Chapter 524

The space portal, spanning several hundred meters, vanished swiftly.

As for Tiamut, it was now permanently sealed within the Earth's core.

With that handled, Syd glanced at the terrified Eternals before his figure flickered, shooting off into the distance.

Watching his departing figure, Sersi and the others wore complex expressions.

In the distance.

Syd flew through the air, ignoring the drones trailing him and the satellite cameras capturing his image. He was lost in thought.

"The issue with Tiamut is settled. Next, I need to be wary of the approaching crisis…"

Setting aside the threat of the Old Ones' true forms, just dealing with cosmic entities like the Celestials was already a serious concern for him.

"Right, I almost forgot about that item…"

Suddenly recalling something, Syd's figure shifted, accelerating as he shook off the prying eyes tracking him.

Soon, after ensuring no surveillance was present, he landed in a secluded alley. With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved an object from his spatial ring—a golden gauntlet with several empty sockets.

The Infinity Gauntlet.

He had acquired it when assisting Thor in reclaiming Stormbreaker. At the time, he hadn't had the chance to study it properly. Now, he finally had the opportunity.

Holding the gauntlet in his left hand, Syd slipped it onto his right.

With a thought, the Infinity Stones stored within his spatial ring floated out one by one.

The blue glow of the Space Stone.

The yellow gleam of the Mind Stone.

The red radiance of the Reality Stone.

The purple shimmer of the Power Stone.

Each stone circled around him.

The Space Stone was the first to accelerate and slot itself into the gauntlet.

In an instant, golden energy rippled across the Infinity Gauntlet.

Next came the Mind Stone, Reality Stone, and Power Stone.

Soon, all four stones were embedded in the gauntlet.

Syd focused on them and quickly noticed a significant improvement in his control over the stones—his mastery had advanced to a new level, making their manipulation much easier.

"Just two more left…" he murmured.

The Time Stone was relatively easy to acquire—it was in the hands of the Ancient One. He simply needed to find the right moment to ask her for it. Gaining possession of it wouldn't be too difficult.

"But the Soul Stone… that's going to be troublesome." Syd frowned.

Obtaining the Soul Stone required sacrificing the life of a loved one.

Among the six Infinity Stones, five had demonstrated their power. Only the Soul Stone remained an enigma, rarely displaying its true abilities.

Moreover, Syd had long suspected that the Soul Stone possessed sentience.

Turning Red Skull into its guardian puppet was proof of its consciousness.

In fact, the Soul Stone having its own will was almost a certainty.

Initially, he had hesitated to retrieve it out of concern that his power might not be enough to counteract it.

"I remember… the Soul Stone is on Vormir…"

Syd pondered for a moment before a strange thought surfaced in his mind.

"If someone tried to sacrifice me to obtain the Soul Stone, would I actually die?"

First of all, even if he were thrown off a cliff, he wouldn't suffer any damage—not to mention, he could survive falling from the upper atmosphere to the Earth's surface without issue.

Secondly, even if the Soul Stone tried to claim his soul, there was no guarantee it would succeed.

His soul was immortal, beyond the reach of destruction without external interference.

"Whatever. I'll check out Vormir first. If the Soul Stone behaves, good. If not…"

A crazy idea flashed through his mind.

After all, he had never destroyed an entire planet before.

With that thought, Syd clenched his right hand, now donned with the Infinity Gauntlet.

The Space Stone shone with an intense blue light.

The next moment, his body was enveloped in spatial energy.

In a blink, he vanished from Earth—reappearing in a foreign land.

The lighting was dim, resembling the break of dawn.

There were no signs of flora or fauna—just an expanse of rock and water.

Ignoring the desolate environment, Syd sensed something and immediately flew toward the mountain peak.

The moment he arrived, a deep, echoing male voice greeted him.

"White-Clad Hero, welcome to Vormir."

Syd narrowed his eyes and turned toward the voice.

Floating in the air was a cloaked figure with a skeletal red face, smiling at him.

Syd recognized him immediately.

Red Skull—the villain from Captain America's era, who had been banished by the Tesseract and ended up here.

As for how he became the Soul Stone's guardian? That was still a mystery.

Hearing himself being called the "White-Clad Hero," Syd feigned surprise.

"You know me?" he asked.

Red Skull hovered mid-air, his expression shrouded in mystery.

"Of course. I know everyone who comes here. You are no exception, White-Clad Hero."

"Is that so?" Syd snorted lightly, but his face remained calm. "Oh? Then tell me, who am I?"

Red Skull's smile widened.

"A being of immense power… a Super Omega-level Mutant… a Son of Odin…"

He continued listing out various titles and feats.

As he spoke, his eyes gleamed with amusement.

Even though he was bound to be the Soul Stone's guardian, seeing a so-called "godlike" being like the White-Clad Hero show a surprised expression was entertaining.

Even someone as powerful as him could still be shaken by the Soul Stone's knowledge.

However, Syd remained completely unfazed.

Red Skull had revealed plenty of information, but none of it was crucial.

Syd quickly deduced where Red Skull's knowledge was coming from.

It was likely drawn from the memories of souls.

The Soul Stone could control spirits, extracting memories and gaining information effortlessly.

With that in mind, Syd shook his head and chuckled.

"You're wrong. None of what you said is my true identity."

"Of course, that makes sense," he continued in a calm tone. "To think that a mere Soul Stone could comprehend the truth… The level at which the Soul Stone exists is far too low to grasp my real identity."

His voice was casual, as if he had expected this outcome all along.

The smile on Red Skull's face froze.

His first instinct was to deny what he had just heard.

How could there be an identity the Soul Stone couldn't uncover?

Yet… his intuition and logic told him that the White-Clad Hero wasn't lying.

For the first time, Red Skull felt an unsettling sense of disbelief.

(End of Chapter)

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