The Problem of Immortality

Morgana had some trouble adapting to this new version of her boss. She's used to the highly paranoid one who will calculate every outcome before deciding or taking action. Such behavior was so extreme that one could call it cowardly. However, she also understood that he needed to change or evolve, or his future would be bleak.

During a terrifying war that can affect beings on Merlin's level, there is no way to calculate or predict every outcome. On the contrary, the amount of information available to make the most significant decisions is probably astronomically small. Otherwise, there is no way for beings on that level to suffer. Forget gathering information; they should be able to see the future, use divination, and directly control concepts such as [truth] and [knowledge]. Yet, the war seems to be going well.

'Since the boss is changing, I should too,' Morgana thought. Edward heavily influenced her personality, which is why she admired his cautious nature. However, now that the boss's thinking mode is changing, she should adapt to it.

"We must retrieve the floating city and start building Ea and the Chain of Heavens," Morgana suggested. "This is the most direct way to increase our strength — besides improving your Tier. You must also increase your strength. At least, be on par with the weakest King Class Demon God."

"Don't you think I know this?" Edward sighed. "You know the trickiness of recovering the Netheril." The floating city landed on a special timeline, so he needs to wait for the right time before he can retreat.

"As for Ea and the Chains of Heaven? Vibranium has opened a new door for us for the materials needed to build them, but as of now, I have only a 40% chance of succeeding in building them."

This was a very high number considering that Edward was only Tier 10, and he was building such potent Tier 11 artifacts. If not for his talent as an Artificer, his success rate would probably not even reach 1%. However, Edward did not want to take the risk with 40%.

The resources needed to build these two things are astronomical. Although Edward will use simulation to build them first, it will be a pain if the refining process fails. He'll have to spend a lot more time gathering the materials for a second attempt, but the process will not be easy since most of the materials for the first attempt came with him from the Empire. If he had to spend time gathering them in the Marvel Universe during this turbulent period, he would not have succeeded. And that's not mentioning how he'll have to find replacements for some materials or artificially recreate them.

"Your training?" Morgana asked.

"Don't you understand my circumstances better than I do?" Edward sighed. "We no longer have any restrictions on accessing energy, but my soul is not enough to control it. I need more knowledge to increase my soul, but that takes time."

"Maybe you should refine a Soul Potion."

"We can do that, but we'll also need a lot of souls or convert other energies into Soul Power. Although this method is excellent, it's still slow. However, we can try it since it's faster than slowly using knowledge to improve."

"It doesn't have to be slow," Morgana said.

"Oh, what are you thinking?"

"The Soul Stones," Morgana continued. "They contained some [Soul Authority]. We can use them as materials for the potion."

"That's not a bad idea," Edward nodded.

"The trouble is gathering so many stones in this troubling period." Every time they entered another timeline, they caused a convergence. "Unless you want to raid the TVA."

"I decided to be bolder, and I didn't become stupid," Edward rolled his eyes. The TVA was the God of Story Loki's thing/family; how dare he try to rob it? Although there is a high chance that the latter would not care as long as he did not kill anyone, why take the risk? Additionally, he did not want to get in these people's sight. The workers of the TVA are only ordinary people, but they still have the power to prune or erase an entire timeline. Edward did not want to be constantly on the lookout for these people, making it even harder to protect this timeline.

"We can send reincarnates to steal the Soul Stone or take the risk of contacting the Speedster Clone," Morgana suggested. "With his help, it's possible to gather thousands of stones in seconds." With one order, that clone can have countless speedsters taking the stones and bringing them to them.

"You know that's not possible," Edward said. By now, that clone has entered the eyes of countless powerful individuals, so contact with him was a significant risk.

"In that case, we can only use reincarnation."

"No, there is another way — plunder," Edward replied. "We enlist the others' help with the promise of the Soul Potion. Then, we use your algorithm to target these weak rank 0 and 1 timelines. We can then destroy them after taking away the soul stones."

"A brutal approach, but also the most efficient and direct approach," Morgana nodded. "But you should also understand that your actions might make you even more enticing to Lady Death."

Edward groaned.

"Don't worry. I think I've figured out her objective."

"Really?" Morgana did not believe him.

"What's with that tone?"

"Tell me then. What's her objective?"

Edward resisted the urge to curse at that little elf.

"It's the problem of immortality," Edward explained. "She's the embodiment of death, meaning that one day, she should watch everything — including the universe — die and come to an end. However, countless people in the universe are immortal and have escaped the shackles of death. Maybe she can accept people like me who are eternal and powerful, but it's something else for people like Deadpool and Wolverine.

"Their immortality came too easily and without any cosmic level power. I reckon their existence has caused some problem or imbalance in the laws of death in the universe."

Edward's eyes twinkled.

'Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. But with the war and Convergence going on, the existence of these people has become a flaw in the rules.'

Morgana pondered: 'Your theory has a few problems. For example, since these people are a problem, why not eliminate them? I don't think the so-called "rules" can apply in such a situation, so Lady Death should have been able to kill them herself.'

'Yes, in the grand scheme of things, it would be best to eliminate them. After all, a flaw in certain rules of any world is the definition of trouble — especially in dangerous times,' Edward nodded. 'But what if the Universe Will — I mean, the one in charge of all of the Marvel Universe — wants to give these people a chance.'

'A chance? As in a chance to usurp Lady Death's position?" Morgana said with shining eyes. 'That would explain why she wants to eliminate them.'

'No, not just that," Edward added. "I mean a chance to become a unique existence. The [Flaw of the World] — such a title can give birth to a terrifying powerhouse if used correctly, and such powerhouses are the kind this world will need to better prepare for the upcoming war.'

'You may be into something,' Morgana nodded. 'But, what do we do with this information?'