After boarding the spacecraft, Lucas quickly mastered its controls under the guidance of the onboard AI.
In truth, the more advanced a spaceship was, the simpler it was to operate. High-level vessels were almost always equipped with intelligent assistance systems that handled most of the piloting work for the operator.
"Get ready," Lucas said with a laugh.
"We're heading back to Asgard!"
With that, he directly piloted the ship toward the inverted spatial collapse entrance in the sky—the massive vortex known as the "Devil's Anus"
As the ship disappeared into the spatial whirlpool, the Grandmaster turned to look at the arena behind him, which had been reduced to near ruin. Yet his expression remained calm and indifferent.
He lightly lifted his foot, and the space around him rippled like the surface of water.
In the next instant, his entire body merged into the distortion.
A blink later, he reappeared more than thirty kilometers above the arena.
With a casual wave of his hand, the shattered stones and debris around the arena began to levitate into the air.
With a snap of his fingers, all the debris instantly broke down into countless microscopic particles—so small they were nearly invisible to the naked eye.
As if endowed with intelligence, those particles rapidly gathered and recombined on their own.
The entire arena began to repair itself at a speed visible to the eye, while the Grandmaster quietly observed from the sky.
In less than ten minutes, the arena was restored to its original, pristine state.
Even the massive ravine Lucas had blasted through the city outside was completely filled in, and the destroyed buildings reconstructed as if nothing had ever happened.
All Sakaar residents who witnessed this scene fell silent.
Whether they fully understood what had happened or not, they all felt deep reverence for the Grandmaster's overwhelming power.
They knew that under normal circumstances, the Grandmaster was easygoing. He allowed people to behave casually—sometimes even encouraged absurdity—as long as it amused him, rewarding them generously in return.
But once he chose to display his power, no one dared utter a single unnecessary word.
"Honored One, why didn't you allow me to act?"
A figure suddenly appeared behind the Grandmaster, speaking with faint dissatisfaction.
"He may be impressive, but he's not my equal."
The Grandmaster reclined on his floating chair and replied calmly,
"Kallark, are you certain you could defeat him if you fought?"
The figure stood nearly 2.7 meters tall. Beneath his red-and-blue bodysuit, every muscle was honed to perfection.
Despite his striking, crest-like head, his facial features were remarkably similar to those of a human.
His eyes glowed faintly gold, as if flames burned within them at all times.
"You mean… he was still hiding his true strength?" Kallark frowned.
"But I clearly sensed that he had already released all of his internal energy."
The Grandmaster smiled faintly.
"When judging the strength of a lifeform, the amount of energy does matter."
"But what truly defines combat power is energy utilization, energy density, and how that energy is combined and transformed."
Kallark fell silent, pondering his words.
The Grandmaster continued,
"That boy's body bears very obvious traces of rule-level modification. Normally, such beings are tightly bound by universal laws and cannot progress further."
"You know that feeling well."
"But he is different."
Kallark immediately asked,
"How is he different?"
The Grandmaster shook his head slightly.
"When I attempted to probe him, I was blocked by a special force—no, a rule."
"It appears some cosmic-level existence deliberately set it up to protect him."
Kallark's eyes darkened with caution.
"So a universe-level being is backing him…"
The Grandmaster replied calmly,
"That's why I didn't let you intervene. If the two of you truly fought, Sakaar wouldn't be enough to contain it."
"But don't worry. I'm certain you'll have another chance to face him in the future."
"Only then," he added, "whether you'll still be his match… is another question entirely."
Kallark's eyes gleamed with golden light as he smiled confidently.
"I look forward to that battle."
---
Inside the collapsing space tunnel, everything around them stretched and warped.
Yet inside the ship where Lucas and Hela stood, everything remained perfectly stable.
At that moment, the Tesseract was emitting a soft blue-white glow, enveloping the entire vessel.
The surrounding spatial turbulence couldn't affect the ship at all, nor could it produce any adverse effects.
Lucas looked at the Tesseract in his hand and thought for a moment, ultimately choosing not to crush its outer shell.
First, the Tesseract was still immensely helpful to him—he hadn't even fully mastered instant teleportation yet.
Second, no one knew whether he could truly control the Space Stone once it was fully released.
If he were accidentally flung to another place like the Hell Planet, there would be no one to blame but himself.
After all, it wasn't every day that one could conveniently run into a Sakaarian ship.
Third—and most importantly—Lucas remembered a theory he had once encountered:
that Red Skull being transported to Vormir was actually the will of the Soul Stone.
Even Lucas found that theory highly plausible.
The coincidence was simply too perfect—being sent directly to the Soul Stone's location and immediately chosen as its guardian.
And he firmly believed that the Infinity Stones shared a special connection with one another.
Because of this, Lucas decided that unless absolutely necessary, he would not break the Tesseract and release the Space Stone.
"You're becoming more and more adept at using the Tesseract,"
Hela remarked as she watched the faint blue energy swirling around Lucas.
"Back then, neither Odin nor I could wield its power this smoothly. At this rate, you'll soon be able to use it freely."
Lucas shifted his gaze away from the Tesseract and replied,
"This is barely scratching the surface. True mastery won't be easy."
Soon, the spatial collapse tunnel vanished in a burst of brilliant light.
What replaced it was a pitch-black cosmos, dotted with countless stars.
Looking up, they found themselves directly beneath Asgard.
Lucas narrowed his eyes.
One end of the collapse tunnel led to Asgard, and the other led straight to Sakaar.
If someone claimed there was no hidden connection here, he wouldn't believe it even if beaten to death.
That said, Lucas wasn't interested in unraveling that mystery.
What truly caught his attention were the crystal-like structures beneath Asgard.
"You're curious about those crystals, aren't you?"
Hela said, immediately noticing his expression.
"Yes," Lucas nodded. "Very curious."
"They're Rune Crystals—the core of Asgard," Hela explained.
"They convert cosmic radiation, universal rays, and all forms of ambient energy into the purest form of power, sustaining the entire realm under the king's control."
_____
T/N:
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