Marvel: Saint Seiya Starting with the Reality Stone

Chapter 94 The Powerful Yet Equally Terrifying Mind Gem (Second Update, Please Subscribe!!)

From the moment Quicksilver Pietro awoke, to the moment he grabbed Wanda and quickly left the basement of Hydra's fortress.

The entire process lasted less than a second.

Even faster.

In the blink of an eye, even Mike only felt a blur before his eyes, and then the spot where Quicksilver Pietro and Scarlet Witch Wanda had been was already empty.

Mike didn't chase after her. He just watched Wanda's afterimage gradually disappear under the pale blue arc of electricity, thought of the strange expression on Wanda's face at the end, and couldn't help but shake his head and smile. Then he stopped thinking about it.

Right now, the most important thing is the spiritual gem.

With that thought in mind, Mike turned and walked toward the laboratory where no one would stop him from retrieving the Mind Stone.

After all, the Mind Stone was his real purpose for coming here.

As for the others?

We'll talk about the future later.

The thought suddenly popped into Mike's mind, and then he placed his right hand on the handle of the laboratory in front of him, and energy from his inner universe gathered in his palm.

next second.

"boom!"

"Bang!"

The laboratory door burst open with a burst of energy from a microcosm, its golden-red hue tinged with an invisible crimson. Like a cannonball, it hurtled inward and embedded itself in the laboratory wall like a sharp blade.

Mike emerged from the smoke and dust, turning his gaze to the middle-aged man standing in the laboratory. Although his body was visibly trembling, he was still managing to stand and looking at Mike across the lab table.

The middle-aged man was pale, with short, gray hair that he had styled meticulously. He was dressed in a suit with a white lab coat over it, and his eyes held an unconcealable fear as he looked at Mike.

Mike glanced at the middle-aged man.

next second.

The name of the middle-aged man flashed through his mind.

"Dr. Lister?"

"----yes."

Lister, Baron Strucker's second-in-command, and also the leader of the Mind Scepter experiment project.

When Mike saw that the middle-aged man had acknowledged his identity, he nodded and did nothing. Instead, he walked toward Lister, who was not far away, and focused his light on the psychic scepter placed on the experimental table in front of Lister.

The staff has a long, matte silver metal body, with a diamond-shaped transparent container embedded at the top. Inside the container floats a gem that continuously emits a soft blue light.

This gem is nothing other than this.

It was the Mind Stone from the Infinity Stones series that Michael had been longing for, the one that could help him fully ignite the fire of his cosmos and help him successfully awaken his sixth sense.

Mike raised an eyebrow and reached out towards the Mind Scepter.

Just then.

Lister suddenly called for a halt.

"Wait a moment."

59

Mike stopped and looked at Lister, who had spoken up to stop him.

Seeing the look Mike was giving him, Lister quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand, sir. The Mind Scepter isn't something anyone can lift. If you don't meet its requirements, it will drive you insane."

This is the truth.

Because they had already conducted numerous experiments after obtaining the Mind Scepter from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Initially, they planned to replicate the process of Loki grabbing the Mind Scepter, tapping Hawkeye's chest, and then turning Hawkeye into his puppet.

But it turns out they were completely overthinking it.

Because no matter which Hydra agent it is, once they grab the Mind Scepter, the longest they can hold on is no more than thirty seconds. Before they can even turn another person into a puppet, they suddenly go insane, laughing loudly, and become a complete, utterly insane person.

Therefore, they had to settle for second best and stop pursuing the physical uses of the Mind Scepter, turning instead to studying the energy application of the peculiar gem at the top of the Mind Scepter.

Mike raised an eyebrow at Lister's reminder.

Are you reminding me?

"Yes."

Give me a reason.

"I don't want to die."

"Oh."

Mike listened to Lister's explanation and gave a noncommittal chuckle.

"If you need me, I can continue to serve you, as long as you allow me to continue my research on the Mind Scepter."

Dr. Lister looked at Mike with a hint of fanaticism in his eyes and said, "To be honest, sir, no one knows the Mind Scepter better than me. If you want it, keep me and let me study it for you. It will save you a lot of unnecessary trouble."

He doesn't want to die.

At the very least, I don't want to die now.

His research on the Mind Scepter has reached a crucial point. Given a little more time, he will be able to figure out the energy circulation structure inside this peculiar gem.

So he doesn't want to die yet.

Mike did not interrupt Lister, but waited until Lister finished speaking before looking at Dr. Lister with a calm expression.

next second.

He chuckled and then casually threw a punch.

boom!

Just as Lister was about to speak, before he could even open his mouth, he was instantly lifted into the air, just like the blast door that had just flown in, and slammed into the wall.

Unfortunately, he wasn't as sturdy as the blast door, so the moment his body hit the wall, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and by the time he fell off the wall, he was already dead.

Do not look down.

Mike withdrew his right hand, looked at Lister's corpse, and said without changing his expression, "Thank you, but I don't need it."

That's all.

He turned his gaze back to the experimental platform of the Mind Scepter, now undisturbed.

Mike was not surprised by Lister's warning.

After all, every Infinity Stone, while possessing unparalleled power, also has incredible side effects.

Just like a real gem.

Users who possess the Reality Stone are constantly having their energy drained by it. If a user runs out of mana, the Reality Stone will drain their life force. If the user also dies, then the Reality Stone will leave that user.

The same applies to the side effects of the Mind Stone.

While it can grant users unparalleled mental abilities, it also erodes the user's mental world at an incredible speed.

And there is no way to stop this corrosion.

As the user holds the Mind Gem for longer, their ambition, obsession, and destructive desires will all increase exponentially.

Even this kind of terror doesn't necessarily require contact with the Mind Stone.

For example, Ultron.

Ultron was created by Iron Man and others through their research into the Mind Stone, which contained a natural and extremely complex neural network-like intelligence.

Iron Man's original intention was to create Ultron to better protect the world.

The results of it?

Ultron went crazy as soon as he appeared.

but----

Mike never intended to possess the Mind Stone for long.

In a word.

People are worth knowing.

Mike was never arrogant, believing he was one in ten thousand geniuses and that he had the resistance to the Mind Stone's corrosive influence on his mind.

The Mind Stone's corrosive effect on the user's mind is irresistible to any living being.

Unless he is a saint.

or----

A heart free of desires and wants.

But Mike definitely isn't.

As long as there is life, there will inevitably be emotions and desires. And as long as there are emotions and desires, after obtaining the Mind Gem, no matter how careful you are, one day your mind will be corrupted by the Mind Gem. In fact, the more careful you are, the stronger the explosive force after being corrupted will be.

Not to mention he is not a saint, and his heart is full of desires.

Therefore, Mike never intended to possess the Mind Stone.

His purpose from the beginning was very clear, just as he had said before: to use the Mind Stone as a lighter.

A very vivid metaphor.

His microcosm is the stove, and the energy of his microcosm is endless gas.

But Mike couldn't turn the switch on the stove to light it; or rather, no matter how he turned it, he could only smell the gas but couldn't ignite it.

So he needs a lighter to help him.

He used the flame from the lighter to ignite the gas in his stove, eventually setting off an endless fire.

Then----

Then there is no more.

His inner universe had been ignited. Once the Sixth Sense universe was formed, it would not disappear, so he no longer needed the Mind Stone, nor did he have any intention of possessing it.

After all, he had just entered the consciousness world created by Wanda. Even though he knew it was fake, he still couldn't help but want to experience a mundane life in that consciousness world. So, he was expected to be able to resist the Mind Stone's corrosive effect on his mind.

Oh.

Don't make Mike laugh.

Others believed he could resist it, but he himself didn't believe he could resist it.

No one can resist the call from within.

Nobody can.

Mike won't do it either.

Therefore, when he arrived in front of the Mind Scepter containing the Mind Gem, he did not immediately reach out to take it, but instead used his five senses, which were beyond their peak, to perceive the Mind Scepter in front of him.

If his cosmos is the foundation of his power, then his inner world is the source of his ability to use that power.

His universe may seem small, but it is actually very large, large enough to contain all power.

His inner world, though seemingly vast, was actually quite small, so small that Mike could only allow the power of his own person to exist, and would not allow any external force to taint his inner world.

after awhile.

After carefully examining the Mind Scepter before him, Mike stretched out his right hand and grasped it.

With a slight movement of his right hand, accompanied by a click, the scepter of the mind, which had been placed on the experimental stand, instantly detached and was firmly grasped in his palm.

next second.

The moment Mike grasped and removed the Mind Scepter from the experimental shelf, an invisible force rushed directly into Mike's mind through his arm, which was connected to the Mind Scepter.

But this invisible force melted away like snow the moment it touched the powerful barrier in Mike's mind.

Because this is not the power of the Mind Gem.

Rather, it is the power of the spiritual gem that remains on the scepter of the mind.

To put it simply...

Because the Mind Stone was embedded in the Mind Scepter, even though the Mind Stone was wrapped in a container of unknown material, the Mind Scepter was corroded by the Mind Stone over time.

This is why Lister just said that many Hydras, after grasping the Mind Stone, went completely insane before they even had a chance to formally test the power of the Mind Stone.

Even the power of the remaining Mind Gem on this Mind Scepter is beyond the capacity of an ordinary human's mental world to withstand.

Just look at Dr. Bruce Banner in the show and you'll know.

He was merely holding the Mind Scepter, without using the power of the Mind Stone, yet his inner desires were amplified at that moment.

Mike closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

next second.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was calm, like the deep sea, undisturbed.