Thanos was currently enduring a silent agony that words couldn’t quite capture.

He felt like a middle schooler who knew perfectly well that classes started the next morning, yet hadn’t laid a single pen stroke on his winter break homework.

He was technically alive, sure, but a part of him had already died inside.

He was truly at the end of his rope. The last glimmer of hope—the Infinity Stones he needed to counter Herta—had vanished without a trace.

It was all but certain they were now clenched in Herta’s palm. That suffocating sensation of having immense strength but nowhere to exert it left Thanos feeling utterly stifled.

In this vast universe, was there anyone left who could stand against her?

He couldn’t think of a single soul.

In stark contrast to Thanos’s despair were the Avengers. The battle had drawn to a close, and they had just finished sweeping the field before returning to the Star Destroyer.

The bloodstains coating Rogers’s uniform initially sparked a wave of concern in Banner and Tony.

However, once Steve tore aside the fabric to reveal that his wounds had already knitted shut, those worries were quickly tossed to the back of their minds.

What followed was a pure, surging rush of joy.

They had clashed with Thanos more times than they could count, but this was the first time they had secured such a sweeping, exhilarating victory.

In truth, their individual contributions hadn’t even been that spectacular. Even though Tony and Hulk had brought down a staggering number of enemy craft and warships—effectively acting as the "dual carries" of the battlefield—they felt as though they had merely done the bare minimum.

There had been no desperate gambles, no throwing their lives away in a frenzy. Under the cover and support of The Blue’s fleet, they had simply exerted their full potential.

This feeling of having everything managed for them—of being automatically slotted into the optimal firing position without a care in the world—was something even Tony had to admit felt incredible, let alone Hulk.

Soaring through the starry void in his armor without restraint, picking off every enemy in his sights without worrying about a sneak attack from behind... Tony had never experienced a "game" this smooth.

Hulk felt the same. He had completely let loose, smashing things with reckless abandon. If he could have spoken, he’d have asked for an encore of this event as soon as possible.

Compared to those two, Rogers wasn’t exactly in "good" shape, but he had spent the entire engagement dragging the enemy’s strongest combatant into a war of attrition. As a front-liner, Steve had fulfilled the most vital duty of his role.

Watching Thanos flee in disgrace had significantly eased the trio’s inner demons, while simultaneously leaving them in awe of The Blue’s military prowess.

To describe a war as "exhilarating" was usually unthinkable, but there was a primary reason for it here: The Blue’s casualty count was zero.

The ships The Blue had deployed were all operated remotely by pilots nestled safely within the Star Destroyer. Even if a vessel was blown to bits, there wasn’t a single scratch on their personnel.

That, more than anything, was why they could laugh so freely now.

"Welcome back."

As the three stepped from the hangar into the lounge, they found Asta waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asked, surprised. "I thought you’d be busy prepping for the post-war briefing."

"I’m just the Lead Researcher of the space station, not a military officer," Asta replied with a helpless shrug. "I came to welcome you back—and to thank you for the help you’ve given The Blue."

"No need for that, Madam Asta," Rogers said, refusing to take any credit. "The only reason we were able to shine in this war was thanks to Madam Herta. The opportunities provided by the Herta Shop are the fundamental reason we were even able to be of use."

"That may be true, but Madam Herta doesn’t open her shop to just anyone." Asta offered a small smile. "The fact that she opened it for you means you’ve earned her approval."

Approval?

The Avengers found that a bit hard to swallow. They had always viewed it as a cold transaction of interests. After all, from what Herta had said, almost no one else could test the Simulated Universe.

Many beings were like Herta herself—singular existences across the multiverse—or they were so obscure in other realities that establishing a connection was impossible.

Most people couldn’t even manage to locate a parallel universe, let alone run tests. Because the Avengers had a massive number of parallel-universe counterparts, they were the only viable candidates for the simulation.

"A mutual exchange of interests is the most direct reason, of course. But if it were just that, the Herta Shop wouldn’t have so many high-end items available."

Asta’s words reminded them of how Herta had promised to "stock some real treasures" for them.

"Mind you, this is just my guess based on the Madam’s past behavior. Only she knows the real ’why’ of it," Asta added with a chuckle, seeing their thoughtful expressions.

Tony suddenly realized what she was doing. She was winning hearts and minds for Herta. That last bit about "final interpretation rights belonging to Herta" had a very familiar ring to it.

Whether Herta needed the PR or not, Asta had judged that it was better to do it than not. Tony didn’t find it offensive, though; she wasn’t dangling a carrot, she was just reminding them that the carrot they were already eating was a gift.

"At any rate, thank you three again for your help," Asta said, bringing the topic to a close. "The invasion by Thanos and the Kree is over. You’ll be able to head home soon."

The three nodded. Though they hadn’t been gone long, the interstellar travel and the cosmic warfare had broadened their horizons in a way they never expected.

With their newfound curiosity for the galaxy, they weren’t exactly in a rush to leave.

Tony especially.

The idea of joining Herta Space Station as a researcher was becoming increasingly tempting. Especially since researchers there could look at Herta’s manuscripts whenever they wanted—the very same things he had to grind for points to buy in the shop.

Time flowed swiftly through the seemingly peaceful cosmos.

Originally, Herta’s plan had been to bring Nebula here, synchronize the memories of the two Nebulas to taunt Thanos, and then lead him toward the Soul Stone.

For Herta, rewiring a cyborg’s memory bank was child’s play; she could show Thanos whatever she wanted him to see. Now that she had the Reality and Mind Stones in her possession, she could have forged a perfect deception.

However, after researching the Power Stone, Herta felt her mastery over the Stones and her understanding of the universe reaching a new plateau.

As she gathered more of these gems that represented the fundamental laws of reality, the universe ceased to be a riddle for her to solve. It became a book she could flip through at her leisure.

If she wished, her current grasp of the Stones would allow her to perform the miracle of world creation.

But she wasn’t in a hurry. While Herta always hungered for unsolved mysteries and sought to push her own limits, she hadn’t forgotten her need to collect "Approval."

Without the Soul Stone, even if she created a world, it would be difficult to populate it with truly sentient life in a short span of time.

Such life might eventually emerge from some near-zero probability accident, but Herta wasn’t one for waiting.

The good news was that while she previously had to calculate Thanos’s every move—while enduring the nagging conscience inherited from Amber and pretending she didn’t know about Gamora’s fate—she could now use her authority over the universe to bypass all that and pluck the Soul Stone directly from the void.

The final truth was already within her grasp.

--+--

T/N: I have a Patreon!

It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!

[email protected]/AspenTL

If you guys wanna check it out.