Conqueror Kang, reappearing at the cell door, holding several bags of small gifts in his hand, looked down at his outfit with a blank expression.
He looked like a casual customer who would shop at a luxury store at the end of the year, having heard a basketful of sweet talk, seen enough of the salesperson's smiling face to feel sick, collected a pile of trial kits and samples, but hadn't managed to pre-order any of the current season's hot items or the new arrivals for the next season.
Just now, Conqueror Kang walked into the building from which his future self had exited and only heard a sweet voice, albeit with a slightly perfunctory tone, saying, "Welcome to The Holy Sanctuary".
Next, he heard a terrifying wave of sound, and was drowned in a tumult of voices saying, "Hello, how may I assist you?", "Hi, do you have an appointment?", "Hello, do you have a preferred salesperson?", "Hello, would you like to become a member?".
In the following minutes, Conqueror Kang was clueless about what happened. When he re-emerged, he was smiling with empty pockets.
This future was too bizarre, so after some thought, Conqueror Kang decided to obliterate this timeline of the cosmos.
A burst of smoke emerged from the machine again, and the strange timeline disappeared. Conqueror Kang stood still thinking, since forcing his way or sneaking in seemed to be impossible, could he simply take Loki with him and hide?
The problem was, Thor's lightning had locked onto him. If he hid in another cosmos, Thor might not be able to reach him, but Conqueror Kang would still inevitably be struck by Thor's lightning.
After some thought, he thought of a special place — the Void at the end of time.
In there, time as a concept does not exist. Thus, all external forces would be halted and would not take effect. As long as Conqueror Kang could bring Loki into hiding there, Thor, who was unable to manipulate time as adeptly as he could, might not find him for a while.
After considering the options, Conqueror Kang thought this was currently the most reliable way out.
So, he opened the cell door again, arriving at Loki's side. The moment he deactivated the time-freeze, he took Loki with him and teleported straight to the Void.
Here, it was still desolate and cold. Standing on a hill, Conqueror Kang looked around. He saw two buildings, one tall and one short, and then he sneered, saying, "So this is where those Lokis that escaped due to an accident hid."
"These poor creatures, could they possibly believe this is a good place? Devoid of the power to manipulate time, their only fate is to be consumed by Alioth. That little guy is not to be underestimated."
As soon as his words fell, he saw a gathering cloud at the horizon. Conqueror Kang then immediately relinquished his control over time, turned his head towards Loki and said, "Look at that, your counterparts are about to become dog food."
Sure enough, the dense cloud was once again transformed into the shape of a monster and headed for the small tent.
Soon, a group of Lokis ran out of the tent, with Alioth chasing after them. Conqueror Kang watched with a burst of laughter from the sidelines, but soon, he was no longer laughing.
Because behind Alioth, a faintly discernible gigantic shadow was beginning to emerge.
Upon closer inspection, Conqueror Kang realized, Alioth seemed not to be chasing after the Lokis. This terrifying storm beast seemed to also be fleeing from something.
Conqueror Kang widened his eyes in a stunned manner. Then, behind the dense cloud, he saw a pair of familiar colossal eyes follow by a body full of sharp spikes and terrifying fangs that sent chills down his spine.
A monster, much larger than Alioth, bit into Alioth's tail. The cloud-like beast let out a wail, shooting hundreds of meters into the sky, then hurriedly sprinted away, as if in fear of getting bitten again.
But the spiky monster was relentless, speeding up its chase as if it was starved, swallowing any piece of cloud that it could. Within a few short minutes, Alioth had been bitten and was hopping and jumping about.
With a blank expression, Conqueror Kang watched the spectacle before him, completely oblivious as to what was actually happening.
Even more dumbfounded were the Lokis being chased by Alioth.
Old Loki led Sylvie, running at the front, with President Loki behind him, shouting while he ran, "What's going on?! Why is this monster out of control? Where's your magic? Get us out of here!!"
"I can't use magic!" Old Loki shouted while running, "My powers have been sealed off! I can't teleport with you guys!"
Young Loki, panting heavily, gasped, "We're going to be eaten...think of something…"
Old Loki shouted at Sylvie, "Come up with something! Can't you break through barriers or something? Take us with you!"
"Shitty barrier!" Sylvie swore as she ran, "I don't even know what a barrier is, let alone how to break it!"
She turned her head to look at Alioth, who was closing in on them. Because of the obscuring clouds, none of the Lokis had noticed the monster chasing after Alioth's back, assuming it was just Alioth who had gone mad.
"Conqueror Kang can drive this monster, and time here is also frozen, so he must be nearby, wanting to watch how his hunting dog devours us," Old Loki speculated.