Marvel: What If Thanos Adopted A Saiyan?-Chapter 199 - 200: The Sole Survivor of the Galaxy’s Most Notorious Syndicate

Chapter 199: Chapter 200: The Sole Survivor of the Galaxy’s Most Notorious Syndicate

A sudden chill fell over Jack Jones’s quarters as the oppressive aura radiating from Lothar and Hela filled the space like a silent storm.

The bald man named Jack, who had just been silenced in unison by the pair, twitched slightly at the corner of his eye.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether he should continue playing along with Frigga and Thanos’ elaborate charade.

These two... they didn’t seem like the type to bond over shared goals, let alone trust.

Dirty money doesn’t come easy.

Old Jack, who had already collected his advance, let out a silent sigh. He racked his brain for a way to break the suffocating silence in the room.

"If you’re not a client, then get out. Don’t waste my time," Jack Jones growled, interrupting the wordless standoff between the man and woman before him.

"Silence!" ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Do you think you have the right to speak on matters concerning His Highness Lothar?!"

The Other, proud to call himself Lothar’s most loyal underling, instantly stepped forward to scold the grizzled, gray-bearded Jack.

Whoosh!

In a flash, Jack Jones summoned a red-and-white striped spear from a burst of sparks and hurled it straight at The Other!

Crack!

Before The Other could react, Lothar’s cold hand snatched the spear from midair with ease. His voice, glacial and menacing, cut through the tension:

"Where is the Soul Stone?"

What?!

Hela blinked, stunned. Just moments ago, seeing Lothar again had reignited her doubts about her mother, Frigga. Now this question dragged her back to a moment she would never forget.

Halfway up Vormir’s desolate cliff stood a hooded figure, the so-called guide to the Soul Stone, possessing the universe’s most bizarre form of paternal insight.

"So that’s it... You’re after the Soul Stone?" Jack mused, unfazed under Lothar’s piercing gaze. With a flick of his left wrist, the red-and-white spear dissolved into a stream of light and returned to him, re-forming into a silver wristband marked with a diamond emblem.

There was something indecipherable behind the beard and those weathered eyes as Jack resumed his seat at the table and casually returned to slurping his noodles.

"How did you even find out about the Soul Stone?"

"That’s not your concern."

"Then tell me, where is it?"

A shimmering screen hovered in front of Lothar’s right eye, analyzing Jack Jones’s wristband for structural changes and potential functions, yet turned up nothing of value.

"Sure, no problem. But first, what can you offer me in return?" Jack replied, picking his teeth after finishing his meal. He observed Lothar with growing intrigue. There was something about Thanos’s son that piqued his interest.

"Money?"

"I’m a traveling merchant, kid. I don’t need money," Jack scoffed, nose twitching as The Other offered up a galactic resource credit chip on Lothar’s signal.

"But," Jack added, shifting his gaze to Hela, "if you can offer me something I like, I’ll give you the data chip with the information."

"What do you want?" Hela asked, voice low but composed, catching the hidden implication in his words. She cast a sidelong glance at Lothar as she tamped down her rising emotions.

Snap!

Jack clapped his chubby fingers and stood with a grin. "I want you two to retrieve a couple of items, from the Nova Corps Headquarters on Xandar."

As he spoke, a beam of light projected from the wristband on his arm, forming a screen in front of Lothar and Hela.

On the screen appeared two unique artifacts: one, a metallic base adorned with mysterious engravings; the other, a glowing violet orb resembling a miniature lamp.

"They go together," Jack explained. "Of course, the Nova Corps would have separated them for security reasons. But if you bring both items from their vault back to me..."

"Well? Do we have a deal?"

"One item each. One-for-one exchange. Fair, no?"

Jack transformed his chair into a rocking mode and leaned back comfortably, eyes gleaming.

"Your Highness..." The Other, recovering from his shock, leaned in and whispered cautiously to Lothar. "This man is suspicious. He can’t be trusted. We should extract the information by force. I... I’m more than willing to be your blade."

"We shoul—" But The Other’s voice faltered under the weight of Lothar’s icy, imperious glare.

"Woz."

"Recording complete, Your Highness," chirped the small mechanical cat at Lothar’s waist, its red tail flicking as it processed data.

Without a word, the Saiyan prince turned and walked away.

"Huh? Your Highness, wait for me!"

In his panic, The Other tripped over nothing and face-planted hard. He scrambled up, stumbling after Lothar.

"You’re not going with them?" Jack asked Hela casually. "You both want the same thing."

Watching Lothar’s decisive retreat, Jack nodded in approval. That’s Thanos’s son, alright. No hesitation. Efficient.

"Was this whole setup orchestrated by my mother?" Hela asked, unwilling to let the idea drop even after the detour into Soul Stone talk.

It all felt too convenient, so convenient it bordered on blatant manipulation.

"Nope. Never met your mother," Jack answered without missing a beat, settling back into his chair with a satisfied smile.

Hela studied him for a long moment, then turned and left.

Whether Frigga was involved or not... she had a job to do now.

"I’m just... better acquainted with Thanos," Jack murmured, staring at the slowly closing door.

His eyes dropped to the bracelet on his wrist.

And then he smiled, a smile sharp with bloodlust.

It had been so many years... but now, finally, he had a shot at reclaiming the power he once lost.

Once one of the Seven Pillars of the Galaxy’s Most Infamous Syndicate, Jack Jones had watched it all crumble when the so-called "Righteous Army" of Xandar, the Nova Corps, wiped them out with a preemptive strike. He alone had survived, cast adrift across the cosmos, searching for a way to regain his strength and avenge his fallen brothers.

Back then, opportunity never came.

But now? Everything had changed.

Thanos wanted sparks to fly between his son and Odin’s daughter, to forge something in the fire of their inevitable clash.

And that gave Jack hope.

Hope that with Lothar’s ascent, and Thanos’s backing, he could rise again and exact the vengeance he had long yearned for.

"Don’t disappoint me, son of Thanos..."

Through Lothar, Jack would gain Thanos’s favor, and finally have his revenge.

He would make the Nova Corps pay for what they did.

He would slaughter every last soul on Xandar.

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