Alex landed lightly on the ground, keeping his invisibility intact. He lowered his head, carefully examining the Mind Scepter in his hand — but more importantly, his eyes were fixed on the Mind Stone embedded within it.
Alex's heart surged with joy at having seized the Mind Stone. As one of the six Infinity Stones, its power was unquestionably immense. But wielding such power was far from simple, and he knew it. So he focused, studying every detail with utmost care.
Each of the six Infinity Stones contained boundless energy, yet each displayed distinct characteristics. The Mind Stone's essence was, naturally, the power of thought and consciousness.
It was similar to elemental magic — fire and lightning are both forms of energy, but the way they manifest is entirely different.
If it were a bare, unshielded Mind Stone, Alex would truly have been at a loss. A fully exposed Mind Stone wasn't something a mortal could even dare to touch directly.
Just like the Time Stone, which is set within a vessel — the Eye of Agamotto — making it possible for mortals to wield. Or the Space Stone, encased within a crystalline cube to form the Cosmic Cube, so it can be safely handled. Even the mighty Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy could only wield the Power Stone once it was embedded in his Warhammer.
By contrast, when the ether particles of the Reality Stone came into contact with Thor's girlfriend Jane, the results were disastrous — she had to be confined to Asgard's palace for treatment.
When the Power Stone surfaced, Star-Lord grabbed it with his bare hands and nearly disintegrated himself in the process.
All of this proved one thing clearly: the Infinity Stones hold power no ordinary mortal can control without a vessel or conduit.
Staring at the Mind Scepter in his hand, Alex secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had secured the scepter — otherwise, if it were just the raw Mind Stone, he would have been helpless.
To put it simply, if the Mind Stone's power is like electricity, then the scepter is the electrical appliance — a television or an air conditioner. With the right device, the energy can be used. But if you only have raw electricity in your hand, you're powerless to handle it.
Gripping the scepter firmly, Alex studied it a while longer, then tried channeling his inner energy into it.
Yet the Mind Stone showed no reaction at all.
He narrowed his eyes and shifted tactics. This time, he coated the scepter with his Armament Haki. Slowly, the staff's surface turned a visible, deep black.
"Whether it's inner strength or Armament Haki, there's no effect?" Looking at the unresponsive Mind Scepter in his hand, Alex frowned, then carefully recalled how Loki had used the scepter.
Loki was a magician, and magicians naturally possessed strong mental power. This was the Mind Stone — could its power rely on the mind or the soul?
Thinking silently, Alex gathered the mental power within his mind and slowly extended it towards the Mind Stone.
Although the Sacred Heart Art and Yi Jin Jing offered ways to strengthen one's mind, Alex's mental power was still quite limited. Compared to someone like Emperor Shi Tian, who could refine the Yuan Shen, or even to Loki, he was far behind.
Buzz…
It worked. As Alex's mental power touched the Mind Stone, the light on the scepter flickered to life. Alex instantly felt the Mind Stone respond — a surge of energy flowed out from the gem.
Using his mental power to guide this energy, Alex swung the scepter forward. A ball of visible energy blasted out from its tip, striking a large rock nearby. The rock shattered instantly.
"Well, in terms of power, it's not that strong… about the same as my sword energy."
Looking at the damage caused by the blast, Alex felt slightly disappointed. This level of destructive force seemed rather underwhelming to him.
However, after studying it a bit more, Alex realized that the energy inside the Mind Stone was infinite — but his mental power was limited. By using his mind to channel the Mind Stone's power, he could only draw out a tiny portion.
As his mental strength grew, he would be able to harness more of the stone's power — and his attacks would become much stronger.
Realizing this, Alex felt much better. The stronger his mind became, the more power he could unleash. More importantly, only the Mind Stone's energy was being used. With its endless reserve, he could fight endlessly without worrying about draining his own strength.
Besides, the Mind Stone wasn't just an offensive artifact — its true strength lay in controlling the mind.
With this stone, he wouldn't have to fear being controlled by others as he traveled across countless worlds in the future. He might even be able to turn the tables and control others instead.
Back at the Avengers' base, Loki had already escaped. After Loki's chaos, the atmosphere inside the base was tense.
The fact that a captured enemy had broken free and nearly caused the entire ship to crash and be destroyed left the Avengers and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team seething with silent anger.
On the other hand, although Loki had managed to escape, he was still fuming with anger.
Things had gone according to plan — the power of the Mind Stone had affected Bruce Banner, causing the Hulk to run wild on the ship.
However, his plan, which had once been flawless, had been ruined by a single unexpected factor: Alex. Not only had Alex injured him, but he had also taken the Mind Scepter away.
"Damn it! Alex! Lowly mortal!" Loki cursed inside the underground base. Someone beside him was carefully bandaging his wounds. The hatred he felt for Alex only burned hotter.
"By the way, where is Agent Barton?" After raging for a while, Loki looked up at the men who had returned and asked coldly.
"Agent Barton didn't come back," replied a wounded soldier standing nearby.
"Well… what a pity…" Loki said with a hint of regret in his voice.
Since Barton hadn't returned, he was either captured or the Mind Stone's control over him had been broken. This was unfortunate — Agent Barton's skills were impressive, and he had been a very useful pawn.
"Now that things have come to this, I have no more patience to play games with these people. Dr. Eric, how is the work on the wormhole machine? Can it be opened stably?" After thinking for a moment, Loki stood up and walked over to Dr. Eric, asking sharply.
Dr. Eric was busy working on a massive machine — embedded right in the center of it was the Cosmic Cube!