"It belongs to Asgard!"
Thor glared at Finney, his eyes wide. Ever since seeing Loki's state, he'd been burning with rage, though he knew Loki had only himself to blame.
"But it belongs to me now!"
Finney didn't deny it, but he didn't back down either. While the Tesseract was indeed left on Earth by Asgard, that didn't mean it would belong to them forever.
A tense standoff ensued.
Fortunately, Nick Fury didn't intervene further, declaring it S.H.I.E.L.D. property. He was currently contemplating the Tesseract's fate, or rather, whose side to take!
Although Asgard stood behind Thor, Finney was no pushover.
Nick Fury clearly remembered that he first learned about Asgard from Finney; Finney knew more about Asgard than he did.
Yet, Finney still dared to beat Loki so badly and refuse Thor's demands.
This situation suggests that either Finney is impulsive and hasn't thought things through, or he's confident in his ability to fight Asgard and therefore acts without restraint.
Based on Finney's various actions, Nick Fury clearly trusts the latter; he still hasn't truly grasped Finney's true power.
At the same time, he's also considering the consequences of the Tesseract being in their possession.
This situation clearly indicates that the Tesseract is not safe; while it may be related to the development of infinite energy, it could also mean infinite disaster.
Deep down, he hopes Thor will take the Tesseract, not out of personal affection, but solely for the safety of Earth!
But is leaving the Tesseract entirely without benefit?
Of course not. If the Tesseract were useless, Project Pegasus wouldn't have continued to this day. If Earth possessed the power to protect the Tesseract, and if that woman were also on Earth, Nick Fury would absolutely not hand it over.
Can Finney protect the Tesseract and Earth?
Nick Fury wasn't sure. Finney was too mysterious, so mysterious that he was completely uncontrollable. If the Tesseract were added to the mix, who would stop him if he ever wanted to rule the Earth?
Nick Fury always assumed the worst about others, even Captain America. He had to consider whether he could handle it if Captain America betrayed him.
So, after weighing the pros and cons, he still felt it was better for the Tesseract not to remain on Earth.
But Nick Fury didn't speak rashly. Finney had just helped resolve an alien war; if he immediately went to help outsiders, he worried it would incur Finney's wrath.
The two remained silent, a heavy atmosphere filling the air. Thor's grip on his hammer tightened, while Finney frowned, still recovering from the battle.
Seeing this, Nick Fury knew he couldn't remain silent any longer and spoke up, "I think we should sit down and talk this over!"
Finney and Thor simultaneously turned to look at Nick Fury.
Having experienced several setbacks, Thor was indeed much more mature than before. He knew that many things couldn't be solved by fighting alone, so he took a deep breath, loosened his hammer, and looked at Finney again, saying,
"The Tesseract is a very precious treasure. Since Loki knows it's here, other forces in the universe will know too. Leaving it on Earth is really dangerous!"
Finney looked down at the Tesseract in his hand, still firmly shaking his head in reply, "I think there aren't many people in the universe who understand them better than me. I know what I'm doing!"
"What do you plan to do with it?"
Before Thor could speak, Nick Fury interjected, wanting to know what Phineas was willing to risk offending Asgard for the Tesseract.
Phineas, of course, wouldn't say he planned to keep it as food for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but silently left Nick Fury with a cliffhanger: "Guess!"
"..."
Nick Fury struggled to remain calm, constantly reminding himself that he couldn't beat Phineas; Phineas could kill him with a single finger. This suppressed the urge to attack Phineas.
"Earth isn't capable of protecting it!" Thor said in a deep voice. He didn't actually have many selfish motives or an urgent need for the Tesseract. He simply felt that leaving the Tesseract on Earth was dangerous and didn't want the place to be destroyed, so he wanted to take it with him.
"That's not up to you!"
Finney scoffed, looking at Thor. "Don't underestimate Earth's power. There aren't many places in the universe strong enough to protect the Tesseract, and I believe Earth is one of them."
The atmosphere once again reached a stalemate. Although Thor had grown, just as Finney had initially thought, a mere exile wasn't enough to completely change him; his stubborn nature wasn't so easily altered.
Just as the atmosphere became tense, as if war could break out at any moment, Thor seemed to hear something and blurted out,
"How can you do this? This is too dangerous!"
Then, Thor chose to back down, frowning as he glanced at Finney and said, "The Tesseract is yours, but you must take good care of it!"
"Okay!"
Finney nodded matter-of-factly, guessing that Heimdall or Odin must have said something to Thor.
"You will definitely bring disaster to Earth!"
Thor was still furious, glaring at Finney as he added.
"Don't worry, Earth will be just as plagued by disasters without me!" Finney didn't seem to care, as if Earth would be safe without him. But it wouldn't hurt to reciprocate, so he replied, "I think you should be more worried about Asgard!"
"Asgard is the strongest realm in the Nine Realms!"
Thor said proudly, seemingly possessing an innate sense of superiority. This didn't provoke Finney, but it did provoke Nick Fury standing nearby.
"Anyway, don't blame me for not warning you!" Finney glanced at Thor. The once-in-five-thousand-years celestial conjunction was approaching, meaning the Dark Elves and the Reality Stone would also appear.
Finney coveted the Reality Stone far more than the Tesseract and the Mind Stone, so there was still a possibility of continuing to deal with Asgard.
Having resolved the issue of the Tesseract's ownership, Thor couldn't wait to leave. Although he had previously considered seeing his girlfriend, seeing Loki's expression, he ultimately decided against it.
Nick Fury had originally planned to interrogate Loki before arriving, but seeing Loki's miserable state, he didn't dare bring it up again and could only watch as Thor led Loki to the outside of the top floor of the building, preparing to leave.
Everyone watched from the sidelines; except for Captain America, who was away searching for the Hulk, the others were quite curious about how Thor would get back.
Finney also silently observed from the side. Asgard possessed profound resources; even with the Rainbow Bridge destroyed, there were still various ways to transport Thor between the Nine Realms.
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(End of Chapter)