The First to Break the Rules Must Pay the Price

In the Dark Order, The Other, who should have been leading people to Earth, was now standing at the entrance of the nutrient pod base, waiting for the "anomaly" that Gates, the housekeeper cat, had mentioned to appear.

"Tread..."

"Tread..."

The intimate contact between the heel and the ground drifted into The Other's mind as the door opened, Mera, dressed as a queen, appeared before the Chitauri.

"Ah, you, you're the one Woz was talking about... the one..." The moment Mera saw "The Other," Mera slapped her forehead, the name on the tip of her tongue but she just couldn't get it out.

Her queenly aura vanished without a trace in an instant.

"Ms. Mera, my name is Gates, not Woz." The housekeeper cat, wearing a checkered apron around his waist, stepped out from behind the woman and corrected his name once again.

"No, no, no, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about that robot cat that used to be with Beckett, it looks almost the same as you except it's a different color."

"It says its name is Woz."

Mera, who was corrected once again, quickly waved her hand to indicate that she had not mistaken the person this time.

Ironically, Mera never expected that she would wake up not on Apokolips in Darkseid, but in an extremely unfamiliar environment.

And the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Gates who looked exactly like Woz.

That's how I had my first embarrassing experience of mistaking a person for a cat—or rather, mistaking a cat for a person.

"My name is The Other, Ms. Mera."

"Sorry, it's been so long, I forgot the name Woz mentioned." Mera's apology made The Other feel much better.

But as comfortable as he was, simply accepting it so readily wasn't his style.

Mera and Beckett's relationship was clearly unusual.

Although The Other didn't know what Beckett would ultimately choose, as a loyal subject, his current task was to treat everyone equally and respect Mera on an equal footing with Hela.

"By the way, where's Beckett?"

Why am I here?

Mera had no memory of being controlled by the Anti-Life Equation. She only remembered that she, Clark Diana, and others were led to Apokolips on Darkseid by a man named Loki, and then nothing more.

"To be honest, this matter—"

Before The Other could finish speaking, a sudden alarm blared, abruptly interrupting his explanation.

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack?"

The Other's expression changed instantly.

With Thanos Beckett absent, and the Dark Order Black Order, he is now the only one in the Dark Order who can make decisions.

Without bothering to explain to Mera, The Other strode out.

"It's terrible! It's terrible, Lord The Other! The information control center of the Reserve Aid Department has issued a annihilation alarm."

"According to the records, Corvus Glaive's Ebony Maw and his army were completely wiped out when they were trying to pass through Asgard!"

The Scarlet Witch, who rushed over to inform The Other, was out of breath, but what she said made The Other's eyes widen, "What did you say?!"

"Not only that, according to the detection reports from our planetary observers, Asgard is also... also destroyed." Wanda, having caught her breath, revealed a shocking fact that nearly made The Other's jaw drop.

The entirety of Asgard was blown up just like that!

Not even a trace was left!

"My brother has already set off for the explosion site in Asgard to check the situation. Now, Lord The Other, what should we do?"

Pietro, one of the new planetary observers in the Dark Order, has already set off for the region where Asgard is located, leaving Wanda to become a messenger for communications.

"To Titan!"

After much deliberation, The Other, whose mind was still not quite sharp enough, finally decided to head to Titan.

Leaving aside Beckett and Thanos, Woz is right there right now.

Although The Other and Woz often bicker, they have to admit that Woz is better suited to handle these kinds of situations.

As a "person in a superior position," he must know how to delegate authority.

This is The Other's last act of defiance.

"Ms. Mera, now that you have awakened, come with me. His Highness Beckett should be on Titan as well."

Mera was about to say something, swallowed her words back. "I understand."

"I see."

"So, we haven't left Titan yet, but are just in the space created by the Heart of the Universe?"

Inside the Titan alternate dimension, Beckett, now awake, looks at his adoptive father who appears before him, analyzing the various speculations he has made, which eventually converge into a conclusion.

"That's right."

Thanos, who had also been absorbed, raised his right hand, and the Soul Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet was shining with a light called wisdom.

He was able to deduce those conjectures, and the power of the Soul Stone helped him a great deal.

"But why?"

Where is the Heart of the Universe?

Why would it do that?

"It also has its own consciousness?"

Beckett was puzzled.

"Perhaps, there is some kind of test." Thinking of the Grandmaster's arrogant laughter earlier, Thanos felt a little uneasy after telling Beckett everything.

He didn't know the source of this unease.

Logically speaking, such emotions should never appear on him.

"What about my dream just now?"

"Is it only because you ordered the net to close and Frigga to risk her life for the gem that Hela's emotions were affected, that I had nightmares because of this earring containing Hela's dimensional power?"

Beckett felt even more uneasy.

This time is different from before.

In the past, when he dreamed about Hela, Mera would almost always appear. But in that particular dream, Hela was dead.

Beckett didn't care about Frigga's life or death; after all, he had hit her years ago when he went to Hela to get the rest of her apology letter.

He only cared about his dream, the dimensional earrings that were already burning hot.

"No, the reason you have this dream is because Hela is indeed dead."

A rigid and cold voice suddenly rang in Beckett's ears.

"Who?!"

"I have had many names, but the name you finally gave me is the Soul Stone." The Soul Stone, which shone with the light of wisdom, suddenly shot out a beam of light from Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet.

The light created a face that only showed the facial features, with its mouth opening and closing as it introduced itself to Beckett and Thanos.

The Soul Stone is the only one of the six Infinity Stones that possesses a high degree of intelligence.

"Thanos, the rules of this universe chose you, but you have disappointed them."

"This place should have been reserved for you alone."

After materializing a nearly transparent face with only facial features, the Soul Stone turned its gaze to Thanos, whose expression remained calm.

"My son needs the power to break the rules and limitations of this universe." Thanos was very frank at this moment.

"No matter who it is, anyone who wants to break the established rules of the universe will have to pay an extremely heavy price."

"Even you are no exception, Thanos."

The Soul Stone's voice remained rigid, yet it contained a hint of threat and warning.