After Mangog was killed, Ragnarok was averted.
Asgard survived its predetermined fate and retained most of its power.
The Asgardian army did not suffer many losses in the successive attacks and disasters.
Thor, who did not believe himself fit to be king, quickly abdicated.
Audreyf succeeded to the throne, becoming the first Queen in Asgard's history.
This change of succession would have caused much controversy, as Asgard had never been ruled by a woman.
But luckily, Ron was there. In the eyes of the Asgardians, it was Audreyf who had brought such a powerful expert, saving Asgard time and again.
On the day of Audreyf's coronation, she also announced that Ron, who had saved Asgard multiple times, would become the Regent of Asgard, with a status equal to hers.
Asgard thus fell under Ron's control. He was not in a hurry to launch a war to conquer the Universe.
To conquer externally, one must first stabilize internally.
"If you want to conquer the Universe, you must first make the Nine Realms completely submit. Next, you'll have to work hard."
In front of the magnificent Golden Palace gate, Ron and Audreyf kissed goodbye as he was about to leave.
Asgard's control over a group of lords was almost nominal, without real decision-making power.
He wanted Audreyf to first gain absolute control over the Nine Realms, gather armies from other extraordinary races to obey Asgard's command, and then embark on the conquest with sufficient troops.
"I will."
Queen Audreyf, wearing a golden crown and looking awe-inspiring, showed a barely perceptible blush on her face and nodded gently.
From that day on, having promised to offer everything to Ron, she was somewhat mentally prepared for it. She had no resistance towards Ron and also harbored some indescribable feelings.
"I will have Black Bolt, Absorbing Man, and Titania obey your command."
With Odin gone and a woman ruling the throne, Asgard appeared vulnerable to outsiders, who already harbored contempt, let alone complete submission.
This matter required absolute power to conquer.
Absorbing Man and Titania were almost as strong as Thor during his Hammer God period, plus Black Bolt, who could easily destroy an army with a single shout.
It should be easy to make the Nine Realms submit.
"Once I obtain the Power Stone, I will return."
Ron said with a smile.
"Be careful." Audreyf said with concern.
Stepping onto the Vibranium spaceship, Ron left Asgard. He was not alone on the ship; besides the crew, there were two others.
Daisy and Jane.
After dealing with Mangog, he had returned to Wakanda once. Hearing that he was going to the Universe, both of them requested to go with him.
One had an endless love for the sky and the Universe, while the other felt a bit bored in Wakanda.
Perhaps a novel and safe cosmic adventure would be a good choice?
"I didn't expect even the Queen of a God to be your lover."
Having left Asgard and sailing through the Universe, Daisy, with fair skin and a voluptuous figure, crossed her arms and pouted.
"It's already spread on Earth that I have a close relationship with Asgard."
Ron said with a smile, a faint light flickering in his eyes.
After he killed the Serpent, the United States on Earth released satellite footage, publicizing his close relationship with Asgard, but not to give him fame.
Some ancient records remaining on Earth documented the existence of the Serpent Kuurth. His identity was confirmed to be an Asgardian God.
Various countries on Earth, led by the U.S., all stated that the great disaster suffered by Earth was very likely an unforeseen calamity caused by internal strife within Asgard.
As for what role Ron played in it, and whether he indirectly caused this event, they couldn't say.
What couldn't be said was merely what they dared not say.
Although they didn't name names, they secretly tried to pin the blame on Ron, wanting to incite all countries globally to oppose or even become hostile to him.
"I knew it was close, but I didn't expect it to be this close."
Daisy shook her head. She glanced at her watch: "Time's up, it's time to take the medicine."
Observing the vast and beautiful Universe through the transparent porthole, Jane turned her head, smiled at Ron, then turned to Daisy: "Don't you dislike that medicine?
You think it tastes bad."
Daisy pulled out a tube of green liquid, tilted her head back, and drank it. A strange taste made her face wrinkle, like she had eaten sour grapes.
"No choice. Although I think vast cosmic adventures and such are cool, safety comes first.
Even though this tube of medicine tastes bad, and I really don't like the ability it gives me, it brings me a sense of security."
The Universe is full of dangers, such as the ubiquitous vacuum environment.
In space, there is not only ultra-low temperature that can freeze a person into an icicle, but also air pressure much lower than that inside the human body. No matter how good a normal person's physical fitness is, they cannot withstand rapid hypoxia and violent pressure changes in a short time.
Once a person is exposed to space, their lungs will be ruptured by rapidly expanding gases due to pressure changes, their eardrums will be torn by the sudden impact, and even their blood will boil and vaporize due to pressure changes.
This applies not only to humans but also to other species in the Universe. Among the countless intelligent species in the vast Universe, those capable of surviving in space without the aid of a spacesuit are few and far between.
Asgardians are called Gods by people in the Universe, and one reason for this is their ability to survive in space with their bare bodies.
"I'm already trying my best to maintain my weight, but this super-powered potion gave me such an ability. It's simply fate mocking me."
After taking the potion, Daisy's face flushed, the veins in her neck protruded, and her whole body felt a bit hot, but this was a normal phenomenon after initial consumption. She fanned herself with her hand, complaining.
Ron chuckled at her words.
Temporary Compound V, under his command, was promoted nationwide to see if powerful superhumans could be unearthed.
The first batch of results was not good. Daisy, after hearing about the temporary Compound V potion, curiously asked for a tube.
Who wouldn't want a superpower?
As a result, Daisy coincidentally awakened a powerful ability, becoming the strongest superhuman discovered by the temporary Compound V potion to date.
Her awakened ability was called Density Control. She could freely control her own density, from being almost non-existent and able to pass through objects.
To being comparable to Vibranium, with her strength increasing as her density increased.
However, increasing density would undoubtedly also increase weight, and no woman liked becoming hundreds of pounds or even as heavy as a small truck.
Especially a woman with a full figure, close to slightly plump, who pays attention to her weight.
"Unlike you, Ron gave you the Meow-Meow Hammer, and you gained the physique of an Asgardian just by holding it. Even if something unexpected happens to the spaceship now, you can be safe in space."
Daisy said with some envy.
"Unlike me, who has to drink medicine every day."
"Didn't Ron let you try it too?"
On Jane's workstation for studying cosmic data, a pink Meow-Meow Hammer, like a toy, sat on the corner of the table.
Looking at that hammer, she felt a slight sense of happiness, secretly glanced at Ron, and smiled slightly.
"But you couldn't even lift it, so you can't blame Ron."
After Daisy, Jane also awakened her ability under the temporary Compound V potion.
She could create a bubble membrane, almost as strong as steel, which could protect herself and also be released to protect others.
Both scientists and researchers only requested Ron after ensuring they wouldn't be a burden on the spaceship.
However, Ron felt it still wasn't enough, so he asked Thor for his Thor's Hammer.
After Thor got Stormbreaker, he increasingly neglected the Meow-Meow Hammer, which had once damaged his reputation, and easily handed over the Meow-Meow Hammer, which he had originally regarded as a comrade-in-arms.
Jane also lived up to her performance in the comics of lifting Thor's Hammer and becoming Female Thor, successfully lifting Thor's Hammer and gaining Thor's physique and strength.
After the two joked for a while, Jane turned her head and asked.
"By the way, Ron.
Where is our destination for this voyage?"
Sitting in a chair, Ron looked at the cosmic starry sky, clutched a silver-white metallic glove that shimmered on his palm, and said with a smile.
"On an abandoned Planet called Morag."
"What are we going there for?" Curiosity rose on Daisy's face. Why an abandoned Planet?
"Treasure hunting."
"Treasure hunting? That sounds great." She was slightly excited.
A hint of anticipation also appeared in Jane's beautiful eyes. On-site exploration of an alien Planet, a feat no one on Earth had ever achieved, was beckoning to her.
He stared at the silver-white glove on his hand, which seemed to be one with him, and said nothing.
On Nidavellir, he learned from Thor why Odin had abandoned the Infinity Gauntlet.
Ten days ago, Thor recounted that unknown secret with a heavy heart.
"My father, Odin, once possessed four Infinity Stones.
The first two he owned were two ancestral stones, one of which was the Space Stone. Our Bifrost Bridge was developed by studying it.
Then there was the Aether Particle, which was once controlled by the Dark Elves, also known as the Reality Stone.
The leader of the Dark Elves once wanted to use it to return the Universe to darkness, but was defeated by my grandfather, Bor, who took the original stone and sealed it away."
"The third was the Time Stone, which my father took from a group of sorcerers in Midgard."
"When he obtained three Infinity Stones, my father was incredibly excited; his journey to collect the stones was halfway complete."
"But after that, strange things happened. My father felt something was wrong. He always had a vague feeling that something was peeking at him, but he couldn't detect it."
At first, Odin, the King of the Gods, thought it was just an illusion, but when he searched for the fourth Mind Stone in the Universe, that feeling became even clearer, making him uneasy.
To figure out this problem, Odin went to the center of the Nine Realms, where a true World Tree was rooted and hidden in the void.
He drank from the Well of Wisdom and hung himself upside down on the World Tree.
After seven days and seven nights, he finally learned the answer to the problem.
"Later, my father finally understood that it wasn't peeking, but looking down.
Just as a mortal inadvertently catches the attention of Gods high in the clouds, causing the Gods to cast their gaze.
After he hung upside down on the World Tree for seven days and seven nights, when his consciousness was blurred, in his distorted vision of the starry sky, several indescribable terrifying presences, with majestic bodies, cast their gazes upon him.
Compared to any of them, he seemed as weak as an ant."
Odin knew that his process of collecting the Infinity Stones had attracted these gazes. Those gazes seemed to be able to see through his thoughts, and he had no secrets before that group of people; every thought was insighted.
The World Tree finally told him that the Infinity Stones controlled power capable of changing the Universe, and anyone who tried to collect them and use their power would attract those gazes.
Each of them was almost an existence transcendent to the Universe, and generally would not casually appear before mortals or interfere with the operation of the Universe.
But if someone wanted to use the stones to destroy the Universe, or do something they didn't want to see, they would, after discerning that person's thoughts, stop and punish him an instant before he put the stones into action.
"After my father learned of this, disgust, resistance, and fear arose simultaneously.
Compared to those great existences, my father was like a weak ant, and Asgard was like a weak anthill."
On the spaceship seat, Ron returned from his memories, slowly tapping the seat with his five fingers, his eyes flickering.
As a king, Odin was proud. He was not accustomed to being looked down upon like a monkey in a circus, nor did he like every thought in his mind being constantly observed by a group of people.
What if he obtained all six Infinity Stones? No one knew if his idea of dominating the Universe would be approved by those guys.
If he wanted to use the power of the stones, he still had to get approval from a group of guys, and who knew which thought might displease those existences and incur punishment.
At the same time, the gap between Asgard and those few figures was too great, like between a human and a group of ants, making him uneasy.
Humans sometimes pull off a bug's wings, or its legs, and watch it struggle for amusement.
Sometimes they casually pour hot water into an anthill. This brings no benefit to humans; it's just for fun and amusement.
Being constantly watched by those existences, Odin feared that one day Asgard would also become ants and an anthill that others played with and destroyed out of momentary interest.
"He gave up the idea of collecting the Infinity Stones to dominate the Universe, and like avoiding a plague, he returned the Time Stone to Midgard and threw the Mind Stone back into the Universe.
He only kept the Space Stone and Reality Stone that Asgard originally possessed.
He even sealed the Reality Stone and put the Space Stone on Earth."
"Two."
Ron murmured softly.
"The number of Infinity Stones a person can possess without attracting attention is two."
Once it reaches three, half of the six Infinity Stones will attract the attention of those powerful existences transcendent to the Universe.
The more stones collected, the more attention attracted, and thoughts are constantly monitored.
"That group of existences should be Eternity, Infinity, and them."
The Universe has five major cosmic entities: Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Oblivion, as well as Galactus.
However, sometimes saying four is also acceptable, because Galactus is generally not on the same power level as the other four.
He also doesn't control certain laws like the four cosmic entities; he just has very strong cosmic energy.
"Each of them was born with the Universe, and each represents a part of the Universe."
It could be said that they are the Universe, and the Universe is them.
If someone wanted to use the power of the Infinity Stones to cause chaos in the Universe, they certainly wouldn't be willing.
In the comics, the Universe's restriction on the Infinity Stones was that everyone would ignore their power, except for Thanos, who had seen the Well of Eternity and was the first to break this rule.
But in the CU, the protective measure seems to be these four beings themselves. Whoever collects three Infinity Stones will attract their attention.
"But why was Thanos able to collect all six stones and snap his fingers, killing half the people in the Universe?
Because of Death?"