Finney Hellseg turned to look at Red Skull, utterly bewildered. What use was Red Skull to him?!
To help people identify their names and find their fathers?!
Even if Finney wanted it, the Soul Stone wouldn't give it up. It needed a guide to explain the rules to those seeking it.
"I have nothing to give you!"
Finally, the Soul Stone surprised Finney.
"No, you have something!"
Finney retorted, dissatisfied. One of the six rarest and most powerful stones in the universe, unable to even offer an apology? Who would believe that?
"You're too weak. You can't withstand my power, and I can't break the rules I set for myself!"
Although Finney wanted to argue that he wasn't weak, unfortunately, he couldn't afford the cost of using the Infinity Stones.
"I need your energy!"
Finney thought for a moment and made his request to the Soul Stone.
The Soul Gem gleamed and replied, "But your body will collapse!"
"Not for me!"
Finney explained, then summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, held it in his hand, and tossed it to the empty space beside him, shouting, "My turn! Come forth! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
The majestic and ferocious Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared, but Red Skull's expression remained unchanged. It was just a dragon; what was the big deal? Even if this dragon immediately transformed into a beautiful woman, he wouldn't be surprised.
"Roar!"
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon let out a soft cry after appearing, nuzzling Finney with its neck in affection.
"I hope you can give it your energy!"
Finney said, stroking the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's smooth scales. Although he originally intended to devour the Space Stone, exchanging it for the Soul Gem wouldn't make much difference.
"How did you manage to transform an inanimate object into a real life with a soul?"
The Soul Gem seemed very surprised by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's appearance, completely ignoring Finney's words.
"Give it your energy first!"
Of course, Finney couldn't say it was the system's power, and he looked at the Soul Gem with an urging expression.
"But even it can't withstand my power!"
the Soul Gem replied truthfully. Although the Blue-Eyes White Dragon looked tall and mighty, its physical strength wasn't much stronger than Finney's.
"Let's try it anyway!"
Finney wasn't worried about the Blue-Eyes White Dragon dying, because even if its body couldn't withstand the energy and collapsed, it would only turn back into a card and be unable to be summoned again for a short time.
This was also why he dared to target the Space Gem before, because there were no worries.
Seeing Finney's resolute attitude, and given that the Soul Gem was also curious about the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it said, "Make it hold me!"
Finney gave the command to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, making it obediently walk over and laboriously grasp the Soul Gem in its massive claws.
Then, the Soul Gem bloomed in the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's claws, orange light coursing across its entire body, and even the pure white scales seemed to develop some cracks.
"Roar!"
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon let out a tremendous roar, seemingly in pain, yet its body was subtly growing larger.
Seeing the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's condition, Finney felt a pang of heartache. Although this was to accelerate its evolution, the process seemed somewhat cruel.
Just as Finney was about to stop the Soul Gem, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's body suddenly emitted a burst of light, then vanished, transforming back into the card.
Ignoring the Soul Gem that had fallen to the ground, Finney quickly picked up the card, immediately noticing the second star, now much clearer.
However, Finney wasn't particularly happy. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon was still too weak to withstand the Soul Gem's energy. Although it had absorbed some, the painful process was truly distressing.
Finney frowned, glanced at the unusable Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, and deactivated the skill, causing it to dissipate into the air.
"It can absorb energy to evolve!"
During this process, the Soul Gem understood why Finney had it channel energy into the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then added, "Unfortunately, it's still too weak!"
Finney, upon hearing this, simply looked at the Soul Gem without speaking, also pondering the problem.
In just one attempt, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon had almost completed its two-star evolution, demonstrating the feasibility of his idea; the only problem to solve was the painful process.
Although the Blue-Eyes White Dragon wouldn't truly die, Finney didn't want to allow it to evolve in this way indefinitely.
After a long while, Finney looked up at the Red Skull not far away and asked the Soul Gem, "Besides letting him see his name and know his origins, what other abilities do you have?"
"That's the duty I gave him!"
the Soul Gem replied.
"I mean, can he fight me?" Finney asked frankly.
He had been thinking for a while and suddenly felt that there was no need for him to rush back; Earth had been peaceful lately.
Meanwhile, Banner was beginning to feel the drawbacks of constantly having the Hulk appear. The more mature the Hulk became, the better his control over his body became. He even suspected that one day, their roles would be reversed.
In other words, Banner would only appear when the Hulk was no longer angry and wanted him to.
As for Skye, she now possessed some self-defense capabilities. Even Tony, if unaware of Skye's abilities, could easily be defeated by her.
The remaining options were training in Kamar-Taj and Mordo as an experience-gaining resource.
However, on Vormir, the Golden Grand Evolution Technique had no limitations, significantly increasing the experience gain rate, enough to compensate for training in Kamar-Taj.
If they also had Red Skull, an all-day experience-gaining resource who didn't need to eat, sleep, or use the toilet, Vormir would be a perfect place to grind experience!
Finney could prepare for drawing his seventh skill here while letting the Blue-Eyes White Dragon evolve through normal means, namely by feeding it chicken nuggets.
If the evolved Blue-Eyes White Dragon could withstand the energy of the Soul Gem, its strength would likely experience a leap forward.
"Why fight? His task is merely to guide seekers and explain the rules,"
the Soul Gem said, puzzled.
"Can't I be bored?!" Finney retorted irritably, then frowned and asked, "What if we encounter people who don't believe us?"
"Whether you believe or not is your own business!"
the Soul Gem replied matter-of-factly.
"So, he's really just a complete guide?!"
Finney was somewhat troubled. If that was the case, he could only practice skills, which would greatly lower the evaluation of the Vormir Star experience dungeon. Or, during this time, he could hope to encounter a powerful alien who happened to pass by!
However, judging from his previous conversation with Red Skull, it seemed like he might have to wait decades to encounter even one or two unsavory characters.
But, the Soul Gem's next words immediately delighted him.
"I can temporarily give him a soul form to accompany you, but that concludes the matter of sending you here."
"You'll also be responsible for sending me back later, and then providing some energy for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. That will settle things once and for all!"
Just in case, Finney added a condition in his reply.
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(End of Chapter)