"Are you scared?"
On the spaceship, Dio, who had already set the automatic flight mode, turned around and looked at the two people who were comforting each other and asked.
"There are some."
After a brief silence, Smith suddenly spoke.
Hearing him say this, his wife once again tightly held his hand, tears welling up in her eyes, full of reluctance.
Smith put his arms around his wife, feeling her heartbeat, his eyes full of attachment.
If possible, he would like to live happily like that, with family, lover, friends, children...
But God seemed to be playing a joke on him. First, he took away everything he had, and then he wanted to take away his remaining life.
If Dio hadn't found him and given him the opportunity to finally fulfill his responsibilities as a father and a son, perhaps all that awaited him would have been a cold death in the ward a month later.
It was Dio who gave him the final value of life.
So he had no resentment from beginning to end, but his reluctance to leave his wife and family made him extremely painful.
How much he wanted to see his lovely child again, how much he wanted to say sorry to his parents again, but he no longer had the chance.
"You are a hero, your children, your parents will be proud of you."
Dio said sincerely, having no other choice.
Maybe not many people know his name, but his family will know what he did with his last life. He is a hero who saved the entire universe, and his family will be proud of him.
Smith's uneasy expression gradually calmed down, replaced by a bright glow.
It turns out that mortals... can also be so great!
"Thank you!" Smith thanked Dio very solemnly.
"No, it's me who needs to thank you. I'm not great at all. I can't convince myself to make sacrifices, and I don't want to sacrifice the people around me, so after looking for so many candidates, I finally chose you. No matter how I find all kinds of high-sounding excuses for myself, it's an indisputable fact that I'm forcing you to die, so don't thank me, as long as you don't resent me."
Dio sighed, not wanting to clear himself.
"I understand what you said, Mr. Dio. You are a sincere and good person. Anyway, I don't have many days left to live. Instead of wasting the rest of my time in the hospital and enduring endless pain every day, I might as well use this broken body to do something useful. I can help you and the Avengers save the world. I believe that if my children knew it, they would be proud of me!"
"I have less than a month left to live in exchange for the return of half of all life in the universe. There is no better deal than this! So, I beg you... You must succeed!"
Smith showed a determined smile, but his wife suddenly burst into tears.
Dio nodded seriously. This time the plan had to succeed, not fail!
. . . . . . . . . .
A few hours later, the spacecraft successfully arrived at the planet Vormir.
Since Smith was very weak, Dio carried him on his back and set foot on this endless and desolate planet towards his destination.
The closer we got, the quieter the atmosphere became.
All three of them remained silent. It was obvious that death was not something that people could face calmly.
When they finally reached the top of the mountain, a ghostly figure floated in front of them.
"Dio, son of Sanji Brando."
"Wade, son of Dwight."
"Emily, son of Alice."
"I am the guide that leads everyone to the Soul Stone."
As soon as they met, the mysterious man told them each of their names and their identities.
Dio already knew who this mysterious man was, so he got straight to the point: "No need to play tricks, Red Skull. Lead us to find the Soul Stone."
"You know me?"
When the Red Skull raised his head and revealed his terrifying face, Mr. and Mrs. Smith were visibly frightened and almost screamed out.
Not only is the environment here extremely eerie and scary, but even the so-called 'guide' is so scary and weird!
"I know much more than you think, but I'm in a hurry now and don't have time to stay here and chat."
Dio's rudeness did not make the Red Skull angry, but instead made him smile even more terrifyingly.
"I understand. Please follow me."
To be honest, this was Dio's first time on this planet, so he was always very cautious.
Soon, they arrived at the "familiar" cliff.
"What you seek is before your eyes, along with your fear. If you want the Soul Stone, you must lose your loved one. This is an eternal transaction, soul... for soul!"
Under the Red Skull's very 'loyalty code' explanation, uneasiness quickly spread... Bullshit!
Long before coming here, Dio had already explained everything they were going to experience, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith knew what they needed to do.
Although instinctive fear and terror are inevitable, one should not be disturbed and anxious by a few words from the other party.
This also surprised the Red Skull very much.
Dio ignored him and turned to look at the two people he brought with him, "5 minutes."
After saying that, he walked aside.
Wade Smith looked at Dio with gratitude, knowing that these five minutes were meant to give them some time alone together.
So the two of them hugged each other directly, tears in their eyes as they said everything they wanted to say but had not had time to say, because this was their last chance.
Seeing this scene, Red Skull was very surprised.
He felt as if the other party knew the rules here in advance and had already found a "scapegoat" in advance, so he could get the Soul Stone without any effort.
Instead of being like other people who come here, some of whom are stuck in painful choices, while others return empty-handed in disappointment.
What a horrible person...
The 5 minutes passed in a flash. In fact, these 5 minutes were useless because everything that needed to be said had already been said. So for most of the rest of the time, the two of them just hugged each other quietly, feeling each other's body temperature and heartbeat.
"Come on, Emily. One minute earlier or later doesn't make any difference to me. It will just make you suffer. The child will be fatherless and might be bullied. And I've entrusted my parents to you."
Smith took the initiative to pull Emily to stand in front of the cliff, carefully wiped the tears from her face, and imprinted the warmest smile in her heart.
"No, I can't."
Emily burst into tears, as if she couldn't do it no matter what.
"You can do it, think about our children, they are waiting for us."