As the words left his mouth, the associates were completely stunned. After their harrowing ordeal with mind control, they viewed the Mind Stone with a respectful distance—they didn’t even dare to touch it, let alone mess with it.

But here was Jason, casually suggesting he absorb the gem directly into his body. Their expressions grew heavy; they didn’t know how to talk him out of it. Had Jason never heard the proverb: A man whose heart is not content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant?

Jason had, of course, considered their concerns. This decision was the result of deep deliberation.

First, he looked at it from his own perspective. After his battle with Thor—using the God of Thunder as a benchmark—Jason had a much clearer understanding of his current strength. Who was Thor? The son of Odin, the legendary God of Thunder, a deity who had lived for thousands of years and personally executed countless formidable foes. Jason had fought such a mythological figure to a draw. This proved that even on a cosmic scale, Jason was undeniably a powerhouse. With that level of strength, he believed he had earned the right to lay claim to an Infinity Stone.

Second was his worry regarding unknown enemies. Through his dialogue with Loki, he learned that Earth was not just home to tech geniuses like Iron Man or drug-enhanced supermen like Captain America, but also hidden bosses like the Sorcerer Supreme, who had lived for a millennium. Just by the title, he knew this Sorcerer Supreme would be the pinnacle of justice, a natural nemesis to the blood-stained Joker organization.

With the organization growing larger and more successful—and having just triggered an explosion that killed 200,000 people—Jason had a premonition: the day he would meet this Sorcerer Supreme was not far off. If she was someone even Loki’s master feared, Jason had no confidence he could defeat her at his current level. He desperately needed a power up.

Finally, there was the nature of his superpower. Infinity Stones were, at their core, concentrated clusters of cosmic energy, and Jason’s power was Energy Absorption. With such a perfect alignment of circumstances, Jason felt that if he didn’t act now, he would have no right to ever plot for the stars.

He explained his reasoning to everyone. They understood, but to prevent any catastrophe, they refused his request for them to leave the conference room.

Jason picked up the scepter. Channeling energy into his right hand, he pried the gem loose with a forceful snap. Crushing the blue protective casing, a yellow gem of about 20 carats appeared before everyone’s eyes.

"To think such a tiny stone holds such immense energy and the very laws of the universe," Jason mused, holding the gem between his fingers and inspecting it against the light. However he could not touch it, no matter how much he tried. So he finally gave up.

He closed his fist around the stone. With a thought, his own energy radiated outward, slowly enveloping the Mind Stone.

He felt it! That vast, nearly infinite energy!

It was magnificent. It was on a completely different order of magnitude than any energy he had encountered before. Jason closed his eyes, savoring the exquisite sensation, his face flushed with excitement.

The energy within the Mind Stone was staggering. His first contact with it felt like a man who had lived inland his entire life and never seen a lake, suddenly finding himself on a massive ocean liner, staring out at a blue, endless sea. This visual and spiritual shock brought him to an unprecedented peak.

Jason steadied his nerves and began to draw energy from the stone. Because the gem was too powerful, he didn’t dare be greedy. He absorbed the energy with extreme caution—slowly, bit by bit, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste.

The energy flowed into his body smoothly, with no immediate anomalies. Curious, Jason attempted to manifest a sliver of that energy. It felt normal; it could be integrated into his cells or extracted for other uses.

He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment. This felt exactly like ordinary energy. Was the Mind Stone destined to be nothing more than an infinite battery for him? That seemed like a terrible waste of a divine treasure.

Jason tried to increase the absorption rate, conducting multiple experiments. The result remained the same: he was only drawing the surface-level ordinary energy. There was nothing special about it.

He opened his eyes to see others watching him with concerned gazes. Jason gave a light smile to show he was fine, then closed his eyes again.

Don’t just sip from the surface. Go inside. Go deeper.

He hypothesized a possibility, then plunged his consciousness into the heart of the gem, burrowing inward. To use an analogy, Jason was like a treasure hunter exploring a cave. He had been blinded by the gold and silver scattered at the entrance, unaware that the true artifact was hidden in the deepest, darkest recess.

This time, Jason ignored the intoxicating surface energy and dove headlong into the darkness of the cave. He pushed further and further in...

After an unknown amount of time, he finally found what he was looking for amidst the chaos. It was a cluster of ineffable energy. The tactile sensation was strange—completely different from any energy Jason had ever absorbed.

This must be it.

Controlling the rate, Jason gently began to pull a strand of this primordial energy away. Strangely, the energy seemed inseparable; as he pulled a thread, the rest followed in a single mass.

Unnoticed by the others, the gem in Jason’s hand suddenly emitted a brilliant, golden flare. As the energy was dragged out, the gem’s luster faded, eventually turning into a dull, lightless husk.

Jason wrapped the cluster of primordial energy in a layer of his own ordinary energy and slowly drew it into his body. He opened his eyes once more and said seriously:

"Get ready. It’s starting!"

The associates nodded, shifting into defensive stances. The outer wrapping of energy dissolved, and the primordial mass fused with his system.

Instantly, a piercing pain shot up from his arm.

"Argh!" Jason’s brow furrowed, a cry of pain escaping him.

"Boss!" Franklin shouted in alarm.

"I’m fine!" Jason raised a hand, gritting his teeth. "This thing is a bit... stubborn."

The primordial energy was far from docile. It behaved like an aggressive invader. Instead of merging with his cells like ordinary energy, it began to violently attack them.

But Jason’s cells were no pushovers; they were already saturated with terrifying power and fought back without hesitation. Though the ordinary energy was fragile compared to the primordial force, it had numbers on its side—and Jason had tens of billions of cells. When one batch was annihilated, the next immediately surged forward. They were heroic, undaunted, fighting as if to the last man.

The destructive power of the primordial energy was terrifying. Jason didn’t dare be careless, immediately diverting all energy from the rest of his body to his arm to bolster the fighting strength of every single cell.

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You can read advance Chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.

pat reon.com/GreenBlue17

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