Thanos was silent for a long time before finally sighing. "It seems I have no other choice."
"When you rashly entered this star system without enough Stones, your fate was already sealed," Jason said casually. "Though I think you'd make an excellent subordinate, you're not essential. Make your choice!"
Thanos shook his head and decisively produced two Infinity Stones.
With this, Jason had successfully collected all six Infinity Stones.
He waved his hand, and a portal appeared before Thanos, showing his flagship on the other side. "I promised Quill I'd help rescue his girlfriend, but it seems I was a step too late. You figure out a way to explain it to him!"
"Understood."
When Thanos returned to his ship, his men had surrounded Star-Lord and the others in a threatening manner. Seeing their leader return, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Thanos approached Star-Lord and stated plainly, "Now, we have a common master. From this moment, I work for him too."
Not only Star-Lord, but even Thanos's followers looked at each other in bewilderment. Their master had surrendered just like that? The most feared being in the universe?
As for Quill, he exchanged a glance with Rocket, Mantis, and the others. His guarded expression relaxed slightly, but his face remained hard toward Thanos.
"Huh! How can a villain like you be redeemed? It's an insult to everyone who died by your hand! I'll never accept you!"
Star-Lord's expression was firm. "I don't want anything to do with you. Give Gamora back to me, and we'll get out of here immediately!"
At the mention of that name, Thanos felt a sharp pain in his heart. His face betrayed little emotion as he calmly replied, "Gamora can't come back. But I have two daughters—I can give you the other one."
"What?" Star-Lord looked completely confused.
...
After obtaining the two Stones from Thanos, Jason now possessed five in total.
The final Stone—the Time Stone—remained temporarily with Doctor Strange. But the last time they met, they had agreed that Jason could borrow it when needed.
That time had come.
With a single thought, Jason crossed the vast distance between planets and arrived at the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.
He made no effort to hide his arrival, and Strange detected him immediately.
Jason, uninterested in wasting time, got straight to the point. "It's time to fulfill your promise, Strange."
Doctor Strange's face was serious. "Before I lend you the Stone, I must know what you intend to do with it, Mr. Jason."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why the concern now?"
"I accidentally glimpsed scenes from the recent past," Strange replied.
"What exactly did you see?"
Strange paused slightly. "You've collected several Stones."
"How many is 'several'?"
Strange shook his head. "I don't know precisely. I only saw fragments of the past. But I know that if you collect enough Stones, it might bring disaster to our world."
Jason showed a hint of interest. "If you can see the past, why not try looking into the future? Perhaps you could see what I'm about to do?"
"Seeing the future comes at a cost," Strange said helplessly. "And there are countless possible futures! Additionally... beings like you have almost reached the point where you can distort space and time. Viewing your future is extremely difficult, if not impossible."
Jason nodded in understanding.
After considering for a moment, he said, "I can't tell you my exact plans. But I can guarantee that what I intend will benefit rather than harm Earth and our universe. Also, though you may not have noticed when observing the past, I just saved the universe. At the very least, half the population of this universe has been spared!"
Strange looked at Jason skeptically, then after a moment, shook his head. "Fine, I won't press further. Since the Ancient One chose to trust you, I'll follow her lead. But remember—if you do anything harmful, I will do everything in my power to stop you."
Jason shrugged indifferently. Stop me? You'd need abilities far beyond what you possess.
After successfully collecting all six Infinity Stones, Jason immediately returned to Mars and found an uninhabited area.
Thanks to information from the Asgardian dwarves, he already knew how to harness the Stones' power.
With a thought, all six Stones surrounded him, each glowing with its distinctive brilliance.
Without hesitation, he extended his arm, and the six Stones slowly attached themselves to him.
He brought his thumb and middle finger together and silently said in his mind, "Snap!"
His wish was made, and the power activated.
In an instant, with Jason at the epicenter, a massive surge of information exploded outward in all directions.
Before, he had wondered what kind of power the six Stones could unleash to transform the entire universe. Now he understood—what the Stones emitted wasn't energy, but a form of [information].
The entire universe functioned like an immense coded program. The Stones were backdoors to this program. Jason had used them to change a fundamental setting, and news of this change was broadcasting throughout the cosmos.
Every location that came into contact with this information automatically modified its programming to fulfill Jason's "wish."
Jason had decreed the elimination of all "guilty people." When these individuals came into contact with the information wave, they were judged as not belonging in this world due to the rewriting of the universe's underlying code.
They turned to ash and vanished.
On Earth, this shocking event stunned everyone. On streets worldwide, people disintegrated while walking, leaving witnesses with expressions of confusion and horror.
In prisons, most inmates disappeared instantly. When guards witnessed this, a thought flashed through their minds: Good God, are prison breaks this sophisticated nowadays?
The most shocking events occurred in political and business circles across nations. Countless high-ranking officials and billionaires turned to ash during banquets, meetings, and even while being flattered by subordinates.
In an instant, the world's political and economic systems showed signs of collapse.
This event occurred in every corner of the universe where intelligent creatures existed. Almost all notorious villains and criminals throughout the cosmos vanished simultaneously.
The only ones exempted were Thanos and his forces.
A few dozen minutes after what would later be known as "Purification Day," analysts began identifying the common characteristic among the deceased: sin.
Regardless of identity, status, age, or gender, the only shared trait was guilt. Some seemingly innocent victims were discovered, upon investigation, to have harbored dark secrets.
Jason paid little attention to the unfolding events across the universe.
Because the system prompt in his mind was about to explode!