Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 424 (Patreon)

"Uh... What do you mean by 'die again'? Are you really planning to exchange your own soul for the Soul Stone?"

It's not Tony's poor reading comprehension to blame, Mark's statement was just too frightening that he couldn't believe it.

Mark smiled faintly and replied casually, "It means exactly what it says, a real death, according to the rules of the trade, I exchange soul for a [soul].

Dad, you haven't forgotten how I got this appearance now, have you? Speaking of which, you had a hand in it too—"

"!" Hearing this, Tony's eyes widened instantly, and he looked at Mark with excitement, asking, "Do you mean you've replicated and backed up your soul just like you were five years ago? Even if you sacrifice your soul here, you can resurrect again?"

In response to Tony's speculation, Mark first nodded and then shook his head, leaving Tony even more confused.

"Souls are not something to be trifled with. Excessive splitting of one's own soul can cause irreparable permanent damage.

If I still had a physical body, I could recover through reciprocity with the material world, but in my current form as an intelligent life form, splitting my soul for backup would be akin to self-destruction. Even if successful, I would become a complete idiot.

Moreover, this part of my soul now is originally composed of a small fragment, supplemented through quantum realm energy, and it doesn't have enough elements for further splitting."

Seeing that no matter what Mark said, the end result was still to complete the mission, Tony could no longer stay calm and shouted hysterically:

"Isn't that still an exchange with your life? There's no way to have it both ways!

It's been five years, and I've finally brought you back to my side. I won't stand by and watch you disappear in front of me again!

Let's give up on this Soul Stone. Let's choose a different time, a time when the Stone has already appeared, and we can snatch it from Thanos."

As he spoke, Tony's tone even carried a hint of pleading, trying to persuade Mark to temporarily abandon this mission.

"We don't have any other chances, Dad. When Thanos got the Soul Stone, he already had four Infinity Stones in his possession. If we had a chance to win, there's no need for us to plan a Time Heist like we are now.

And listen to me first, even though I don't have any other soul backups, there is still a chance for resurrection.

The soul I have now is just a replica formed through Quantum Realm energy. The real soul and body have actually disappeared under Thanos's snap."

"But this is the lifeline I've found, and it's also my chance for a successful resurrection.

As long as we can successfully gather all six Infinity Stones in the Time Heist plan and return to our original timeline to activate that game-changing snap, my true self can be restored through the power of the Infinity Stones."

Mark's proposed plan was logically and factually sound, and for him, his original physical body was more important than his current mechanical form. It was the key to his access to the Third Magic and contained the essence of all his technology.

For example, his informationized vision ability was a miracle born of both science and luck and was almost impossible to replicate.

But at the same time, this plan was also incredibly crazy because no one could guarantee that after the snap, Mark, who had died twice, would definitely come back.

Furthermore, all of this hinged on the success of the Time Heist plan and the convergence of the six Infinity Stones from various timelines into their hands.

"This is basically a 'sink or swim' scenario; this idea is just too insane. I feel like even the Mad Titan Thanos isn't as crazy as you!"

At this moment, Tony looked at Mark as if he were looking at a madman. Who else would use their own life as a bargaining chip to bet on such a fleeting possibility?

"But, if it's just that, I can't convince myself to watch my son go to his death..."

If it was just a possibility, Tony would rather accept the Avengers' failure five years ago than lose Mark.

"On this point, I've already thought it through. No matter what reasons I give, you won't agree.

After all, there's no absolute safety in this world, and there's no one hundred percent success rate, and how could a father be willing to watch his child risk his life?

However, Dad, you can't stop me. If you don't want me to sacrifice in vain, then work hard to gather the six Infinity Stones and reverse that unpleasant outcome."

After Mark finished speaking, he didn't look at Tony's expression anymore and gave a light glance at the Red Skull standing at the edge of the cliff, then took a step and walked straight towards the cliff.

"No!" Tony saw that Mark was about to put the plan into action and immediately tried to stop him.

But at that moment, he realized that he was forcibly bound by nanotech armor on him and couldn't move at all.

"Damn it! You little brat, what have you done to my armor!" Tony had never imagined that his most potent ally all along would turn into the biggest obstacle to stopping Mark from sacrificing himself.

"I've already told you, Dad, just like you understand me, I also understand you. Since I anticipated that you wouldn't agree with my plan, I naturally had to leave a contingency in advance.

By the way, even though Friday is just a standalone emergency AI system, I didn't expect there to be so many vulnerabilities.

Dad, you have the image of a genius, but creating something like this is really subpar.

So—this time, I won again!"

At the edge of the cliff, Mark turned his back to the abyss, facing Tony, wearing a triumphant smile on his face, and fell backward.

"No—!" Tony's agonizing shout echoed on Vormir, and at this moment, he finally realized the true meaning of this planet being called the Realm of Death, but it was already too late...