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Don't be fooled by the fact that Lam Ching-ying saw right through the incongruity here; it's actually very dangerous, and without any support, it's hard to tell whether you're in the real world or not.

Here, all testing methods are ineffective, because this place can read your expected results for anything.

If you believe this place is real, the tests will proceed as you wish; if you believe it's fake, the flaws will naturally appear, the world will shatter, and you'll arrive in another "real" world, repeating this process endlessly.

But danger as it may be, Lin Zhengying still wanted to complain: Why would they use things like the Soul Gem to test their cadres?

These are things that the ancient sages have already mastered!

Lin Zhengying grasped the ambassador's token again and put it in his pocket. Then he closed his eyes to recall, and when he opened them again, there was a copy of Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering" on the table in front of him.

Chapter 275 Picking the hardest persimmons to chew on, to toughen up your teeth!

Layer upon layer of dreams unfolded in this area, and a giant roc flew out of the book in front of Lam Ching-ying's eyes, circling continuously outwards.

Under the impact of the dream, this otherworldly paradise slowly vanished, leaving no trace.

When Lin Zhengying looked up again, the surrounding environment had changed back to the planet they had come from, except that this was before the buildings on the planet were destroyed.

The magnificent architecture, bathed in slanting sunlight, possesses a strange beauty, while the spiritual energy permeating the surrounding space adds an ethereal quality to the environment.

In this world, the annihilated Red Skull walks step by step toward Lam Ching-ying.

"Let's get to the point. Why waste our time?" Lin Zhengying said, looking at the Red Skull.

"Release your soul, shut down your defenses, and you will see everything you want to see." The Red Skull didn't respond and continued speaking to himself, while opening his arms as if waiting for Lam Ching-ying to fall into his embrace.

Lin Zhengying sneered and looked around. This should be the inside of the Soul Gem, and the thing in front of him should be the self-consciousness within the Soul Gem that tricked them.

"Why not embrace this beautiful and dreamlike world?" The Red Skull floated in front of Lam Ching-ying, with faint bubbles rising around it as it drifted, reflecting the wonderful world that Thor and Patton had found here.

"Are you sure they accepted?" Lin Zhengying looked at the image appearing in the bubble for a few seconds and suddenly laughed.

Red Skull didn't quite understand what Lam Ching-ying meant. In Thor's world, his parents, girlfriend, brother, and the people of Asgard were all doing well, and there was no Thanos, the villain who could reduce the population at any time. Wasn't that wonderful enough for Thor?

Moreover, Thor's smile never stopped; he was always cheerful, giving people the impression of being quite carefree.

“Father, it’s wonderful to see you everywhere,” Thor said as he walked beside Odin.

“A good life requires the support of many forces. You have only reached the level of one of them, and you still need to work harder.” Odin maintained his dignified, paternal demeanor, which was how Thor remembered Odin.

“That’s right, Father. Compared to you, I still have many shortcomings,” Thor said, gazing into the distance.

Odin stopped and looked at Thor with a hint of relief. "You still have time to grow, to grow into a man who stands tall and upright, to grow into a worthy king."

“Yes, Father, I must now continue toward that goal,” Thor continued, and as he spoke, the invisible Thunder God Domain re-formed around Thor’s soul.

Odin in the spirit world did not stop Thor. Instead, he stepped aside, and the Asgardian star rose again, its brilliant sunlight shining on Thor.

In an instant, a bolt of lightning shot into the sky, turning the entire world into a lightning field. With a crack, the bubble burst, and the chubby Thor reappeared in front of Lin Zhengying.

"Thank you for letting me see those who have passed away again, but it's time to end this." Thor stretched out his hands, and Mjolnir and Stormbreaker condensed in his palms.

The phantom of Red Skull flickered and transformed into Thanos's appearance. This was information molecules that Thor deliberately scattered, so that Thor would have a more satisfying fight with this form.

Thanos ignored the imposing Thor and focused his attention on another bubble behind him, which was Barton's Wonderland.

In that world, his wife and daughter, who were wiped out by Thanos' snap, reappeared, and Barton lived a happy retirement life, teaching his daughter how to aim and shoot arrows, and occasionally getting together with his Avengers teammates.

Just when Thanos thought Barton was about to fall, Barton suddenly hugged his wife and daughter goodbye.

Yes, this is the kind of world Barton desires most, but if Barton were so easily swayed, he would have succumbed when he tried to travel through time using Pym Particles to see his family.

After saying goodbye to his family, Barton looked up at the sky, shot an arrow from his longbow, pierced the sky, and entered another world. However, Barton was still in an illusion. His willpower was strong enough, but his strength was still lacking.

So, Barton stopped bothering with all his might and simply sat down cross-legged, constantly giving himself suggestions. Under this operation, layers of text appeared on the surface of the bubble.

They were all urging Thor to hurry up and take him out.

Therefore, the Soul Stone ultimately chose the wrong person. If it had been someone slightly more ordinary, they wouldn't have even been able to detect the information molecules they unconsciously emitted, let alone the rules governing the operation of the false world.

But look at who it chose: Lin Zhengying, the ambassador of Heaven to Asgard and the strongest genius of Maoshan talisman line in modern times; and Thor, the new king of Asgard, a legendary god of thunder who has experienced multiple cycles of despair and hope.

Even the worst one is still an elite agent, a veteran Avenger. From the formation to the end of the Avengers, Barton basically never left. He fought against Earthlings and aliens. As an ordinary person, he was incredibly powerful.

Compared to these people, the allure of the Soul Gem is indeed somewhat lacking.

Just as Thor was about to bring Barton back with a single blow, Thanos in front of him suddenly exploded, and the surrounding space began to spin.

A second later, in a daze, the group was separated from the Soul Gem and returned to their own bodies.

The Soul Stone slowly fell back into Thor's hands, and no longer emitted alluring fluctuations all the time. Perhaps it had become a little more obedient after this incident.

"12.96 trillion, that's pitifully little," Lin Zhengying said.

While inside the Soul Stone, Lin Zhengying specifically counted the number of bubbles, which was negligible compared to the entire observable universe.

“There is an upper limit to the actual simulation level. Using your classification would make it legendary,” Thor continued, picking up where Lin Zhengying left off.

When the legendary domain was formed, something was wrong inside the Soul Gem, and its ability to influence the domain decreased sharply.

This also proves that Odin's words about wiping out half the population of the universe with a snap of his fingers, and doing so randomly, are all nonsense.

Putting aside those legends, many questions are difficult to explain.

Question: Is a pregnant woman counted as one person or two people? What if it's twins or multiples?

What if, at the moment of the snap, the number of living beings in the universe is odd?

What about fish in nature? They can lay countless eggs in a single litter, including unfertilized ones.

Furthermore, if we include these fish in the count, the required number would be far too large, and the number of intelligent life forms like humans who die would be far greater than half.

If we only consider intelligent life, what about the races that are on the verge of becoming intelligent life?

Leaving aside other universes, Thanos in this universe doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wouldn't recognize these problems.

His knowledge is top-notch even in the entire universe; he has accumulated it over so many years.

Lin Zhengying thought to himself, then turned to look at Thor. If he could, he really wanted to ask Thor what Thanos from that universe was thinking.

While Lam Ching-ying and Thor were pondering something, Barton silently carried Natasha on his back. The light of the Rainbow Bridge in the distance had already faded; it was time to go.

Chapter 276 Nothing tastes as good as hot food.

After Thor returned to Asgard with the Soul Stone, the Nine Realms officially gathered all six Infinity Stones for the first time, though they were temporarily divided between two factions.

Meanwhile, in the distant Temple of the Power Stone, Thanos stroked a small hole in a shard of metal, a mark left by Odin when he threw it.

After stroking it several times, Thanos picked up the large sword stuck in the ground and walked forward.

Odin, that old codger, still has such good eyesight at such an advanced age!

Thanos couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The gates of the Temple of Power were protected by multiple layers of magic, which worked together to create a connection point. Odin's attack shattered this constantly shifting connection point; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to enter.

Superstar followed Thanos carefully into the temple, only to find Thanos once again standing beside the stone platform that once held the Power Stone.

"Where is the last Infinity Stone?" Thanos asked with his back turned, his right hand slightly loosening, and the double-edged sword beside him plunged directly into the ground.

"The nebula on the other end has shut down all communication interfaces, failing to pinpoint the exact location of the Soul Stone." The supergiant was practically sweating profusely. "However, by analyzing past information, we've narrowed down our destination to a star system containing only three stars..."

"How long will it take to find it?" Thanos interrupted Supergiant's words. He didn't care about those messy things; the only thing he cared about was how quickly he could get his hands on it. As he spoke, Thanos slowly turned around.

"The latest fleet has entered hyperspace travel, three months..." Supergiant didn't dare to lift her head. She was inexplicably a little envious of Black Dwarf. At least Black Dwarf, who was beaten half to death, didn't have to live in fear like she did now.

"Ha, you guys are so slow, you can't even catch the hottest shit!" Thanos interrupted Supergiant again. Three months?! The Soul Stone would be a miracle if it stayed in that place for three days!

“Sir, we still have a chance. They will take the six Infinity Stones to save their own universe, and we can go with them,” Supergiant added. Regardless of the probability of success, he brought it up anyway.

With two thuds, Thanos strode up to Supergiant, staring at her as if trying to determine if there was something wrong with her head.

Putting aside whether those guys can even gather all six Infinity Stones, even if they could, wouldn't the Human Alliance send people to accompany them? If they send people, and the Human Alliance sends people, if this continues, we'll end up having a final battle in that universe.

However, the problem now is that Thanos, after careful consideration, realized that his side had fallen into an absolute disadvantage in terms of high-end combat power.

All things considered, apart from Thanos, there are only four Legends left. Even if each of them could take on two opponents, it would still be a long way off. It can be said that the only thing they are stronger than the Human Alliance in now is their total military strength and low-to-mid-level combat power.

This is definitely not acceptable. High-level combat power, even if it doesn't surpass or match, must at least be able to withstand the attacks; otherwise, having more people at lower levels will be useless.

So, while the superstar felt she deserved at least some punishment, Thanos, lost in thought, walked past her toward the door.

"?" Superstar was a little confused. This wasn't Thanos's usual style.

"Take my sword," Thanos ordered, then teleported back to the warship from the planet's surface.

Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight are currently on the main ship. They were originally there to besiege Odin, but now they can only work with the medical team to make incisions on Black Dwarf. His body is just too tough, and all the medical equipment in the team is currently unable to properly open his skin and other body tissues.

"Engine warm-up! Ready to depart!" Thanos commanded immediately upon boarding the ship.

"My lord, where are we going?" General Corvus Glaive asked.

"Where is the Chitauri fleet anchored?" Thanos asked.

"They are currently docked at the edge of the Chitauri star system, in the Chitauri Nebula, about 0.5 light-years from the Chitauri main star," Corvus Glaive quickly reported the relevant information.

"Let's go," Thanos said, propping his head up with his hand.

The Chitauri star system is similar to our solar system, consisting of a single star and several planets orbiting it, surrounded by a nebula barrier made of ice and some cosmic dust.

In this star system, the Chitauri primary star is located in the second orbit of the entire star system, which is the only naturally habitable zone for carbon-based life forms like the Chitauri.

However, as Thanos acquired increasingly advanced technology, the second intra-system colony planet was established over a hundred years ago. Located in the penultimate layer of planetary orbit, it was extremely cold, and the atmosphere and gravity were difficult for the Chitauri to adapt to. They could only rely on the technologically created environment suitable for survival to sustain themselves.

In addition, although this place is remote, expensive, and has excessive maintenance costs, it is still the main production site for the Chitauri fleet. This is because the environment here is so harsh that suppressing a rebellion only requires shutting down the heating equipment for a few hours. For the Chitauri king, this alone makes this place much better than the home planet.

After the defeat in the war on the main planet and the reoccupation of the ground by the Chitauri Revolutionary Army, the Chitauri King led his fleet back to the edge of the second planet.

This location is very close to the faster-than-light passage, making it convenient for the troops to set off after receiving Thanos's orders. However, so far, the Chitauri King has not received any missions. If it weren't for the ongoing orders to increase the number of fleets, he would have thought he had been forgotten.

Furthermore, because new ships were being built constantly while old ships needed maintenance, the Chitauri kings faced severe shortages of various resources after losing their primary source of resources—their home planet—especially food, some consumer goods, and labor.

To solve this problem, the Chitauri king could only occasionally send troops to raid neighboring star systems to make ends meet.

At the same time, in order to have some war reserves, they also reduced the allocation of various resources.

The result of this situation is a significant drop in morale and fighting spirit, with more and more soldiers and officers choosing to enter the virtual world to seek sensory stimulation.

It can be said that the combat power of a single warship has decreased by at least half compared to its peak.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" the official shouted loudly while kneeling.

After a long while, the Chitauri king finally logged out of the virtual world, squinting at his subordinates. He, as the king, had to bear a great deal of responsibility for the Chitauri fleet's current state, since the superiors have always set an example for the inferiors.

"What is it?" King Chitauri asked, leaning to the side on his throne.