Skyl clutched OAA's divine pen. He already had several possible plans in mind that could solve the Soul Stone problem, but he chose to let the divine pen guide him. This pen was Stan's incarnation. Its ink gathered the infinite possibilities of the Marvel world, purer and more primal than Eternity's divine power, comparable to Ilúvatar's Flame Imperishable.
A pen like this naturally possessed spirituality. Those who abused it would suffer fate's punishment, while those who communicated with it would write as if guided by a god, and everything would go smoothly according to their wishes.
Skyl silently made a wish. He wanted to break the rule of a soul for a soul and obtain the Soul Stone without losing anything.
Thus, the divine pen led his fingers and wrist, drawing panels across the paper. With just a few strokes, it outlined the dangerous yet magnificent scenery of Vormir. Color automatically filled the outlines, vivid and lifelike.
Everyone gathered around the work desk saw the sacrificial cliff on the drawing paper. The top of the cliff was empty, and even the ancient sacrificial altar had not yet been built. It depicted a distant Vormir from tens of millions of years ago.
Skyl drew the second panel. A visitor arrived at the lonely cliff. This being was shrouded in heavy black robes, extending a pale, slender, beautiful hand, but beneath the hood was a skeletal face. This was the noble cosmic entity, Death.
Death raised a gorgeous golden-yellow gem high and swore an oath on the cliff. This Stone had been personally forged by Death at the origin of the universe and was a treasure of the realm of the dead. Anyone who wished to obtain this Stone had to exchange the soul of the one they loved most for it.
Everyone around the work desk looked as if they had suddenly understood.
"So this is why the Soul Stone requires a soul for a soul."
"Goddess Death…" Thanos murmured, a faint stirring rising in his heart.
Skyl thought to himself, This is completely a setting added by the Genesis Pen. As for the Soul Stone's true origin, it has already been rewritten.
He continued drawing the third panel. The Soul Stone was thrown down the sacrificial cliff by Goddess Death, arcing through the mist-wreathed air, only to fall into a wormhole halfway down the mountain and enter an unknown alternate-dimensional space. Skyl wrote in the narration box, The Soul World opens once every ten thousand years, and those who pursue the Stone may enter to explore its treasure.
Next came the fourth panel. The image showed Vormir's sacrificial cliff, where Thanos, Skyl, and the others had gathered. The once-in-ten-thousand-years wormhole just so happened to open.
"So that's how it works. Now we can go straight into the alternate space to search for the Soul Stone, and no one has to die. That's wonderful," everyone said happily.
The guiding power of the divine pen ended there. Skyl put the drawing paper away, then returned the pen to Stan.
When that ordinary-looking old fountain pen returned to its owner, everyone who had longed for it instantly forgot its divine power. It was now just like its master, no longer drawing anyone's attention. Even the witnesses who had watched Skyl rewrite the rules with their own eyes had already forgotten what exactly he had done.
Thanos's expression shifted, and he asked Skyl, "Who do you plan to sacrifice to obtain the Stone?" His gaze wandered across the crew of the Planeswalker. Everyone reacted differently to his cold stare.
Quill quietly said to Gamora, "Wow, your dad really is a complete bastard."
"I know." Gamora subconsciously avoided her adoptive father's gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.
The wizard shook his head and smiled. "I won't sacrifice anyone."
Thanos snorted coldly. "If you are unwilling to make even this much sacrifice, then a weak person like you is destined never to realize his ideals."
Skyl neither agreed nor disagreed with Thanos's emotionless mockery. A ruthless overlord like this purple potato could kill anyone under heaven for the sake of his great cause. He had long since put even his own life and death aside. He was a villain free from petty interests. When the purple potato mocked others for thinking too small, he really did have the confidence to say it.
However, there was no way Skyl could like Thanos's great cause. Was reducing the population truly the only way to save civilization? It was nothing but a reckless, one-size-fits-all solution that completely ignored the developmental stage of each civilization.
For some races with low reproductive rates, wiping out half their population might directly drive them to extinction. For example, Groot's tree-like species had only him left. If he failed to survive that fifty-fifty death rate, his race would be completely cut off. Other advanced civilizations had already developed to the point where they could balance environmental protection with progress, yet having half their people arbitrarily erased would cause their labor force to collapse and their production capacity to regress, forcing them to exploit natural resources all over again.
Thanos's philosophy and methods were so extreme that even the harshest dictators in history would tell him to calm down.
Skyl looked up at the towering Titan and said kindly, "Lord Thanos, your luck is pretty good."
"Why?"
"Because you chose to hand the Mind Stone over to me on your own, instead of directly opposing me. Originally, I planned to feed you a love potion, make you fall in love with an Orloni, then throw you off the cliff. That way, I would still be able to obtain the Soul Stone."
Thanos's cheek twitched, while behind him, Cull Obsidian flew into a rage and swung his giant axe at Skyl.
Skyl raised the Infinity Scepter. A beam of purple light shot out from the tail end of the staff, sending the mountain-like alien giant flying away until he turned into a meteor and vanished beyond the horizon.
The wizard calmly lowered the scepter and looked at the silent Red Skull.
"And you as well, Mr. Johann Schmidt. The countless crimes you committed during World War II are also more than enough to make you worthy of being sacrificed."
The Stonekeeper Red Skull's face stiffened. Suddenly, he said, "There is actually another way to obtain the Soul Stone…"
"I already know." Skyl interrupted him. "Today is the day the Soul World opens."
He waved the Infinity Scepter and activated the Reality Stone's power. Because he was familiar with Transfiguration, using the Reality Stone also came quite naturally to him. Red light flashed, and a lift platform suddenly rose from the sacrificial cliff, allowing them to take an elevator directly to the wormhole leading into the Soul World.
Skyl was the first to step onto the platform. Everyone else followed close behind.
While the elevator descended, Thanos decided to have one last conversation with Skyl.
"High Evolutionary, I have heard that your goal has always been to establish a utopia. Did your experiment succeed?"
Skyl's alias was also something of a golden signboard in the Milky Way. The stronger someone was, the more they understood the meaning of that name. Ordinary people, on the other hand, barely knew it at all.
"A utopia, huh." Skyl sighed. "If you are interested, you can go to Counter-Earth and see for yourself. Everyone in that civilization ultimately abandoned their flesh and blood bodies and chose spiritual ascension. Now, they have merged with the universe."
Thanos froze. Even he had not expected such an answer. The end of civilization was actually collective ascension. At that point, resource consumption no longer mattered.
"Are they happy?" The Mad Titan raised a new question, and everyone was shocked. They had not expected that this would be what he cared about.
"I can't answer that question for the time being." Skyl spoke to Thanos seriously. "I know why you are obsessed with destroying half the population. Your species ultimately went extinct because it overconsumed its resources. But that is only one answer civilization can produce, isn't it? History rolls forward. Among the countless civilizations beneath the stars, among lives as immeasurable as grains of sand in a river, each has its own brilliance. You think you can make decisions on behalf of all living beings. Isn't that far too arrogant?"
"I…" Thanos's hard expression loosened slightly. For someone of his temperament, showing such an expression was already an extremely rare moment of reflection.
Skyl did not continue persuading him. Whether Thanos would change his mind had nothing to do with him. If he remained stubborn, then Skyl would send him to meet God. Oh, right, he had forgotten, the God of the Marvel universe was right here. In that case, he would send him to meet Satan instead.
The lift platform slowly came to a stop, and everyone saw the small wormhole halfway down the mountain. As long as they entered it, they could reach the alternate-dimensional space where the Soul Stone was stored.
"It might not be safe inside. Aside from Professor, Stan, and Gali, I don't recommend that the rest of you come in with me."
After saying that, Skyl stepped directly into the wormhole, and Thanos followed without the slightest hesitation.
The Soul World was a strange place.
Above the endless crimson waters stretched an eternally bright orange-yellow sky. Vast clouds were reflected in the water. The colors of this world were gentle, like a wilderness beneath a blood-red sunset after an apocalypse.
Skyl stood in the shallow water, which only submerged his ankles. Thanos appeared behind him, his purple-potato face showing a dazed look.
"So this is… the world of souls?"
The wizard did not answer. He simply began walking in one direction, and Thanos followed his steps.
The two of them made no further conversation.
They kept moving forward. The vast water beneath their feet gradually shifted from crimson to pale blue. After they had walked some unknown, immeasurable distance, the waters turned gray-black, and the sky also dimmed.
The splashing sound of wading through water gradually vanished.
Before them, a throne of bones finally appeared.
The cosmic entity Death sat upon that divine seat, watching the two visitors.
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