Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

Time slips away quietly.

Shen Jue has been staying in the Black Watch Tower and rarely goes out during this period. His research and experiments have consumed most of his energy.

After all, climbing the technology tree, while extremely simple for Shen Jue, is still a problem that needs to be solved.

Organizations like Hydra ceased operations after Shen Jue instantly altered the consciousness and souls of the gangs on the list within the New York area.

It didn't jump onto Shen Jue's face again.

During this period, the world has been in turmoil.

A mysterious hammer-wielding, lightning-wielding man crashes in America and experiences a series of events.

When the blond giant tried to swing a hammer in the desert town, Shen Jue, sensing it, simply shook his head slightly.

That was Thor, the crown prince of Asgard, son of Odin, a near-god alien banished to Earth.

Thor was later tricked by his brother Loki, and then perished with the Destroyer to save humanity. In the end, he regained the power of Thor and returned to Asgard.

In Shen Jue's eyes, this series of events was nothing more than a family drama.

However, Dr. Selvig and Jane Foster, who were recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., came in handy in the later research on the Cosmic Cube.

New Mexico, deep in the desert.

Hundreds of feet underground, a massive research facility is descending into chaos.

The ceiling lights flickered intermittently, the alarm blared low and urgent, and researchers in white lab coats and fully armed security personnel mingled and surged through the corridor.

Trucks reversed in the tunnel, helicopters circled overhead—everything pointed to the same evacuation order.

As Nick Fury's helicopter landed, a fierce gust of wind whipped up a cloud of yellow sand.

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. strode down the gangway, his black trench coat billowing in the air.

Behind him, Natasha Romanov followed silently, her steps so light that they didn't seem like those of a woman in a tight-fitting combat suit.

In the shadows at the base entrance, a man was already waiting.

Clint Barton leaned against the door frame, his hands in the pockets of his tactical vest, his bow not in his hands but slung diagonally behind his back.

He didn't look like a secret agent about to face an unknown crisis; he looked more like an ordinary person waiting for friends to come to a bar for drinks.

Clint Francis Barton, codenamed Hawkeye, is a Level 7 agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

He had no superpowers, no enhancement serum, no Iron Man armor; all he had was a mortal body and a pair of eyes that had been honed to an almost inhuman level.

His quiver was filled with all sorts of arrows, including explosive arrows, electromagnetic arrows, grappling hook arrows, and other special arrows.

Shen Jue had wondered what the significance of this guy's appearance in the Avengers was.

Because Hawkeye once used a composite bow to fight against alien invaders who invaded Earth.

Seriously, what kind of madness would one have to use a composite bow to shoot at aliens with space creature warships?

Just like Black Widow Natasha, Shen Jue seriously suspects that the reason Hawkeye is able to stay in the Avengers is because, like Natasha, he has a sculpted butt that dazzles the Avengers.

"How's the situation?" Fury approached, his voice low.

Barton didn't answer immediately; he glanced at Natasha and nodded slightly.

Natasha responded with an almost imperceptible nod.

"This is not good, sir." Patton turned and led the way, his voice calm.

"Dr. Selvig said the Rubik's Cube spontaneously generated an energy pulse four hours ago; he didn't touch it, and it moved on its own."

Fury paused for a moment: "It moved on its own?"

"It moved on its own," Barton repeated, his tone devoid of any extra emotion.

"Hey! The matter of Father Shen Jue isn't completely resolved yet, and now the Rubik's Cube, on which we've placed so much hope, has run into trouble again!"

Fury chuckled self-deprecatingly and continued, "At this rate, I might as well quit and join Blackwatch!"

"At least they are genuinely protecting humanity from illness."

"Father Shen Jue certainly wouldn't mind if I became a security guard for Blackwatch."

The three walked through a corridor covered with radiation warning signs, and the indicator lights on the walls changed from green to amber.

At the end of the corridor is a heavy blast door, behind which lies the core of the entire base.

That's the research hall of the Cosmic Cube.

Phil Coulson waited at the door, clutching a constantly updated data panel.

"Sir, the energy readings are still climbing, and Dr. Selvig is already inside."

Fury pushed open the door and went inside.

In the center of the hall, the Cosmic Cube floats in a ring-shaped energy accelerator.

It was a cube with sides less than a foot long, its surface shimmering with a faint blue light.

It's quiet now, but everyone knows that the quiet is only temporary.

Eric Selvig stood beside the accelerator, his hands resting on the control panel, his gaze fixed on the Rubik's Cube with both the obsession of a scientist and something closer to fear.

"Doctor." Fury walked up to him.

Selvig turned back and said, a fervent look in his eyes, which made Fury frown.

"Sir...it's not just releasing energy."

"It's...responding to some kind of existence!"

"It's like... it's like something is calling to it from the other side!"

"What is that?!"

Selvig buried his head in his hands, his eyes bloodshot: "I don't know! But if it continues like this..."

The Rubik's Cube suddenly lit up.

The light burst forth instantly, turning the entire hall into a mixture of pale white and azure blue.

The ground shook violently, and pieces of concrete fell from the ceiling.

The alarm suddenly blared, and the red emergency lights flashed wildly.

Fury instinctively took a step back and placed his hand on the gun at his waist.

Barton reacted even faster, drawing the bowstring taut in less than half a second, aiming an explosive arrow at the air above the Rubik's Cube.

His eyes narrowed, his pupils contracted, and his breathing was so steady that it seemed out of place with the surrounding earth-shaking tremors.

"Everyone back off!" Fury roared.

Blue light converged above the Rubik's Cube, and the space, like a crumpled piece of paper, began to twist and fold.

Then, a crack tore through the air itself, revealing a cold darkness and a whisper from the farthest reaches of the earth.

A figure stepped out from the crack.

He wore black leather and gold armor, and the horned helmet on his head gleamed with a cold metallic sheen in the blue light.

He held a long staff inlaid with a blue gemstone, the gemstone at the tip of the staff echoing the light of the Cosmic Cube.

That's Loki, the cunning god of Asgard and Thor's plastic brother.

His gaze swept over everyone in the hall, a slight smile playing on his lips.

It was an extremely relaxed, almost joyful expression, as if he had not stumbled into a heavily guarded military base, but rather walked into a restaurant where he had already made a reservation.

"Please continue," Loki said softly, his tone so polite it was as if he were gesturing for someone not to get up for him.

Patton's arrow was on the bowstring.

Loki glanced at him, just once.

The tip of the scepter lifted slightly, and the light from the blue gem suddenly spread, flowing silently through the air like mercury.

Patton's wrist stiffened; his fingers were still on the bowstring, but the string had loosened and the arrowhead drooped.

Patton's eyes were still open, but his pupils seemed to be shrouded in a cold blue mist.

"Very good." Loki walked past him without even glancing at him, as if Barton had never been an obstacle that needed to be taken seriously.

His gaze fell on Selvig, who was frozen in place, also enveloped in blue light, his eyes unfocused.

"You two," Loki's voice was soft and clear, "come with me."

Patton put away his bow, turned around, and moved with mechanical and precise steps, like a machine whose instructions had been reset.

Fury had already drawn his gun, but Loki simply raised his scepter, and an energy pulse swept across the entire hall.

Fury and the other agents were knocked to the ground by an unseen force, while Loki walked toward the exit without looking back, followed by Selvig and Clint Barton.

Outside the base, the engines of off-road vehicles roared to life.

Loki sat in the passenger seat, Selvig gripped the steering wheel, and Patton sat in the back seat with his bow resting on his lap, his fingers unconsciously stroking the fletching of his arrows.

The base began to collapse behind them, and a huge crater was swallowing up the entire underground facility.

The shockwave from the explosion surged from deep underground, causing the entire desert to tremble.

Fury was thrown onto the pile of rubble by the blast wave, his black trench coat covered in sand, and a bloody scratch on his cheek from a flying pebble.

A hand grabbed his arm.

Natasha Romanov pulled him back from the brink of daze.

Her short hair was covered in dust, and the left shoulder of her tight-fitting suit was torn by gravel, revealing bloody abrasions underneath.

"Let's go!" She grabbed Fury and ran wildly out of the base.

Many agents followed behind them, and the collapsing base became a death sentence for everyone.

Only after everyone had escaped the base did they look back.

Natasha was also looking back.

Fury followed her gaze and saw that the original base had been turned into a crater.

Meanwhile, the edges of the pit were still collapsing sporadically, and sand poured down like a waterfall, making a dull rumble.

"Loki took the Rubik's Cube, Barton," Fury said. "And Selvig!"

Natasha stood there, the wind blowing through her gray-tinged red hair.

Her eyes appeared exceptionally deep in the night, like a turbulent lake, concealing something beneath the surface, but no one could see clearly.

"Natasha," Fury said, lowering his voice.

"I'm fine." She turned around to face Fury, her expression already back to its usual composure.

"I think we need Father Shen Jue's help."

Fury was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Natasha to say something like that.

Then, the Black director of S.H.I.E.L.D. took out a communicator from his pocket and pressed an encrypted channel.

"Coulson."

"Yes, sir." Coulson's voice came through the communicator, with the roar of engines in the background, indicating that he was already on the evacuation plane.

"Contact Stark, Rogers, and Banner."

Coulson paused for a moment: "All of them? Sir?"

"What happened?! I saw the base completely collapse!"

"Everything," Fury interrupted him. "Something unusual has happened."

"The guy we're dealing with this time isn't a gentle person like Father Shen Jue."

"Although it's unclear what the purpose of that guy dressed like an ancient person is."

"But that guy stole the Rubik's Cube, and he kidnapped Barton and Selvig too!"

"That damned ancient madman!"

"Immediately activate all permissions and lock down that guy's location!"

"If I can't handle Father Shen Jue, surely I can handle you, you ancient madman?!"

"Damn it!" Nick Fury roared in exasperation.

He was truly angered by Loki, that guy who disregarded life.

"Also! Contact Professor X!"

"It's time to let that alien taste the iron fist of mutants!"

Meanwhile, Shen Jue, who was far away in the Blackwatch headquarters building in New York, stopped his experiment, looked up through the ceiling, and gazed in the direction of Loki.

There lies the Tesseract, also known as the Space Stone.

In addition, Loki's scepter bears the Mind Stone.

As it happened, Shen Jue was quite interested in these two magical artifacts.