Negotiations

He threw a punch aimed at the Black-Clad Man's head and slammed it down hard.

Unfortunately, the fist went straight through the Black-Clad Man's head.

This feeling is strange; it superficially resembles Vision.

However, his form did not become blurred, and Xia Yu's fist passed right through him, achieving nothing.

Undeterred, Xia Yu turned around and unleashed a Purple energy ball with his palm.

Furthermore, they used spatial energy to directly create a barrier around the Black-Clad Man.

A purple energy the size of a human head exploded around the Black-Clad Man.

The force of the explosion allowed Xia Yu to use spatial energy to completely isolate this small area of space.

The Power Stone's destructive energy continued to rage around the Black-Clad Man.

Still, nothing was accomplished, and the Black-Clad Man even looked at Xia Yu with a smile.

"Alright, you've tried, you can't hurt me. Now can we have a proper talk?"

Xia Yu stopped his attack in mid-air, undeterred, and pointed at the warships that blotted out the sky.

Are you sure you're here to negotiate?

The Black-Clad Man said, "I said this is a negotiation, so I have to flex my muscles. If I didn't have enough cards up my sleeve, you wouldn't be able to kill me, and you wouldn't accept negotiations."

"Similarly, if it weren't for your astonishing fighting prowess these past two days, I wouldn't have wasted my time negotiating with you."

Xia Yu looked up at the countless warships in the sky, then looked down at the crowd that had arrived and were watching him from below.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally asked, "Tell me your conditions!"

The Black-Clad Man laughed and waved his left hand. Xia Yu felt a layer of blurry energy appear around them, blocking their voices from escaping.

"As you've seen, this world has countless Parallel Universes. I can summon countless Thanos. Your defeat is only a matter of time."

"Doesn't your relocation of humanity on Earth prove that you're not entirely confident of victory? That's useless. If I wanted to, no matter where people ran in the universe, I could find them instantly."

Xia Yu knew, of course, that he was serious, but in this matter, whether or not ordinary people on Earth were killed had no impact on them at all.

The main reason for the relocation was to avoid the battle becoming too large and affecting Earth.

If you lose, of course you don't need to say anything. But if you win, it's a different story. The extent of the conflict on Earth and the number of deaths are real events.

Without discussing the issue with the Black-Clad Man, Xia Yu went straight to the point and asked again.

"Just tell me, what do you want?"

"What I've always wanted has been simple: to get things back on track, to ensure that today is the final battle between the Avengers and Thanos, as they were destined to be."

"Let everything continue as it is. Use the Six Infinity Stones to erase all the changes that have occurred in this world, including you. You must self-destruct your soul. I can find a way to preserve a sliver of your consciousness. After everything is over, I will let you remain in this world as an ordinary person, without any abilities."

"Of course, you have to self-destruct first. Don't worry, you definitely won't die, but in your current state, I dare not let the Soul Stone appear in front of you. Although the outcome won't be much different, if you absorb the Soul Stone, we will have a lot more trouble."

"You know, everyone hates work. In fact, before you came along, I used to travel back and forth between different times and different universes, and it felt great. You ruined my vacation, Xia Yu!"

Xia Yu fell silent again.

The Black-Clad Man still smiled and said, "You can take your time to think it over. I can give you five minutes so your friends can take some time to rest."

"I'm willing to sacrifice my abilities, but Natasha and Tony cannot die. I can guarantee that neither of them will ever be involved in anything again. If possible, that's my only condition."

Xia Yu remained silent for several minutes before raising his head and speaking with difficulty to the Black-Clad Man.

Upon hearing Xia Yu's words, a barely perceptible hint of joy flashed in the Black-Clad Man's eyes.

He adjusted his tone and said to Xia Yu, "As long as the three of you have absolutely no impact on your future fate, I can agree to your request."

"I could even preserve your wealth, allowing you and Natasha to live a rich yet simple life in this world, find a big house by the sea, have two children, not have to work to make a living, and do whatever you want. God, what an enviable life that would be."

As if moved by the Black-Clad Man's words, a hint of longing appeared in Xia Yu's eyes.

"You're right, let's get started now!"

Xia Yu spoke to the Black-Clad Man.

"Forehead?"

The Black-Clad Man seemed surprised that Xia Yu would agree so readily.

"Um... starting now? I mean, you don't need to go down and tell them, explain the situation to your friends?"

"No need. It's just self-destructing my soul, what's the big deal? Are you ready? Protect my consciousness, I'm about to begin."

As Xia Yu spoke, the energy within his body began to circulate.

The vibrant colors flowed slowly through Xia Yu's skin, growing brighter and brighter...

Even the Black-Clad Man showed a hint of solemnity on his face.

A few seconds later...

"Bang!"

Xia Yu opened his mouth and shouted.

The Black-Clad Man was almost startled.

"What are you doing?"

The Black-Clad Man loudly questioned Xia Yu.

"Soul self-destruction, isn't that how it works? You can't blame me, I've never done that before, let me try again!"

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Haha! That's hilarious! You actually believed me and your nonsense, and you were even looking forward to my soul self-destructing. Director of the Time Variance Authority, haha! Was that fun? Were you nervous?"

Xia Yu pointed wildly at the Black-Clad Man, letting out a merciless laugh.

That's insane. Putting aside the fact that the Black-Clad Man's acting wasn't very good, it's obvious he's just trying to fool Xia Yu.

Moreover, Xia Yu isn't stupid. He self-destructed first. Even if he retained his consciousness, he would lose all his power and the ability to fight back. Expecting him to keep his promise is like treating Xia Yu like a three-year-old child.

"You... you, you were acting the whole time! You! You! You! You were playing me?"

The Black-Clad Man extended a finger, which trembled and became like a chicken claw.

He pointed at Xia Yu and asked.

He was clearly furious; he had never been played like that before.

"You just figured it out? I've already made it pretty obvious, okay? You really thought I believed your nonsense? How naive, Director of the Time Variance Authority, or rather, I should call you..."

Xia Yu revealed a strange smile.

Watching the Black-Clad Man utter the words one syllable at a time.

"Kang the Conqueror!"