Infinite Evolution in the Marvel universe

"The Mind Scepter is the Mind Stone?"

"But SHIELD already took it."

"Should we retrieve it, then?"

Upon hearing Harvey's confirmation, Tony looked intrigued. He didn't know the full extent of the Mind Stone's powers, but he was curious enough to bring it up.

"We could retrieve it anytime if we needed to, but as far as individual Infinity Stones go," Harvey replied, "the Power Stone and the Time Stone are much more potent."

"The others—the Soul Stone, Space Stone, Reality Stone, and Mind Stone—have unique abilities, but they're not as impactful on their own."

Harvey seemed utterly unconcerned as he spoke. To him, the Mind Stone wasn't particularly powerful unless it was in Vision's possession, where it could be fully controlled. Otherwise, even if someone else had it, the Mind Stone's abilities would be quite limited.

At best, it could induce dreams, hypnotize, or alter someone's mind. But these effects were usually limited to ordinary people. For the truly strong, as long as they had some level of mental resistance or awareness, the Mind Stone wouldn't be that effective.

Because of that, Harvey didn't care much about retrieving it.

"If you know where all the Infinity Stones are, Harvey, doesn't it make sense to collect them?" Banner asked thoughtfully. "You did say that gathering them all would grant near-limitless power."

"Yes, the Infinity Stones do have near-omnipotent capabilities," Harvey replied calmly. "But using such external power would come with a price."

"And with time, the Void will naturally bring what I desire." He gave a faint smile. "Acquiring the Stones would only speed things up—it wouldn't change the outcome."

With his powers as Kassadin, Harvey could cross into other parallel universes whenever he wished. With eternal life and the ability to traverse the multiverse, he could acquire anything he wanted if given time.

For Harvey, preventing Thanos from obtaining the Stones and snapping him out of existence was the primary concern. Using them to accomplish his goals was unnecessary, especially since he had powers of his own that rivaled even the Time Stone's ability to foresee past and future events.

"I see," Banner murmured, slightly awed by Harvey's confidence. He nodded in understanding.

"The true nature of the Infinity Stones isn't widely known, so it's best not to spread this around," Harvey advised. "If that's everything, I'll end the call."

Harvey glanced at Tony. When Tony didn't ask anything further, Harvey casually ended the transmission.

After he disconnected, Banner broke the silence, "Harvey has absolute confidence in his abilities, doesn't he?"

"Of course," Tony replied with a nod. "He's someone who's never encountered a situation he couldn't handle."

"When you're that powerful, you just go after what you want. But it's a little unsettling how much we didn't know. Like, I always thought the Aether was just a unique energy source. Who would've guessed it was connected to the Infinity Stones?"

"Harvey didn't say much, but even those few details reveal quite a bit."

The fact that only a few people truly understood the Infinity Stones' potential was significant. Those who knew would undoubtedly want them for themselves. Tony remembered that the Chitauri's invasion of Earth had been to capture the Tesseract.

At the time, he, Loki, and even Thor had no idea of its full significance. They simply assumed the Chitauri desired it for its space-warping abilities.

But now, Tony realized that the person behind the Chitauri invasion likely knew exactly what the Tesseract was—a Space Stone.

If that person wanted to gather all the Infinity Stones, having the Space Stone would make it easier to reach any corner of the universe at will. And yet, there were currently four Infinity Stones on Earth. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue since the stones were guarded by powerful figures: the Ancient One and Odin, the King of Asgard.

However, Tony also knew these two were nearing the end of their lives.

He could confirm that Odin's life was ending due to old age. But what was the reason for the Ancient One's eventual death?

If both protectors were gone, then whoever was behind the Chitauri invasion might come to Earth in full force, aiming to collect the Infinity Stones without any serious resistance.

This attack would likely happen soon, around 2017.

The thought made Tony furrow his brows deeply.

"Tony, something wrong?" Banner asked, noticing Tony's troubled expression.

"Actually…" Tony hesitated but then shared his concerns, as well as what Harvey had told him.

He believed Banner would need time to fully harness his potential, but there was no doubt that given enough time, Banner would surpass even himself. And knowing the looming threat, Tony figured it would be beneficial for Banner to be informed.

"So, we're looking at a potential invasion around 2017?" Banner's face grew serious as he processed Tony's words. "By someone potentially as powerful as Odin?"

"No wonder you're always on edge, despite having everything you could want," Banner murmured, shaking his head. "I had no idea you were carrying such a burden."

"You don't know how heavy this knowledge feels…" Tony admitted, visibly relieved now that he had someone to share it with.

"Understandably, you'd feel a lot of pressure, knowing this," Banner acknowledged, "but perhaps you're worrying a bit too much."

"Even if someone does come for the Infinity Stones on Earth, one of those stones, the Reality Stone, is technically Harvey's, given to him by Odin himself," Banner pointed out. "So even if they manage to get the other five, they'd still need to go through Harvey for the final one."

"Right… Why didn't I think of that?" Tony murmured, realization dawning on him.

Earlier, he'd been worried Harvey wouldn't intervene. But since the Reality Stone belonged to Harvey, anyone seeking all six stones would inevitably have to confront him.

As Harvey had explained, without all six, the Infinity Stones wouldn't grant unlimited power, so they would still be vulnerable.

With this thought, the heavy weight pressing on Tony's heart lifted considerably.

Note: If you are interested, read up to chapter 358 at patreon.com/MythicForge11