"Mm, our target has arrived. I can already sense it—this place holds the second Infinity Stone." Since it was hard to explain how she knew so much, Tohka could only phrase it this way. In truth, she couldn't sense it at all, because the Power Stone was still in standby.
"Infinity Stone?" Hearing Tohka's words, Miku looked puzzled. No one had really explained the Infinity Stones to her. Even though she'd seen several of them by now, she didn't have much of an impression. So, when Tohka brought them up, she didn't react much.
"Alright, let's put it another way." Seeing Miku's confusion, Tohka had to rephrase. "If we want to return to your world, we need the stone that supplies power to all the other Infinity Stones. And that stone is our objective—the energy it contains is the strongest among them all."
"Really? Then what are we waiting for? I'll just have someone fetch it right now." As soon as she heard this, Miku immediately moved to act.
"Stop, stop. We already have one Infinity Stone in our hands—who knows what unexpected consequences could arise if we take another one?" This wasn't Tohka making things up. She had a feeling that if she got her hands on a second Infinity Stone, it would probably draw the attention of certain higher beings. Sure, in some novels the protagonists collected all the Stones to power themselves up, but since she'd come to this world, she'd realized that even though there didn't seem to be any overt suppression, there was definitely some special existence watching. Having one Infinity Stone as an outsider was likely the maximum that existence would tolerate—taking a second one was another matter entirely.
"Besides, this stone is definitely the most dangerous of them all. Because it contains terrifying energy by itself, it must be sealed inside a container. Otherwise, if it fell to the ground, the energy it would release could wipe out all life on an entire planet." Seeing Miku still unconcerned, Tohka had no choice but to explain further. This thing was simply too dangerous. If they just tossed it aside, who knew whether the Earth would still be around by the time they came back?
"Seriously? It's that strong?" Hearing Tohka's words, Miku jumped in fright. She hadn't expected this thing to be so powerful that it could exterminate a planet's entire biosphere.
"Yeah, it really is that strong. Actually, every Infinity Stone contains horrifying power—it's just that most people don't know. Take the Space Stone in my hand—if it ever went out of control, it could easily create a catastrophic wormhole big enough to destroy the entire solar system." Seeing Miku's expression, Tohka kept going, determined to hammer in the point.
"Ah! Then shouldn't you get rid of that thing?" Miku was startled all over again. She hadn't realized the Infinity Stone Tohka carried was such a terrifying bomb.
"Relax, relax. Trust me—I have a way to completely suppress these things, so you don't have to worry." Seeing Miku's face, Tohka quickly reassured her. After all, her other self-had been experimenting inside her spiritual domain without any issues at all.
"Really... well, in that case, let's just get hold of it first. From what you're saying, it's too dangerous to leave it out there." After hearing this, Miku decided it was best if they had the thing in their own possession. The destructive power sounded way too terrifying.
"Alright, let's go to the storage room where they keep the prisoners' belongings. But let's not rush to activate it—instead, we should first find someone to take custody of it." In Tohka's view, the Nova Corps were still the best choice. At least for now, they didn't seem particularly bent on expansion, and their strength was respectable. As for how Thanos had managed to get hold of the Power Stone later, Tohka didn't feel like thinking about it.
She guessed Thanos was just absurdly blessed by plot armor—even if she hid it in the most secret place imaginable, he'd still find it.
"By the way, is this Nova Corps related to that bucket-head guy?" As she and Miku walked toward the storage room, Tohka found herself wondering about their connection. In the comics, there was a link, but here it seemed like it was just a coincidence of names.
"So where exactly is this Power Stone you're talking about? We can't possibly go rummaging through every prisoner's things one by one." After all, there were simply too many inmates here—if they went searching one by one, who knew how long it would take?
"Those four who arrived today—one of them is the daughter of Thanos. Their group has the scent of an Infinity Stone. Just have the staff dig through their stuff." Since she couldn't just blurt out the truth, Tohka had to put it this way.
"You—go fetch the belongings of those people at once." Hearing Tohka's words, Miku used a commanding tone to address the guard in front of them.
"Yes, Miss Miku." The staff member she'd pointed to looked at them with lifeless eyes, nodded respectfully, and quickly started operating the console. Soon, several crates appeared in front of them.
"Perfect. This is it." Tohka opened the boxes and immediately found the Orb. She'd been watching these items for a while already, so it was ridiculously easy to locate them.
"Alright—put everything else back where it was. Tohka, this ball is the Power Stone you were talking about?" After ordering the crates to be returned, Miku looked over at the sphere in Tohka's hand. From the outside, it really didn't look like much.
"That's right—this is it. The Power Stone that supplies energy to all the other Stones. Let's go—time to have a chat with those idiots." Tohka casually flipped the Orb open, and a brilliant purple glow illuminated both their faces as the Stone inside was revealed.
"Wow... it's beautiful." Although she knew Tohka carried the Space Stone, Miku had never actually seen it. And the Reality Stone had been in a fluid state—not its true form. This was her first time seeing a genuine Infinity Stone, and she was instantly captivated. Her hand reached out almost unconsciously.
"Stop—don't touch that! I'm serious—you could die!" Seeing Miku's movement, Tohka jumped in alarm and rushed to stop her.