble.

"If Infinity Stones could be destroyed so easily, would Thanos need to risk his life using the Infinity Stones to destroy the Infinity Stones?" 

"And thereby expose his location, causing his retirement to be cut short?" 

"It has to be said, Thanos had great courage, undeniably." 

"He made such tremendous sacrifices and efforts to obtain the Infinity Stones, even having to kill his own daughter. To say just abandon and destroy them like that!" 

"Not everyone is capable of such a decision."

"Thanos actually destroyed the Infinity Stones?" 

Tony Stark's face revealed a hint of astonishment. 

Destroying the Infinity Stones? 

Are you insane? 

An object like the Infinity Stones, once possessed, equates to wielding the most powerful force in the universe, allowing Thanos almost absolute power to wipe out half the living creatures in the universe, and yet he destroyed them? 

Why would he do that?

Madman!

Even Tony, who despised Thanos's actions intensely and stood against him, was deeply provoked.

Not to mention, it was clearly stated in the journal that Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones at great risk to his life! Does that mean he was willing to gamble his own life to destroy the Infinity Stones? What was he thinking? Moreover, to obtain the Infinity Stones, Thanos personally killed his own daughter, paying such a brutal price. So, did Gamora, the "rebellious girl" who joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and opposed her father, ultimately die at the hands of Thanos?

Why did Thanos kill Gamora? Was it because she opposed him, or was there another reason? Regardless of the reason, while even a tiger does not eat its cubs, Thanos was indeed a cold-blooded and cruel figure. But then again, if he wasn't cold-blooded and cruel, how could Thanos carry out the act of erasing half the universe's creatures?

"So, this Thanos is already dead?"

After a slight sigh, Tony couldn't help but express astonishment again as he realized something. The journal had previously revealed that the Avengers faced not one, but two Thanoses, because Thanos had also traveled from the past. And the Thanos that the Avengers killed in Endgame was the one who had traveled from the past.

So, the question arises: Killing the past Thanos was the "Endgame" that concluded everything, meaning the original Thanos didn't come back to cause more trouble. So, what happened to the original Thanos? Before, Iron Man didn't know, but now it seems quite obvious the original Thanos is most likely dead. This is apparent. The journal was clear, by destroying the stones, Thanos exposed his location!

So, what could be the fate of a Thanos who lost the Infinity Stones and exposed his location? Combine that with the fact that killing the past Thanos meant the end of everything. Obviously, the original Thanos, who snapped his fingers erasing half the universe and chose to retire, must have been eliminated by everyone! Therefore, killing that past Thanos ended everything.

"Sir, I think we have finally found the reason why the Avengers went back in time to collect the Infinity Stones," Jarvis's voice rang out. The attentive AI analyzed from another perspective.

"It seems so." 

Tony nodded subconsciously, agreeing. Iron Man had speculated before that the Avengers had to travel through time to collect the stones because they couldn't handle a Thanos who possessed all the Infinity Stones. But now, it seems that this speculation was somewhat off. Because the Thanos who came from the past was due to the butterfly effect caused by the Avengers' time-traveling actions.

In other words, before the Avengers traveled through time, they only had to face one Thanos! Even though that Thanos initially defeated the Avengers completely during the Infinity War, successfully snapped his fingers, and erased half of the universe's creatures, ultimately, he was killed by the Avengers. Thus, in such a scenario, the Avengers traveling through time to collect stones in the past couldn't possibly be to deal with Thanos.

So what was it for? Clearly, it was to save the half of the lifeforms erased by Thanos. Only by snapping their fingers again could this be accomplished. In other words, they had to collect the Infinity Stones again. But a harsh reality was that Thanos had already destroyed the Infinity Stones! What were they to do then?

Naturally, they had to travel back in time. So this was the real reason why everyone traveled through time to collect the stones. It was clear! As the journal continued to reveal more and more, fragments continued to surface, and the overall big picture began to get more complete. Tony could say he understood the earth-shattering war between the Avengers and Thanos quite thoroughly.

For the propagation of the universe, Thanos collected all the Infinity Stones, trying to erase half of its creatures. During this process, he was opposed by the Avengers, and various battles ensued, including the Battle of New York and the Infinity War. But ultimately, the Avengers failed, and Thanos succeeded in gathering the stones and snapping his fingers. After erasing half the universe's creatures, he "retired successfully" and began a comfortable retirement. But one day for some reason, Thanos destroyed all the stones and exposed his location, leading the Avengers to him and resulting in his demise.

The Avengers, for the sake of reviving the erased half of life, chose to travel back in time to collect the stones. But they accidentally brought another Thanos along. The war between the Avengers and Thanos continued, and ultimately, they completely defeated him in the Endgame. That's pretty much the gist of it.

There's just one thing: Why Thanos chose to destroy the Infinity Stones is still beyond Tony's understanding. But, as previously mentioned in the journal, Thanos's slaughtering across the universe was for its propagation without any selfish motives, which has since been further verified. Otherwise, why didn't Thanos, holding all the Infinity Stones, choose to dominate the universe instead? He actually destroyed them all.

"Thanos might have been a bit hasty to destroy the Infinity Stones, rendering himself crippled." 

"With his capabilities and position, he surely could have found another method." 

"Like that other universe's Gamora, who actually created a machine to crush the Infinity Stones, can you believe that?" 

"Unfortunately, the crusher only works on Infinity Stones from its own universe." 

"Otherwise, the multi-universe Avengers fighting against Infinite Ultron wouldn't have had such a tough time." 

"They would've just needed to pull out and crush the stones as planned." 

"But plans can't keep up with changes, the crusher was useless."

Infinity Stone Crusher? You're kidding!

Tony couldn't help but widen his eyes. Given the name of this crusher, so it's something that could crush even Infinity Stones? If it could crush something as powerful as the Infinity Stones, that crusher must be incredibly formidable! What kind of being could possibly create such a crusher? That's just mind-blowing!