Heimdall felt deeply uneasy seeing Thor's overconfident demeanor. He knew this impulsive Thor far too well. Every instance of inflated confidence was usually followed by a painful lesson.
"Thor! You cannot be so reckless! We need to plan carefully..." Heimdall wanted to continue trying to persuade him, but Thor gave him no opportunity at all.
He walked outside the Bifrost Bridge hub, turned back, and gave Heimdall an arrogant smile. Then, with a wave of his right hand, Stormbreaker carried him soaring into the sky, heading straight toward the Royal Palace vault.
Heimdall watched Thor's receding figure, sighed helplessly, and could only pray that he would truly be invincible as he claimed.
... Europe, the Koch Manor deep within the Black Forest. This ancient medieval manor, hidden among mountains and dense fog, looked dilapidated on the outside, but its interior was equipped with the World's top medical and security facilities. This was also the secret assembly point of the "Glory Society."
In the manor's circular council chamber, the core members of the Glory Society gathered once again.
Among these people were conglomerate patriarchs who controlled the global financial lifeline, veteran politicians who had once manipulated major national elections from behind the scenes, as well as prominent hereditary nobles and religious leaders. They were once the people who truly called the shots on this Planet. And now, they all shared one common trait: they were old.
The sound of labored breathing echoed throughout the conference room. Behind some of them stood private Doctors, using cutting-edge life-support equipment to maintain their life's flame, which could extinguish at any moment. At this moment, this group of old men who controlled the dark side of the World was staring intensely at the center of the hall.
Kaecilius stood there with his hands behind his back, his expression calm. Beside him stood a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and well-developed muscles. Yet, ten minutes ago, this young man was an eighty-two-year-old, dying old servant of the manor.
At this moment, the old servant ripped off the oxygen mask on his face and tore away the IV line on his arm. His once shriveled muscles became full again, his skin, previously covered in age spots, regained its luster, and his sparse white hair turned into thick black hair. He had actually transformed into an energetic young man in his twenties or thirties!
"Youth..." On the high platform, a council member in blue robes let out a weak and trembling cry, his eyes filled with unconcealable greed. Youth. It was exactly what this bunch of old immortals present desired most and could not refuse.
They had long secretly funded "The Hand."
In exchange, The Hand regularly provided them with "Longevity Serum." That was their only way to extend their lives. The woman named Alexandra always made excuses, claiming that new serum was in production and needed time.
But they had no time left. Many of them had bodily functions that had deteriorated to the extreme, and they could take their last breath at any moment. And now, Kaecilius had shown them a miracle more perfect than The Hand's Longevity Serum.
"So, Master Kaecilius. What are your conditions?" a council member in yellow robes asked slowly.
"My conditions are simple." Kaecilius looked around at everyone, "Use the resources and armed forces at your disposal to cooperate with me in destroying the New York Sanctum and the Hong Kong Sanctum."
Once these words were spoken, the elderly group exchanged glances. "We do not know what a Sanctum is," a council member in white robes frowned, "but the locations you provided are restricted zones that Vought International is currently forcibly evacuating. Homelander said at a press conference that they are the dimensional defense centers against the Universe's evil gods." He stared fixedly at Kaecilius's panda-like eyes. "Are you perhaps a follower of that evil god who wants to destroy the World, Dormammu?"
Kaecilius smiled contemptuously. "Evil god? Destroying the World?"
He shook his head and said, "Gentlemen, this is merely a lie fabricated by Homelander to maintain his dictatorship."
"Look at yourselves." Kaecilius pointed around at the old men. "Time is killing you. Disease, aging, death... these are the curses the World has given you."
"Death is not a natural law; it is a design flaw. It is a humiliation imposed upon humanity."
"And Dormammu, he is a great existence that transcends time and space. He will not destroy the World; he will only accept us."
"As long as you open your mind and body, accept his power, and move toward true evolution! Achieving... Eternity."
"Homelander fears Dormammu, because once the true savior arrives, his tricks will no longer work. The Vought International empire he built, his heroic myth, will all crumble before Dormammu."
"Therefore, he wants to stop us, to block us from embracing Eternity."
Kaecilius lowered his arms and bowed slightly. "I leave the choice to you: will you wait for death on a hospital bed like useless trash, or will you join me in welcoming Eternity?"
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent. Heavy breathing rose and fell beneath oxygen masks.
"Master." An elderly man in red robes sitting in the main seat slowly raised his hand, "Please go to the guest room to rest first; we need to discuss this."
Kaecilius nodded slightly and turned to walk out of the council chamber. The oak doors closed, and the old men looked at each other, waiting for someone else to speak.
"We cannot completely trust his words!" The old man in blue robes broke the silence first, "What if that is really a monster attempting to destroy the World? If the World is gone, even if we have Eternity, what use would it be?"
"Then do you have a better choice?!" The council member in white robes slapped the table with effort, "Those useless trash from The Hand have cut off the supply for a long time! The Doctor says I can live for at most three more months! I don't care about any World destruction; I just want to live!"
"Well said." The council member in yellow robes replied coldly, "Besides, do we have anything left to lose now?"
"Our companies, our family assets, are almost all being squeezed dry by them! We have forty-three percent of the shares in the four major grain conglomerates! With one word from Homelander, and the federal government fabricating any charge, Vought International justifiably annexes them all!"
"If things continue like this, what will we have left?"
"We will soon lose all power and status, and can only hold onto those pitiful hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in our bank accounts and live the life of a pauper!"
"How is this any different from the destruction of the World!" The council member in yellow robes excitedly ripped the needle from his arm and said loudly. "Now, the appearance of Dormammu is the best opportunity to overthrow Vought International's rule!"
The council members nodded one after another; the relentless pressure from Vought International and the federal government had almost pushed them to the edge of a cliff. Just as emotions were running high, the old man in red robes at the main seat sighed deeply and threw out a cold, hard fact.
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