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*****
Seeing Helen Cho's visibly unenthusiastic expression, Fini felt a bit guilty about pushing all the corporate matters onto her. After a brief moment of consideration, he reached into his Pocket Dimensions containment space, pulled out an enchanted Asgardian accessory, and handed it over.
"You've been working hard. Honestly, you don't need to stress yourself over every minor detail; just offload as much of the actual workload to the Stark team as possible. This is a small souvenir I brought back from my previous travels. Keeping it on your person carries quite a few benefits!"
Now, it was Helen Cho's turn to feel a wave of embarrassment. Strictly speaking, she was Fini's employee, and while his hands-off demands were somewhat unreasonable, working on his behalf was her duty.
"I understand, but there's really no need for a gift. Thank you, boss."
Staring at the exquisite, sky-blue gemstone pendant resting in Fini's hand, Helen resisted a massive amount of temptation, forcibly averting her eyes to decline. At a single glance, the object looked incredibly precious.
"Are you sure?"
Fini, naturally catching onto the fact that Helen actually adored the piece, couldn't help but say with a light chuckle, "This isn't just any ordinary trinket. Do you still remember that hammer-wielding God of Thunder?"
"This is a magical artifact from his homeland, Asgard. Aside from providing various health benefits to the body, it's also supposed to possess cosmetic and skin-rejuvenating effects."
Listening to Fini's salesman-like pitch, Helen was utterly dumbfounded. If she weren't deeply aware of Fini's extraordinary hidden identity, anyone else uttering such claims would have been instantly written off as a fraud.
"This..."
Helen hesitated. On one hand, she felt she shouldn't accept such a valuable present; on the other hand, the final effect Fini mentioned was clearly something she found nigh impossible to resist.
However, Fini quickly made the choice for her. Taking her hand, he gently pressed the pendant into her palm and instructed, "Just take it. I rarely give gifts to people, you know."
Feeling the warmth radiating from Fini's hand, a faint blush immediately crept onto Helen's face. Stealing a quick glance up at him, a strange, distinct sentiment inexplicably blossomed within her heart.
Yet, almost immediately, Helen felt her thoughts were a bit absurd. Quickly whispering a soft word of thanks, she clutched the pendant and practically fled the ward to escape the situation.
Watching Helen depart in a hurry, Fini couldn't resist stroke his own chin. With his current level of terrifying strength, he could perceive someone's gaze from across entire realms.
In a face-to-face scenario like this, there was absolutely no way he could miss Helen's subtle shifts in demeanor. Internally, he couldn't help but feel a touch of smug self-satisfaction regarding his own dashing looks.
Before his pride could linger for more than a few seconds, however, he suddenly felt two distinct pairs of eyes boring into his back.
"Ah, must be nice to have money. What a pity for a girl as great as Dr. Cho!"
"But in her heart, she feels her status isn't a match for his."
"How is that possible? Aside from being somewhat decent-looking and possessing a few too many bizarre abilities, this guy isn't that big of a deal, is he?!"
"Unfortunately, I can't read his thoughts."
Hearing the dialogue echoing behind him, Fini turned around in sheer speechlessness, glaring at the pair of siblings who had huddled together to critique his love life. "I think you two should worry about your own situations first."
Pietro shrugged, blurring across the room to grab a soft drink. He still harbored a slight lingering shadow from Fini's strength, so he didn't dare push his jokes too far.
Wanda, meanwhile, had grown quite intrigued by the mention of the Asgardian pendant and asked, "What exactly is a magical artifact?"
Fini blinked in surprise, looking over at Wanda. After a brief internal calculation, he reached back into his Pocket Dimensions space, searched around, and produced a fiery-red gemstone necklace, passing it over. "Investigate it yourself!"
Because the gold coins Frigga had given him initially carried immense value, the souvenirs Fini had purchased in Asgard were far from ordinary trinkets. Aside from boasting various magical properties, their designs were incredibly refined.
Staring at the ornament Fini extended toward her, Wanda accepted it quite decisively and immediately clasped it around her neck. Set against the canvas of her fair skin, the crimson gemstone appeared even more dazzling.
Seeing Fini hand out two magical items in the blink of an eye, Pietro, holding a bottle of cola, couldn't resist coming over to join the fun. "Is there one for me?"
"You want one too!?"
Fini still vividly remembered Pietro's commentary from a moment ago. Recalling an item he had spotted while searching for the necklace, a trace of amusement flashed through his eyes. He then produced a polished, beautiful little sphere.
Pietro hadn't actually expected to receive anything. Accepting the sphere Fini handed him, his face filled with surprise and curiosity. "What's this?"
"Well... it's a weapon. You can bring it a little closer to take a look. A bit closer..."
Fini suppressed a massive urge to laugh, coaxing Pietro into holding the sphere directly in front of his face.
Suddenly, the sphere activated. With a sharp snap, it leaped directly into Pietro's mouth, instantly expanding to securely encase the lower half of his face, the core ball locking firmly between his jaws.
"Mmph—!"
Startled out of his wits, Pietro instantly zipped a massive distance away. He desperately tried to open his mouth to demand what Fini had just done, only to realize he couldn't articulate a single syllable.
In truth, this item wasn't exactly a souvenir Fini had intentionally purchased as a gift; it was an Asgardian magical weapon—or rather, an instrument of punishment.
Back when he was browsing through certain unique shops in Asgard, he had discovered these intricate gadgets nestled among a pile of terrifying artifacts, which had instantly piqued his curiosity.
Upon looking into it, he learned that Asgard possessed a form of Power Word magic that primarily relied on verbal incantations to cast spells. This specific device was a specialized countermeasure forged precisely to neutralize users of such magic.
Finding it quite amusing, Fini had purchased a few. They possessed an automatic tracking function, triggering the moment they came into close proximity with a mouth.
Fini himself had secretly tested it once before. Once equipped, it was incredibly difficult to remove without the proper key.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
Pietro quickly realized he had been thoroughly pranked by Fini. Muffled sounds erupted from his throat as white afterimages streaked across the room, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't dislodge the device from his face.
"Hahaha!"
Watching Pietro's frantic flailing, Fini laughed uproariously. He didn't continue to torment him for long, pulling out the key and tossing it over, allowing Pietro to finally unlock and detach the small sphere.
"Ptui, ptui, ptui!"
The instant the sphere came free from his jaws, Pietro hurled it aside, glaring viciously at Fini. "What the hell is this thing?!"
"A gift! This thing is actually incredibly expensive. Just now was simply letting you experience its surprise application method. When the time comes, you can use it exactly like that on your enemies!"
Fini shrugged, offering a thoroughly serious explanation. Had it not been for the sheer, uncontained amusement dancing in his eyes, Pietro might have actually believed him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't beat him in a fight. Otherwise, Pietro would have loved nothing more than to plant two solid punches directly into Fini's obnoxious face right now.
"If you don't want it, I can always take it back!" Fini chuckled, noting Pietro's displeased expression.
This item truly did command a hefty price; otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically stored it within his Pocket Dimensions containment space. Furthermore, if utilized correctly, it could undeniably serve as a potent weapon.
"I want it! Why wouldn't I?!"
With a flash of movement, Pietro appeared at the table and snatched the small sphere back up. However, his movements were significantly more cautious this time, seemingly terrified that the device might possess other hidden features.
Observing Pietro's overly careful posture, Fini simply couldn't hold back his laughter, proceeding to explain the sphere's precise functions and origin in thorough detail.
(End of Chapter)