Svartalfheim.

This planet looks dry, yellow, barren, and lifeless on the surface.

But surprisingly, its air is actually suitable for humans to breathe.

This was already shown in the movie, when the future Jane Foster entered this planet—if the air wasn't safe, she would have died the moment she arrived. She wouldn't have even had the chance to come across the Aether.

However, ever since Odin's father, Bor, led the Asgardian army to defeat the Dark Elves thousands of years ago, this planet had been abandoned.

The reason is simple: although the air here is breathable, the planet gets almost no sunlight. The star of this system is hot, but very dim.

Because of this and the planet's unique environment, Svartalfheim is extremely dark.

Except for the Dark Elves who enjoy the darkness, most living beings would find it very hard to live here for long.

But this worked out well for Loki.

Just like Knowhere, where the Collector lives, Svartalfheim is one of the rare places hidden from Heimdall's sight. In the movie, Heimdall couldn't see Jane Foster when she accidentally arrived here, nor the surviving Dark Elves hiding here, nor even Thor and Loki when they came without Odin's permission.

So when Loki found the portal to this planet, he made it one of his secret bases.

After quietly leaving Asgard, Loki came here—to an ancient ruin left by the Dark Elves.

There was even a throne. Loki had sat on it more than once, dreaming about becoming king.

But as time passed, he slowly realized that the throne of Asgard was only a dream for him.

Sitting alone on the throne, Loki took out the magic message crystal Josh had left him.

He poured magic into it, and the crystal began to glow brightly.

Soon, Josh's hologram appeared above the crystal.

"Oh! You contacted me faster than I expected!" Josh was sipping tea with Howard the Duck on a spaceship when he saw the call from Loki.

"I'm a Frost Giant, aren't I?" Loki asked in a very empty, emotionless voice.

"It looks like you've touched the Casket of Ancient Winters. If so, you probably already know the answer, don't you?" Josh replied.

"But I'm clearly different from them!" Loki still refused to accept it.

"You're right. You are different. From the moment you were born, you were small—nothing like a Frost Giant's child. You actually looked more like a human baby. That's why Laufey abandoned you," Josh nodded and then revealed something even more shocking.

"What did you say? I'm the child of Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants? And I was abandoned, not taken by Odin as a war prize?" Josh's words hit Loki like thunder in his ears.

"That's right. Surprised? You're not only from a race that Asgard considers an enemy, but you're also royalty. Your birth was never any less noble than Thor's," Josh said, confirming it.

"Heh… but what's the point? In the end, I'm still just a useless, unwanted failure. If you think about it, I should be thankful to Odin," Loki said bitterly. At this moment, there was no pride left in him—he looked more like a lost child who had been abandoned by his family.

"No, no, no. I can't agree with that," Josh replied, shaking his head. "Sure, you're weak now. Your power is nothing special in my eyes. But even so, Loki, some people are just born different. Your birth and your life so far have already proved that. Think about it, Loki—if you were born just like any other Frost Giant, maybe even stronger than most of them, would Odin have still taken you in?"

Josh wasn't happy hearing Loki give up on himself.

Damn it, he had plans for this guy—he needed Loki to become a proper piece in the game. If Loki gave up now, what was even the point?

So he had to pump him up.

Of course, this definitely wasn't manipulation. Not at all.

And Josh's sharp question hit Loki hard.

Yeah… What if he had been strong like a normal Frost Giant baby back then? Would Odin still have adopted him? Probably not—he might've killed him right away.

No… Odin is merciful. He wouldn't have done that.

But even if Odin had still adopted him, Loki would've grown up under constant judgment and rejection. He would never have had the good life of being Asgard's second prince.

So maybe… his birth really wasn't that ordinary after all.

"You're probably thinking Odin is so kind that even if you looked like a normal Frost Giant baby, he wouldn't have hurt you, right?" Josh guessed Loki's thoughts immediately. "But that's just wishful thinking. The kind and gentle Odin you know is the one who already succeeded and grew old. Back in the day, Odin was more violent than Thor is now. He wiped out many civilizations.

Asgard's greatness wasn't built on kindness, it was built through war and blood. If you hadn't looked so small and weak, you most likely wouldn't have survived at all."

Josh didn't want Loki to give up—but he also didn't want Loki to be too attached to Asgard either.

"I won't let you insult him. No matter what, he's the one who raised me!" Before this, Loki still held some resentment toward Odin—blaming him for favoritism and doubting his true reasons for adopting him.

But now that Josh had told him he was abandoned by Laufey and picked up by Odin, most of that anger had already faded.

In fact, it had been replaced by a growing sense of gratitude.

After all, Loki didn't think there was any real reason for anyone to adopt a child that had been thrown away.

"Oh ho… looks like our little princess has gone soft," Josh teased, smacking his lips and shaking his head. "Born special, sure, but raised like a pampered girl—what a waste."

"Shut up! I'm not some 'little princess'! What are you really trying to say?" Loki snapped through gritted teeth.

He still didn't know why Josh always called him that, but as a proud man, being called a 'princess' was deeply insulting.

"It's simple," Josh said, his voice calm but piercing like a devil's whisper. "Do you want to prove to your adoptive father… to your real father… that you are not ordinary? That you're stronger than your brother Thor? That you deserve the throne more than he does?"

"So what if I do? So what if I don't?" Loki replied coldly, refusing to admit defeat.

"If you want it, then submit to me. I can give you everything you desire. But if you don't, then let's just pretend this never happened—you can go back to being the second prince, Thor's sidekick, and live a comfortable life full of luxury. I'm sure Thor cares about you. When he becomes king, he probably won't treat you badly. Who knows, maybe he'll even give you some fancy title like Duke or Prince, just like we do on Earth," Josh said with a casual smile.

But to Loki, those words felt like a clear insult.

Because if he chose that second option, it would mean admitting that he was weaker than Thor, just a side character.

For someone as proud as Loki, that was completely unacceptable.

Still, he was too smart to just agree with Josh right away.

"Heh, submit to you? And you'll give me everything I want? Anyone can brag like that. Sure, you're strong—but what makes you think you're strong enough to challenge Odin or Thor?" Loki sneered.

Now the pressure was on Josh.

How could he prove he had that kind of power? Was he supposed to fight Odin? Or give Loki some super weapon on the spot?

Of course not. Josh wasn't that stupid.

"I don't need to prove anything. But if you're interested, you can visit me and meet some of my people. If you can beat any one of them, I'll give you a weapon just as powerful as Mjolnir. How about that?" Josh said with a half-smile.

Loki fell silent again.

He couldn't figure out Josh's true goal. With Josh's strength, if he wanted to hurt Loki, he wouldn't even need tricks.

If Loki went to his base, wasn't that just walking into a trap?

But if he didn't go… would he really just keep living in Thor's shadow forever?

"…Where are you?" Loki finally asked, clenching his teeth and making his decision.

He wanted to see if this human's followers were really that strong.

If they were, then maybe siding with Josh wasn't such a bad idea. And if he had to do some work for Josh, well, surely he could get something out of it too—like power.

"A wise choice. Here—come find me," Josh said, sending over some star coordinates. "Don't let me down… Princess No. 3."

"I told you—stop calling me Princess No. 3! Why do you keep calling me that?!" Loki growled in frustration.

"Heh… you'll see when you get here," Josh replied with a mysterious smile. Then he cut the call, ignoring Loki's shouting.

"…That guy's definitely not the honest type. Hope he doesn't end up burning himself," said Howard the Duck, who had been watching the whole exchange. He sipped from his glass and sighed, "Man, this drink is amazing. I'm falling in love with it."

While Howard the Duck's origins are linked to Disney's Donald Duck, early on, Disney didn't want Marvel using their star mascot too casually.

So over time, Marvel made Howard look very different from Donald, and gave him a totally unique personality.

So even though Howard the Duck looked a bit silly, he definitely wasn't some comedian type character like Donald Duck.

He was a real fighter.

Not the strongest in the universe, sure—but way more powerful than most street-level heroes on Earth.

"Heh, of course. This is top-tier craft liquor from a highly advanced civilization and don't worry, that kid won't escape my grasp," Josh said with a confident smile, taking another sip. This was Silvermoon City's finest magical brew—how could it not taste amazing?

Even someone like Josh, who didn't usually like drinking, enjoyed having a glass or two now and then.

"As long as you're sure… So, where are we going?" Howard Duck shrugged, seeing how confident Josh was, and didn't press further.

"To the place I gave Loki—it's a star sector I picked out to use as my base. My fleet and a lot of subordinates are stationed there. It doesn't have a name yet… hmm, what do you think of calling it 'The Pantheon'?" Josh explained casually.

"Pantheon? Man, aren't you worried your head's gonna be too heavy carrying a name like that?" Howard tugged at his beak.

There were tons of gods in the universe—giving your base a name like that? One of them might show up just to wreck the place.

"…Heh, you'll understand later," Josh said with a mysterious smile.

If it was just him alone, he'd never dare name it something as grand as "The Pantheon."

But he believed that in the future, Tiamat would definitely stand with him.

With someone like her on his side, why not?

In this whole universe, outside of the creator gods and those high-level dimensional beings who rarely set foot in the main universe, was there anyone more powerful than the Celestials?

Howard watched Josh with growing curiosity.

He knew Josh probably wouldn't tell him everything yet—after all, he hadn't been with Josh's crew for long.

The fact that he was even allowed to listen in on the Loki talk showed that Josh already trusted him quite a bit.

Yes, Howard the Duck had officially joined Josh's team.

The deal was simple: Howard would help Josh, and Josh would give him the best treatment—and more importantly, help him find a way home.

Howard hadn't come to this universe by choice.

It was a freak accident.

Getting here was easy… going back? Not so much.

He'd been stuck in this universe for years now.

Sure, he was strong enough to survive, but when it came to actually finding a way home—he was completely lost.

He'd never met anyone with the power or knowledge to help him.

That's why he had "sold" himself to the Collector.

Before Josh came along, the Collector was the best shot he had—someone powerful enough, and at least generous enough to give him food and shelter.

But of course, the Collector didn't care one bit about helping him return. He was just another item on display.

Thankfully, now he had Josh—his new golden ticket.

Howard was holding on tight to that opportunity.

Still… "The Pantheon"?

Man, I just hope I don't get smashed to pieces before I even make it home.

--

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