Seizing the Soul Stone (Part 1)

"Sorry, you can only exchange the soul of someone you love. The souls of others cannot complete the exchange."

At that moment, Red Skull, the guardian of the Soul Stone, seemed to have received some sort of instruction. He turned and explained helplessly to Jerry.

As a fellow Earthling and the friend of an old acquaintance, he truly did not want to make things difficult for Jerry. But in the end, he was merely a pitiful creature enslaved by the Soul Stone—a messenger, nothing more.

The one truly capable of making decisions was the will born within the Soul Stone itself.

"They are the ones I love. I can throw them down together and exchange their two souls."

Jerry pointed at his unconscious son by the cliff and the terrified mother, who had been freed from the Imperius Curse, then smiled.

Red Skull shook his head again.

"I'm sorry, but they won't do. You do not love them."

"But the person I love isn't here."

Jerry shrugged.

Red Skull hesitated before speaking.

"Your soul will work as well. After you die, the two of them will become the new masters of the Soul Stone. However, I advise you not to do this. Go back to Earth."

Having been imprisoned by the Soul Stone for seventy-two years, Red Skull had gained some understanding of the consciousness within it.

The so-called sacrifice of one's most beloved person in exchange for becoming the Soul Stone's master was not an absolute rule. It was merely a rule established by the Soul Stone's consciousness.

It simply enjoyed watching the anguish of life-and-death partings and liked collecting special souls.

Vormir had become what it was now largely because of the Soul Stone. Whenever a user of the Stone died, it returned here.

Without sufficient power to