A Father and Son Chasing Dreams

Astra slumped to the ground, her expression bitter.

"The most difficult choices require the strongest will."

Thanos's meaning was self-evident, and he was completely powerless to resist. He couldn't even defeat Beckett, let alone Thanos. He shouldn't have said that extra word. Now, the king of B48 Planet is dead, and he's the one who has to make the choice.

Although Astra wanted to tell himself that the people of this planet had nothing to do with him, the old man's dying plea kept echoing in his mind and affecting his Mind Stone.

A voice seemed to keep telling him in his mind: Don't say it, you can't say it...

"Can you tell me what you want to do with that gem?" Astra smiled casually, glancing at Beckett, who had already cleared out all the warriors from the outside world and entered the palace, before raising her eyes to look at Thanos.

"Is this important to you?" Thanos, who had plunged the Great Blade into the ground of the Crystal Palace once more, looked at Beckett, who had returned to his side, and asked with a smile.

"Ah, I suppose so. I'm just curious what you want to do with that gem, even if it means sacrificing the lives of this entire planet." [Astra] lowered her eyelids, a glint of yellow light flashing in her eyes.

"War is always accompanied by sacrifice and bloodshed, [Astra], you should not forget that."

Seemingly sensing Astra's unusual behavior, Thanos turned around, put his hands behind his back, and looked down at Astra, who was slumped on the ground of the palace with her head hanging low.

"But wars are always purposeful. So, what is your purpose?"

"Maintaining the balance of the universe."

"This universe has embarked on a wrong path, and it needs to be corrected."

"That sounds interesting." Although it was Astra's voice, it sounded very strange to Beckett. This way of speaking was nothing like Astra's usual style.

"Maintaining the balance of the universe is no fun at all." Thanos's voice was heavy as he looked up at the boundless starry sky. He closed his eyes, and images of his years of hard work flashed through his mind.

"What do you consider yourself? The creator of this universe?" Astra's voice carried a hint of curiosity.

"No, I am just a survivor, a survivor of a disaster."

"Uh-huh?"

Ebony Maw had hurriedly entered the Shattered Palace, saw Astra's disrespectful expression as she spoke to Thanos. He was about to reprimand her when Beckett, who appeared beside him, covered his mouth. Seeing this, The Other, wielding the Azure Scepter, wisely stood behind Beckett and sealed his own lips.

"My home planet Titan, once as beautiful and advanced as many planets..." Thanos closed his eyes and stepped onto the Crystal Throne. With each step, images of his home planet Titan flashed before his eyes.

"But like many planets, it also faces a very serious problem: there are many mouths to feed, but far too few to eat. When we faced the danger of extinction, I proposed a solution." The tall and majestic figure slowly sat on the throne, and the history of the Titans began to unfold from his mouth.

"Randomly eliminating half of all life to restore a balance between population and resources? What a novel idea, Thanos."

"This may be cruel, but it's the only way." Thanos opened his eyes on the Crystal Throne, his gaze filled with determination. He had always believed this, and he had always been striving in this direction.

"Are you serious?" Astra, who was slumped on the ground, raised her head, her eyes filled with yellow light, which contrasted interestingly with the green helmet on her head.

"The universe is finite, and resources are finite. If life is not controlled, it will perish."

"It's a very simple truth, but unfortunately, only I know it. At least, I'm the only one in this universe willing to take action on it." Thanos raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.

The next second, Astra's pupils shone brightly, and her body gradually floated into the air!

"An interesting idea, though I don't agree with it." With a smile, Astra's figure suddenly appeared in front of Beckett, reaching out to grasp Beckett's right fist, which he instinctively swung out.

"And what about you? What is your purpose in joining the war?"

Beckett frowned deeply over Astra's problem. He wanted to break free from Astra's grasp, but found himself unable to.

"Your His Highness Beckett!"

Startled, The Other instantly raised his scepter and charged towards Astra, only to crash into an invisible wall and fall to the ground clutching his head.

"Who are you?"

Beckett's face was cold, his voice filled with barely suppressed rage. A raging shockwave rose from beneath his feet, knocking The Other, who was still lying on the ground groaning, overturned.

"Look into my eyes and tell me, Beckett."

Their eyes met, Beckett felt a blur before his eyes. The next second, he was in the midst of a scene of a planetary explosion!

The baby's loud cries, the hideous grin of the killer, the mother's smiling face, the promise made with her adoptive father Thanos under the starry sky of the dark base...

The cacophony of sounds repeated itself, stimulating Beckett's nerves one after another.

"Get out of my... body!!!!"

"Get out of here!!!!!!!!!"

His fists clenched, veins bulging. He roared to the sky, a deafening shockwave erupting from beneath Beckett's feet!

Raging anger surged, and the light shattered the ground beneath Beckett's feet. Undeterred, it blasted towards the energy radiation tower that was still spinning near the Star Core!

"You two, father and son, are really interesting."

Astra, whose body was already battered and broken by Beckett's punch, chuckled, and the earth suddenly began to tremble. The energy tower, which had just been hit by Beckett's energy wave, tore through the earth at an incredible speed and appeared before Thanos and Beckett.

A yellow gem detached itself from the energy emission tower and appeared before Beckett. Astra's body, which had been floating in mid-air, fell to the ground, and its green helmet shattered in two due to the energy impact.

"Tsk, so this is... the Infinity Stones..."

Beckett frowned and reached out to touch it, but was stopped by his adoptive father Thanos.

"Your body cannot withstand the side effects of the gem, Beckett." Thanos's majestic voice rang out, and an arm covered in golden armor took Beckett's place, grasping the Mind Stone floating in the air. In an instant, an extremely blinding light, accompanied by surging energy, coursed across Thanos's body.

Beckett witnessed it firsthand. Thanos, his adoptive father who had never been injured in his memory, suddenly developed some beautifully colored wounds on his chest simply because he held the Infinity Stones in his right hand. These wounds caused Thanos's expression to change drastically.

"Huh?!"

Having finally managed to get up from the ground, The Other felt an irresistible force snatch the Azure Scepter from his hand. Looking up, he saw the scepter, under Ebony Maw's control, appear beside Thanos.

"Lord Thanos."

Snap!

With a crisp sound, the Scepter of Kings, a sacred relic worshipped by the Chitauri race generations, changed color and style instantly after the Mind Stone was inlaid at its tip...

Thanks to [o] for the tip~

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