Ethan's method wasn't without hidden risks. His behavior was akin to secretly messing with the power switch at a neighbor's house and wiring a connection to siphon off electricity for personal use.
But to a certain extent, nearly all mages had done similar things, such as the Ancient One frequently drawing power from the Dark Dimension for her own use.
By comparison, what Ethan was doing was nothing at all—just occasionally "charging his phone using the neighbor's electricity." Compared to the vast energy contained in a universe, what he intended to do was on that level.
Holding the Mind Stone in his hand, Ethan looked at everyone present.
After he explained his actions and stopped causing any further abnormal changes in the Mind Stone, everyone there breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Fury was still a bit uneasy, but he didn't have a good way to handle Ethan. He could only keep a close eye on him and hope he wouldn't do anything that could endanger the world.
"What do you plan to do with this Infinity Stone?"
Ethan hadn't thought too deeply about that question. After trying to make contact with the Mind Stone and learning its secrets, he had already concluded that the most useful one for him was the Space Stone. The others didn't serve much purpose.
The Mind Stone might be able to enhance his mental power, but he didn't know if there would be any side effects. Would it imprint this universe's mark on his spirit? None of this could be confirmed, so he didn't dare to use the Mind Stone to strengthen himself casually.
As for the Power Stone, he couldn't use it at all. With his current physical constitution, merely coming into contact with the Power Stone would likely cause the immense energy within it to obliterate him, leaving not even a soul behind.
The Time Stone was in the hands of the mages of Kamar-Taj. Even though he had a good relationship with the Ancient One, it wouldn't matter if he didn't—he couldn't beat her anyway, so there was no way he could get it.
The Reality Stone was sealed away. He knew that in about a year, the Nine Realms would enter a phase of spatial convergence, and several space rifts would appear on Earth, allowing travel to other realms. The seemingly unattended Reality Stone would then become accessible.
Whether he'd be as lucky as Jane Foster in encountering it was uncertain. Even if he did obtain it, he wasn't sure how to extract the Reality Stone from the Aether.
Compared to the Mind Stone sealed in the scepter, the situation with the Aether was much more troublesome, and he wasn't confident he could control it.
As for the remaining Soul Stone, he currently had no way to acquire it. His only option was to wait until Thanos tried to take it in the future.
All in all, only the Space Stone had significant use for him. In its Cosmic Cube form, it had the most stable energy and could be used with relative ease.
So, he had no reason to hold on to the Mind Stone.
"Give it to Thor and let him take it back to Asgard. I think the God-King Odin can properly safeguard the Mind Stone."
In this world, Odin had yet to reveal his true power, and Ethan didn't know just how strong the All-Father really was. However, there were some clues: Thanos didn't make any moves against Asgard or Earth until both Odin and the Ancient One had passed away.
Even when he knew where the Stones were, he never acted. At most, he recruited Loki and used him as a pawn to try to obtain them indirectly.
Although it couldn't be said for certain that Thanos was afraid of the two of them, he clearly had some concerns. Perhaps he feared that even if he defeated them, he would suffer too much loss, which would negatively affect his larger plans. So, he avoided direct confrontation and waited patiently for the right time.
"You're planning to hand it over to Thor and let him bring it back to Asgard?" Fury was a bit surprised by Ethan's decision.
"What? Is that so strange?"
"No, I'm just curious that you don't want to keep it?" Fury pointed to the Mind Stone in Ethan's hand. "From what I just saw, it didn't look like you weren't interested in this thing."
Ethan looked at the fist holding the Infinity Stone and replied honestly, "This gem doesn't help me much. I want the Cosmic Cube more."
In the past, Ethan had hinted several times that he wanted the Cosmic Cube, but this was the first time he clearly stated his true goal.
When he said it directly, everyone present had different reactions.
Maria Hill, deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was the first to object, but just as she was about to speak, Fury raised his hand and stopped her. He had already figured out what he needed to say.
"If you can help Earth resolve this crisis, we can hand over the Cosmic Cube to you."
"Director!"
Maria Hill didn't expect Fury to agree to give Ethan the Cube so easily. She thought the decision was too rash. Not to mention, the Cube was an object far too complicated for S.H.I.E.L.D. to casually give away.
Fury felt the sting too. Did he not know that? He knew all too well. He even had a feeling that once Ethan took the Cube, he'd be "punished" by the Council.
But what choice did he have? None. He had already seen Ethan's determination to acquire the Cube, and he didn't believe S.H.I.E.L.D. had the ability to stop him.
Besides, in a way, the Cosmic Cube wasn't even in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s possession anymore. Ethan had retrieved it from Loki. The Cube was his prize. What right did S.H.I.E.L.D. have to demand anything?
Was the Cube originally from S.H.I.E.L.D.? That was an even bigger joke. Such claims might fool ordinary people, but anyone truly in the know understood what the Cosmic Cube really was. Ethan had revealed its nature repeatedly to make it clear to those who might oppose him: the Cube wasn't something of Earth, and it didn't belong to them.
Even Thor had more legitimacy to demand the Cube from Ethan than S.H.I.E.L.D. did. It was never S.H.I.E.L.D.'s call to make.
Considering that Thor had taken the initiative to go with Hawkeye to "rescue" Selvig, Fury could already see that the Cube would end up in Thor's hands anyway. He wouldn't be able to get it back, so he might as well make it easier.
As for how Ethan and Thor negotiated the Cube's ownership, that wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s concern. Maybe they had a good relationship, and a few words would settle it.
From the perspective of Earth's interests, Fury preferred that Ethan held the Cube. He didn't care whether Ethan recognized the favor. What mattered was not letting Asgard get hold of both Infinity Stones. That was a slightly better outcome for Earth.
Perhaps the ancients had worshipped the Asgardians as gods, but modern people certainly didn't want a group of real gods lording over them.
Some people present could guess what Fury was thinking, such as Ethan.
Some didn't understand at all, but still agreed with Ethan taking the Cube—like Captain America, Steve Rogers. He felt that a dangerous item like the Cosmic Cube would only bring endless trouble to Earth.
There were those who agreed, and naturally, those who didn't. For example, Tony Stark, Iron Man, didn't want the Cube taken away. He didn't care about helping S.H.I.E.L.D. research it.
He had already discovered that the Arc Reactor he had improved based on his father's work was actually a result of studying the Cube. Tony Stark really wanted to study the Cube himself and see how powerful it truly was.
Ethan's response to him was simple: he gave him a promise that "you'll have your chance to experiment slowly." And just like that, the only outspoken objector was bought off.
Banner continued pretending to be invisible. Whether the Cube stayed or left, it had nothing to do with him. Even if he was curious and wanted to study the Cube, he felt he already had enough problems. It was better to stay out of it.
The only ones not present were Black Widow and Thor. As an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha wouldn't go against Fury's decision in public.
As for Thor, who might have posed an obstacle, Ethan wasn't worried at all.
Because he knew Odin didn't want two Infinity Stones kept too close together. In the original plot, after securing both the Tesseract and the Aether, Odin had the Aether sent to the Collector for safekeeping.
It was precisely because of this that Ethan decided to hand over the Mind Stone to Asgard, and then fight for the right to keep the Tesseract.
"As a traveler who knows the plot, I should use it to my advantage!"
He didn't feel there was anything wrong with that. He hadn't harmed anyone. In fact, what he had done was beneficial for the world.
If nothing else, at least Loki had been trapped by him. As long as Thor and Black Widow moved fast enough, Selvig wouldn't open the portal, and New York wouldn't become a battlefield for the Chitauri. How many lives would be saved?
He didn't believe that the actual battle would be like in the movie—epic destruction with not a single civilian death shown. Even if it wasn't explicitly depicted, later plotlines revealed that the Battle of New York caused serious casualties.
That loss wouldn't happen now, and Ethan taking something as a reward was perfectly reasonable.
(To be continued.)