บท 2014: Chapter 1358: Banquet Mystery (Eight) _1
"The Titan Clan has long become a thing of the past, and vestiges of the former glory of the Eternals family may still be seen in certain relics on Earth."
As Thanos' deep voice echoed in the palace, the reverberation on the edge of the echo carried a metallic vibration, adding an epic feel to it.
"Returning to the cycle of life and death is the fate of all powerful races in the universe. They must pay a price for their power. The human race is weak, yet fortunate, for you have not been bestowed with an irresistible power, thus you don't have inescapable fate."
Then, he shifted the tone, and said, "Regardless, I did eliminate a significant obstacle for the human race to enter the cosmos."
The tone of Thanos was light as if he was joking, but thinking of his deeds of personally destroying the Titan clan, it seemed utterly mad.
It's not exclusive in the human community to have congenital mental patients, even among Titans, and Thanos has obviously become the most famous mad Titan in the cosmos, who personally destroyed his own race and mother planet, and until today, he still takes pleasure in his actions.
Shiller remembered the description of Thanos' childhood in the comics. From the point of view of the comics, Thanos was enticed by the Goddess of Death since he was a child, thus step by step, he evolved from a shy boy who could not even bear to dissect animals into a terrifying genocidal madman.
However, from the perspective of a psychiatrist, the woman who appeared in Thanos' sight out of the blue and guided him to commit various brutal acts seemed more like a fantasy companion common among mental patients.
In the cases of psychiatric diseases, there are countless examples of patient acting violently under the inducement of fantasy companions. It can be said that almost all fantasy companions of mental patients are the embodiments of their mental pain, confusion, and bewilderment. Such negative imaginations naturally won't induce them to do any good things.
Some details in the comics further corroborated this point. For instance, Thanos was purple-skinned since his birth, unlike other Titans. His mother could not accept the fact that she gave birth to a 'monster' and became mad. Eventually, she was incarcerated.
Due to his appearance which differed from other members of the Titan Clan, Thanos had been discriminated against and bullied since childhood. His father was always preoccupied with other matters and didn't care about him at all. Even when Thanos eagerly wanted to share his joy about making a new friend, all he received was a perfunctory response.
His mother's sudden insanity might not be accidental but a hereditary mental disease. Thanos did not receive timely treatment and was ostracized, thus constantly living in a stressful mental state. The fantasy companion became his only comfort.
As for whether this fantasy companion had anything to do with death, Shiller didn't think the probability was high. The Death in their universe is notably tawdry and seemed indifferent to Thanos from the beginning to the end.
Perhaps there is more than one embodiment of death. Perhaps the Death who seduced Thanos was not the same Death that Shiller met in the Realm of Death. But there's no doubt that Thanos had gone mad, completely, and almost incurably so.
However, Shiller still followed the principle that if the patient did not suffer, there was no need for treatment. As for the harm caused by madness, there are naturally other means to deal with it.
So, Shiller planned to change the topic. He recalled the question Thanos had asked him earlier. Thus, he gently rubbed the edge of the dinner Knife with his fingertip and asked carefully, "You asked me earlier if the human race has started to pay attention to the planet Uranus. Since the Titan Clan was destroyed long ago, why do you care about which planet the human race is paying attention to?"
"It's not that I care, but because a human came to me yesterday, asking about Uranus and Saturn. I thought that some remnants left on those planets interfered with your planetary development."
Shiller slightly knitted his brows, looked up into Thanos' eyes, and uttered a name, "Tony Stark?"
"He refers to himself as Iron Man." Thanos continued to eat the food on the plate and said, "He is a very strange human. In my view, half of him is intense light, while the other half is boundless darkness."
"I know he's not to be trifled with, so I had no choice but to lay bare the history of the Eternals Family and the Titan Clan. However, he doesn't seem to care much about whether the remnants of the Titan Clan still exist in the cosmos."
"He looks like a scientist. I thought he would want to study the technologies in those relics. However, he is more interested in some mysterious historical legends."
"Such as?"
"Such as the origin of the Eternals Family." Thanos paused as well, and said, "Unfortunately, I'm not a historian. Since I was born on the Titan Planet, I'm afraid I don't know as much about the history of the Eternals Family on Earth as the Supreme Magician does."
"Is that what you told him?"
Thanos nodded and said after taking a bite from his plate, "Oh, by the way, there's one thing he was interested in…"
Thanos intentionally elongated his tone. Shiller immediately got his hint. So, he picked up his wine glass, took a gulp, laughed, and said, "Your Majesty Thanos, while you've been displaying your abilities in the interstellar society and making arrangements, your pope has not been idle either. For the future of us, I also have some immature suggestions."
"Feel free to express."
"As everyone knows, you are now the darling in the field of interstellar safety. This responsibility may not be important, but it is very precious. The price you have to pay is spending a lot of time maintaining your reputation. Once your banner as the guardian of interstellar safety is torn down, you will lose everything."
Thanos nodded in approval of Shiller's word. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Shiller took the initiative to say, "For this very reason, if you suddenly turn into a tyrant who launches wars of conquest, the good image and network you've established before will be completely destroyed."
"After all, a hero who has sworn to maintain interstellar security, suddenly manipulates his own civilization to launch a war of aggression against other civilizations, that will certainly receive much condemnation from the majority of civilizations."
"But plundering growth and public image are incompatible." Thanos calmly said, "But my purpose in maintaining my public image is also to make myself stronger, so if looting can achieve this purpose faster, then I can naturally abandon public opinion."
"Why can't we have both?"
Thanos hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Such a thought is too naive, as you said, in an interstellar society still operated by order, aggression is evil. Even the stability of their territory for the Three Great Empires, they won't allow emerging civilizations to act arbitrarily."
Thanos continued to cut the meat with his head bowed, slowly speaking, "Although the Dark Quadrant is not in the center of the interstellar society, this is also an advantage. If I start a war, the response from the core centres of the Three Great Empires will not be swift, and by exchanging time for space, I stand to gain."
"Isn't it that simple? Are you planning to launch a war directly after gaining territory and resources?"
"Of course not. Although the tactic of blitzkrieg has been tried countless times in the interstellar society, many civilization leaders overlooked a major problem when implementing this tactic, which led to their final failure."
"Oh, what's that?"
"The key to blitzkrieg is achieving overwhelming superiority in a short time. Many generals are mistaken in believing that they must be strong themselves to rapidly crush the opponent, but I don't think so."
Thanos shook his head and said, "I tend to think that this tactic works best when the opponent is very weak or in chaos. Even if there are unexpected accidents in a strong-winning-weak scenario, there is still enough room for error."
"I won't be so arrogant as to think that each of my strategies can be perfectly executed without encountering unexpected situations. Since this is the case, instead of constantly making myself stronger, it's better to find ways to weaken the opponent, or as you said, have both and do both."
Shiller held up his wine glass, hiding his expression, but Thanos wanted to know what Shiller's suggestion was. However, he knew how greedy Shiller was, and if he didn't put out a bargaining chip first, Shiller would not speak up.
So, Thanos paused for a moment, murmuring to himself,
"The position of the Dark Quadrant is really good. The biggest advantage is... its proximity to the border star zone of Shi'ar Empire."
"I doubt searching within the Nine Major Kingdoms for the Queen's soul will yield many results." A voice came from the edge of the dance floor.
Thanos, holding his cup of wine, came over and said, "Have you forgotten that the Shi'ar Empire also inherits a Deity System? The Emperor or Queen of Shi'ar Empire, at their ascension, have to pledge their faith to the Twin Gods of Xiea."
In the banquet hall, Hela, whose hands were wrapped in the aura of death, remained silent, only slightly turning her head to look at Thanos who was walking towards her.
"Prince Hela, even though your power comes from death, it still carries the mark of Asgard. If you violate the souls of other Deity System's believers, it will inevitably cause a misunderstanding with the Xiea Deity System don't you think?"
"Is now the time to dwell on such matters?!!" A high-pitched voice rose, all eyes turned to the Queen's husband, who was kneeling beside the Queen's corpse. He spoke in a pained tone, "We have to find the murderer who killed the queen and avenge her quickly!... Prince Hela, please hurry, what if the queen's soul encounters any danger?"
"No, Prince Hela, you cannot act." Another, younger voice sounded, and all eyes turned towards a young guard standing behind the husband of the Shi'ar Imperial Queen."
He cleared his throat and said, "The Twin Gods of Xiea are a couple who share power equally and particularly value fidelity, even in faith. If the queen's soul is tainted by the power of another Deity System, she would likely be forsaken by the Twin Gods of Xiea."
Shiller saw the Queen's husband lower his head, the muscles in the corner of his mouth tightened, seeming to want to cry out in grief. Thanos, stepping forward, looking down at the Queen's husband said, "As the ruler of the Shi'ar Empire, I believe the Queen would have wanted to set a good example for her people, to remain devout in her faith, to ensure the purity of her soul even in death. This is what a ruler should do."
"A devout believer, both in life and death, cannot absolutely accept being forsaken by their God." Thanos approached the husband and said, "As her husband, you surely intend to fulfill your wife's will, right?"
"But..."
"Or are you saying that actually, you and the Queen have different faiths, you don't believe in the gods of the Shi'ar Empire as devoutly as the Queen did. Therefore, naturally, you will not care whether your wife's soul is tainted?"
All present fell silent. Once it came to the matter of faith, not everyone could be so certain. If someone were to suggest that regardless of whether the Queen's soul would be tainted by Asgard Power or not, they must find her and revive her.
In case the Queen of Shi'ar really angered her God after her resurrection, and then vented her anger on others because of her own impurity, wouldn't the person who proposed this plan face the fury of one of the Three Great Empires' Monarch?
Nobody wanted to bear this kind of rage, nor did they feel they had the right to force others to take this risk.
So, the atmosphere in the room quieted down again. But at this moment, Shiller's gaze landed on the young guard who had spoken earlier.
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