Chapter 165: Difficult Choice

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Difficult Choice

As they entered the vault, Daniel’s attention was immediately drawn to the countless treasures surrounding them.

"What’s wrong?"

Thor noticed Daniel looking around and asked.

"Nothing. I was just taking a look."

"Oh."

Thor didn’t think much of it and continued walking deeper into the vault. He was moving somewhat sluggishly and paying little attention to where he was going, most likely because the alcohol was already catching up with him.

Ignoring Daniel, Thor walked into a room storing weapons, turned back, and said to Daniel, "You pick your stuff here first. I’m going to grab a few jars of wine."

As soon as he finished speaking, Thor staggered away, even letting out a belch.

Seeing Thor leave, Daniel looked at the room packed with gear. Throwing all decorum out the window, he pounced straight into the room.

"Whoa..."

Daniel let out an excited shout.

He already had an impressive collection waiting for him back home—more than what was gathered here, in fact. During his five years traveling through the universe, he had encountered countless rare and extraordinary treasures. Some had been given to him as gifts, while others had changed hands through circumstances that were, admittedly, somewhat less straightforward.

Still, Daniel had never been one to turn down a treasure simply because it already had an owner.

With so many powerful figures crossing his path over the years, opportunities to acquire rare treasures had never been in short supply. Before long, his collection had grown into an impressive assortment of weapons, artifacts, and other valuables, each with its own story and history.

Yet even with everything he had accumulated over the years, Daniel had never lost his curiosity about the treasures other powerful beings chose to keep.

Perhaps it was simply the nature of rare treasures. The moment you saw something you had never encountered before, curiosity naturally took hold.

And this room certainly had plenty to catch his attention.

Odin had clearly intended it as an armory. Weapons lined the walls and filled the displays: armor, swords, sabers, spears, axes, hammers, and countless other relics. None could rival divine weapons such as Mjolnir or Gungnir, but every piece here was still an exceptional artifact.

After all, Odin was the All-Father and King of the Gods. Even if Daniel privately considered him somewhat lacking compared to what the title suggested, he could hardly imagine Odin filling his treasury with ordinary weapons.

Daniel’s eyes settled on a sword. He picked it up, examined the blade for a moment, then gave it an experimental swing toward his own arm.

Clang!

The blade struck his arm with a sharp metallic ring. Daniel glanced down. A small notch had appeared along the sword’s edge, seeing that his eyes immediately lit up.

"Not bad, fine sword."

Completely ignoring the chip on the blade, Daniel praised it instead.

It was only natural for a notch to appear. If it didn’t notch, would Odin leave a sword like this lying around here? He would have hidden it away long ago.

With the toughness of Daniel’s body? Calling him a man of steel was practically an insult to him. Up until now, Daniel had yet to encounter anything tougher than himself. Tanking a starburst with his bare body was no joke.

If the sword could have remained completely undamaged, even if it wasn’t on the same level as Thor’s hammer, it wouldn’t be far off. Would something like that just be left here?

Daniel hadn’t missed Thor opening another door earlier. The weapons stored in this room were impressive, but they were nothing compared to what lay beyond that other entrance. That was where the true treasures of Asgard were kept.

Artifacts such as the Infinity Gauntlet and the Eternal Flame were among the treasures stored there. And Daniel knew exactly where everything was.

The moment he had arrived in Asgard, he had already taken the time to familiarize himself with the layout of Odin’s treasury. Five years of traveling through the universe had taught him one important lesson: whenever a legendary artifact appeared in front of him, it was worth remembering where it was.

Daniel’s memory for treasures was exceptionally good. If he happened to find an opportunity to take one for himself later, well... it would be a shame to let such an opportunity go to waste.

For now, however, something else had caught his attention. Daniel glanced toward the other room, his expression turning thoughtful.

Why did Odin have this replica version of Infinity Gauntlet? As far as Daniel knew, the Infinity Gauntlet belonging to Thanos had been forged by the Dwarves in the future. He had even nearly wiped out their entire race after forcing them to create it.

But if that was the case... where had Odin’s Infinity Gauntlet come from? Daniel pondered for a long time before finally coming up with a vague answer.

Asgard had come into contact with quite a few stones.

The Space Stone was sealed away on Earth by Odin. The Reality Stone, also known as the Aether, was also recorded in their records and would later appear in London. The Time Stone was with Ancient One.

That already made three stones. It was very likely that Odin had once entertained the idea of gathering all six Infinity Stones as well, so he had gauntlet forged. Later, something unexpected must have happened, leading Odin to give up on collecting the stones, eventually leaving the gauntlet in the vault.

Daniel felt his guess was ninety percent spot on. Thinking of the Infinity Gauntlet, and then thinking of Thor inside the true vault while he was stuck looking at these ordinary weapons, he suddenly felt a bit uninspired.

When he first saw them, he thought these weapons were pretty good. But wasn’t the Infinity Gauntlet so much better? Wasn’t the Eternal Flame so much better? Wasn’t the Destroyer so much better?

The Destroyer wasn’t just a remotely controlled robot; it was a set of armor. Armor used by Odin himself. It could self-repair and supply energy to the wearer, possessing endless marvelous uses.

These were the real treasures. Compared to them, the notched sword in Daniel’s hand was nothing more than scrap metal.

Daniel tossed the sword aside. The more he looked around, the more troubled he became. There were so many remarkable treasures here, yet Odin had simply left them sitting in his vault, untouched and gathering dust.

Daniel couldn’t help but feel that it was a terrible waste. These were weapons and artifacts of extraordinary quality. They had been forged, collected, and preserved for countless years, only to spend eternity sitting quietly in storage.

The thought alone made Daniel’s heart ache. It was almost unbearable to see such treasures left unused. If only someone could put them to good use...

’How wonderful would it be if you simply gave them to me?’ Daniel thought to himself. ’I wouldn’t have much use for most of them anyway... but at least I’d make sure they were properly cared for. I’d polish them until they shone.’

The truth was, Daniel didn’t really need most of these treasures. There were dozens of extraordinary artifacts in the vault, yet only two caught his attention: the Destroyer Armor and the Infinity Gauntlet.

Even the Destroyer Armor wasn’t particularly useful to him. Its defensive capabilities were hardly necessary given Daniel’s own strength. The only reason he found himself drawn to it was its ability to repair itself. Still...

"Now, what am I supposed to do?" Daniel muttered under his breath.

For a fleeting moment, he seriously considered taking everything in the vault and quietly returning to Earth.

The thought was tempting, far too tempting. But the more he considered it, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Hadn’t he just decided to leave his old life behind?

He had spent five years doing whatever he pleased, taking whatever interested him, and treating the universe like his personal playground. Now he wanted to return to Earth and live a quieter, more honest life.

Was he really going to fall back into his old habits before he had even made it home?

Daniel found himself caught between two thoughts. If you encountered something you truly wanted, and you possessed more than enough power to take it, what would you do?

There was no real danger here, no one in Asgard could stop him. Even if the entire realm joined forces and Odin fought with everything he had, Daniel was confident they could hold him back for a minute at most.

If he truly wanted the treasures, he could take them, and that was precisely what made the choice so difficult.

’But if I do that... how am I any different from the person I used to be?’ Daniel fell silent.

’Once you make an exception, it’s easy to make another. And another... eventually, you’ll stop having a reason to restrain yourself at all.’

The resolve in Daniel’s eyes gradually returned. He had made his decision. It was better to let them go. He wanted to become a good person, someone who earned what he had instead of constantly looking for shortcuts.

A moment later, Thor returned carrying three jars of wine.

"Catch it." Thor tossed one toward Daniel.

"Have you made your choice? Once you’re done here, let’s head back and keep drinking."

Daniel casually picked up a set of armor.

"I’m done."

He had already come all this way. Besides, leaving empty-handed after being personally invited to choose something felt a little excessive. The armor might not be particularly useful to him, but it was still a decent souvenir.

"Let’s go."

Thor barely glanced at the armor before turning toward the exit. Daniel nodded, and the two of them flew back toward the tavern.

Yet along the way, the images of the Destroyer Armor and the Infinity Gauntlet kept resurfacing in Daniel’s mind. He couldn’t quite shake them.

Five years of doing whatever he wanted wasn’t something that could simply disappear overnight. Old habits had a way of resurfacing, especially when temptation was placed directly in front of him. Then, just as they landed, Daniel’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"Got it!"

His voice rang out with renewed energy. Thor looked over, puzzled.

"Got what?"

"Oh, nothing..." Daniel grinned and lifted his wine jar.

"Come on. Let’s keep drinking."

Thor gave him a strange look but said nothing more before walking into the tavern.

Daniel followed with a smile. He had just thought of a way to obtain the Infinity Gauntlet, and perhaps the other treasures as well without breaking the principles he had only just decided to live by.

It was a rather clever idea. The only problem was that it wasn’t exactly something he could explain to Thor right now. But once they finished drinking, Daniel would put his plan into action.

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