"Who are you? How do you know of the Eternals? And why have you captured me?" As the container was opened, a well-dressed Josh appeared with the respectful "Natasha" at his side. Seeing them, the restrained Kingo immediately realized that this man was likely behind his capture and angrily questioned him.
Looking at the overly emotional Kingo, Josh couldn't help but wonder—was this guy really an Eternal?
Living for thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years, and still this emotional?
But then he recalled the movies—hmm, okay, these Eternals were indeed pretty emotional.
Despite being ancient, near-immortal constructs, they behaved like impulsive children.
Must be the work of some low-tier director's influence.
"Calm down, Mr. Kingo. I only invited you here to ask a small favor. If you help me, I will let you go," Josh said with a faint smile as he felt the increasing concentration of mana in the container.
Yes, he would indeed release Kingo—but since Ophelia was the one who captured him, whether she would let him go had nothing to do with Josh.
Perfectly reasonable!
"What do you want me to do?" Kingo, sensing something off in Josh's words but unable to pinpoint the problem, asked cautiously.
"It's simple. One of your fellow Eternals, the speedster Makkari, stole something from me. Another one, Druig, kidnapped my friend. So my request is very simple—tell me where they are," Josh said calmly.
Kingo was momentarily stunned by Josh's words.
He immediately realized that what Josh was saying might actually be true.
Having spent centuries with his fellow Eternals, Kingo knew them all too well.
Among them, the two most likely to cause trouble were Makkari and Druig.
The former had an obsession with collecting legendary artifacts—whether it was the Vatican's three sacred relics or Solomon's treasures, she would use her speedster abilities to steal whatever intrigued her. If she couldn't steal it, she would even snatch it outright in plain sight.
Her actions had once even sparked conflicts between the Eternals and the so-called "gods" who had descended to Earth.
As for Druig, he was even worse—he couldn't stand seeing humans fighting in front of him. The moment he saw conflict, he would seize control over people's minds.
Five centuries ago, their group had split apart precisely because of Druig's attitude toward humanity—Kingo vividly remembered that day when Druig took control of an entire Aztec city, commanding both the warring Spanish and Aztec forces—tens of thousands of people.
So when Kingo heard Josh's accusations, he was already ninety percent convinced.
This was exactly the kind of trouble those two would get into.
Great, just great. Those two troublemakers made a mess, failed to clean it up, and now the consequences fell on me.
What did I do to deserve this?
Kingo sighed helplessly.
But that was all he could do.
Even though their reckless actions had gotten him into this mess, they were still his friends and family—he couldn't betray them.
He was about to reject Josh outright.
But just as the words reached his lips, a thought crossed his mind—maybe he didn't have to cover for them.
Or rather, he didn't need to cover for Druig.
Druig's power?
Mind control.
These people, no matter how capable they seemed, had no chance of defeating him.
If they delivered themselves right to Druig's doorstep, he would easily take over their minds, learn of Kingo's capture, and come rescue him.
Perfect.
Kingo, you truly are the smartest Eternal.
"Oh, of course, sir. Actually, you might not know this, but I don't really approve of my two companions either. They always disregard the will of others, which is why we had a falling out centuries ago," Kingo said immediately.
"Oh? So you're saying that since you had a falling out, you don't know their whereabouts?" Josh raised an eyebrow. It seemed as if the guy didn't want to talk. Well, that just meant he'd have to resort to other methods.
Among the combat-type Eternals, Kingo was definitely at the bottom in terms of close combat skills. However, his physical durability was still on par with the others—extremely tough.
Josh was quite interested in testing just how strong that durability was.
After all, with cosmic energy constantly repairing their bodies, as long as the injuries weren't fatal, they would heal quickly.
A powerful physique combined with the ability to heal itself was what made the Eternals superior to the Super Soldiers.
That said, the gap between them wasn't as exaggerated as in the comics.
Physical toughness was just a foundation; it didn't represent actual combat ability.
In this regard, there was a perfect example among human superheroes.
Not Captain America, but Black Widow.
Despite only undergoing basic enhancements from the Red Room—barely qualifying as a true super soldier—she still managed to take on Proxima Midnight, one of Thanos' Black Order, twice and even injure Corvus Glaive.
Sure, Proxima Midnight was considered the weakest of the Black Order, but as one of Thanos' elite lieutenants, her strength couldn't possibly be less than that of some Eternals or Kree soldiers, could it?
Though both of Widow's encounters had certain external factors at play, they were enough to prove that, aside from top-tier beings, the general power differential between aliens and humans in the MCU isn't as overwhelming as it is in the comics.
A single super-soldier serum could significantly close the gap.
With enough advanced equipment, Earth having a place in the cosmic stage wasn't just a dream.
"No, no, I was just stating my position. As for Makkari, I really don't know where she is. You know how she is - always coming and going like a ghost. Even I can't keep up with her. But Druig? I know where he is. He's in the jungle about 200 kilometers northwest of Manaus, Brazil," Kingo suddenly changed his tone just as Josh was about to test the durability of an Eternal's body.
That surprised Josh.
Weren't the Eternals supposed to be loyal to each other? That was it? Just like that?
No different from humans—full of hypocrisy.
Ophelia, standing nearby, had a flicker of disdain in her eyes.
But Josh quickly realized something was off.
Kingo was lying.
Not about Druig's location, but about not knowing where Makkari was.
Yes, Makkari was indeed a speedster, constantly on the move, but having watched the movie, Josh knew one important detail—after the Eternals split, she was the guardian of their old spaceship, the Domo.
And yet Kingo claimed not to know where she was?
After thinking it through, Josh immediately understood Kingo's plan.
He was trying to use Druig against them.
If Josh hadn't known about Druig's abilities, he might've actually fallen for it.
Unfortunately for Kingo, he miscalculated one thing—Josh had a massive army of AI-controlled robots, completely immune to Druig's mind control.
"Very well. Thank you for your cooperation. Don't worry, once I've rescued my friend and recovered my stolen property, I'll let you go," Josh said as he stepped forward and patted Kingo on the shoulder with a smile.
However, this seemingly friendly gesture happened to press against Kingo's locked collarbone, causing him to wince in pain.
As Josh withdrew his hand, a hint of disappointment flashed across his face.
Because in that brief contact, he had tried to absorb even a trace of energy from Kingo.
But he had failed.
Not that he was too surprised.
The Eternals might just be tools of the Celestials, but they weren't low-tier beings. If it were that easy to absorb their energy, some cosmic powerhouse would've turned them into living batteries by now.
--
Join Patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO to read ahead.