Chapter 678: Daddy

Helen's dive struck with the force of a small missile—specifically, an enchanted one capable of breaching magical defenses—and Loki was slammed straight into the wall; the reinforced material of Stark Tower instantly cracked across its entire surface.

When Loki got up, he clutched his chest, coughed twice hard, then knelt on one knee; he swallowed hard, staggered to his feet, picked up Helen, and said: "Cough… I'm not your mother…"

Helen stretched out both arms in a hugging gesture and said: "Daddy!"

"I'm not your father either!" Loki snapped, exasperated.

But at that moment, Strange stepped forward and patted Loki on the shoulder; he glanced at Helen's face, then at Loki's, then back at Helen's, shook his head, clicked his tongue, and walked away.

Loki took a deep breath, staring at Helen's face—eighty percent similar to his own—and wearily tried to set her down; but Helen shot into his arms like a squid, wrapping herself around him and refusing to let go.

"Let go! I'm not… Get off me! This is outrageous!" Loki yanked at her desperately, but Helen wasn't a normal little girl—her strength was terrifying.

Loki, relying on his godly heritage, gripped her arm with only partial force—but the moment he touched it, he felt as if he'd slammed into a wall of bronze and iron; the tiny, chubby little arm was welded to his body, unmoving.

Loki gritted his teeth and added a bit more force—but Helen showed no reaction, staring at him with those glittering big eyes; realizing one hand wasn't enough, he used both to grip her shoulders and tried to pull her off, but the moment he applied pressure, he nearly toppled over himself.

Loki refused to accept it—he unleashed his full strength to wrench Helen off—and then realized: he couldn't pull her off. It wasn't because he wasn't an Asgardian, nor because his physique was weak—it was simply that Helen's strength was too great.

Loki lowered his arms helplessly and looked at Helen clinging to him: "What do you even want? Get down right now—what good is hanging on me? You…"

Just then, a furious roar echoed across the sky: "Helen Stark! How dare you…"

Instantly, Stark appeared in the center of the lab; seeing so many people nearby, he paused slightly, then his gaze locked onto Loki.

Before Stark could say anything, Helen scrambled up Loki's body, climbed onto his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his neck, and shouted: "I didn't do anything! I just evolved once—you can't hit me!"

Stark swung his fist in a rage—he knew Helen had ascended to godhood, so his urge to strike her was utterly genuine, with zero restraint.

But Loki didn't know the situation—he thought Helen was just a little girl—and seeing Stark swing with full force, he leapt back and yelled:

"Tony Stark! Are you insane?! She's your daughter!"

"!"

"Put her down! I'm going to teach this unruly brat a lesson today!" Stark roared.

From the perspective of the multiverse, Stark had seen exactly how Helen stole electricity, absorbed it into her body, and directly transformed her life form.

As for Stark's fantasies about his daughter, they were no different from those of most men on Earth: he wanted a sweet, adorable little princess; everyone says a daughter is a warm little cotton-padded jacket for her parents—but in most cases, that jacket isn't fully sealed, and sometimes lets in the cold.

Helen's jacket was more like a tattered rag; barely born, she skipped the most adorable infant stage entirely and leapt straight into the phase where everyone finds her annoying.

And since she was born from the Destroyer's body, environmental adaptation was instinctive; once she absorbed enough energy, she naturally chose a highly specialized evolutionary path.

Though the demon god state had many flaws, it was still vastly superior to a human body; and the Destroyer's evolution was limitless—if she lived long enough, she could gradually evolve away every flaw over centuries until becoming a truly perfect lifeform.

To Helen, this was perfectly normal instinct; to Stark, this little brat was audacious beyond belief—she'd stolen electricity mere months after birth; he couldn't even imagine what she'd try to steal after a year.

No father would allow his daughter to take such reckless risks—and Helen showed zero remorse; seeing Stark chase her, she turned and ran.

Now Helen clung to Loki, who had no idea what was happening and was merely dodging Stark's attacks instinctively, while Peter explained the whole situation to the others behind them.

After hearing about Helen and Pikachu's antics, Shieler shook his head, clearly dissatisfied; but on the other side, the tangled ethical drama had already reached its boiling point.

Loki didn't have such good temper—he wouldn't just take hits without fighting back; the moment he retaliated, Stark grew even angrier.

If you had to put it simply: a child had messed up, one parent caught them red-handed, while the other desperately shielded them; originally, the discovering parent wasn't that furious—just a few scoldings would've sufficed—but once the other parent intervened, the anger only flared higher.

That was exactly Stark and Loki's situation; eventually, both were truly enraged—but Stark, with his abundant magical energy, was immensely powerful; even without ascending beyond the universe, he possessed peak single-universe combat strength.

Ordinary-form Loki stood little chance against this version of Stark, so he activated his halo, descending as the Goddess of Radiance—though Helen remained clinging to him as he did.

But the arrival of the Goddess of Radiance alerted another: Thor, who was handling official duties in Asgard.

Thor, the Radiant King of Gods, also possessed peak single-universe power; he could sense any immense force manifesting in this universe. Feeling Loki's aura, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

With Loki's strength, he had no reason to activate his halo unless in danger; conversely, if he activated it, it meant he was likely in trouble.

Thinking this, Thor grabbed his spear in alarm and rushed swiftly to the battlefield between Loki and Stark.

He arrived at the perfect moment—Strange was hovering midair, pleading: "Tony, I know you're furious, and the child deserves punishment—but you can't just attack Loki directly! That won't solve anything…"

"Loki, you must understand Tony too—early childhood education is vital and cannot be neglected. He may have acted impulsively, but it's for Helen's own good…"

Thor heard this and immediately imagined the scene: Helen had done something minor, Stark wanted to punish her, Loki blocked him—and now they were fighting.

In Asgard, child-rearing was settled by fists; Thor himself had been beaten by Odin countless times, and Frigga never objected—but that was from the in-law's perspective; from the maternal side, Thor found Stark's behavior deeply unsatisfactory.

Even if you must discipline a child, you don't hit the mother! Look at this—Loki is holding Helen in one arm while dodging Stark's blows—isn't this a blatant case of domestic violence?

At that moment, Helen spotted Thor and shot onto him like a flash, wrapping herself around him like a squid.

Thor looked down and met Helen's glittering big eyes.

Though Thor had a quick temper, he was a kind man with deep compassion—even with Peter, nearing adulthood, he showed patience; how much more so with little Helen?

He raised his spear and shouted: "Tony! Stop! You can't use violence against Helen—it'll harm her!"

Seeing the three engaged in battle, Strange stepped back, returning to the skies above New York, where Shieler was already waiting; the two returned to Stark's lab, taking Peter and Pikachu with them to S. . . . . .'s office.

"Alright, Phase One has failed—we won't be stealing electricity now, and even if we did, the efficiency is too low. Just now, when I watched the gray mist and Venom fight, I sensed his energy reserves… actually… not much…" Shieler spoke not with calm detachment, but with gritted teeth.

"So why did you make me lure Thor into the fight?" Strange asked.

"That's Phase Two."

After Shieler spoke, the three huddled together; standing nearby, Peter shivered, patted Pikachu in his arms, and said:

"My gut tells me someone's about to get wrecked."