So, what was Thanos doing now?
It could be said that Schiller had come at a truly terrible time—he had walked straight into the line of fire.
Last time, Thanos had become a lone man once more, returning to a state of utter solitude. But who was Thanos? His intelligence, talent, and vast ambitions meant he was destined not to settle for mediocrity.
After his previous failure, Thanos had realized one thing: hiding away in some remote place and developing on his own was not a reliable plan.
The universe was ever-changing. Who knew when some natural or man-made disaster might strike? Once it swept up his territory, he could lose everything overnight. Thanos had suffered from this firsthand.
His own territory had been moved elsewhere for no reason at all, making it difficult even for him to enter the universe. Now, he could not return at all. Without territory, soldiers, or generals, he was alone amid the vast interstellar void, unable to hold things up by himself.
Thus, Thanos changed his approach. He felt he should start with prosperous economic and social centers, shifting from a separatist mindset to one of integration. He would make many friends, build many connections, gradually embed himself in interstellar society, draw in a group of his own followers, and slowly turn them into diehard loyalists.
Thanos was a man of action. Once he had the idea, he immediately put it into practice.
But entering interstellar society required a calling card. At the moment, he was alone, and his past reputation was not exactly stellar. If he wanted in, he needed a ticket.
After conducting some investigations in several relatively prosperous new regions, Thanos discovered an identity he could put to excellent use: "interstellar anti-fraud pioneer."
Thanos had not forgotten how he had ended