"This is a bit troublesome."
Nick Fury, in front of another diary, couldn't help but frown.
Before, when he learned from the diary that Black Widow had died to get the Soul Gem, the Director only knew the general outline.
He didn't know the specifics of the so-called "sacrifice."
But now, the diary clearly told the Director that to obtain the Soul Gem, sacrifice was an unavoidable necessity! In other words.
No matter who it was, anyone who wanted to get the Soul Gem had to sacrifice a life! Even for the Director, this situation was very tricky.
Those superheroes were all very important to the Director, and he didn't want to sacrifice any of them.
Moreover.
Nick Fury, while certainly lacking a moral compass in some areas, actually had more of a moral baseline than a true villain.
Trading lives for a gem was something even Nick Fury found hard to stomach.
"A soul for a soul."
"Is that the rule for obtaining the gem?"
Nick Fury began to ponder, his gaze becoming profound.
If it was a rule, then there must be loopholes, right?
After all, there was no such thing as a truly perfect rule in the world!
He just didn't know if he could exploit a loophole in the Soul Gem's exchange rule. Could he find a way to get the Soul Gem without making a sacrifice?
Nick Fury fell into deep contemplation.
Trading a soul for a soul, that's probably just a property of the Soul Gem itself, nothing to discuss there.
But the key question is, why does the Soul Gem have a Guide?
That's just incomprehensible.
After all, the Guide's only function is to instruct others on how to obtain the Soul Gem!
It's as if the Soul Gem was born from the universe specifically for others to obtain it.
No matter how you think about it, it doesn't make sense. What naturally occurring thing comes with its own instruction manual?
Or is it that, behind the scenes, after Red Skull's battle with Captain America, when he became the keeper of the Infinity Stone, there was an invisible hand at work?
That invisible hand controlled everything, just to get Thanos, or the Avengers, to get the Soul Gem?
Guide?
Tony's eyes couldn't help but narrow.
The diary had actually mentioned long ago that Red Skull had gone to Vormir to be a Guide.
However, the diary holders didn't know exactly what this Guide meant.
Even after learning that there was an Infinity Stone on Vormir, everyone guessed that Red Skull's appearance should be related to the Infinity Stone.
But no matter what, they couldn't have imagined that Red Skull's "job" as a Guide was actually to specifically instruct others on how to obtain the Soul Gem!
Wow, so that's what Red Skull was doing as a Guide?
He really is the most enthusiastic person in the universe.
And if that's the case, then a huge question naturally arose in Tony's mind.
Why did Red Skull want to be that Guide?
Since he clearly knew how to get the Soul Gem, why didn't he just take it himself?
Instead, he completely gave up and just "selflessly" helped others get the gem?
This was abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
As the diary lamented, the Guide's sole function, or rather, its sole purpose, was to help others obtain the Soul Gem!
From this perspective, the "Guide" was clearly not "naturally" formed.
It had to be some unseen hand behind the scenes that transformed Red Skull into the Guide.
And that unseen hand's goal was to have others obtain the Soul Gem! Otherwise, the Guide's existence was indeed inexplicable.
Whew!
Thinking about this, Tony couldn't help but gasp.
Could it be that the Avengers' brutal and tortuous battle with Thanos actually had a puppeteer pulling the strings all along?
Was all of this being orchestrated by someone behind the scenes?
This was a bit too terrifying, wasn't it?
If such a puppeteer truly existed, what level and caliber of being would they be?
At the very least, they would have to be on the level of the Celestials, right?
No, on second thought, Tony felt that the Celestials might not be qualified enough.
After all, the Avengers' battle with Thanos involved complex matters like time travel.
The various disputes over the Infinity Stones covered the multiverse!
Indeed.
The Celestials could indeed create galaxies, but the diary didn't mention that the Celestials were above the multiverse.
So, is it the One Above All?
Or the Living Tribunal?
Or, perhaps, OAA?
The implications behind all of this were just too vast, too profound, to the point where Tony felt suffocated.
Another question: why the Red Skull? Why this highest leader of Hydra? Regardless of who chose the Red Skull to be the guardian of the Soul Gem, why did they choose him specifically? Was the Red Skull randomly selected, or was there something about him that attracted that being?
The playboy fell into deep thought.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Tony pondered, he couldn't possibly arrive at a definitive answer.
Tony then temporarily shifted his attention, returning his gaze to the diary.
Hoping to gain further answers from the diary.
But alas.
After waiting for several minutes, the diary remained silent, without any reaction.
The playboy immediately knew that Zhou Cheng, the owner of the diary, had once again arbitrarily stopped updating.
Tony didn't dwell on it and slammed the diary shut, standing up from the large stone he was sitting on.
He walked towards the temporary camp created by Phastos using his "create from nothing" skill.
Rustle! Footsteps echoed.
Tony noticed that from various corners outside the camp, Black Widow and Thor, like himself, were also heading towards the camp.
Undoubtedly, these two diary holders had just finished reading the diary.
They looked at each other, each seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.
Clearly, their hearts were not calm at the moment.
Let's quickly review all the spoilers. The playboy guesses that the other diary holders should be as shocked as he is by the possible mastermind.
But right now, no one has the time to worry about the mastermind.
The Dark Elves still haven't been found.
The most urgent matter everyone needs to deal with right now is actually the Dark Elves.
So, everyone wisely kept their mouths shut and went straight into the camp.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as they entered, they saw Phastos's hands quickly operating in the air.
In front of Phastos, one after another, "components" shimmering with golden light were floating.
They were being assembled and combined accordingly.
It looked incredibly stylish, dazzling and eye-catching.
Bruce Banner stood to the side, tilting his head and staring blankly at Phastos's "performance," completely mesmerized.
As a top-tier scientist with seven doctorates, almost on par with Tony.
At this moment, Bruce Banner felt his own ignorance.
It was as if he had returned to his high school days, swimming in a sea of knowledge.
Phastos displayed vast and majestic knowledge to Bruce Banner, leaving him only partially informed. No, "partially informed" was an overstatement; it should be "vaguely aware," only able to barely perceive a fragmented piece.
He hadn't felt this way in a long time.
It made Bruce Banner immersed in it, feeling a sense of awe.
It wasn't just Bruce Banner.
Vision, the super-robot that had just been created, was also staring intently at Phastos's operation.
Compared to Bruce Banner, Vision could see some clues.
"You're building a 'reconnaissance satellite,' and you're planning to use it to find the Dark Elves' location."
Vision couldn't help but speak, making the corresponding judgment.
Phastos nodded, "This device can detect life signatures within a hundred miles, but it's not enough to cover the entire Vanaheim. I need to strengthen it."
"And after that, it can cover the entire planet?"
Tony, who had just walked in, immediately understood something from the conversation, "Is this the reason why we've been installing those 'little gadgets' everywhere these days?"
"That's right."
Phastos nodded. "What I gave you before can be understood as some sub-devices."
"What I need to do next is to connect all the sub-devices together."
"This way, we can conduct a comprehensive scan of Vanaheim."
"By then, as long as the Dark Elves are on this planet, they won't be able to hide."
Hearing Phastos' explanation, everyone present was invigorated.
Thor couldn't help but smile. "It seems everything is going smoothly."
Indeed!
Very good!
Thor was very satisfied.
The Eternals, they really are as reliable as ever.
Thinking of this, Thor couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
That guy Nick Fury, he finally did something reliable.
He got the Eternals on everyone's side.
Otherwise, things would have been quite troublesome.
"Really?"
"Finally, it's about time this boring crap ended!"
"I was about to fall asleep!"
Tony also looked eager.
He really wanted to know how his Iron Man armor stacked up in space.
What kind of advantage did he have compared to the Dark Elves' warriors?
Although there was no doubt that his current armor hadn't reached the level mentioned in the diary, how bad could it be?
"Everyone."
Captain America's voice suddenly rang out.
Captain America's face was grave as he stared at the preserved Aether.
He warned, "It's moving."
Whoosh!
In an instant, everyone present was drawn to it.
They gathered around the "container" holding the Aether, their eyes glued to it.
Under their watchful gazes, the Aether, which had been still for three days, began to stir again.
It started to "writhe" erratically.
"This should mean something, right?"
Red Guardian glanced at everyone and offered his guess, "This thing can't just move for no reason. Something must have triggered it, right?"
Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the other Avengers all agreed with Red Guardian's assessment.
And in a place like Vanaheim, who would be the most likely to trigger the Aether?
Without a doubt, the Dark Elves!
Everyone's expressions immediately became serious.
They instinctively rushed out at the first moment to conduct reconnaissance and establish a perimeter.
However, they scoured the entire vicinity of the camp and found nothing out of the ordinary.
The Dark Elves hadn't appeared.
They could only return empty-handed.
However, the Avengers wouldn't have anticipated...
At the exact same moment, their location, or rather, the location of the Aether, was locked onto by the Dark Elves.
"Found them!"
"The Aether!"
Over three thousand kilometers northeast of the Avengers' camp.
The surface appeared empty, devoid of anything.
Even if Heimdall were present, he wouldn't be able to detect anything.
But in reality, a massive, hidden mothership was concealed there!
It could only be said that the Dark Elves' stealth technology had truly reached its peak, a cheat code across the entire universe.
Inside the main cabin of the mothership, Malekith's eyes gleamed.
Just three days ago, Malekith, who had been asleep for thousands of years, was awakened by the Aether.
Malekith immediately knew that the Aether had resurfaced.
The opportunity that their Dark Elves had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Considering the importance of the Aether to the Dark Elves, Malekith didn't hesitate at all and immediately awakened all the Dark Elves.
He spent these three days completely recovering his strength.
Now.
Both Malekith himself and his warriors had all returned to their peak condition, ready to fight.
Malekith naturally didn't dawdle and prepared to officially take action and snatch back the Aether!
"Where is it?"
A voice rang out. Algrim, the "predecessor" of the Cursed Warrior, who was beside Malekith, asked with a deep voice, looking at Malekith.
"Right in Vanaheim."
Malekith's eyes gleamed. "We're going to get it back! I want to reclaim everything the Dark Elves have lost, I want to accomplish what we should have done long ago!"
"And this time, no one will stop us again."
"No one can!"
Whoosh!
At Malekith's command, the transparent giant mothership began to rapidly advance in the direction he sensed.
In just the blink of an eye, it arrived outside the Avengers' camp.
-----------------------
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