Chapter 758

Evenson knew a little about the Collector.

When Thor had first arrived on Earth, Evenson had greeted him with an elaborate bow, followed by a flourish of both hands and a final pose with his arms spread wide. It had been a bizarre little ceremony, and he’d learned it from Taneleer Tivan himself.

He hadn’t let Sif see any sign of recognition when they’d first met the Collector. There was no reason to reveal everything he knew, especially when his knowledge of the man was limited to a few basic facts.

Tivan had enormous resources, connections across the galaxy, and a collecting obsession that could never be satisfied. When he wanted something, he was willing to pay almost any price and resort to almost any method to obtain it.

That was enough to work with.

Once you knew someone’s greatest desire, finding a way to appeal to it was usually straightforward. And if you played your cards right, you could turn that desire into a tidy profit.

Sure enough, the moment Evenson mentioned that he had something worth collecting, Tivan could barely contain himself. He leaned forward, both hands reaching for the covered cage, eager to discover what lay beneath the cloth.

Evenson smoothly drew the cage back out of reach.

"Collecting is supposed to be a refined pursuit," he remarked. "You’re not doing much for the image by getting grabby."

Tivan immediately withdrew his hands as though he’d touched a live wire. He even took a couple of steps back, though his eyes never left the cage.

"My apologies. I was premature." He studied Evenson carefully. "If your specimen is truly worth collecting, it must be exceptionally valuable. Is that why you’re willing to part with it?"

"Heh."

Evenson rocked the cage gently in his hands.

"Different planets and civilizations have very different ideas about value. I doubt settling this in cash would be appropriate."

"Well, actually..." Tivan blinked. "There is a universal currency used throughout much of the galaxy."

"Ah. Right. Of course." Evenson paused, then pointed at himself. "But money isn’t what I’m after. Look at me. Do I strike you as someone who’s short on cash?"

Tivan obliged by examining him from head to toe.

He even seemed to consider the matter with surprising seriousness. If one of the old books in his collection was to be believed, Evenson’s face suggested a destiny marked by financial misfortune, romantic calamity, and a general lack of good fortune.

Tivan dismissed the thought.

Clearly, books on fortune-telling were worthless superstition. This man had arrived in the company of Asgardians, and he seemed important enough to be involved in the transfer of an Infinity Stone. Someone with that kind of access surely wasn’t short of money.

"Very well," Tivan said. "If not money, what do you want in exchange?"

"Technology."

Tivan’s eyes narrowed with interest.

Technology was often more valuable than universal currency. A sufficiently advanced design could transform entire civilizations, and the right information could be worth more than a fortune.

"What kind of technology?"

"Spaceflight. Interstellar navigation. Spaceship construction. That sort of thing."

Evenson delivered the answer casually, as though he were asking for a few spare tools.

Tivan studied him for a moment.

"I hope you won’t mind a question. Why come to me for this? Given your relationship with the Asgardians, wouldn’t it be easier to ask them?"

"What’s that got to do with our deal?" Evenson asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Quite a lot, actually."

Tivan nodded gravely.

"Asgard is one of the great civilizations of the universe. If you’re asking for technology even they consider advanced, the price could be enormous. And I haven’t even seen what you’re offering yet. How can I agree to anything without knowing what I’m buying?"

"Fair point."

Evenson held out the cage and removed the cloth.

Inside crouched a creature roughly half a meter tall. Its skin was bright red, and its body was thin and wiry. Small green eyes peered out beneath a pair of long, pointed ears. It had a narrow face, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and little green flames flickering around its hands and feet.

A wild imp.

The moment the cloth came off, the creature hurled itself at the bars, snarling and clawing with ferocious determination.

Green runes lit up around the cage.

The imp recoiled with a piercing shriek, curling into a miserable ball as the magical restraints punished its attempt to escape.

Tivan bent over the cage, his face drawing close to the bars.

"Interesting..."

His entire attention had been captured.

"This appears to be a demonic creature, but I’ve never encountered this particular species before. An excellent specimen."

He straightened, looking thoughtful.

"However, I already have demonic creatures in my collection. None quite like this one, certainly, but as I said, the technology you’re requesting won’t come cheaply."

Tivan’s collecting obsession was no idle hobby. He wanted a specimen of everything that existed, and this unfamiliar imp was precisely the sort of prize he lived for.

He was determined to acquire it.

Yet Asgard was a top-tier civilization. Technology that even its people lacked would be extraordinarily valuable, assuming Tivan could obtain it at all. Even if he had the necessary connections, he had no desire to pay an outrageous price for a creature he wanted.

There was another consideration.

Evenson had arrived with Sif, and he had been allowed to participate in the transfer of an Infinity Stone. That suggested a level of importance Tivan couldn’t afford to ignore.

Otherwise, he might have considered simply killing the man and taking the specimen.

People died on Knowhere every day. One more corpse wouldn’t have caused much of a stir.

Fortunately, Evenson seemed willing to negotiate.

"Don’t worry," he said with a smile. "I’m not asking for anything particularly advanced."

He raised a finger.

"All I need is the technology to travel freely within a single solar system."

Tivan relaxed almost immediately.

"So that’s all?"

Now the situation made sense. Evenson hadn’t approached the Asgardians because the technology was too advanced. He’d approached Tivan because it was too primitive.

The Asgardians had probably abandoned such technology tens of thousands of years ago. Finding the relevant records might be more difficult than acquiring the knowledge itself.

Tivan’s smile returned.

"Ah, I see what you’re doing. You want to play with the development of a civilization!"

Across the universe, advanced civilizations sometimes indulged in a peculiar pastime. They would find a primitive world and introduce technology that had long since become obsolete to them. The inhabitants, unable to comprehend the visitors’ true capabilities, might even worship them as gods.

It wasn’t charity. It was entertainment.

Only the wealthy and powerful could afford to play such games.

Tivan regarded Evenson with renewed interest. His young visitor’s position was clearly more significant than it first appeared.

"Developing a civilization, is it?" Evenson raised an eyebrow. "If that’s what you want to call it."

He didn’t bother correcting the Collector. The man wasn’t entirely wrong.

If all Evenson wanted was a spaceship, he wouldn’t have needed to arrange this complicated exchange. Gnoros, the brilliant scientist he’d brought under his command, could build one.

Gnoros had once been a celebrated engineer of the Burning Legion, a three-time winner of the Legion’s highest honors for technical excellence. He had personally overseen the construction of multiple fel warships and proposed numerous improvements to their designs.

His expertise was formidable.

Unfortunately, it was also almost completely incompatible with modern Earth science.

Gnoros’s technology was built around fel energy. Its fundamental principles were so different from those underlying Earth’s physics and engineering that simply introducing it wholesale could do more harm than good.

Take a fel warship, for example.

Its engines were powered by fel energy. Its armor relied not only on advanced materials but also on magical runes that reinforced its structure. Even its method of traversing vast distances was fundamentally different from conventional space travel. Spatial jumps were achieved through magical transportation, not through a purely technological drive system.

Earth could spend a hundred years or even a thousand advancing its own sciences and still find itself following a completely different technological path.

If Evenson suddenly introduced Gnoros’s methods to the world, it wouldn’t simply accelerate Earth’s development. It could force scientists to discard enormous portions of the theoretical foundations they’d spent centuries building.

Imagine trying to combine steam engines, internal combustion engines, and electric motors. Each could power a vehicle, but replacing one with another required more than swapping a few components.

You couldn’t pour gasoline into a battery and expect a car to run.

The same principle applied here, only on a much more terrifying scale.

Evenson intended to incorporate Gnoros’s knowledge wherever it could be adapted to Earth technology. Where the two systems couldn’t be reconciled, he’d keep the more advanced methods to himself and use them discreetly when necessary.

Under no circumstances would he unleash fel science on the entire planet.

If seven billion people suddenly began studying fel energy and trying to apply its principles to everyday life, Earth might not survive the first month.

"Very well," Tivan declared with a broad smile. "We have a deal."

He summoned his red-skinned attendant and leaned close to whisper instructions in her ear.

She listened attentively, nodded, and prepared to leave.

"There’s something I should mention," Evenson said before she could go. "I have a habit of acquiring unusual things. This probably won’t be our last transaction."

Tivan paused to consider the implication.

Evenson wasn’t merely selling one specimen. He was suggesting that he had access to other rare and unusual creatures, perhaps even some already in his possession. More importantly, he seemed willing to sell them.

Future business, however, would depend on whether this deal went smoothly.

The message was clear enough: Don’t try to cheat me on this one.

Tivan nodded and whispered a few more instructions to his attendant.

She bowed and hurried away, her footsteps pattering across the floor.

Presumably, she was fetching the technical records.

With nothing else to do, Evenson resumed browsing the collection.

"Oh, look at that. A Chitauri?"

He stopped before another display case, studying the alien specimen inside.

"I acquired it recently," Tivan replied casually. "I collect one of everything that exists. It doesn’t matter what it is. Even an ordinary rock, utterly worthless to anyone else, deserves a place in my collection."

Evenson glanced around the room.

"Then you could use a bigger building."

He continued looking through the exhibits before turning back to Tivan.

"Though I notice you don’t have any Dark Elves."

"I only recently put out a bounty. It takes time for someone to deliver a specimen."

Tivan had eyes and ears throughout the universe. News traveled quickly to him, and he had already learned that the Dark Elves, a race believed to have been extinct, had suddenly reappeared and attacked Asgard.

The revelation had delighted him.

Tivan was an ancient being, older even than Odin, and he’d wanted a Dark Elf for his collection for a very long time.

During the height of the Dark Elves’ power, however, Malekith had possessed the Aether. Capturing one of his people would have been far too dangerous.

Later, when Bor, Odin’s predecessor, led Asgard’s armies against the Dark Elves, Tivan had thought his opportunity had finally arrived. All he needed to do was wait until the war ended, then capture a survivor.

Instead, the Dark Elves had vanished from history before he could get his hands on one.

It had been a bitter disappointment.

Now they had returned, and Tivan had no intention of letting the opportunity slip away a second time.

"You’ve put out a bounty?" Evenson asked thoughtfully. "Business must be good around here. Plenty of mercenaries looking for work?"

"This is Knowhere," Tivan replied. "People come here because they need mercenaries to handle matters they’d rather not be associated with publicly."

He turned his gaze toward Evenson.

"Why? Are you interested in hiring some?"

Tivan knew the habits of the powerful. Many cared deeply about their public image while privately indulging in all manner of unsavory activities. They wanted to appear noble, righteous, and respectable, even when their plans required murder, theft, or other unsavory work.

Mercenaries were useful precisely because they could do those things without tarnishing their employers’ reputations.

Tivan studied Evenson’s thoughtful expression.

"It sounds as though you have a problem that needs solving. I happen to know a few capable mercenaries. I could put you in touch with them."

He paused, then added with a knowing smile, "And if you can provide me with another specimen like this one, I might even advance the deposit for their services. You’d still have to pay the balance yourself once the job was done."

"Keep an eye out for me," Evenson replied noncommittally.

Whether he actually needed mercenaries remained to be seen.

As for paying the balance, well, that depended on how things went. If the mercenaries ended up dead, there wouldn’t be much point in worrying about their final bill.

Tivan, however, was already thinking about something else.

"The specimen?"

Evenson’s eyes lit up.

"Do you collect dogs? I have a dog I’d love to give you."

Tivan glanced toward the display case containing the Soviet space dog.

"We already have one. No duplicates."

Before Evenson could reply, the attendant returned, dragging two enormous bundles of technical documents behind her.

Evenson walked over and began flipping through them with exaggerated care. He examined a few pages, turned others, and generally behaved as though he understood every word.

Tivan watched him impatiently.

"Well? Does this settle our account?"

"Looks good to me."

Evenson nodded and handed over the cage containing the imp.

Inside, the little demon immediately began struggling again.

Evenson couldn’t help feeling pleased with himself.

Now that’s a bargain. I summoned this wild imp myself, and it didn’t even cost me a Soul Shard.

Tivan, meanwhile, accepted the cage with barely concealed delight.

He was certain he’d gotten the better end of the deal.

Those technical documents? He’d bought them in bulk for next to nothing.

For a moment, the two men stared at each other.

Then they burst out laughing.

What a wonderful transaction.