Chapter 544 Soul Gem

A huge purple body sat on the throne, wearing golden armor, with his hands on his knees. He had a cute chin like a purple potato, an intimidating expression without anger, and his bright eyes were staring at the half-kneeling figure not far in front of him.

After a long moment of contemplation, a majestic voice sounded:

"You said you... knew the whereabouts of the Infinity Stones?"

"Of course~ Lord of the great dark army, how dare I deceive you?"

Looking up, Loki smiled evilly and put his hand into his arms.

"what you up to!"

Ebony Maw narrowed his eyes and moved in front of Thanos to prevent Loki from cheating.

Over the years, there have been more than one or two idiots who have attempted to assassinate Thanos in the name of the Infinity Stones. Although these idiots are by no means Thanos' opponents, if he allows these idiots to assassinate Thanos, then Ebony Maw will be the biggest idiot!

Feeling the familiar power from Loki, Thanos' pupils trembled, and he immediately stood up from the throne.

"Back off!"

Hearing Thanos' order, Ebony Maw hurriedly stepped aside, and Thanos walked towards Loki slowly with heavy steps.

Staring at the pair of feet slowly approaching him, Loki felt unprecedented pressure.

The pressure penetrated his heart and made Loki's breathing heavy. He dared not have any evil thoughts and felt the chilling breath of death with fear and trepidation.

When the foot stopped in front of Loki, a drop of cold sweat ran across Loki's forehead. Looking up, Loki saw Thanos standing in front of him, looking down at him.

Thanos said nothing. He just kept staring at Loki, who had his left hand in his arms, and placed his open palm in front of Loki.

Swallowing his saliva, Loki was very tactful. He took out the fragment of the Reality Stone in his arms and placed it in Thanos' palm with both hands.

"This is real……"

Looking at the tiny fragment in his hand, Thanos' eyes flickered, and then he clenched his five fingers and grasped the fragment of the Reality Stone. Finally, a look of emotion appeared on Thanos's calm face.

"For so many years, I have been looking for you! Now I finally have news of you again!!"

Thanos' eyes flashed with joy that his dream was about to come true, and then he looked at Loki and said:

"It seems that you did not lie to me! God of lies and mischief, Loki, tell me~what do you want to get?"

Loki nodded and responded to Thanos' question with a sinister look on his face. He said respectfully:

"Great Lord of the Dark Legion, I am willing to assist you in finding all the Infinity Stones. I do not require any reward. I only want to follow in your footsteps and witness the completion of that great dream together."

No reporting required?

Listening to Loki's words, Thanos frowned, but after only a moment's hesitation, he readily agreed to Loki's request.

He was confident in the power he held, and was certain that Loki would not be able to cause any trouble in his hands.

"Loki~ As long as you can help me find all the Infinity Stones, everything... will be as you wish."

Loki raised his lips and smiled complacently. He stood up with satisfaction and answered:

"Now, the Space, Power, Time, and Reality Gems are all in the hands of the same small organization. Of course, this small organization is definitely not easy to deal with.

They have the same plan as you to collect Infinity Stones, and their next target is the Mind Stone in your hand, and... the Soul Stone. "

Turning his back, Thanos' eyes became much gloomier.

"I have sensed abnormal fluctuations in the Power and Reality Gems over the past few days, and was about to start looking for them. I didn't expect that these two fluctuations were caused by the same organization, and I didn't expect that even the Space and Time Gems were in their hands."

"So, respected Lord of the Dark Legion, we need to speed up our actions...

Fortunately, when I was lurking in their team before, I got some clues about the Soul Gem.

The Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir, a planet that is very unfamiliar to me and Thor, but I think it must be a very simple thing for you who have the Dark Army?"

Thanos did not comment, turned his head to look at Ebony Maw, and raised his hand to signal.

Ebony Maw understood what he meant and nodded, then set off immediately. After looking at Loki deeply, he walked out of the hall.

Loki didn't show any expression, but continued:

“As far as I know, the Soul Gem is the most difficult gem to obtain, but also the easiest gem to obtain.

If you want to get the Soul Stone, you need to pay the same price, exchanging soul for soul...

The value of the Soul Gem requires you to sacrifice the person you love most."

Loki's words made Thanos's gloomy face stiffen a lot, and he muttered to himself, ""

"The soul of a loved one?"

boom--

A huge pressure suddenly fell on Loki, but Loki tensed himself, endured the pressure and solemnly repeated:

"That's right! The soul of a loved one!"

Thanos' eyes flickered twice before becoming firm again.

"Okay! As long as I get the Soul Stone, you can temporarily control the Mind Stone...

Until then, you just need to wait patiently here with me."

Loki's smile grew wider, and he saluted before retreating.

"Father..." Gamora emerged from the shadows. She stared at Loki's back, her eyes full of vigilance.

She had no good feelings towards Loki.

"Loki is the prince of Asgard, the god of lies and mischief. His father, Odin, the king of Asgard, has always been one of the biggest obstacles on our way forward. Loki cannot be trusted."

Thanos did not turn around, but his eyes were blank for a while. It was not until Gamora finished speaking that he spoke:

"Loki is indeed not trustworthy, and we don't need to believe him. Our goal is to fulfill our dreams.

Regardless of Loki's purpose at this time, he is worth being used, and his identity as the prince of Asgard is his greatest value. "

Turning back slowly, Thanos looked at Gamora and said calmly:

"I once made a contract with the God King Odin. As long as Odin is alive, I will never attack the Nine Realms.

But I can't wait any longer, especially since four of the Infinity Stones are in the Nine Realms...

As for Loki, he is originally a member of the Nine Realms, and he is also the prince of Asgard.

If he does it, it won't be considered a violation of the contract."

Gamora nodded and silently memorized the name of God-King Odin in her heart. Anyone who could stop Thanos must be an extremely powerful being.

Looking at the absent-minded Gamora, Thanos' expression gradually softened, and he asked in a soft voice:

"My daughter, how many years have you been with me?"

Gamora's expression tensed, and she immediately lowered her head and replied:

"It has been almost 30 years since I left Zen-Hobery, my home planet."

"30 years? Time flies by so fast~"

Letting out a sigh, Thanos asked softly:

"So... you hate me?"

Snapped--

Gamora knelt hurriedly on the ground. The majesty and dignity of Thanos, the Lord of the Dark Army, made her dare not raise her head. Gamora said excitedly:

“How could I hate you! My great father! It was you who saved my hometown, it was you who successfully stopped a civilization from being destroyed due to lack of resources and competition, it was you who gave everyone on the planet the most fair treatment, giving everyone a chance at random.

My parents died because they were unlucky. I don’t blame anyone, least of all you.”

“The resources in the universe are limited, but the greed of life is doomed to be uncontrollable and unplanned. No matter how much they have, they will only want more.

All civilizations...will eventually self-destruct due to resource depletion. When civilization reaches the end of its resources, the self-cleansing will become even more cruel and tragic.

Helping these civilizations to face all this pain in advance, letting them hate me instead of hating themselves because of the final destruction of civilization, this is my greatest kindness..."

Listening to Thanos' words, Gamora's eyes flickered, "We don't need to be understood, we just need to know... that we have always been on the right path. For a better future for every civilization, we sacrifice other lives and let them leave without pain. What they should do is be grateful, not hate!

This is the most necessary sacrifice and the fairest randomness.”

Thanos nodded with satisfaction and said:

"It's good that you understand. We don't need their gratitude, and we don't care about hatred! We don't need to be understood!

We just need to do it!

Because... the universe itself will understand us...

Gamora, this time we will go to seize the Soul Stone, you and I will go together..."

Half-kneeling on the ground, Gamora had no objection.

"I will obey my father's orders. I will not let you down."

"I hope so..." Thanos' eyes were deep and the meaning was hard to understand.