Actually, Red Skull didn't know that Finney's actions weren't just a charade; he genuinely harbored thoughts of joining Hydra.
Or rather, Finney was preparing for the future.
After this incident, Finney would certainly not easily let go of the Space Stone. He was determined to have the Tesseract; not only S.H.I.E.L.D., but even Asgard couldn't keep it! Therefore, preparing to be enemies with Nick Fury beforehand wasn't a bad thing. If Nick Fury dared not hand over the Tesseract after returning to Earth, he would immediately join Hydra.
He didn't believe Red Skull didn't have any die-hard fans.
Filming the video was to preserve evidence; joining would make him a leader. Whether he admitted it or not was secondary; legitimacy was paramount.
Of course, if none of this happened, Finney could simply be a solitary leader, telling no one. Later, when dealing with Hydra, he could consider it cleaning house, without affecting his current actions.
Red Skull was unaware of Finney's inner thoughts. The moment he finished filming the video, he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders, and his entire being felt much lighter.
Putting away his phone, Finney looked at the bewildered Red Skull and comforted him, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Hydra when we get back."
"If there's a chance, I might even bring someone to see you."
Red Skull had no doubt that Finney could do it. Leaving aside Finney's incredibly powerful abilities, the bald teacher who had appeared before was enough to prove that Finney definitely had the potential to succeed.
Hearing Finney say this, Red Skull suddenly felt a surge of anticipation.
"But they'll be ashamed when they find out you're so weak,"
Finney noticed Red Skull's expression and teased him slightly.
"That's just because you're too strong."
Red Skull wasn't fooled. He still doubted whether the changes on Earth were really that significant, or whether Finney was just an extremely rare exception.
Despite saying this, Red Skull no longer resisted fighting; if it could make him stronger, he wanted to become stronger too.
After handing over the leadership, Red Skull's strength had indeed increased significantly, which greatly surprised Finney. He should have agreed to Red Skull's request sooner.
However, even with the increased strength, Red Skull was still no match for Finney, and the final result was still defeat.
After a day of fighting, Finney summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to prepare food for it. This task was much more laborious than fighting Red Skull.
He needed to calm his mind, clear his thoughts, then use the Golden Grand Evolution Technique to gather the wandering energy on the planet, while simultaneously using his thoughts to create a small energy ball in a manner similar to a miniature Ark Reaction.
The slightest mistake in this process would lead to failure.
After working hard for a long time, looking at the glowing energy ball in his hand, Finney let out a long sigh and threw it to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
After three months of feeding, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's third star was already very clear, and it seemed that evolution was not far off.
This filled Finney with eager anticipation, as he planned to try infusing the Soul Stone with energy again after the Blue-Eyes White Dragon evolved to three stars.
Once he could absorb the gem's energy, he wouldn't have to worry about dragon food anymore, and he could also look forward to the legendary dragon's power.
Time passed slowly.
While Finney steadily improved his strength on Vormir, on another edge of the distant universe, a certain prince was living a difficult life.
"I am a god! The master of Asgard!"
Loki clenched his fists and roared angrily at the strangely shaped creature in front of him, which was about to attack him.
"Roar!"
The creature roared back, seemingly in response, then opened its blood-red maw and charged forward, but when it was about to bite Loki's neck, it unexpectedly passed right through him. Then, a spear pierced its gaping, blood-red maw, a gruesome sight.
"So you don't understand the power of a god at all!"
Not far away, the real Loki emerged from his hiding place, looking at the creature with its head pierced, a look of disgust and revulsion on his face.
Thinking of the delicacies of Asgard, a longing expression crept onto his face.
Loki then took out his dagger, skillfully disposed of the corpse, and used magic to start a fire, beginning to prepare his dinner. But just then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
Loki's body trembled violently, and he looked up at the gloomy sky, unable to help but think of the events of eight months ago that had led him to this state.
"I was right!"
Loki roared at the sky, his face filled with hatred, complex emotions, and jealousy.
But just as he finished roaring, an energy blast suddenly struck from the side, blasting him away. This time, he hadn't prepared any magic beforehand.
Fortunately, the frost giant's physique was not weak, and after being hit by the energy blast, he was not seriously injured.
Loki, not bothering to question who was right or wrong, quickly found cover and looked in the direction the energy blast had been fired. He discovered it was a Chitauri, who, judging from their attire, appeared to be a soldier.
Loki was aware of
this infamous invading race in the universe. He hadn't expected to encounter them in this godforsaken corner of the universe, but for him, it was a good thing. He'd been adrift here for eight months since falling from the Rainbow Bridge, and finally, he had a way to escape.
"Hey!"
Loki used magic to create an illusion, raising his hands to indicate harmlessness as he stepped out, intending to communicate.
But given the Chitauri's cosmic reputation, they were certainly not good talkers. Before Loki could utter a word, the Chitauri fired a bullet.
Fortunately, Loki used magic; the bullet passed through the illusion and struck a rock behind it.
Seeing this, Loki decided against further conversation. He noticed a tracking device on the Chitauri. The Chitauri were a race without a fixed planet to inhabit; they mostly lived on their mothership, always ready to invade other planets.
Therefore, Loki believed their mothership must be nearby.
Dealing with a gun-wielding Chitauri soldier was a piece of cake for Loki, who considered himself a god, even after so long of hardship.
Holding the map device he'd ripped from the soldier, Loki forgot about dinner and hurriedly began searching for his target.
When he arrived at the indicated location and saw the massive mothership in the sky, a wicked smile finally appeared on his face, as if he'd thought of something delightful.
Using magic and trickery, Loki infiltrated the mothership.
He cautiously made his way to the captain's cabin, intending to subdue the Chitauri leader first, but before he could act, he was discovered.
"Who!?"
The Chitauri were capable of thriving in space, and their leader was no ordinary person. Loki, having drifted for eight months, was starving and had been shot—his weakest point.
So Loki was defeated, humiliatingly defeated by a Chitauri.
But just as the Chitauri leader ignored Loki's sweet talk and prepared to eliminate him, a communication message suddenly came through on the control panel.
Seeing this message, the Chitauri leader was clearly startled. Forgetting about dealing with Loki, he restrained him with a device and immediately reconnected the communication.
The Third Princess has appeared! The next plot development isn't far off.
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(End of Chapter)