After tucking Daisy into bed for a restful sleep, Peter made his way over to find Mantis, who was currently squatting before a massive aquarium, observing the swimming goldfish with absolute wonder.
The instant she spotted Peter, an adorable, radiant smile bloomed across her face. The warm, serene waves of pure contentment radiating from Peter were the ultimate delicacy for her empathic senses:
"Ah~ so much happiness! It feels like little pink bubbles are floating all around you. It's wonderful!"
Peter pinched her cheeks as if playing with a porcelain doll, then retrieved the Pumpkin (Roman Artillery) from his spatial ring and handed it over:
"Here, a gift for you."
"A gift?" Mantis accepted the sleek imperial firearm with delicate care, her large eyes sparkling with excitement.
Even though she had lived for nearly a century, this was the very first time anyone had ever given her a present.
"What is this? It's so pretty!" Mantis tilted the device curiously, pointing the barrel straight at her own forehead.
Cold sweat broke out across Peter's brow. He quickly lunged forward, grabbing the barrel to forcefully redirect its trajectory away from her head:
"This is a gun—a long-range offensive weapon. It converts your mental and spiritual focus straight into concussive ammunition."
"You channel your spiritual energy into the core, then press right here..."
Before he could finish his sentence, his Observation Haki chimed a sudden, piercing alert inside his mind.
Without a shred of hesitation, Peter yanked the barrel around to point straight at his own chest while coating his torso in Armament Haki Hardening!
BOOM!
A dense, blinding energy beam as thick as a grown man's upper arm slammed dead-center into Peter's chest.
The concussive torrent poured out for three to four continuous seconds before dissipating into thin air, leaving the Pumpkin smoking slightly as its internal thermal safety kicked in.
Hiss~
Peter drew in a sharp breath, reflexively rubbing his chest.
Truth be told, that kick was remarkably heavy.
The destructive density was significantly higher than anything Mine had ever pulled off in the original Akame ga Kill! series.
With his current constitution fortified by Armament Haki, Peter could tank Iron Man's repulsor blasts without flinching. Yet absorbing this direct hit from the Pumpkin left a faint, stinging ache on his skin—roughly equivalent to a sharp pinch.
If he hadn't blocked the muzzle with his own body, a shot like that would have punched clean through SHIELD's fortified bunker walls, pierced straight out onto the street, and incinerated an entire city block.
And that had merely been an accidental, casual flex of Mantis's raw spiritual reserve...
"Handing this weapon to you was definitely the right call!"
Peter patted her head, delivering a stern, deliberate warning:
"Remember, don't mess around with this casually. This is strictly reserved for saving your life in life-or-death emergencies."
Having seen Peter grimace while tanking the shot, Mantis realized just how terrifying the weapon was. She nodded obediently, promising she would never treat it like a regular toy.
Yet the moment Peter walked out the door, she cuddled the firearm like a child with a brand-new doll, muttering softly to herself:
"If I only use... say, one-thousandth of the mental output I used just now, it should be fine, right?"
Moments later... faint "pew-pew-pew~" sounds echoed continuously from the private quarters.
By the time the female agent assigned to deliver her dinner pushed open the door, the room's interior looked as though it had survived a heavy artillery bombardment, nearly scaring the poor operative into a dead faint on the spot.
Peter's final stop was a secluded estate on the outskirts of New York—Sif's private residence and personal training facility.
Inside the courtyard, Sif was methodically wiping down her broadsword with singular focus.
Her standard weapon was considered a low-tier divine relic in its own right. While it lacked flashy magical enchantments, it possessed seamless modular transformation. Normally functioning as a two-handed greatsword, twisting the hilt separated it into dual blades, while locking the pommels together formed a double-ended polearm.
"Your current blade is great, but I strongly recommend giving this one a spin."
Peter stepped forward, presenting an exquisite blade swathed in rich, embroidered silk.
"What is this?" Sif paused her routine, her eyes locking onto the bundle.
"The Sword of Promised Victory—Excalibur." Peter untied the silk wraps, revealing the radiant golden holy blade beneath.
"In Earth's legends, this is the sacred sword wielded by the King of Knights, blessed by the Lady of the Lake."
Sif's breath caught in her throat for a split second. As a battle-hardened Asgardian warrior, she could immediately sense the extraordinary sanctity humming within the metal.
This was no decorative showpiece; its structural integrity and cutting power were on par with—if not surpassing—the divine weapons personally forged in the royal armories of Asgard!
She reached out, wrapping her fingers around the hilt. The blade emitted a low, resonant hum, as if greeting its new master.
"It is beautiful... and remarkably powerful!" Sif infused a trace of her divine energy into the core.
HUMMM—!
A visible sheath of golden holy light ignited along the blade. With a casual forward slash, a crescent of golden sword-aura erupted outward, cleaving the training dummies across the yard in two!
"Incredible!" Even Sif was taken aback by the destructive output, a brilliant smile illuminating her face.
Throwing her arms around Peter's neck, she beamed:
"Thank you! I love it! However..."
Her expression dimmed slightly as she looked down at the crossguard:
"I can sense that I don't possess its full, absolute recognition yet. I cannot unleash its true, ultimate release... As I am right now, I am not entirely worthy of it."
She extended her arms to return Excalibur to Peter.
"What are you talking about?" Peter tapped her forehead playfully.
"Train alongside me for a while, and you'll earn its complete approval in no time!"
"Besides, leaving this blade in my storage ring will only let it gather dust. Placing it in your hands is the only way for its light to truly shine across the realms."
To put her mind entirely at ease, Peter drew his Vibranium Tang Dao, and with a thought, summoned Senbonzakura beside it:
"See? I'm hardly running short on blades~ And whenever I truly need it..."
Peter gestured with his hand.
Excalibur glided smoothly back into his grip. Channeling his boundless cosmic energy into the hilt, a pillar of holy radiance shot straight into the stratosphere, illuminating the afternoon sky brightly enough to catch the eyes of citizens across New York.
The pillar vanished in less than a second as Peter recalled the energy, leaving city onlookers to wonder if they had hallucinated a localized aurora.
"When the situation calls for it, it will unleash its peak glory just the same. In our hands, this sword won't be forgotten—it will carve out a legend far greater than its previous masters ever dreamed."
Hearing these words, Sif's lingering doubts dissolved entirely. Carefully strapping Excalibur to her waist, she wrapped her arms around Peter like a clingy octopus, whispering against his ear:
"In that case... let me think carefully about what I can do to properly repay such a generous gift~"