Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 406 (Patreon)

"Here... How did I end up in this place again?"

At the moment of snapping his fingers, the six Infinity Stones converged to harness the power to influence the entire universe, corroding and tearing apart Thanos's body and soul.

But just as he had prepared himself to endure all of this torment, Thanos found himself in a place he recognized all too well in the blink of an eye, a place he would rather endure the torture of the Infinity Stones than remember or set foot in again - the illusionary lake within the Soul Stone.

The first time he came to the illusionary lake was after sacrificing Gamora's soul to obtain the Soul Stone. To trade for the Soul Stone, he had to offer his most beloved person as a sacrifice, and even though Thanos appeared strong on the outside, the wounds and pain in his heart were very difficult to heal.

So, this time, after snapping his fingers once again and reappearing in this illusion, although he avoided the torment brought by the energy shock in reality, the inner pain and suffocation made it even harder for him to bear.

At this moment, with an unintentional glance, Thanos noticed a gateway standing not far behind him. The gateway had a very ancient design, filled with the charm of art, with high eaves and intricate carvings.

Looking from a distance, beneath the gateway seemed to be a petite and familiar figure, gazing into the distance with her back turned to him. Thanos took steps closer, and the closer he got to her, the more excited and unbelievable his emotions became. "Gamora, is it you?"

Thanos's voice was extremely gentle, completely mismatched with his massive frame. It was as if he was worried that speaking too loudly would wake him from this wonderful dream.

Finally, following his questioning voice, the petite figure turned around, with a youthful yet emotionally complex face. Thanos would never mistake this appearance; it was his daughter, Gamora, whom he had never expressed but loved deeply.

"Did you succeed?" Little Gamora's tone carried no emotional attachment, as she asked Thanos as if inquiring to a stranger.

Thanos felt a sharp pang in his heart once again, but he nodded in response to little Gamora's question. "Yes, I succeeded."

Upon hearing Thanos's answer, a hint of emotion finally appeared on little Gamora's face, a complex mix of concern, anger, disappointment, and confusion. These emotions weren't just about the half of the universe randomly erased but more about the complex feelings little Gamora had towards Thanos.

"At what cost?"

"...Everything!"

As Thanos gave his response once again, a tear welled up in Little Gamora's eyes. The tear fell into the illusionary lake, creating ripples that abruptly brought Thanos back to the cruel reality.

...

In the moment of his consciousness returning, an immense sense of pain instantly occupied Thanos's entire mind. He looked at his left hand, where the Infinity Gauntlet was worn. It had become tattered and no longer looked like an artifact, as it had helped him distribute the burden of using the six Infinity Stones.

Around Thanos, numerous superheroes still had no idea what had happened, and they watched in astonishment as the weakened Thanos stood next to Mark.

"What happened, exactly? Thanos, what did you do just now?" Captain America, as a World War II veteran, was the first to regain his senses and react because he discerned different meanings from the expressions on Mark and Thanos's faces.

However, Thanos had no intention of explaining the situation to him. He forcefully activated the power of the Space Stone once more, using his exhausted body to teleport himself away from Titan.

"I'm sorry, everyone, but this was the only way..." This was Doctor Strange's last words on Titan, and the next second, to everyone's shock, Doctor Strange, along with his Sorcerer Supreme robes and floating cape, turned into a handful of dust and disappeared into the wind.

Starting with Doctor Strange's mysterious disappearance, the same fate befell the three members of the Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis - as well as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Falcon and Black Panther also experienced the same fate, turning into scattered dust.

"What's happening here? Where did Thanos go?" Captain America roared in confusion. Such a situation had thrown even this resilient man off balance, and he couldn't accept the current outcome.

"Steve, I'm sorry, but it seems I need to..." Upon hearing Bucky's voice, Captain America turned to look behind him. But before Bucky could finish his farewell, he also met the same fate as the others, turning into dust before Captain America's eyes.

"Mr. Stark! I feel a bit... off," Little Spider-Man, who had been taking care of Tony, suddenly knelt down on one knee, weakly leaning on Tony's shoulder.

"No, you'll be fine, Peter!"

"I don't know what's happening, but I don't want to go. I don't want to go, Mr. Stark, please..." Peter Parker, in Tony's arms, turned into dust without leaving a trace.

"No! Kid..." Watching Peter Parker, whom he had invited into the Avengers, disappear before his eyes, Tony's emotions completely spiraled out of control. He seemed like a soulless shell, sitting on the ground with vacant eyes.

"I became Iron Man in the first place to prevent tragedy like Yinsen from happening again before my eyes, but in the end, I couldn't save anyone..."

"Wait, can someone tell me what's going on? What exactly happened?" As a soldier, Rhodey had never been afraid of death, but when his friends and close comrades began to disappear one by one without warning right before his eyes, Rhodey felt the weight of life for the first time.

"He succeeded, Thanos did it. He used the power of the six Infinity Stones to randomly erase half of the life in the universe." Nebula, as Thanos's adopted daughter, understood all of this in the first moments, knowing that today would be a day filled with sorrow and mourning throughout the entire universe.

"Hurry! You all need to leave this place and go back to Earth!" Just as everyone was still immersed in the grief of losing their comrades and the regret of this battle's defeat, Mark's urgent shout broke the silence of the moment.

Behind the group, a teleportation gate had already started to open, appearing unstable. Part of the instability was due to the damage to Mark's psyche, but more importantly, starting from his legs, Mark was also experiencing the same fate. As a reincarnator, he had become one of the fifty percent to be wiped out this time.

If it weren't for his frantic use of magic and energy through the nanobots in his body, temporarily delaying the process of being wiped out by the Infinity Stones' energy, he wouldn't even be able to finish the sentence he just said.

The mission to Titan had been initiated by him and Doctor Strange using magic to bring everyone here. Now that Doctor Strange had already gone, if he couldn't send the surviving comrades back to Earth, the only chance to start the endgame and reverse this would truly cease to exist.

"Mark!" Tony, still not fully recovered, tried to crawl towards Mark, but Mark sternly stopped him.

"Don't come! You are the last hope for all our sacrificed comrades. If you're also left on Titan, we really won't have any chance. Go back to Earth quickly! Captain, please help me take this unruly guy away."

Captain nodded and came to Tony's side, carrying him on his shoulders.

The surviving Avengers, one by one, passed through the teleportation gate back to Earth, while Mark, eroded by the power of the Infinity Stones, was left with only one arm and his head.

...

Tony stood at the boundary between the Titan and Earth's teleportation gate, staring intently at Mark, who was still disappearing. Mark was his only blood relative in this world, and from now on, he would have to bear this pain and torment alone.

Mark waved to him and tossed a capsule to Tony. "The endgame has begun. Our hope lies with you, on Earth. Dad has this, find..."

Before Mark could finish his words, he ultimately disappeared completely, forever staying on Titan. Tony tightly held the capsule that Mark had last handed to him. The man known as Iron Man couldn't contain his tears any longer and, like a child, buried his head in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

On this day, far away on Titan, his biological son Mark and his son-like figure Peter had both died, and as a member of Earth's mightiest superhero, he was powerless. All he could do was watch it all happen, making all the time and effort he had spent in the laboratory seem futile at this moment.

"Captain, what do we do now?" Natasha asked as she approached.

"Yeah, what do we do now?" Captain looked at Tony, who had already cried his eyes out, and then at the surviving Avengers around him.

The eyes of everyone had lost their shine, their will, especially Doctor Banner, who was inexplicably slamming his head against the ground.

Because the Hulk refused to come out and face Thanos, he didn't make any contributions in this battle due to his unfamiliarity with operating the anti-Hulk Hulkbuster armor. However, due to fate's favor, he was able to continue living, while many of his comrades fought to the death on an alien planet, and they couldn't even bring back their ashes.

This feeling of powerlessness made Doctor Banner blame himself and feel disappointed in himself, which is why he kept trying to summon the Hulk through self-inflicted methods.

In the face of the current situation, even Captain felt a sense of bewilderment. Was there still any light and hope ahead of them...