As one of the six Infinity Stones in the cosmos, the Mind Stone was never something that The Other, the leader of the Chitauri, could truly wield.
Let alone that he had to mimic the technique of Shafrin from Planet U40—burning his life force and relying on sheer, indomitable willpower—to barely harness a fraction of the Mind Stone's power, just enough to repel Malekith, who had been infused with Aether Particles.
Although Malekith, the Dark Elf King, was merely driven back rather than truly harmed by the strike, The Other was not so fortunate. The price of forcibly using the Mind Stone's power was absolute: his body was reduced to ashes.
"Technically speaking, The Other doesn't have the possibility of resurrection like Woz," Woz explained systematically, laying out the final conclusion before Lothar.
As a being that was half-machine, half-organic, reviving The Other would have required nothing more than a core data set containing his past memories. Unfortunately, no such data existed within Thanos' archives.
"What about Chitauri Prime?"
Lothar immediately thought of The Other's birthplace.
"Your Highness, are you leaving already?"
Still mulling over his plans to create a Chitauri Beast recipe, Gaitz caught the implied meaning in Lothar's words and looked up with reluctant eyes.
He had prepared an entire banquet to celebrate Lothar's return.
"I'll be back."
Lothar leaned down, gently patting Gaitz's forehead. With a flick of his right wrist, Woz transformed back into a ring and snapped onto his arm.
Before Gaitz's reluctant gaze, Lothar's figure vanished instantly.
"Meow!"
Caught off guard, the orange cat yowled, clinging desperately to Lothar's hair with its front paws to avoid falling.
"Your Highness!"
The soldiers guarding the starship dock immediately saluted upon seeing Lothar land.
"Woz."
"Your course is already plotted, Your Highness," Woz responded, ever thoughtful. Upon linking to the Black Quadrant's internal network, he remotely opened the hatch of a small battleship ready for departure.
...
"Lord Thanos, there's unusual activity at the starship dock," came Ebony Maw's report in the Black Quadrant's virtual conference room.
Hearing the details from Corvus Glaive, Thanos simply said,
"It's Lothar. Let him go."
After a moment of silent deliberation, Thanos gave the order with a brief glance at Ebony Maw.
"Understood, Lord Thanos."
...
Amidst the harsh environment of Chitauri Prime, the battleship carrying Lothar descended slowly.
Exiting the hatch, he flew straight toward the planet's Life Breeding Facility—the birthplace of all Chitauri life.
As a half-mechanical, half-biological species, the Chitauri were all bred here. Even The Other was no exception.
"Woz."
After verifying his identity, Lothar tapped the ring on his wrist. A flash of light, and Woz connected to the genetic database of the Life Breeding Facility.
If there were any backup data of The Other's core genetics, this would be the only place to find it.
"Woz is currently scanning for entities with a genetic similarity exceeding 90% based on The Other's genome model."
"Scanning in progress..."
"Scan failed."
"Lord Lothar, the genetic database on Chitauri Prime contains no backup data for The Other. Only information pertaining to his original creation remains."
In other words, Lothar could theoretically synthesize a new The Other based on his initial birth records...
"Can't find it?"
Lothar didn't even consider creating a new version.
The subordinates he acknowledged had to be irreplaceable, not replicable.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. The Other does not meet the conditions for resurrection."
Calmly analyzing the situation, Woz concluded after careful deliberation.
"Meow~"
The orange cat perched on Lothar's head suddenly leaped onto the control console, desperately trying to attract his attention.
"Rua."
Opening its mouth, the creature spat out a chunk of biological tissue, dark energy swirling faintly around it, still stained with blood.
"...?"
Lothar frowned at the sudden sight. Instantly, Woz scanned the sample, projecting detailed data onto a translucent screen over Lothar's right eye.
"This is a piece of The Other's biological tissue, still infused with residual Aether Particle energy."
With Woz's reminder, Lothar recalled: before The Other unleashed that final, life-consuming blow, Malekith's energy shockwave had already obliterated half his body.
This tissue the Beast had just coughed up clearly came from that damaged half.
After spitting out the meat, the orange cat proudly lifted its chest, extending a paw toward Lothar like a pet awaiting a reward.
Chuckling, Lothar conjured an energy orb and handed it to the creature. Purring in delight, it clutched the orb and clambered back onto Lothar's shoulder. Its orange tail playfully brushed against Lothar's own crimson one, licking his cheek in affection.
"Woz."
"The Aether Particles' energy has preserved part of The Other's core data. If cultivated with the appropriate materials and methods, there's a 50% chance of reviving him through this tissue."
The optimal plan was clear:
Use the Mind Stone's power to stimulate the latent energy within the tissue, then employ the Reality Stone's influence to restore its biological structure, merging the surviving core data to facilitate resurrection.
However, there was a critical prerequisite:
A mechanical component capable of enduring the combined power of two Infinity Stones—one that also possessed the potential for autonomous evolution.
Only such a component could perfectly recreate The Other's unique half-mechanical, half-biological form.
The Black Quadrant's current resources didn't meet these harsh requirements.
Yet Woz suggested an alternative: the Cosmic Auction House.
...
In Asgard's royal palace, Hela, having just bathed and dressed, approached Odin.
"Father."
"Hela, I need you to go to the Cosmic Auction on Planet Gafa. There will be a major event there in fifteen days."
Seated regally upon his throne, Odin handed her a blue metallic card after explaining his request.
"Take this. Once you arrive at Gafa, a man known as the Collector will find you…"
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