Harry's expression was icy as he stared at the arrogant Kree noble in front of him.
He lightly flicked a finger, firing a streak of green light that sank into the man's body.
In the next instant, the Kree—evil to the bone by nature—began to break apart just like his underlings, his flesh rapidly disintegrating into a lingering blood-red mist that scattered on the wind and vanished.
Tony stood off to the side and watched the whole thing without saying a word, clearly approving of what Harry had done.
That Kree noble had been ready to kill over a trivial little dispute—ready to butcher two random passersby.
If those "passersby" hadn't been Tony and Harry, they would've been blasted into a puddle of gore by an energy rifle already.
Scum like that was better off dead.
Just then, Tony faintly caught the low murmur of the crowd watching nearby:
"These two humans are done for. Even if it was self-defense, they still broke the rule—no fighting in the Crossroads of Infinity. They'll definitely be locked up for a long time."
"Yeah. I could tell the second I saw them they were clueless hicks. Look at that human with the ugly beard, always scanning around like he's never seen anything. Total bumpkin."
At the same time, in a shop not far away, a cat-eared owner was boasting smugly to the staff:
"See? Before the verdict comes down, anything can happen. I told you I'd win—so your pay for this month is mine!"
The elf clerk wore a miserable expression. She accepted the bet like a good sport, even though losing a month's wages hurt like hell. She let out a sigh and said, "Who would've thought one of them was actually strong? But how does someone that strong not know the Crossroads' rules? Great. Now they're finished. With a human lifespan, they'll be imprisoned until they die of old age."
"Seriously…" Tony heard all of it—especially the part where some snake-person called his beard ugly and said he looked inexperienced. His face darkened on the spot.
What a zero-taste idiot. Calling him ugly?
Didn't those magazine models all agree he was the number-one handsome man on Earth?
Still, Tony's mind wasn't really on that anymore. A more practical worry gnawed at him as he asked, "Harry… isn't fighting banned in the Crossroads of Infinity? We killed them. Are we in trouble?"
Harry looked completely confident. "Relax. Guaranteed: we're fine."
Right on cue, several armored humanoids strode over, each one radiating a powerful presence.
Their helmets covered their faces so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell what species they were. But from the sheer surge of energy rolling off them, it was obvious every member of the squad was anything but ordinary.
No question—this had to be the Crossroads patrol unit the bystanders were talking about.
The squad leader stepped forward. His sharp gaze cut through the slit of his helmet like a hawk's, sweeping the area before locking firmly onto Harry and Tony.
He didn't waste time.
"You have violated Article Nine of the Crossroads of Infinity. Your sentence is one hundred years of imprisonment. Come with us."
Once the patrol arrived, the spectators began to drift away. There wasn't anything left worth watching.
Tony felt a tightness in his chest, but he'd weathered enough storms to keep his composure. He glanced at Harry, wanting to see how Harry planned to deal with this.
Faced with the patrol leader's unquestionable command, Harry remained calm—no hint of panic.
He casually swept a hand beside him, opening a pocket dimension. From it, he produced a gleaming silver-white card and held it out to the patrol leader, speaking bluntly:
"Take me to the central district. I want to discuss a deal with the Grand Collector."
The instant the card appeared, the surroundings fell dead silent.
Everyone's eyes went wide, staring at that card as if afraid to blink, shock and awe written across every face.
They all knew exactly what it meant.
It was the symbol of a Platinum VIP in the Crossroads of Infinity. Anyone holding it enjoyed a status beyond imagination in this realm.
A Platinum VIP was an honored guest of the entire Crossroads, with privileges that sounded unreal. One of those privileges was that, under certain circumstances, they could ignore many of the Crossroads' laws—up to and including killing someone in the street.
Rules had always been written to restrain the weak.
True power was never chained by rules. The strong didn't follow the norm—they broke it, rewrote it, and made the world adjust around them.
Of course, that was exactly why becoming a Platinum VIP was extremely difficult.
As far as anyone knew, there were only two ways.
First: the mysterious dimensional demon-god behind the Crossroads personally granted the status as an exception.
But that was basically a fairy tale. Across the long river of history, the number of people who'd obtained Platinum VIP that way could be counted on one hand.
So most people chased the second method instead:
As long as someone's strength reached the single-universe tier, they automatically qualified to become a Platinum VIP of the Crossroads of Infinity—no conditions attached.
Which meant the young man from earlier… had strength at least at the single-universe level.
Unbelievable. They had just been standing face-to-face with someone that terrifying.
Some of them were already preparing to record a video, ready to sell the footage to shady brokers—when they suddenly realized a gray haze had appeared over the VIP's face at some point.
And no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't remember what that powerhouse looked like anymore.
…
The moment the patrol leader saw the Platinum VIP card, his attitude did a complete one-eighty.
He instantly removed his helmet, revealing a face that looked no different from a human's. Then he bent slightly at the waist, plastering on a respectful smile as he spoke with unmistakable humility:
"So you are a Platinum VIP, my lord. Please, come with me. I will request that the spatial lockdown be lifted immediately and open a portal to send you to the Trade Hall."
Not long after, the patrol leader opened a portal. Harry and Tony stepped through and disappeared from where they stood.
Inside the shop nearby, the cat-eared owner and the elf clerk stared blankly at what they'd just seen, completely at a loss.
This was beyond anything they could've imagined. No matter how wildly they'd stretched their minds, they never would've guessed that young man was a Platinum VIP.
The younger-looking elf clerk even murmured in a daze, "Mom… you'd never believe it. I just saw a single-universe-level powerhouse."
…
They emerged from the portal into a dazzling, magnificent hall.
This area was nothing like the previous district. The decorations were far more extravagant, and the aura of the people passing by was dozens of times stronger.
Now, any random person strolling past had strength comparable to Thor.
And in only a short time, Tony had already seen all kinds of "Thors."
Teen Thor. Young adult Thor. Prime Thor. One-eyed Thor. Couch-potato Thor… all of it.
Tony looked at Harry with curiosity. "Those are all Thor's variants?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. And maybe later, you'll even get to meet a variant of yourself."
Tony spread his hands. "Fair enough. But I'm definitely the smartest me out of all the mes."
Harry: "…"
He'd heard that exact kind of line somewhere before.
The two of them soon arrived at a shop that looked ancient yet lavish. The walls were lined with countless transparent glass containment pods, each preserving something different.
Some held living animals. Others held priceless gemstones. There were even Infinity Stones that had left their native universe and lost their power.
In short, every item here shared one trait:
It was worth collecting.
Across the multiverse—aside from a very small number of universes—most realities had beings known as the Elders of the Universe.
They were among the oldest and strongest existences around, figures with immense status and influence.
And the Collector was one of those Elders found in most universes—an obsessive archivist of wonders, gathering rare treasures to witness history and the evolution of reality itself.
But the Grand Collector that Harry was about to meet wasn't like the others. Even among Collectors, he ranked among the very top.
This wasn't like Tony and Loki bragging about themselves. His wealth and the sheer breadth of his collection were facts the multiverse acknowledged.
So there was no doubt the Grand Collector would be interested in Mephisto's little S&M video clip—he was one of the few who could actually afford to take something like that.
The moment they entered, the owner sensed guests. He approached at first with a measured pace—until he saw Harry's face, and his enthusiasm exploded. He hurried over, clasped Harry's hands in both of his, and beamed.
"Well, if it isn't the famous Chaos Controller! Sit, sit—make yourself comfortable!"
The Grand Collector had already heard that in the recent clash with Mephisto, the Chaos Controller had won decisively. On top of that, he'd destroyed three-tenths of the Hell Dimensions—meaning he was definitely carrying plenty of rare and valuable "souvenirs."
And the Grand Collector loved nothing more than that sort of thing.
Once they sat down, the Grand Collector couldn't hold back his excitement any longer. He leaned forward and asked eagerly, "I heard you destroyed three-tenths of the Hell Dimensions. You must've gotten a lot of incredible loot. So what is it? Come on—show me!"
Harry dangled the bait, taking his time as he sipped a drink, smiling. "I've got good stuff. Depends on whether you've got the nerve to take it."
Instead of getting angry, the Grand Collector looked even more thrilled.
"Don't worry. As long as it's interesting—if it suits my taste—there's nothing I wouldn't dare to collect!"
Harry smiled faintly. "Then how about Mephisto's S&M video clip?"
The Grand Collector's expression froze in place. He stared at Harry like he'd just heard a language he didn't understand.
"???"
Do you even know what you're saying?
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